Sunday, November 13, 2005

Rebuttal to Mario’s Accusations

A fisking....

On 11.13.5 Mario posted on the Denver Announce listserve the following message disguised as the minutes of the ExComm meeting the night before. Due to the extreme length, slanderous nature and the fact that my rebuttal as well as his editorializing if inappropriate for that forum. In addition, ! have received one request to be taken off the list by a member who felt it was inappropriate to whom ! have publicly apologized . As such ! request permission to post a rebuttal to your forum.

Here it is…

Dear Editor Paul,

This message was posted to three (3) listserves in addition to three personal e mail addresses. Oddly Paul was the 5th of those 6 listed. Quite odd since it is ostensibly for him only. Could Mario be trying to politicize the ExComm minutes?

I hope that all is well with you.  I submit the following for publication in The Matrix.  I realize that you are receiving this several hours after the deadline, but if there is any way that you could include it in the December issue, I would certainly appreciate it. 

Also, LocSec Doug!! Smith said that he would be happy to assist you with getting out the December issue if you ask him for help.  Though just betwen you and me, Doug!! says a lot of things.  The proof is in the pudding.  Actions, especially actions in the form of tangible results, speak a lot louder than words.

The first sentence is true. ! would like Mario to offer some evidence that ! am a liar. He implies that here and again, more directly later. ! also wonder if this pudding he speaks of would include his much publicized assistance on the November episode of the Matrix. For those not on the announcement ListServe, Mario had a few conversations w/ the Editor privately and then announced publicly that he was assisting and, by the way, Sarah Welborn and myself were both clueless and unwilling to assist. As neither of us had been contacted and asked we were not privy to any problems. In prior e mails Paul has expressed that he prefers to put the Matrix together w/out assistance. The whole thing appears to be a manufactured scenario designed to make Mario look good.

Bye,

Mario!

MINUTES OF THE NOVEMBER 12, 2005 ExComm MEETING

Recorded by Mario DeBenedittis
(Note:  Mario is a member of The ExComm and The Bylaws specifically prohibit ExComm members from recording minutes of ExComm meetings.  Anyone who complains about this automatically volunteers themselves to record the minutes of the next ExComm Meeting.)

Blah, Blah, Blah

In attendance were LocSec Doug!! Smith, Vice LocSec Linda Hatcher, Treasurer Linda Seebach, Membership Officer Gary Shapiro, Member at Large Tim Winkelman, Publicity Officer Mario DeBenedittis, WebMistress and former LocSec Lattina Adams, former LocSec Marilyn Skiba, former LocSec Marcia Lannan, former Matrix Editor Sarah Boe, former Libertarian candidate for Colorado Secretary of State David Aitken, Gypsy Dancer, Drummer and former holder of many Denve! r and National Mensa offices Alva Uhl (who, not only is so old that he farts dust, but also has one foot in the grave, the other foot on a banana peel, and can slip away at any second), Aubrey Ellen Shomo (who is about one third of Alva’s age), Eric Maikranz (who at 38 years old is no spring chicken, but is by no means over the hill), future Matrix Editor Thom Harrop, future Publicity Officer Alex Page, and future Membership Officer Dee Hart.

A list of attendees is appropriate. The excessive commentary on ages and condition, is inappropriate, unprofessional and potentially embarrassing. Eric may or may not care. It would have been nice to ask him prior to publicizing that. Based on the description and my personal interactions w/ Alva, ! should point out that @ 3 times Aubrey’s age he would be in his early to mid 60s and quite active, alert and non-flatulent. ! might add that Mario is just about that same age, yet was not described as being so frail.

(Note: Since I was the one who had called for this meeting, I’m really happy that a total of 17 people showed up.  For the past several years, an ExComm Meeting has never been so well attended.  Usually about half this many people show up.  Recently Doug!! Smith has posted that “an anonymous member” did not come to Meetings becuase this “anonymous member” did not like the tone of my emails.

If Mario had read the messages on the Listserve he would have seen that that “anonymous” member identified himself as someone who was not me. Why anyone would claim not to be me is a mystery. !’m sure he had his reasons. Due to the nature of the e mail ! received AND the fact that it seems to be a fairly common opinion ! removed his name prior to forwarding his message.

Compare the attendance of this meeting that I called fo! r to attendance of the General Meeting that Doug!! called for in August.  In the archive of the Official Listserv, any suscriber can read the posting where Doug!! wrote that a total of 5 people (he and 4 others) showed up for his meeting.  I don’t think that it is necessary to say that Doug!! is lying about this “anonymous member”, but once againg the proof is in the pudding.  Actions, especially actions in the form of tangible results, speak louder than words.  A total of 5 people came to Doug!!’s meeting.  A total of 17 people came to my meeting.  You do the math!

To this ! can only say that apples are much tastier than oranges. Or is it the other way around? Either way, if you disagree you are just plain wrong Upon further statistical analysis ! find that 17 of our 603 members is less than 3% (2.819) and 7 of us were there as members of the ExComm in spite of our opinion of Mario. That could be considered a 97% DIS-approval rating for Mario. In light of the fact that there are several reports of members leaving the local group or just not being active due to Mario, that may be the best way to read these statistics. Mario is fond of accusing members who are not active of being “coffee table Mensans” who only join to show off for visitors. While there may be some w/ that attitude it is insulting to suggest that a large percentage are of that ilk. Thanks Mario for offending more members.

