Quote:
Originally Posted by freekatz
I've always found both of your intentions to be very clear, I think some people just love to cast aspersions and throw doubt around (just my tuppance ha'penny!)
Personally I am very grateful to both of you for Project Avalon, the information you have put out has really opened me up to a whole new perspective on life and I really appreciate both of you providing this information freely for all of us.
Sorry, it wasn't really a question for you I just get tired of the nitpicking that goes on  |
Thank you!
Quote:
Originally Posted by sammytray
What is the procedure involved when "whistleblowing"? Depending on the magnitude of the "information" would you be able to forward the information or set up the contact to get the information out?
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No special "procedure". People contact us in a number of ways. We always listen very carefully to what the whistleblower's concerns are. We usually recommend that sitting on sensitive information is more dangerous than getting it out there soonest, as one is likely to become LESS of a target having revealed something important.
Sometimes we choose not publish information, and retain it for our own research. This is the case, for instance, when we receive small items of very specific information which only really fit with other pieces of the large puzzle.
Sometimes we receive warnings of events on specific dates (financial, military or political), and we don't usually publish those at all unless it seems particularly significant or of overwhelming potential importance.
On at least one occasion we've received very substantial information but have been asked not to reveal anything because the whistleblower has a plan for revealing the story themselves later (e.g. setting up a website of their own, etc). We will always respect that, although we may offer advice from our own experience about optimum ways to proceed.
We will never reveal details of a whistleblower's identity without their consent, and occasionally we disguise a story (or a person's identity) in minor ways - or withhold certain critical details - to make it harder to for the person to be identified.
It's a judgement call every time. The whistleblower's personal safety is paramount and this has to be an axiom of the way we work. This is why Mary Lou calling the FBI on Henry Deacon was an unacceptable violation of our personal code.
Once we make that decision that it's important to do release information (and have the okay to do so), our options are (a) a video interview, (b) an audio interview, (c) an audio interview with disguised voice, (d) a written interview, or (e) a written report - in that order of preference. We may or may not disguise the person's name, depending on a number of factors.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Orion Morris
Hi Bill,
Nice to hear from you! Hope everything is going good. I know that your message has been lost from time to time. I think it has alot to do with people and their desire to believe any type of conspiracy that they come across. Then they become overly paranoid and start pointing fingers when they cant find the absolute truth. Sometimes people become paranoid of you and Kerry. It has nothing to do with you, it is just some peoples natural behavior.
I was wondering, no offence, why some of the moderators are allowed to "moderate" ideas and opinions that conflict with their personal beliefs. Yet many opinions that contradict with avalons mission are allowed to stay. I think that at times their is over zealous moderating going on. Some of the people who have been banned I think are being kicked out for the wrong reasons. I feel like it is wrong to censor ideas and opinions when most of us are here based on the same or very similar idea. Conflicts and arguements are bound to happen and are unavoidable at this point. I am not upset with anything, I was just concerned with some of the censoring that has taken place.
You are both doing a wonderful job! Thank you for all your hard work!!!
Best wishes and love!
Orion Morris
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Moderators should only be moderating posts or threads which breach forum rules. Sometimes, that's a matter of interpretation... such as, when is someone being offensive? People will always disagree (and the moderators often do, being fully human!) about the tone and intention behind a comment.
My personal strong view is that membership of the Avalon Forum is a privilege, and not a right. It's like inviting someone into your house. This is not a public place, like a park or a forest where people can do (almost) whatever they like.
If someone does come into your house, you'd be upset if they then started to criticize the food, the drinks, the furniture, your personal opinions, or the way you have dressed. You'd also be upset if they started to abuse the other guests. Therefore you might ask them to leave.
This is essentially what the moderators do. It's got nothing to do with personal beliefs - or should not have. It's got to do with the kind of energy that the member is bringing.
Some members are also certainly paid agents. This has to be understood. The intel agencies are very good at what they do and it's VERY easy to pretend to be someone on a forum and then gradually cause all kinds of trouble.
Spotting this is a tough job, but moderators become skilled in tracking a members' posts and picking up their real intentions.
Some members are mentally disturbed and need professional help. I say with with honesty and compassion. We know this to be the case with one ex-member and suspect it to be the case with another. On both cases, they have been asked to leave.
(Note: the word "banned" is not one we can change on the forum software. Personally, I would prefer a different word - because this often sounds brutal and sort of verbally violent, which is not our style - but there's absolutely nothing we can do about it as it's 'hardwired' into the code.)
Some threads are moved to other areas, and this is a judgement call. Some threads are hard to categorize, and a moderator may sometimes make a misjudgement. What has to be realized is that everyone is trying hard to do their best to make the forum a place that is easy to nagivate and find things in.
Here's one thing that's really important to say. Sometimes it LOOKS as if a thread has been deleted but it has not... it's been temporarily moved to a holding area for review. The mods have a large backlog of these, and have been gradually working through them.
When this happens, we are not able to change the message that the member gets when (e.g.) viewing a bookmarked thread which is that they "do not have permission" to access that thread.
We're not able to change that wording, and it too is unnecessarily brutal. We'd like to be able to explain what has happened, but often we can't. This is caused a LOT of misunderstandings, and accusations from members who are either out to cause trouble (or who don't understand, or choose not to understand, how these things work), that threads are being deleted.
In almost all cases, threads are NOT deleted. There are barely ANY reasonable reasons to delete threads.
The moderator team has been settling down, and Kerry and I are now delighted in the team we have. They are a bunch of very wonderful people, who work long hours with no pay to make this the best possible place for members to hang out. There's been quite a shake-down, and some who didn't agree with the values and ways of working that we wanted, have left.
That's fine, and is appropriate. In some cases we take responsibility for having made a bad choice when taking someone on (and those people have left). We fully support every member of the current moderating team.
There is no ill-will by us towards any mods who have left. We understand that some moderators, and some members, will prefer the style and values of other forums. That's fine. If members do not want to be here, we encourage them to leave.
[to be continued]