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Throughout left wing popular culture, First Nations people have been given the dubious honor of being attributed with the creation of the First Amendment. Ironically, we are a people who have been systematically denied the rights provided by this amendment. Despite popular leftist myths, it has been my experience that attacks on our rights to free speech and freedom of religious practice do not always come from the right wing. Some of the most insidious attacks on our religious freedoms are now coming from those who claim to identify with the extreme political left. History has taught us that First Nations people need to be very careful about trusting anyone who claims to be acting in our best interests. My grammma always told me, "If ever you know that somebody's coming to your house with nothing but good intentions, run away as fast and far as you can go"" This is a good lesson to remember when dealing with the well-intentioned. My instincts have always been to be suspicious of motives where lots of money is involved, the Neo-pagan left is currently promoting a philosophy that dictates to me that I need to abandon my suspicions and trust anyone who declares their respect and admiration for my rich spiritual heritage. In the past, when I expressed my doubts about the needs to relinquish my critical faculties online, I have was stalked, attacked and bullied online, and not by those with right wing politics, but by those claiming leftist or progressive politics. It is my hope that my personal experience with cyber bullies can help someone else to sort out the issues. Cyber bullying is a hot topic on the internet these days. But it is often difficult to determine exactly who is bullying whom. I have always found Deep Throat's advice to be useful in circumstances were the facts seem fuzzy, "Follow the money!" Scads of bogus libel claims and emotionally heated flame wars have caused me to examine and re-examine my preconceptions about online communications. Here's a few of my insights: Practical Tips for Confronting Issues of Cyber Bullying There is no clear legal definition of cyber-bullying, but most people think that they know it when they see it. Most people are wrong. There are a lot of gray areas where issues of Cyber Bullying and Free Speech appear to conflict with each other. Here are some tips to help sort out the real bullies from the tactics that power uses to silence dissent. I wrote thisnewsletter to encourage people to think more deeply about the issue of cyber bullying and to find ways where we can balance the rights of free speech with the legitimate rights to privacy. Refuse to react emotionally to the bully. Do not reply in like kind to ad hominem attacks a cyber bully will tend to use. He is unable to construct a cogent argument, so he needs to keep the conversation on a personal and emotional level. He will mention his dead relatives, all the suffering in the world which now becomes his opponents responsibility, he will construct every manner of red herring and play the victim card in order to distract attention away from his lack of critical thinking skills and outrageous behavior. Don't let the bully bait you into a flame war. When you see e-mails that contain what you believe to be unfair allegations or gossip written about you, log off and wait 24 hours to respond when you are in a calm state of mind. Carefully document everything that bully posts and report them to his ISP and, if appropriate, the police in a calm, rational and polite manner. Remember, if the bully tries the same thing against you, and he will, he will be unable to appear calm and reasonable to the authorities for very long. Eventually his rage will surface and expose his true character. Someone in authority will eventually see this and give him the "help" he needs. Too many people believe that the only answer to cyber bullying is to limit the rights of the victim. Many sites will tell you simply to block the bully, ban him from your forum or to simply ignore him. In a free society, this should not be your only alternative. Should you choose to respond to the bully -- which is your first amendment right --respond in the most rational and objective way that you can. Do not sink to the level of the bully. Most of them attempt to use large vocabulary words to appear that they are educated, but most of them are unable to focus on college level courses. Because they are impulsive, they become impatient at tasks that require careful thought and discipline. They rarely finish college courses and make grandiose claims that they are authories on subjects of which they have only a superficial. This will eventually become obvious to everyone. Keep in mind that bullies lack self control. This will always give you an advantage should you choose to respond to them and/or prosecute them. Attack the arguments, not the person. (The cyber bully is usually a big mess and it's really too easy a target) Show the bully how to engage in fair, reasoned debate. This shows other your character and emphasizes the emotional instability of the cyber bully. You can take that power away from the harasser by refusing to play their game. In this way, then you have become empowered instead. You are now in charge of the situation. Always keep e-mails from the harasser and your replies as evidence. If you don't feel emotionally strong enough to deal with a cyber-bully today, you may be of some assistance to the people he targets in the future. If at any time you feel you are in physical danger, or if the bully has made physical threats against you, call your local police department. You must be persistent and willing to follow through with the entire prosecution process. This may take a lot of your time and energy, but think ahead. Think about the innocent people on the internet that you may be sparing the pain and frustration of dealing with a cyber bully. Imagine what your grandchildren will have to go through to lend their voice to the internet if it continues to be dominated by mainstream individuals posing as NDNZ. Keep in mind that false charges of libel are the first line of offense for the cyber bully. This is especially true of individuals who are what mainstream society would call "mentally unbalanced. " Anyone who challenges the fantasy world of "mentally ill" person will probably be harassed by bogus charges of libel. They may even go so far as to demand that a rational, educated skeptic prove that UFO, fairies, conspiracy theories and other assorted fantastic creations, freaks or monsters don't exist. They are fond of shifting the burden of proof and demanding that their critics prove a negative. This takes the focus off their outrageous claims. There are a lot of famous examples of false libel suits used to suppress the speech of critics. Uri Geller spent years trying to sue James Randi and debunkers and skeptics after they revealed his spoon bending scam was just a