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Pour, Pour, Mike Ruppert

November 27, 2009 Leave a comment

Repost: “Poor Poor Mike Ruppert” written 9-16-2006
Mike Ruppert:
Egomaniac with an undeserved sense of importance
works himself into a corner from which the only escape is Venezuela.

“It’s funny. I can look back on a life of achievement, on challenges met, competitors bested, obstacles overcome. I’ve accomplished more than most men, and without the use of my legs. What…What makes a man, Mr. Lebowski?…Is it…is it, being prepared to do the right thing? Whatever the price? Isn’t that what makes a man?…Are you surprised at my tears, sir?…Strong men also cry…Strong men also cry.”
–from The Big Lebowski

Having known Mike Ruppert I find it quite funny (and sad) that, being as odious a human being as he truly is, there are a number of folks out there who continue to hold him aloft as some sort of modern-day Jesus — just as sinless, forgiving, and selfless as He who died on the cross for the sake of the world’s sins. Of course someone in Montana would not know how a man in Oregon comports himself, but there are other people who should know better. Then again, a subscriber to Ruppert’s website should, in my opinion, begin to have their doubts when one lame plea for donations — in addition to the sale of a great many products — follows another, and another, and another. And in light of some allegations that later turned out to be true (by Ruppert’s own admission) regarding inappropriate sexual behavior with a female employee (he took off his clothes and ran around the office in his underwear), I find it interesting that many people out there do not once stop to question his character.

The suspicious nature of the burglary that took place in his office is also another example that should be cause for Ruppert’s followers to second-guess their loyalty. Maybe it’s just sexy for one to think that the U.S. Government directly, or indirectly, perpetrated that crime. Maybe being a reader of FTW, in their minds, makes them somehow apart of the real-life Enemy Of The State movie that is Mike Ruppert’s supposed life. Of course these people don’t have all the information. Therefore, in the context of FTW, these poor souls are living in a fantasy world.

Mike Ruppert, without a doubt, is very good at portraying himself as being quite the benevolent soul. He’s “spiritual” and socially conscious. To paraphrase something he recently wrote on his blog, he cannot rest, or be happy, unless the world is a better place. He has sacrificed everything for the sake of us all. Now how can you not dig someone like that? The reality, however, is a little different.

For instance, it might interest some people that when Mike Ruppert moved to Ashland, Or., rather than live the simple, sustainable life (which was closer to what he had living in a one-bedroom apartment in LA), and grow his own tomatoes and lettuce outback of a simple, practical, wasteless, rural dwelling, he instead chose to live in a house. This house had no garden and he made no attempt to create one. Instead, he purchased a $4,000 leather couch, plus a high-quality entertainment center with all the bells and whistles. Rather than shop locally at the co-op, he bought his groceries at Albertson’s, to which he drove to and from in his gas-guzzling Ford Bronco. On the weekends he would go out to the bars and try to score tail (preferably very young tail) and to sing karaoke. Often he would frequent The Office, a strip club in Medford, Or.

“But wait,” someone might ask, “as a recovered alcoholic in the middle of an alcoholic drug den he would abstain, right?” Well…no. If only that had been the case then many embarrassing situations could have been avoided. Very quickly one could see how necessary AA was for Mike Ruppert, as he is a pathetic drunk. Of course, according to him, he has beaten the addiction, but then again, doesn’t that go against AA principles? So why does he cite his twenty years of 12-step work if he no longer walks the walk? It seems a little disingenuous to me. But that’s just my opinion and I could be wrong.

Back to the issue of sustainability: Wouldn’t it make sense to construct a simple, bare-bones operation that was fluid and flexible, yet secure? In speech, according to Ruppert, this would be the only way. In action, however, he committed the opposite action. Upon moving to Ashland, Mike Ruppert rented a large office space and pulled out all the stops with regard to purchases made to furnish and equip said office (yet, strangely enough, a security system was never brought up). He had dreams of commanding a large office staff that would revere him and be obsequiously at his disposal. He immediately hired an assistant (Woman #1), an attractive woman whom he met at a bar during his first week in town. This woman complained of not having enough work to do, as there really wasn’t much justification for Mike Ruppert having an assistant to begin with. But of course that wasn’t the actual reason Mike Ruppert had hired her. The real reason was carnal and she rebuffed advances from Ruppert on numerous occasions. When Ruppert’s other female employee (Woman #2) alleged sexual harassment and was fired for her trouble, Ruppert requested that his staff write statements to support his position on the matter. Woman #2, therefore, quit her job rather than write something that basically would have said that Mike Ruppert was innocent of any and all inappropriate behavior. In other words, she refused to lie.

