markj

Mark I understand your concern and appreciate your warning to others but honestly I would not worry it much if I were you and I think the advice you gave your wife was on the mark, no pun intended.

Being a frequent writer of articles and letters to the press for over 20 years now, along with a myriad of comments in the comment sections, and having discussed similar issues with Cheri Mathews in person; I doubt seriously if she would turn over names of anyone to anyone regarding anything printed or written unless it was directly related to a threat of physical violence against a person they perceived was real. Even then that information then would most likely only be turned over to law enforcement personnel who would be investigating such threats of violence as a matter of law and we, the general public would not be provided that information.

While I deplore the personal attacks I have seen both in the comment sections and the written press, they are in her mind (as of our last discussion on the topic) and mine as well, simply people using there rights of free speech guaranteed under our First Amendment and blowing off steam.

Now it is true she may have changed her thinking on this since our last discussion but if she has I am not aware of it.

There is a civil law Defamation of Character issue that might be mounted, however such things in open and unregulated forums like this would be difficult to prosecute and any lawyer taking on such a case would probably have to launch such a case utilizing his own resources with a very likely result, as has been evident in virtually all of those cases before, of failure.

Given what we have historically seen when the press itself launched an effort to investigate the private correspondance of emails and comments of other individuals, I don't really seeing them taking any other posture than what they are exhibiting as of today.

Of course I could be wrong. The press, after all, is a private enterprise and can do what they deem necessary to run their business.

However if they did decide to offer this information to others like Al or anyone else who is attempting to mount this type of action, I would think they themselves would be stepping into a right to privacy issue and a free speech issue and loose such a case simply because for years they have not taken much of a response either way to steer the way that people write or comment.

I have known key members of the Mathews family for a long time now and while they may not do everything that people like or don't like, they are very good business people and such an act in their part, in my mind, might very be detrimental in their already difficult to run business as a result of a loss of business due to the Internet.

In their case they could very well win the battle, but because of public opinion, a public they are dependant upon to run their newspaper, loose the war. This is not a good thing if you are attempting to run a business for your own personal livelihood.

In short since they have not, to my knowledge, done anything like this in the past, save for emails of a City Councilperson and the Lab, and given the overall outcome of that particular case, I doubt very seriously if any of the legal allegations Al has been making in these areas would meet with their cooperation.

Personally I don’t see a civil court of law, where such matters would be decided, would take on the task of ordering the Tracy Press to release that type of information to anyone.

If the court did it would certainly be a news breaking moment and very interesting to see the outcome. But this would be the exception, rather than the rule, as I have seen very few such things done by the civil courts in the past with any news media outlet.

One only needs to examine the news concerning the town hall meetings, what has been going on in those meetings and what civil legal actions have been taken.

Certainly a lot more threats of criminal violence and civil defamation of character has occurred in those meetings and I really don't see any civil or criminal legal actions as a result of it. But I could be wrong.

Dave Hardesty

Here's a fact about Al. I have written a good number of letters which have been printed in The Press. One was in response to a rambling letter by Al that did not contain one fact based acusation towards former President Bush. My letter contained nothing but facts to repudiate everything Al mentioned. I did not write one disparaging thing about Al, other than asking what his beef was.

He responds by calling me brain dead, saying I should drive a car off a cliff and take Bush with me, etc, etc, blah, blah, blah.

Next thing you know I receive an envelope in the mail at what is now my former business, and guess who it's from? Al. He must have googled my name and found it through my business listing. It had a letter from him telling me how he was going to call Cheri, his attorney, and whoever else, sue me, I'm a terrible person, blah, blah, blah. When I told my wife she was pretty concerned until I calmed her dawn by saying I thought Al was a little nuts, but not dangerous.

Just thought the rest of you would like a heads up as to who you, and what, you are dealing with.

If Al recieved a list of named from Cheri Mathews and a list from his caller ID that match he should go to the police. But why would the Matthews allow that information to go to Al?

Shouldn't it go to the police IF they show up with a warrant and NOT out the side/back door to someone like Al?

Too much missing information.

After reading Al's comments I'm confused about the purpose of the Tracy Press website. Is it a club? Political gain?

Will there be an investigation?

TP is not supposed to give out that info, but who knows who is actaully working there and has access???

I'd like to think there is no connection between the bloggers and the people harrassing Al, but I would'nt rule it out either.

The question was response to Al Galaviz's comment where he said he will "mention ... by name". How does Al (TP Consultant?) acquire the "names"? From Matthews?

Interesting that you think the TP is giving out names and email addresses of those folks who patronize their website? Wouldn't they be violating a confidentiality of their customers? If an organization were to pull such a stunt don't you think they should be investigated because such tactics could easily have been used for political gain?

So Al, is everybody gonna get $100k? How long will it take before the taxcollectors look like Roman Soldiers shaking us upside down for everything we got? Remember socialism and Tear Down this Wall? I'd rather have a job with benefits and a roof over my head.

I'd be willing to believe them if they could provide us with an economy. Where are all our jobs? And yours too? Overseas?

I do hope Al did call Stanford, it is a very respectable University with breakthroughs in medical field. Confident with that University.

Good luck.

CN

I had to agree with the letter when it said.

"Our government is in no position to provide health care or health insurance, because it has shown with many other programs that it is unable to provide an effective and efficient service model. Need I remind readers about struggles with commonly used government-run programs such as the DMV and unemployment at the state level? Or the blatant inefficiencies in providing basic supplies to survivors of Hurricane Katrina and the late payments to auto dealers for the ever-so-popular Cash for Clunkers program?"

Remember how student loans increased tuitions.

Al,

Instead of comments like this:

"With people like you who needs terrorist, we already have a town of rude, arrogant, stupid people that lack compassion and mercy.".

Why not ask the TP to sponsor a fundraiser to help out? I'm sure if people didn't feel insulted they would be more willing to pitch in as a community?

Just a suggestion.

I wonder what happened to Stanford?

Best of luck! But, I really doubt this will pass. Better that they would have focused on jobs to get folks employed instead of getting everyone riled up like this.

So sorry, should have read, they may be able to help you. If not, try Boston State University. You may have to pay for your own transportation and lodging.

CN

And can someone please finally explain to us how the above letter could be considered "slander"?

One more recommendation to Al, try Duke University of North Carolina, they may help you. Best of luck.

CN

Wait a minute. Who rund the UC system (UCLA and Stanford)? I'm curious to know exactly who are the ones charging $10 to $20k?

BTW, was that another Copy/Paste?

I'm not embarrassed.

I don't think we should automatically assume the connection between those that made threatening phone calls and those bloggers here.

Unless Al's claim is true about the harassing phone numbers? But with all seriousness, I will have to wait to see the next letter he mentioned.

There are too many missing details here.

But good luck with your insurance problems.

Job loss is a big problem right now. If you don't qualify for Medicare and can't find work you're kinda hosed.

Seems like the economy is just getting worse too.

I think it's good that the TP tried to help you out finding you a job.

Most liberals don't realize how bad the economy really is.

I know Al, I am embarrassed. I wish you well and healthcare reform should have been done years ago. Those who speak so horribly here to you will not know truly how you feel until they are in your shoes, God Forbid. Losing a job and subsequent helath insurance has crippled many families.

However, I think this is the wrong time and from what I have read it may be the wrong policy. Saying that, I admit I have not read it all...so those thoughts are subject to change. Though I do admit I think we need to get the economy back on track, get our troops home and then we may be in better shape to get this thing done and done right.

Bless you and only well wishes from me to you and your family.