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BETRAYAL
and OPPRESSION: Humpty-Dumpty Must You Die? |
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1 |
Ultimate Betrayals | |||
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2 |
A Woman Scorned | |||
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3 |
Appearances Betrayed | |||
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4 |
Solicitations | |||
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Victime Suprême | |||
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The Fatal Flaw | |||
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W W W ? | |||
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The Aftermath | |||
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In Retrospect | |||
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Yes, I Must Die | |||
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Was Anything Learned | |||
ab BETRAYAL
and Humpty-Dumpty Must You Die? Joseph Walker, Ph.D. Cedar Crest, New Mexico 2000
BETRAYAL and OPPRESSION: Humpty-Dumpty Must You Die? by Joseph Walker, Ph.D. Copyright © 2000 by: Joseph L. Walker, Jr., Ph.D. All rights reserved under International Library of Congress Printed in the United States of America Cover Design by John Anthony Howell
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who TOO OFTEN DIE IN SOLITUDE
Thanks to... John for his enduring love DIANN FOR HER LOVING FRIENDSHIPBARBARA FOR SIMPLY BEING THERE Marsena, My spiritual mother JOANNE, FOR HER SHOULDER
Loving, Caring Friends NONA, Don, Jan
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What is written in these following pages is a continuation of the lurid bigotry that I have so sadly experienced. The first volume, Unwritten Rules, clearly established the presence and practice of white-collar bigotry and its inevitable devastating effects on the individual, both physically and psychologically. The second volume, The Freedom Seeker, attempted to share with you how one person had set out to resolve that awesome injustice. Most interesting about that treacherous journey was the arduous process of legally representing yourself in a Federal District Court. Pro Se is the lucid term and despite the simplicity and brevity of this term, the process had been an almost overwhelming but sometimes inspiring challenge. At least I thought it was fortunate for me that the situation changed, and two enthusiastic lawyers came aboard at a decisive moment in the proceedings. The bleak reality was encountered when I found that even within our Federal system of justice the bigoted inhumanity of even our supposedly ethically imbued professionals sadly reflected the continued antipathy and mistreatment of the oppressed. Reading the first two books would certainly give you an improved insight and knowledge that would probably make this present volume a little more meaningful and certainly more in context of the whole disconcerting and abashing narrative. The title of this present volume really says it all in the most definitive terms that I had not at all initially imagined would be so foreboding. Our internal compasses are probably more attuned to reality than any of us really wish to recognize. I had insightfully declared in the opening of the first book the likely psychological proposition that most of us otherwise mentally healthy individuals never readily admit to ourselves the disconcerting realities of our sometimes privately desperate lives. Men above woman are often encouraged to withhold their feelings from any overt display in an effort to give the impression of masculine strength. Despite the fact that I wasnt to have shown any signs of weakness by shedding tears, I cried more than ever during this trying period of time than I had at any other stage of this awfully arduous scenario. So very arduous in fact that the question of Humpty-Dumpty having to die may just become an inescapable truth. |
| PROLOGUE
Father, Father, why has thou
forsaken me? I am writing this sad
continuation with the hopes that the terribly damaging situations of the more than subtle
bigotry that I had found myself experiencing at the hands of the American Orchid Society
(AOS) would finally come to some reasonable resolve. Bondage in any of its many forms
certainly places limits on the expression of an individual's potential and can crush the
very life forces that give rise to one's own perceived meaning and purpose. This devastating experience has taught me so much about the sad state of our society and the awful plight of spiritually and ideologically enslaved humankind. I appropriately titled this last volume the Betrayal and Oppression because I have finally came to a place in my own life where I began fully realize the awful predicament of so many disenfranchised people. People are endlessly enslaved by engraved images that they have been taught to believe are a true and accurate representation of some Devine truth. Whatever many of us might believe about our responsibility of being our brother's keeper, it appears that we have forsaken that idea in favor of some selfish ideology that serves our own survivable. I can't blame anyone for having lost their faith in their neighbors to support and defend them in times of need. It just doesn't happen and we have all become too suspicious of anyone that claims they are truly altruistic. Having had this awful experience where so many once trusted friends have betrayed me and even become some of my persecutors, I find myself very isolated and apart from the very world that I had once wanted to be a part of for the remaining years of my life. I was fully prepared by my upbringing to actually "Love my neighbor " and reap the promised reward of joy. Instead, I uncannily found a living image of Humpty-Dumpty to best explain how too many of my neighbors feel and relate within this too often hostile world. I fear that all the King's horses, all the King's men, all the King's money and all the King's courts of justice can't possibly put me back together again. What ever happened to human compassion in our beloved Garden of Eden? |
