Mea Culpas

[Seventhsonjr]

To Jeff Wells and the RI community:<br><br>I wanted to apologize to all of you, especially the innocent, upon whom I am often quite tough.<br><br>I have been the victim of online assaults and attacks on my credibility and even have had my family threatened due to my online activism.<br><br>With the death of my friend Andy Stephenson, I have been exceptionally hypersensitive about agents provocateurs online and elsewhere.<br><br>Death at the nhands of socalled "dark actors" is a very real possibility for those who seek the truth and to spread the truth.<br><br>I and my family and colleagues were also the victim of Cointelpro balckops. So my radar for these things is very intense.<br><br>Anyone whom I've offended by my caustic remarks please forgive me. The hallmark of justice and truth-seeking is, after all, love of humanity. I am prone to be impatient and intolerant of those who appear to me to be obfuscating and dissembling (even when they are innocently posting things which interest them)<br><br>But I LOOK for provocateurs and blackoperators constantly. I watch the patterns, i engage them. I attempt to bring them out into the light where they can be exposed. And they will pretend to be on your side. Your best friend. Your ally. Your lover.<br><br>And then the stilleto comes and pierces you from the shadows.<br><br>So forgive me my trespsses against those whom really don't deserve it. Those who do deserve it won't forgive me anyway.<br><br>Questions? I have been at this a LONG LONG time.<br><br>My enemies are legion.<br><br>My allies, though, are the best.<br><br>Salaam/Shalom<br><br>7thson <p></p><i></i>

[Dreams End]

My experience (learned the hard way from doing this incorrectly) is to deal with behavior and not speculate on motivation. If someone is engaging in provocateur type actions, call him or her on those actions. We can't know for sure someone's motivation anyway. More frustratingly, even if we DO know with some certainty that someone is an agent or whatever, we often have no way to "prove" that to the community. Sticking to the behavior itself prevents some really long, nasty battles...the very types of energy draining battles that real agents are wanting to provoke in the first place. <br><br>And if they are simply agents and not provocateurs, take a page from some veteran activists I know. Put them to work! In order to find acceptance in a group, they can be among the hardest workers. Hey, if you aren't doing anything illegal and they aren't doing anything to undermine...why not? <br><br>Finally, I do NOT agree that the struggle against all these forces will always be by legal means. Especially as what is legal continues to be narrowed. For example, it could be illegal to peacefully assemble during code red. Would we not advocate breaking that law? We may have different opinions about what is needed, ultimately, and what forms the struggle will take, but out of respect and security, refraining from calls for violence online, especially on someone ELSE's forum, is just common sense. <p></p><i></i>