(At the encouragement of his parole board, Albert wishes the following "to be read into the public record." G)

Dear Friends,

In clarification of my previous missive, in which I may have cultivated a misunderstanding that I was in possession of any properties of Mr D. T. Oldman: such is not the case. Dr G. has been provided durable power of attorney by the State of Texas to take possession of any of Mr. Oldman's few and widely-scattered personal properties and to execute such financial obligations as may be required.

I hasten to assure you at the outset that I have seen the errors of my ways, and that any and all funds which may have been accrued as a consequence of those actions leading to my rendition have been restored to their rightful owners, and I beg with any good-hearted souls in the world to please, please stop forwarding your personal information to me in hopes of gaining some small portion of the remaining funds from that off-shore casino so recently closed as a consequence of those actions taken by the U.S government. The final disposition of those remaining funds remains a matter of some legal interest but I assure you no longer have any say in the matter, so please, please stop sending by phone, mail, or internet exchange, those bank account and social security numbers.

As I am making a clean breast of it, let me assure you that I had absolutely nothing to do with those recent, quite patently fraudulent, publications or releases by Reginald “Redd” Ruffensor (in association with his brothers Roderick and Leopold), any suggestions to the contrary notwithstanding. I assure you that any use of my name in association with that fraternity of notorious scofflaws was done entirely without my knowledge or consent.

I remain, your humble servant,

Albert Banfill

I think it best to clarify some of Mr. Banfill’s comments of yesterday. I (not he) maintain possession of some small collection of D. T. Oldman’s personal effects, none of which have any intrinsic value. I am aware of some additional property of his in the evidence collection of several law enforcement agencies, but do not have legal standing to gain access to these materials. I have no certain knowledge of the contents of these collections.

Oldman apparently supported himself, at least in part, by cultivating long-distance relationships which he would then exploit for financial gain. To those trusting souls who unfortunately fell for his manipulations, it is my sad duty to inform you that any money you may have provided him for any purposes has, in all likelihood, been dispersed in various schemes and binges. Mr. Oldman’s present incarceration is related to several old warrants in the state of Texas associated with bootlegging, running an unlawful still, and bail-jumping. His current petition for parole was denied in light his continued association with some known criminals in violation of his previous probation, and for possession of contraband in prison.

That being said, I have (with the permission and supervision of his parole officer) consented to make some publication of DT Oldman’s assorted wit and wisdom as gleaned from present conversations and, with his consent and encouragement, from his collected writings and associated documents in my possession.

Mr. Banfill quite correctly described DT's fragile health and I suspect that the latter, confronted with the spectre of non-existence, may well be making some effort toward putting his affairs in order in his own idiosyncratic way. Mr. Oldman, like Mr. Banfill, is quite eager to revive a number of correspondences and associations he had established by mail and through the internet in various chat rooms, public bulletin boards, etc. His parole board, however, is not at present convinced of the wisdom of such activities.

In response to his imprecations, I have taken steps to assure the continuance of his “blog” begun some months ago, though there is no new entries. I offered to move those materials to this site, but he was quite adamant that “people were looking for [him] there” and would not consent to the migration of those few paragraphs. I gather from our conversations that he conceives internet sites as physical places where acquaintances may “catch up with” one another much as they might in the physical world. I suspect this conception is the result of his lengthy peripatetic lifestyle.

“I have a broader base to build a coäl-
lition on… Barack’s losing support…
among working Americans…” Reports
be damned, the Senator cites polls
that state his base “is weakening again,
and how whites in both states who had not comp-
leted college were supporting…” Some
argument, perhaps, but little sane
reflection to be seen. All wisdom says
Hill has no reasoned hope to pull much out
of six more states; the delegates all doubt
her chances to be ever called Ms. Prez.
Methinks the “broader base” is getting thin…
Too much of saying anything to win.

Is this not the stuff of many thousand
trite and boring gothic sophomore fictions:
unknowing dead still carry on their missions,
clueless how it disrupts, it offends
those yet alive? Those post-mortals must --
must! be informed -- but by whom? By whom,
indeed? Who shall bare the awful gloom,
who shall tell the bees? If only dust
and ash alone were the remains of airs
and hopes and schemes of dead ones walking...
Still, and still again, they keep on talking!
What exorcist shall excise this affair?
Still they carry on despite our wishes.
These are not the stuff of loaves and fishes.

A client has prevailed upon me to post a general missive to "his many friends." He is indeed a very persuasive fellow, a trait that no doubt contributed to his recent conviction on wire fraud, etc. Please do not attempt to contact him directly.

Greetings, Dear Friends!

Though most of us have never met, let me assure you that I am quite familiar with many of you through my wide-ranging interests across the blogosphere. As a condition of my parole I am prevented from contacting any persons not directly and personally acquainted with me, so I am beholden to G. for posting, as a favor, my general epistles to you all.

Some news concerning a friend of many, Mr D.T. Oldman, whose acquaintance I made during my recent misunderstanding with the law enforcement community. Mr. Oldman, as you probably know, was hospitalized for unspecified ill-health in the course of his own incarceration. I say “unspecified” as that is the official word, though few would deny that his long association with intoxicants certainly contributed to the breakdown of his health. I am of the opinion that his sudden withdrawal from the demon rum once he was taken into custody, followed by his indulgence in some quite foul prison concoctions, certainly complicated his prognosis. I am pleased to state that he seems to be rallying, and talking about his life “once (he) gets outta here” once again, which can only be interpreted as a sign of his improved state.

Such optimism may or may not be warranted. For the near term – as Mr Oldman may well be returned to regular incarceration or a supervised parole if and when he is released from hospital – he has entrusted me the disposition of certain personal effects as well as the continuation of his own endeavors in the blogosphere. I shall, within the bounds Dr. G’s patience, endeavor to repost those several things as the opportunities arise as well as provide such new materials as Mr Oldman may provide in the future. Though he begs for your continued petitioning for his release, perhaps these might be suspended pending further improvements in his health. I quite frankly do not know of what resources he might draw upon in the outside world should he need to come once again under medical care.

That, I fear, is as much space as I am permitted for the nonce. I shall save an accounting of my own affairs for a later time.

I remain, your humble servant,

Albert Banfill