The man who bought Pine Bluff, Arkansas

https://maxread.substack.com/p/the-man-who-bought-pine-bluff-arkansas

by Fraterkes • 4 years ago

143 36 4 years ago

maxread.substack.com

bitxbitxbitcoin• 4 years ago

Answered many of the questions I had after reading the original comment. Great journalism :).

1270018080• 4 years ago

My question was either mental illness or we're not getting the full story. I think that got answered.

aaaaaaaaaaab3• 4 years ago

May I ask which way?

phpnode• 4 years ago

I've been reading this site for 13 years and I think pontifier's original post is my all time favourite HN comment. It's perfect in so many ways, and the fusion reactor is the icing on the cake. I think this might be the peak of hacker news.

elicash• 4 years ago

I wish the article had more on the fusion reactor than just the bullet point at the very end, but I suppose they would have needed to interview more people. This was a great read.

Kiro2• 4 years ago

Yeah, me too. I recommend visiting the page of Deuterium Deuterium Periodically Returning Orbit Fusion: http://www.ddprofusion.com/

NonNefarious• 4 years ago

He doesn't mention the reactor in the original comment, at least not as it's presented here...

cooldrcool3• 4 years ago

I live close to Pine Bluff, definitely not a place a would attempt to start a business of this sort.

runevault2• 4 years ago

I worked there for 2.5 years before escaping the state finally. Not a place I'd want to live (I commuted a long distance each way instead).

RickJWagner2• 4 years ago

'Escaping the state' is grossly unfair to most of beautiful Arkansas.

I've lived in 8 states and think the Natural State compares well. (Especially NW Arkansas, which is wildly developing yet still home to world class biking, hiking and outdoor life.)

aaaaaaaaaaab3• 4 years ago

Even the turbomolecular pump for the fusion reactor?!

sdeep27• 4 years ago

Really enjoyed this read. As someone who has had similar daydream fantasies - maybe not to this scale - it's interesting to see all the ways it can backfire. It also definitely got me thinking about ways he could be dealing with local bureaucracy a bit better (even if the bureaucracy is clearly in the wrong.)

f0e4c2f7• 4 years ago

This was a great follow up to an already great comment. I almost posted this as a comment to the original post so I'll post it now in the event Pontifier reads this.

Strange as it may sound, I think the most efficient path if you did want to continue would be running for city government.

HeyLaughingBoy2• 4 years ago

Or hire a security guard. I kept waiting for that to be mentioned, but it never was.

nwsm3• 4 years ago

It really doesn't seem like he's interested in spending money on anything but assets. He needs to hire someone who can direct his energy in a productive direction and create some structure for at least one of his ideas.

TigeriusKirk2• 4 years ago

At least try to find a local attorney you can trust to represent your interests and who can help you navigate all the obstacles. The usual problems you find in any town and the ones local to Pine Bluff in particular.

I'd also try to find some way to get some state-level advocates who could help with development grants or special innovation zones or whatever they can do.

a_c2• 4 years ago

This guy's optimism is off the chart.

allenu• 4 years ago

No kidding. If only he could bottle that up and sell it! If something goes wrong in one of my projects, I start thinking about giving up, but this guy doubles down. He seems like one of those crazy business tycoons you read about from, say, 150 years ago that ended up becoming an oil magnate, except in his case, not quite so successful.

a_c2• 4 years ago

Indeed. I wish pontifier the best of luck

nwsm3• 4 years ago

Always having money for the next venture will do that to you.

ramesh31• 4 years ago

Location location location.

Cheap land is cheap for a reason. And true arbitrage in real estate is generally a stroke of luck, more-so than something that can be sought out by scouring the country for "deals". Where it can be done, it relies on intensive long term local knowledge, i.e. why real estate agents are still a thing.

runevault2• 4 years ago

Oh man reading this he mentions permitting issues. Software I supported was used by that part of the city and/or county government at one point. 15 years ago now so I doubt anyone I met is still there but wow this is taking me back.

HeyLaughingBoy2• 4 years ago

“The Overconfident Optimist and His Ill-Advised DIY Project.”

OK, MaxRead, if you're reading this I'd suggest a similar investigation into Bill Gates.

The other Bill Gates. He of Midnight Engineering magazine "fame." Midnight Engineering was a great magazine about engineers starting their own businesses while working 9-5.

And it was pretty damn good. Until he decided to buy an entire printing press for pennies on the dollar, truck it from Florida to Colorado and set it up in a warehouse so he could run it, alone, to print the magazine. No, he had never run a printing plant before!

The magazine's print quality declined far enough after he did this (CMYK registration was so bad it gave me headaches) that I let my subscription expire, but I always wondered what happened to him after that. My guess is that he was overtaken by the rise of the Web and lost subscribers, but it could be a good story either way.

TigeriusKirk2• 4 years ago

My favorite part of Midnight Engineering was his column on setting up his printing press. I loved it for the reality of the struggle. All the obstacles and setbacks, spelled out for everyone to see.

criddell• 4 years ago

This is so bizarre it could be a movie.

Look at pontifier's YouTube channel to see the warehouse, videos of break-ins, and the conflicts he has with his tennant.

https://www.youtube.com/user/pontifier/videos

abetusk• 4 years ago

This is internet content at its finest.

Why did this fall off the front page so quick? Was it flagged?

Kiro2• 4 years ago

I replied (https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=32468137) to the original comment that I would like to see a documentary on him (which he didn't seem to oppose), and this article just makes me want it more.

threatofrain• 4 years ago

Some videos from his YT channel.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lXTjIpWdXk0

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4kKDRbk97Ec

ChrisArchitect• 4 years ago

so crazy and unhinged. Kept wondering where he got all the money from? Something about a patent? Just seems so deliusional and like unadjusted to how the real world works

isx726552• 4 years ago

“People have come to the tent and put a gun in my face at one point, back in 2020 -- while I was waiting for this stuff to happen -- and my dad shot at them, and they ran away. I've got an audio recording of that.” (He does; it’s available on his Soundcloud; I can’t say I recommend listening to it.)

Curiosity got the better of me and I went and listened to it, available here:

https://soundcloud.com/john-fenley/shots-fired-in-pine-bluff

It’s pretty wild. I can’t say if someone were robbing me at gunpoint I’d be arguing with them like he did (“Get that gun out of my face!”).

nwsm3• 4 years ago

As an Arkansas native I predicted the outcome of his idea for a hybrid maker space / amusement park in Pine Bluff run by someone with no knowledge of or interest in the community. There's some sick sense of satisfaction from watching ideas that should fail, fail. But of course we can't be sure unless someone actually does the thing, as he puts it. I still manage to like him - I about spit out my coffee watching the message to Disney. My only real gripe with him is grossly mishandling the Murfie customer data.

I'm interested if the HN exposure can glean a review of his proposed nuclear reactor.

myhumbleopinion• 4 years ago

“grossly mishandling the Murfie customer data“. Yep!

RickJWagner2• 4 years ago

I live less than an hour from Pine Bluff.

They have an awesome annual holiday light display, but little else that's good. Crime and Poverty seem entrenched. I wish there was some program that could bring in enough jobs and money to bootstrap a recovery, but I'm not sure such a thing exists.

rasz• 4 years ago

Reminds me of 'The Mosquito Coast' (1986) movie, except remote Caribbean island was replaced by Arkansas :o

The man who bought Pine Bluff, Arkansas

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