Shitty E-mail I Got At Work Yesterday

[Dinger]

A teacher at our school, a republican teacher (but one who I previously did not think would ever send something like this to all of our staff) sent out an e-mail by David Kaiser, something called "History Unfolding." It basically compares President Obama to hitler, and complains about people protesting "close elections." I looked and saw on Snopes that this guy didn't even write this crap. Anyway, I'm still pissed about this and not sure what to do.

[HipChick]

1. Private or public school?

[Dinger]

3. Public(nt)

[mitchum]

4. Forward that little bit of plagiarized nonsense to the school administrators

[Dinger]

11. It Was An All Staff E-mail

I won't know what, if anything happens, until Monday. Home sick today, and still pissed.

[LynneSin]

13. If that was sent on a school email account forward it to HR/Principal

That's a serious no-no

[FLyellowdog]

2. Sent on school email account? A big NO NO.

[Dinger]

6. What People Do On Their Own time Is Their Business, But This Was Waay Over The Line

And I am shocked, because this teacher seemed to know better. Guess I was wrong.

[havocmom]

12. If sent on school email account, case could be made for hostile work environment

OP should take it up with supervisor, and insist any such rubbish coming over official email accounts should be dealt with.

If it came over her private account to OP, OP should be able to put on a filter to drop mail from that address into the trash file.

[Tailormyst]

5. Send him back an email requesting that he stop forwarding you RW bullshit

It's simple. Tell him to "stop it". If he does not, then go to your boss.

[thunder rising]

10. DO NO SUCH THING ... DO NOT REPLY ... RELEASE THE EMAIL TO DU

complete with senders info

[Hekate]

41. I disagree. Allow the OP to work thru the system legitimately, & let's not have DU be a cyber-bully.

It's better that way, by far.

Hekate

[Touchdown]

54. RELEASE THE HOUNDS!

:rofl:

[cherokeeprogressive]

14. This sounds like the most reasoned, most likely to get results response.

Agree 100%

[FLDCVADem]

27. Excellent answer

Go to the source first, then up the chain, if necessary.

[petronius]

46. Yep. Reply to the sender, perhaps with 'reply all', pointing out that you don't

want to receive any more RW nonsense and that you don't think it's appropriate at work.

All this talk of of getting the guy fired or outing him on DU and whatnot seems like a ridiculous overreaction to me - the kind of thing I expect from a freeper, not a DUer...

[thunder rising]

7. Once an email is sent it's in the public domain, you can release the email with the senders info

included. Why would you protect this person who obviously does not need to be around children in a teaching capacity.

Let's have it ... NOW.

[farmout rightarm]

17. I absolutely agree! Why protect purveyors of lies and hate? Makes no sense.

grr

[Hekate]

43. I disagree. Allow the OP to work thru the system legitimately, & let's not have DU be a cyber-bully.

It's far better that way.

Hekate

[farmout rightarm]

47. You're right...that's why we now have equal rights for gays and health care for everyone.

What was I thinking?

[Hekate]

49. This is not comparable activism. The man is a public employee, and there are ways to address this...

... without demanding that his personal information be blasted across the internet with an invitation to -- do what, exactly? I'm curious about what you and thunder rising have in mind that seems appropriate.

Hekate

[TrogL]

8. Complain to HR about promoting a toxic work environment

[TrogL]

9. Complain to HR about promoting a toxic work environment

[TrogL]

42. That's wierd. I've never seen a double without getting an error message

Dupe

[MineralMan]

15. Here's Kaiser's Wikipedia entry...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_E._Kaiser

[Make7]

30. ... and here is his blog entry regarding this email:

 

Fradulent Email

An email is circulating around the net which begins as follows:

David Kaiser Location: Jamestown , Rhode Island , United States
For the past thirty years I have been a historian of international and domestic politics, as well as an authority on some of the more famous criminal cases in American history. For the past four years I have been commenting on current events.

History Unfolding

I am a student of history. Professionally, I have written 15 books in six languages, and have studied it all my life. I think there is something monumentally large afoot, and I do not believe it is just a banking crisis, or a mortgage crisis, or a credit crisis. Yes these exist, but they are merely single facets on a very large gemstone that is only now coming into a sharper focus.


[The email then continues for several pages.]

