Rick Giles, poster on SOLOP forum, in jail

[Martin Radwin]

On one post in the thread, Robert Winefield writes,

"I was wondering if and when I would ever regret attempting to help free him from the jail in Michigan...

I was kind of hoping that 30-odd days in jail without charge for a minor infraction of the law might have given him enough clarity to see the Saudi issue in its true light and the balls to say so unequivocally. Sadly..."

The implication from the first sentence is clearly that he does now regret attempting to free Rick from jail. Obviously, disagreeing with Rick's views or posting style is sufficient reason to wish that Rick remain in jail on a technical visa violation.

As to the second sentence, I wonder why it didn't occur to Robert that the jail sentence might just get Rick to start seeing how the US is becoming more like Saudi Arabia every day.

In another post, Peter Cresswell writes,

"Mr Giles is neither sane nor honest. I'm surprised it's taken so long for others to notice."

So Rick is judged to be not just mistaken but insane.

In another post, Robert Winefield writes,

"Unlike Elijah, Linz (and PC, and myself) have known Rick for a number of years - at least 6 by my counting. And in that time, Rick has not changed his spots in that time."

So Mr. Perigo, who, according to Robert, has known Rick for at least 6 years, had offered to use his influence to try to help Rick get released from jail. Perigo now declares that , addressing Rick, "There *is* a streak of evil within you".

These people are a bunch of sick fucks. It amazes me that there are still any intelligent posters left on SOLOP.

Martin

[Chris Grieb]

Martin; After looking at your last post about SOLO I'm glad I don't post there.

Michael; Thank you again for maintaining sanity.

[william.scherk]

In another post, Peter Cresswell writes,

"Mr Giles is neither sane nor honest. I'm surprised it's taken so long for others to notice."

So Rick is judged to be not just mistaken but insane.

-- a note on staffing from Emperigo indicates that Rick has been placed on moderation. From "insane weasel of evul" to "we are watching you" in only four days. As Ellen notes, the prime wrestling ground is found now in threads in which Richard Goode and James Valliant discuss morality, Hume, man qua man, and the ultimate value for cabbages.

[CNA]

William,

I know you hate it when I say this, but you are very charming.

Michael

hehehehe, I so agree, Mike. William is indeed very charming with a great sense of humor !!

[Philip Coates]

> a note on staffing from Emperigo...

What kind of an exercise in deception is it to have a huge "staff list", complete with photos (a larger list of chiefs than some corporations) for a website and "ghost" organization that doesn't do anything?

I've head the saying "too many chiefs and not enough indians", but all chiefs and -no- indians? No work, fake 'activity', and no accomplishments?

[william.scherk]

> a note on staffing from Emperigo...

What kind of an exercise in deception is it to have a huge "staff list", complete with photos (a larger list of chiefs than some corporations) for a website and "ghost" organization that doesn't do anything?

Well, there are only a few things that a website/debating club can actually do. The last lurch into action for SOLO was helping organizing marches against a pending Kiwi electoral law, and organizing a relentless campaign of, um, press releases to the world media.

Like any club, the deception involves a gap between the proclaimed influence and purity of the organization and its actual import. In this sense, the deception is self-deception and rather effulgent with the pride of a small toad in an exceedingly small mudhole.

Here, at OL, the archives are excellent, and the debates are worth reading/saving -- since the participants are on the whole intelligent and thoughtful. For my objectivish online wrasslin' -- I still like SOLO. If the wider world (which rarely notes the existence of any Objectivist organization besides ARI and Atlas Society) remarks upon SOLO, it is as a personal fief of New Zealand's last Right Man, and his extremist claque.

In the meantime, Lindsay has made a good decision. He has removed from his organization the demented arch-capitalist Elijah Lineberry. The context was not Lineberry's transparent elitism, but his screed against SOLO's only Maori member.

[Newberry]

"...I think there might still be a few others who post there for whatever reasons of their own..."

I am posting here, RoR, and Solo for two reasons: as an outreach to meet potential collectors, and to make the point I am a free agent. A few times in the past I offered to speak at ARI events but to no response. ;) When I was on one site I felt that I was lending my credibility to the few wackos posting there. Joining other sites, takes that notion away--it is a freeing experience. Take in the good and leave the rest.

Michael

[James Heaps-Nelson]

"...I think there might still be a few others who post there for whatever reasons of their own..."

