the extremists/ be careful

[Kathleen Moon]

"Kondla, Norbert FOR:EX" wrote:

> Well said. And furthermore, I wonder how Neil would like it if the "poacher"
> - or anyone else - posted a note accusing Neil of posting psychotic drivel
> and showing signs of mental instability.  The unavoidable consequence of
> free spech is that we will from time to time see rudeness and childish
> name-calling cloaked in the mantel of moral indignation. Neil, most of us
> recognize that you have a low opinion of poachers in general and one poacher
> in particular.  I think you have eloquently expressed your opinion on this
> point numerous times over the years and you can now stop doing so

***Alright.  Enough!!***

Neil has followed this case quite closely, and in a perfectly civilized manner,
and documented what has happened in this case very well.  It so happens that
Neil probably has the most complete record of the email and newsgroup postings
the fellow sent out.  It also so happens that he is not the only one who thinks
along those lines about the poor bloke.  While it is true that the legal aspects
of insanity, psychosis and other medical conditions do require more care in
public (or private) communications than some others, the feloow concerned did go
out of his way to make himself quite obnoxious to many of us.  Noone needs a
dozen PhDs in any subject, or even one (even psychology or psychiatry), to be
able to determine this in his correspondence.  This seems to have escaped
certain people and these latter continue from time to time to blindly support
his positions.  Whether this be out of sympathy for him or not, I happen to
think that the time for such talk passed about five or six years ago.  May I
therefore ask that the fellow's status as a convicted felon be noticed and
accepted together with the reasons for said conviction?  May I further ask that
the matter be laid to rest once and for all?  Society has spoken through a court
trial and the verdict, especially since, as far as I know, it was not followed
up with action to attempt to overturn it, should stand uncontested.

> -----Original Message-----
> From: lutzrun at AVALON.NET [mailto:lutzrun at AVALON.NET]
> Sent: Sunday, January 21, 2001 4:28 PM
> To: leps-l at lists.yale.edu
> Subject: Re: the extremists/ be careful
>
> Neil Jones wrote:
>
> "The most obvious case was 6 or 7 years ago when one of the
> poachers was on Leps-l posting psychotic drivel (or "historic postings" as
> he put it) about how he had been the victim of a conspiracy.
> Despite his showing signs of  mental instability (Delusions of grandeur,
>  paranoia etc. ) he had people supporting his position."
>
> With all due respect for Mr. Jones's intelligence, and with no intention of
> initiating unpleasantness, I beg ALL the leps-ers to be very careful with
> these specific clinical diagnostic titles ('psychotic,' 'paranoia').
>
> These are formal diagnoses, and are taken quite seriously as illnesses that
> can have social consequences.  If you identify a person as having one of
> these mental illnesses, but cannot prove that the person really is ill
> (something you could only do via access to their private medical records),
> the person could potentially take legal action on the grounds of slander.
>
> I am married (for better or for worse) into the medical profession, and
> these people take their diagnoses with great gravity.  These are not terms
> to be tossed around as casual epithets.  The issue is not whether you might
> possibly be right about that individual, but whether you can prove your
> allegations.  If not, for your own safety, please be careful.  Accusing
> people of being mentally ill is a long, long way from discussing
> lepidoptera, and is actionable.
>
> Speaking of which, I still have no leps news.  Not even a non-leps specimen
> from a bag of frozen veggies.  And the sidewalks are still a bit too icy
> for me to indulge in a favorite winter activity:  hunting for cocoons while
> running.  Yes, I do collect these (when I find them).  When the moths hatch
> I often take them into classrooms and use them to teach children about
> insects.  I can get a lot of mileage from one lep.  (Sometimes 20-60 kids
> in one day, depending on my time and the school schedules.)  Afterwards I
> usually mate the moths, raise the offspring, and release some into the
> wild.  (Others may end up in classrooms, like Mom or Dad moth . . . )
>
> In Stride,
> Martha Rosett Lutz
>
>
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