A fairy tale

A few days ago, I wrote about how much it hurts to have a friend betray you – to steal your property and your trust.

I haven’t been a member of the High Road for a very long time, and I have no stake in the game. It’s not my site. I don’t go there. But hundreds of others do every day. They enjoy it. They have created a community there that one person is attempting to destroy with a selfish drive for some kind of vengeance or spoiled rotten desire to proclaim himself the winner at all costs.

According to Oleg, one of his administrators, a man whom he considered a friend, not only stole his effort from under him, but also locked out and banned every administrator or member who dared voice opposition to his actions.

Support for Oleg’s drive to recover his site and his efforts has been overwhelming.  Numerous blogs have picked up the cause, as have numerous online communities.  Stories and rumors have circulated for several days about who the true owner of the High Road is. Knowing what I know, knowing who Oleg is, and having known him for eight years, I am inclined to support him. 

But I will let you make up your own minds.  Here’s the story from the eyes of Peter (Bayou Renaissance Man), who used to be one of the moderators on the site.

Controversy at The High Road

Controversy surrounding The High Road
(THR) firearms forum has recently erupted into the public eye, which is
very unfortunate, in my opinion. I’m aware of postings about the matter
on THR itself; Armed Polite Society; View From The Porch; Xavier Thoughts; Wandering Thoughts; The Armed School Teacher; FreeThinker; Walls Of The City; the AR15.com forum; and Oleg Volk’s LiveJournal. I’m sure there are many others.

As
one of the founding moderators of THR, I’ve had many questions directed
at me as to what’s going on: and in the interests of openness,
transparency and honesty, I’d like to take the opportunity to answer
those questions here.

First, THR was founded by Oleg Volk, who’s
a well-known photographer and activist on Second Amendment issues. Oleg
is a personal friend, and a man whom I respect highly. I was one of the
first people to be invited to serve as a moderator on THR, even before
the board “went live” in December 2002. I was honored and privileged to
serve as such for several years, before the pressure of other
circumstances forced me to scale back my activities there early in
2007. I’m still a moderator there, but “without portfolio”, as it were.

Second, the domain name for THR was initially registered (and owned) by Mr. Rich Lucibella, the founder and owner of The Firing Line
(TFL), another firearms forum. It was Mr. Lucibella’s decision to close
down TFL that led to the founding of THR: and, some time later, TFL was
resurrected and is again one of the foremost forums of its kind on the
Internet. Mr. Lucibella supported Oleg and his moderators in every
conceivable way during THR’s establishment, and I have the highest
regard for him.

Third, the technical support “guru” who helped
establish THR’s hardware and software facilities is Mr. Derek Zeanah.
Startup and ongoing costs were to be met (and, as far as I am aware,
were indeed met) by contributions from the moderators, and in one case
by a fund-raiser held among the membership. It was not intended or
desired that Mr. Zeanah use his own funds and resources to support THR,
and to the best of my knowledge and belief this has never happened.
Whenever he’s spoken of the need for funds in the Staff Forum,
arrangements have been made among the Staff to get the money to him.

A
few months ago the possibility came up that THR might be acquired by a
major outside interest, which would guarantee the board’s independence,
and by sponsoring it allow Oleg to devote more time to it and to Second
Amendment/RKBA issues. Oleg, as the owner and boss of the forum,
decided to investigate this option, and advised the staff of its
existence. At this point Mr. Zeanah apparently decided that he held
co-ownership of THR (something that had never been discussed at all in
the Staff Forum, and that had never previously even been mentioned),
and objected strenuously.

It also emerged that some time
previously, Mr. Lucibella had transferred ownership of THR’s domain
name to Oleg, sending the details to Mr. Zeanah (as tech support guru)
to make the arrangements. Instead of doing as Mr. Lucibella had
requested, Mr. Zeanah appears to have transferred THR’s domain name to
himself, and now claims ownership of it. (Of course, as tech support
guru and owner of THR’s hosting service, he already physically controls
the server, software and database.)