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COMPLETED PORTIONS OF THE BOOK |
| ULTIMATE BETRAYALS
Father, Father, why has
thou forsaken me? It was on the first day of March
2000 that I had received a most disturbing letter from my own council, Tony Romo that had
felt too much like multiple stabs in the heart. I had just returned from a trip to
Phoenix, where I had hoped to recover from four days of that grueling deposition of which
I was the sole subject of a malicious and maligned Defense. Though I was not at all
surprised by this most typical and despicable strategy employed by defense
teams in name of that ennoble American postulate of offering the accused the
very best defense 'that money can buy,' I was
appalled that our American judicial system's rules of law permitted a
victim/plaintiff to undergo such relentless and unnecessary attacks in the revered name of
justice. In these instances of justice? I fear that Justice herself
becomes a despicable whore that unquestionably prostituted the very heart of
what should be a system of equal justice under the law. The whole process of discovery should be a relentless effort at uncovering the
truth, instead, it has become an opened playing-field for either side to address any issue
that might discredit the opposition without addressing the substantive issues of the
case itself.
I had brought this action against the American Orchid Society specifically because I had
been so mentally and emotionally brutalized by the relentless defamation, discrimination,
and the broad disbursement of private facts in disclosing of my HIV/AIDS status. This
devastating letter was faxed to me and was totally unexpected. It sent me into such a dark
depression that it totally immobilized me from accomplishing anything for almost an
entire week.
The one exception was my having finished the previous book on that most sad note of my
last will and testament. The tone of the letter raised serious questions as to whether I could continue to have trusted even Tony Rome with the very execution of this case. There were thankfully five very loyal and trusted confidants that with great concern for my very survival, arose to caringly address my deep depression and together with their moral support I composed the following letter to Mr. Romo: (JLW,PhD Letterhead) March
4, 2000 Re: J.
Lamah vs. John Kramer, MD et al., Dear Tony:
I'm sure you know that I have always made it a point of respect to talk face-to-face with
anyone with whom I had a subject matter that required such a forum. That should have been
most evident with my recent trip to Oklahoma only to have attempted to speak with a
potential witness. Your very disturbing, faxed letter of March 1, 2000 afforded me no due
respect. The overall feel of the letter sent me into one very deep depression with
overwhelming desires to end my life. It was only the caring intervention of five friends
that had saved the day. You owe them a great deal of gratitude for having saved my life! Most
Depressingly & Despairingly, Joseph L. Walker Jr. cc: Robert Foster, Esq. (via facsimile #266-8797 only)
I never faxed
or even sent the above letter, as it was dated. I just didn't want to handle this awkward
situation in the same insensitive manner that Tony had addressed it. Instead, I later
intended to have taken two copies of my letter to our next regular weekly Thursday
(3/9/00) evening session and presented them to Tony and Bob Foster, the legal researcher
on our legal team of three. I had had the idea that I would have then departed that
appointed session and leave to them to decide for themselves as to whether they really
wished to have continued with the original contingency agreement. I had hoped that the
letter would have expressed exactly where I had firmly stood on the matter and the
specific conditions under which I felt comfortable with and confident in their continuing
the case. I have never cared for anyone who attempts to change the course of or agreed
upon conditions of a situation in midstream. Of course, Tony Romo kept insisting and
implying that I had somehow presented him with a case that had to be totally reconstructed
in order for him to continue successfully. I had presented him my Pro Se case very
much in earnest, but it was totally his own suggestion that I turn the matter fully over
to him for his informed and professional execution. I think that much of the problem
probably arose out of the typical opinion of too many well-trained lawyers believing that
they alone have the ability to think logically and legally. That thinking is probably well
founded in most cases and Tony just hadn't come to the full realization that I had been so
well trained and personally tutored in the skillful art of mental maneuvering and
synthesis. And most importantly, I was confident that Tony, despite his own lifestyle and
desire to have a significant impact on the discrimination against gays and others, had,
after all, been too skillfully trained in that revered establishment Georgetown law
school. He had most likely encountered an education that no doubt duly instructed him to
march to an established and recognized drummer that was probably more attuned to the good
old boy's status quo of still favoring and often unknowingly supported the legal
oppression of any and all minorities. BUSINESS
PLAN San
Damiano Orchids proposed to sell original hybrids and clones made from the
awarded plants bearing the 'San Damiano' clone name (see attached), but
not necessarily limited to these plants and the resale of certain quality
plants from other hybridizers. The
principle means of sales is intended to be mail order and through the
Internet with other supplemental sales locally and as a vender at regional
orchid shows.
