Love it, all of it. Quality material above by everyone. Love it when things come to this and go haywire around here, brings out the best in everyone. Comical and entertaining. Too much great content above to comment on individually.

I think the swellnet forums are one of the few remaining places on the internet for unbiased, independent, quality and insightful journalism, commentary, opinion and analysis.

BB you're not doing a very good job of thought policing the forums and saving the impressional from getting a job done on them since it's very clear that the tin foil hat wearers have corrupted me and I now need saving.

One final thing regarding the truth and factuality of content, I think it goes in stages. First there's stuff that's very clearly and obviously factually incorrect and lies, then there's a whole lot of grey area in which we live our normal everyday lives, and then there's...well...nothing...just more and more grey area...until you get to the outer reaches of the universe...Once you get to The Restaurant at the End of the Universe you are rewarded with a unique perspective that we all look very silly, and anyway western civilisation is on borrowed time and soon we'll be living under Chinese communist rule...

My 2 cents worth.
I really enjoy the commentary on these forums. Tend to disagree with a lot of it, but such is life.
Was is Voltaire that said something along the lines of I don't agree with what you are saying but I will defend your right to say it???
Censorship doesn't work, it just would in Covid's case strengthen the conspiracy theorists in my view misguided theories.
No one will 'win' any of these arguments, and no one ever changed their opinion or view by being abused, it just reinforces their stance, so waste of time sledging really. In real life, if you have to raise your voice you have already lost the argument.
Anyway someone once said that getting upset over social media posts is like crossing the road to step on dog shit.
If you don't like it, don't read it.

It was Voltaire Andy, but I think he was drunk at the time.

Any guess what the restaurant at the end of the universe would be?

My guess is Chinese with free, unlimited prawn crackers.

Mmm, prawn crackers…

zenagain wrote:

It was Voltaire Andy, but I think he was drunk at the time.

Any guess what the restaurant at the end of the universe would be?

My guess is Chinese with free, unlimited prawn crackers.

I have my best ideas when drunk! :)

Me too.

It's just that I can't remember them.

Viclocal needs to go, does nothing but attack people with foul mouthed trailer trash.

Robo wrote:

Viclocal needs to go, does nothing but attack people with foul mouthed trailer trash.

Waaaaaaaaah wrong thread liar.

Voltaire never said it. It was an illustration of his beliefs written by his autobiographer Evelyn Hall in "Friends of Voltaire" in the early 1900's. I learned this from an angry feminist.

Okay smarty. But have to give you plus one for listening to her. Probs hard not too.

I believe it's called Milliways.

The Dish of the Day is Ameglian Major Cow, which is a race of artificially created, cow- or pig-like creatures bred to want to be eaten. They offer you a range of their body parts to eat and after you select what you'd like, they go out the back and shoot themselves.

Milliways also offers a side salad and a fine selection of liqueurs.

Definitely wouldn't be surprised if the Chinese aren't already out there was well, possibly having purchased the restaurant itself, or at least - with communist party support and subsidies - attempted to set up a replicated copy of it in direct competition, but which they still can't get right and consequently the quality is sub-par and their attempt is more like a dollar shop.

Vic Local wrote:

Robo wrote:

Viclocal needs to go, does nothing but attack people with foul mouthed trailer trash.

Waaaaaaaaah wrong thread liar.

Unhinged, see a Dr

andy-mac wrote:

Anyway someone once said that getting upset over social media posts is like crossing the road to step on dog shit.

If you don't like it, don't read it.

love it, spot on

i think lately that the rah rah meter in these forums redlines in direct correlation to covid cases exploding, it's a weird phenomenon that someone smarter than me might be able to explain

apart from that, if the usual suspects took 20% off their intensity & found at least a sniff of empathy for their fellow punch drunk "enemies" the forums might be a little less 'no holds barred cage fight' & a little more 'sweet science boxing'

as it stands it's becoming more and more this

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="

title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>

have a good day everybody, don't forget to stop and smell the (real life) roses

blindboy wrote:

Ben, like it or not you are a publisher. The laws may take a bit longer to clarify that but, legalistics aside, you are a publisher. You solicit contributions and use technogy to communicate them to a wide audience.....that's been the publishing business since the first printing press. You pay for some contributions but by opening a forum you are also soliciting contributions to them.

I first drew your attention to your unethical behaviour over the climate change forums in which you tolerated explicit climate change denialism with all its usual accompanying lies.

You have continued this absence of ethical behaviour through-out the pandemic and if you think this has had any kind of positive impact, then I consider you to be unforgivably naive. You created a breeding ground for the worst kind of anti-vax propaganda on a site used by many young people and many without the ability to sift the truth from the bullshit. If the attempt at self-justification you have posted above makes you feel better, fair enough, it does not exonerate you in my view, nor, as time goes on, in your own is my guess.

Boo Fkn hoo

I came across this on Twitter and went to hit the heart shaped like button and a warning came up that this post couldn’t be liked or shared. I hit on the bottom link about covid misinformation and was taken to the WHO site and their recommendations against ivermectin in the treatment of covid . I had a bit of a laugh to myself as the WHO also recommends against remdesivir but it is widely used in the developed countries including Australia for treatment of covid .

Constance B Gibson wrote:

"And a special shout out to my good mate blowin. Can't believe he got the same suspension as me after he threatened me with violence twice. But hey, I don't make up the rules at SN."

See the previous post above, VL.

"Fake equivalence is a kunt of a sport. Balance?! Hahahahahahaha.