The first two sentences, beginning, "For the past thirty years," were of course written by me; the rest of the email was not written by me. Its views are in many ways the opposite of my own. It is apparently some sort of conservative disinformation campaign, quite possibly the work of a single individual, designed to muddy the political waters by falsely attributing views to others. I obviously regret the deception.


http://historyunfolding.blogspot.com/2009/03/fradulent-email.html

 

[Ian David]

31. I got THIS email from David Kaiser

For the past thirty years I have been a historian of international and domestic politics, as well as an authority on some of the more famous criminal cases in American history. For the past four years I have been commenting on current events.

Now, my fortune is being held in a bank account by the Nigerian Government, and I need your help to get it to The United States.

...

[Make7]

34. You too? I sent $5,000 for bribes to get the money out. Still waiting to hear back. LOL! ( n/t )

[Hekate]

45. Ouch. It really sucks to have your name stolen by spammers. TY for fact-checking. nt

[farmout rightarm]

48. Okay, this is a petty nitpicking, but why would HE "regret" something that someone ELSE did?

I dinna get it...

[Hekate]

50. Because they misappropriated (okay, stole) his name and reputation for things he does not believe in

... or support. Saying he "regrets" it is a very polite way of putting it.

Hekate

[farmout rightarm]

53. Well, I suppose so. (grumble grumble) He should have said something like "denounce"

instead of 'regret'...

[Hekate]

55. Or, as an academic, he might have called upon The Bard...

... and quoted Shakespeare's "Othello."

Iago says: He "who steals my purse steals trash/... But he that filches from me my good name/ Robs me of that which not enriches him,/ And makes me poor indeed" (3.3.157-161).

Cheers.

Hekate

[farmout rightarm]

57. Yes, Moor's the Pity...as it were.

:D

:hi:

[Hekate]

60. rofl. nice.

[Manifestor_of_Light]

71. My mother had a purse full of junk....

And being the smartassed kid that I was (am), I would say "he who steals my purse steals trash".

:D

That was before I knew it was from Othello. Figured it was Willie Shakespeare, though.

[salguine]

16. There's a great way to stop people who routinely forward shit e-mail like this. Next time

they do it, tell them that every time they send you one of these after this, you'll donate ten dollars in THEIR NAME to whatever liberal cause you choose (ACLU, whatever you want). If it happens again, follow through (it's only ten bucks, or more if you like). When they get the first note thanking them for the donation, it'll stop. I guarantee it.

[thunder rising]

20. Next time? Put that email on DU complete with the headers (redact your own info)

[fl_dem]

29. I like the way you think

and cannot wait to use this tactic. :toast:

[MineralMan]

72. Nope. Click Reply All and write something to this effect:

"Please remove me from your mailing list. You have sent me an offensive email. I do not wish to receive any further emails from you. If I do, I will report those emails to the authorities."

You will be taken off their email list forthwith.

[dixiegrrrrl]

75. I like That!!!!

And am simply green with envy that I did not think of it.

[ingac70]

18. Forward it to admin....

and the school board.

Tell them you don't want lies and shit sent to you.

[Swamp Rat]

19. You could write a thoughtful letter to the Wisconsin School Board

explaining why this teacher needs more than just a reprimand.

http://www.wasb.org/cms

[Dinger]

25. Hmmmmm, I Like That

Thanks honey.:)

[elfin]

33. There is no Wisconsin School Board

But there is a Department of Education. One of the few states without a state level school board.

[TroglodyteScholar]

52. If you look at swamp rat's link...

...there is a Wisconsin Association of School Boards.

[T Wolf]

21. This repuke POS needs to be removed from the school ASAP, by any means necessary. Follow up

with administration, school board, and the media.

Every time you cost a puke their job, an angel gets their wings.

[Make7]

22. Was this the content of the email?

 
http://www.snopes.com/politics/soapbox/proportions.asp
 

[Dinger]

26. Yes It Is (nt)

[Make7]

32. I would probably 'reply to all' with Mr. Kaiser's blog entry about this email.

(See post #30 for his blog entry.)

I would politely ask that this person refrain from forwarding false information that is fraudulently attributed to someone for the purposes of lending credibility to nonsense. Add that perhaps it would be best not to forward political propaganda using the school system's email servers.

If that doesn't seem to discourage future emails, forward your initial response to this person's supervisor. And also to that person's supervisor, etc. As far up the administrative food chain as you feel necessary to get the point across. (Don't forget to CC the original sender of the email.)
 