The majority of sales would be seedlings and near blooming sized
plants produced from mostly, but not limited to, San Damiano's own AOS
awarded breeding stock with an estimated number of hybrids being no less
than 75 new crosses per year.
(See attached: crosses made between 12/29/98 and 3/24/99= three
months and 116 different crosses) Yield could be anywhere from 200 to 500 seedling plants per
cross, selling for somewhere between (depending on size and parentage) $
7.00 to $ 15.00 each in their immature sizes and mature plants selling
upwards to $ 35.00 depending of the quality of parentage.
I would estimate that resells would not exceed more that 20% of the
estimated business. It is
estimated that the above (based on only 40 successful of a possible 75 new
crosses per year) has the potential net income between $ 70,000.00 and $
75,000.00 after an estimate of 40% to 50% total in expenses, materials and
operating costs being deducted.
The above was just the cover portion to the actual figures that had
been employed to justify this summary.
Unfortunately the legal system's standard measure of justice is in
terms of money. The most
interesting aspect of this above exercise was the blatant realization of
just how much damage had been unknowingly inflicted on the part of the
American Orchid Society. I
shared all of this with Diann and expressed that I hope this situation can
be rightfully resolved. With
the lawsuit out of the way, just maybe we might have been able to get back
on tract and to realize some of our abandoned dreams about having an
orchid business designed and sufficient enough to justly support the rest
of my life.
The
Defense was preparing their own contrived recant to any efforts on our
parts and had apparently prostituted another “expert witness” into
denouncing any claims that I might present.
I don’t suggest that you necessarily read the entire report; I am
including it just to illustrate the extreme extent to which a Defense goes
in order to discredit the Plaintiff.
Most of this report seems rather factual on its face, but the truth
of the matter is that it is too often “comparing apples with oranges.”
I’m miffed that they weren’t able to produce an exclusively
orchid culture expert to defend their position: REVIEW
OF: (1) Business Plan for San Damiano Orchids, and (2) Written Report
submitted by Mark Werther, Sentinel Orchids Having
examined the business plan for San Damiano Orchids and the analysis
written by Mr. Werther, my comments are as follows: Part
one: Dr. Walkers Business Plan Nowhere
in Mr. Werther’s business analysis of San Damiano Orchids does he
indicate any loss of income or opportunity due to Dr. Walker’s status as
“not a judge.” It is obvious that Mr. Werther does not find the
connection between being a judge or not being a judge material to the
projections. I discovered some interesting facts which further
substantiate this common sense conclusion. The
American Orchid Society maintains a database of commercial orchid growers.
The database lists 286 commercial growers, 59 of which are A.O.S.
judges. In other words, only twenty percent of the listed companies are
owned or operated by judges. Of the five largest commercial orchid growers
in America, none are A.O.S. judges, which further proves that being
a judge is completely irrelevant in the business of selling orchids. Dr.
Walker’s own expert (Mr. Werther) clearly states that his company
(Sentinel Orchids) “evaluates vendors on performance, quality of plant
material and price.” This is a completely reasonable if not obvious
statement of how anyone would evaluate a vendor. To
further test my conclusion that not being a judge has no value for selling
orchids, I carefully went through the July 1999 issue of the American
Orchid Society Magazine. In forty-nine pages of pages of advertising,
there is no mention by any vendor of their status as a judge. Dr.