The election for LocSec is still anybody’s game.  A lot of people actually like liars.  Fact: George W. Bush is the president of The United States of America.

This is the comment that led to the e mail ! got that ! had to apologize for on Mario’s behalf. As of yet Mario has not apologized and any apology on his part could not be considered sincere. Mario is entitled to his opinions, but this listserve is not the appropriate place to express them.

Now back to the minutes of the meeting)

Finally...

LocSec Doug!! Smith called the meeting to order (which was really big of Doug!! considering that I was the one who had called for the meeting in the first place).

Since incumbent LocSec Doug!! had previously never called for an ExComm Meeting before, there were no minutes of a previous meeting to approve.  Though if there were, I’m pretty sure that we would have approved them.

That really suggests that our organization has never had an ExComm meeting. We did, in fact have one late Spring of 2005 to discuss our lack of a Programs Officer among other business. Aubrey Ellen Shomo has now volunteered to be placed on the ballot as a write-in if necessary for that post. In the interim there has been no business that needed to be discussed. Additionally, the three items originally slated had been dealt w/ very soon after his calling of this meeting and could not have waited.

Next, a motion was made, seconded, and unamimously approved for Denver Mensa to nominate Aubrey Ellen Shomo for American Mensa’s Copper Black Award.  Aubrey devised a way to use DSL to create a Virtual Private Wide Area Network.  We wish her the best of luck.  For more information on The Copper Black Award, visit:
http://foundation.us.mensa.org/awards/copper_black/index.php .

Factually accurate, appropriate and kind. ! am surprised to see this from Mario. Perhaps it suits his agenda. Aubrey is quite talented and creative and everyone in attendance does, !’m sure, wish the best for her.

Next, the Election Comittee, which consists of Linda Seebach and Tim Winkelman, addressed whether members who have already cast a ballot for Sarah Welborn could cast another ballot because Sarah changed her mind and decided to drop out of the race.  The Election Comittee decided that yes members could cast another ballot, but that if Sarah changed her mind again and decided to get back in the race, she would have to be a write-in candidate this time.

When this issue came up Mario stated that those who had already cast ballots for Sarah were SOL. He concluded that missive w/ a PS that some people should get a life. ! guess toxicology experiments on the majority of recreational drugs can be considered “having a life”. And ! suppose it could be argued that not spending the bulk of your time stoned should not be considered “having a life” ! suggest that would be a specious argument.

While we are on the subject of write-ins, Marcia Lannan has agreed to serve as one of the Member At Large Officers.  Thank You again Marcia!

Don’t forget that Aubrey has volunteered and announced her candidacy for Programs Officer. We now have no offices w/out candidates.

Discussion then turned to the Calender of Denver Mensa Events.  After much discussion, it was decided that after Lynda Harris’s term expires this year, there will be no Calender Editor per se.  The Calender that is printed in the Matrix will be edited by the Matrix Editor.  The cut-off date for publication of events will be determined by the new Editor Thom Harrop.

In addition to the paper calender in The Matrix, WebMistress Lattina Adams will maintain the calender on the web page, http://www.denvermensa.org/datapage.htm .  Lattina says that she can add or modify Calendar Events on the web page on an ongoing and continuous basis.  If anyone would like something added to the web page, Lattina asks that they contact her directly (not via the Listserv) at .  Thank You again Lattina for helping make Denver Mensa the rich mix that it is!

Next, the Treasurer, Linda Seebach, then gave her report.  There is more money in the treasury then she had originally thought.  (Note: Its a good thing that I don’t have a suspicious nature, because if I did, I would suspect that somebody is reverse-embezzeling and launch a fu! ll investigation!)

After much discussion, a motion was made, seconded, and unamimously approved to allot $150.00 for the December Holiday Party/General Meeting.  Gary Shapiro said that his contribution to the Pot Luck would be the soda pop.  Thanks Gary and could you please include some Ginger Ale.  Mario DeBenedittis would not make a definite comittment, but said that in light of the passage of I-100, he would do his best to aquire some “420” friendly material (Hint: Google “420").

Once again Mario is looking out for his interests. Was the ginger ale requested by someone else or are you the only one who felt they deserved special consideration? ! think we all know what 420 means. If we google it will we see a picture of Mario? ! believe Mario intends to bring as much as 1 ounce of pot to the holiday party. ! recall @ least one minor was in attendance last year and there are several on the membership list. Just because it is legal doesn’t mean it’s appropriate. Do we really want this man as our LocSec? 

Lastly, Alva Uhl asked some of the younger members what it would take to attract more young people to Mensa Meetings.  Aubrey suggested that more young people might attend if meetings were held anywhere other than in a nursing home.

There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned and about half of us went over to Carl’s Pizzeria.

How to conclude? Mario continues to make personal attacks and exhibit poor judgment. Mario has been accused of driving members away from Denver Mensa. ! will suggest to you dear readers that voting for Doug!! To continue as LocSec or an organized write-in candidacy, will, not only prevent Mario from taking over that position, it will also leave him off the ExComm for 2006. He has been warned about his inappropriate use of the ANNOUNCE listserve and will be removed following his next offense. Better to have Mario off the list than members who are offended by him.  Thank you.
Doug!!
Denver Mensa LocSec ver. 20.05(6?)

Less...