About death threats and other Usenet potpourri :-)

Well folks, after posting a "Merry Christmas" to everyone and having our
thread of good will and friendly exchanges changed over into a discussion
about death threats thanks to our resident loon John Tarver, I thought I
might dig into this a bit deeper since as usual; from Tarver's rantings I
can't make heads nor tails of what the hell he's talking about :-)
First of all, about the actual threat...or hint of a threat. It's happened
once before. I didn't think it was much to worry about then and I don't now.
People who actually might want to kill someone don't usually go on a world
wide networked Usenet forum and tell everyone about it.........but then
again, it IS Tarver we're talking about here.......so........just to be
safe........ :-)
Tarver and everything even close to containing information that is connected
with Tarver and myself is now as of 10:30PM last night safely in the hands
of a private corporate security agency along with his post containing the
implied threat. As of this moment, no actual threat is envisioned.
This having been dealt with, I'd like to discuss the issue of threats a bit
if you will all bear with me, because I think it can be a serious problem,
especially if the people involved are known to each other or have mutual
contacts in the same industry as do Tarver and myself.
Just a bit of background here if I may.
A while back, some idiot phoned a politician in California and complained
that Mary Shafer was using her computer at Dryden for private business. This
was a stupid and vile act performed by an ex Navy pilot whose name is known
to both Mary and myself and will remain unknown here unless Mary chooses to
mention it. This character apparently had an ax to grind with Mary because
she happened to disagree with another poster on an issue. The poster was a
personal friend of the instigator. I won't get into the details about it
except to say that the result of his call to the politician was exactly as
it should have been; completely a non event for Mary and her excellent
career.
Nothing was done to Mary at Dryden, and indeed nothing should have been
done. There was no reason. She did absolutely nothing wrong and never has
done anything wrong . Mary Shafer and I were friends then and remain friends
to this day.
Now, about Tarver and his death threats!
At the time all this was going down, Mary and I were exchanging some
comments on RAM. Tarver butted in as usual and began making charges about my
possible involvement with these calls. If anyone wants to view the thread
involved, please check out "An Apology to Dudley" on google groups. Tarver's
entire rant is contained there along with all the other pertinent
information. The reason I'm suggesting you view the thread isn't to sustain
any argument I might have with Tarver, but rather that you might see how
dangerous these things can become if they are allowed to go as far as Tarver
has now taken this; to the point of an implied death threat to someone.
You will note if you view the entire thread, that Tarver seems convinced
that I am somehow making calls behind his back to people in the industry
seeking to discredit him.
The fact that this isn't true is irrevelevant. It is however true that
Tarver's name has come up several times within the industry both by my
mentioning him and by him being mentioned by others. This is completely
normal, as Tarver in fact, has apparently made it his life's career to
become known throughout the world as, shall we say, an "interesting"
personality? :-) I have warned him time and time again about the inherent
danger involved with his name coming up in high places in the context he has
chosen to allow himself to be viewed withing the industry......all to no
avail I might add!
The point I'm making here is simply this. It's truly unfortunate when
someone in a high security business like aviation takes on the persona of a
John Tarver. There will be negative results, of this there can be no doubt.
When someone like Tarver just plays the troll game and restricts the usual
Usenet insults and flames back and forth to the usual nonsense, he can get
away with that. But when you're in the business and go public with a death
threat, or even an implied death threat; that can spell real trouble!
As I've said, I don't believe Tarver means his threats. In fact, I have a
security folder on him from the last threat he made that basically tells me
he's just the resident loon he appears to be. But I have no intention of
taking chances with the lives of my family, so I have taken the necessary
steps to insure that John Tarver is well known to one of the largest
security agencies in the country. If John Tarver were to ever actually act
on his implied threat not only to me, but to anyone else, he would be at
this point immediately investigated and arrested. Other than that happening,
he is free to post all the venom and stupidity he wishes to me or anyone
else for that matter.
I can't see how this has helped Tarver in any way, and I would strongly
suggest to him that he cease this kind of behavior and simply go back to
being his usual resident loon persona.
I realize of course that posting this might not have the desired effect on
John Tarver, but it might serve as a general warning to the rest of us who
use Usenet that threats of this kind can be extremely dangerous, if not to
people physically, to the professional reputations of those who post them if
they happen to be in a high security business.
Thank you for your time,
Dudley Henriques
International Fighter Pilots Fellowship
Commercial Pilot/ CFI Retired
For personal email, please replace
the z's with e's.
dhenriquesATzarthlinkDOTnzt