[Dinger]

61. He Sent This Out Later Today;

"After I received some interesting responses from others, I did a little digging after school today and found the following from snopes.com stating that David Kaiser did not author the article I had forwarded earlier. It appears to be a bit of a mystery. See link below."


I sent him an e-mail alright, but I'm going to keep that private. I'll try to give a decent update if I can.

[blogslut]

23. I would definitely send a complaint email to HR, School Admistrator and relative authorities

As well, make sure you CC the offending teacher. Attach the offensive email. Explain that your school's intranet is a vital tool that enables teacher-to-teacher communication and NOT meant for political opinion.

[TNDemo]

24. Reply to all

with the link to snopes.

[proud2BlibKansan]

28. Turn her in

She shouldn't be using her school email to spread crap about the president. Forward her email to the principal and / or superintendent and ask them to address the misuse of the school's email.

[hfojvt]

35. maybe it's just me

but I'd report him to the SS

[WVRICK13]

36. Was It Sent From A school Account

or on school time? If so, the teacher should be fired. If not, idiots are allowed to be idiots. I got an email similar to that from my stock broker, who obviously sent to everyone on her mailing list. I did a reply all and told her to remove me from her list for ignorant misinformed emailings and cautioned her it was bad for business. I then told her I needed an appointment to transfer my account elsewhere and copied her home office. Not sure what the home office thinks politically but she wrote an apology to everyone and took me to lunch after which I stopped by her office and closed the account.

[Dinger]

62. Yes, 11:43 a.m. On A School Day (nt)

[LiberalFighter]

37. Contact your union rep too for suggestions.

[Dinger]

63. I Did

It's being taken care of, so far.

[Yurovsky]

76. In the words of Montgomery Burns... "Excellent!"...

hopefully this nutjob will learn a hard lesson....

[mkultra]

38. fire back hard and start a fight.

start out by making it clear that you cant stand people using the school resources to spread these lies and you cant let this stand. Then unload on her. In the end, you will get in trouble to but she will be in much deeper water.

[Hekate]

39. There are some good ideas in this thread. Might I add: print out, keep e-copy, forward to relevant

... authorities with formal letter of complaint. Using the state-funded public school email network for political spam is a huge no-no.

In replying or not to the sender, there are a couple of things to consider. First, do you want to join in the inappropriate use of the network by replying at all. Second (since the deed is already done, I kind of go for this one), hit Reply All.

If you go for Reply All, again there's two choices: one is to simply state that this is inappropriate as well as erroneous, and to not include you in this sort of spam. The other (and this will take some time on your part) is to rebut the foul thing point by point with links. Either way, there are some who will thank you for squashing this activity.

As for the Principal, HR, School Board, and whoever else is in the hierarchy: they should know about this use of the network and should act upon it. This does create a hostile work environment. I'm on a County commission and Mr. H teaches at the local college: believe me, there are policies in place for employees' use of the email network owned and maintained by the (publicly-funded) employer. That kind of spam, left unchallenged by the employer, says that the employer approves. Not a good thing at all.

Best of luck going forward.

Hekate

[glinda]

56. In agreement on your suggestions.

[Dinger]

64. I Have Also Contacted Our Technology Coordinator

A Dem I might add.:evilgrin:

[Lex]

40. Do not "let it go." False information must be CORRECTED.

I don't think we should let rightwingers get away without correcting their false information bullshit.

[RamboLiberal]

44. I'm curious what subject this jerk teaches?

I hope it is not history.

Beyond that - I can't add anything - you got some great advice from DU'ers already.

[Dinger]

65. This Person Is A

science teacher.

[Obamanaut]

51. Do you all normally send personal, non work related emails to and

fro on work computers, while at work?

Are there rules in place covering this? If this practice is not permitted, and is being done, all involved may well be open to scrutiny when/if you report this to authorities.

[Dinger]

66. Definitely Not Normal

and other staff have been reprimanded in the past for similar behavior.

[voteearlyvoteoften]

58. Turn him in

Lots of dems in the school system.

[TroglodyteScholar]

59. "I have never been so afraid for my country and for my children as I am now. "

I just L-O-V-E seeing right-wingers express this sentiment.

[Mz Pip]

68. He needs something real

to be afraid about. Maybe getting written up for this kind of bullshit will do the trick.

