Tuesday, February 17, 2009

In reply: "Even if you buy into 'an eye for an eye,' I'm not the guy... It's not my eye."

In reply to the following comment from PrivatePigg, posted at AmPow on February 16, 2009, 9:47 PM (reposted below):
Repsac3 - I can say openly that Dr. D should not post your name, but I'll admit I might be compelled to do as much if someone posted my personal information and employer info. I don't know all of your and Dr D's history. In any event, it would not be right of me to do it.

That said, posting simply a name is not even remotely as egregious as posting specific employer info. Whatever your name is, I'm sure I could put it in to google and never find you, your family, your employer, or anyone related to you in this big country of ours. I have a pretty uncommon name, but have found people all over the country with the exact same name, and even some guy who has registered "my" name and uses it as his personal website/business. Considering the size of the US, ones actual name ("John Anderson") without accompanying info. would probably leave one as anonymous as any clever moniker. There is not a high probability that anyone will find you based on simply your name. So Dr. D's listing of your name, with nothing else, in these comments does not aid me if I wished to harass you.

However, posting Dr. D's employer, including phone and address, obviously allows people to intimately interfere in the Doctor's life, going so far as to permit me to disrupt this man's ability to earn a living (which, truthfully, can be the only point in publishing such information).

Again, personal information should be off limits, but some personal information is worse than others.

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I'll admit I might be compelled to do as much if someone posted my personal information and employer info.

Hmmm... I didn't see you as a two wrongs make a right kinda guy...

Second, Donald posted his employer info himself. The college has a website, and anyone willing to look can find Donald's public page--or the public page of his department head.

Also, you understand that I am not the "someone" who posted any of Donald's info, right? (O)ct(o)pus writes on several blogs, including one I created, but he isn't me.

Even if one does buy into that stupid "eye for an eye" thing, I'm not the guy... I'm not the eye.

For all your clever defense of Donald's posting of my real name, it isn't about the effectiveness (or ineffectiveness) of his doing so, but about his doing so in the first place. Why do you suppose our fair associate professor posted my name here less than two hours after I agreed with you about the benefits of using a nom de keyboard? Personally, I think he threw a petulant little fit of maliciousness, but you're free to draw your own conclusions. (It isn't hard to find the info in question, PPigg... Just go back & read Donald's 10:43am comment in this thread. It's one or two comments down from my initial reply to you...)

One more time, I agree that (O)ct(o)pus shouldn've repeated the info he found on the Long Beach City College- History & Political Science Department website. He did so for the express purpose of doing harm to Donald. But I'm not (O)ct(o)pus, and fail to see why anyone's beef in that regard should be with me, or why any action some other blogger took should justify Donald's outing of my real world name in anyone's eyes...

Everyone who posts or comments at American Nihilist is responsible for their own words and ideas, and I've no intention of editing or censoring the posts of others, whatever I may think of what they have to say. They're all big boys, and can all defend themselves... I understand that Donald and some others of his ilk like to lump folks together, and hold every _____ (Democrat, liberal, "nihilist," ???) responsible for the bad acts of the one _____, (Check out Donald's posts blaming Kos as a whole for any racist/antisemitic comment, or every homosexual marriage protester for the few reported individual acts of prop 8 violence or bigotry) but I refuse to be held to such silly, sweeping generalization standards. I'm willing to accept my own credit or blame, but I've no use for anyone else's...
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Posted to the American Power blog post"(O)CT(O)PUS = CYBER-BULLY" on/at February 16, 2009, 11:30 PM (AmPow blog time)

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