Mr. Zeanah denies that he
“stole” or “misappropriated” THR’s domain name, and insists that he
offered to transfer it to a corporate entity: but the company he
established to do so was a sole proprietorship under Georgia State law,
with himself registered as the owner. The counter to his assertions is
best delivered by Mr. Lucibella, who is on the record as follows:

At
no time was I aware that Derek was acting as anything but Oleg’s
personal agent. Had I been aware that Derek was acting for his own
benefit I would never have transferred the domain name to him. It is my
position that Mr. Zeanah had fraudulently misrepresented himself to me.
If he persists in publicly hiding behind my statements, taken out of
context, I will have little choice but to join this legal fray, recover
the domain name thru the courts and pursue Mr. Zeanah for my legal fees.

Mr.
Zeanah has persistently blocked Oleg’s attempts to resolve the
situation, insisting that he shares ownership of THR and is owed money.
Oleg has finally had to lay the matter before the courts, as the only
way to obtain justice.

[...]

I
should like to state, for the record, that as far as I am aware, and
according to all the information at my disposal, Oleg is in the right
on this matter. I confirm that from the beginning, nobody else was ever
mentioned as having any ownership interest or rights at all in THR, and
I confirm that from the beginning, Oleg has been universally
acknowledged by the Staff as the “boss”, the “head honcho”, and the
owner of the board. An examination of traffic in the Staff Forum from
Day One of THR’s existence will confirm this. If necessary I am willing
to appear in court to attest to this under oath.

I should also
like to state that Mr. Lucibella is known to me, not in person, but
through long association on TFL and on another mailing list to which
both of us belong. I accept his statement (given above) unreservedly,
and I think it makes the position very clear.

I don’t understand
what Mr. Zeanah is trying to achieve by first, shutting down THR
unilaterally (and, I might add, without any authority to do so) when
the news broke (it’s since come up again), and second, by banning those
members of staff and others who publicly support Oleg’s position. He’s
using his physical control of THR’s servers to enforce some form of
“thought control” on the forum – which won’t last long, of course. I
daresay my access to THR might well be revoked by him once he reads
this: but I’m confident it will be restored when he loses the
now-pending court case (as he inevitably will – the weight of evidence
is overwhelmingly on Oleg’s side in this matter). I simply don’t know
what Mr. Zeanah is trying to achieve: and I think that now that things
have gone this far, he’s on a hiding to nowhere. This might become a
very expensive millstone around his neck.

I hope that this makes
the position clearer to those of my readers and friends who’ve asked
about it. I’m very sad that this nastiness has affected THR, one of the
finest forums of its kind on the Internet: but I hope that it will
speedily be resolved, and that THR will soon recover and return to
normal.

I trust that any readers who contract out the hosting
and/or supervision and/or support of their Internet services and/or
operations to another person or company will learn from this very nasty
situation, and draw the appropriate conclusions.

Peter

I’ve never met Peter in person.  I’ve spoken to him on the phone at Oleg’s insistence, when Peter was visiting Oleg a few months ago, because Oleg has an interest in introducing friends of his who have similar interests.  Peter seems like an honorable man.  He’s intelligent and engaging.  He’s been there from the beginning – from the birth of THR, and so has David Miller, another former moderator at the site who wrote the story you’re about to read below.

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A Fairy Tale -

 

No point in changing the names to protect anybody, the
characters and moral of the story should be obvious.

 

Once upon a time there were two brothers, Oleg and Derek.
One day, Oleg brought home a kitten from school.

 

“Look what my friend Rich gave me!” said an
excited Oleg, “Will you help me take care of her?”

 

Derek said, “Sure, I love kittens. I’m happy to
help. What can I do?”

 

“You can be in charge of feeding her. I’ll pay for
all her food.”

replied Oleg, as he handed the kitten to Derek. “Her
name is THR.”

 

Every day, Oleg would invite his friends over to play
with the kitten.THR grew really fast and needed a lot more food than Oleg
could afford, so some of his friends offered to help Oleg pay. Since Oleg
didn’t have a lot of money, he happily accepted. Oleg told them to give the
money to Derek since he was in charge of care and feeding. Derek did a great
job feeding THR and even paid for some cat food himself.

 

One day after school, when all of Oleg’s friends were
over playing with THR, Oleg told Derek that he was thinking about letting their
neighbor, Mr. Wealthy; take care of THR for a while. Mr. Wealthy said that he
would pay for all of the THR’s food and would still let everybody come over and
play with her any time they wanted. Imagine Oleg’s surprise when Derek grabbed
THR by the scruff of the neck and yelled, “NO! You can’t do that!”

