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- Written by Michael Z Williamson
It’s time to talk to some of the bizarrely non-conservative conservatives, who for unfathomable reasons are fans of Putin’s Russia. We call these people “Brosheviks.”
The simple background is that Kiev is far older than Moscow, and various groups controlled both territories. Ukraine was independent as a nation, then captured by the USSR. The USSR spent seventy plus years abusing and starving Ukraine to the tune of more than 30 million people. After the USSR collapsed it became independent, and the poorest country in Europe, looted and raped by its occupiers.
Ukraine had a lot of corruption because it was a former Soviet state. They all do. It has far less corruption than Russia. Remember the Clinton Foundation washing $650 mil through Russia? And Uranium deals? Etc? That’s just the stuff we know about large scale.
~~
The USSR, though, and now Russia has the greatest propaganda organ the world has ever seen. Witness:
Literally every Russian military development—tank, aircraft, everything, led to wails of, “Oooh! The Russians have got us this time! ZOMG! State of the art! We’ll be catching up for generations! Panic! Gloom, despair, and agony on me!”
Then we’d capture or acquire one and it would be shit tier garbage. Every fucking time. The MiG25: Shit that couldn’t dogfight or maneuver and had no loiter time. The T72: Shit armor, shit fire control, overall shit. The T90: Such shit a Bradley can take it out with 25mm. The vaunted AK47: If you’ve ever shot one you understand it’s a weapon for illiterate peasants and yes, jams like you wouldn’t believe if you haven’t handled one. That long stroke gas piston loves corrosion, debris, and mud and turns into an unergonomic club.
The USSR persuaded the Western world, especially the left, that they were some sort of victims, not a larger, less-effective murder machine as the Nazis, but still a mass murder machine with a higher body count. Hanging a Swastika banner will get you excoriated (and should), but hang up the Hammer and Sickle, and well, we have to be tolerant of divergent viewpoints.
We really fucking don’t. Commies are just as much subhuman shit as the Nazis. But that propaganda.
The USSR only wanted a “buffer zone” which was “understandable” given its history and the “NATO threat,” of a co-op that has never invaded them. And then a buffer zone around the buffer zone. But don’t worry, all those nations lost to the Nazis or were supported by them*, so they deserve it.
Yes, to lefticles, losing to the Nazis means getting raped at the national level by the commies is a fair and reasonable Round Two.
*Quite a few nations were supported by the Nazis because in the WWII subplot of saving the USSR and Stalinism, all the groups and nations daring to split from it were told they could get fucked to death for all anyone cared, but Germany found it advantageous to use them to bleed Stalin. When there’s a boot on your throat, and the guy with a boot on someone else’s throat tosses you a knife, you use it. He may be an asshole, but he’s not the asshole murdering you at that exact moment.
~~
Then in a surprise move the USSR collapsed (It wasn’t surprising that it happened, just that it took that long), and Ukraine again became independent, and found itself in possession of some nukes, and a bunch of environmental disasters caused by socialism, which is pretty much the outcome of socialism every time, but retards will keep insisting it’s not real socialism, but I digress.
Russia and the US both guaranteed Ukraine’s borders and sanctity in exchange for letting those nukes get removed and dismantled. Now, think for a moment: What is the only nation that would be placed and have an interest in conquering Ukraine?
~~
Vladimir Putin is a former low-level KGB thug whose intellect doesn’t rise above “punch the dissident until he complies.” He’s arranged to be in charge of the neo-USSR for decades, and leads its corruption, child-trafficking, international butchery, brutality, and failure.
That propaganda, though. See Vlad on horseback. See him in a gym benching a whopping 30 lbs. See his book on Judo that actual Judoka will tell you is a sad joke. Vlad has made Russia great!
He should have stopped there and taken the laurels.
~~
Sevastapol, Ukraine, was home to the Soviet Black Sea Fleet, and their only significant warm water port. Ukraine was allowing Russia free access, as good neighbors. But Vlad decided they needed complete control. Now, there are perfectly legitimate ways to effect such a claim. Arbitration. Offer a chunk of cash to the poorest nation in Europe, cut a long term lease deal, etc.
So he invaded.
