Rant from HELL
Original Message
From: Charles
Thursday, January 22, 2009 11:04 AM
The Honorable (recipient's name deleted),
You said on the SW list, "What matters is what something is, not what it's called."
You can use your clout to have the last word. (see note below) After you sent that 'last-word' email to the SW list, I was unsubbed by the list manager. I could not reply to your 'last word'. I did not unsub, the list admin did it.
I know how to unsub. I do not need anyone to do it for me. That unsubbing was outrageous, but I'm not surprised. Prior to unsubbing, the new list Admin asked me which CC position qualified me to be on the list. I refused to provide that information. If he had asked all members of the list, I would have answered, but he singled me out. I dare guess he was hoping I was there illegally. That's how the AB operates. Exercise power, control communication, apply double standards and lockout.
Here is some news. I was told this morning by a member who has ten years with USGenWeb that they are quitting. The reason was the political atmosphere. One more in a growing list of fed-up members.
The AB has destroyed this once fine organization. Nothing I say or do on my web site affects that. I am a tiny fish in a polluted sea. I did not pollute that sea. The AB did. You go AB, destroy, destroy.
Lockout targeted members from committees, deny targeted members the right to fill temporary AB positions, use the lists to belittle targeted members, and always apply that double standard. That is the operating procedure for the Advisory Board.
As for my web site, I'm proud of it. It's the only place the full truth is spoken. It will be online until the day I die or until the AB makes a reasonable ruling in the Barnum grievance. Saying that, I hope I live a long, long, long, long, long time. The hubs of Hell will freeze before the AB does anything honorable.
By the way, the previous SW list Admin would not permit http://www.genwebstalkers.com/ to be mentioned on the list. Thank you for mentioning it. If you thought I'd cower, you were wrong. I'm delighted that it got 200 hits after you mentioned it.
PS: MY LAST WORD: I predicted the SW list would become a clone of the Discuss list. I was right. It's now an ugly clone.
Charles Barnum
Webmaster of http://www.genwebstalkers.com/ and damned proud of it.
"What matters is what something is, not what it's called."
So true; Stalkers is raw truth. Call it what you may.
....end of email
Note: I was informed that the List Admin de-subbed me from the list with no knowledge of the National Coordinator. I take him at his word for he is an honorable man.
----- Original Message -----
From: Charles
To: AB Member
Sent: Friday, January 23, 2009 9:58 AM
Subject: Re: Last Word
Dear Board Member, This is a brief reply to issued raised by your query of 01/22/09. Feel free to share it with the Board.
Issue #1: No, I do not need assistance to de-subscribe from an email list. I accept your explanation that the NC did not instruct you to de-list me. But I will not subscribe to any AB controlled list in the future as they are little more than propaganda tools of the AB that use abhorrent double standards of conduct.
Issue #2: My use of choice language comes from years of working around hombres who do not pull their punches. No personal offense is intended when colorful language flows from my keyboard.
Issue #3: I do not have a vendetta. Rather, I seek change for the betterment of USGenWeb. It has declined from what it once represented in the genealogy world. With that fall, so has our esteem and respect. I was one of the first CCs in NMGenWeb and poured out my heart. The fact that I was illegally expelled has not blunted my zeal. I remain a loyal member of USGenWeb.
Issue #4: Your next question contains a false statement. I do not despise USGenWeb. Most Board members believe that the Advisory Board is USGenWeb. That is a false. The Local Coordinators are USGenWeb.
To expand, I do not despise our organization. I despise the Advisory Board for what they have done to our organization. USGenWeb is plagued by the Advisory Board. The Advisory Board is a disease. I despise the Board for what it is. I do not despise Board members. Individual members somehow lose their moral compass when they act as THE BOARD; it is not personal regarding individuals on my part.
Issue #5: It is not true that I am the only member displeased with the Advisory Board. I remind you that only 20% of members vote. They fail to vote because they hold the Advisory Board is such low esteem that it no longer matters who is elected. The results are the same. The Advisory Board does not represent the Members. They represent their own interests.