magic trick. Professor eborah E Lipstadt, renowned Jewish scholar, spent months embroiled in a bogus libel suit against Holocaust denier David Irving. The SLAPP Suit as a Means of Silencing Critics (Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation) Cyber bullies often resort to threats of SLAPP (Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation) suits when they encounter a statement or opinion that triggers their rage reflex. (And most bullies have a very short fuse.) If you are being threatened with a libel suit and you are confident you are dealing with a fraud, an internet kook or some other type of cyber bully, they are very likely trying to attempt suppress your First Amendment rights with a SLAPP suit. There are Anti-SLAPP laws that are designed to help people sued for legitimate, protected speech made about public issues (i.e., fraud and misrepresentation) . If you are sued because you wrote about an issue of public interest or concern, you may have been SLAPPed. The First Amendment Project is a nonprofit advocacy organization whose mission is to protect freedom expression. They can provide legal representation to activists. Look into it and see if there is one in your state. Frauds, kooks and bullies know that laywers cost money and that the little voices criticizing them are relatively powerless and don't have money to hire attorneys. They count on using the law to intimidate the powerless into silence. Always make sure that the bully, kook or fraud is serious in pursing his law suit. To some of them, this is the cost of doing questionable business. Many of them are too focused on making money to pursue a long, drawn out lawsuit and what they really want is for you to stop expressing youropinions or providing information that could limit their economic advantage or hinder their business relationship with easy marks. Cyber bullies also rely on bogus cease and desist letters that may appear to be written by an attorney. This is usually just a scare tactic and can be easily dealt with by asking for the alleged attorneys license number and report him to the bar association in the state where s/he lives if he gets out of line. Many times the intent of the cyber bully is to destroy the anonymity of a lone whistle blower. Remember that this country was formed by anonymous pamphleteers and anonymous speech is essential to a healthy democracy. Frauds insist they know who their critics are so they can shift the focus of the controversy to personal attacks on anyone who dares to criticize them. Whistle blowers, like people reporting corporate corruption and products which endanger the public safety (like sweat lodges) sometimes depend on anonymity. There are laws that shield whistle blowers that cyber bullies don't want you to know about. The right wing has waged a campaign to turn the internet into Big Brother and collect potentially damaging information on anyone who wants to express criticism about anyone selling a product or service. This is an extension of the concept of corporate personhood, where the rights of vendors take precedent over the rights of individuals with little power or money and nothing to sell. Keep this in mind when you make statements about anonymous speech on the internet. Words have power and uninformed comments can contribute to the destruction of internet democracy. Think about what you are really saying when you demand to know everything there is to know about anyone who expresses an opinon online. Go to the Electronic Freedom Frontier and educate yourself about the importance of anonymity before you make any ignorant, sweeping comments in public. When I expessed an opinion online in a NAFPS forum, I became the target of one of the foremost cyber bullies online. Even though I have been extremely careful about giving out personal information, someone was able to find out where I lived through voter registration information. They contacted all my neighbors and told me that a relative had died and insisted that I I googled the phone number and found out that it was a person pretending to be a private investigator who wanted to threaten me with bogus lawsutis to keep my mouth shut. Despite the fact that I contacted my elected officials and documented the stalking, the woman behind the irrational campaign to shut me up was given a lucrative position and is well known as an advocate to stop so-called cyber-stalking. Even today, she travels all over the country spreading half-truths and blatant falsehoods about the clients she has protected from internet stalking. It just goes to show you that you should never take anyones comments on face value, especially if they claim to be shutting someone up." Beware of organizations that claim to help you with cyber bullies. They are not all reputable. Some organizations that claim to end internet stalking are politically and economically motivated and will not help anyone that they disagree with politically to end harassment. Most web sites that purport to be a cyber bullying resource only give part of the true picture. Their politics are based in right wing pro-business ideology and they usually display some degree of contempt for and/or ignorance of civil liberties. They tend to be heavily pro-law enforcement, pro-status quo and pro-business. You should think long and hard about believing everything they say or accepting their interpretation of the law too readily. Very few of them are truly motivated towards making a freer more democratic internet. Taking their claims with a grain of salt and a little skepticism is always a good practice, especially if they charge for their 'service' or solicit donations. Don't let the frustration overwhelm you and force you into silence. The cyber bully intends to throw so many obstacles in your way that you can't continue to speak your mind on the internet. Remember that anything you do will help. Doing something is almost always better than doing nothing. If you feel you can't prosecute, you can at least educate those around you about the prevalence of cyber bullies on the internet and make them aware that cyber bullying comes more from the left than from the righ. Most people are completely unaware of the lenghths that Wiccans, neo-pagans, Shake n Bakes and Twinkies will go to suppress free speech and NDNZ are the most likly targets of their wrath. The left should be forced to deal with this hypocrisy When Gramma was teaching me how to sew, she always cautioned me to "measure twice and cut once." I realize know that this was also an important lesson about perception and I have found that it applies to controversial issues. My rule of thumb is: "think twice, speak once." If more people on the internet would do this, the cyber world would be a more peaceful, welcoming, rational place. If we could stop shutting down web sites and threatening to sue each other, we might even begin to start to understand one another.  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