 

“But she’s my cat.” said Oleg. “You just
take care of her. Give her back now!”

 

“No!” shouted Derek as he ran toward the house
with the frightened cat.

“This is my cat too! I take care of her more than
you do. All you and your friends do is play with her while I do all the
work!” And he ran into the house and slammed the door leaving all the
neighborhood kids standing outside in shock.

 

The next day, Derek brought THR outside just like Oleg
used to do, except he had a baseball bat with him. He said all the kids could
play with THR just like before, but Oleg wasn’t allowed anywhere near her.

But some of Oleg’s friends weren’t happy with Derek. They
told him that THR belonged to Oleg and that he should give her back. Derek
didn’t like hearing this, so he told these kids that they couldn’t play with
THR anymore and he made them leave. He even threatened them with the bat. He
told the other kids to just keep playing with THR like always – and don’t talk
about who owns her. A lot of kids did what Derek told them to do because all
they cared about was playing with THR.

 

Every time Oleg tried to come near THR, Derek would
threaten to hit the cat with the baseball bat. Some of the kids yelled at Oleg.
“Stop it! Stop it! You’re going to kill THR!”

 

Oleg told them, “But she’s my cat, and Derek is the
one holding the bat, not me.”

 

The kids didn’t care. They kept yelling at Oleg like it
was his fault.

 

Oleg had no choice but to tell on Derek. He walked into
the house and told his mom what Derek had done. As the two of them walked back
outside, Oleg heard all the neighborhood kids screaming. As he came around the
side of the house, he saw them all running away. There stood Derek by the front
stoop with a flaccid cat in his hands; a baseball bat at his feet. “You
want your cat back?! Here it is!” he said, as he threw THR’s limp body
toward Oleg.

 

Oleg ran and caught THR before she could hit the ground.
There was a strange sound when he caught the cat, like a cross between a groan
and a purr. Derek’s mother was furious and sent Derek to his room. “Just
wait until your father comes home!” she scolded. Derek knew he was going
to get the belt.

 

Meanwhile, some of Oleg’s friends had come back to the
place where Oleg was holding his badly wounded cat. “She’s not dead,”
whimpered Oleg. “But she’s hurt real bad.” Together, the kids
took THR to the veterinary hospital. The vet patched up what he could and gave
the injured cat some medicine; then he gave THR back to Oleg.

 

“I don’t know if she’s going to live or not,”
the vet said, “She needs a lot of care and attention. It depends on
you.”

 

The End.

 

(c)2008 David J. Miller All rights reserved.

To many of you, this may seem silly.  It’s an Internet forum.  It’s just a damn message board!  Why is it even worth it?  Just give the carcass to Derek and start over!  This is petty!  Stop with the drama! 

I can understand the sentiments.  Really I can.

But here’s my take on it…  THR is not just an online community.  It’s the result of someone’s hard work and effort.  It is what it is due to the efforts of a lot of people.  And it is what it is due to, in no small part, to the sweat, resources, time and effort of Oleg Volk.  It’s not just about an Internet forum.  It’s about someone who betrayed a trust and who stole the efforts of another’s work – the efforts of a FRIEND’s work – for no reason other than selfish greed and a puerile desire to come out a winner.

I would encourage you to consider all the facts in this situation, and if you decide that Oleg’s claim has merit, support his lawsuit.

Pathetic, panty-pissing parents prevent Pennsylvanian possessing pistol – PERMIT PULLED!

Apparently, no one has had a problem with Meleanie Hain carrying her G26 holstered on her hip before.  But all of a sudden, a band of pusillanimous dillweeds at her daughter’s soccer game decided to shit their panties in unison after seeing the Pennsylvania mom carrying her holstered self defense tool.

“I’m just a soccer mom who has always openly carried (a firearm), and I’ve never had a problem before,” Hain said in Wednesday’s editions of the Lebanon Daily News. “I don’t understand why this is happening to me.”

I’ll tell you why, Meleanie.  Because unfortunately, those of us who take responsibility for our own safety and security… those of us who are courageous, trained and secure enough in our own skills to exercise our Second Amendment rights in public are outnumbered by cowardly statist pigs who think their little, pathetic feelings of inadequacy and fear should trump your constitutionally protected right.

