I’ve often wondered the following: Is it moral to lie in order to preserve a secret, in a situation where refusing to answer cannot preserve the secret? I think there exist a continuum on whether someone is blatantly lying to you or simply withholding information in order to preserve the integrity of a secret they may have or even something that is simply none of your business. There does not exist a finite answer on this subject and each situation has to be carefully analyzed.

One really has to analyze the kind of relationship they have with the person they suspect is lying or withholding information. Are you friends where the information they are “withholding” is simply just not any of your business? Is the information they are withholding contrary to your personal belief system which in turn effects (in their opinion) your relationship with the person. Is this information vital to your personal well being or the well being of people you care about? Are you business partners where the information is vital to the success or failure of your business, which in turn may directly affect your personal endeavors?

I mention this after being a victim of the latter…. but it was much more than that and I’m deeply involved with the person on a personal level as well. I was always warned, perhaps rightly so, not to mix friends and business… friends do not make good business partners I was told… Being warned a countless number of times, I have done just that. I do not have any regrets and it has worked out to everyone’s advantage thus far. Each one of us has brought something to the table that the others clearly lack. I was just made aware of some vital information that was unknown to me for over a month. I was led to believe a situation existed that in fact did not exist. I was allowed to worry over things that, if I had known the information, would have freed my mind much easier of the burdens we are facing. Honestly, I can not say that I was lied to, because I was not. Information was withheld from me that I should have been made aware of.

When can you claim to be an honest person if you are withholding information from important people in your life? Is there a continuum of honesty, or is a lie a lie? Is your resistance to telling people what they need to know considered a lie in itself? I continue to remain uncertain about the answers to these questions, there are too many variables to consider. My advice to anyone who may be engaging in this activity to ask yourself: Does this person really need to know, would you tell them the truth if they knew the questions to ask? Think carefully when you speak and when you act, people effect others more than they realize.

I am primarily a marketer but I also dabble (as most of you know) in about anything that will legally turn a buck…. I have had some real estate holdings for quite some time… I have just recently managed to remove myself from the day to day managing of the property and hired a property manager…. I also have some good friends that will check on things for me periodically.. Someone that had lived in our 10 unit building recently moved, they were there for about 4 years, always paid on time, etc. The problem was they were filthy dirty… I had been at the foot of their doorstep many a time and could just see that they were living in filth. To make a long story short they left a huge mess, one that my friends and apartment manager said they have never seen the likes of. Keep in mind, these people do not exagerate. They told me I need to really see for myself to appreciate the mess that was left… Here are a couple of pictures a friend took, he said it does not do it justice. How do people live like this, I mean honestly!!! I intend on uploading video of the place once I make a personal visit… I should post their names to warn other landlords!! geez

I have always stressed this, but it is well worth the time to know your rights when presented with a legal situation or otherwise. Everyone has rights…. Luckily we have attorneys that can keep us abreast of what our rights are and how to keep bureaucrats from imposing rules on us that are not enforcable or comply with standards that they have drawn themselves. As I have posted on my other blog, the state fire marshall came to visit an apartment building we own in the lovely town of Ceredo, WV. This occured after a disgruntled tenant complained to city hall about an electrical issue that was already resolved. I will keep the details of how it evolved into their visit short and sweet (I will tell all and my thoughts on each person involved) after the issue is settled and we are removed from the situation. But basically the fire marshall was called. He (again I am ommitting names for now) was accompanied by 4 other nameless individuals who for all intents and purposes were on a witch hunt… they were abusing their power and going outside of the bounds of what they could say or do. Exactly five instances exist where these lovely bureaucrats were going outside of what “they should be saying” or “doing”. Luckily I had someone else with me to attest to their carelessly chosen words of wisdom. Be careful what comes out of your mouth people! Regardless, they scoured up and down the building looking for problems. I mentioned witch hunt previously because there is a political reason this was done (in my opinion)… We had a problem with one of the tenants who is related to the ex- mayor of Ceredo. The current mayor of ceredo is also related to him. There was a long drawn out scenerio, which, depending on what happens, could draw several people into court. I do not like to stir trouble, but when you declare war, be prepared to fight, that is all I ask. I am unraveling the mess and will expose everyone involved and their role in the defamation of my character and our apartment building.

Now I understand that safety is a must in a multi unit building… the building has 10 apartments. Some of his findings I agree with… What I did not agree with was a 10K fire alarm system when the building is located directly across the street from the fire station in Ceredo. One would think we could get some slack simply for this reason. The fire marshall seemed to take pleasure in saying to me “this is going to be expensive”. Once the report was recieved in the mail, I immediately faxed it to our attorneys. They found that we were exempt from this requirement because:

1. Our building has less than 12 units.
2. Our building has less than 4 floors.

So my question is: Do the Bureaucrats just assume that most people are not aware of the law and just take what is served to them? Our attorney advised us to write a courteous but firm letter explaining we will comply with the other complaints but we are not installing a fire alarm system. If they continue to push, we will get our lawyers involved, but not until then.

Bottom line: In business or personally, know your rights in every situation, it makes no difference how much moolah you have. I intend on exposing everything I know once this is resolved…. so when you do a search for the person’s name involved in google…. my blog will show up… searchers will be aware of what that person is about. Think I can’t do it? I know precisely how to get a person’s name where I want it to be in google. Type my name in, and it’s not because of my domain name either… it does not matter… Think it’s defamation of character? Think again, if it’s true it is not defamation. The towns folk in Ceredo have mistakingly taken me for being passive…. I know for a fact they do not like confrontation… I have stories about that as well. Stay tuned, it will be interesting how it turns out. I may be vindictive, but when someone comes after me, I fight full throttle.