By Ken Snyder
Apologist (from https://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/apologist):
noun
a person who argues to defend or justify some policy or institution.
An apologist is a person who argues in favor of something unpopular.
Shill (from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shill):
A shill is a person who publicly helps or gives credibility to a person or organization without disclosing that they have a close relationship with the person or organization. Shills can carry out their operations in the areas of media, journalism, marketing, confidence games, or other business areas. A shill may also act to discredit opponents or critics of the person or organization in which they have a vested interest through character assassination or other means.
(Internet) Troll (from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet_troll):
In Internet slang, a troll is a person who sows discord on the Internet by starting arguments or upsetting people, by posting inflammatory, extraneous, or off-topic messages in an online community (such as a newsgroup, forum, chat room, or blog) with the deliberate intent of provoking readers into an emotional response or of otherwise disrupting normal on-topic discussion, often for their own amusement.
It seems someone has now decided to become the self-appointed defender of BPU. Problem is, while they're full of anger (over a perceived offense on my part) they haven't got a clue as to what really happened and they're obviously blind as to the FACTS. So, in order to clear this all up I'm going to reiterate some of what's been already addressed on other pages and present it all here with some names and additional information to clear up any confusion.
After this site was first established in 2013 I made it as widely known as possible. I even have had stickers made (e-mail me and I'll see to it you get one), one of which made it's way with me to work and was prominently displayed near my desk/bench. Everyone knew about this site, and the Facebook companion page that I sometimes post on. There was no doubt as to how I felt about BPU and I made sure it was widely known. Keep in mind that this site has been online and evolving since I went live with it, right after I made a full presentation to the Board of Directors at one of their open meetings - where no one on the Board or in attendance questioned a thing I had to say.
On the previous page, I mentioned how a BPU "connection" started volunteering at the local animal welfare agency I was working at. His name is Jim Alvey, brother of BPU Board of Directors member (and former Board President) David Alvey and friend of Cheryl Castle (Traffic Signal shop employee, became Working Foreman when DeGraeve retired). Jim decided that he wasn't able to tolerate my labeling BPU management (both hired and elected) as LIARS AND COWARDS - despite the overwhelming evidence I have presented on this website. As I said on the previous page, if someone fails my integrity check I'm not afraid to call them out - I call a liar a LIAR, and a coward a COWARD. This has cost my family and I far too much to just "let it go", and more importantly I want to make sure this doesn't happen to anyone else - more about that later.
When I fist met him we talked about my BPU "experience" and even he admitted that BPU was often about who you were, who you knew and/or what part of KCK you lived in. Early on he knew I had encountered his brother, who was the president of the Board of Directors when BPU tried to "pay me off" and failed.
In October and November of 2015 I was deployed to Andersen Air Force Base in Guam with my ANG unit. Jim Alvey was one of the people that stood in for me at the animal welfare agency; I even brought him back a souvenir and invited him in for treats with the other staff that pitched in during my absence. There's no doubt that the sticker at my desk was visible, and it has the Web address prominently displayed on it. I also made damn sure people on certain Facebook pages knew how I felt, (and much like I posted before) each and every time someone tried to stand up for BPU I would direct them to the site. Amazingly enough, not a single person refuted a thing I had to say after pointing out all the FACTS to them.
Fast forward a few months to a night where there was a power outage in KCK. Someone asked about it, and once again I mentioned how the "liars and cowards club" website listed a problem. Well, Jim got his shorts in a wad and decided to not only respond with a snarky comment about my discrimination case and "shut up/go away" but then (horror of horrors!) after I mentioned about it all being on a website (here) he "unfriended" me and blocked my profile from his. It's interesting to note that when our paths would cross after that he made no effort to comment about my Facebook posts.
As you can see on this page, I have included copies of posts from the "168 Days" Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/168days) - feel free to click on them to open a larger copy in a new tab. Notice that one was posted on 10 November 2015 and the other on 18 July (2016). Suddenly, on 1 November 2016 Jim decides he needs to respond to someone (me) he "blocked!" It's also interesting to note that on 1 November, around 1:45PM he probably was supposed to be at work (by this date I was no longer employed by the animal welfare agency) and not surfing the Internet, same is true for his responses at 8:40AM on 2 November.