Youth soccer coach Charlie Jones said he approached Hain at the Sept. 11 game and asked her to move to the other side of the field, away from the sideline where the children were standing, after hearing that some parents were upset at seeing her gun.

“More than one parent was upset,” he told the newspaper.

Well, golly gee!  Do the unwarranted, irrational fears of one band of spineless, quaking assclowns warrant the abuse of another parent, who is doing nothing wrong, who is legally exercising her Second Amendment rights, who obviously passed a background check to obtain a concealed carry permit and who was not behaving in a threatening manner?

Apparently the Pennsylvania (insert Godwin reference here) authorities think so.

Hain later received a notice that her permit was being revoked by Sheriff Michael DeLeo.

DeLeo cited a section of state law that bars the issuance of concealed-weapons permits to people who are deemed a danger to public safety based on their character and reputation. Hain showed poor judgment by wearing her gun at the game, he said.

Let’s get this straight.  This fascist doucheslurper thinks that exercising one’s rights in a completely legal manner warrants an assessment of “poor character” merely because some miscreant asshat loses bladder control at a kids’ soccer game!

DeLeo said he understood his decision would now force Hain to keep her weapon in plain view whenever she carries it, but revoking her concealed-weapons permit was his only recourse because he could not legally confiscate her gun.

He couldn’t legally confiscate her property, because she has obviously done nothing wrong, so instead he invents an excuse to infringe on her rights, which would compel her to carry her Glock in the open… because obviously, that won’t scare other pathetic panty-soiling swine!

This woman has done nothing legally wrong.  She was well within her right to carry her firearm – an act that has never caused her problems before.  But the sheriff uses arbitrary criteria based on warrantless fear from statist mommies and daddies who have apparently never seen a strong woman willing to stand up for herself and her loved ones to trample her rights anyway.  Apparently baseless complaints from a couple of blubbering parents are enough reason to question someone’s character and reputation… at least in Lebanon, Pa.

I’m thinking if this oxygen thief in uniform (PERFECT REFERENCE, SGT. MAJOR!) wants to prohibit women from carrying tools of self defense in public, Lebanon, Pa. is not the place for him – LEBANON on the damn border with Syria is!  I hear Hizballah main guy Hassan Nasrallah isn’t too fond of women’s rights.

I would encourage everyone to drop a well-written note of disdain to the good sheriff. 

Here’s his email:  sheriff@lebcnty.org

Here’s the rest of the info:

Mailing Address:	Lebanon County Sheriff’s Office Room 3, Municipal Building 400 South 8th Street Lebanon, PA 17042-6794
Phone Number:	(717) 274-2801 Ext. 2356 (717) 228-4410
Fax Number:	(717) 279-8398

Let’s give this lady some support, shall we?

I, too, am John Galt

Someone on Misha’s site found this absolutely amazing piece of work.  I know many of you hear the name “Ayn Rand,” and you tend to groan and roll your eyes.  I can understand that.  Her writing can be cumbersome and somewhat preachy.  But her ideals are inspirational.  They’re real.  Her principles and ideals are what I have stood for every moment from the day my parents escaped the shithole that was the Soviet Union and brought me here, to a place where I had every opportunity to succeed.

Rand was prophetic in a lot of ways.  She saw what was happening as she was writing Atlas Shrugged, and she extrapolated her view of the future from what she saw.  And now, her horrifying vision is nearly here, and I will proudly stand up and proclaim…

I AM JOHN GALT

I
have had it up to my eyeballs with the ever-growing government, the
nanny-state, the collectivism, the whole world demanding more and more
from the producers.  I am done with the corrupt politicians, the
slackers, the deadbeats, and all the looters and moochers.

I
am sick of a government which has drifted from its early Constitutional
foundation of limited central goverment and great individual freedom,
and become a bloated behemoth consuming 40 percent of our economy and
hungry for more.  I am finished with out-of-control political
correctness and its attendant thought police outlawing truth in order
to cater to those who would destroy us.

HERE I STAND.  I AM JOHN GALT.

