gary217 wrote:
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Jeff, I don't appreciate your personal attacks (I used to like you.) I accurately described my limited role at Stratus and directed you to pursue your issues directly with Colin, that's all I can do. I have no role in merchandising, or fund raising and I have no knowledge of Colin's actions in these areas. Again, please address your questions to Colin and leave me out of it.
gl
Nothing personal intended, Gary, and I guess I overestimated your involvement with Stratus, thinking you somehow to be a principal in terms of your headlined role as it appeared to be. My apologies if I misunderstood your level of involvement, but thanks for clarifying that.
As to 'personal' I don't believe I was nearly as personal in asking these things about a business / affiliation as you were in the old days at TIGHAR with many condescending replies to my own in various strings before we got to know each other a bit better - which I tolerated far better than you have this line of inquiry.
Just to clarify a bit - I respect your views of 'what happened' but experience has taught me that 'goose chase' (as suggested by another poster, above) is a very real risk when we start going after these ideas. You gave a very nice but I think evasive answer when you nicely said that you 'have an idea' and 'hope it might lead to finding the bird' and that others are being asked to help if they'd like - all very nice. But the fact is, you are standing up an idea, knowing full-well that an organization seeks funds under what they hope will be a not-for-profit scheme, to go out and check your idea out.
So far the big differences, to me, lie in that Gillespie is a full-time rather well paid devotee of his enterprise, whereas for the moment Stratus has no one receiving such compensation today - but is not clear on what may develope should funds come in, AND style: whereas Ric flamboyantly promotes wispy possibilities in ways that sound like near-fact (something you've pointed out many times), Stratus does seem to use a more circumspect tone.
But that is of little matter here, since you are not involved as a principal but at some level as a volunteer consultant, apparently. You preference to defer to Colin as to Stratus' intent / outlook is actually telling enough for my current needs: you aren't any more willing to defend Stratus as a business in this search than you would TIGHAR, although you have great reason, as you see it, to condemn TIGHAR. I have no particular problem with the latter - although it seemed odd to see a principal of another search being so condemning of the one, but now explained; the former is a bit surprising (deferring to Colin), but I certainly accept it: you are a volunteer consultant, apparently, and I am off-base asking you to answer as to Stratus' business intent.
Colin's welcome to come here and respond if he cares to, of course. He's a very nice man to talk to. BTW, I saw Titanic's dry dock on public TV today - nice exposure; I'm sure Stratus' approach will mirror that - and as Coling has said, is about celebrating Earhart's ties to Ireland and pursuing what he / his organization believes is the more tenable approach, etc., etc. I am merely interested, should he care to respond since you are not involved business-wise, what he has in mind for administration / costs, continued pursuit of not-for-profit or not, expectations of full-time occupation / compensation should the pace pick up, etc.
Also interested in why we should have so much more confidence in Gary LaPook's particular theory as Stratus sees it, above others. i can get the general idea of crashed and sank - but that's very general as i see it. It is a large thing to ask people to contribute to a search of this magnitude, for sure. I'm not interested in the proprietary area - just how Stratus came to have so much confidence in the LaPook theory above others.
That's not an aspersion on your abilities, Gary, and I certainly respect the fine veterans who heard and enjoyed your presentation. You are very smart, no question - and I'm sure you know your way around celestial naviation very well - which those nice vets no doubt could see and support. But that remains as far away from pointing accurately to a terminus for Earhart's flight to me as Betty's Notebook does for you at TIGHAR. ; )
Whether you like me or not is of no matter here - that is between us as we care to pursue it, or not. If my skin were that thin I would not have been around as long as I have here and at TIGHAR - frankly dealing with your own acid view and replies at a fairly personal level many times in the past. Something I handled without developing any particular personal dislike for you over, in fact.
But as to this matter, I have enough answers for now: as a consumer every one of these promised efforts is a high-risk goose chase, IMO. Nothing about Stratus stands out as more promising than TIGHAR for me as it stands today in absolute terms of potential success, or as to business model for that matter: OPM is requested so as to test a hypothesis.
I'm long familiar with your general ideas and respect your navigational abilities, but as to finding Earhart - CRAPSHOOT, says I. Lesson learned after many years - and you were right: the Pacific is a very large ocean.
But, good luck to you.