…and this is a 
The recent Mabus incursion…
Category: Kooks
Posted on: May 2, 2008 12:14 PM, by PZ Myers
I see you've all met our little troll, David Mabus. "Mabus" (his real name is Dennis Markuze, and he used to sell used computers in Montreal, Canada) has been flooding my mailbox for about the last month — he has a list of about 70 skeptics and atheists, and just about every day he fires off his little angry rant about how James Randi owes him a million dollars right now, based on prophecies from Nostradamus or some such nonsense. You can get a feel for his insanity from this series of posts he made to the Center for Inquiry forum. It's hard to avoid coming to the conclusion that he really is mentally ill; if any of you know this fellow personally, you might want to get him some help, fast.
I do have his phone number and address. He has been escalating his attacks lately, and if they get any worse, I'll be contacting the authorities myself. This is one of those cases where I've been targeted by someone with a severe mental disorder, and I think he can be a real risk — but of course I'm only one among many targets, and I think the person who ought to be most concerned is James Randi.
Mabus is still dumping lots of spam in my mailbox—and one claims, " I will send the CFI link with this video to every faculty member at your university....".
Great. My colleagues, I hope, are getting used to all the kooks who think they can get at me by proxy by sending crap to them.
Comments
Just took a quick peek at one of your links. I SUCK at photoshop and could make a better 6 legged goat than that one!I sy we give him to Iran and let tem have there way with super Xian dorkboy.
Posted by: Kirk | May 2, 2008 12:20 PM
Oh, he's a mentally ill internet troll.
You know, I was suspicious that that just might be the case.
Posted by: Sastra | May 2, 2008 12:26 PM
Yeah he's been hitting a number of people. He also had his Youtube account banned.
Posted by: Rev. BigDumbChimp | May 2, 2008 12:29 PM
It is pretty clear that he does not have both oars in the water, but it is the threatening attitude that distinguishes him from the run-of-the-mill wing nut.
He may be harmless, but I bet the authorities already have a file on him, and this should be documented as well.
Posted by: sjburnt | May 2, 2008 12:30 PM
PZ, I hope you've already taken protective measures. Pepper-spray for when your out of the house, and a pump-shotty for home.
Posted by: Alex | May 2, 2008 12:30 PM
I really need to get better at keeping track of the comments and commenters (would help with the Molly nominations too).
Does anyone know how to make CoComment work with Opera? Or is there any other services that can help me keep track of what I've said where and when?
Posted by: Sili | May 2, 2008 12:30 PM
So that's who that idiot in the other thread was...
Posted by: BlueIndependent | May 2, 2008 12:30 PM
yeah. i think that this guy has gone beyond just trolling. he may really be mentally ill, so i kind of feel sorry for him. if he had been actually making a somewhat coherent attack on scientists or atheists, then it would be one thing, but he is completely incoherent even for the internet. i kind of feel sorry for him, but you should contact the authorities if he continues.
Posted by: Pwnagepanda | May 2, 2008 12:31 PM
#8
"...so i kind of feel sorry for him."
I don't think this person has the capacity to appreciate your empathy for them.
Posted by: Alex | May 2, 2008 12:33 PM
But if he's so wrong, why are you concerned about him?
I just had to say that, because it's the most pathetic "comeback" that the various pseudoscientists have. Um, guys, we're concerned because there are many idiots who would like to lead the many more passive dupes.
Why are you concerned about secularism, if it is so obviously wrong?
Glen Davidson
http://tinyurl.com/2kxyc7
Posted by: Glen Davidson | May 2, 2008 12:34 PM
Definitely 3.9/4.0 on the Time Cube. Looks after yourself, PZ. Thankfully, most of the crazies are just hilarious, but there are always going to be some that are plain dangerous. I suggest contacting the authorities sooner rather than later, especially if you have already had threats from this guy.
Or, apply for the Simonyi Chair and move to the (relatively) more sane UK.
:D
Posted by: MH | May 2, 2008 12:35 PM
Pretty creepy stuff. I am in the civil service in a pretty high-profile office and we used to get really strange letters all the time (including endless faxes from a guy who claimed that he had been assigned by Ronald Reagan to destroy the Russian ruble through currency speculation and that the US Government now owed hims several trillion dollars)but these Mabus e-mails are nasty. He is clearly in another place but I wish we did not have to suffer with it as well.
Posted by: Tom Paine | May 2, 2008 12:35 PM
It's guys like him who give us mental patients a bad name.