I am posting here, RoR, and Solo for two reasons: as an outreach to meet potential collectors, and to make the point I am a free agent. A few times in the past I offered to speak at ARI events but to no response. ;) When I was on one site I felt that I was lending my credibility to the few wackos posting there. Joining other sites, takes that notion away--it is a freeing experience. Take in the good and leave the rest.

Michael

Michael,

Exactly! There is also an ebb and flow to forums. Sometimes there is just not much to comment on and sometimes there are gems within a lot of junk. Unconditional acceptance or rejection is a blank check that washes out discernment and true judgment. True judgment is a discriminating look at what you like and dislike about people. When all is said and done, I can find positive interaction with most people. Trade with the positive and keep the negative at arms' length.

Jim

[tjohnson]

Unconditional acceptance or rejection is a blank check that washes out discernment and true judgment. True judgment is a discriminating look at what you like and dislike about people.

There are 2 ways to get through life without thinking; doubt everything you hear and doubt nothing you hear.

[william.scherk]

In another post, Peter Cresswell writes,

"Mr Giles is neither sane nor honest. I'm surprised it's taken so long for others to notice."

So Rick is judged to be not just mistaken but insane.

-- a note on staffing from Emperigo indicates that Rick has been placed on moderation. From "insane weasel of evul" to "we are watching you" in only four days. As Ellen notes, the prime wrestling ground is found now in threads in which Richard Goode and James Valliant discuss morality, Hume, man qua man, and the ultimate value for cabbages.

Um, ah, well . . . it appears the new Commissar of Kass, Captain of HMCS SOLO, Lance Davey, has deported Rick Giles once again to the netherworld. What this says about Rick, Lance and Lindsay is a subject for future historians of online Objectivism.

"Rick Giles has, in the space of 2 short days, managed to have his ban reinstated. In what I now see as true to form Rick fashion, he has lied outright, claiming never to have been offered the podcasts coordinator position back and accused Lindsay and myself of engaging in "mind games" and of having "confrontational issues". An absolute crock. An elaborate conspiracy cooked up in his head, that had no resemblance to reality. In light of that, as a sure sign that the man is delusional, mentally deficient, and basically just a bad egg to have around that stinks up the place, the offer of the podcasts coordinator position is rescinded and the ban reinstated."

Link

[James Heaps-Nelson]

In another post, Peter Cresswell writes,

"Mr Giles is neither sane nor honest. I'm surprised it's taken so long for others to notice."

So Rick is judged to be not just mistaken but insane.

-- a note on staffing from Emperigo indicates that Rick has been placed on moderation. From "insane weasel of evul" to "we are watching you" in only four days. As Ellen notes, the prime wrestling ground is found now in threads in which Richard Goode and James Valliant discuss morality, Hume, man qua man, and the ultimate value for cabbages.

Um, ah, well . . . it appears the new Commissar of Kass, Captain of HMCS SOLO, Lance Davey, has deported Rick Giles once again to the netherworld. What this says about Rick, Lance and Lindsay is a subject for future historians of online Objectivism.

"Rick Giles has, in the space of 2 short days, managed to have his ban reinstated. In what I now see as true to form Rick fashion, he has lied outright, claiming never to have been offered the podcasts coordinator position back and accused Lindsay and myself of engaging in "mind games" and of having "confrontational issues". An absolute crock. An elaborate conspiracy cooked up in his head, that had no resemblance to reality. In light of that, as a sure sign that the man is delusional, mentally deficient, and basically just a bad egg to have around that stinks up the place, the offer of the podcasts coordinator position is rescinded and the ban reinstated."

Link

I have to laugh. They could have just ignored Rick for a couple of days until something new caught his interest or he had some new podcast idea. He seems like an amiable court jester kind of person who likes to tweak authority. Seems like your garden variety Objectivist/libertarian to me.

Jim

[william.scherk]

I have to laugh. They could have just ignored Rick for a couple of days until something new caught his interest or he had some new podcast idea. He seems like an amiable court jester kind of person who likes to tweak authority. Seems like your garden variety Objectivist/libertarian to me.

Is there a garden variety Objectivist?

Seriously, you are right, in my opinion. The problem for Rick with SOLO is that he is smarter than some of the dolts who are in ascendance, and whatever emotions drive him, he keeps them mostly cloaked. Those who oppose him let rip with their reactions, and tumble into a festival of angry ranting . . . which, it appears, is Total Passion for the Total Heights, as per Emperigo.

