Comments on: Tom Abate In Sempervirens – April 15, 2011

By: kevpod

kevpod — Fri, 30 Dec 2011 23:12:45 +0000

That doesn’t work for me, as it is diagnosing someone’s medical maladies based on police reports. We’ll stick with describing the behavior and leave the medical assessments to those qualified to make them.

By: Spike

Spike — Fri, 30 Dec 2011 23:04:41 +0000

Might work to say he appeared to be manic (evidenced by his behavior and his being placed in psychiatric care after the incident) and then define that that as a phase of a mental illness called bipolar that is typified by poor judgment, poor temper control, reckless behavior and lack of self control. A link or two might have served the public good.

There appears, and I could be wrong, to be a bit of glee on the reporter’s behalf in the reporting of the sad and obviously terribly embarrassing details of the case.

As a person who puts stories about small communities on the internet for a living, I spend a lot of time weighing the benefits and costs to the rest of humanity of what I do. No right or easy answers, to be sure. But when we have the power to put the written word about people on the Internet, which goes world-wide and that will exist for the foreseeable future, I think it behoves us to really think clearly about how we impact other people’s lives.

By: kevpod

kevpod — Fri, 30 Dec 2011 19:57:39 +0000

What would you suggest as more appropriate terms for erratic and aggressive behavior?

By: Spike

Spike — Fri, 30 Dec 2011 19:46:57 +0000

The trick with a story like this one is that Tom was mentally ill — ill! — so the judging and tisk-tisking and mocking that comes with him the description of his behavior as “erratic” or “aggressive” has no place. Would we mock someone who had a seizure? Who passed out? Who threw up? One hopes not. So, yes, it’s news, but it’s the implicit and explicit judgement of the man in question that turns this coverage sour.

By: Mrs. Gaskell

Mrs. Gaskell — Fri, 24 Jun 2011 15:35:32 +0000

This is a sad story–I just heard about Tom yesterday. It is surprising and out of character for him. I have known him for over thirty years and hope he recovers.

By: Linda Truck

Linda Truck — Fri, 29 Apr 2011 17:59:57 +0000

Perspective is not something someone who is/was delusional has. Apparently several days before the incident that was reported on here happened, Tom had made a bit of scene elsewhere, looking for a employee that didn’t exist, as he claimed he had picked up a “french woman” hitchhiking and was looking to re-connect… Point being the downward spiral was not an isolated incident and did point to probable cause to commit.

By: Robert Benson

Robert Benson — Tue, 26 Apr 2011 17:42:55 +0000

The North Coast Journal, in my opinion, is the only objective reporting periodical in the area. I, especially, like the http://www.northcoastjournal.com/news/2008/03/20/not-so-peaceful-atom/ article with it’s current Fukishima relevance. The apparent iron grip that the local establishment, whether left or right, has on the area could drive any morally sound human to the brink, who attempts to report on the corruption (see article, above, for example). I pray that Tom gains some perspective from this incident and that the public Abate this matter for inadvertence, if not for possible lack of probable cause to commit; time will tell on the latter.

By: anon.r.mous

anon.r.mous — Mon, 25 Apr 2011 16:52:48 +0000

Hunter S Thompson did gonzo better.

By: Linda Truck

Linda Truck — Thu, 21 Apr 2011 01:52:29 +0000

I think Rose it attempting to place fault on the Humboldt public blogsphere for Tom Abate’s condition, but he seemed to already be in a bad state, on his arrival here in Humboldt County. The KSLG interview clearly points to this. Good wishes to Tom for a clear recovery.

By: kevpod

kevpod — Wed, 20 Apr 2011 20:54:19 +0000

Note to potential commenters: If you’re just going to call people bums, or crazy, or get into Heraldo/Humboldt Mirror-grade personal insults, your comment will be merrily moderated out of existence. If you have some criticism, just add that magic not-so-secret ingredient known as “substance,” and it will get through. Basically you need to give people something to think about, which is why we are doing all this to begin with.