Walker states in the first paragraph of his business plant that he intends
to sell through mail order and the internet. There is no indication that
one’s status as a judge or not a judge has any relevance to success or
failure in either of these venues. Dr. Walker further states that his principal
sales will be done through the internet and mail order. The fact that he
would represent a catalog source and a price list to a very broad audience
eliminates the effect of any potential or imagined lpç~,i
prejudice. It is highly doubtful that an individual buyer in California or
Florida would know of any controversy surrounding Dr. Walker. Again
in the first paragraph of the business plan for San Damiano Orchids, Dr.
Walker states that sales will also take place at local and regional orchid
shows. Later in his plan, he states that he will participate as a vendor
in two local and eight regional shows. The attendance at these shows is
the general public, a small percentage of which may be AOS members. I have
personally attended dozens of these shows and have never seen a vendor
promote sales by stating they are an orchid judge. There is simply no
value in doing so~ Therefore, there would be no negative effect on sales
of San Damiano orchids as a result of Dr. Walker not being a judge. The
second paragraph of Dr. Walker’s business plan indicates an amateur’s
approach to plant culture. Growing on two levels in one greenhouse does
not occur in any high quality production facility in the world. The direct
consequence of growing on two levels is that plants growing on the second
level are subjected to an extreme shortage of available light. The two
most fundamental elements for the successful growing of plants are the
quality of light and the quality of water. Diminish either of these
essential inputs and you will devastate the quality of the plants
produced.1 1
See BALL RED BOOK 16th edition page 149. “Plants produced
under insufficient light levels grow slowly and have reduced vigor,
stretched narrow stems, poor branching, and small leaves”. This section
on Benefits of Supplemental Light by C. Anne Whealy, Ph.D. According
to reasonable and normal professional horticultural practices, San Damiano
Orchids has a 2,170 square foot capacity, less 20% for circulation and
work area, or a total of 1,736 square feet for growing plants. In
calculating this figure, I am giving San Damiano credit for space
efficiency I do not know exists. In greenhouse production one typically
loses 25% to 30% to aisles, work areas and shipping areas.
Extremely sophisticated operations with removable rolling tables can
achieve 85% to 90% space utilization. According to Dr. Walker’s business
plan, his breeding stock will take up 922.25 square feet. This would leave
814 square feet for production. According
to his business plan, he will produce and sell from this space $149,250
worth of orchids. This would give him an astonishing $183.35 per square
foot of sales. Attached is a copy of the Nursery Business Analysis,
performed by Man Hodges at the University of Florida. Table 8 compares my
company data to other nurseries in Florida. You will note that the
University of Florida economic analyst considers production efficiency of
$12.47 per square foot very high. Dr. Walker claims to be able to produce
at a rate of 14.7 times this very high rating. An
analysis of Dr. Walker’s annual expenses is problematic. There is no
substantiation for any of the expenses. With respect to the flasking part
of the business, according to paragraph two of Dr. Walker’s business
plan, he will produce and maintain 5,984 flasks of his hybrids. Assuming
10% of the flasks are mother flasks for replating (the process of
separating germinated seedlings and moving them to final flasks), Dr.
Walker is left with 5,386 flasks of plants to grow out. The
standard number of plants per flask varies from 25 to 40 plants. Assuming,
on the low side of the average, 30 plants per flask, Dr. Walker intends to
produce 161,580 young plants. Dr. Walker does not indicate anywhere in his
plan an intention to sell flasks. According
to Dr. Walker’s plan, he intends to sell in the fourth year a total of
7,290 plants. The question becomes, what does Dr. Walker do with the extra
140,000 to 150,000
plants that even he does not claim he will grow in his greenhouse? Will he
throw them away? Why produce them? Dr.
Walker indicates lab expenses will be $13,100 per year.
I assume this is for the consumables involved in the flashing
process. This appears to mean that very expensive equipment (laminar flow
hood, sterilization autoclave) already exists. This is consistent with the
rest of the expense charts, as the greenhouses appear to be free, also.