Rick has a blog, Silent Running, which does what he could do at SOLO, were he not judged an insane weasel.

There is something unsettling about lazy, angry, bitter and uninformed dolts leading the charges on a purportedly rational enterprise. For an example, I am discussing 'skepticism' with one Ross Elliot. Ross seems to think that the international skeptical organizations such as CSI and the Skeptic's Society are informed by the ancient Greek school or Skeptoi. They are not, of course, and it will be interesting to see if Ross can acknowledge his category error.

Many debates/discussions at SOLO fizzle in umbrageous ranting. I don't know why. The Emperor sets the tone, I expect. Swaddled in the certainty that the key to the kingdom of knowledge in in their hands, the worse examplars find no contradiction in becoming intellectual hyenas. As with Ross Elliot, a contradictory bit of information turns into a evul virus . . . since Ross's definition trumps all -- in his mind -- the moats of his mind fill with acid, the drawbridge to reason is hoisted, and corrections to his doltishness are met with demented defences of the indefensible.

I sometimes think that the rump of objectivishists at SOLO have become unmoored from the basic precepts of reason. As with Valliant, the self-image of Rational Incarnate trumps reality.

"You are wrong, sir."

"I can't be wrong, because I am right. If I was wrong, I would melt into a puddle. Since I haven't melted into a puddle, I am right, right, right. And no amount of arguing can convince me otherwise. Unless you melt me, you are wrong, you insane weasel."

[Michael Stuart Kelly]

Here is the link to Rick Giles's blog: Silent Running

Frankly, it is much better than I had imagined, given that my only contact with Rick's writing was on SOLOP and the old SoloHQ.

Michael

[Philip Coates]

POSITION ANNOUNCEMENT: Podcast Coordinator / SoloP Website

Due to head-spinning revolving door staff turnover, this prestigious position has now become available for the umpteenth time.

1) Duties and Responsibilities:

Almost Nonexistent. Once every century a "Podcast" will be created, consisting of foul-mouthed rantings by whoever currently is the angriest, most malevolent, hate-filled poster on the website. It will be listened to by no one, will have utterly no impact on anyone outside of the 23 paid subscribers to the Free Radical, and will slowly die an unnoticed and unlamented death.

2) Qualifications and Prerequisites:

Applicant must possess a pulse. (A note from his mother will serve as proof.)

3) Compensation:

None, except that you will be 10th in line for any warped music CDs that the leadership has grown tired of and burned copies of. However, you will be given a lapel button and listed on on our Official Staff List and your name will appear on the annual Christmas Card.

4) Caveats:

The selected applicant will be whoever first applies. He must be willing to be kicked out of his position, reinstated, then kicked out again, whenever the owner of the site, whose mental state could best be described as either i) drunken or ii) certifiable manages to wrestle an appendage free from his straight jacket and hit the eject button.

5) Nota Bene:

This is a "high profile" position. This means that your work is fully as noticeable as, and has as much impact on the Objectivist movement, as a truckload of dogshit.

[william.scherk]

As with Ross Elliot, a contradictory bit of information turns into a evul virus . . .

Gosh, I spoke too soon . . . Ross Elliott, member #10 at SOLO, has just now been dropped through the trap door. Because he . . . well, let's let Emperigo tell it:

You're a prick, pure and simple. A weasel indeed. And you're gone. One thing I won't put up with on my own turf is being called dishonest. You half-truthing, slimy fuck. Good riddance.

Link

Urp . . .

The demented Scientologist 'healer' Kevin Owen, and the whiny martyr Nick Otani are still there, of course, providing the most-read threads on the site.

[Michael Stuart Kelly]

William,

I just read that entire thread, ironically called The Moral is the Practical with jaw dropping wonder. The young man who started the thread finished his message thus:

I find many people think the moral is not practical. They tend to seek out high integrity individuals to use as a firewall for their immoral behaviour. I think this is a problem for Objectivism. The movement attracts people with dubious integrity, and I don't know why.

Then the thread happened.

It was nothing but malicious small town gossip. The only one who dealt with the principle involved was the erudite Mr. Morgan, who recounted that he stoutly defended Ayn Rand in a philosophical discussion where her ideas were distorted by someone to bash her (er... at least I think that's what he meant). Anyway, he was quite clear about the nuances, too (see here):

What really pist me of was that it came from a fuckin text book. Now I relise the idiot who wrote the book may not like rands ideas but he could at leadt do his research.

