I am so VERY disappointed in today's FML.  70K, twice as big as
yesterday's, and fully half of it regards Matan.  Well, now I just CAN'T
let you guys have ALL the fun, can I?  Time to put in my two cents.
 
First, I have never seen such obvious distrust and paranoia.  Normally, I
am rather fond of Ms. Frye's posts, occasionally I find myself having to
take them with a grain of salt.  But I find this latest almost laughable.
No offense is meant to Ms Frye, or those who agree with her.
 
From where I sit, it seems pretty obvious why a person of another language
would be able to spell a word like "pregnancy" and not the simple
mono-syllabic words he misspells.  It is called a dictionary.  If you are
speaking a language other than your own, what words are you most likely
to look up?  The tough ones.  Combine that with his obvious use of common
internet shorts "u" and "r" and the fact that Hebrew shares no common roots
with English, and it is pretty obvious why he writes the way he does.
 
Also, I seem to recall a number of times in the past, reading of people who
HAVE contacted him IN Israel, as Bev at the Jerusalem Zoo's post today has
proven.  Unless you think Bev at the Zoo is also a fraud, meant only to
make us think that Matan is real.  That would be quite the complicated
hoax, wouldn't it?  Frankly, I have no interest in ever finding out whether
Matan contacts Ms. Frye or not, I find it silly, paranoid, and pretty much
just plain mean.
 
This is a good point to mention how generally insulted I often am by Ms
Frye's obvious suspicion of anyone with more computer knowledge than she
has.  Frankly if I were out to get someone, though I have the knowledge
to use a computer, I would use more conventional methods.
 
Second, Matan's differing views may be almost purely cultural, and how dare
anyone on this list condemn him for them.  Certainly we may feel free to
disagree, and certainly we are ALL worried for the health of his jill.
And certainly we have reason to be.  But I am reading the same people who
usually demand tolerance, and the right to hold opinions without being
condemned, doing just that to Matan.
 
I remember thinking how silly Mr Fowler (I believe it was Mr Fowler,) was,
back when he accused the negative responses to one of his posts of being
geographically based, a kind of patritism.  But perhaps Mr Fowler hit on
something that actually IS a problem.
 
While I have noticed that Matan may or may not pay much attention to what
advice is given him, how likely do you think it is that he will listen to a
post which says, in essence, "Get your jill spayed you idiot!" Would you?
I wouldn't.
 
I guess I'm just irritated in general with the seemingly total lack of
anything better to talk about, and with the meanness directed at Matan.
But I have thought from Matan's first post that many posters responded
with more venom than was neccessary.  *sigh*
 
Melissa Barnes
[Posted in FML issue 3453]