(sigh)

[Don Rosa]

> From: "Daniel van Eijmeren" <dve at kabelfoon.nl>
> So, I really don't see why Don Rosa finds it nescessary to send me a
> private email in which he misinterprets me, including an attempt to
> personally insult me and a suggestion about how to apologize to
> Dan Shane. It's none of his business!

The hell you say! And here you are, as always, FURTHER complicating
the whole matter by making it public! Jeez, you just don't know when to
stop or when people are trying to help you deal with your own emotional
problems! My private mail was to try to KEEP THIS PRIVATE. Don't you get
it!? Okay, so you force this on me:
Daniel could have made that apology as soon as he sent the message to the
list, but I waited and he did not do so. I sent him a PRIVATE mail (yes,
private, to allow him to seem to decide to make his own apology... I could
have done so publicly but chose not to) telling him I knew that he had
mistakenly sent that message, and that it was, after all, in Dutch, so I
expected him to apologize to the ML *only in Dutch* so as to not embarrass
himself further. He ignored that message for two days. I then asked him
again, and said that if he did not apologize to Dan Shane in Dutch, I would
need to defend Dan against being insulted, and I would not be able to do so
in Dutch. I suggested he take my advice. So, he does not take my advice,
and he makes matters worse for himself.
Many of you know how Daniel resents my presence here and feels that I
should not be on-line in this group because my very presence "forbids"
criticism of me. I actually, like an idiot, once accepted this as truth for
some months, and quit the group -- but I later realized that Daniel's
resentment was *his* problem and I would not allow it to cut *me* off from
my fellow Barksfans. I knew my return irritated him, but that was something
he'd need to deal with. I knew that he resented my popularity (as much as
my popularity puzzles me) but I decided to just ignore him. And I try to
ignore the swipes he takes at me when I express my personal opinions
here -- I know he has personal problems with it.
But it's rather bothersome to know that he seems to enjoy seeing a crank
write in to this list with what even *Daniel* should know are lies, and the
fact that he feels that my friend's defending me when I am not here to do
so myself is "childish" is okay. That's his personal opinion and it's none
of my business. But when he places that opinion in public view, I MUST
respond. My choice was to try to allow Daniel to apologize for the error in
such a way that no one but Dutch speakers would even know what was going
on, therefore making it invisible to all other eyes. This seemed to be the
kindest way to handle it. But no -- he forces me to respond directly. Okay.
If it's "childish" for a friend to try to defend someone who he sees
slandered viciously in public, especially when that person is absent and
not able to respond himself... if that's childish, then I'm a child and
proud of it! Dan didn't even directly address the libelous remarks, he did
not seek to argue or start a flamewar (which have been absent from this ML
since its very beginning) -- he simply suggested the crank's sloppy writing
spoke for itself and that we should all simply ignore it. It was a very
reserved response, but all that was needed. It was clear that this person
was not expressing an honest opinion, he was simply trying to slander me.
Dan Shane is supposed to just let that pass while I'm off in Norway?
Apparently Daniel was upset that someone tried to defend me against
criticism, even though I was not here and the attack was clearly a pack of
lies. And here Daniel jumps on me whenever I simply express an opinion ,
not even a criticism, of something Carl Barks was thinking when he wrote
something. This is really sad.
All I can say is that neither I nor (I trust) Dan Shane nor (I hope) anyone
else here is going to change how they decide to defend their friends or
their ideas just to please Daniel. And I suggest Daniel take advice given
to him by me or others about how to handle these matters in a saner manner
and not force us all to air all this crap in the open. This ML is not the
place for it! Why did I send him private mail? This is why! Because it
would have avoided ALL OF THIS! Who needs this #@&%? Not me! We could have
avoided all of it.
Aside from that, I also thank all of you for the kind words you said in my
defense against that crank message. And I especially thank DAN SHANE. I'll
take all the "childish" friends I can get if they are like Dan Shane, or
Nils or Oystein or Elli or Michael or Luca or Frank or ***ALL*** the other
friends I've met through Barks' Ducks over the years! And I'll be
"childish" for all of you when you are slandered in your absence.