Goodbye Wilderness Survival

[rat31465]

I just wanted to take a second here to say goodbye to the members of this Forum as I will no longer be visiting the site. I have written asking the Administartors to remove my membership for personal reasons.
I have had some good conversations and learned much for the people here.
The one good thing about being an American used to be Freedom of Speech but in light of the current administration that is fast becoming a dying right.
All the best to all of you.
David Owens
aka...rat31465

[klkak]

If your gonna leave. Leave. Don't talk!

[Rick]

Frankly, I'm puzzled. You made a political post that we removed. That violated your view of Freedom of Speech? That upset you enough to leave? So be it. (shrug)

[DOGMAN]

the rules of the site plainly state "no political posts" how is deleting a post infringing on your right to free speech? lastly, I usually think of the internet, as an international medium, so globally speaking, USA constitutional rights are not valid anyway.

[Sarge47]

Freedom of speech is allowed in public areas, not the private sectors. This is a private forum. See ya & wouldn't want to be ya.

(Queen song playing) "Another one bites the dust, Another one bites the dust, & another ones gone & another ones gone, another one bites the dust!"

[Ken]

My suspicions are confirmed. I always believed that Sarge was a Queen type of guy.

[crashdive123]

Rat - I removed your political post, so if you are going to blame somebody for "infringing", it was me. The rules are plain. You know the rules. Not sure what is hard to understand about that. Truth be told, I had read the same news story that you had posted and had a similar reaction. This however, is not the proper place to discuss it. You were not admonished for posting it. You were not threatened for posting it. Go if you choose - as you say you have that choice.

[chiye tanka]

I don't get it! I've got a BIG mouth, and my supervisors at work know it. I've had plenty to say about lots of things here that I've held my tongue over because I agreed to the rules of the forum. I read and knew them coming in, and at times, it was hard to do.
Rat, I've got nothing against you, but if you're going to take offense to a post being removed, I have to question your maturity. You read the rules I take it, and broke them. Plain and simple!
What don't you get????

[rat31465]

> Rick,
> It wasn't my intention to make derogatory remarks towards the administration or owners of the Wilderness Survival Forum. I appreciated the time I spent there but due to my personal beliefs decided that it was best for me to leave.
> I fully acknowledge and respect the rights of the Forums Administration to delete threads which they find in violation of their terms of service and hope that these same administrators will also respect my rights to disagree with rules that I see as censorship?
> I have no hope or desire to try and change these rules so I chose instead to leave the Forum.
> In my last thread it was only my intention to say goodbye to those who I had gotten to know and yeah I guess to make a bit of a self serving statement. Of that I apologize.
> I wish only the best and greatest of success to Wilderness Survival Forums as there is a great need for education and the information which it offers freely to the public.
> I would appreciate it if you would pass this letter on to the other Moderators or individuals who have worked hard to keep the site operating so very smoothly.
> Thank You
> David H Owens
> Aka.rat31465

[Top it off - let it idle]

I'm just one of the new guys but I want to say that there probably isn't one person on this forum who wouldn't fight to protect their personal freedoms. So much of the discussion here is about that - survival in a world that wants conformity and consumerism, herd mentality and dependence. This forum often speaks to survival in the urban wilderness yet often wanders off into the bizarre. For that, I thank you all. I'm constantly laughing at all of the the wanderings and musings.

Rat - Like everyone, I respect your right to have an opinion and to make decisions that chart the course of your life. One thing I would ask you to consider is that censorship is a strong word and should be used in context. The purpose of this forum is to discuss survival tools and techniques. This is obvious to you and I doesn't really need to be stated. This is also a forum frequented by the alpha males and females of the human herd who have, like yourself, strong moral, political and religious feelings. Rather than being a form of censorship, I believe it is the moderators role to keep the conversation on topic or there is a real risk that this forum would quickly dissolve into emotionally charged conversations that have no bearing on the topic of survival.

Go or stay. It's up to you but I honestly believe it is better to be part of the conversation than outside of it... clearly, cuz I sure talk enough.

[Tony uk]

Bye bye Rat.

[snakeman]

It is one thing for the government to control your words. This forum is not run by the government (that I know of), so it is up to the administrators to decide what can stay or go. Although I don't agree with the current administration, they don't have anything to this forum. Any ways, good bye.

[FVR]

Good Luck David.

