Hey D12,

Interesting read and interesting take. As someone who has been around virtually from the beginning (and I ain't talking about Agoracom lol) and further as someone who was right in the thick of things during the proxy fight, I thought the following few comments might add to the picture.

The current BOD must be encouraged to fulfill it's mandate and thereby increase shareholder value. In that respect, I stand behind this BOD as they were duly brought in as a compromise to a bloody battle in which the stakes were unacceptably high. That we, as retail, may well have been victorious in that battle is of no consequence. Our influence was felt and a compromise was reached. End of story.

You may recall that I interviewed Warren Irwin, and posted the results to this board. Irwin's position as the head of a hedge fund that was already in deep financial do-do did not, I will candidly admit, pre-dispose me to respect the man or his battle plan. I did not see that he was emotionally driven. Nor as someone who was making mistakes based on his fear of the market or where the company was heading. I saw that he was an opportunistic con artist, someone willing to spew whatever garbage he felt would accomplish his goal. I tested his evidence in support of (what I believed to be) the unsubstantiated allegations that he had published in his proxy circular, and found that there was in fact no evidence to support his drivel.

This was not a man who had simply made "mistakes". This was a man with a plan to kill the king, seize the crown, and rape the villagers.

That being said, Warren Irwin is not part of our BOD. And thank God for that. That was the achievement of the retail shareholder's heroic efforts. Whereas Warren Irwin clearly knew very little about exploration plays substantively, our current Directors seem to know quite a bit. As far as I can tell, Irwin is no longer part of this story.

When I posted a couple of days ago that the retail investors, as a unified force, possess powers to be called upon only in extreme situations, the proxy vote was one such situation.

But having achieved (in large measure) our collective goal at that time (namely providing Richard Nemis with the support he needed to leave the company in solid hands), it was time to step back, breathe deeply, and let the new BOD get on with the business of running the business.

I fully understand how difficult it is to step back, especially when so much collective adrenaline was coursing through our veins, but step back we must.

You recent posts really speak to the need to move forward and not to languish in our tumultuous past. That is good advice, prudent and thoughtful. That being said, we can move forward on the strength of our past and the knowledge that our actions assisted our company to fly straight and true. We should not dwell on the past, but neither should we minimize what has happened, nor forget.

And we must be ever vigilent for snakes and scoundrels, and those of low moral character who would dare to come between us and our success.

In this, I have no doubt of your support, nor of Hoov's, Glorieux's and so many others. With the type of thoughtful watchful analysis that this board generates (when we are not running off blowing steam and tilting at windmills) I simply cannot comprehend how we will not cross the finish line with a fine shareprice in hand.

Keep watchful over the ramparts my friends...I will be back after a little...yawn...rest...

ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ...

Wake me at $20.00

crazydik