Whether
the world around me likes it or not, I will put my foot down and insist
on personal responsibility and accountability.  I will tell my
government to take its hands off my rights, my freedom, and my wallet. 
If the people of other nations are content to allow their countries to
devolve into Hell, that’s their business.  I’m sick of financing their
destruction.  They can plunge into chaos on their own dime.

As
for my own, I will be a call for my government to return to doing those
things which are right for a legitimate government to do – to form a
more perfect Union, establish justice, ensure domestic tranquility,
provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure
the blessings of liberty for ourselves and our posterity.  Not to
regulate the price of milk, meddle with the mortgage market, bail out
failing companies, or tell me how to raise my children. 

HERE I STAND.  I AM JOHN GALT.

And
I have a pulpit.  I may not be able to stop the motor of the world, but
I will stomp on the brake, and I will fight for control of the steering
wheel before the motor seizes up on its own – and believe me, that
motor is on its way to seizing up.

I will give Caesar his due, but I will not bow to him.

I am John Galt.  Come and join me, or come and get me.  Here I stand.

I have often wished that the productive, the intelligent, the hard-working, the producers and the heroes could go on strike.  I have often wondered what would happen if they did.  I have often wondered if the motor of the world would stop.  I hoped it would.

I still do.

Fomenting panic (UPDATED)

You know… I’m sick and tired of blogging about economics!  I live, eat and breathe economics every day of my life here at the office, so blogging used to be my escape into other subjects, such as authoritarianism, nanny statism, gun control, etc.  Unfortunately every day when I turn on the news, I hear another piece of asshattery being spewed by the ignorant, power-hungry morons this nation has put in power, and I’m compelled to write about economics yet again.

Listening to a replay of Bush’s speech this morning on Fox News, as he tried to convince the nation that if we don’t fork over a trillion dollars to reward idiots for making idiot decisions, we’d all wind up destitute and begging on the streets for a sandwich, made me want to hurl!  The speech could be boiled down to one simple concept: “If you don’t shell out your tax dollars, the nation is doomed!  DOOMED, I tell ya!” The only piece of rhetoric missing was a tie-in to terrorism and national security, and I’m waiting for that!

The government’s top economic experts warn that without immediate action by Congress, America could slip into a financial panic, and a distressing scenario would unfold:

More banks could fail, including some in your community. The stock market would drop even more, which would reduce the value of your retirement account. The value of your home could plummet. Foreclosures would rise dramatically. And if you own a business or a farm, you would find it harder and more expensive to get credit. More businesses would close their doors, and millions of Americans could lose their jobs. Even if you have good credit history, it would be more difficult for you to get the loans you need to buy a car or send your children to college. And ultimately, our country could experience a long and painful recession.

In explaining how we got to this mess in the first place, he never ONCE placed blame where blame was due.  He spoke of piss poor decisions without acknowledging the real culprit – GOVERNMENT REGULATION and lack of personal responsibility.  “Many mortgage lenders approved loans for borrowers without carefully examining their ability to pay. Many borrowers took out loans larger than they could afford, assuming that they could sell or refinance their homes at a higher price later on.”  What he didn’t tell you was that government subsidized and regulated the housing market since the inception of Fannie and Freddie, which were created to ensure that more “minorities” got a chance to own homes.  They were CREATED to monkey with the free market and provide loans to people who would not have otherwise received them due to poor credit ratings or the inability to pay.  They were designed by governments to engineer a Brave New World – and yes, I AM referring to Huxley’s dystopia, where humans were engineered to desire specific products to ensure that manufacturers remained in business.  Instead of letting the market check prospective borrowers to ensure that they were an acceptable risk, the government engineered two entities to hand out money willy nilly to practically any crackhead on the street, in order to create an “equitable” society, where everyone is somehow ENTITLED to home ownership! 

Is it ANY wonder that this particular house of cards is collapsing?  And is it any wonder that politicians are now scrambling to cover up the mess they have created over the decades?

McCain’s solution?  You guessed it – create yet ANOTHER layer of bureaucracy to regulate a problem that was caused by regulation and governmental social engineering.  McCain wants to create something called a Mortgage and Financial Institutions Trust “To ensure that people are able to stay in their homes and safeguard the life savings of Americans by protecting our financial system and capital markets.”  And no, I’m not even kidding!  The “Maverick” who claims to want to change things, simply wants to add another layer of what will no doubt be an expensive bureaucracy to regulate problems created by government in the first place.  Oh, and did I mention that McCain’s idea of a free market is to ensure that this particular new bureaucracy has the authority to PURCHASE bad loans (at taxpayer expense, of course) should piss poor financial decisions once again cause a panic (fomented, of course, by politicians wanting to gain power).