And the gamma cuck pussified 0bama administration did nothing to stop it, despite our agreement to protect Ukraine’s borders.
The ongoing lesson here is never trust a treaty or agreement with the US, because the US is a pussified failed state that will abandon you when convenient, and certainly when soicuck shitlib propaganda wails “Quagmire like Vietnam!”
Vladimir Sputum then proceeded to write a bunch of articles about how basically all of Asia is Russia, and any nation daring to have national sovereignty are ungrateful wretches who need to be taught a lesson and made Russian again. He’s fantasized about this in publications for a decade, that he’d consolidate all of the former Glorious Russian Empire (which was a shit tier, dirt poor feudal state long after feudalism was surpassed) AND the former USSR (a shit tier socialist state, as if there’s any other kind), to create a huge, continent-spanning gloriousness.
Then he invaded the rest of Ukraine.
The propaganda arm went into overdrive.
And alleged conservatives slurped it up like Putin’s jizz that they crave for some reason.
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“Ukraine has corruption! Vlad is saving us from the New World Order!”
Name a single nation we’ve ever assisted in war that wasn’t corrupt. Including our own.
Also, if you’ve paid attention the last decade (you obviously haven’t paid attention the last decade), Ukraine was in the process of flushing the corrupt leaders, most of whom were…friends of Vladimir Sputum.
~~
“Ukraine has Nazis!”
Probably a few. So does the US. So does Russia, since the head of Wagner Group, named after Hitler’s favorite composer, LITERALLY HAS SS INSIGNIA TATTOOED ON HIS CHEST, COLLARS AND SHOULDERS. Are you that fucking gullible and retarded? Apparently.
Also, the POWs from the alleged Nazi Azov Battalion were exchanged for Russian POWs, no issue. So no (alleged) Nazis were actually stopped or tried.
Also, those "Nazis" are taking orders from a Jewish comedian. Vlad explains this as "They're a special kind of Nazi that isn't necessarily anti-semitic, but still Nazis." So, National Socialists...like yourself, Vlad?
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“Putin is the only man making sense!”
So, you haven’t actually read what he’s written.
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“Russia warned Ukraine not to join NATO! They can’t be aggressive like that.”
Ukraine has not joined NATO, and your ex doesn’t get to tell you who to date.
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“Russia is rightfully afraid of NATO aggression!”
THIS Cold War bullshit again? Are you liberal, or retarded?
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“Why won’t anyone stand with Russia against the New World Order? Vlad is a hero!”
Such a hero his allies are Lil Kim in North Korea, and the Assahola in Iran. That’s who you’re supporting here, dipshit.
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“You’re going to find out that Ukraine is carefully making it look like they’re winning! There’s this huge push in March/April 2023/2024 that’s going to end it. After Ukraine is worn out fighting Russian garbage, the A-team is going to wreck them!”
It’s been 2.5 years. The Russian Airborne died the first day. The vaunted Spaznutz met Ukrainian reservists and got slaughtered like the shit tier, third world, all-show-and-no-dick bitches they actually are. It’s getting worse. Russians have been seen on scooters (the step on kind that populate cities like cockroaches) and Chinese golf carts. They’re losing T54s on a recurring basis, having run out of modern (1960s) tanks. It’s become a joke at this point.
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“The T64 is actually better than the Abrams!
“US missile launchers take a special vehicle to reload. Behold the efficiency of Russians reloading theirs by hand!”
This shit was reported unironically. Meanwhile, the US missile system evaporated an entire zip code of Russians while they were still hand carrying reloads.
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“American children are starving to support the corrupt Ukrainians!”
No, they fucking aren’t. $113 billion out of a GDP of $27 TRILLION, with an annual DoD budget of around $800 billion, of a total budget of $6.4 TRILLION (The important part here is ¼ of your productivity is federal budget, 2/3 of which is handouts to nonproductive people (Social Security, Welfare, etc)). Be mad about those. The Ukraine outlay is irrelevant, and, it’s utterly gutting Russia, which is still a threat and competitor, without a single American military life at stake. Win/win/win.
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“All the money going to Ukraine is just being laundered right back to Joe Biden!”
