Cage Fight on the Oz Report?

[Bob Kuczewski]

I happened across this post from November 19th, 2009 written by Christian Williams on the Oz Report. They were discussing whether Davis should be considered a Journalist or not. Christian wrote:

The best description of Davis is blogger. As he says, he is publisher, editor and reporter.

In the brief period in the USA when "reporter" meant something specific (and almost admirable) , the word implied a news organization in which those three jobs--pub, edit, and report--were compartmentalized and had checks and balances and the overall target was objectivity.

Although lingering examples remain, the model proved expensive and couldn't keep up with the explosion of alternate sources of information. And it really only had traction from the 1960s to the Internet, with Watergate -- the politics and the movie --as the glamorizing factor.

Now most of us know that we have to do a backround check on every source of news, and be at peace with context. Another way of sayign that is, if all you watch is Fox News you're living in a bubble, and if all you read is the New York Times your universe is much smaller than you think.

In my opinion, the cage-fight give and take of the Oz Report is probably the best coverage of hang gliding possible, in any era, under any administration.

It works well because Davis lets it all hang out, is who he is, and makes it possible to figure that out pretty fast.

Not saying it is the way to negotiate with North Korea, but it works for a small sport of people like us.

- Source: http://www.ozreport.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=17871&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=13

What Christian doesn't know (or isn't saying) is that the "cage-fight give and take of the Oz Report" is exactly like the one-sided coverage he calls "living in a bubble" because Davis decides who can post there and what they're allowed to say.

In the spring of 2010, USHPA was holding a recall election and I "dared" to confront the other candidate (Bill Helliwell) on the Oz Report ( ). Davis removed my posts, told me that I could not post such questions or be banned, and then he banned me.

So Christian's assumption that he's reading all sides on the Oz Report is false. Sorry Christian.

If you want to read all sides of an issue, come to the US Hawks. Davis can post here. Jack can post here. Brad Hall can post here. Even David Jebb can post here.

[Free]

If you want to read all sides of an issue, come to the US Hawks. Davis can post here. Jack can post here. Brad Hall can post here. Even David Jebb can post here.

They can, (could) post here but it's not likely they will.
Bullies are always cowards. Banning is an easy way for political gain or to 'win' an argument where fair discussion would have a different outcome.

Most readers don't follow close enough to see what actually happened as the
bullies then cover their tracks with distortions and lies about the banning.

Then the gang sycophants chime in to take some cheap pot shots at the banned ones, and the law of lowest common denominator prevails.

Bullies need to be called out and put on the spot.
They believe they own the spotlight so they should be given the spotlight.
If they are cowards, make them look like cowards.
If they don't respond, give them more spotlight.
Rinse. Repeat.

The internet is a powerful tool.
Use it or lose it.

[Bob Kuczewski]

Davis can post here. Jack can post here. Brad Hall can post here. Even David Jebb can post here.

They can, (could) post here but it's not likely they will. Bullies are always cowards. Banning is an easy way for political gain or to 'win' an argument where fair discussion would have a different outcome.

Correct.

Most readers don't follow close enough to see what actually happened as the bullies then cover their tracks with distortions and lies about the banning.

Correct again.

Then the gang sycophants chime in to take some cheap pot shots at the banned ones, and the law of lowest common denominator prevails.

Correct again.

Bullies need to be called out and put on the spot. They believe they own the spotlight so they should be given the spotlight. If they are cowards, make them look like cowards. If they don't respond, give them more spotlight. Rinse. Repeat.

Correct again.

The internet is a powerful tool. Use it or lose it.

Correct again.

The biggest problem with the internet is that truth can get lost in the shuffle. Unfortunately, it doesn't help to post the truth if there's no one reading it.

So if we want to spread the truth, then we have to make this a site that people WANT to visit. Otherwise, we're preaching to a very small choir.

So with that thought in mind, I think it's important to post new topics that hang glider pilots want to read about. We can mix in the truth, but (for better or worse) most people want to read what's fun and interesting more than what's true and fair. So anyone who wants to grow the platforum of the US Hawks should try to post things that will draw general interest whenever possible.

[Free]

Put a bully on the spot often enough where they have dug themselves into a hole and sooner or later they just fold their cards and run away.
This just happened today on a thread where Davis Straub runs away from an anthropogenic global warming argument that he is losing.
http://ozreport.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=21537
Re: Hal Lewis: My Resignation From The American Physical Society
Davis Straub wrote:

This is going no where and is not worth my time.

Davis never seems to be able to admit he is wrong about anything.
He bullies most debates with the ultimate threat of banning/demonizing or, as in this case, runs away like a spoiled child.

I'm sure there is a banning in the future for someone/anyone that persists in illuminating the weak mumbo jumbo of Davis' anthropogenic global warming arguments.

[Free]

The biggest problem with the internet is that truth can get lost in the shuffle. Unfortunately, it doesn't help to post the truth if there's no one reading it.

We are being entertained to death, slurping down the fluoride, aspartame and beer from bispenal A lined aluminum cans. Our brains athropy in front of electronic brainwash equipment. The sky is painted by chemtrails that spead into a silver gray haze that we all ignore even though we all see it. We are being poisoned and we know it but just can't say it. Our children are being stolen physically and psychologically. We self censor and cower to power.

Political correctness is not my forte. For years I've tried to wake people to just a fraction of the perils that we are facing. For years I have been attacked, censored, demonized and lied about. People want to live in la la land. They want to swallow the blue pill and not the red. Ryan Voight was right that "people suck" but we have been manipulated into being that way. Our nation is being dismantled by design. Further economic collapse is inevitable, also by design, as our rights are being systematically eroded. People lie and get away with it because everyone's attention ends at the end of their own nose. I'm generalizing now so anyone that is getting their feelings hurt can exempt themselves from these catagorizations. It would be so great if they would just speak up so that others would know that there are people besides themselves that are concerned for the future of the next generations. We have all become isolated, by design, so as to feel helpless against the rising tide against us.

This is a ramble, a crude explosion of thoughts that may not read all that well.
Sorry for that, I'm in a rush. I hear what you are saying, Bob. I don't know how to fix my concerns about all that is coming down on us. All I've got is to keep on warning as people are starting to wake up. If enough wake up, and stand up, change can happen.

I'll try to work on the presentation.

[Bob Kuczewski]

We are being entertained to death,
...
I hear what you are saying, Bob. I don't know how to fix my concerns about all that is coming down on us. All I've got is to keep on warning as people are starting to wake up. If enough wake up, and stand up, change can happen.

I'll try to work on the presentation.

Your presentation here is fine. You are posting here (in this forum) to people who will want to hear what you have to say. They will read it.

But they are tiny in numbers, and if we want to really change anything, then we have to reach more people (both for hang gliding issues and non hang gliding issues). Right now there are probably a handful of people who read this forum. If you want your message to reach a larger audience, then we need to bring a larger audience to this forum.

My suggestion is for each of us to try to post at least some percentage of "feel good" topics to make the site more appealing to the average pilot. We need topics like recent flights, new tow rigs, and general information about hang gliding. Talk about training techniques, and flying techniques, and even your own flying stories (with pictures). All of those things will help to draw more people. There will still only be a small percentage who will venture into these "off topics", but a small percentage of a big number is better than a small percentage of a small number.

The other thing that may help is to advertise the US Hawks as the place where people can get the whole truth since no one is banned from this site (other than the Cialis spammers!). If we can get a reputation for presenting the whole truth then that will bring the kind of people we want most as well.