I then proceded to drink and inform every one I incounted that it was my right to distroy my liver and that I didn't think it was right that they might one day foot the cost.

Amazing...

There was even a private email published without authorization in that thread.

Dayaamm!

Michael

[Brant Gaede]

Ah, the private E-mail, championed by Linz and Diana now come home. Lookie, it's better than anything I ever saw on Broadway, except for Man of La Mancha, played by Linz, who somehow thinks he has an "Objectivist" site. It's always been his blog, the rest is essential, dishonest, bullshit.

--Brant

[Philip Coates]

*how low can you go?*

> just read that entire thread, ironically called The Moral is the Practical with jaw dropping wonder.

Amazing!!

Now he's booting people at the rate of almost one every couple of days!! (And then he lamely excuses his irrationality by saying "I pay the bills."

Ross Elliot was one of the few thoughtful people over there amongst the rednecks. And a strong supporter of Linz's projects. The piece he did "The Ghost of Thomas Jefferson" was one of the few things written associated with SoloP which had a great combination of class and intellect and writing skill.

Now it's getting so that every third post seems to be an attempt to slime or attack someone with the least intellectual, most foul-mouthed barnyard insults possible to supposedly educated people.

Unbelievable.

Simply, grotesquely, "Lord of the Flies" - like unbelievable.

....

A request to the primary actors on SoloP who perpetuate or acquiesce in this sort of thing -- and I make this request in no official capacity whatsoever :-) --> go away and leave Objectivism alone. Join a cult or something.

When you defecate all over yourselves in this fashion, you are embarrassing the rest of us.

[Brant Gaede]

I can no longer imagine posting on that site. I won't post anywhere run by a juvenile, name-caller power luster.

--Brant

[Michael Stuart Kelly]

This thread prompted another post I made. This post deserves to be in two places (or even more), given the damage this crackpot has tried to do to respectable people.

This has to go on record, and I cannot think of a better place to put it than on this thread:

That stupid testosterone thing is not a hanging offence, though. Attacking my honesty and reproducing my private e-mails without my permission are.

Lindsay Perigo (see here), handing down this pearl of wisdom as to why he banned long-time supporter and friend, Ross Elliot, from Solo Passion. December 19, 2007.

Ain't life a bitch for the hypocrite?

Michael

[Chris Grieb]

I just spent a couple of minutes of looking "The Moral is the Practical". I'm not going to that again.

[James Heaps-Nelson]

Wow, I can't believe it! Is there anybody left? What I find hilarious is that anyone would care about being called dishonest over such a trivial matter. You stole my Reese's Peanut Butter Cup you evil evader you.

Jim

[william.scherk]

Wow, I can't believe it! Is there anybody left? What I find hilarious is that anyone would care about being called dishonest over such a trivial matter. You stole my Reese's Peanut Butter Cup you evil evader you.

Once again, I spoke too soon. Lindsay has reinstated Ross Elliot.

Is there anybody left? Well, there is me, for one. And the beautiful, belligerent Claudia, and the belligerent and bald Jameson, and a few other posters with non-doctrinaire opinions like, well, um . . .

It has been a good week for SOLO; readership is again peaking at 19-25 . . .

[Ellen Stuttle]

Melissa Lepley sums it up succintly, calmly but I think eloquently:

http://www.solopassion.com/node/3919#comment-45716

She conludes her brief remarks with:

Now, obviously, as everyone else has said, it's your site. This is your tiny little feifdom, and you're welcome to boot anyone you want. But I wonder how many people come to SOLO despite your presence? I always have, in the past. I won't be, anymore. You might as well ban me, too.

I like that young woman. A shame she isn't posting here -- but maybe she'd find some of the assembled company (such as, for instance, yours truly ;-)) too non-Objectivist for her tastes.

Ellen

___

Edited December 20, 2007 by Ellen Stuttle

[william.scherk]

Now, obviously, as everyone else has said, it's your site. This is your tiny little feifdom, and you're welcome to boot anyone you want. But I wonder how many people come to SOLO despite your presence? I always have, in the past. I won't be, anymore. You might as well ban me, too.

I like that young woman. A shame she isn't posting here -- but maybe she'd find some of the assembled company (such as, for instance, yours truly ;-)) too non-Objectivist for her tastes.

She is a doll, smart, empathetic, not doctrinaire at all (I've had some great chats with her). I will try to get a message to her with your regards, and hope she might find the time to become an OL participant.