*********** IMPORTANT MESSAGE ABOUT ANDY STEPHENSON (2nd try) ***********

I am instructing the moderators to lock all threads relating to Andy Stephenson.

I will post more on this topic shortly. Until then, you are not permitted to start any more threads on this topic.

Thank you for your understanding.

Skinner
DU Admin

AND NO FINGER-POINTING OR FLAMING IN THIS THREAD! PERIOD.

Your question hade better just be naive, with no implications, or your in for it.

...are they the same person? Or are they the same genre?

without going into detail...

Andy is a dedicated, unselfish, tireless advocate and educator for election reform. He participated in the Ohio recount and testified in front of Rep. John Conyers' committee on elections.

He is a long time and well loved DU member, and a dear friend of many here.

Here is a photo of Andy and DUer, 'goodboy', taken at an election reform gathering in Columbus, Ohio, this past weekend.

I was there too last weekend. Andy is real, and he is really sick. I can't believe this is even an issue.

Wow.What a morning!

I understand completely.

I know you will do the right thing

When this blows over, have a :beer: on me, Skinner!

I'm sure you'd like one. Take two, they're small.

:beer: :beer:

This progressive community has a big heart.

I look foreward to any information that you can provide.

:hi:

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he sure is busy.

Our hopes should be that all involved are well today...

Big picture folks.

:thumbsup: (Well, it's actually a thumb.)

I gotta shower and get ready for work :D

:spank:

Or maybe you can just go stinky :)

Who you callin' stinky? (no finger pointing! :evilgrin:)

:D

:evilgrin:

"some people" could be offended by that term. :)

Gotta go!

i have nothing to add, just want to have this thread in 'my posts' so i can keep informed.

OK, for those who care to know:

a) I just walked into this mess a few minutes ago. What I am hearing is that there was a snafu with the hospital payment that is hopefully being worked out.

b) I have known Andy personally for years, been in his house, done speaking gigs with him, met his boyfriend, dined with him, drank with him. If this is a 'scam,' as has been alleged, it is the most masterful Keyser Soze-esqe one I have ever heard of. Apply Occam's Razor.

c) About two dozen DUers would also have to have been in on it, myself included, including those who have been with Andy these last several days, those negotiating with the hospital, and those dealing with PayPal. Again, the Razor.

Andy, if you have scammed us, I am on the first plane to Seattle to make goddam sure you *will* need to see a doctor. ;)

Skinner, can you PM me when you get the chance?

But I would never question your credibility.
Your writing is among the most moving and honest stuff I have ever read.
Thank you for all you do, including helping a friend in need.
Denese

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:thumbsup:

that Andy spends the money on getting us all paper ballots, I would still consider my 50 bucks well spent. Having met Andy myself, I am way more inclined to believe him over someone with a short track record here who I do not know.

Andy has worked very hard for OUR rights. as long as the money goes to him, I don't care if it's for a doc his living expenses. Honestly, I'd be thrilled to find out he really didn't have cancer, and was going to definitely be able to represent us for a long, long time.

Still, one way or another, I want to have this issue put to rest.

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I just read those locked threads to figure out what happened, and find out that all hell broke loose in my 30 minute absence.

Just incredible.

Thanks Skinner for putting on the brakes.

Good to hear you weigh in.

i hear ya

I don't know Andy at all nor am I familiar with his work but your work has meant a lot to me -- I trusted you and I still do. This will all be sorted out.

I'm feeling better now.

God bless you! God bless Andy!

:hug:

but please don't shut off all information sharing on this as i want to hear all the details as they become available.

peace

It would be nice to have updates, but maybe just one thread.

waiting... waiting.... waiting...

I smell favouritism by the moderators here. I'm complaining to elad.


thanks for pulling everyone back from the edge, skinner- needed doing.

:)

We needed a time-out for sure. Hopefully everything will be resolved soon.

caps in the subject line? Man, did he get shortchanged. (Maybe they let him use italics, too?)

I trust you will be able to sort this all out. :hug:

I know you will take the time needed to get to the facts and I am prepared to wait as long as it takes.

how Andy is doing. So many people are emotionally invested in Andy's welfare and would like to be apprised of how he's doing. Just think of how many people it took to raise the $50,000.

Thanking you in advance.

I was feeling guilty I had so many Andy threads on ignore :(

I don't know Andy, I'm sure he's wonderful, but enough is enough, right?

Did I miss something? :shrug:

hoaxing DU for the money.

Remember Andy was hot on the trail of election fraud in Ohio.

...for donations? For any "cause".? I'm really "ignoring" DU threads as fast as I can....and the Andy sites keep popping up...euwwwww.

You mean posts or actual sites about Andy?

made this morning - not the Andy fundraising threads.

that people have to say such things when Andy and his family need everyone's support. This isn't the kind of thing that people fake.

I'm sure this will all be cleared up soon. Andy, I don't know you, but you still have my support.

Imagine the havoc that would have been wrought if an accusation had been made last Friday. Let's sit tight, think good thoughts, and wait for things to get sorted out all round. Not much else we can do, at the moment.

:hug: My thoughts and prayers are with you Andy.

I worked in a Comprehensive Cancer Care Center for 4 years. People DON'T make this shit up.