There is no cost of capital, and no depreciation. Let’s
look at what Dr. Walker intends to do. I will generously forget the
preparation time in the process of making flasks ready for use,
which would include: sterilizing flasks prior to filling with media or
creating the media from prepackaged mix; filling the flasks with media
under sterile condition; and sealing and storing them until use. Looking
only at the replating process (going from the mother flask to the final
flask), and assuming that Dr. Walker is a nimble and focused worker and
will generate 30 flasks per day, using his planned production of 5,984 flasks,
this process will occupy 200 workdays a year. All this effort is for
plants for which he has no planned or stated use. In
paragraph three, we are shown the detail of the business plan. Dr. Walker
will make orchid hybrids, and then sell plants at an overall net margin of
50% to 60%. This is the sum and substance of the plan. Dr. Walker
states that the “yield could be anywhere from 200 to 500 seedling
plants” from a single cross. The
correct number is more like 0 to 40,000 viable seed. Dr. Walker’s expert
correctly points this out in his report, stating, “a viable seed pod can
produce thousands of seedlings”. Mr. Werther further states “there are
also circumstances where only 20-50 seedlings are produced from a viable
seed pod” (emphasis added). What is unsaid but true is that a seedpod
that is not viable produces no seeds and therefore no seedlings. Following
Dr. Walker’s projections, there will be 40 successful crosses. These
will yield 14,000 seedlings. This result from 40 X 350 (in the middle of
Dr. Walker’s 200 to 500 production number) would require the production
of 467 flasks at thirty plants per flasks. Dr. Walker does not indicate
where he will get the seeds for the 5,517 other flasks he intends
to produce? At this point, one might say that Dr. Walker only said there
was a potential for 5,984 flasks, so we should just do the math
ourselves and understand that he will only make the flasks he needs.
However, the lab cost on an annual basis is consistent with the production
6,000 flasks, not 400. On
the expense chart for San Damiano Orchids, it appears that only
anticipated expenses in the third, fourth and fifth years are shown. The
numbers on the chart of expenses match the expense lines on the pages
marked third year, fourth year and fifth year. This is the first time I
have ever seen sales increase by 40 percent without incurring even $0.05
incremental additional expense. Dr. Walker ‘s business plan shows an
expense line for the first year of $52,000, and a second year expense line
of $54,650, but no details are given. It is unclear which expenses
Dr. Walker will or will not incur during the first and second years. I
cannot find the $24,000 difference in static overhead between year one and
year three. Nowhere
in any of the expenses is there provision for paid labor. This seems to
imply that Dr. Walker intends to personally carry out every function in
the nursery. Apparently, he will make all of the hybrids, harvest the
seeds, sow the mother flasks, replate the seedlings to final flask,
deflask the seedlings, pot them to individual pots or community pots, grow
and nurture the plants to a saleable stage, and market them through the
various channels described in his plan. Based on the projection that Dr.
Walker will spend 200 days in the lab and thirty days away at shows, he
will have 30 days a year to accomplish all of the non-lab and on-the-road
show sales. This assumes 5 days times 52 weeks a year, for a total of 260
days. Based on this assumption, it does not seem reasonable that Dr.
Walker can carry out all of the work involved by himself, but, as
previously stated, nowhere in the expense chart is there a provision for
labor expense. Even assuming the first and second years pass without any
help, it is impossible to believe Dr. Walker will be able to operate at
the projected high level of sales without any outside help. I
am at a loss to comment on the expenses of the greenhouse against the
anticipated production. Dr. Walker never states what he plans to grow,
only what he plans to sell. These will be two different numbers, as you
will never sell all that you grow and you will lose some plants along the
way. in other words, some plants will die. Dr. Walker makes no projection
of these numbers in his business plan. My
conclusion is that Dr. Walker has not presented a cohesive business plan.
He has placed words and numbers on sheets of paper that do not make sense.
Nowhere does Dr. Walker attempt to establish that a market exists for the
plants he intends to sell in the numbers he intends to sell them. The
issue is not whether or not Dr. Walker is an AOS judge, but rather whether
Dr. Walker is an effective and competent business person. He has not
demonstrated competence in the business plan presented! Part
Two: Mr. Werther —Sentinel Orchids In
his third paragraph of comments on “paragraph 1” of the San Damiano
business plan, Mr. Werther’s report indicates, “It is usual practice
for commercial growers to take advantage of acquiring high quality plants
from other growers and wholesalers for the purpose of growing the plants
on to larger size for resale.” Apparently, Mr. Werther is referring to
Dr. Walker’s purchase of plants for growing on. At first reading, I
thought that Mr. Werther was discussing a sales avenue for Dr. Walker. Mr.
