It is an unwritten rule in the WKPP and in the DIR system that honesty and trust, among your friends and team members, is a prerequisite to diving. These are people who you will constantly entrust with your life and personal safety. There can be no abridgement of this implied contract. Deceptions, partial truths and dissembling violate the very essence and spirit of our team and overall organization. While we may sharply disagree with individuals who fail to understand our philosophy we harbor no grudges against them and strive even harder to bring them into the realm of sensibility. People who have violated our trust in fact or in spirit are another matter entirely. Thus, you begin to understand our extreme displeasure with Joseph Dituri who has violated our trust in both principle and spirit. These are the facts: (1) Knowing full well about our huge conflict with the USDCT organization and the proprietary nature of the technology the WKPP uses, Joe failed to disclose to George Irvine his close relationship with the Wakulla II project and Bill Stone, while attempting to purchase a Gavin scooter from the WKPP. Dituri further assured George that he was not involved with Bill Stone and based upon this presumed trust George went ahead and built a scooter for Dituri. (2) In a similar fashion Joe failed to disclose this same above described relationship to Robert Carmichael, the WKPPs primary commercial benefactor and developer of our rebreather technology. Even as Carmichael was detailing many of the inner workings of his business and the technology of the Halcyon, Dituri chose to hide his close relationship with Bill Stone and the USDCT. At the very least he should have warned Robert that the confidentiality of what was being disclosed might be compromised. This is, at best, a violation of a fiduciary relationship and at worst, just plain dishonesty. (3) Dituri further chose to tell a trusting Robert Carmichael that the reason he could not remain in Ft. Lauderdale for a Halcyon refresher course was that he had to get home to his wife on the following Tuesday. In fact he had no such plans and showed up at Wakulla Springs instead in the embrace of the USDCT. His first act was to send out a whining and accusatory missive to former friend and colleague John Rose from the email account of Jill Heinreth. Rose apparently had the temerity to put in writing his feelings regarding Dituris duplicity and received a vitriolic, sarcastic and insulting reply. Jill Heinreth along with her husband Paul Heinreth form the top administrative cabal within the USDCT. It is a that Jill has received a warning letter from our attorney, Alton Hall, not to approach WKPP sponsors or tortiously interfere with our project in any fashion. Before you pull your handkerchief out in sympathy for poor upstanding citizen Joe Dituri, who has been slandered and maligned by the evil George Irvine and company consider the above. He has put a knife in our back and we will respond accordingly. The bottom line is this. People who we cannot trust will never represent our organization or our philosophy. If you are on board with the WKPP and the DIR system then you are with us because you believe in the fundamental correctness of the underlying principles. The issue of the personalities and disposition of people in our organization is and should be irrelevant. When I hear the often stated excuse that the reason people take issue with the DIR philosophy or Halcyon gear or whatever is that they dont like George Irvine, I say go away. We do not need or want you involved with us. Go ahead continue with your deep air, sloppy gear, personal preferences and unsafe practices and enjoy the rotten fruits, which fall from this tree, while you can. Best Regards, Bill Mee
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