I don't think it's quite correct to say that "people" don't make this stuff up. I had a friend that I knew more than a decade, visited her house many times, etc. and so on, and she did indeed claim to have a brain tumor and that her husband had heart disease and was in the hospital and all sorts of stuff. At one point when I was starting to catch onto the lies I did call the hospital and ask to speak to her husband, and he was supposedly there, but who knows what for. Maybe actually it was just routine tests? 15 years of crack smoking later and he still seems about as healthy as a horse. :shrug:

She disappeared after an arrest and jail sentence for an unrelated fraud. On another thread, I mentioned the former friend who had just tracked me down and asked to get together. It was this woman. Hmm. More than a decade later. Seems the fatal brain tumor was not so fatal after all, she seems to have forgotten all about it.

There are some people who will lie about ANYTHING even cancer.

And they do real harm to the cause of the people who are truly suffering. Because they make us all a little bit more suspicious, and usually the suspicions are unfair.


My poor judgement and bad experience with MY former friend should NOT be considered a comment on Andy. And I hope Andy enjoys a full recovery very soon.

The conservation movement is a breeding ground of communists
and other subversives. We intend to clean them out,
even if it means rounding up every birdwatcher in the country.
--John Mitchell, US Attorney General 1969-72

but I know of people like this, too. One woman even claimed to have multiple forms of cancer, going so far as to bandage herself after a "biopsy". I think she was institutionalized briefly and now works for my insurance agent ... which does not particularly thrill me. She is from the same town as the guy who falsely claimed his son died in Iraq in order to bilk his Wal-Mart employers and co-workers out of money. Some people are sick in their need for attention, but I never doubted Andy.

Edit to add link:
http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/05130/501860.stm

:shrug:

Skinner put the topic in time-out until the truth can be verified and everyone can chill, and we're all sitting around like a bunch of cats in a room full of rocking chairs. It's like PMS on steroids, with no chocolate. :-(

Dan's Chocolates for Mother's Day, but they're at home, so I'll just feast on these for now. :-)

:wtf:

;)

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a meeting of the DU Drama Queens. As it is, my best friend is a cancer survivor and I remember her journey to wellness too clearly to be anything but downright disgusted by the current mess.

:shrug:

Oh, well. Whatever.

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So I heard.

ok, I have nothing to say, I just wanna post to this thread so it'll show up in My Posts. :7

later, shouldn't it at least be borderline-lockable? :7

:evilgrin:

So we can bookmark certain threads and keep track of them?

Or is the bookmark feature for something else? :shrug:

Then again, i've never had a reason to. Sorry!!

in your bookmarks for up to 7 days. Or delete from your bookmarks anytime.

Kind of cool.

because then you have to manage them, delete them, all that junk. I only bookmark stuff I really REALLY want to save. My Posts, on the other hand, scrolls off in 48 hours. Just my preference. :shrug:

I just thought making a post in a thread just to track it seemed unnecessarily cumbersome for the thread itself.

Not that this particular thread needs kicking. But a lot of interesting threads could use the :kick:

you never get to the point where you can swallow it...

I just hope some policy is established with respect to donation solicitation because I feel the need to have honesty and thus confidence in donating to a cause (or a cause celebre). Something can go wrong in such transactions, too, that could undermine the whole confidence in a site. It could just be a blog war for an audience/influence share.

I don't know and that's the problem...

sigh

just putting this thread in my posts so I can follow this later

Thank you Skinner for running this forum so well. :toast:

a bunch of pics were posted on DU of Andy meeting with DUers in Iowa on his way out. those pictures are the same Andy that posted pics at other times on DU So - if it is a scam - it isn't the smartest thing to post pictures of yourself all over the internet. IOW - if it is a scam it is one that has no chance of success.

and wasn't he on his way out to JH at the time??

There was a conference last Saturday in Columbus on Election Reform. He did a presentation there. We (a bunch of DUers and others) hung out afterwards.

(assuming we're talking about the same pictures, of course)

his mug posted all over the internet. Yeah if this is a scam, it's one of dumbest ones ever.

things have calmed down.

The hospital puts them through to the room. Why doesn't someone just do this and settle this once and for all??????

If the surgery is on indefinite hold, they've probably sent him home.

So he's not 'home'.

than staying in the hospital while awaiting surgery. Damn, those places are expensive!

he was staying with some DUers in Baltimore.

My brother was in the hospital (and he died there too) and they would not put me through to him nor his asshole doctor. Never even got a chance to say farewell. Thank you HIPPA act or some such crap!

:grr:

:kick:

to either family members or friends.

I've never had a problem getting through to a patient that had been admitted to a hospital. I'd be furious if what happened to you happened to me.

The only problem I've ever encountered has been being bumped around from department to department within the hospital. Just a couple days ago, my wife was able to call the hospital where my father-in-law had been taken and was got connected to his room after about ten minutes of being bumped around the infrastructure.

1. He isn't in the hospital because of a payment snafu. That's what set this whole goddam mess off in the first place.

2. I'm not at all sure your premise is corect about just being able to call.

If you call.
However--by federal law--each and every patient is given the option when they check in to be a "no information" patient.
If you are Jesus Christ and arrive to minister last rites, you cannot be told the patient is there if they have signed to be a "no information" patient.
That is strictly an option available to all patients (and a Godsend when children in custody battles, battered women and gang members are hospitalized.)
If someone comes in and is unconscious, they are considered no information until they are alert enough to tell us otherwise.
Otherwise, you should be able to get through.

especially given the exposure of this whole thing. I would also guess that a patient could request that only certain people be put through.

Heck, let's just get him in there and then I don't care if their phone system is tin cans and string!

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=104&topic_id=3630503&mesg_id=3630503

Now I'm locking this thread.