[Katrina-IT-Volunteers] followup on the incendiary "katrina" thread

[Chip Rosenthal]

A couple of final notes and comments on that "katrina" thread that
offended so many of our list members.

First, thanks for the patience and understanding of all the list
members during this incident.  Particular thanks to those who composed
thoughtful responses, but were understanding (or, at least, accepting)
when I rejected those messages to get the thread closed down hard.

Second, thanks to Ka Tresca, for following up with Dr. Johnston, whose
name was attached to the bottom of the forwarded note, thus leading many
to believe he was the original author.  (Turns out, he wasn't.)

I (and probably many others) forwarded that message to the amazing
Snopes web site.  Snopes did choose to investigate and posted their
finding yesterday.  If you have any further interest in this matter,
I strongly urge you to visit their page:

http://www.snopes.com/katrina/personal/volunteer.asp

(I love Snopes to bits.)

Finally, Dr. Johnston has composed an apology for his part in
propagating this horrible email.  I'll include it below.

> From: Ricky Johnston
> Subject: Clarifying the story re: volunteering in Houston
> 
> Dear all,
> 
> I found your email addresses among the many messages that I have been
> sent and wanted to write to all of you myself and clarify the situation
> surrounding the email re: a person's experience volunteering in Houston,
> TX.  I did not write the story but I did regrettably copy it from an
> internet message board where it was posted anonymously and then forward
> it on to some friends. When I did so, my email block signature (w/ all of
> my contact info) was inadvertently attached to the bottom of it, causing
> people to mistakenly attribute the authorship to me. I'm asking everyone
> to please delete the message, but if you do decide to forward it on,
> please delete my name and contact info from the bottom of it.  Also,
> please "reply all" to the person who sent it to you and let them know
> that I am not the author and do not wish to have my name associated with
> it. I can't confirm the validity of the statement as I did not witness it
> or speak to anyone who did. I have not even been to Houston in 10 years.
> In the days after the hurricane, I spent nearly 4 days straight at the
> VA medical center here in Jackson, caring for many displaced veterans
> who had nowhere else to turn.
> 
> Some of you may have already received a message similar to this from
> someone else.  If so, I apologize for the duplicate message, but at the
> same time, I'm glad b/c that means the word is being passed.  Please ask
> those that sent this to you or that you received it from to pass the
> word as well.
> 
> Here are several links related to this issue:
> 
> 1. Snopes article on the subject -
> 
> http://www.snopes.com/katrina/personal/volunteer.asp
> 
> 2. What appears to be the original posting of the story (but I found it a
> different site where it had been copied from this one).
> 
> http://blog.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.view&friendID=22714973&blogID=45938031&Mytoken=20050903210145
> 
> 3. A link to the profile of the guy who is appears was the original
> author -
> 
> http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendID=22714973&Mytoken=3E3AD5F8-D705-4A4E-9425917684FF6135639632828
> 
> I am very sorry for the situation that this has created and never meant
> harm or ill will to any group of people.  I also never intended for this
> to be passed around the country.  In addition, I would never want this
> to cause people to not volunteer their time or donate money or goods,
> b/c there are a lot of people here in the south who desperately need help.
> 
> I have attached a copy of the above in a Word file so that if you chose
> to, you can forward it to others who may have received this.
> 
> Thanks for your help in clarifying this situation,
>  Ricky Johnston

-- 
Chip Rosenthal * chip at unicom.com * http://www.unicom.com/
W00t!  I have a weblog! * http://www.unicom.com/chrome/