Minnesota Public Radio sent us one of the weirdest legal threats we've ever received (and they won't explain it)

Withdrawing funding along with a clearly stated reason for doing so, especially if multiple people are doing it, is often an effective way to get attention in these sorts of organizations. Just canceling your support isn’t particularly effective on its own, of course.

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Oh, my! I went to college with his cousin, (para) nitro acetanilide!

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Small world!

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  1. Cory, you are a baller.
  2. WTF is NPR thinking? This is just depressing.
  3. Rocky Rothrock sounds like a fake name.

What is happening? I’m confused and upset.

I wonder if their colleagues include Sleve McDichael and Bobson Dugnutt?

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I listen to KPBS every morning (in San Diego), and could not do without the quality and objective reporting, but seriously what is this? I could totally understand if some inexperienced goon took it upon himself to send that nonsense out to you, but the management has had time to review what he sent to you and what you sent back. This is really disturbing.

Many years ago, when there was a Scientology hub in a local strip mall and I was having landlord issues, I thought about pitting them against one another, by sending the Scientologists a fake eviction notice from said landlord. (for the record I never followed through). The idea was to get both groups of evil full of consternation for one another and cause problems for both.

I wonder if that has happened here, from ‘Rocky Rothrock’, to no one at MPR being able to answer you (they have no idea where the legal threat originated), and the lame boilerplate about supporting their journalists and no further response.

Someone who dislikes far-loony-left BoingBoing and lib’rul public radio, and they think, oboy this will be hilarious when they waste time and energy over my little machinations!

(Ok, I see the similarities but I am sure my Scientology plot qualifies as much less immature and a lot more interesting, somehow)

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The term of art for that is “Joe Job” or near enough. But a cursory google search suggests that “Rocky Rothrock” is (amazingly) a real person at MPR, their name appearing on various regulatory filings.

My professional legal advice (to be considered before implementing or rejecting, not taken without forethought):
Sue MPR (not sure of the grounds – too early in the morning here).
Better: Leave the offending piece up and wait for a suit and then the defense is essentially “Really, WTF?”. Cory’s explanation is pretty much the response; would only need to be translated into something court submission-like.
I’m a dotard so I’m ever amazed that as the world grows more complex, people are less educated and so are less able to manage. And idiotic things like MPR’s C+D letter happen.

Looks to be 67. https://radaris.com/p/Rocky/Rothrock/

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For those who don’t get the reference:

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Boomer is a state of mind, not a mark of days.

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“Rocky Rothrock.” Sounds like a name from MST3K’s classic Space Mutiny episode, right between Rip Steakface and Slate Slabrock.

Hmm. That show was from Minneapolis too. Well, Minneapolis/St. Paul.

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Zoominfo is not like LinkedIn. It’s something that scrapes the internet (badly) and compiles information on people. This guy is more likely to be in his sixties than in his twenties.

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A few minutes with The Googles will demonstrate that almost any male with last name “Rothrock” is liable to be nicknamed “Rocky” – there are (at least) hundreds of 'em.

(But at least he wasn’t a gangsta called “Corn Pop”. That would be ridiculous, amirite?.)

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Never waste time trying to distinguish between malice and stupidity.

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Give the man some credit. Calling a fictional troll “Rocky” is clearly an homage to Discworld.

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I find your ideas intriguing & wish to subscribe to your newsletter.

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