Open letter to all subscribers. My apologies for airing dirty laundry. My complaint dealt only with the Jefferson County MSGenWeb site. I do not know why Mr. Mikell copied it to Attalla, Jefferson Davis, Lawrence, and Lincoln counties. Nor do I understand his withdrawal. Open letter in response to Mr. Mikell. Mikell >> I will have to say, Mr. Liddell's note has been shocking. I do not know, Bruce, if you are aware that everything I have transcribed has been released to the mailing list, some 1000 pages, so if you have the time, you could search the archives and find everything I have type there for the last seven years. The ONLY thing that I could not post was the pictures, which the mailing list will not handle mime type submissions. You have "decompiled" the material in order to make money. You started with a single collection of source material and deliberately broke it into many small fragments, each with instructions to purchase the whole from you. Do you know for certain that this business method is legal is all 50 states, Mr. Mikell? I am trained as an historian. 1000 pages do not impress me. Nor am I impressed by the many errors. Do you have a spell-checker, Mr. Mikell? Mikell >> I posted the material to alternate mailing groups, after first contacting the list administrator to make sure it was ok, in the hopes that someone could connect their relatives with others in nearby counties. If I wanted to receive material on another MS county, I would subscribe to that mailing list. Your Lawrence information was not appropriate for Jefferson. Did you explain to the volunteer list administrators that every message would include, at the top, the instructions "E-mail mikell@virginia.edu for purchasing information"? Mikell >> I do not sell Genealogy material, nor is this a business of mine. This seems to contradict your statement "E-mail mikell@virginia.edu for purchasing information" at the top of every transcription page, which I interpret as direct sales. Perhaps by Clintonian wordplay you "do not sell Genealogy material." But that seems to contradict your statement of 31-Jul-2003 "occasionals sales and the few dollars it brings in is sort of what keeps the project alive, as far as transcribing to the internet." Do you accept credit cards, Mr. Mikell? Mikell >> I compiled the material in one place as to make it easy for people to search. No, as mentioned above, you have "decompiled" the material to make it difficult to search, easy to buy. Mikell >> I have followed the mailing list for some time, and not to bring undue attention, but outside of the work that I have posted, I rarely, if ever, see any original material on any of the groups. Most of us prefer that the administrator post our stuff online, then include it in monthly "What's new" mailings, instead of filling every mailbox with our unwanted data. Mikell >> Good bye all. The material I have transcribed is still "out there", and you can find it if you surf. The rest of the some 400 pages of the Bethany Church Records will have to wait for some other sap to ruin his eyesight over ;-], and Mr. Liddell can finish the rest of the some 300 pages of the newspaper.. I do not understand this action. My complaint dealt only with the Jefferson County MSGenWeb site. I do not know why this should affect other counties. Nor do I understand why Mr. Mikell should withdraw from anything. As one alert subscriber pointed out, mine is the only public complaint. I wonder if Proverbs 28:1 applies here. Yes, I will be glad to transcribe the remaining Bethany and Lawrence newspaper records, and post the compilation on the Lawrence website. Please ship them prepaid to my snail-mail address below. When I'm done I'll ship them back to you at my expense. Please spell my name, address, and nine-digit ZIP correctly to avoid misdelivery. I will respond to each individual who has emailed me, but please give me time. Apparently a great many of you consider me a dirty dog. Bruce D. Liddell 828 Rockford Lane Birmingham AL 35209-3143 Voice mail 205/ 945-1681 Email BDLiddell@yahoo.com __________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! SiteBuilder - Free, easy-to-use web site design software http://sitebuilder.yahoo.com

Enough, already! Let it go! There is enough turmoil in the world as is. Neither one if you is proving anything; just creating dissention on this great website. Be nice, fellows. PEACE. Ethel (a new subscriber).