Why should I care, when I didn't (until reading this essay and your comments) even know that plagiarism was an issue? If I think you are hyping up a minor comp

Why should I care, when I didn't (until reading this essay and your comments) even know that plagiarism was an issue? If I think you are hyping up a minor complaint, and ignoring the major one, why should I care to investigate the minor complaint further? In the HN context, there are no postings on the topic of Applebaum and plagiarism, and pretty much you are the only one to bring up the subject in the comments -- which you do an awful lot for something that effectively no one here seems to care about. Since Violet Blue's essay was all about issues of boundaries related to sexual harassment, yes, ignoring the essay and switching to another topic is indeed "out of scope" on a comment page about that essay. As for "personal belief", that is in the context of the sentence "And I simply don't see how..". You said right there it was a personal belief, so you shouldn't be surprised. My response was to question why anyone should put any weight on your opinion. How about this - I believe you. There was no plagiarism. I will ignore all accusations in that regard, and only focus on the substantial number of complaints about sexual harassment and potential rape.