From: tcmay@netcom.com (Timothy C. May)
Date: Mon, 15 Nov 93 15:44:05 PST
To: kovar@nda.com (David Kovar)
Subject: My last words on Larry Detweiler
In-Reply-To: <199311152255.RAA15471@nda.nda.com>
Message-ID: <199311152343.PAA03708@mail.netcom.com>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain


David Kovar had higher hopes:

>   Worse, you can't convince anyone new to the list that you're not
> just a group of children with large egos and complex privacy enhancing
> toys. I've seen a few well written messages in this group and some
> pointers to interesting information, but by far the most volume on
> this list, and the xtropians list for that matter, has been petty
> bickering. I had higher hopes ....

It's unfortunate that many people think others must write interesting
articles for them. I don't want to pick on David, but his comments
underscore the problem. 

If people want interesting stuff, they need to write it! In looking
over my archives, I only found two (2) past messages from David Kovar,
one here about creating false electronic identities and one on
Extropians about he Panix system and its management. (I may have not
saved all of David's posts...if so, I apologize for any
mischaracterization of his contributions.)

As to the flames, I'm as unhappy about it as David is. But what to do
about it? I haven't called for Detweiler to be censored, though I did
take the precaution of nofifying Dewtweiler's postmaster--the first
time I've ever done this--after recieving numerous threatening
messages ("You will be hung by the neck until dead and then sent to
Hell.") and an explicit statement from him that he intended to
continue harassing Eric Hughes and me until we recanted or begged
forgivness or somesuch nonsense.

For more than a month I ignored his public comments and didn't respond
at all to his private letters to me (threats, foamings,
manic-depresssive mood swings....he even tried to enlist my support in
his battle against Hughes...this after calling for my execution just
days earlier!). This didn't work.

It's too bad this is disrupting the list. But, to be blunt, I consider
all the fatuous "why can you just get along?" comments to be equally
disruptive. Several people, notably Hal Finney, Doug Barnes, others,
have stepped into the breach to try to cool Larry's fevered
imagination--for their troubles they were declared to be Tentacles of
the Medusa. Part of the Dark Side of the Force, as Larry sees things.

Detweiler recently sent me e-mail cackling about how proud I must be
of my latest Nym Tentacle, a certain Hal Finney. I guess I'm honored.
Don't know about Hal, though.

What more can I say? I never called for Detweiler to be kicked off,
and I've tried to limit my comments about him to a couple of
explanatory posts.

(I have to struggle with my Neo-Calvinist urges. To a Neo-Calvinist,
ignorance is its own punishment...if people believe false ideas, then
Reality will punish them. "Think of it as evolution in action." Thus,
when Detweiler makes outrageous remarks, those who believe him are
choosing their own punishment. Normally, I thus see no reason to "set
the record straight." I did, however, a while back when many follow-up
posts to Detweiler's began to take his "pseudospoofing" as a fact of
the list, as a starting point. This misapprehension of reality seemed
to be taking on a life of its own, so I wrote a long piece on the
Detweiler matter.)

I intend for this to be my last word on the subject, unless some major
and different kind of information comes to light.

Clearly he is succeeding in pressing a lot of buttons.


--Tim May



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