Werther’s next paragraph states that use of the internet sales channel
and mail order is essential to reaching Dr. Walker’s target market.
We have already established that there is no value in being a judge
in this line of sales, and Mr. Werther never contradicts this. Mr. Werther
states, “it would not be unusual to reach 1000 accessing growers per
month using this medium”. He gives no information regarding what one
could reasonably expect sales to be as a result of 1000 orchid grower
visits to the site. Since Mr. Werther’s report gives no indication of
potential sales from the internet, I am using the only information
available to me. Garden.com is the leading internet provider of plants
(including orchids). Garden.com receives an average of 53,000 visits per
day, or 1.6 million per month. Their 1999 sales were five million dollars,
for an average over four hundred thousand dollars per month. That would be
three cents per visitor in sales. Using ten times that number for Dr.
Walker, and assuming he will get $.30 cents of sales per visitor to the
orchid mall and related sites, that would mean gross sales of $300 per
month, or $3,600 per year. From data provided, it appears that Dr. Walker
intends to spend $5,500 per year starting in the third year on
internet and advertising. In his third paragraph, Mr. Werther tells us the
internet was irrelevant prior to 1996, according to his “source” at
Antec Orchids (?). In Paragraph 4, Mr. Werther gives numbers. Dr.
Walker’s sales at orchid shows will provide gross sales of “between
$1200 and $6000.” The calculated average is $3600. Dr. Walker intends to
sell at ten shows per year, giving gross sales of $36,000 from show sales
per year. We are now up to $39,600 in sales per year, assuming Dr. Walker
has orchids people want to buy. Please note that Mr. Werther has not
indicated any number for internet sales, but has given guidance in his
expert capacity that Dr. Walker can expect $36,000 in sales from the
shows. According to Dr. Walker’s expense projection, he will have
$16,650 in various expenses associated with selling at shows. Even with
the huge margins Dr. Walker anticipates in his financial projections of
selling at double his cost, Dr. Walker will enjoy only a $1,500 profit
from his show selling activities. Gross sales ($36,000), less show
expenses ($16,500), less fifty percent cost of goods ($18,000) equals a
net profit of $1,500 for the year’s effort. All of the other projected
revenue must then be coming from mail order. The mail order business is a
very labor intensive activity, as it requires the handling of a great many
small individual orders, one at a time. In
his comments regarding Paragraph 2 of Dr. Walker’s business plan, Mr.
Werther correctly concludes that Dr. Walker must deduct 210 square feet if
he does not have moving benches. Mr. Werther agrees with Dr. Walker that
he can grow on more than one level. This is absolutely contrary to good
horticultural practice and is a clear indicator that Mr. Werther is also
an amateur grower. Mr. Werther calculates the number of plants Dr. Walker
may grow if they are all in 3 1/2” pots. Dr. Walker will certainly not
grow everything in 3 ½” pots. Mr. Werther further reflects that space
for the under 6000 flasks is possible. Mr. Werther never calculates that
Dr. Walker would consequently have 150,000 unnecessary plants in flask in
his possession. On the potted plant section, Mr. Werther tells us 2766 X 9
= 24,900. This calculation is meaningless in the context of Dr. Walker’s
business plan, since he states he will sell 4,500 3 1/2 “pots per year.
In Mr. Werther’s Professional and Horticultural Information sheet, we
learn that he has 1,200 square feet of green house space. We net that down
to 960 square feet of available growing space. Mr. Werther also states
that he has over 4000 plants. 1 must assume it would be close to the 4,000
number. That would be about 4 plants per square foot. This is less than
half the density Mr. Werther allows Dr. Walker. Dr. Walker never gives us
planting or growing cycle times in his business plan. Mr. Werther seems to
believe that growing plants pot to pot “tight fitted” throughout the
plant’s life cycle is a reasonable horticultural practice. This is
further evidence of Mr. Werther’s amateur approach to ornamental
production. Regarding
Mr. Werther’s reflections on Dr. Walker’s Paragraph Three, I agree
that Dr. Walker can make 75 crosses per year and that 40 of them are
likely to be viable. Orchid hybridizing is an extremely simple activity
and takes very little time and effort to accomplish. Mr. Werther goes on
to advise Dr. Walker that he could get a lot more seeds from his crossing
than he is now anticipating. Next, Mr. Werther suggests it would be a good
idea for Dr. Walker to mericlone his good plants. Indeed it would be a
good idea, but Dr. Walker does not mention it in his business plan. Why
does Mr. Werther mention this, unless to point out to us that Dr. Walker
does not include it in his business plan. Annual
expenses Mr.