I probably don't have to tell you all this, but most mentally ill people are completely harmless. Just so you don't think we're scary to be around.
- Craig
(PTSD, bipolar)
Posted by: craig | May 2, 2008 12:37 PM
I'll pray for him.
Posted by: NoAstronomer | May 2, 2008 12:38 PM
Sorry, that was yesterday wasn't it, my bad! Maybe next year then.
Posted by: NoAstronomer | May 2, 2008 12:40 PM
yeah, David Mabus has been spamming my videos on youtube for months with his Randi Challenge conspiracy craziness. He got reported by someone else for his first "david" username, and then he just made another account titled davidmabus, which he used to spam all my video comments all over again. I reported him, and so did a few other youtubers, but that account hasn't been suspended yet, unfortunately.
Posted by: sarah95 | May 2, 2008 12:40 PM
The paranoids are the most dangerous for obvious reasons.
Not too long ago we had one go on a short rampage nearby. He started waving a rifle around in public and screaming, "they are out to get me."
Everyone ducked for cover. Except a little girl who couldn't figure out what was going on. So he fired at her and missed.
The cops showed up. He fired at them and missed again. They didn't miss.
Posted by: raven | May 2, 2008 12:41 PM
I have to say that if this person is indeed psychotically mentally ill (rather than simply using maladaptive psychological mechanisms [denial, projection, etc] to justify his agreement with a massively held delusion, [religion]), and it seems he is, I don't think it's appropriate for us to ridicule him in the same way we do creobots like Kenny and Keith. He seems to be honestly sick and in need of real help, not ridicule, derision, and spite.
On this note --
Re: #9 Alex
The beauty of empathy is that it exists whether the person can appreciate it or not.
Posted by: Etha Williams | May 2, 2008 12:41 PM
I'm on the same list as this guy. I agree that one does have to wonder if he is mentally ill. Personally, I've been ignoring him, but yesterday's e-mail reached the point where I was starting to wonder if I should respond somehow. Given that you have, I think I'll just mark all his messages in Gmail as spam and hope Google recognizes it. If we all do it, maybe for those of us with Gmail accounts his rants will just go straight to the Junk folder.
Posted by: Orac | May 2, 2008 12:43 PM
NoAstronomer @ 14 for the win!
Posted by: WRMartin | May 2, 2008 12:43 PM
He's obviously been putting effort into this - my (Scottish) University Humanist Society got an email from him the other week, and I can't imagine we're the only ones...
Posted by: Stuart Ritchie | May 2, 2008 12:44 PM
I came across his channel on YouTube a long time ago and, like the posting on the CfI forum, it was dizzily incoherent. You're right to be cautious: you simply don't know how close to the edge this guy might be.
Posted by: Emmet Caulfield | May 2, 2008 12:46 PM
Agree, to a point with your advice @ #5, with small correction:
"9mm compact GLOCK for when your out of the house, and a pump-shotty for home"
Posted by: JJR | May 2, 2008 12:47 PM
Oops. Meant to say that I'm on this guy's mailing list along with PZ and a number of other skeptics.
Posted by: Orac | May 2, 2008 12:48 PM
Say hello to Leo Wanta for me. He is still around and still trying to collect his 3 trillion dollars. He now has an internet following of equally crazy people.
One of them stays up all night battling witches. They come from another dimension through the compressor on her refrigerator. Every time the refrigerator runs, the witches steal the electricity to boost themselves.
If my refrigerator was colluding with extradimensional witches, I'd get rid of it.
Posted by: raven | May 2, 2008 12:48 PM
The postings made by Mabus on the CFI link are disturbing. Is this price we have to pay when trying to be rational with an obvious irrational person, is the price worth it? I know this often frustrates me, I have no problem with debating idea's and a robust back and forth exchange... the problem is when you encounter a person so irrational it can be frightening in how they will respond.
Posted by: thethyme | May 2, 2008 12:48 PM
#23. You have it wrong. PZ would need a 40mm hollow point for full stopping power.
Posted by: firemancarl | May 2, 2008 12:50 PM
I don't know if I'd even call this trolling. I don't think his aims are to disrupt things insofar as he seems to be just posting his crazy, paranoid babble.
In other words, trolls are simple assholes and annoyances, but Dennis seems to genuinely be a seriously damaged individual.
Personally, PZ, if I were you, I wouldn't wait for him to step up his assault or hesitate to inform the authorities. After all, let's face it, your stature as an outspoken atheist makes you a target for a lot of twisted lunatics.
