Some main points...

I know that there are folks who read this blog for information on the ongoing lawsuit. It was a very long day and since we had an hour and a half drive and stopped for dinner as well, we are quite late tonight and thus, this will be an abbreviated version of what will come later.

The Court found in our favor on virtually all points and the following points will be incorporated into two separate orders to be entered and signed tomorrow.

• Membership list must be on Mr. Winters desk by noon Wednesday, October 19, 2005 or Mr. Shantz must report to the Court by 1:30 PM on Wednesday with his toothbrush because he is going to jail.
• They must comply in full with the order from September 1, 2005, which means that all data given must be up to that date, the database included.
• Require all members of the Board of Directors to come up with a specific plan for bringing the organization into compliance with this Court's order.
• It must be in writing, adopted by the Board and served on Mr. Winters on or before Friday, October 28, 2005 at 4:00 PM.
• All records must be "up to date" to September 1, 2005.
• All out of pocket expenses to Mr. Winters.
• All attorney fees on this matter of contempt are to be paid on or before November 14, 2005.
• Fines are continued at $100 per day and must be paid in full along with attorney fees and costs by 4:00 PM on November 14, 2005.
• Some neutral party must be found to accompany me (and them) into the office to say whether the stuff they are giving me is "everything."
• Defendants, MCRGO and Dale Shantz were found in "continuous and contemptuous lack of compliance with the Court's order."

There is one additional point I wish to address right here, right now.

Mr. Fleming, the MCRGO attorney, threatened to call my job and tell them that I was not sick today. Since my subpoena is already on file with our office and using a sick day is simply a matter of what we call a day I am forced to take off, I don't have anything to worry about.

On the other hand, should Mr. Fleming be so stupid as to make that call, I will see him up in front of the State Bar Association so fast his head will spin. Further consequences I will leave to our attorney, Mr. Kevin Winters, and whatever tort suit he chooses to file on my behalf.

I don't take to threats well, especially not from attorneys who cannot even manage to keep his own clients from being threatened with jail time, who has obviously not followed legal procedure and had his clients' appeal dismissed for failure to even file a timely brief, and who makes childish mistakes and then tries to blame them on others.

Here is an example.

Mr. Fleming made a point to complain to the Court that I had posted documents on my web site that revealed his clients' telephone numbers to anyone viewing those documents.

In fact, the documents I first saw did not have the phone numbers on them. However, when we retrieved the documents from the Court clerk, the documents that Mr. Fleming filed with the Court himself, those documents did have the phone numbers on them.

Mr. Fleming apparently wanted the Court, and his audience to believe that when I post court documents, which are a matter of public record, it would be acceptable for me to alter those documents. No doubt if I had, Mr. Fleming would then claim I had not posted a true copy.

You cannot have it both ways, now can you?

Mr. Fleming also complained to the Court that I was asking for documents from MCRGO that I should have been responsible for as the Secretary of MCRGO. In other words, since I was the Secretary and I was responsible for documents that MCRGO would not allow me to access and thus, I was forced to file suit to gain access, I was now supposed to be seen as unreasonable for not being able to produce the documents that....

If that sounds silly, it is.

As to the claim that I did not do my job, or somehow did not provide Mr. Berg, who did not take over the Secretary job from me as Mr. Fleming claimed in open Court, but rather, from Brad Foster (yet another Director who resigned), with documents necessary to do his job, well, that too, is bunk.

Example:



If Mr. Berg doesn't have that document, surely blaming me is the wrong path. But then it has been wrong and foolish all along to blame me for wanting our organization and its Directors and Executive Director to follow the law.

Time to do the right thing, members of the Board. Time to be the responsible Board of Directors that the Michigan Colation for Responsible Gun Owners membership deserves.

Past time, in fact. Two years past time.

Our President and the work we do as a Country

Main Stream Media over the past few days has chosen to focus on the non-story of the President "rehearsing" a "conversation with U.S. troops."

Oh, my God, he rehearsed a speech before he gave it. Why, that's un-American or unconstitutional or something.