Werther’s statement that he has “reviewed the line items expenses
under expenses and finds them reasonable” is indefensible. I pointed out
earlier that there is no expense for the capital cost of the greenhouses
or the lab equipment, and no depreciation. There is no production plan or
schedule. The expenses would be related to such a plan. It is quite
impossible to give an opinion of the expenses in the absence of this
information. Mr.
Werther’s conclusions on damages Mr.
Werther’s last section on page four deals with his opinion as to the
income loss relating to “negative information.” We are never told what
that negative information is. The only negative information that would
affect the success of San Damiano Orchids is a reputation for poor quality
plants, failure to deliver as promised, or above market pricing. The
very first thing Mr. Werther tells us is that he “evaluates vendors on
performance, quality of plant material and price.” That is how the
market works. He goes on to say, “there are some buyers who may shun
doing business with what they consider an anti-AOS entity.
Mr. Werther never states that Dr. Walker might have a problem
selling all of his plants. He states that, if the plants are good and the price is
right, he (Mr. Werther) could be a customer, and that some (an
unquantified statement) may not buy plants from Dr. Walker. As a
commercial grower, my company has hundreds of customers. We are restricted
to a far smaller potential market base because we sell wholesale only.
While we have hundreds of customers, there are thousands of potential
customers that do not buy from us. The question is, will Dr. Walker have
enough customers sell the plants he wants to sell. The determination of
that will be what Mr. Werther described as “performance, quality of
plant material and price”. Conclusion Neither
Dr. Walker’s business plan nor Mr. Werther’s report on same include
enough numbers. What numbers there are do not work. In my opinion, the
business plan does not meet even minimum standards and requirements for a
successful professional horticultural operation. I
have written this report based on the information provided. If further
information becomes available, it may materially affect my opinions and
conclusions. Respectfully
submitted,
I had a call on Friday from Dennis Davies-Wilson and he had
suggested that we might get together that weekend to start our joint
project of writing a book, An
Interview with Jesus in the Hot Tub.
I shared the total despair that I had experienced the previous
weeks and that I wouldn't be a good time to be creative.
We did, however, decide that his being here with me would be a good
idea. I felt I really needed
to have something a little more positive in my life and we agreed to take
advantage of a performance of Mahler's Ninth Symphony was being performed
at Popejoy Hall that very Saturday evening.
We did the concert and followed it with a very nice dinner. It was just what the doctor might have ordered and Dennis'
company was most appropriate considering his long time friendship and his
particular involvement with my distressful and anguishing ordeal with the
American Orchid Society. March
13, 2000 The
Honorable Judge Black Re:
J. Lamah v. Aldrich, et al. Dear
Judge Black: I
have become so terribly desperate of late and so totally frustrated with
the entire dimension of this lawsuit that I felt I needed to put down all
the current causes, reasons and situations that are hounding my most inner
being and causing me to consider leaving this horrid world that I live in.
I feel like I am reaching
that final point of self-destruction that I had so prophetically alluded
to in the opening of my first book. "This
literary piece could no doubt qualify for the Guinness Book of Records as
the longest suicide note ever written. Providing,
of course, that at its conclusion I have actually undertaken that final
effort and ended this trying existence."
The other noteworthy delineations in both the first and second
books are the words of dedication of the two volumes "To: The
Oppressed Who Too Often Suffer In Quiet Desperation" and “To: The
Enslaved Who Ominously Toil In Utter Hopelessness.”
I never had the idea that I may have been addressing those profound
sentiments to myself as well. I
had the totally mistaken idea that perhaps an educated white male
mainstream American citizen might have successfully insisted on fair
treatment within this archaic justice system despite his un-chosen gay
life-style. No way!
Justice still seems to be preserved only for those who operate
within those biasedly established rules of law—written and unwritten--notably by those in positions
of power and all too willingly subscribed to despite their dire
consequences on some individuals. |