Posted by: Dan | May 2, 2008 12:51 PM
1. I Googled, and the goat thing may be legit, probably a parasitic twin. Big shock to me, I didn't think it was a photoshop job--I thought somebody was holding a pair of severed legs such that they appeared (unconvincingly) to be attached to the kid.
2. It strikes me that this Mabus guy, while alarming in his stupidity, is probably not actually dangerous. He won't get off his arse and commit bodily harm against The Amazing Randi or anybody else because he has the incredible edible internet to manifest his will. His endless repetitive copying, his screed, his single-minded insistence, and especially his capslock addiction are all indicators that he thinks he's actually exerting some sort of influence through his postings, similar to the "prayer=action" mentality so recently discussed here. He's not thinking, "these posts aren't working, I gotta escalate," he's thinking "I obviously haven't posted enough; this time for sure, though." I'd be surprised if he's diagnosable for anything the mental health community can stick him in observation for.
Posted by: Stephen Couchman | May 2, 2008 12:51 PM
This guy's been spamming my email Inbox and my YouTube comments for months now. Every time I block him, he comes back with a different perturbation of his name or email. It's REALLY annoying. Especially since he never says anything different!
Posted by: Shane Killian | May 2, 2008 12:52 PM
Does anyone have any idea why Markuze uses the name "David Mabus"?
There was a (relatively liberal, by local standards) governor of Mississippi almost 20 years back by the name of Ray Mabus, whom Bill Clinton later appointed ambassador to Saudi Arabia. Other than an obviously doomed platform of promising that the state would "no longer be number 50", he didn't do anything crazy enough to inspire major crackpottery.
Posted by: Pierce R. Butler | May 2, 2008 12:53 PM
"I have to say that if this person is indeed psychotically mentally ill (rather than simply using maladaptive psychological mechanisms [denial, projection, etc] to justify his agreement with a massively held delusion, [religion]), and it seems he is, I don't think it's appropriate for us to ridicule him in the same way we do creobots like Kenny and Keith. He seems to be honestly sick and in need of real help, not ridicule, derision, and spite."
I agree. And once again Etha, you impress me.
Posted by: craig | May 2, 2008 12:54 PM
@29 (me)
In point #1, "probably" should have been "possibly."
Posted by: Stephen Couchman | May 2, 2008 12:56 PM
#18: You may be right, and bona fide crazies deserve sympathy more than scorn, but usenet (and talk.origins particularly) has made me suspect that there are many fine gradations between "genuinely insane" and "using maladaptive psychological mechanisms to justify agreement with a massively held delusion."
It seems like some otherwise sane people deliberately start down the road to madness. And I think others find their mental illnesses tolerated or even encouraged by their co-religionists.
Posted by: Pocket Nerd | May 2, 2008 12:58 PM
#23
For sure. Licensing can be a bitch in some states. A little Krav Maga wouldn't hurt either.
Posted by: Alex | May 2, 2008 12:59 PM
Hmm. *Light goes on in Brownian's evil brain*
"Hey, um, (David? Dennis? Davis?) Mabus! I know where Randi's hiding your million dollars. All you gotta do is get yourself a bus ticket and a couple of ice cube trays...."
Posted by: Brownian, OM | May 2, 2008 1:02 PM
#18
"The beauty of empathy is that it exists whether the person can appreciate it or not."
I think this is true for every emotion. I don't see how it adds "beauty" to just empathy. Besides, that wasn't the point I was trying to make. Feeling sorry and compassionate for the starving grizzly bear as it starts to eat you alive does not help you stay alive.
Posted by: Alex | May 2, 2008 1:04 PM
@31
For the same reasons fifteen-year-old fundies in death metal t-shirts call themselves "darkfallenbluddfayth666," etc. "Mabus" is the name of one of the apocalypse-heralding bogeymen in the quatrains.
http://www.nostradamus.org/mabus.php
Posted by: Stephen Couchman | May 2, 2008 1:04 PM
Mabus was a name Nostradamus used for an anti-christ like character.
Posted by: SteveM | May 2, 2008 1:04 PM
Re: #25 You are right, Raven: the guy was named Leo Wanta. We were getting pretty annoyed not just because his faxes made no sense whatsoever but because he was using up all our fax paper. If memory serves, he was demanding the equivalent of one year of the US GDP. And the big joke was that the ruble was not freely traded anyway so it was immune to speculators. But his faxes were in garbled pseudo-legalese, rather than threatening locked caps.
