WARNING TO USERS AND READERS OF TODD EATON'S
PROTEST LIST:
EATON ADDS UNTRUE STATEMENTS TO THE EVENTS LISTINGS!
Last month, I sent Todd Eaton (redscares@mindspring.com; nyprotest-editor@lists.riseup.net)
an event announcement for the NY Protest List (nyprotest@lists.riseup.net). I
had previously sent him many event announcements from several different
organizations, and he published them as written. This time, however, he altered
my announcement without my permission and sent out his altered version. It made
it appear that the event was sponsored by an organization that was not a
sponsor, and whose name appeared nowhere in the announcement I sent.
Subsequently, Eaton sent out a "correction." But his "correction" made matters
worse. In it, he made a new false allegation, linking the sponsoring
organization to a third organization, one whose politics are actually
antithetical to those of the sponsor. This false association could well damage
both the sponsor and the organization that Eaton had first wrongly identified as
a sponsor.
Over three weeks ago, I complained to Eaton about his these misrepresentations.
I asked him to print a retraction of his allegations. I also asked him to
refrain from altering or commenting untruthfully upon events listings of the
groups whose events I help to publicize. He has answered me only "go away" and
"stop writing me."
He also "unsubscribed" me from the list.
Then he set about attacking me personally, in a series of e-mails addressed to
the organization that he first falsely claimed was a sponsor of the event. He
wrote to a person in that organization, suggesting that if they would shut me
up, he would continue to print its events, although he would not print
announcements by the organization who sponsored the event I had sent in. When
the organization he wrote to attempted to settle the problem, he insulted that
organization, accusing it of attempting to extort money from him, and then cut
it off from being allowed to list announcements as well.
(FOR A DETAILED CHRONOLOGY OF THE EVENTS THAT TRANSPIRED, AND SUPPORTING
DOCUMENTATION, SEE BELOW.)
I demand that Eaton retract his false statements. I demand that he assure those
whose events he announces that he will seek permission before altering their
announcements, and that he will refrain from adding false commentary. I demand
that he permit me to subscribe to the Protest list, and that he publish the
announcements I send to him, as he did previously.
For further information, and/or to assist in the struggle for justice in this
matter, please contact me.
Anne
anticensorshipgroup@hotmail.com
April 28, 2006
==========
CHRONOLOGY AND DOCUMENTATION
(1) On March 18, 2006, Anne sent an announcement to Eaton’s list about a series
of News and Letters meetings; the subject line of her e-mail was “Listing for
March 26 + events.” Eaton printed it March 19 with his substitution for the
subject line, “new space Mar 26 + events.” This made it appear as if the event
was sponsored by The New SPACE, which is a wholly distinct organization. Here is
the announcement as he sent it out:
From: Todd Eaton <redscares@mindspring.com>
Reply-To: nyprotest-editor@lists.riseup.net
To: nyprotest@lists.riseup.net
Subject: new space Mar 26 + events Date: Sun, 19 Mar 2006 00:41:44 -0500
From: "Anne J" <annenewyork @ hotmail.com>
Subject: Listing for Mar 26 + events
Date: Sat, 18 Mar 2006 12:16:35 -0500
DEVELOPING A PHILOSOPHICALLY GROUNDED ALTERNATIVE TO CAPITALISM
A series of 6 discussions on the central perspective of News and Letters
Committees developing a philosophically grounded alternative to existing society
in today’s ongoing struggles against racism, sexism, imperialist war, and
capitalism.
“[Today’s realities] show that simply saying ‘no’ does not represent a forward
step in the movement for liberation. Much, much more is demanded. The key is not
whether one opposes specific aspects of today’s reality but whether one develops
a concept of the transcendence of capitalism. If the radical movement refrains
from the arduous theoretic and practical labor needed to meet that challenge, it
will repeat the errors of the past instead of posing a viable alternative.”
Marxist-Humanist Perspectives Thesis for 2005-2006
_______________________________________________________________________
Alternate Sundays at 7:00 p.m. beginning March 26. Free.
Location: 39 West 14th Street, Rm. 205 (Identity House ring buzzer 205 and come
to 2nd floor), Manhattan (north side of 14th St., between 5th and 6th Aves.;
take any train to 14th St. or Union Square).
Sponsored by New York News and Letters Committee
Readings available on request. E-mail arise@newsandletters.org or call (212)
663-3631 to obtain literature and further information. Check our website for
selected class readings, including Perspectives: www.newsandletters.org
[…]
(2) On April 4, 2006, Eaton sent out a message, under the subject line “News and
Letters calendar (correction).” Preceding the above News and Letters class
series announcement, he inserted the following. Note that he alleges,
incorrectly, that the News and Letters classes take place at the International
Action Center.