[Mischief]

> Rick,
> It wasn't my intention to make derogatory remarks towards the administration or owners of the Wilderness Survival Forum. I appreciated the time I spent there but due to my personal beliefs decided that it was best for me to leave.
> I fully acknowledge and respect the rights of the Forums Administration to delete threads which they find in violation of their terms of service and hope that these same administrators will also respect my rights to disagree with rules that I see as censorship?
> I have no hope or desire to try and change these rules so I chose instead to leave the Forum.
> In my last thread it was only my intention to say goodbye to those who I had gotten to know and yeah I guess to make a bit of a self serving statement. Of that I apologize.
> I wish only the best and greatest of success to Wilderness Survival Forums as there is a great need for education and the information which it offers freely to the public.
> I would appreciate it if you would pass this letter on to the other Moderators or individuals who have worked hard to keep the site operating so very smoothly.
> Thank You
> David H Owens
> Aka.rat31465

Ahhhhhhhhhh still around huh
Now that your knickers are in a knot:I bet you are walking funny.

[Rick]

Some of you have been on forums where little control is exhibited and you know what happens. Some of you have even said you are here and not there for that very reason. Almost everyone can envision what this forum would be like if religion and politics were allowed to be discussed. Or what it would be like if we allowed specific groups to be targeted. We have arguments now without all that. It has nothing to do with censorship. It has everything to do with keeping a clean house where folks can discuss wilderness subjects in an adult manner.

[tonester]

Some of you have been on forums where little control is exhibited and you know what happens. Some of you have even said you are here and not there for that very reason. Almost everyone can envision what this forum would be like if religion and politics were allowed to be discussed. Or what it would be like if we allowed specific groups to be targeted. We have arguments now without all that. It has nothing to do with censorship. It has everything to do with keeping a clean house where folks can discuss wilderness subjects in an adult manner.

i agree! some how whenever politics or religion is discussed someone gets their feelings hurt and arguments erupt. i like the vibe of this forum and the way the moderators run it, lets keep it that way.

[Rick]

I should also point out that the moderators very often discuss items before an action is taken. We have our own "private forum" where we can discuss various things. You very well may see a comment posted there like, "Is it just me or did that post cross the line?" type of question. Discussions ensue then an action is taken....or not taken. Obviously, if it's blatant spam or something of that nature then a moderator will act on his own accord.

We're pretty honest with each other, too. Just because one moderator thinks it's a violation another might say, "I don't see anything wrong with it." Then we discuss it. We try to balance each other out so the right decision is reached. There have been times when the moderators have taken items to Chris and asked for his input. Since he owns the forum, the final say about how it is administered is his to make.

Bans are something that is taken VERY seriously among the moderators. We've had some lengthy discussions over some members being banned. Again, I'm not talking about China Spammers. That's just done. But if a member has taken a somewhat inflammatory or adversarial stance within the forum we often have lengthy discussions on the approach to take or how it should be handled. And while the members may not see it, there are PMs with that member behind the scenes. Our discussions have even resulted in bringing members back on occasion.

The bottom line is we try to be even handed in our approach and not act within a vacuum when we make a decision. We seek guidance from one another and act accordingly.

I hope that helps everyone understand how the moderators operate.

[Sarge47]

1st just let me say that my political views are probably pretty close to those of many of the members here on the forum...but who really cares! Discussing politics usually leads to arguments that nobody wins, creates flaming, and wastes bandwidth & the time it takes a member to read it. Political opinions are like rectums, everybody's got one & they usually don't smell too good. Who cares what you think about the political situation? How is that going to save you from hypothermia when lost in the wilderness, or find you food, water, or shelter? I'm a radical "born-again" Christian", yet respect the rules regarding the "no discussion of religion" policy. Don't cry to me about the "freedom of speech" when we've all had the rules posted & re-posted several times and have AGREED to them in the past. Agreeing to rules, then trying to go around them makes one a liar; & that is just as bad, if not worse, than censorship! Go cry on someone else's shoulder, I don't want to hear it!

[Born2Late]

I agree with Tonester.Politics and religion are very sencitive subjects and some people take stuff personal.Rules are there for a reason and must be followed by all for this to work and somebody must make sure that we all toe the line.Dont change something that is not broken.FIFO!

[Scoobywan]

I have to agree with the mods on deleting posts dealing with politics and religion, not only to keep the peace (a bunch of us are very opinionated people), but also to keep this site up and running without a hitch. I mean, it makes some people in this world nervous enough with a bunch of people talking survival, guns, knives, etc... but if you throw political and religious rants into that mix... that'll make a lot more people nervous, which will cause another bunch of people to block the site from their networks. Which will ultimately cut down on the number of users, and all of the insight that those users bring. So mods, you're doing a great job, I personally like the fact that I can access this site from any network I'm on.