I posted this comment to the Kathy Sierra blog late afternoon, after she received a death threat.  I respect and subscribe to her blog, and the notion that she gave up a conference, and has stopped blogging is unfathomable. 

This is just wrong. This / these guys) have a problem, and I have encountered this irrationality from one of them before, so if its him, I am NOT surprised. I note none of the names mentioned have denied responsibility, and claimed horror at their names being used this way.

Hang in there Kathy … its a small step, but everyone should unsubscribe from any blogs of these people. Your blog is too valuable, and whomever is responsible is obviously a weak coward.

This event is a turning point though in terms of understanding the degree to which personal information ought to be fully available online.  I understand the leaders posting their cell phone on their site, but this situation certainly suggests any woman will think twice, and rightly so.

I have an example of one of the alleged perpetrators  … a few weeks ago Tara had what I believed to be a fabulous post, and one of the individuals mentioned in Kathy’s matter wrote this response.  Search for “slut” on that page and you will find the comment in its glory.

Colin, you ignorant slut. What possible relevance do ….

and

Henry Ford? You gotta be kidding me. Henry Ford was Hitler’s inspiration for the Holocaust. Even had a full length portrait of Ford hanging over his desk in the Third Reich. Henry Ford bought out a newspaper for the sole purpose of reprinting the Protocols of the Elders of Zion, long known to be a forgery, along with four years worth of the most poisonous antisemitic spew you can imagine. Google Ford Protocols Elders Zion and you’ll end up on some very active neo-Nazi sites. How “mojo” is that?

I ignored it, but it bothered me.  These are not the words of a normal, rational person.  Particularly not, since the topic on the post was concerning “higher purpose” of a site/ company/ person.