“[Weeks ago, I managed to inaccurately describe this calendar below, from the
Marxist Humanists of New York News and Letters Committee, as being a calendar
from the unaffiliated New SPACE (The New School for Pluralistic Anti-Capitalist
Education) project. Although Anne has also posted New SPACE calendars here
before, this calendar's events are at a different venue, International Action
Center. Oops, sorry. Anyway who knows what I was thinking. I need a co-editor
now and I need to stop doing this nonsense by, say, Jan. 1, 2007. -t. ] “
(3) On April 4, 2006, Anne wrote the following private letter to Eaton in
response to the message that he sent out earlier that day. She asked for a
public retraction of his false statement that linked News and Letters to the
International Action Center. She also asked him to refrain from improperly
altering events listings sent to him.
Dear Todd Eaton,
You have made a huge error in an editorial note that you added to your calendar
listing of the announcement for News and Letters' series on "Developing a
Philosophically Grouded Alternative to Capitalism." You've prefaced our
announcement with the following:
[Weeks ago, I managed to inaccurately describe this calendar below, from the
Marxist Humanists of New York News and Letters Committee, as being a calendar
from the unaffiliated New SPACE (The New School for Pluralistic Anti-Capitalist
Education) project. Although Anne has also posted New SPACE calendars here
before, this calendar's events are at a different venue, International Action
Center. Oops, sorry. Anyway who knows what I was thinking. I need a co-editor
now and I need to stop doing this nonsense by, say, Jan. 1, 2007. -t. ]
The huge error consists of associating News and Letters, a Marxist-Humanist
organization, with IAC, a group associated with a completely different and in
fact antithetical Left organization. We happen to meet in the the same building
as IAC's offce, because we rent meeting space once a week in a gay and lesbian
counselling organization that is located in that building.
There is and could never be any relation between News and Letters and IAC.
Perhaps you thought you were making a joke, but that is not at all clear.
Instead, you have made a libel which could easily cause people to reject even
considering attending our discussions.
PLEASE MAKE AN IMMEDIATE PUBLIC RETRACTION OF YOUR STATEMENT ASSOCIATING NEWS
AND LETTERS WITH IAC.
Secondly, when I saw that you had put the New SPACE name on the News and Letters
listing a few weeks ago, I thought you must have accidentally conflated two
different listings that I had sent you. I couldn't believe you were deliberately
altering people's submissions to your list, without even disclosing that you did
so. Even though I have been in many political fights, I have rarely seen
anything so improper. Unless you discontinue this practice at once, I will take
action against your list.
Further, there was no need for you to make any part of the recent comment that
you did. What does it matter that I send in listings for both News and Letters
and the New SPACE? I am active with both--and other organizations too--and have
never hidden that fact from anyone. Do you mean to imply that one group is a
front for the other? because that is not the case, and you certainly have no
cause to make such an insinuation (even if an events list were a proper place to
make insinuations, which I don't believe it is).
For that matter, why do your listings show who sent in any announcements at all?
The announcements themselves always contain contact information, and that is the
relevant name and e-mail address, not that of the person who sent you the
listing. The person who sent it may not want to be contacted about the
event--this is true in my case. The sender could have nothing more to do with
the meeting than helping to publicize it because he/she believes in the free
exchange of ideas. So if you do it because you think you are serving the reader
by "outing" the sender, I find this to be inappropriate and, frankly, downright
McCarthyite. I urge you to stop including who the announcement came from.
The list would also be greatly improved by your refraining from commenting on
the listings at all, and by your listing most of them by their title rather than
sponsor (another way of burying certain ones).
Please let me know what you will do regarding my complaints.
Anne
(4) Later on the same day, April 4, 2006, Eaton replied to Anne as follows.
“go away”
(5) Later on April 4, 2006, Anne replied to Eaton:
“No way”
(6) Anne soon received a notice that she was “unsubscribed” from the list.
(7) On April 5, 2006, Eaton wrote to Anne:
let me rephrase. of course i'll post something, probably tonight, about the
suite # error. but it's important for me that we discontinue contact. i'd ask
you to respect that.
please do not write to me.
(8) On April 6, 2006, Anne wrote to Eaton:
Todd:
(1) I don't understand your reference to a "suite # error." There was no error;
the suite number in the announcement is correct.
(2) You have not answered anything in my letter. I again request AN IMMEDIATE
PUBLIC RETRACTION OF YOUR STATEMENT ASSOCIATING NEWS AND LETTERS WITH IAC. I
also request a public representation that you will publish anouncements I send
to the list without changing the content or adding comments. Otherwise, it is
impossible to submit anything to the list.
(3) I received a notice that I am unsubscribed from the list; I would like to be
restored.
Please respect the right of the organizations whose events I publicize not to
have their announcements changed or to have them commented upon inaccurately.
Anne
(9) Eaton replied at once:
i would like to discontinue this correspondence.
(10) On April 6, 2006, Eaton wrote the following message to Seth of The New
SPACE. Notice the thinly veiled threat that Eaton makes.