I have had a number of electrical appliances clearly infested by demons but I have never before heard of witches from another dimension stealing electricity in collusion with refrigerators. You can learn so much on the Internet!
Posted by: Tom Paine | May 2, 2008 1:06 PM
A nutcase obsessed with Nostradamus isn't all that creepy.
But one who chooses for himself the name "Mabus" is far moreso...drove the Google in that direction and learned that Mabus is a name ol' Nosty used for the "third Antichrist" (the first two being Napoleon and Hitler, or names vaguely similar).
yikes
Posted by: Sven DiMilo | May 2, 2008 1:07 PM
Thanks to my Blog I'm on the same mailing list and to be honest I took it as quite an honour to be put on the same mailing list as 'the big hitters' like yourself, Richard Dawkins and Ben Goldacre and the like.
Even if it was by a troll!
Though likewise, he is a bit concerning, I hope he's just doing it for "the lulz" rather than actually having rather serious issues, but who knows...
Posted by: Lave | May 2, 2008 1:07 PM
@31
Does anyone have any idea why Markuze uses the name "David Mabus"?
You're not up on your Nostradamus Crackpottery.
'Mabus' is the name given in some quatrain or other for The Antichrist.
Steve "Why HE is using it, I dunno. Delusions of Grandeur?" James
Posted by: longstreet63 | May 2, 2008 1:08 PM
I don't think 40mm comes in hollow-point; high-explosive fragmentation, white phosphorous, and armor-piercing are more common (and it appears all three would be street-legal in Kansas, now).
Perhaps you mean .40 caliber. 40mm would have sufficient stopping power, however. It could conceivably dismember the target. That counts as "stopping" in my book.
Posted by: Farb | May 2, 2008 1:09 PM
This cretin is an atheist? He is certainly giving us a bad reputation, a further kick in the teeth we do not need. Are the religionists aware of this deviate atheist? It's bad enough we have so-called atheists who are continually spouting religious apologies and now have to endure this kind of insane crap from a retard who labels himself an atheist. I suppose I am disillusioning myself into the belief that true atheists are the apex of the rational world. One wonders.
Posted by: Holbach | May 2, 2008 1:09 PM
@#34 Pocket Nerd --
Probably true, but when in doubt I think it's best to err on the side of sympathy than on the side of scorn. Also, based on the way he talks in the Center for Inquiry forums, it really seems that Mabus is genuinely insane. Unlike folks like Kenny, who make logical fallacies and jumps that are incorrect but nevertheless something you can follow, Mabus jumps from point to point, motivated by the bizarre internal "logic" only a mentally ill person could understand. (I've been there.)
This I can definitely agree with -- from personal experience, it is amazing the things that in a "real world" context would immediately be seen as a sign that Something is Wrong but that in the religious world (even the fairly moderate religious world) are not only tolerated but often encouraged. Add to this the fact that religion offers unconditional love (something very appealing to people who have no self-love, as is often the case with mental illness) and you have a recipe for disaster.
Posted by: Etha Williams | May 2, 2008 1:10 PM
Yeah, yeah. Great minds think alike and all.
Steve "At least I didn't have to Google it." James
Posted by: longstreet63 | May 2, 2008 1:10 PM
Wow, I messed that last post up. It seems I really like saying the word 'mailing list' - sorry.
Posted by: Lave | May 2, 2008 1:10 PM
"9mm compact GLOCK for when your out of the house, and a pump-shotty for home"
PZ would need a 40mm hollow point for full stopping power.
Wow, pharyngula mall ninjas.
Posted by: Marcus Ranum | May 2, 2008 1:13 PM
Oops. I read Etha's and Craig's comments and feel a little guilty, but Pocket Nerd makes a point as well.
I think all mental issues should be treated, even if it's as simple as a mildly depressed person seeing a counsellor a few times to determine whether the depression is likely to clear itself up or whether it's something more chronic and likely to recurr. I am by no means an expert (or even very knowledgeable about psychology), but I don't think there's some sort of line before which you're merely a deluded troll and after which you're a raving lunatic.
Anybody more knowledgeable care to weigh in?
Posted by: Brownian, OM | May 2, 2008 1:13 PM
40 mm ammunition???
That's a shell an inch and a half in diameter! I think you need a grenade launcher to fire something like that. "Stopping power"? I'd guess so!
