Steven Krivit wrote:
Jed Rothwell and Abd ul-Rahman_Lomax have expressed themselves with
a great deal of rage and outrage . . .
Disgust, not outrage.
Despite their mudslinging and pontification (a popular word here in
Italy), the fact is that Martin's health challenges are far from
private. I learned about Martin's health issues from the CBS 60
Minutes program earlier this year - as did the rest of the world.
I quote: "Martin Fleischmann, the man who announced cold fusion to
the world, is hindered by years, diabetes, Parkinson's disease, and
maybe a little bitterness. At home, he pulled out an improved
version of his experiment, something that he was working on when he
was hounded out of science."
Mentioning that someone has Parkinson's is not an invasion of
privacy. When you see someone with this disease (or something like
it) either in person or in a video it is obvious. Anyone watching me
drink hot coffee for 20 seconds will see the symptoms. It is nothing
to get worked up about.
What Lomax and I object to are gratuitous invasions of privacy such
as detailed descriptions of personal behavior, the choice of therapy,
the fact that some people consider the doctor a quack, or a
description of the caretaker Freilino (who is a nice young man doing
a fine job). These things are all off limits. They are personal;
private; none of your damn business. And who the heck thinks it is
newsworthy that a sick man in his 80s decides cancel an
appointment?!? This is not surprising, significant, and a polite
person will not mention it except to say, "we had an appointment but
regrettably Fleischmann did not feel up to it." These ridiculous
insinuations that he is being controlled by Freilino are out of line
and completely without foundation.
As I said before, it is bad enough being old and sick. Who the heck
wants to see the details spewed on the Internet? Who needs nitwits
coming to your door and asking nosy questions? Frankly, if I were
Bill Beaty, I would delete this whole thread and ban Krivit if he
does not stop this nonsense.
Krivit apparently never learned grown-up manners or the concept of
privacy, and he makes a mountain out of a molehill. An imaginary molehill!
It is regrettable that this field attracts so many dysfunctional people.
- Jed