Look, I hate the racist, rapist, child-molesting, anti-semitic, retarded Nazi with Alzheimer’s in the White House at least as much as you do, but even if he’s getting a kickback, which is not impossible, there are plenty of videos on r/combatfootage and funker530.com of entire battalions of Russians being vaporized. You can see the photo documented slaughterfest at https://www.oryxspioenkop.com/2022/02/attack-on-europe-documenting-equipment.html The money is being used to kill Russians. Also: You can’t describe how money is laundered because you don’t know. You’re just regurgitating the jizz you swallowed and blowing bubbles in the process. Yes, I’m being crass and condescending. (That means I’m being rude and talking down to you as if you’re stupid, because you are.) You sound like the Film Actors Guild talking about corporations in their corporation buildings being all corporationy.
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“Russia just offered a ceasefire agreement and the horrible, evil, New World Order of every nation except Russia, Iran and North Korea wouldn’t even let Ukraine look at it and just rejected it!”
Yes, because the “agreement” was “Give me all the territory I already claim even though I don’t control it, and some other territory here and there, and I’ll pull back until I feel like coming round again.”
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“Ukraine has invaded Russia! They’re just not taking the hint!”
The hint that either they let Vlad destroy their nation, culture, and gang rape their women and children (and about 20,000 kids have reportedly been stolen and taken to Russia), or he’d do it by force? Or, they fight to the last Russian.
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“What you fail to understand is Russia is done negotiating!”
What negotiation? See above. RUSSIA IS THE AGGRESSOR HERE, RETARD.
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“Ukraine is now planning to use a dirty bomb! We heard this from Russian Scientists who are totally neutral and reliable and have no reason to fabricate anything!”
Jesus Tittyfucking Christ. Jim Hoft at Gateway Pundit must be seriously queer for Putin. He never stops about how Ukraine will fail any day, is terrible, horrible, no good awful bad, and how saintly Vlad is for offering to fix their nation. Hey, Jim: Vlad is straight and married. He’s not going to let you slurp his knob, even if you offer to gargle and swallow.
Also, if Ukraine was planning it, they would probably use leftover Corium from the Chernobyl meltdown, and it would be long overdue payback to Moscow.
~~
From a perspective of military intelligence, ANYTHING Russia says has a low level of confidence from an unreliable, non-credible source. It might occasionally be right, but only if verified by a dozen other non-Russian sources. They have no ability to be honest.
FACT: Russia invaded Ukraine because it wanted to seize territory it’s not entitled to, and is getting its incompetent shit tier military ass kicked by a third world nation. Even if they “win” a few counties of utter wasteland that are wrecked more than No Man’s Land in WWI, they’ve lost their credibility and military footprint for decades to come.
Now stop being their propaganda bitch.
- Details
- Written by Michael Z Williamson
This is mostly for my own benefit, though I don't mind sharing what's here. There's more, but these are the high points and they bother me even years later. I had health issues from deploying, then sleep issues (physiological, not psychological), and started a new family. A lot of this was out of mind for a decade or more.
It's obviously subjective to me, to a certain timeframe and people, and from my own perspective. Others will have their own perspectives and experiences, and some may have been a lot more positive. Good on them. If criticism of these incidents and timeline bother you, as it did one respondent I'll quote within, do yourself a favor and close the page now. I don't want anyone with granular vaginitis whining about how what happened didn't, or how I'm wrong to feel as I (and most of the people referenced) do, or otherwise. I'll just mock you and block you.
Note that this is not a condemnation of any individual or element I don't reference. Overall, I respect the Soldiers I served and interacted with, and they were stuck in the same morass I and others were. They deserve credit for not only tolerating and surviving it, but succeeding despite it. Far too few of them got real decorations for any of this.
If at any point my comments distress you, please re-read the above, and if necessary, just stop reading. I'm uninterested in evasions, explanations, "context" for the events, or any other bullshit. It was what it was. We were there.
- Details
- Written by Michael Z Williamson
Those of you who’ve been reading this page for a while may recall the philosophy of Violence First.
Isaac Asimov famously said, “Violence is the last resort of the incompetent.”
A far wiser Jerry Pournelle responded, “Correct, the competent use it before it’s the last resort.”