[MerryBlooms]

67. I worked for our district(s) for about 14 years

and we were forbidden to use ANY school grounds, including staff email, to promote ANY political cause. I also served on our local LSC (local school council) and complaints of that nature were directed to us and we voted as to what action/recommendation should be taken. I'm not sure all LSCs have the same powers, but I think it's worth checking into.

Even if this particular teacher isn't found in breach of district policy, it may be worth reporting to the administration or LSC.

[Orsino]

69. You need to bust him for copying. n/t

[Catshrink]

70. Are you sure the admins haven't addressed it?

If it's a personnel matter, they probably won't discuss any reprimand publicly due to privacy laws. But, I agree with those upstream who said to refute. You might start the email saying that you believe political emails are inappropriate but since that one contained so many untruths you are compelled to set the record strait. Then sock it to 'em, Dinger!

[Dinger]

73. Update. Just Got Another E-mail

Apparently, someone talked to him. This is the text of the all-staff e-mail he sent out a while ago:


"Thank you to all those who have expressed their feelings regarding my email entitled "History Unfolding" which I had sent out earlier today. I take no offense in your comments, as none were intended when I sent this out. When I had originally read it I thought the piece had made some valid points, referencing historical facts relative to our nation's present-day situation. I felt that the historical perspective presented would be thought-provoking and a topic educators would consider worthy of contemplation.

It wasn't my intent to abuse school email or to offend anyone. I wasn't looking for a forum for debate or a platform to grandstand an agenda, but rather, just passing along, I felt, some insightful ideas. Perhaps I naively misjudged how others would perceive it's contents. I apologize if any felt insulted or "attacked" in any way. In the future I hope to be more sensitive to the myriad of feelings held by my colleges.

But, again, I thank you for your responses and hope that we, as educators, can always maintain a healthy respect for one another's view points. "



Just so you know, this guy is a republican (obviously), but in the interest of full disclosure, I have to say that he is not a wingnut. A few years ago, he came to me and wanted to get a copy of "An Inconvenient Truth" to show to his students, and do a teaching unit on it. He has never done anything like this before, and I was shocked that he did. He is definitely not an "in-your-face" type of guy. He is nice, and had a young daughter survive cancer recently. I am satisfied with his e-mail, in which the subject line was "My Apologies."

[SidDithers]

78. That's a classic non-apology apology...

"I'm sorry if you were offended by my actions" is not an apology for the forwarding the material. It's blaming the victim for their response to the offensive material.

And "just passing it along for consideration" is also a chickenshit copout.

I think he needs more consequence than a few strongly worded e-mail replies from his coworkers.

Sid

[Dinger]

79. That Could Still Happen

When I back on Monday, I'm sure I'll know more.

[LWolf]

74. That's spam, and should be prohibited by your district.

I'd say something to my principal and let him handle it.

My custodian is a huge Glen Beck fan, and was sending out Beck-inspired emails for awhile; it came to an abrupt end a few months back when the admins discovered one.

[undeterred]

77. I would definitely report it.

There are some heads rolling in Middleton this week over an inappropriate email sent by a teacher.

Middleton-Cross Plains staffers disciplined for "adult" email

MIDDLETON (WKOW) -- The Middleton-Cross Plains School District has disciplined a total of nine staff members and one administrator following the discovery of an email containing "adult content," the district announced Monday.

"We acknowledge that incidents involving adult content material being transferred via district email occurred," said Michelle Larson, community relations specialist for the district, in a statement emailed to the Middleton Times-Tribune. "As soon as administration became aware of it, we took expedient and appropriate action."

Administrators found what they deemed inappropriate messages from one middle school teacher. He was suspended on unpaid leave, and it prompted a district-wide investigation, in which several other violations were discovered, most of them among the Middleton High School staff.

Former MHS Associate Principal Rocky Falcone is one of those caught up in the mess. He says he was forced to retire last month when the district learned he was part of a "joke group" that shared a number of what he called ''off-color'' emails.

Seven high school staff members are also in trouble, and one substitute teacher was dismissed. The Madison Teachers Union calls this an important reminder for teachers to be very careful what they do on school computers.

http://www.wkowtv.com/Global/story.asp?S=11926645

There are rules that have to be followed, and using company email for political purposes is against the rules in most workplaces. I wouldn't think the school district would be any different.