AN OPEN LETTER:It has become sadly obvious to me that a great many of the membership here are not open to a free and open discourse of ideas. It also has become blatantly obvious that like George Orwell's "ANIMAL FARM" ... "all animals (MEMBERS) are equal but some animals are more equal than others" I have spent my entire professional career fighting that notion and it is one that I just can't seem to accept. Mr. Petrov is certainly an extremely knowledgeable man and that certainly can't be taken away from him, he also possesses a second to none collection of pre-war classic sporters. However he is in fact a man, just like all of us and is fallable. This seems to be a fact lost on many of the membership here and anyone with the temerity to believe this [his fallability], is quickly shown the wrath and displeasure of the membership. On the two occasions when I have taken contrary positions to Mr. Petrov, I watched as both times[now and a prior time] a quickly coordinated effort by certain members reduced my 4 star rating down to 1 and then nothing,all within a matter of hours. Not that I will lose sleep over this but it does amaze me how childishly petty, armed grown men can be. In fact Mr. Petrov has asked me for information on numerous occasions in the past, it is only now when we don't seem to agree, he finds my word unworthy of trust. The point is, we don't agree on everything, but who does? However I don't believe Mr. Petrov is right about everything, simply because he wrote a book or has done reams of research. Einstein stated just prior to his death, that he found several basic mistakes he had overlooked in his theory of relativity. That being said I do not feel this enviroment is one that I personally want to contribute to and then be castigated when I don't agree with someone. Accordingly I will no longer contribute to discussions nor ask for or furnish any information, in an attempt to simply be a silent bystander. I have been troubled by developments here for some time and the less said, the better. Sincerely Jerry