Pete Juliano's Expulsion from the QRP Hall of Fame

First, I'd like to thank the many, many radio amateurs who sent in e-mails demanding that our friend Pete Juliano stay in the QRP Hall of Fame.  Their outrage at his expulsion was palpable.  They were angry and fired up.  Many compared Pete Juliano to baseball great  Pete Rose (who also got expelled from a Hall of Fame).   They wrote to us from all around the globe.  Several saw the action against Pete as yet another example of the deep divisions that are affecting modern society -- several saw it as being connected to our recent Presidential election, and/or BREXIT. 

Some writers took a diplomatic approach and tried to suggest ways that this ugly conflict might be ended -- one fellow suggested that Pete try to redeem himself by agreeing to enter some kind of QRP 12 Step Program.  Others got legalistically combative and said we should just "lawyer-up."

A number of our correspondents took note of the seasonal nature of these kinds of events. Who can forget the April  move a few years back by the New Jersey State Legislature to ban the use of soldering irons in the home?   "This kind of thing always seems to happen in the Spring-time!" said one irate Juliano surrogate,  "It is like Shakespeare wrote:  'Beware the Ides of March' -- only two weeks later!" Another ham also spotted the seasonal nature of these stories and quoted from T.S. Elliott's poem "The Wasteland":  "April is the cruelest month, especially the first day!"

We must point out that not all those who wrote were opposed to Pete's expulsion -- one writer said, "It is about time that that Pete "KW" Juliano got what he deserved! Good riddance!" (We have sent this e-mail to one of Pete's Italian-American relatives in New Jersey for, uh, action.)

Several of those who wrote in support of Pete are prominent members of the amateur radio community (they will -- if they follow our instructions -- remain anonymous.)

One activist supporter said that Pete's expulsion should lead to a street protest movement called "Pete's Award Matters" and that the chant at demonstrations could be "NO JULIANO, NO PEACE!"  Kind of catchy don't you think?

Anyway, we sincerely hope you have ALL figured out what was going on here. For those who have not, and for all those who wrote in, let me complete the tradition by saying it: "April Fool!"   

We'd like to thank all who participated in this long-standing amateur radio tradition.  Special thanks to Preston Douglas and the QRP-ARCI for putting up with all this.  (Tony Fishpool told us that he knew this couldn't be real, because someone as nice as Preston Douglas would NEVER expel anyone.)