[kj] OT: My Turn in Hell

[fatpotanga]

God, how shitty, especially with your mom.
I hope she's ok. She raised you though so she's gotta be tough :)

As for the work thing, I'm speechless.
Hang in there Alex - it'll all come good.

J


On 27/3/07 02:53, "Alexander Smith" wrote:


> Hey Gathererz.....

> 

> I'm in a bad headspace these days, and am going out of my skull, so

> I'm going to vent here... thanks for reading, if you bother too.

> Certain names have been Googleproofed to prevent stalking. Bear with

> me on this....

> 

> There's some bad shit going on. On Friday, Mom went in for a routine

> check-up, and they found something. Given that we have a history of

> cancer in the family (my grandmother passed away from colon cancer),

> Mom's been going in for check ups pretty regularly for the past

> twenty years. In any case, they found something in her lower

> intestine. They did a sonogram, but it was inconclusive, so they

> thought they'd do a cat-scan. That was all fine and good, but in the

> end, Mom had a *SEVERE* allergic reaction to the dye they used.

> Things got very bad, very quickly and -- suffice to say -- we nearly

> lost her. She's spent the last four days in the hospital. They now

> want to perform a procedure to excise the offending bit from her

> lower intestine (and find out if it's lymphoma, as they're

> suspecting). Trouble is, they haven't nailed down a date for the

> procedure yet, so we're in a frustrating holding pattern at the moment.

> 

> In terms of the *OTHER* problem in my life, ---  In 2002, EmmTeeVee

> news (where I've worked since the beginning of `06) published an item

> in the "For The Record" section (a daily round-up of small news-items

> that don't warrant full story treatment). This was an item about

> rapper MasterPee suing a "cybersquatter" who had reserved the domain

> name of a website (in this case, "n* l*mit records dot com") in bad

> faith (in other words, let's say Rob's Arse  suddenly got famous, and

> some crackpot beat you to the punch and legally reserved the name of

> RobsArse Dot Com for his own devices and tried to extort money from

> you as a result). Blah blah blah, it went to arbitration, and they

> courts found in favor of MasterPee (ironic, as both the rapper and

> the label -- in 2007 -- are all but a memory). In any case, here in

> 2007, we got a call last Monday from one Doctor D*** M**. Dr. M** was

> the *other* participant in the lawsuit (i.e. the "cybersquatting"

> opportunist in question). At the time, I should point out, I didn't

> know any of this, and Dr. M** came off as a perfectly polite reader

> with a discrepancy. He calls to say our item is inaccurate, and can

> we take it down. I ask him to forward me the link and we'll review it

> (stupidly giving him my e-mail address in the process).

> 

> Here's where the fun begins.

> 

> We review the item. Being that it's from 2002 , we have no record of

> who wrote it (For the Record items get no bylines) and -- fuck --

> it's five years ago, for cryin' out loud. In any event, we do a bit

> of research, find the court documentation and find that our reporting

> is entirely up to scratch. I fire an e-mail back at the man,

> basically saying "thanks for your interest, but we reviewed the item

> and are standing by our reporting."

> 

> At this point, Dr. M gets nuttier than he's already been. He e-mails

> back saying that if we do not reconsider "deleting" the item (which,

> by the way, is something we'd never do. We'd correct or retract, but

> *NEVER* delete. We do have some journalistic integrity, after all),

> he would have "no choice but to gracefully meet with" me "in person

> to discuss the issue." This, to belabor the obvious, is simply not on

> the menu. At this point, I rope in my bosses and -- WAIT FOR IT --

> our legal team.  They review the e-mails and say "yeah, he's nuts --

> engage in no further dialogue with him. We'll handle it from here." I

> sigh with relief. Prematurely, as it turned out.

> 

> Dr. M calls me again. I tell him that I've been instructed by my

> superiors and our legal counsel that I cannot speak with him and that

> any further grievances should be submitted in writing and blah blah

> blah. He's not listening. He tells me he's going to hire a private

> investigator to tail me around (who, to my mind, will be one VERY

> BORED private investigator). I hang up and tell all of this to our

> lawyer, who is swiftly becoming a good friend of mine.

> 

> Our lawyer's name is Vate.  He's a black man. Married. That doesn't

> sound important now, but remember it.

> 

> In any case, a day goes by. Vate then asks me to actually RE-WORD the

> news item in question. It's not that we're altering our reporting,

> it's that we're more clearly spelling it out to avoid any possible

> misinterpretation. I disagree with this (give a madman an inch, after

> all...), but agree. Unsurprisingly, this does not sate Dr. M.

> 

> Dr. M continues to call and e-mail thinly veiled threats to BOTH Vate

> and myself. Vate alerts Viacom security and has my desk outfitted

> with a new phone (one with caller i.d.).

> 

> Half a day passes.

> 

> On Friday morning, we get a new e-mail from Dr. M, saying he's

> launched a new website. I'm named as a "racist", "anti-black", "anti-

> fat" and "anti-heterosexual" person. So is Vate -- who is black. And

> married. Nice, right?

> 

> Shortly after this, I start getting e-mails from an AOL address,

> claiming to be a reporter from the Chicago Tribune, asking if I want

> to respond. Vate checks with the `Tribune. Unsurprisingly, the

> "reporter" in question is not cited as one of their own.

> 

> So, basically, I'm being cyber-harassed. Vate also found the Doctor's

> OTHER site. There's  a picture there of the guy. He's based in

> Tennessee and is of Zimbabweian descent.

> 

> 

> He's clearly fucking out of his tree.

> 

> 

> In any case, that's where it is now. I'm hoping the our legal team

> comes down on him like a fucking hammer, but in the interim, he's

> just being a creepy annoyance. I've excised all instances of my last

> name and my job's name from my own weblog.  It's a fucking hassle.

> 

> 

> That's the story. Thanks for reading/listening.

> 

> 

> Alex in NYC

> 

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