The day before the alleged “burglary,” Ruppert was in his office all day long. This is not a fact that he has chosen to disclose in any of his writings about said topic. It is, however, a matter of police record and local knowledge. Of course, if one were to take Ruppert’s words at face value, one would think that he was somewhere else that entire day, as he already had a ready-made timeline for when the crime took place. He was “at home watching Deadwood,” right? That’s his alibi, along with the fact that his Bronco “sticks out like a sore thumb.” Right. If he was there all day on Sunday, as he normally was, would anyone notice? He would have all day to smash and trash his office.

Also, this has been said, but I’ll say it again: nothing was stolen. Doesn’t that seem odd? The gun that Mike Ruppert kept in his desk, which was right next to the tapes that Ruppert claims he made of the interactions between himself and his former, female employee, who claims to have been sexually harassed (which he has claimed was stolen by the thieves during the burglary – police record), was still there, after the fact. Nothing was stolen. Nothing other than the computers was damaged. Not even Ruppert’s “precious library,” or his pictures of his travels around the world, or his display of every FTW newsletter that hangs on the wall of the office’s conference room. No TV or other electrical device was damaged. Just enough damage was done to garner the sympathy needed to justify a little extra cash, as well as an office-wide computer upgrade (on computers that were 1-5 years old).

If this is supposed to be a crime of passion, let’s say; a crime committed by a disgruntled, drug-addled, former employee, then wouldn’t one think that the whole crime scene would be … just a little more colorful?

If the government did it – it being the “burglary” – then it’s kind of needlessly complex, no? It’s something they could have done all along, at any time. They wouldn’t have needed to throw in some agent(s) to infiltrate a small business run by a selectively paranoid man who doesn’t even think to install a simple security system, right? Granted, the burglary is much sexier than the “sabotage” committed by a former employee that later ended in a small claims court judgment on behalf of FTW… Right.

I mean, really…that’s some X-files shit right there!

It’s the worst friggin’ excuse for continuing “to be” that I’ve ever heard, yet a lot of people buy it. Basically, it’s like this: “Uh… yeah, the government is out to get to me because I speak the truth and they tell lies and stuff, and they’re bad, so they like, want to put me out of business… .And I know, like, they do a real half-assed job of it, and stuff, because, like, you know, they conspirisize and mastermind all over the world to control the world, and they’re evil, and they can bring down the World Trade Center and kill Kennedy, and get away with it, but they can’t bring down a simple, small business… that doesn’t even have a security system? I mean, I know that’s weird… . Seriously, they’re gonna kill me… -C-C-Can I have some money?”

I guess what it comes down to is this: think for yourselves. Stop looking for leaders and heroes. One step at a time, guys. Do your own research. There are people who have made significant life decisions based on what Mike Ruppert has said, especially when it comes to money – and we’re talking about a guy that can’t run a business and is up to his eyeballs in debt. Think for yourselves. Empower yourselves. Don’t trade in your status of being a sheep to the status quo for being a sheep to Mike Ruppert, or any other guru for that matter. If you’re not going to be a sucker when it comes to big corporations then don’t be a sucker when it comes to anything else. Think for yourselves.

The fact of the matter is that the police had only one suspect. The former, female employee that Ruppert speaks of was cleared early-on in the case and so was her friend. After that, the only one left was Mike Ruppert.

Shortly thereafter, he fled the country — coincidentally right before he was scheduled to take a lie-detector test with the Ashland Police Department.

Pure and simple, folks, it’s not a conspiracy and it never was. It at least wasn’t a conspiracy against Michael C. Ruppert. If you want to put so much importance on evidence then look at the evidence in this case — the actual evidence, the circumstantial evidence, the logical evidence. Quit giving the benefit of the doubt. It’s like you’re trading one evil for another — no different than someone who hears that Bush lied about WMD’s and says, “Well, he’s the President, I guess he knows what he’s doing…”

Just consider what I’m saying.

Think for yourselves.

Five Points In Support of the Ruppert-Did-It Theory

November 27, 2009 Leave a comment

1) The day after the burglary was committed Mike Ruppert (MCR) had a ready-made story for the cops, his employees, his friends, and his readers. There was no need do an investigation because he already knew who did it, and why. (Of course the story, as well as the i.d. of the perpetrator(s) has changed numerous times over the past few years.) But at the beginning of what would be a long, strange ride, MCR named the culprit to be a recently-fired ex-employee, with whom he had a huge axe to grind due her allegation that he had on many occasions sexually harassed her. MCR had also tried to blame the same ex-employee for  egging of his house one week before the burglary (I only question his story regarding the egging purely because his story, yet again and again, kept evolving to suit his needs.) Without any proof that this woman or her friends had anything to do with said crime (as all alibis checked out), MCR had made up his mind. Later, over the months and eventually, the years MCR would go on to say that the Shadow Government had something to do with it, along with the help of a lot of other people (mostly ex-employees), including yours-truly.