The classic example is, if Hitler’s intent had been properly interpreted in say, 1934 (there were plenty of signs), a properly placed bullet would have prevented the Holocaust, and potentially defused WWII to several smaller, regional conflicts with lower death tolls.
If violence is the solution, it should be used quickly and effectively.
One would think the military would have this well under control, but such is not the case.
A standard part of military training is gas mask/other protective gear, and a test with tear gas. The way this is supposed to work (and did for me) is you are taught how to use the protective ensemble, then gear up, step into a tent with tear gas canisters sizzling away, remove your mask, feel the burn of the gas, run outside to fresh air. This demonstrates that your mask works. Later fittings (we upgraded from M17 series to MCU series and M40 masks, depending on unit) involved banana oil (very pungent and will get through any leak), and a once a year size and fit check. Every three to four years, we’d don the gear, step into a tent full of gas, and be assured it fit and was working. Did anyone doubt this and want to take off their mask to prove it? No. Done.
However, there are certain sadistic perverts in training units who choose this as an opportunity to abuse helpless recruits. Not only remove the mask, but then recite some gay song, do jumping jacks, or otherwise achieve a state where recruits are puking their guts out from exposure.
It’s difficult for recruits to address this, as they haven’t been taught controlled aggression. In fact, they’ve been taught to be obedient even to self-destructive orders that achieve no additional benefit. This needs to stop.
The proper response upon encountering a BDSM freak who orders this should be to reverse the dynamic. The trainees should swarm the pervert, rip off his mask, and hold his face in close proximity to the smoldering canister of orthochlorobenzal-malononitrile until HE is puking his guts out, while the masks keep them safe. They will see up close that the protective mask works, and the effects of tear gas on the hostile, while achieving dynamic control of the situation, which is the correct attitude and response. This could even be part of the test and training, assuming volunteers can be found for the S&M role.
Similarly, but even more incorrect is pepper spray training for detention and prison control.
The “training” is to douse you with OC spray, and have you perform a takedown on another instructor, so you can see how effective it is, and so you will be reluctant to use it unless necessary, and that you will still be able to perform a takedown under these conditions.
This is ridiculous and pointless.
First, it is unlikely that a prisoner or detainee has access to OC spray unless someone has severely failed in their task.
Second, 10% of the population are non-responsive to OC spray. Also, why are they training you to be reluctant to use non-lethal force?
Third, if you can effect a takedown after being sprayed, it was obviously insufficiently effective.
Fourth, why, if Party A is attacking you, would you effect a takedown on Party B?
So the presentation here is, “Hold still so I can hurt you, but only a little, then you will demonstrate a meaningless response against a non-resistant training aid.”
Violence First. Do not be a victim.
Following the Violence First principle, you should immediately charge the threatening attacker, as you are inside Tuehler range. First, immobilize the threat, and I hope he values his knees more than you value his knees. Ensure the weapon cannot engage you. Second, disarm the threat, and I hope he values his fingers more than you do. Then, with your face averted, discharge the pepper spray up his nostrils until resistance stops. Ensure the engagement is terminated by using the empty canister to strike the temple.
Once he is in the hospital, possibly intubated, certainly on oxygen, you will have concrete evidence that OC spray CAN be effective when properly employed, and the trainer can certify that you will respond to a threat with immediate, effective violence to neutralize it, and you pass the certification with a triple plus beyond regular pass.
A further example is (from examples I’ve seen and heard) in Ranger School, where an element is attempting to conduct a complicated orienteering problem (One does not “navigate” on land), while being harassed and hazed loudly by a cadre member.
The first problem is that training orders are to NOT subsist off the land if you have the knowledge, but only use the pittance of food they deign to offer. So once again, the instruction is, “Allow us to hurt you but don’t interfere, and fail to respond in an effective fashion.”
This is completely wrong. Once again: Violence First.
As this is training for battle, the screaming, hazing, obstructing individual can be interpreted two ways.
The first possible interpretation is as a member of your element who has lost his mental acuity and is both hindering your process and risking discovery by the enemy, in which case the first step is to shake them firmly, and quietly advise them of this fact.