Posted by: Sven DiMilo | May 2, 2008 1:14 PM
If you guys are going to go on about killing and dismembering, please use the word "person" rather than "target".
Disassociative military euphemisms are repugnant and weaselly.
Posted by: Brownian, OM | May 2, 2008 1:21 PM
I've been the object of obsession to a person who was criminally insane and rather violent. It is the period of my life that I identify with "out of the frying pan, and into the fire." It persisted through three-fourths of my sixteenth year and one-half of my seventeenth. It had actually occurred to me that one day it would come down to who was going to be the one to die. I certainly had no desire for it to be me. It is not an easy concept to deal with, regardless of age.
All I can say is don't let anything go unacted upon until the last minute. In doing that, you may be placing the advantage in his favor, and from my own experiences, this is very true. When you are their object you cannot afford to ignore them, or not hear what they say.
Posted by: Angel Rose Young | May 2, 2008 1:22 PM
What I find interesting is the tactics of this kind of nutso.
Do they think that repeated emailings are actually going to batter down objections? Do they think "He's ignored me the last 174 times, but this time, he can't ignore me!"
Does he think that Randi will be publicly embarrassed by an obvious loon spamming the world in protest?
Does the guy actually think that Randi, if sufficiently badgered will hand him the million dollars?
By the way, if it will help, I will personally send the guy a million dollars.
Steve "Zimbabwean dollars are okay, right?" James
Posted by: longstreet63 | May 2, 2008 1:23 PM
I love: For James Randi and Richard Dawkins.....Are these even *REAL* names?
No, asswipe. James is just Randi's stage name. His real name is "Amazing."
Posted by: Greg Peterson | May 2, 2008 1:23 PM
Ya, that crazy davidmabus hit one of my youtube videos too. He sure is devoted to what he is doing, this has been going on for a while now, since last year I believe.
Posted by: Dave | May 2, 2008 1:24 PM
Mabus trivia page - It seems Mabus is a name for the Third Anti-Christ for Nostradumus fans. This guy thinks very highly of himself. Similar to thinking you are Napoleon, Hitler, or Ben Stein.
Posted by: David vun Kannon, FCD | May 2, 2008 1:24 PM
He is giving us Dennises a bad name. I disown him.
Posted by: Dennis N | May 2, 2008 1:29 PM
@# Alex --
Empathy isn't really an emotion; it's a psychological process that informs the way we interact with people. In the OED, it is defined: The power of projecting one's personality into (and so fully comprehending) the object of contemplation. Because feeling empathy for someone means that you fully comprehend the person's psychology, including their reasons for not being able to appreciate your empathy, this lack of appreciation won't impact your empathy for them. Contrast this with sympathy, the quality or state of being thus affected by the suffering or sorrow of another; a feeling of compassion or commiseration (OED). Your compassion/commiseration may (or may not) wane upon finding out that the person doesn't appreciate it. Not so with empathy.
Of course, we cannot all have empathy for all people; for one thing, that would be emotional chaos, and for another, the experiences we can empathize with are very much influenced by the experiences we ourselves have. I'm not saying you should be empathetic towards Mabus; I'm simply saying that for those who do, your statement that he doesn't appreciate it will be meaningless. And I do think that that kind of understanding for another person -- much like truly unconditional love -- is a beautiful thing, though the word is admittedly very subjective and vague.
You can feel empathy for someone and protect yourself at the same time. I would argue that empathy allows you to better understand how best to protect yourself, and whether such protection is needed. And I really, really don't understand why some people here think that the best way to protect against a very paranoid person is to talk about the biggest, best gun to use in protection. Considering the fact that this paranoid person may be reading here, and interpreting statements in the context of his own mental framework....
Posted by: Etha Williams | May 2, 2008 1:32 PM
At least with your location information, I now no longer think he may be my brother :-)
I have read the Nosty reference to Mabus, but working on the Tom Riddle hypothesis, I find that - amongst many other things, "David Mabus" anagrams to:
Mad via Buds (an obvious reference to too much consumption of a certain beverage)
A Dumb Divas (aside from the plural, probably accurate)
Avid dumb as[s] (Obviously, he has misspelled his own name, It should be "David Mabuss" - to accommodate that needed additional s at the end.)
