Don’t forget the flak you guys got from Chouest when Rob was reporting on the expat crew getting kidnapped in Nigeria (the one that wound up on CNN discussing his experience)… I have no doubt you guys were catching all kinds of hell from their legal dept when that was going on.
You guys definitely take on the big dogs.
(Btw, it looks like Plimsoll Gear bit the dust, and had we known a gofundme would be welcome, I’m sure someone would have. You kinda made it sound like a foregone conclusion that it wasn’t something worth fighting though)
I am in now way defending his actions or his tactics. Not one bit.
I just wanted to give insight into why these things tend to degenerate so quickly.
Well we weren’t interested because we didn’t have the $ to fight but I couldn’t tell the opposing lawyer that was the reason or he would have won. I can’t share our financial situation with anyone… showing weakness of any kind only makes the jackal lawyers salivate more.
And I know a lot of you would have chipped in had I asked. But that’s just the thing. I can’t be the one asking. It has to come from more than one person and specifically people not associated with this site. Otherwise, it’s ineffective because
it sounds self-serving so isn’t very effective
if not handled properly, can be straight-up illegal.
The best I can do is offer ways for you guys to support us like buying t-shirts (good), asking your HR dept to list jobs (better), or convincing your companies to advertise with us (best).
I’ll step up to the plate here. I flagged a couple when it became obvious that his only intent was to spam the forum. As a admin on a couple forums (long defunct now), I’ll hit the flag button when I think the situation calls for admin here to check on a thread.
But to send it on to organizations involved? That’s fucking low. I don’t even have words for that it pisses me off so bad.
The issue is real, no doubt about it. I’ve personally been lucky and never experienced it, nor have any of my crew ever approached me about a situation, but I make damn sure they all know that I’ve got an open door policy if they ever need it.
Yeah, don’t remind me. gCaptain merch is still banned on all EOC property.
And that wasn’t even the worst. The worst comes from inside the beltway. Don’t even get me started on the list of 4-star admirals, DC insiders, and ‘friendly’ billionaires, who own gCaptain Voodoo dolls.
Now you’re getting somewhere ! Getting under the skin of the people that have been screwing over mariners and other working people is admirable. Start a go fund me or whatever and I’ll contribute! Figure out a way to make contributions anonymous and you may get more contributions.
The thing I have decided after much contemplation, talking to historians and even a few current and former US representatives is the system is broken badly. It is so corrupt that the only chance of survival for the ruling class is to turn people against each other. As one former US State Department official told me, “It will have to be broken before everyone realizes they are all being screwed over by the same small group of people running the USA. BUT, the breaking will be painful.”
That is where I got my idea which many may consider delusional of reelecting all incumbents and the current president. Might as well break things now and rebuild because there is no hope in the current system.
Hang in there, courage is costly in many ways.
Well that’s the thing. Some of the shit that’s been posted is crazy (even the true stuff, maybe especially the true stuff). Some of it does need to be flagged.
And nobody is to blame except for me. I personally was the person who pressed the button to ban that account (despite desperately wanting to help fix SASH). I personally banned @c.captain too (who fought harder than anyone for a stong us merchant marine). I banned @ombugge despite doing all I can to recruit more international voices to this forum.
I banned them not because they are wrong (well… each does have their moments of wrongness) but because each went over the line. They all said things that could get us sued and this forum shut down. I have banned others whose heart is in the right place too.
Does this make me a hypocrite? Maybe. But this F’n ship is on fire and sinking boys! And in at total F’n conflagration a captain may have to sacrifice a few to save the ship and his crew.
And it is a F’n conflagration. Right now gCaptain is working on stories about 3 takers sinking, a cattle ship that flipped, 150,000 locals protesting bulker aground spilling oil, a cable layer that’s currently in flames, a US dredge explosion, a major uscg investigation starting, multiple hurricanes bearing down on the GOM, China pushing all our buttons, a total collapse of the cruise industry, mass layoffs offshore and at ABS, hundreds of thousands or mariners stuck at sea, and a F’n IMO ‘expert’ who’s telling people that carcinogens are "nature’s skin cream’. Not to mention the shit I can’t post yet like the USN defunding a certain three letter organiztion that’s already in distress, or the day job I’ve taken because covid has closed the local school so I have to start paying private tuition for my kid, or the gCaptain employee who has a lifethreatening medical problem right now, or the gcaptain writer who’s daughter who was raped by a satanic cult in this industry, or my house and boat which is under an inch of ash, or my mother-in-law who jsut died of COVID, or any of my recent calls with people at THE highest level of the US government.