2) Unknown to most people, especially MCR’s readers, MCR was in his office all day on the day of the burglary. The day was Sunday, and he was there all by himself. There is no mention of this fact in any article MCR has ever written about said burglary. Mike claimed that his alibi was that he was at home watching DeadWood, a show he wouldn’t miss for the world. He further rationalized that his Bronco “would stick out like a sore thumb” in front of the FTW office building — despite the fact that his Bronco was parked in the same spot day-in and day-out. MCR, therefore, is implying that the crime was committed sometime during the evening. However, being that he was there all day, MCR would have had more than enough time to smash through a few doors and destroy all the computers in the office. This goes along very well with Mike’s original claim that the perpetration of the crime “would have taken one person hours…and would have been physically exhausting.” Well, damn, how would he know?

3) Nothing was stolen. Nothing of sentimental value to MCR (which were many many items scattered throughout the office place) was damaged. Save the computers everything remained in tact. His father’s war medal, his display of every newsletter published by FTW, his precious library, just to name a few, were unmolested. A gun kept in MCR’s desk was untouched. I repeat, nothing but the computers and the doors was destroyed. Now does that sound like an emotional, revenge-motivated crime, as Mike claimed? Does it sound like the work of some Meth addicts, who would have at least stolen the firearm that they no-doubt would have found in his desk? Do I need to say more?

4) MCR was the first to “discover” the burglary. This was at 7am, two-three hours earlier than MCR ever showed up at the office. This is relevant because people who kill someone close to them — a wife, husband, etc. — are almost always the first to “discover” the body — for the purpose of attempting to further control the scene.

5) FTW was in extreme financial trouble and MCR’s readership was dropping off. What a better way to get some extra cash — not only from the insurance company, but from sympathetic followers, as well. Anticipating a quick and large payoff (although he would only get five grand) from the insurance company, MCR went on a balls-out shopping spree at Dell; sparing no expense, he replaced what was lost with the best top-of-the-line equipment he could get. After Mike fled the country I was told by a remaining employee that between the time of the “burglary” to the time of his dramatic “departure.” Mike had received approximately $50,000 dollars in donations from people who were trying to help save the website, not fund a new life for MCR. According to Mike’s long-term flunky, Ken Levine (as well as other sources in the know at the time), most of said money was pissed away by Mike during his short time in Venezuela — on drugs, booze, and whores.

September 25, 2009 Leave a comment

press.release.ftwp.2

Press Release
For Immediate Distribution

September 21, 2009
CONTACT: Bob Estabrook 541-954-2632

BOLI Commissioner Awards $125,000 in Sex Harassment Case
Ashland employer created hostile workplace, fired employee for asking that it stop

PORTLAND- State Labor Commissioner Brad Avakian has issued a final order in the 2006 sexual harassment case against From the Wilderness, Inc. (FTWI) and Michael Ruppert of Ashland. In addition to awarding lost wages, Comm. Avakian ordered $125,000 in mental and emotional suffering damages paid to Lindsay Gerken for the workplace harassment and retaliation she suffered during her less than three months of employment at FTWI. The damage award, the largest in BOLI’s history, reflects the egregious conduct of Ruppert as well as the reinvigoration of civil rights enforcement by Commissioner Avakian.

“BOLI conducts unbiased, third-party investigations of the complaints we receive,” said Commissioner Avakian. “But when the investigation finds substantial evidence of a law violation, we will vigorously pursue a just settlement. In this case, BOLI’s investigation discovered compelling evidence that fully justifies this damage award.”

Gerken filed a complaint alleging sexual harassment by Ruppert during her employment with FTWI and for retaliation for terminating her after she refused his advances. Amid a continuing pattern of harassment that began shortly after Gerken’s hire, the most startling incident occurred in May of 2006 when Ruppert came to Gerken’s office door wearing only his underwear and a smile. Explicitly invited to engage in a sexual relationship with Ruppert on the Friday before Memorial Day, Gerken declined and was terminated on June 1, 2006.

“BOLI will not allow employers to ignore fundamental protections for workers rights,” Commissioner Avakian continued. “Sexual harassment of this magnitude is a brazen violation of the law and the damages ordered here will clearly show BOLI’s commitment to aggressively enforcing the law.”

At the time the harassment and retaliation occurred, Lindsay Gerken was 25 years old and just beginning her professional career. Michael Ruppert was in his mid-50s and a “celebrity” investigative journalist in the literary community surrounding “peak oil” and sustainability. He publishes From the Wilderness magazine and a blog on current events under the same title.

The Bureau of Labor and Industries defends the rights of workers and citizens to equal, nondiscriminatory treatment in workplaces, housing and public accommodations and encourages and enforces compliance with state laws relating to wages, hours, terms and conditions of employment. The bureau also partners with business and labor organizations to build a skilled workforce in Oregon and trains employers to understand and comply with civil rights and other labor and employment laws.
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