The article ends with a quote from an "advocacy" group claiming to speak for veterans and then appears to somehow disparage the opinions of the officers involved in Iraq.

Paul Rieckhoff, director of the New York-based Operation Truth, an advocacy group for U.S. veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan, denounced the event as a "carefully scripted publicity stunt." Five of the 10 U.S. troops involved were officers, he said.

"If he wants the real opinions of the troops, he can't do it in a nationally televised teleconference," Rieckhoff said. "He needs to be talking to the boots on the ground and that's not a bunch of captains."

Someone wants to know what the soldier on the ground thinks, they should ask some of the volunteers over there rather than shove their own bleeding heart politics at us. That's not reporting, that's editorializing, and it's a hell of a lot more dishonest than the supposed horror of rehearsing a speech. Ask a soldier about the job he's doing and see what he thinks.

I did.

Objectively, when I think about it, this is historical stuff... turning points in human history stuff. We aren't talking nickel and dime adjustments in the course of history, but rather major tectonic plate-shift stuff.

And I'm a small part of it.

Tomorrow (today) will be a historic day for Iraqis, and for America because of the Iraqis. Too bad the MSM won't report it as such. Imagine having the opportunity to comment on history in the making, but refusing to see the forest for the trees.

He has much to be proud of, and because of the job he, and so many others like him, elected to do, a Country and its people have freedom and we may well have an ally in our war against animals like the ones who piloted our planes into our own buildings in their declaration of war against us.

When this Constitution passes, and it certainly appears that it has, Iraqis will go to the polls again in two months to elect a new, four-year parliament in a step that "Washington says will mark its full emergence as a sovereign democracy and new Western ally."

Job well done. Extremely good form.

Two more....

MCRGO's attorney will have to amend his complaint once more.

Two more members, upon being subpoenaed to appear in court this coming Monday and apparently discovering they were being sued, have withdrawn their affidavits.

I wonder if any of those members were aware that their affidavits were going to be used to sue them.

Somehow I rather doubt it.

What a shame. Even more of a shame is that no one making these kinds of decisions at MCRGO appears to be ashamed.

A very wise man would have said...

"Good form."

Today, two of the affiants in the so-called "interpleader" case withdrew their affidavits and demanded that their names be taken off the suit filed by the attorney for MCRGO.

Lee Zeidler and Sandra Brooke-Brown appear to have been taken aback by the filing of a lawsuit against them by the organization they had previously worked to support. If I understand correctly, a fellow MCRGO member and attorney notified our attorney, Mr. Kevin Winters, that they were not going to be a party to this matter any longer.

I must say, I understand the feeling of betrayal they may have felt.

I have to say, just when I think that the current management can't spring any further surprises, this lawsuit against its own members was a big one.

Shame is, they have a lawyer that doesn't even know that their name is the Michigan Coalition for Responsible Gun Owners and filled out the Summons and Complain in the wrong name.

Monday. 2:00 PM. Ingham County Courthouse. Maybe then the work to bring this organization back on track can really begin.

One additional point...

The Lee Zeidler I thought I knew is a pretty good guy. He seemed dedicated and did some good work for firearms rights. I want to believe that he got duped by people he hoped he could trust, but there is one serious problem with a portion of his email that I cannot let go by without comment.

He said, "Now, to continue, you have a fudiciary duty to the Board that you were elected to, if you dont wish to continue that, then leave, and stop acting like an anti-gunner!"

Our fiduciary duty as elected members of a non-profit organization's Board of Directors is to the members, not to the Board. It would be a good thing if we could work together and move the organization forward but we have obligations and responsibilities and they are not to our fellow Board members.

• We must follow the law.
• We must work for the members' best interests.
• We must fulfill the trust of the membership.

I have worked very hard and sacrificed much to fulfill my fiduciary responsibility to the membership that had enough faith in me to elect me to the Board and I have filed to run for the Board for yet another term. I hope I will be re-elected and I hope that I will be joined by Directors who will follow the tenets listed above.