We just don’t have the time to play babysitter or spend all day talking about these lawyers.
WE NEED HELP and it can’t come from me.I can’t even help arrange it. I’m too busy suppressing the giant F’n dumpster fire labeled Maritime 2020.
WTF? Overwhelming number of people against me? I take umbrage to such a statement and if there are so many who are glad I am gone as a contributor, let them speak to that assertion of yours.
otherwise let me state.
I did not quit. I left first because you banned me for what I believe was the third or even fourth time after a piffling spat I had with Sheila Sova (who you may venerate but I feel is a loopy dingbat) and even after my suspension had expired, I decided that the forum had descended to a depth of irrelevance where I no longer wanted to be the same participant I once had been. During that period when I was in the wilderness, I could not help but notice that you allowed Ombugge back before six months had passed so you obviously believed he was a more valuable contributor than I and I am sorry to tell you, but I won’t belong to any club who would have a person like him as a member. It was not that I no longer cared nor wanted to speak. I just don’t want to do it in the forum you have allowed this one to turn into which I am sorry to say, is withering into insignificance because you are not steering it in a purposeful direction, but rather allowing it to run in no good direction at all.
As I have said to you many times, you alone have the single greatest platform to unite American mariners and to combine their voices into one that might actually be heard but that would require you to announce that gCaptain is now a public IRS 501[c)6 professional association and to solicit dues for membership however you clearly do not wish to do that and have stated so many times. To me, this is failing the community of mariners you profess to care about.
I myself want to do what you won’t but I have zero platform and no knowledge of how to create one which you already happen to possess but just won’t use it for the greater good of the American professional mariner and I am very, very sad that you aren’t when you could. Every man and woman who holds a USCG MMC is the loser for this and frankly I don’t give one rat’s ass for anyone who isn’t an American here. Sorry, but they can fight their own fights. U.S. citizen mariners are dying a slow and painful death and there is not one foreigner out there who is doing jack shit for us.
Bug ain’t a bad guy, nor are you sir. Controversial opinions at times, …absolutely. No prince here on my side either. I welcome both your opinions and knowledge of the industry.
Good to see you have lost none of your spunk.
That the owner of this forum chooses not to become the professional lobbyist you wish for while you profess no desire to do so yourself should not warrant your condemnation. He has his life you have yours.
The fact that there is not one jack foreigner fighting for the US mariner is disingenuous. Why should they? The US is the biggest baddest country in the world and takes care of its citizens first and foremost, right?..just kidding. Many people in other countries [foreigners] are enjoying a bit of schadenfreude now.
but I am not back…at least not as you are hoping I might be
I used to really enjoy being a daily contributor to the forum but with what it has ultimately turned into and after too many times being hit with a ban hammer pretty much killed it for me.
Longtime Lurker, been following this drama.
I agree this forum is starting to drift towards authoritarianism…
This obsession with Ryan from Instagram is getting weird
Is it bizarre? I think it is bizarre that one or more people keep creating new profiles, starting multiple similar threads, and disparaging and generalizing long term stakeholders in this forum and industry. I’m not suggesting new members have nothing to add, as of course growth and inclusion are necessary for longevity and diversity of thought. But single-day old accounts with, as your screenshot suggests, false and changing credentials, do not add weight or seriousness to any discussion.
Many topics here discuss serious issues but also answer mundane/routine questions with respect, accuracy, and often thankless advise based on time in industry. While many members choose to remain anonymous (myself included) we do not make anonymous accusations nor (I hope) lie about our credentials and experience, as this would certainly devalue this industry resource.
I’ve read all of the associated SASH threads. It is a serious and neglected problem. I’m not sure I agree with all of the lockdowns necessarily, though I obviously do not know what happens behind the scenes. But I didn’t see a group of people disagreeing with the discussion nor the seriousness of it. I saw people offering their own perspectives, whether I agree with them or not. And in almost every case I saw an antagonistic OP. Un-civil discourse does not lead to meaningful change. Passion in advocacy is great and likely necessary. But if someone acts like a troll and projects their assumption that the world is against them, eventually people will get sick of listening to even the most important of topics.