The other, more likely option is they will continue to be an interference, thus a simulation of an enemy contact. While it would be slightly out of line to render a staff member dead, it is perfectly reasonable to simulate this by subduing the obstruction (a rifle butt to the solar plexus or groin should prove effective, if you are unfamiliar with a proper choke hold). Keep in mind the numbers are on your side. Then immobilize the obstruction by lashing to a convenient tree, rock or other landmark. Search as you would a real prisoner, and secure any rations they have, as well as any useful information—schedules, maps, phone numbers of hot chicks, phones with porn, etc. You will need to gag them, so carefully check their nostrils are clear.
You can then proceed with your orienteering and movement to complete the exercise, at which time you should furnish a map with the obstruction’s location clearly marked (you did do so, yes?) to demonstrate your ability to effectively neutralize a threat, maintain OPSEC and tactical stealth, to gather intel while conducting reconnaissance, and to mark locations for followup. The cadre will recognize your superior ability to the sheeplike trainees, and should immediately promote you ahead of peers for your ability to use controlled aggression to complete the mission. If there is dispute over this, a second demonstration may be necessary. Disable the cadre, restrain, redeploy from the area to garrison, and inform the next link in the chain of command of the issue, furnishing grid coordinates. One might even offer to lead the recovery detail as a demonstration of orienteering skill.
Hopefully, the next generation of recruits will utilize the above (Which is a non-exhaustive guideline of only three examples) to bring the US military to a peak level of intelligently controlled, fast-responding, decisive action that will win all future engagements.
- Details
- Written by Michael Z Williamson
March 18, 2023 Update:
Yesterday, Vandenberg / Bard's Tower announced he is ceasing operations. He is helpfully deleting any comments which point out he's brought this upon himself by his actions, and some folks appear to be totally unaware.
And then this was seen: https://vocal.media/geeks/alexi-vandenberg-a-monster-in-the-geek-community
"Isolated incident" is definitely not the terminology to be used here. - Webmistress
March 13, 2023 update:
~~
I received this correspondence a few days ago:
I [am also owed money] by Alexi Vandenberg. Additionally, I know of an elderly woman he [owes] over $25,000...
I filed a lawsuit (filed in Chancery 2023CH01843, if you are curious) with one count of breach of contract, one count of debt recovery, multiple counts of fraud, multiple counts of defamation, one count of negligence, and one count of intentional infliction of emotional distress.
If you want to see the filing status you can do so:
You can go to: https://casesearch.cookcountyclerkofcourt.org/CivilCaseSearchAPI.aspx
Choose Chancery, and search by Case Number:
Search by Case #: 2023CH01843
~~
The case ID and claim is real. What happens in Cook County courts remains to be seen and may not accomplish anything either way.
Then there was this:
I just finished reading your blog post about Alexi Vandenberg. Unfortunately I have lost a substantial sum of money to Mr. Vandenberg because of a similar trust. Mr. Vandenberg has promised to send all of the books belonging to Bard's Tower to me as payment for the money invested in his company. [So far, this has not happened.]
~~
Names withheld, though the one can be seen on the court filing. I know both by name and have encountered them elsewhere.
There are also other alleged complaints on various fora. It appears this is a trend.
~~
UPDATE: Two days after this post, after many exchanges on how to pay electronically, he has paid the estate his estimated value of the books.
SUMMARY: Alexi Vandenberg was supposed to sell $10,000 worth of rare books from the estate of a multiply decorated combat veteran. The inheritor is the veteran’s disabled niece. Over 17 months later, he has not paid a cent to the estate, nor returned the books.
~~
The estate of my friend Captain Gary Kitchen had over $60,000 in retail value of autographed sci fi books. Two dealers and a collector bought a bunch. They paid promptly.
At Indiana Comic Convention October 2021, we delivered several crates of books to Alexi Vandenberg, improprietor of Bard’s Tower, the “Tower of Books,” He’s a bookseller I’ve known for years and occasionally placed books with for sale. The agreement was that he’d appraise, sell, make payments, and keep 20%.
A few months later I called to see how it was progressing and if he had any funds. I told him I’d moved $10,000 in books to two dealers.
