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Above is one of the most vile emails as I have ever witnessed on NV. I have received a few types of emails too, from those on the left, but this is the most reprehensible one I have ever had the displeasure of witnessing. I found the email sent to my good friend, Pat N, to be despicable, and beneath the decency of even the lowest form of animal life. Shame on whoever sent that... SHAME, SHAME, SHAME! Sadly, it appears that person, who is a part of the NV community, is so low as to be incapable of being shamed.
Whatever the spectrum of political persuasion you are, this kind of vitriolic, hateful rhetoric is not only disgusting but it is also considered "hate speech" and "cyberstalking". I am appalled (but not surprised) that someone would stoop this low on NV. This is a new low for NV (and the arguing and questioning, even toward a guide, who had access to the NV logs, on that seed) is beyond comprehension.
According to the National Center for Vicitms of Crime:
Cyberstalkers target their victims through chat rooms, message boards, discussion forums, and e-mail. Cyberstalking takes many forms such as: threatening or obscene e-mail....Similar to stalking off-line, online stalking can be a terrifying experience for victims, placing them at risk of psychological trauma, and possible physical harm. Many cyberstalking situations do evolve into off-line stalking, and a victim may experience abusive and excessive phone calls, vandalism, threatening or obscene mail, trespassing, and physical assault.
http://www.ncvc.org/ncvc/main.aspx?dbName=DocumentViewer&DocumentID=32458
There are penalties for cyberstalking:
Recent federal law has addressed cyberstalking as well. The Violence Against Women Act, passed in 2000, made cyberstalking a part of the federal interstate stalking statute.
(Sourced above) and:
Federal law makes it a crime to "transmit in interstate commerce" (which includes the internet) a communication containing a threat to kidnap or physically harm someone.
http://criminal.findlaw.com/criminal-charges/harassment.html.
**I think "a lot of us have your email address now" and "take your _____or hear from us" should and would be considered a threat...and who exactly is the "US"?**
Additionally, it could be considered hate speech toward a "disabled person":
In crime and law, hate crimes (also known as bias-motivated crimes) occur when a perpetrator targets a victim because of his or her perceived membership in a certain social group, usually defined by racial group, religion, sexual orientation, disability, class, ethnicity,nationality, age, gender, gender identity, social status or political affiliation.[1]
A hate crime is a legal category used to described bias-motivated violence: "assault, injury, and murder on the basis of certain personal characteristics: different appearance, different color, different nationality, different language, different religion."[2]
"Hate crime" generally refers to criminal acts that are seen to have been motivated by bias against one or more of the types above, or of their derivatives. Incidents may involve physical assault, damage to property, bullying, harassment, verbal abuse or insults, or offensive graffiti or letters (hate mail).[3]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disability_hate_crime
Is this what it has come to in America? Are the lines being drawn? Is this the end of civility when we can't even address people with some form of common decency? Is it so BAD in America (or our world, since I do not know the origin of that email) that we bully and disparage someone in such a vile manner because they disagree with us? Because they have a strong opinion? Because they ask someone to prove the facts of his case when he has been disproven? They disparage someone with a disability, and then use that disability as a battering ram? Good heavens, people. I have seen a lot of things on NV and something like this happened to Pat last year, but this is by far the worst incident I have ever witnessed in my 3+ years on NV. When a person resorts to that kind of disgusting hate speech and cyberstalking because they don't like someone, or what they stand for, or that they have backed a friend into a corner, that has gone too far...PERIOD!
You may not have agreed with Pat N, she was, after all, as tenacious and an excellent debater..and she could snark with the best of them!! She had friends of all stripes on NV and she was as genuine a person as you will ever meet...you didn't wonder about where she stood on issues.
If you ever read anything about her personal life (and I can't access it now), you would have seen that she came from a pretty rough upbringing, but in spite of that, or maybe because of that, she developed a fierce determination. She made something of herself and became a very successful businesswoman. You would have known that it was difficult for her to type because of her Parkinson's (she gave me some really good advice for my brother who was diagnosed a couple of years ago with the same disease) and because of that, I always felt it an honor and privilege when she dropped by one of my seed because she always brought something to the table that I hadn't thought of, a different perspective, and knowing that a lengthy reply would require some effort. You would also have known that she has a daughter who is in the military and has a passion for our troops and that her efforts on NV went beyond the political...but some of you wouldn't have known that because all you saw was that she was"the enemy" or different than you, that she came from a different political stripe than you...and that is all you cared to see. Shame on you.
She brought a lot to NV and she will be missed. I don't blame her though...you can only stand so much and cyberstalking and hate speech might have done the same for me. I hope that if she happens to see this somehow, that Pat will reconsider her involvement on NV, because bullies should never be allowed to win; but again, I would understand her reluctance to do so. I also hope that Pat N pursues legal action against the person who sent this email...ISP's are easily traced... and I hope NV will pursue the person who sent this to her and that they will be banned. This is certainly NOT the kind of person who abides by the "spirit of NV", now, is it?
Pat, wherever you are, good luck and Godspeed. And here's a little song I hear for the first time tonight...it kinda reminded me of you:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vmKsCMgROCQ
God bless!
NOTE: Do not bring the drama of the other article over here. This is NOT about that...this is about a bully who sent a threatening email to another viner and forced Pat N to feel the need to close her account. You may feel free to address the person who did that, as they are apart of NV apparently, or if there is something you wish to say to Pat or about Pat that is not more of the same, feel free but any continuing drama from the other seed will be deleted. You have been warned.
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