Podfather,
Its good to hear you again! Just when you think you are out, they pull you back in!!!!!!

I hope you enjoy your time in Seoul

Harry,

You’re credibility goes out the window when you spam the comments of the SeoulPodcast in addition to the host’s personal blogs.

-Stafford

Secondly “Harry” I know you are Mike Yates.

So although I appreciate your continued listenership, just stop it ok?

Wow~ I had forgotten how much I liked Air…

Why is my avatar a grumpy pentagon?

Full marks to Hwarangi for musical taste.

Check the ip addresses I have posted from stafford. I posted my comment on the last podcast from home, this comment is from work.

“Secondly “Harry” I know you are Mike Yates.

So although I appreciate your continued listenership, just stop it ok?”

I don’t do socks. You could have easily verified the information, so you either (a) jumped to conclusions, or (b) want to discredit me and cause harm to my reputation by stating information you know to be false.

Which is it?

Yawn @Mike Yates

Classy Stafford.

I tried to be respectful in the email I sent, but it seems you are not the reasonable person I thought you were.

Mike:

Sure I’ll concede that perhaps it’s not you spamming this forum and the comments at The Chosun Bimbo.

I would however note that the spam is promoting your site and that even if it’s not you, you might take responsibility either for the continued posts, or for stopping who ever it is who is obviously giving you a bad name.

I can’t speak as to my quotient of reason, I dear say it’s lacking, but in terms of replying to your email I can’t say you are anywhere near the top of the heap in terms of urgency to reply.

Speaking of reason, your email as very restrained. What is it that makes you go so nuts in public fora such as these?

Having read what TheChickenLover has posted and the tone in which it is written my new contention is that it is he (or she) who is the one spamming everyone.

Notwithstanding that, Mike generally I’m a big fan of your work. I would think you have bigger fish to fry than lil’ ol’ me.

Joe has suggested that I not give a response to TheChickenLover, for fear of adding fuel to the fire, but I feel obliged to address a couple of points in the round.

The first is my supposed support of ATEK.

I do not support ATEK. Initially I was intrigued by the possibility of such a group being formed and said so in March 2008 (yes 2008!) see here: http://stafford.squarespace.com/imported-data/2008/3/11/unions-and-associations.html

Almost a year later I was still interested but lamenting the issues they were having getting started: http://stafford.squarespace.com/journal/2009/1/5/time-to-get-your-politic-onalmost.html

During our podcast with Tony Hellmann I don’t recall being overly supportive nor sycophantic and in March this year speaking with Brian in Jeollanam-do, while citing the need for some sort of organisation never stated my support for ATEK.

Which is not to say that at some later date, if the organisation gets it’s collective asses together and does something useful, I won’t be a supporter.

This is a totally different kettle of fish to the slander of being called a “protector of a sexual predator.”

Which I am not.

It may be spam, but I clicked the link through to Mike’s analysis of Tony Hellmann’s past and from my reading there might be a prima facie case here for more investigation into this man’s past.

(Although I cannot say I speak for the other members of the podcast having not discussed it with them)

That being said I doubt, as TheChickenLover claims, that my name or that of the podcast will be drawn upon in the media, nor do I think the spamming of comments boards is a productive means for getting the issue into the media.

In all, it only leads me to the conclusion that, perhaps, your efforts would be better spent elsewhere.

||It’s time to face reality Stafford. You’re supporting a sexual predator and will do anything it takes to keep your name sullied.||

Wow. Just wow. Hellmann appears to have lost his license for crossing professional bounds. The standards of evidence may not be similar to a criminal trial. I see nothing in the WA reports that label him a sexual predator. That would be for a court of law, not an anonymous ESL teacher in Korea, to determine.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sexual_predator

You may cross the line here into libel, which is a criminal offense in Korea. Careful now. Your IP is logged. You might want to be more careful. You may relish backing Tony into a final corner but he might respond in kind.

If JA Hellmann = Tony Hellmann and true then what he did was indeed creepy and morally wrong and not the kind of person ATEK wants as its public face. Stepping down was a wise decision. Of course, your internet show trial may kill Tony but ATEK may well survive. Although my feeling is ATEK probably requires the experience of Tony. But then again, we might not have a christian religion today if we didn’t feed them to the lions. To wit, careful who you martyr. ATEK may go on simply to spite the likes of you.

“Speaking of reason, your email as very restrained. What is it that makes you go so nuts in public fora such as these?”

In email or when writing longer posts, I make sure to take in a cigarette and jot things down on a notebook before writing, and then have another smoke before I submit. I don’t always do that on comment boards