At this point, the organization has some very serious problems. Correcting those problems will take Directors willing to follow the law and commit to a complete review of the corporation's past and present operations. Bylaws violations continue daily as do violations of State Law, according to the Secretary's sworn testimony at the last Court hearing. No less than $30,000 has been wasted avoiding compliance with the law. Fines and costs due to me because of the Contempt of Court have climbed over $10,000. Our own members are being sued. Even when we resolve this Court Case, the management of MCRGO still faces a defamation/slander suit that may also be very expensive to defend. Every Board member that has supported the flaunting of the Court orders in place should, in my opinion as a member, step down. The actions and decisions by Board members that have led us to this place in time have not been ones that men and women of conscience can look to with pride.

Our members are not being served by a Board making the choices that are being made.

And by the way, equating wanting to follow the law and encouraging others to do so with supposedly being anti-gun is just plain bunk!

He said, then he said, then I thought...

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I think we damaged his calm...

Or perhaps more on target, she did.

About three years ago, I watched a marriage come apart. It was not the least bit entertaining. Off and on since then, some things have been.

Went to the movies tonight with a great friend and a goodly woman (all in one body, how cool is that?) and saw Serenity.

Well, first we went to dinner but that's a whole 'nother post altogether. But let me just say that I would love to know if the manager was accurate in his assessment of, "There's gonna be trouble..."

The movie was really good - lots of fun and probably all the more so for the company. I won't dwell on it. If you like action and guns and adrenaline and witty repartee, you'll love this movie.

We're on our way out, scurrying for the "Ladies Room" because, after all, this was a two hour action packed flick and neither of us got up and went to the loo, fercripesake, but as we exit, with her rounding the corner to the left because she's younger and faster (we won't even address better looking because that has zero to do with speed) and I look to the right and there's her ex.

And I say, "Hey..." and kind of flip my hand up in a half-ass sort of wave because he's still my husband's pal and all that and.......

His eyes roll right over me like I'm not even there and focus a little bit past me and then he gets this deer in the headlights look and.......

Flees.

One of those truly abstract moments in life.

Go check out Bug Eyed Earl - it's been a while.

I mean to say.

Next Step....

Signed today by Judge Giddings:

IT IS ORDERED that the Defendant and Mr. Charles Perricone, MCRGO Executive Director, Mr. Dan* Berg, MCRGO Secretary, Mr. Dale Shantz, MCRGO Chair and President and Mr. James Kliemann, MCRGO Vice Chair and Treasurer will appear before this Court on October 17, 2005 at 2:00 PM to show cause why this court should not enter an Order:

1. Finding the Defendant in deliberate willful contempt;
2. Assessing maximum fines allowed by law;
3. Assessing maximum sanctions allowed by law;
4. Imprisoning Mr. Charles Perricone, Mr. Dan Berg, Mr. Dale Shantz, and Mr. James Kliemann until they fully comply with the April 13, 2005 Order;
5. Award Ms. Li her out-of-pocket costs including any lost wages;
6. Payment of Ms. Li’s attorney fees associated with this matter;
7. All costs, expenses, fines, penalties and sanctions assessed MCRGO must be paid only from MCRGO revenue without payment by others and/or by Charles Perricone and the individual Members of the Board of Directors of MCRGO individually with no reimbursement; and Require that MCRGO fully comply with the September 1, 2005 Order.

*Dan is actually Doug. Either way, he faces possible imprisonment.

The defendant's attorney was also fined $250 on Friday by the Michigan Appellate Court. Not sure whether it's for being incompetent or if we need to consider whether this so-called Appeal is nothing more than a delaying tactic.

Sanctions Order.

Patton Won't Be There For Ya, Buddy

For those who read this blog or my home page, I've discussed the issues facing me in trying to deal with the Michigan Coalition for Responsible Gun Owners (MCRGO). I had filed suit to try to get the Executive Director and the Board to follow the law and our own Bylaws. It's a complex issue and much of the legal papers can be found in this directory.

