Something that is bothering me.

[Razgovory]

Okay, this one is serious.  I've talked about my brother here before, and most of you know I have a fairly negative opinion of him.  He screams and shrieks at my mom, drinks like a fish, and is habitually dishonest.  I'm not allowed to intervene when he fights with my mom, but she's near her wits end with him.  He yells fairly nasty insults at her, (like whore or that she's retarded), and then laughs when she cries.  Unfortunately he recently quit his job and moved back in so the screaming and abuse happens every night.  My mom was downstairs  for a while talking to me (my brother is wise enough not come down into the basement), and she told me something that really disturbed me.  She told me that he had said that I sexually abused him when we were kids.  Naturally this is not true, still I'm rather shaken by it.  Note that he's not made the accusation at me, it was just one of the many things he said to my mom to tell her how everything in his life is bad and it's someone else's fault.  Father uncaring, mother abusive, grandmother hated him etc.  As far as I know, none of that's true.  Still the accusation (even not directly made), bothers me a great deal.

[mongers]

Raz some if not many people intentionally try and fuck around inside other peoples minds, it's one of the best forms of control. Usually it's in small trivial ways, rarely it's real nasty as you described.

See it for what it is and don't let it get to you. It highlights their emptiness. Pity him, that's enough.

[Caliga]

mongers is wise.

[LaCroix]

Raz some if not many people intentionally try and fuck around inside other peoples minds, it's one of the best forms of control. Usually it's in small trivial ways, rarely it's real nasty as you described.

See it for what it is and don't let it get to you. It highlights their emptiness. Pity him, that's enough.

pretty much this. assuming he was drunk, he said it because he knew it would affect her greatly, not as an attack against you personally. he would have said anyone's name, but yours was the first that popped into his head. consider it another fight between your mother and brother and nothing more.

[Maladict]

Raz some if not many people intentionally try and fuck around inside other peoples minds, it's one of the best forms of control. Usually it's in small trivial ways, rarely it's real nasty as you described.

See it for what it is and don't let it get to you. It highlights their emptiness. Pity him, that's enough.

This.
Desperate people can get like that, it can be heart breaking and really disturbing at the same time. But it's not really aimed at you.
Just make sure you don't put yourself in a vulnerable position, if possible.

[Ideologue]

Slander can be a criminal.offense.

[garbon]

mongers is wise.

[Eddie Teach]

Slander can be a criminal.offense.

How would he go about proving it?

[Barrister]

Slander can be a criminal.offense.

It can?  Where?

[Valmy]

No wonder Ide refused to take the Bar exam.

[Barrister]

Slander can be a criminal.offense.

It can?  Where?

And out of fairness to Ideologue, it turns out that one of the places where it is a criminal offence is Canada.   

s. 300 - every one who publishes a defamatory libel that he knows is false is guilty of an indictable offence and liable to imprisonment for a term not exceeding five years.

SCC even upheld it's constitutionality (but not the section that left of the  words "that he knows is false").

Mind you in 14 years I've never, ever seen it charged.

[Razgovory]

Slander can be a criminal.offense.

It can?  Where?

Poland.

I think Mongers is right, he was just trying to hurt my mom.  He might even have convinced himself it's true, people who lie about stuff often enough sometimes believe their own bullshit. Still, it's not an allegation to throw around lightly.  I don't get along well with my brother, never have.  I've made an effort to be polite and try to understand his problems in recent years.  He makes that very hard to do.  This doesn't help that.  It really hurt me.

[Grinning_Colossus]

Slander can be a criminal.offense.

It can?  Where?

17 states

There are no federal criminal defamation or insult laws of any kind. On the state level, 17 states and two
territories continue to have criminal defamation laws "on the books".
The following U.S. States and territories have criminal libel statutes:
1. Colorado (Colo. Rev. Stat. § 18-13-105)
2. Florida (Fla. Stat. § 836.01-836.11)
3. Idaho (Idaho Code § 18-4801-18-4809) *
4. Kansas (Kan. Stat. Ann. §21-4004)
5. Louisiana (La. R.S. 14:47)
6. Michigan (Mich. Comp. Laws § 750.370)
7. Minnesota (Miss. Stat. § 609.765)
8. Montana (Mont. Code Ann. § 13-35-234) *
9. New Hampshire (N.H. Rev. Stat Ann. § 644:11)
10. New Mexico (N.M. Stat. Ann. §30-11-1)
11. North Carolina (N.C. Gen. Stat. § 14-47)
12. North Dakota (N.D. Cent. Code § 12.1-15-01) *
13. Oklahoma (Okla. Stat. tit. 21 §§ 771-781)
14. Utah (Utah Code Ann. § 76-9-404)
15. Virginia (Va. Code Ann. § 18.2-417)
16. Washington (Wash. Rev. Code 9.58.010) *
17. Wisconsin (Wis. Stats. § 942.01)
18. Puerto Rico (P.R. Laws, tit. 33, §§ 4101-4104)
19. Virgin Islands (Virgin Islands 14 V.I. Code § 1172)

http://www.osce.org/fom/41958

[Baron von Schtinkenbutt]

Mind you in 14 years I've never, ever seen it charged.

I imagine it is an extremely difficult charge to stick per criminal standards.

[mongers]

Slander can be a criminal.offense.

It can?  Where?

Poland.

I think Mongers is right, he was just trying to hurt my mom.  He might even have convinced himself it's true, people who lie about stuff often enough sometimes believe their own bullshit. Still, it's not an allegation to throw around lightly.  I don't get along well with my brother, never have.  I've made an effort to be polite and try to understand his problems in recent years.  He makes that very hard to do.  This doesn't help that.  It really hurt me.

I sympathize and in part can imagine what it must feel like, but I'd try and not take it to heart.