Alleged censorship on ScubaBoard

[danvolker]

Dan,

It would be far less cowardly for you to call me on the phone and say this to my face. You can even resort to calling me an a-hole or a stroke and I would respect it more. For the record, many in the Scuba Industry hate ScubaBoard because we refuse to censor thoughts and negative comments on just those merits. DEMA refuses to work with us at all and claims that the lawyers won't let them. All the while they eagerly use all sorts of other media like Facebook et al. However, we refuse to tolerate vendettas, mean spirited speech or threats even if you're someone special like Dan Volker. It's a common ploy for someone who gets moderated for doing any of the three to cry "censorship". It's easier to just obey our rules on civility. ScubaBoard has become the world's largest community for divers because we have rules that require respect and civility from it's members. It's no one's fault but your own if you get censored for being a jerk. Be nice and you won't get moderated. It's so simple, even you can understand it.

FWIW, Bob Evans is a dear, dear friend and one of ScubaBoard's biggest fans. Why? Because we aren't DEMA lackeys. We don't and won't allow corporate Scuba to dictate what gets moderated here. It's why the moderation team is separate from the business team. My highlight every DEMA show is to see Bob. He's one of the most fun and pleasant people you could ever hope to meet.

Sorry for the off topic post, but I felt that this cowardly defamation on the moderators of ScubaBoard should be addressed. You may now return to the topic at hand.

Pete...this was NOT directed at you....in 100% of my interactions with you, I felt the actions you initiated were fair and just.
I don't know how many moderators you have....a dozen, two dozen?? There are some moderators that APPEAR to me to do what they want, when they want, and I do NOT LIKE THEM AT ALL....I would not like them in person --I think they are power drunk, and they think they know something about SOCIAL Media --when in reality, all they know is how to abuse their own power.

If I don't say anything about the constant abuses of power by your moderators, then EVERYONE on Scubaboard will accept that "some people" just stopped posting.....Much like in Nazi Germany, some nieghborhoods just did not give any thought to the disappearance of some neighbors--when in fact they had been removed by the STATE. I do NOT believe in this instance of my being banned for using the Stroke adjective was justifiable--I think it was an act performed with dangerous implications for our social freedoms.. ( EVERYONE HERE WILL AGREE THEY DO NOT HEAR ME USE this adjective --THIS WAS A VERY RARE USE, AND NOT ONE WHERE THE WORD WAS USED AS AN INSULT--IT WAS THE WORD AS AN ADJECTIVE)

As to my comments being "cowardly", I am not the one doing things from the safety of an anonymous position with no accountability....If I was a moderator, I would NEVER consider telling someone that I had a "Zero tolerance" policy about posting styles or for the things that some of these moderators are using them for....Zero Tolerance is for the largest fools in Eductation and government, and the concept has no place here...

I think we have a social Duty to challenge the ethics of this censorship. It is wrong on Scubaboard, Political correctness is wrong, and is a vile sickness infesting the popular culture and medias today....If all of us allow others to restrict what we can say and think in our social gatherings, then this apathy and inaction makes us equally guilty of the wrongdoing. In other words Pete, sorry, but I can't help myself.... I don't stay quiet about things that bother me like this, and unlike some of your moderators, I would be happy to sit down and discuss issues in person, rather than the one sided and anonymous fashion they chose to condemn SB users with.

 

[The Chairman]

I moved this discussion to Site Support so we don't silt out the Fins forum. For those that want some back story, you can find the original thread HERE.

Dan,

You feel that chasing people away by intimidation is somehow your right and covered by the first amendment. You're even doing it to the volunteer mods, whose only crime is that they made you follow the rules. This is not DanVolkerBoard. It's not even NetDocBoard. When you are a part of the community, you must abide by the rules of that community or face the consequences. Go ahead, speed and then tell the officer it's your first amendment right to drive any way you please and that he is some Nazi Scum bag for interfering with your right to do as Dan pleases. It won't fly there as it won't fly here.

If you have an on topic post, please make it without the "OH MY GOD, THEY'RE GOING TO DELETE IT BECAUSE THEY'RE NAZIs" crap. That kind of rancid crap actually makes it OFF TOPIC and so it will probably be deleted just to keep you from silting out the discussion. It would have nothing to do with your topic or whether it's politically correct for ScubaBoard. It would be all about you having a bad day and deciding to pull a thread off topic so you can vent your spleen in a churlish manner. Grow up. Stop trying to bully your point to win. Make your point nicely and move on. It's the grown-up thing to do.

Now, if you have a problem with moderation, PM me. As you pointed out, I am pretty fair. If I agree with you, I'll be glad to reverse whatever decision was made. I've done it before, and I am sure that at sometime, I'll do it again. If I don't agree with you then suck it up and move on. No more of these passive aggressive jabs at the moderator team. They are not drunk with power and who says that anymore, anyway? This is not rec.scuba and I won't allow that kind of free-for-all to happen here.

 

[toddthecat]

I never saw mention of Nazis in the original post when I just went to it. If something is going to be referenced it should probably not be altered. What I DO know is that anyone who uses the term "thought control" tends to be a conspiracy theorist who lives to incite people on the internet with ridiculous false claims. You know, the same people who said the end of the world was 12/21/2012. Guess I slept through that apocalypse. How convenient everyone else is still around!

 

[chrpai]

I don't even need to read this or other threads. I know for a fact censorship exists here... they just don't call it that. It's not all the time but when a subject gets uncomfortable and doesn't look good for a select individual or doesn't match the agenda... it's gone. One favorite example is the PADI DIR thread that was a flame war for a good couple years and then all of a sudden poof. NO CARRIER. Another recent thread was where Tobin was showing his personality and then poof GONE.