Subject: Fwd: Re: Urgent: serious errors
Date: Thu, 06 Apr 2006 01:41:41 -0400
this can still be de-escalated and that is probably in your group's
interests. I have no problem with new SPACE but cannot continue
working with this lying, obsessive attorney. please get her and N &
L to stop writing to me. thanks for your help.
(11) Anne re-subscribed to the Protest List, using the automated re-subscription
feature. She later requested that her messages be sent in a single, daily
digest.
(12) On April 14, Eaton once again expelled Anne from the list. He also sent her
the following note, apparently in response to her request to her request for a
single daily digest:
“Is this some sort of a hobby? Just stop sending me mail. This is at least my
fourth request and it seems a reasonable one.”
(13) On April 14, Seth of The New SPACE requested a meeting with Eaton:
Todd,
The New SPACE would like to propose a meeting with you to resolve
this matter. Anne has indicated a willingness to attend as a
representative of News & Letters Committees.
We would like to meet this week or next week. Let me know if this is
agreeable.
Seth
(14) Eaton responded to Seth’s request for a meeting, in the following 4 e-mail
messages (a-d), which followed one another in quick succession:
(a) “there is no matter to resolve. your volunteer clerical worker simply wants
to discontinue the correspondence.
“if your attorneys had advised that you had any legal options whatsoever, you
wouldn't be approaching me now.
“i ask you simply fix it. make your cop back off. there are occasionally limits
to social power.”
(b) “if this is some due dilligence step in preparation for some bizarre
maneuver, it's likely ill-advised on their part. escalatory steps sometimes
backfire badly.”
“just fix it. if anyone needs help, i happen to know that they can afford it.”
(c) “And frankly Seth I'm really personally disappointed to find you enabling
this gratuitous recreational aggression against the help. Calling a meeting is
not "offering to help". It's not
de-escalating. It's rather attempting to add legitimacy to a suit that you know
perfectly well from publically available records to be frivolous and meritless
on its face.
“What you are doing, Seth, is called intimidation, and not even for any serious
goal. You can't want money and expect this is an effective way to get it. Is
this a publicity stunt? It's not likely
to work out well.
“E-mail doesn't mean manure to a tree. Your charges not only are baseless but
are so obviously so as to be intentionally deceptive from the start.
“I look forward to forwarding newSPACE calendars if you want me to. Otherwise
don't talk to me.”
(d) “in fact on second thought. just go away. you people give me the creeps.”
(15) SINCE THEN, EATON HAS NOT PUBLISHED EVEN A SINGLE NEW SPACE EVENT ON THE
LIST, MUCH LESS PRINTED THE RETRACTIONS AND MADE THE AMENDS REQUESTED OF HIM.
(16) On April 16, 2006, Andrew of The New SPACE wrote to Eaton in yet another
attempt to resolve the matter amicably.
To: <redscares@mindspring.com>
Sent: Sunday, April 16, 2006 8:02 AM
Subject: Re: Urgent: serious errors
Dear Todd Eaton,
I want to assure you that no one has been intending to or wanting to sue you, or
to get money from you.
And no one is interested in harassing you. We want to resolve this matter
amicably.
The New SPACE will be satisfied with the following. News and Letters Committees
will also be satisfied with the following. You send out a correction of your
statement that some News and Letters Committees' events were held at the IAC,
publish the events of both organizations without alteration or commentary, and
put Anne back on the Protest list.
That's it.
We remaining willing to discuss this with you face-to-face at the meeting Seth
proposed to you, in order to try to resolve this matter.
I look forward to hearing from you soon.
Andrew Kliman
(17) On April 20, after Eaton’s failure to respond to any requests, Andrew
resent the above letter, together with the following note.
Mr. Eaton:
We are urgently trying to resolve this matter! Please respond immediately!
Andrew Kliman
(18) THERE HAS **STILL** BEEN NO ANSWER FROM TODD EATON!!
ADDENDUM
The following document was not seen by the New SPACE or News and
Letters Committee until May 11. It too is inaccurate – the meeting room number
and name of the office are on all News and Letters announcements [see (1)
above]. This "correction" further insults the sponsor and discourages people
from attending. Moreover, the announcement of the News and Letters series has
never appeared without Eaton’s change or "correction.”
From: Todd Eaton <
redscares@mindspring.com>
To: nyprotest@lists.riseup.net
Subject: correction:
News and Letters
Date: Wed, 05 Apr 2006 02:52:12 -0400
A couple times recently I promoted here a News and Letters post. I mistakenly
assumed that their event was at International Action Center, from which venue a
wide variety of groups have borrowed space, generating perhaps 99% of left
events in that building for many years. But in fact News and Letters have an
unspecified *different office suite* at the same building, which specifics I
still don't have. But you could ask them or try the building directory. One of
their academics also feels very strongly that the group should not be
"associated with" IAC. So if you like reading many opaque paragraphs of
histrionics, ask them or me for details. Oh and there was something about my
relationship to Joe McCarthy.
The inaccurate posts have been deleted from the archive. Reply if you want a
contact for future info about News and Letters.