From time to time we
receive emails from people complaining about the site and the fact that: 1) they
have been mentioned (although we tend to stick to the traditional first name
plus initial or their nick name or even one we have assigned to them ourselves
eg. The Venerable C – which “Honourable Member” incidentally is about to grace
the Bristol Reunion with his august presence – but more on that later!); 2)
their group has been alluded to; 3) the name of their cat has been misspelt etc,
and, thereafter (and occasionally), flourishing the “(L)ibel ” word at us or
even the “(D)efamation)” word, and, finally (and most recently), the “(S)lander”
tag. However - and for the very first time - the "S" word has been waved in our
direction and this without the person (or his group) even being mentioned on our
site (until now that is!).
See the following
interchange of mails:
“From: Jim B***
Subject: Slanderous statements on your blog
To: "aa_cultwatch.......
Date: Tuesday, 23 August, 2011, 21:33
Please remove all references to me and the alcoholics anonymous group i attend that have been posted on your site.
All references to: "Jim
B***" or "Jim B." And "The Sponsorship Group"
They are not
true.
These statements have
caused me irreparable financial harm.
Yours truly,
Jim B***
908-***-****On Aug 23, 2011, at 5:54 PM, aa cultwatch wrote:
Well the only reference
we can find in the section to which you refer to a Jim B is to someone who is
dead? Perhaps you'd care to elucidate
From: Jim B***
Subject: Re: Slanderous
statements on your blog
To: "aa cultwatch"
Date: Tuesday, 23 August, 2011, 23:07
I am alive and
well.
Jim B***
908-***-****
From: aa cultwatch
Subject: Re: Slanderous
statements on your blogTo: "Jim B****”
Date: Wednesday, 24 August, 2011, 6:16
We repeat. The only references on our site are to a Jim B who was a contemporary of Bill W. However we have done a search of your name and the Sponsorship group and the results do incline us to further investigation.”
(our edits)
….. which of course we did. It seems there DOES exist a Jim B and he IS associated with something called the Sponsorship Group based in Chatham, New Jersey (Sunday nights 8:30pm, Chatham, NJ, at the Presbyterian church on Southern Boulevard), and, by and large (or so we discovered), the comments on the net are hardly flattering concerning this operation (some references to “Midtown” cropped up – hardly a recommendation!). Moreover (and perhaps not so coincidentally) we received an email shortly thereafter (from another source) which went into some detail on the activities of this group, and for all of which the expression “hardly flattering” would be something of an understatement! Of course we're always willing to be corrected on an error and it may well be that Jim B might in fact be quite entitled to be outraged by our previously non-existent “slanderous” comments. However you will note that we have not asserted that any of this is true – simply that we have received some rather odd emails from the Chatham New Jersey area concerning Jim B and the Sponsorship Group (or maybe someone does have a guilty conscience?).
Cheerio
The Fellas (Friends
of Alcoholics Anonymous)
(our thanks to our
reporters in the US)