There are golden children here. Protected ones. The offensive can go one way and when the tide turns... poof. In one sense ScubaBoard moderating is just like the controlling of the message that goes on at most dive shops. NetDoc preaches change but it's really more of the same.

Not even going to bother to argue if I'm right or wrong... it's not up for debate.

31 days and a wake up until BlackBeard's...

 

[RJP]

If I don't say anything about the constant abuses of power by your moderators, then EVERYONE on Scubaboard will accept that "some people" just stopped posting.....Much like in Nazi Germany, some nieghborhoods just did not give any thought to the disappearance of some neighbors--when in fact they had been removed by the STATE.

Don't know about anyone else, but when I see someone play the "much like in Nazi Germany" card in an argument (Reductio ad Hitlerum or Argumentum ad Hitlerum) I automatically fall in behind their opposition. I don't even care what the subject matter is.

 

[The Chairman]

Chrp, as one of the most uncivil posters here on ScubaBoard, I can understand why you want to allow all the meanness. It's why I ignore most of what you post and won't accept a PM from you. Frankly, you would be happier on rec.scuba. On further thought, I would be happier with you on rec.scuba. But as I said, it's not NetDocBoard and I don't ban people just because I don't like them. All we ask is that you remain on topic and be civil. You can call that censorship or controlling the message all you want. Just be civil in proffering your thoughts and staff will be OK with that.

:wrong:​

Another thought for the conspirators, er conspiracy theorists: I have banned paid advertisers before. I, as well as staff have moderated them as well. They have to be nice too and we just won't tolerate otherwise.

 

[chrpai]

The irony of calling me 'uncivil' while personally attacking me. No different then you PMing me complaining about "position warriors" when in fact you and your denizens do it also.

One form of censorship here is when you are warned to never post with regards to 3 individuals who all happen to be friends with NetDoc under the guise that you have been stalking...

The reality is I censor myself more then the moderators do. There is all kinds of crap I'd love to call out about what I've seen here in Austin but I have to live with some of the people that I would offend with the truth. Thank God for the nice people I've met that make it worthwhile.

The people in South Florida, Colorado and the Pacific North West don't mean squat to me.

 

[toddthecat]

 

[redacted]

Don't know about anyone else, but when I see someone play the "much like in Nazi Germany" card in an argument (Reductio ad Hitlerum or Argumentum ad Hitlerum) I automatically fall in behind their opposition. I don't even care what the subject matter is.

Very thoughtful of you.

Do you smoke while you eat whale meat?

 

[danvolker]

I never saw mention of Nazis in the original post when I just went to it. If something is going to be referenced it should probably not be altered. What I DO know is that anyone who uses the term "thought control" tends to be a conspiracy theorist who lives to incite people on the internet with ridiculous false claims. You know, the same people who said the end of the world was 12/21/2012. Guess I slept through that apocalypse. How convenient everyone else is still around!

Personally I think most Americans find it easier to overlook threats to our Right to free speech, or to our right to bear arms, to our basic rights in general--they just find it easier to believe that the government has our best interests at heart.


There are "some cases" where this is true….but in too many it is not… for example:

• GMO Labeling and Monsanto…..Apparently YOU do really have the right to know whether an irresponsible company took genes from a bacteria or a virus, and inserted them into the plant or animal zygote that ultimately became the food you bought--genetic manipulation may one day help mankind, but unfortunately, most mutations will end up as unhealthy or fatal to an organism, and most genetic manipulation will open the door to such an enormous range of long term negative results, that it would take extensive 20 year or longer studies to make this type of lottery play safe---but today it is a 90 day testing by the company creating the GMO food….. This is big business, big money, and the consumer has no rights. Monsanto and even the FDA do not want the consumer to know what is in the food in the shelf at the grocery store…. So, You don't have the right to know what the food you are buying is made of…..To me, this goes on the Shelf pretty close to where "mind control" sits.

• The mainstream News media does not practice News reporting….they attempt to gain rating points by Yellow Journalism and worse, and few here could deny the Travon versus Zimmerman Fictionalizations created by the media to increase audience viewing….and an Obama led government further increasing this fictionalization, potentially for the purpose of further dividing America into Racial Lines rather than democrat or republican, to more completely guarantee the next presidential election--which of course, could still be fix via electronic voting machines that were created with full knowledge that they could be hacked -faked, more effectively than the paper ballots --which worked just fine for the last hundred years. The American News Media is the most powerful propaganda machine the world has ever know. Nazi Propaganda minister Joseph Goebbels would have been beside himself with jealousy had he seen for himself the power and effectiveness of the American Propaganda/News machine on the Sheeple of America. This IS mind Control.
• We live in a culture today where people expect that the medical world cares about them---the reality is that we have become a population of drug addicts, and the plan of the pharmaceutical world, it to have doctors screen for SYMPTOMS when they see patients, and then PRESCRIBE Drugs to TREAT the symptoms. This is NOT about curing…If you cure an adult diabetic, which is actually easy enough to do most of the time, you cost the Diabetic Care Industry billions…so no cures are unveiled ( hint….it is a combination of an insulin mimic known as Vanadyl Sulfate and a diet something like Atkins--with no need for insulin production over 3 or 4 months, the body resets, and insulin insensitivity disappears)…Or people with arthritis living on drugs for life ( billions in drug revenue) when a zero sugar diet would eliminate most of the inflammation ( Advanced Glycation End Products from high sugar diets) and this can be combined with the K Laser, for either a cure, or near cure. But that would be billions lost…. Ultimately, Americans are on their way to indentured servitude, and they are still proclaiming to the world that this is a free and democratic country.
• I could go on, but this is a scuba site, not what is wrong with the US Government and Culture.