His response was weird. He whined at me that I was wrong to have sold books, that he had explained to me (he hadn’t) that a collection like this was “Worth more than the sum of its parts.” He was looking for an investor or institute to buy the lot. Even if true, estates have to sell assets and close. The time for institutes is before one passes away.
I checked this concept with a very high-end bookseller, a famous SF bookstore, and an expert on sci fi author estates. In short: Harlan Ellison’s collection was sold off. So was Ray Bradbury’s. No one buys the entire collection of a random hoarder to…do nothing with it. Anything interesting is kept, the rest are sold.
He petulantly insisted he’d send the books back, but didn’t.
April 2022, at Indiana Comic Convention again, we spoke, and he agreed he’d get on with the selling. By this time I’d sold most of the books at wholesale, including one buyer of $30,000 worth. I’d actually found the buyer he was looking for and told him that was an option.
Move forward to August 2022 and I told him the estate needed to wrap up and close. The attorney was waiting on some final paperwork and the house to sell, and the small items could catch up afterward, but the books were a significant chunk. Vandenberg insisted he had a buyer lined up. I told him we needed conclusion by 31 Oct, over a year since he received the books.
Then it was November, and he was “waiting on the check.” I asked how much and he said, “$3000,” which seemed rather low, given the books and time involved.
Then it was December. He would “Send a check on the 21st.”
On the 28th I queried and he told me he would get me the tracking number. I asked about the spreadsheet and he said he’d send that from his home computer. (BTW, I have screenshots and logs of all the texts and emails, professionally marked by an IT forensics examiner.)
I had my attorney (also a family law attorney, and assisting the estate with other matters) contact him informally. He was supposed to forward check and spreadsheet by the 2nd Wednesday in January.
Nothing.
I contacted the estate attorney to make it official. He guaranteed the estate attorney he’d get it done.
February. I emailed:
~~
Mr Vandenberg:
It has been another week with no check, nor a tracking number you claimed to have, nor the spreadsheet you claimed to have compiled. Our mail preview shows NOTHING from you or NJ reaching our local post office. This is the fourth such failure in two months.
Immediately upon receipt of this email, please forward the spreadsheet of the books you have valuated to $3000.
Assuming a tracking number exists for any of these checks you claim to have mailed, forward that.
If, as I suspect, these do not exist, I offer these three options:
Document the books, and commence making some sort of payments. You can send an initial $100 in earnest money, and payments on a reliable basis. The spreadsheet will work, or clear photos of the spines of the books.
Call or email me with a credit card number. There is a 4% processing fee.
Or, I will provide the address of an established buyer and you can ship the books safely packed to him, at your expense, given the 16 month delay in accomplishing this very simple task. I will need tracking numbers and photos of the packed boxes.
Thanks
Mike
~~
rabidfanboy.com
Wed, Feb 8, 11:00 AM
to me, Craig
Ok, First things first. Which one of you am I to be talking to? Because I not answering every question nor sending every query twice to two separate people. For instance, the last communication I got was from Craig after me asking for you to check since let's be completely honest the organization skills that you Michael have exhibited are not particularly breathtaking during this entire process. I would prefer to have had the check buried than cancel and renew. His answer was I will check.
I guess I will have to be confident that has taken place, but considering the fiasco and time sink this has turned into I would prefer confirmation.
Please confirm the address right here and I will reissue the check for the 2400. In regards to a list of the books, this is what I have. When your girl rolled up a luggage cart of boxes you nor her nor anyone else asked anything beyond looking at the books and telling you what I thought about them then seeing if I could sell them. There was no discussion of timeline, or record keeping which I would have expected you to have done before handing anything over to anyone. I looked at what was there and marked it as in good condition. This is what I have.
Beyond that, please indicate to whom I will be talking and where I should send the check. If any other questions need to be asked, please indicate to whom I should direct my answers and then once you confirm that the check is not there (I don't even know what mail preview means nor do I really care), I will send it. After that Mike, Lose my number. Seriously.
My best,
Alexi Vandenberg
~~
Well, you’re talking to me, who’s selling the estate property, unless you’d rather talk to an attorney, who is copied on the email.