To expound on that: The Advisory Board has failed to exercise due diligence in upholding the Bylaws of USGenWeb and the fundament values of fairness. That is shown time and again when they over reacted and harshly removed Tim S. and Tim P. and several CCs from Georgia. And when they allowed a barely competent SC to remove D. M. from *North Carolina while another two dozen CCs departed that state. And when they failed to return a fair and just ruling in Barnum v. M. where the SC exercised her power to settle a political score. And when they illegally, against Parliamentary Procedures, branded T.L. with a permanent label of MNIGS. Those and other cases clearly show the callousness and malfeasance of the Advisory Board. They have no regard for law.
Those instances and a failure to grow the Organization is why I despise the Advisory Board.
Issue #6: I help at every opportunity. I placed over 2,000,000 names online in the great state of NM. I have placed over 300,000 names online in the great state of Georgia. I belong to four genealogical organizations including USGenWeb. And to my credit I created genwebstalkers.com. That decision came at no small cost in health and scorn. I'm willing to suffer the consequences of maintaining "stalkers" if it brings improvement in how the Advisory Aboard conducts its business. If I help one LC in a future grievance, it’s worth the personal cost to my health and standing.
Issue #7: No, I will not leave USGenWeb. The Advisory Board can pull something out of the hat to force me out, but I will still be around and stalkers will still be online either until I die or until the AB issues a fair ruling in the Barnum grievance based on law.
Issue #8: An Advisory Board representative has neither standing nor right to suggest that a member leave USGenWeb for another organization. USGenWeb Belongs to Me. It belongs to the LCs in California. It belongs to the LCs in Texas. It belongs to the LCs in Montana, and Idaho and North Dakota, and Alabama, and New York, and all the other states. It does not belong to the Advisory Board. Other organizations would not tolerate the antics of our Advisory Board. That is why THEY do not leave.
If you have any questions, please ask. I do not publish personal emails from others on stalkers, but I do publish my own thoughts.
Charles Barnum,
A humble LC who collectively owns USGenWeb with all other LCs.
* South = typing error. When I make an error, I admit I, correct it, and I move on, unlike the AB.
Addendum: To make it perfectly clear I have no enmity for the following current board members. Tina Vickery, Cyndie Enfinger, Alice Allen, Concetta Franco Phillipps, Jason Mendenhall, Gail Meyer Kilgore, Ann Allen Geoghegan, Sherri Bradley, Suzanne Shephard, Denise Wells, Mike St. Clair. Perhaps they can forge a new attitude in the Advisory Board; probably not. Either way, USGenWeb is partially mine and I have a right to protect it. Edited 24 Jan. 2009. +
Thinking out loud. What's-ya-gonna do AB? Let us suppose that the Grievance Committee actually ruled for a CC. That has never happened in the history of USGenWeb, but what if it did happen? What if the SC told the GC to stuff the decision in their chairman's email box? What's-ya-gonna do bout it, AB? What's-ya-gonna do? You got game? +
The story of the yapping Chihuahua +
An apology: A man must apologize when he is wrong. In my recent defense of myself from a slanderous, unprovoked attack on the slander list by a poster followed by an email attack, I used a word improperly. I apologize to everyone. That does not change the fact that the rest of my defense was correct and justified. But saying that, I apologize for using the word "prson". In my hast of defending myself from that vicious attacker, I mistyped that word. It should have been "person". The rest of my comments stand. I meant every four-letter word. I also stand by my policy of not publishing private emails, but have no fear, the full text will probably appear on the slander list soon.
As for my tarnished image as some AB member referred to it tonight, so be it. This web site remains until the AB does the right thing. They know what that is, and they know they will never do it. Therefore, Stalkers shall remain online as long as I live.
I hereby dedicate this web site to the 2007 Advisory Board for their role in bringing USGenWeb to the state it's in. Bless you all. You can be proud. It has become a place where the best slanderer with the most connections wins. Only in USGenWeb can a member be held at fault for defending himself from an unprovoked personal attack. +
Remember to check back for the 2009 USGenWeb Elections right here on GenWebStalkers.com.
Until then, Happy Trails to you until we meet again.