Yeah, McCain is my guy!  NOT!  Not even Palin can rescue this pig, no matter how much lipstick you put on it.  And if you’re wondering if I’m calling McCain a pig – DAMN STRAIGHT I AM!  A statist pig, at that!

Bush claimed that this “crisis” is just too large, and these companies too important to the economy to be “allowed” to fail.  Let me give you a clue:  NO company is too important and too large to be allowed to fail.  If its executives make piss poor decisions, they certainly shouldn’t be paid hundreds of thousands of dollars and allowed to continue running the company into the ground with poor fiscal policies while the government continues to reward them with billions in cash stolen from the taxpayers!

No. Friggin’. Way!

National emergencies, crises, panic… they’re all best friends of the statist swine whom we reward with our votes election season after election season.  Emergencies allow them to show “leadership,” and when the market invariably corrects itself, which is something it would do with or without political interference, they can take credit and continue milking the tragedy and horror. 

In his column yesterday, Dr. Walter Williams quoted H.L. Mencken.  “The whole aim of practical politics is to keep the populace alarmed, and hence clamorous to be led to safety, by menacing it with an endless series of hobgoblins, all of them imaginary.”  Sound familiar?  If not, let your eyes wander up and re-read Bush’s words again.

Guess what, folks!  I’m going to tell you exactly what Dr. Williams and other prominent economists have said, and I’m going to back it up with expert testimony from Dr. W. Michael Cox and Richard Alm, of the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas.  We are NOT facing a crisis!

The American economy is in a rough patch. But the long-term trends are good—and there is a price to economic pessimism.

When a presidential election year collides with iffy economic times, the public’s view of the U.S. economy turns gloomy. Perspective shrinks in favor of short-term assessments that focus on such unpleasant realities as falling job counts, sluggish GDP growth, uncertain incomes, rising oil and food prices, subprime mortgage woes, and wobbly financial markets.

Yes, we have been experiencing a rough economic period.  Is it a recession?  No.  Despite this rough patch, we’re still experiencing GDP growth, and our unemployment is at a very respectable 6 percent.  But here’s the problem.  If the politicians don’t foment panic, the sheep won’t clamor for the nanny state to lead them out of this so-called “crisis.”  And if the sheep don’t baa for the nanny state, the politicians can’t get elected.

So when I tell you that things aren’t all that bad, despite the spoiled and the ignorant whining about a marked decline in their purchasing power or the fact that they can’t seem to make payments for that 72-inch LCD TV their kid wanted for his room, I point you to the experts’ analysis:

Income and wages are often used as gauges of progress, but consumption is the best measure of rising living standards. Products that began as luxuries only the rich could afford in time came within the means of just about all U.S. households In previous generations, telephones, cars, electricity, household appliances, and televisions made life better for the average American. In our times it has been computers, cell phones, Internet access, VCR/ DVD players, digital cameras, and more.

What are we seeing here?  We’re seeing that the prevalence of items that were once considered “luxury” items has spread to more households now than ever.  We are purchasing more and living better than ever before.  Hell, even snot-nosed kids working at McDonalds after high school are toting around cell phones!   Let’s gain a little perspective, shall we?

Yes, food prices have risen, as have fuel prices.  This is a global phenomenon, not a national one.  And, as Cox and Alm point out, we’re doing much better than we were, despite these cost increases.  “For example,” they write, “in terms of time worked at the average pay rate, the real cost of a 12-item basket of basic foods has hardly budged. And while the work-time price of gasoline doubled in recent years, a gallon of gasoline still goes for less than 11 minutes of work.  At 20 miles per gallon, an hour of work will get you 110 miles down the road; at 30 mpg, you can go 165 miles.”  Not an altogether bad deal, now, is it?