If I’d received a check to the estate, it would have been deposited and this would all be over. But I confirmed yet again that no, we haven’t received any checks. (I strongly suspect none have been sent, ever.)
He then demanded that when this was over that I “lose his number,” which is typically the bluster of someone who knows they’ve screwed up, to try to paint themselves as the victim.
So I emailed back:
~~
Mike Williamson
Wed, Feb 8, 11:31 AM
to info, Craig
Make check to
ESTATE OF GARY KITCHEN
send to
c/o [my address]
Confirming, as I have before, no payment from you has reached here, despite your statements of checks on 22 Dec, 4 Jan, and last week.
Our archived communications make it quite clear what was discussed. You were to sell the books and forward funds. You went on some strange spiritual journey to find someone to buy them as some sort of historical archive, which was never going to happen. I had hoped that a professional bookseller with a convention footprint would sell more books faster and for more money than I could.
Thank you for finally resolving this matter.
Thanks
Mike
~~
Ten days (Feb 17th 2023) later I sent this:
Mr Vandenberg:
It has been another 10 days with no checks from you. I am confirming, for the 6th time since Dec 21, 2022, that none have been received.
The USPS sends us daily scans of our incoming mail. Nothing from you, or from NJ, has arrived at the Post Office since your first claim of mailing on 21 December.
As to your spreadsheet, which per the file log, you created April 1, 2022, at 1117 AM (6 months after books were transferred to you) and last updated Feb 8, 2022 at 0943 before sending it to me:
You have listed title and author/editor only with numerous misspellings. There is no format, edition, or condition listed, nor who actually signed, or if it was signed, personalized, or inscribed. There are no prices/values listed. Yet somehow, you claim to have found a buyer for the lot.
Despite that, I used your existing minimal info to find the lowest eBay price for these items, and came up with $8851. Per my existing sales, I would expect to sell them for about 66% of that price, or $5842. Were I to make a wholesale transaction, it would be about $4425. (Edited spreadsheet attached.)
You harassed me at length for selling the other books from the estate, insisting that the collection was “worth more than the sum of its parts.” Yet, your claimed sale amount of $3000 is ridiculously lowball based on the sales the estate has already made, about 34% of the minimum estimated value. Note that certain titles, in rare or first editions, would push the value HIGHER than I have shown.
You were brought into this because you were reputed to be a bookseller of some expertise.
Based on all the above, here’s my interpretation:
You still have the books and want them for your collection. As I said at the beginning, this is perfectly acceptable. Assign a fair price, take off 20% for the work involved, and send payments.
Alternately, one of my existing wholesale buyers will pay $4425 for the lot. Delivery will need to be arranged.
If you actually did sell them that cheaply, it is a done deal, but I am very unimpressed. However, in that case, I expect at this point you will Priority Mail the check the estate has still not received, to me to be logged on the account, and I will forward it to the executor to be deposited. That should reach me NLT Wednesday, 22 Feb, 2023.
Send to
Estate of Gary Kitchen
c/o [my address.]
You may also email/call with a valid credit card number, with a 4% transaction fee, since you’ve already really lowballed the estate on value.
You need not worry about me “losing your number” after this exchange is complete. It is certain I will never do business with you in any capacity ever again.
The estate of the deceased, multiply-decorated combat veteran and war hero needs its assets, either as books or as money, immediately.
Copied to Atty Doyle for record.
~~
The log showed the spreadsheet was created right after Indiana Comic Con 10 months earlier, modified 6 times, most recently that very morning. It contained author/editor and title. It did not contain a format, edition, printing, condition description, itemized whether autographed by author, editor, artist, contributor, whether just signed, personalized, or inscribed, nor an assessed value. It was complete crap and obviously a poor attempt at CYA.
And we still have not received payment, to benefit the disabled niece of the multiply decorated combat veteran and locally respected sci fi fan.
Believe me, Rabid Fanboi, losing your phone number won’t be a problem. We are never doing business again. You fucked over the estate of a veteran with 13 combat decorations during Vietnam, the money to go to his disabled niece, probably because you really like the books and are a deadbeat who can’t pay for them. But let me confirm yet again: There have been no checks, credit card payments, or cash, sent to the estate, anyone involved, or me.
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