One thing you will notice in all of his posts is not once, NOT ONCE does he dispute anything I posted on the site. His biggest issue is how a picture of BPU representatives with Kevin Yoder happens to show his brother, and that another post talks about how the Wyandotte Daily News didn't want to post my response to one of BPU's Board meetings (how the liars and cowards were patting themselves on the back and virtually doing nothing). He NEVER disputes the comments about how BPU falsified documents, (possibly) had employees lie to a Federal investigator or fail to prove their case against me. He adds his observation about what I got versus what Ms. Leeds got (although no one but Ms. Leeds and I know what the final totals were after she reimbursed me for fees already paid) and when asked about taking so damn long to respond, all he can say is he just found out about the site -- BULLSHIT.
His next round is to first question my mental health, then he moves straight to the elementary school playground bully: "say things about my family..." "look me in the eye..." Really? First of all, if you had such a problem with me you had plenty of chances to say something - and get the same fucking response I put on here. Next, your brother is an elected official, traveling around on the rate-payer's dime. Their job is simple: make sure the water and electricity to rate-payers is the safest and most reliable at the lowest cost. Meeting in Washington with a Representative doesn't do shit to make our water and power safer, more reliable or cheaper. Since you don't even live in Wyandotte County/Kansas City, Kansas these concepts don't mean a thing to you, but being a rate-payer it matters to me. Also, your brother had the chance (on more than one occasion) to see something wasn't right about this situation and did nothing. He put himself out there, and guess what? He hasn't said a damn thing about it -- because (as I posted in November of 2015) he knows that to try any action against me would certainly blow up in BPU's collective face.
You have the goddamned gall to call me out and label me a "keyboard warrior" when you never had the balls or brains to sign a contract, put on a uniform and pledge to do whatever it takes, WHATEVER IT TAKES to protect and defend this country. What would your fellow Patriot Guard Riders think of your little tirade? Sure, I've seen some rather "safe" deployments (unlike a lot of other men and women that the planes I keep flying help protect) but you will NEVER, EVER be anywhere near as close as I have been. You ever have to pack your Kevlar helmet and gas mask to go to work? Sweat your balls off on acres of concrete making sure aircraft are safely prepared for combat support missions and send them on their way? Being called a "keyboard warrior" from the likes of you has all the sting of a wet wad of toilet paper. You're such a fucking hypocrite - happy to call those who don't fall lock-step in line with your way of thinking all sorts of names, post pictures of service member's flag-draped coffins like you're some sort of "super patriot" yet all too eager to turn your back on a service member who you know damn good and well was screwed over by a corrupt system.
You would be best advised to follow the lead of your BPU "connections" - sit back and take it, because they earned it. Stick to selling mattresses, you don't know shit about USERRA and how BPU violated it. If you want to dispute any piece of evidence I have posted on this site, give it a try - but I'd recommend you talk with your "connections" first, I'm sure they'd prefer you stay out of their business. You want to call this a "whackjob" site - show me ONE FUCKING THING to counter my point that 1) BPU fired me because I am still serving (which means I might have to deploy and leave them short one worker), and 2) several high-ranking employees at BPU knew this was crap but went along with it. Keep in mind that there's far more evidence I have record of than is posted on this "whackjob" site. By the way, I have always had a plan for how BPU could have settled this, they just don't have the INTEGRITY to ask and follow through.
I said the other reason for this website was to insure this didn't happen to another service member - here's more about that:
I have been in contact with Captain (retired) Wright of the Reserve Officer's Association (ROA) about how badly the Department of Labor handled this case, how their "investigation" was so poorly handled and that my case was not unlike others out there (he has reported on some of them). Sometime soon, the ROA is going to ask the Department of Labor to look into my case, not so much as to gain any further compensation for me but to prompt the Department into improving their investigations. I have said for some time that while BPU discriminated against me it was due to the Department of Labor's poor handling of my case that it cost me as much as it did. Like I've posted on other pages, the bulk of our initial case was the DOL's own file - BPU literally gave me enough ammunition (via DOL) to get this process started. Just go back and look at all the documents I have listed on this site IF YOU DARE. Once we got into the private case, BPU once again provided most of the ammunition that we would have nailed them to the wall with - which is why they decided to change their position so much from their initial response. If I can prevent another service member from going through the crap I have it will all be worth it. More about this coming soon.
Next: Starting Over (Again)
To return to the index page, click here.