JC
Posted by: Jack Chastain | May 2, 2008 1:33 PM
Some of my role-playing friends and I have contemplated indulging in a particularly elaborate form of trolling. It involves going to sites like the resistance manifesto and posting in character, seeing how many people think we're serious. I've never gotten around to it (maybe when I'm out of grad school and have more time on my hands) but things like this make me suspect--HOPE!--someone has.
Posted by: lytefoot | May 2, 2008 1:33 PM
Wow. Imagine my surprise when I made my daily visit to Pharyngula and saw this was the top story. Mabus popped up yesterday at The Atheist Experience and trolled us too. After only a couple more foul-mouthed rants about Randi and Nostradamus, I banned him outright. I had a feeling in the back of my brain he might be on some mass-trolling exercise, hitting as many science/atheist/skeptics blogs as he can, and that suspicion seems to have been confirmed. Yeah, the guy truly is mad.
Posted by: Martin | May 2, 2008 1:40 PM
All you have to do is Google "david mabus" and a lot of his craziness is indexed. A lot of it seems to be copy and pasted, and he ignores most peoples' responses.
Posted by: Dennis N | May 2, 2008 1:42 PM
PZ, if this Mabus character is making threats towards you, I suggest you take it seriously. Some years ago, a friend of mine 'dropped off the deep end' and started making similar rants about demons and prophecy. It culminated with him attacking a female grad student that he accused of 'stealing his thoughts.'
Fortunately, she wasn't seriously hurt and he received the treatment and medication he needed. However, every couple of years, I come home to find my inbox is filled up with crazy and I have to contact his sister to tell her he's forgotten to take his medication again.
Remember, sanity has it's limits, but crazy knows no boundaries.
Posted by: Tobor Redrum | May 2, 2008 1:42 PM
Generally a good idea, but with a 40 mm weapon, your target should well be much larger than a person.
Posted by: freelunch | May 2, 2008 1:43 PM
Mentally unbalanced. Xtian wingnut. Paranoid.
Seems like he has the perfect resume' for the bush white house staff.
Posted by: Larry | May 2, 2008 1:45 PM
@ Etha
I appreciate your sentiments and agree with most of what you say. However,
"You can feel empathy for someone and protect yourself at the same time."
...isn't something I was arguing against.
I think it is foolish to not consider this situation dangerous, understanding that to truly know the state of this person would require professional exploration. All threats should be taken seriously. And whatever emotional states or thought processes occur in the victim, they will ultimately will mean nothing to an attacker.
Perhaps I have failed again in stating my point as simply and plainly as possible.
Cheers.
Posted by: Alex | May 2, 2008 1:46 PM
To be fair, the goat's real. I believe he was born in New Zealand. Farmer had to put him down because he couldn't walk. I feel like I read it on BBC or Reuter's Oddly Enough, I definitely recognize the photo from when I was reading the original article.
Posted by: doug | May 2, 2008 1:50 PM
"If you guys are going to go on about killing and dismembering, please use the word "person" rather than "target"."
The label "Infidel" seems to work well for many.
Posted by: Alex | May 2, 2008 1:51 PM
@#67 Alex --
Ah, okay, that makes sense. With the bear metaphor I incorrectly derived an either/or fallacy -- either you feel compassionate towards the bear, or you defend against it. I agree with you that threats should be taken seriously -- something that empathy can help with, rather than distract from.
Posted by: Etha Williams | May 2, 2008 1:55 PM
You sure got that right, Craig!
(bipolar, 90+% depressed with occasional hypomania)
Posted by: themadlolscientist | May 2, 2008 1:55 PM
"...something that empathy can help with, rather than distract from."
Indeed Etha.
Posted by: Alex | May 2, 2008 1:58 PM
I think we should introduce him to Gene Ray, the Time Cube guy. They must have the same disorder.
Posted by: Andrew | May 2, 2008 1:58 PM
@#45...
[ rolls eyes, bites tongue ]
Posted by: Duncan | May 2, 2008 1:59 PM
OMG! That's the guy? He posted three comments in a row on my "Atheists an Anger" post about this James Randi thing. Totally irrelevantly. I was wondering what the hell that was about.
Posted by: Greta Christina | May 2, 2008 2:06 PM
PZ, do we need to start a protection fund for you like for Ms. Ali?
Posted by: Aegis | May 2, 2008 2:22 PM
PZ, I had a sort-of similar problem (in that it involved a crazy person trying to cause me problems) and can tell you it's much, much better to be proactive. Once you feel urgently compelled to do something, it's usually too late and you'll regret not acting earlier.
