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Death Threats In the Blogosphere
Several readers have written in about the death threats and threats of sexual harm that have been directed at tech blogger Kathy Sierra. She is the author of a number of books about Java and a popular speaker at conferences. She has now stopped blogging and cancelled her appearance at eTech. She names the names of four prominent bloggers who are backers of two sites on which the threats were posted. Others in the blogosphere like Robert Scoble and Tim Bray have posted publicly in support of Sierra. Scoble in particular emphasizes the streak of misogyny that is still all too evident in the tech world. The Washington Post is also grappling with the issue of vile comment posts that flirt with illegality. One commenter on Bray's post summed it up: "The Internet used to be a university. Then it became a shopping mall. But now, it's a war zone."
"fuck off you boring slut... i hope someone slits your throat and cums down your gob"
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that is not a death threat.
Sick photoshop images are not a death threat.
Sick comment are not a death threat.
I didn't see any examples that qualified as a death threat.
Locking your self in your home will not stop jack. Go to yor conferences and schedule yourself not to be alone if you must, but your fear is what they want. Only you can give it to them.
Sexual threats are not about sex, they are about control.
Don't let them control you.
Posting AC because of the huge vigilante attitude that has grip
SO called thinking people reacting emotionally.
Oh you beat me to it... the issue is serious, but at the same time... there are so many jokes.
It's *amazing* how well the media has turned so many people into hateful bots. No, before you post...this isn't a matter of ideas, it's a matter of programming. To wit:
1. The unreasonable hatred of Carl Rove and Donald Rumsfeld: these people have never killed anyone, never escaped from a wreck and hid it, have never set anyone or anything on fire, there's no reason for the typical college student to hate them with the kind of anger that kills...yet they do. Ask one: they'll say "he's not for America" and "He's an evil man!" yet they have not one instance for their hatred.
2. The bogus mindset that world peace isn't worth even one military life. In Vietnam men were shooting themselves in the leg to go home; Kerry could have been one of those. In Iraq they're voluntarily signing up for repeat tours. While the million-plus members of the military lost a typical 1023 men in 2002 (before the war) from suicides, drug overdoses and various other reasons, a mere 800 in a war is "horrific" and "disasterous". Never mind the 600 dead bodies returning home each week from Vietnam.
There are dozens of ideals like this, each with no validity, are being foisted onto the barely-paying-attention youth, and making them crazy. They'll even claim to be "moderate" or "independent" and "never watch CNN" while spewing the exact same headlines posted there.
Something's up. This isn't normal. What would suspend these people's autonomy just to change results of the election?
--- For a good time mail uce@ftc.gov
There is a really easy way to stop rape...
Consent!
I'm not getting into another pointless flamewar about gnu control, thanks. Go jerk off somewhere else.
Hail Eris, full of mischief...
E pluribus sanguinem