Dear Brett and Mitch,

Welcome to the Internet.  Finally, you guys have decided to step up to
the plate and spew a little venom at us. Feel a little bit better now? 
Guess what?  We’re not on the phone to our attorneys or calling up our
computer geeks to track you down or terrorize you.  You took your little
shot at us through the Deep Tech article on George; however, what you
did not realize is that everyone who read this article all arrived at
the same conclusion.  The real agenda here is the defense of "Deep
Air".  The article begins with deep air via a discussion of Palmer’s
unfortunate death and ends with deep air by accusing George of diving on
deep air, an admitted practice which he and all of us have long since
renounced.  The compendium of Irvineisms made for very amusing reading
(i.e. "farm animal stupid"); however your selection of injured parties
could have been a bit better researched.   The mention of Wayne
Marshall, an admitted and convicted felon who embezzled $25,000 in CDS
funds for purposes, perhaps too outrageous to mention, does not evoke
much sympathy down this way.  Chris Brown’s "socially disenfranchised"
remark hasn’t won him many new friends in Crawfordville either.   The
letter writing campaign on the part of the disgruntled 12 served to
bring the curtain down on the Wakulla II project and for this I am sure
the USDCT will be eternally grateful. By the way you should have
validated Annette’s research a little better.  Many of the remarks you
attributed to George were either contained in private communiques or
published by other’s including that silly letter threatening Bill
Rennaker, the source of which was determined and the party responsible
for the transgression apologized.   If you think about it, George never
singled you or TDI out for any special mention until you went ballistic
over this Palmer imbroglio, which also, we suspect, was just a
smokescreen for your displeasure over his position on deep air.  
Nevertheless, all of  this is neither here nor there and a discussion of
who said what to whom only obscures the real issue at hand.  DEEP
AIR.     

You are on the wrong side of this argument and need to seriously
reconsider your position, especially in light of the wake of recurrent
tragedies attributable to "diving deep on air:".  Your forceful position
on this subject is a matter of public record and the republishing of the
Wah Wah Scuba article only serves to heighten the controversy. 
Comoglio’s death, Palmer’s death, Parker’s death, the Cozumel deaths,
the quarry training death last week and the legion of untold others
further intensify the magnitude of the "deep air" problem. The
disclosure last week  of John Dantin’s remarks, Chief correspondent for
the British magazine DIVER and a diving partner and friend  of Rob
Palmer’s, that Hurgada was in fact a veritable "mecca" for European deep
air diving, with it’s own bumper crop of deep air deaths was rather
disquieting.  Sure, technical diving got it’s start with deep air and
the attempt to deal with it’s consequences through all sorts of
techniques from training methods to gear configurations, none of which
correct the real underlying problem.  The WKPP eliminated all vestiges
of deep air exposure from its exploration dive program because of the
endless aggravations and especially the new awareness of the intractable
decompression problems associated with extreme exposures to high
nitrogen ppn2s.   IANTD is rapidly shifting away from deep air advocacy
and it is my best guess that the deep air requirement for trimix
training will soon disappear.  Our experience with deep air is nothing
but bad news and charlie foxtrots.  Don’t take my word for it. Ask the
lists what they think and you be the judge. 

As the chief of a large and influential training agency I would expect
you to come forth and publicly debate all of these issues, especially
your "deep air" advocacy.  I have never observed a single Internet
posting or related contribution form either Mitch or Brett in the
several years I have participated in these public discussions.  On the
contrary, Tom Mount has repeatedly debated all sorts of topics and made
his good points and occasionally taken his licks.  Indeed, he is well
respected and well liked for his courage in defending his opinions right
or wrong.  We often do not agree with certain of his ideas and sometimes
forcefully debate these issues with a great a deal of  fanfare and
hyperbole.  Nothing personal.  Rather than threaten people with legal
actions and other intimidations you need to become involved in the
debate and "turn the other cheek" when the invective and "drivel" get a
little too loud. If you really believe in something you should stand
your ground and debate it.  I cannot believe that you are afraid of
George Irvine, who, you may have noticed, is not easily intimidated. 