Posted by: The Puzzled Ibex | May 2, 2008 2:23 PM
wait...
what?
Posted by: Sven DiMilo @ 420 | May 2, 2008 2:27 PM
His comments at that CFI forum are definitely "WTF?" worthy - sort of along the lines of the guy who, to paraphrase the great George Carlin, "tells you that the King of Sweden is using his penis as a radio transmitter to send anti-Semitic lesbian meatloaf recipes to Soupy Sales and Marvin Hamlish." Annoying and incomprehensible, but only dangerous to others if he decides to get violent.
I can't give any advice that hasn't already been given by others, so I'll just shut up now.
Posted by: J. A. Baker | May 2, 2008 2:30 PM
@ #65
That's often true, but such things are often repurposed. My granddad lost a leg to 30mm antiaircraft guns being used against an infantry advance.
Posted by: Ranson | May 2, 2008 2:36 PM
@ 78
"Buds" as in plural of Budweiser, which is a pale, disgusting substance frequently mistaken for beer.
Posted by: Stephen Couchman | May 2, 2008 2:36 PM
Oh, dammit.
77, not 78. Shutting up now.
Posted by: Stephen Couchman | May 2, 2008 2:37 PM
I couldn't read through more than a few lines of his comments, but I didn't have to read much to understand that he is mentally ill and in need of help.
Posted by: Amanda | May 2, 2008 2:40 PM
So, the guy's a crackpot, and could be becoming unhinged.
Definitely a cause for concern. I won't offer advice unasked for regarding personal security and/or self defense, but I will suggest that it may be prudent to look into it.
However, it's more likely that this guy will simply continue to spam people with crazy-mail until someone stops him.
Unfortunately, being stopped will also shut off his escape valve, which may cause him to escalate into acts which threaten people's safety rather than the peacefulness of their email in-boxes. I hope there is some peaceful resolution to this matter.
Posted by: DLC | May 2, 2008 2:47 PM
The guys who yell incoherently on street corners do have access to the internet, you know. Two things: (1) Have compassion. There but for a bit of neurochemical connection go you or I. (2) Protect yourself. Having compassion doesn't mean letting yourself get hurt.
Posted by: beagledad | May 2, 2008 2:55 PM
So, "Mabus" is the name of Lord Voldem... I mean, Nostradamus's Antichrist. And "David," could be maybe King David, said to be the Messiah's precursor? Or was it that Jesus was the new King David? I forget exactly.
Gee, this guy ought to write shitty novels for a living. He certainly couldn't do much worse than Left Behind.
Posted by: speedwell | May 2, 2008 2:55 PM
#83: "Unfortunately, being stopped will also shut off his escape valve, which may cause him to escalate into acts which threaten people's safety rather than the peacefulness of their email in-boxes."
It seems one way to deal with this is to create a 'honeypot' site whose sole function is to bait people like this and keep them occupied. Said site could have text snippets from James Randi and an autobot that detects Mabus postings and replies with an ELISA response to keep the thread going. Match Mabus post-for-post until he expires from exhaustion.
(And also create separate areas for Kenny, Planet Killer, and all the other nutbags who simply won't take 'no' for an answer... )
Posted by: Duncan | May 2, 2008 3:01 PM
Post # 86... ELISA > ELIZA
Carry on...
Posted by: Duncan | May 2, 2008 3:07 PM
I kinda like Kenny; he at least come at you from different angles (all wrong), and understands and responds when he's mocked (which is fun to do). He's just a classic creobot to beat up on. Mabus just comes in and types nonsense and repeats everything. He barely even has points to refute.
Posted by: Dennis N | May 2, 2008 3:11 PM
ELISA response:
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science?_ob=ArticleURL&_udi=B6TBK-45PTT7B-1&_user=10&_rdoc=1&_fmt=&_orig=search&_sort=d&view=c&_acct=C000050221&_version=1&_urlVersion=0&_userid=10&md5=9ff8ccae6656e973514e65bf94cc87dc
I was about to think that you're in on it with him (mabus)
Posted by: Alex | May 2, 2008 3:11 PM
I was reminded today that the more famous you are the more stalkers you'll have. I have one!
Posted by: John W. Loftus | May 2, 2008 3:22 PM
Another story about a goat! What is it with whacky fundies and goats? How the birth of a deformed goat proves anything other than; "sometimes developmental processes go awry" is beyond me.
Posted by: decrepitoldfool | May 2, 2008 3:29 PM