I'm going to retire from this dialogue after this post. It's overlong, and if we're only through 3 of 124 questions that I find mildly interesting, I have no interest in typing out several hundred thousand words by the time we would get to 124 of 124.

"He said ON THIS BOARD that he had worked for me"

Sorry, I must have missed that one-- I wonder why it even came up. 'd bet a bunch of others who read this stuff not all that closely missed it, too. No problem with you, HP, but I think it's worth reminding the few that are following along what we've got going on here-- current part-time employees and recent employees vouching for each other, attacking the competition, etc. It's meaningless stuff. No less meaningless if/when Ragozin employees do it, either.


"You really want to split hairs over whether you are a really good friend, a good friend, or just a friend? You think my point depended on that?"


No, I just don't like it when you're quantifying my friendships with people, is all. You've never met me.


"The point is that you have information from an UNBIASED source about FACTUAL incidents of Ragozin employees lying and committing other bad acts towards us, NOT just bad mouthing us. You haven't answered my questions about your response to that yet. 4-- Yes, I would LOVE to hear the things that we have done that are similar or the equivalent, and where you got your information-- when I first started this board I made a point of saying one of my goals was to get that stuff out in the open."


I have second-hand information about low-level Ragozin employees acting unethically in Florida, nothing more-- this is the truth. I've also heard equally credible allegations about the ethics of higher-level Thorograph employees. When I heard both of these sets of allegations, it's made me realized that if it were a war, and I had to make a choice between which of these two camps I'd want in my trench, I'd have no idea who to choose-- and so it has no effect on my customer loyalty. If you want specifics, give Alydar a day pass and he can go over it with you-- he's heard the same stuff, from what I gather. I really think it's fruitless, because you'll deny what I've heard about TG and exacerbate the charges against Ragozin. It will prove nothing-- your responses to this stuff must be taken with a grain of salt by any rational human being.

"As it happens I can't think of anyone other than Mandown and HP who has worked for this outfit and has posted, but I wouldn't out them if I did because it doesn't matter, except in the situations I mentioned."

I'm glad you thought of at least one other since this post. I can't wait to see how many more there are out there...

"On a quasi-related subject--what did you think of Friedman's post taking me (and my character) to task for allowing "toady sickos" to post "slander and lies" here?"

A great way for me to exit this ugliness. I think that since he started the Sheets B-board, Friedman has never gotten used to the criticism he's received from you, people who work for you, and those who enjoy picking on him for their own reasons, however just or unjust. I think that there probably is some ivory tower element of Friedman, making him not realize that guys like Tiznow should be much more heavily discouraged on his site from posting the way they do, making him not realize how haughty he can sometimes sound (I say "sound" and not "be" because I don't know the guy). I think there's clearly some similarities to your own personality when you're allowing a toady sicko (accurate description, if there ever was one) like Silver Charm to post the sort of bullshit he posts to your site without calling him out on it consistently. Moreover, I think that Friedman and his employees are confused enough by the attacks on their own board that they're probably paranoid to the extent that they think you're directing all of this stuff, when you're probably not. Some of the childish behavior has of course originated/emanated from Ragozin loyalists, but that's at least partially spurred by these people being fed-up about the criticisms being tossed Ragozin/Friedman's way. Why ANYONE would feel this sort of loyalty to a brand of speed figures is well beyond me. Saying to a Brown or a Friedman "you're the man!" for anything less than an enormous score or a victory in a huge handicapping contest strikes me as bizarre behavior. I got this note on Monday from a sharp horse owner who uses sheets sparingly and is a wonderful judge of character:

"Re: the neverending pissing contest between Rags/TG--after perusing both sites over the weekend, I must say that the whole us vs them thing that both perpetuate is the most monumental waste of time I have ever seen supposedly professional people engage in. I have virtually no respect for TGJB or Robespierre. These guys are utter and complete assholes who deserve to spend all day, every day, throwing acid at each other. The lack of insight or self-criticism, and the mendacity, is truly astonishing."

I'm neither surprised with the conclusions he came to, nor could I even begin to craft a response to try to change his mind.