As the case developed, I won point after legal point and it became clear to even the folks who believed they could get away with anything - well - that they would not be getting away with anything. I suppose they became desperate and they began to flail about for any way to try to get me to give up. I don't know what kind of people they are used to dealing with but trying to ruin my life was not the approach that would get them the results they were after. Amazingly enough, they told such obvious lies, so easily proven to be lies that to most thinking folks, they just end up looking foolish, I suspect.

I spoke with my attorney and we filed a slander and defamation lawsuit, in addition to the original lawsuit and got a restraining order that we later got turned into an injunction. Not much seems to stop some of these folks, though, because they continue to lie and atttempt to interfere with my right to run for the Board of Directors, make a living, and do meaningful volunteer work. All in an effort to put so much pressure on me that I will give up in this fight. It is foolish because, in the end, it is not going to work and it's going to be a costly process as well.

It has moments that almost approach low comedy, though.

Recently, one Director of the MCRGO, Kerry Miller, after being served with the slander/defamation suit papers, then finally seeing the last legal papers asking that the entire board of Directors be jailed (and I will discuss our change in tactics on that in another week or so - we need to get out next Court appearance out of the way first) approached the rest of the Board and, including me and several others in an email said (paraphrasing here), in very frank language, that he did not intend to go to jail and that they needed to comply with the original order and then offered some possible negotiating points for settlement of the slander/defamation suit.

The response was a deafening silence, of course. But then an email came from David Aviles, who has, perhaps, been watching too much TV. I say TV because if he'd actually read the history behind what he said, he might have noticed some very key differences.

What was his response, you ask? One word, "Nuts."

History buffs might recognize the response of General McAuliffe to the demand from the Germans at Bastogne that he and his troops surrender.

Details here.

Now, McAuliffe was later vindicated in his response. He was victorious in the end and awarded a Distinguished Service Cross. As a very dear friend would say, "Good form. Good form, indeed."

However.

He had General Patton and the Third Army to back him up and knew that they were on their way to do so. I would suggest that Mr. Aviles does not have anyone approaching that caliber and his troops faltered long ago.

I also suspect that Judge Giddings will not be awarding him a Distinguished Service Cross.

But that's just my not all that humble opinion.

A little bit about Doc...

I've never talked much about the man who changed my life - transformed it, really. I don't know why, except it's hard to explain him to anyone. Always was and it probably won't get any easier now that he is gone.

He died last week - motorcycle accident at 58. I want people to know about him, understand what he did, for me, probably for many others, but for me...

Perhaps this will end up being far too disjointed, but over time, perhaps it will also let you get to know one of the most amazing human beings I could ever hope to know.

He has - no, had ( I am trying hard to remember he is gone but he is still so with me...) another name but every so often I called him Doc and even more often, he called me MLM.

"Doctor Frankenstein" and "My Little Monster." Who I once was and am no more is because of him and that is a very fine thing. He was proud of me. That alone was a very fine gift.

Doc collected elephants. When we first met, he told me this but warned me, "Don't ever buy me one."

He offered no explanation for why I should never buy him one but he was quite firm and so for a long time, I did not. Later, I decided, "Ah the heck with your bossy butt, I'll buy one if I want to."

I saw this one...




... and loved it. It was/is made from polished agate from Michigan and it is very small but finely carved and its trunk rears up in what seems an almost victorious trumpeting. I bought it, but then, chickened out on giving it to him for about 3-4 months until finally, in a burst of brave, the next time I saw it, I tucked it in a pocket and then hanging out, I reached in my pocket and held it out in the palm of my hand. He was delighted.

He told me he hated to have people buy him elephants because they bought stupid ones, plaster of Paris or little cast iron ones or and the elephant never looked, or felt, proud. He told me I could buy him a damned elephant any time I chose. His eyes were damp and his voice caught for a moment, then he cleared his throat and we went on as though it had never happened.

Only it had.

And there it sits on his shelf.