So despite the dire predictions of the Bush administration, the histrionics of John McCain’s campaign suspension and the hysterical ramblings of the Obamacolytes about the need for more government regulation, it all comes down to the same thing:  we’re not doing nearly as bad as the politicians would have you believe.  However, if they didn’t engage in these economic and public relations acrobatics, they couldn’t portray themselves as the saviors of America’s society and way of life, and couldn’t gain more power over you!

I encourage you to read Cox and Alm’s analysis.  They are Federal Reserve members, and they are telling you to get a goddamn grip!  Take a look around you.  Realize that we’re far from crisis stage, and do a little research to find out what and who really caused this recent economic downturn.  As Dr. Williams (quoting Thomas Sowell) says, “we don’t look to arsonists to put out fires that they’ve created; neither should we look to Congress to solve the problems they’ve created.”

Think about that before you clamor for the politicians to rescue you!

UPDATE:  I’m so angry, I’m not even in the mood to be snarky.  I THOUGHT I had respect for Sarah Palin.  I thought she was the true straight talker of the ticket.  Turns out she’s just about as economically dumb (or desperate to gain power) as McCain.  There’s not an honest one in the bunch, is there…

Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin said Wednesday that the United States could be headed for another Great Depression if Congress doesn’t act on the financial crisis.

When friends betray (UPDATE)

There are few betrayals as foul as when people whom you have considered friends for years decide to double-cross you and turn on you.  It’s the ultimate perfidy.  It hurts to find out that people whom you trusted have screwed you.  I know how Oleg feels. 

Oleg is a talented photographer and a good friend.  I don’t like to see my friends hurt, and this is exactly what is going on.  Please pass this on – and copy it to your blogs (for those of you who have them).  Oleg has spent years of his life, energy and effort cultivating this forum.  To have someone you trusted steal your effort from you is just shitty.

Here’s what he writes in its entirety:

In December 2002, I founded The High Road forum dedicated to the advancement of responsible gun ownership. Recently, it was discovered that in 2006, the volunteer forum systems administrator, Derek Zeanah of Statesboro, Georgia, changed domain registration to himself. After he was confronted, Derek locked out all other staff from accessing the Web server administration and would not share even backup copies of its content. After failed attempts to peacefully resolve the dispute, it has become necessary for me to initiate a lawsuit against Derek Zeanah for the return of thehighroad.org domain name and the forum database.

I am seeking and would greatly appreciate donations to help with the cost of litigation. You can use Paypal (olegvolk@gmail.com) or send a check to:
Oleg Volk 3112 Chambley Ct Hermitage, TN 37076

All donations shall be returned if the lawsuit is ultimately avoided. You can also aid me by re-posting this appeal on your blog, forum or web site. My legal position is already endorsed by almost all of The High Road staff as well as Rich Lucibella, the founder of The Firing Line forum.

So, the traitor speaketh.  As Oleg told me a few minutes ago, his assertions “have only a moderate relation to reality.”  You can read the entire drama-filled piece here.  I won’t reprint the entire piece here.  But Oleg did just send me some corrections to the contentions Derek has made:

D: As far back as I can remember Oleg and have had the understanding that we were joint owners.

O: Derek has been one of two server admins and one of about forty moderators. His own statements over the past six years always acknowledged that I own the forum and he volunteers his help. Server and hosting expenses have been covered first by moderator contribuitions and later by member contributions. A request for accounting showing otherwise has been ignored for months.

D: We need to resolve this equitably and between ourselves, but in my view neither of us should be willing to proceed in a manner that politicizes the issue and damages this community.

O: Starting the negotiations by locking out me and all other staff from the forum controls was not amicable. Neither was the appropriation of my domain name as the bargaining chip. Two months of negotiations produced no improvement, so I have only the legal option left.

Now, let me state this for the record:  I don’t know Derek, but I do know Oleg.  He has been a friend – and a damn good one – for eight years.  He has worked his ASS off to make THR a successful forum and a great Internet resource.  I don’t post there (I was banned five years ago, because apparently, I’m a bit too contentous – shocking I know!  And I have never taken advantage of my friendship with Oleg by asking him to reinstate me), so I have no dog in this fight, other than my eight-year friendship with him and my utter disgust that anyone would steal something he worked so hard for – especially someone who was a friend!  Stealing is bad enough.  Stealing from a friend deserves the rabid hedgehog up the ass treatment.