Originally posted by seahunter
Now that I know the identity of gadget, I will also avoid posts or replies on this board where he is involved in the discussion. To my knowledge he has been banned from at least 3 web sites for violations of their registration agreement. In each case, his posts were judged by an independent jury of moderators before the ban was imposed. I, in fact and unknown to him, argued in his favor to allow him to remain on a mutual board until my arguments no longer were acceptable in light of his comments. Read his posts and judge for yourself.
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I have never been on another scuba message board including the one at seahunters shop. In fact the only other forum I posted to was a rec.scuba news group nearly 4 years ago. This whole statement of yours is a red herring.
My reply - Facts only - no rambling diatribe....
- Please go ahead and read my posts on this board, they are easily accesed and I believe they have been well balanced and varied.
- My post here, while at times critical and definately passionate was not intended to slam PADI only. I was discussing the problems that concern me with weekend courses by any agency.
In fact I have worked with many good PADI instructors and they put on an excellent program. They are respected by the shop they work for and not merely talking heads.
- The problems I highlighted were directly related to my experiences and discussions with other instructors (PADI and NAUI). It was not my intention to specifically target any facility, but apparently I hit a nerve...
- I stand by the facts regarding the seahunters private message board not allowing contrary opinions of the owner.
- In discussions with many other instructors, we are all concerned with where scuba is going. Some people believe it is time for government approved standards while others favor self regulation. Now we have possible 3 day programs including OW to fire this debate?
Although, I could really get into this and bring my guns to bear including many other people who feel exactly as I do, I feel it would be a waste of time.
I invite the rest of the board members however to please offer their views on this as they are probably more impartial than either of us.