Brett and Mitch.  Everyone out there is listening in on this.  Please do
not tell me that you are afraid to debate the "fearsome" George Irvine. 
George responds to common sense, contrary to what you may think. He is
not a bully and calling him a coward is a bit ridiculous given his track
record of exploration accomplishments.  Be advised, as I am certain that
you are, that Irvine will take no prisoners when it comes to silencing
the purveyors of , what he perceives, is misinformation. Misinformation
in this business can be the kiss of death and there is nothing polite
about death.  I might also add that if Irvine is wrong about something
or someone he will be the first to own up to it and set things straight.


Do not make the mistake of casting this debate around the persona of
George Irvine.  People either agree with him or they don’t and anything
you say about George, is only going to harden their opinion on one side
or the other.  The real issue is "Deep Air" and we all know it.  There
is no need for you to reply through proxies or others.   This letter is
an open appeal for you (without rancor) to engage in the debate and be
heard.  

Sincerely yours,


Bill Mee      


 




Jim Cobb wrote:
> 
> Recently I wrote a email critiquing DeepTech (which is apparently has
> degraded to being a TDI newsletter at this point of the game).
> 
> Rather than debating me in public about my concerns, I received a private
> email, bascally telling me that, due to my bad attitude, they did not
> want my business. So I responded "fine" and provided an address to send
> the refund to.
> 
> To date I have neither received a refund check nor the latest issue.
> 
> So if you guys subscribed to DeepTech must be very careful not to voice
> any criticism about DeepTech or you will suffer the consequences.
> 
> And for those of you thinking about subscribing to DeepTech, you should
> read this message from Adrian Doubleday very carefully before sending in
> your check.
> 
> Remember, freedom of speech in America is limited to those who control
> the printing presses and lawyers, not to simple schmucks like you and me.
> If you dare voice your opinion in public, you will be punished, at least
> as far as DeepTech and TDI are concerned.
> 
> Jim Cobb (my real name)
> 
> On 9/25/97 9:05 PM Adrian Doubleday wrote:
> 
> >Normally we don't make a practice of wasting time with the rumor mill and
> >personal attacks generated by certain well known abusers of the Internet.
> >Recently an anonymous message was posted that claimed to have knowledge
> >that TDI was being sold under some sort of nefarious scheme. This is
> >absolute and total rubbish. there is not one grain of truth to any of this
> >nonsense. For any viewers with even a passing familiarity with the most
> >notorious abuser of the various tech diving forums, you will quickly
> >ascertain the true identity of the person creating this drivel.
> >
> >TDI is not for sale. The company continues its unprecedented growth and
> >expansion. It is now the largest tech training agency in the world with
> >offices in 14 countries and over 5000 instructors.
> >
> >Incidentally, viewers would probably be interested in the most recent issue
> >of DeepTech where an article addresses specifically the ethics of the
> >Internet abuse and some of its dysfunctional stars. The release of that
> >issue corresponds almost exactly with the most recent spate of hate
> >postings directed at TDI and its owners.
> >
> >Unlike the cowards who hide behind anonymous postings, we like to stand in
> >the light and speak plainly and loudly when certain jerks try to bully the
> >rest of the community.
> >
> >Don't expect that these types of morons will cease their cowardly attacks.
> >Just know in advance that they have raised the practice of pathological
> >lying to a new art form.
> >
> >We've turned the matter over to some experts in computer fraud who will
> >ultimately trace the source and hand the material to our attorneys. Then
> >let's see what brave characters are unearthed.
> >
> >TDI is alive and well. Maybe someday we'll make the company public and you
> >can all buy in.
> >
> >Bret Gilliam
> >President
> >
> >Mitch Skaggs
> >Vice President
> >
> >Joe Odom
> >Training Director
> >
> >
> --
> Send mail for the `techdiver' mailing list to `techdiver@aquanaut.com'.
> Send subscribe/unsubscribe requests to `techdiver-request@aquanaut.com'.
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