Parp!"

after days and days of whinging whining like a spoilt baby @info got off scot-free after threatening @herc but only because he edited his original post overnight before @stu or @ben logged on the next morning ... all before the 10 minute rule which @robo took full advantage of just the other day otherwise he’d be sitting it out as well

Loving your needle point work Connie. Where do you find that shit?

+1 on the admiration of the needlepoint work. I'd love to take a pic of the screen (yeah, i'm that low tech) so i can send it to a coupla friends for a laugh... with your permission Constance.

aaaaannnnd..... Wealth shared. The world will never be the same. Yay. And thanx.

wax24 wrote:

aaaaannnnd..... Wealth shared. The world will never be the same. Yay. And thanx.

You do realise that it’s not Constance’s ( Facto’s) needlework?

He doesn’t do original or creative.

He copies like a parrot.

That’s why it’s even funnier when he makes the sqwark sound.

Stunning and brave of him to allow you to share someone else’s idea. Notice the way he let you believe it was his work ? That says all there is to know about your mate Facto.

Polly want a cracker?

Meh

I get sin binned and don’t give a rat’s.

You get sin binned and caterwaul like you’ve had a spider crawl up your vagina.

Such a stunning and brave martyr you were.

And yeah….old mate above thought it was your needlework and you loved it. Bizarre set up you’re running bloke.

Edward Norton playing Facto in his new flick : Shite Club.

The sequel to : Not so bright club.

Ugh. Just to clear things up. I figured the stitching thingy was prob NOT a Constance original (dunno why, just didn't), but the right thing to do is get permission. Cuz whomever it belongs to... it isn't me. But..... really couldn't care less. Just was enjoying the levity. WAS. I hadn't been on these forums in a while. Cuz it's just miserable people sharing their misery. I come back, try to have a little fun with something so lighthearted it couldn't possibly trigger snark or the like. I was wrong. I'll be leaving again. Cuz, yeah.

No laughs here Waxxy one. Just a bunch of 1970’s pressure cookers erupting the casserole onto the kitchen ceiling.

Yeah well i am at work. Noc shift. Psych hospital. Don't need to look online to find misery. Certainly don't need more of it. And def not interested in it.

wax24 wrote:

Yeah well i am at work. Noc shift. Psych hospital. Don't need to look online to find misery. Certainly don't need more of it. And def not interested in it.

Hey Wax, just ignore the grubs. It was a funny image, glad it gave you as a laugh as well. We need more.

Hey Wax,
A bit of levity, the Young Ones never go out of fashion...

blackers wrote:

wax24 wrote:

Yeah well i am at work. Noc shift. Psych hospital. Don't need to look online to find misery. Certainly don't need more of it. And def not interested in it.

Hey Wax, just ignore the grubs. It was a funny image, glad it gave you as a laugh as well. We need more.

Facto is THE grub.

Here he was spouting spiteful snark on a thread related to nothing and the babies are crying because someone responded. The reprinted, yet generously shared meme * was itself a little jab by knife by the little back slider

I swear it’s a parallel reality some of you clowns live in.

* Knowledge is power…..oh my Lordy. Are we talking about the same lame meme here? Facto is such a bland, beige carnt that he thinks styling himself on that prattish pretender Rik from the Young Ones is a step up. Then again, he’s probably right. Facto trying to be appreciated as a wanker is more fulfilling for him than accepting he’s a boring non entity as himself.

Share the wealth bloke ! Lol.

No wonder everyone who knows him thinks he’s a joke.

Sometimes Blowin, there is just no need, no point. The bloke liked the image, it was funny irrespective of context. Leave it.

Titter away then bloke

And here we are again.

Actually, we've been here many times in recent months, but it's probably worth a quick refresher. And a real-time example.

This morning, I've blocked Friar Tuck (a.k.a Robo) from commenting. As a side note, it's been interesting in recent days seeing other commentators spot his previous identity, and then having Robo deny it.

[pro-tip: when creating a new account at a website you've been banned from, don't allow your new moniker to adopt the same personality quirks.. in this case adding 'lol' at the end of every second post]

Although not explicitly stated in the Code of Conduct, being a pain in the arse should probably be added the list. 

Robo was previously blocked from commentating, in about mid-January of last year. He then tried to re-register a new account over the following months, but wasn't allowed access until about September (we figured perhaps enough time had passed, and he'd be better behaved in the future).

So, for a couple of months - under the new moniker of Friar Tuck - his comments were fine.

But, it seems he's gathered a second wind over the summer, and is now back being a dickhead again.

To be upfront - I don't agree with many things he posts, but that's got nothing to do with the reason he's blocked. I also don't agree with many things that other people post, and they're free to remain active on the site (though, a few people are pushing the boundaries too, so let this message serve as a heads up).

It's the way Friar Tuck is now continually posting personal attacks and non-relevant information from other threads into fresh articles, destroying the commentary, that's infuriating. 

Yesterday, we posted the article Calls For Legrope Awareness After Another Serious Injury At Byron. It's an important article, and the associated commentary is valuable as it allows everyone to gain a broad understanding of how this issue is affecting other surf spots other than Byron Bay.

Friar Tuck's contribution to the comments are below (I will remove them from the article this morning, to improve the flow of the commentary there):

• "Cok lives in a inner Melbourne apartment under dictator Dan, sour grapes lol."
• "Nothing wrong with being in the closet"
• "Just stick to your gayfl or watching cockroaches race stok"
• "Would be lucky to surf half a dozen times a year if at all, typical inner city yuppie."
• "Clubbies are ok to nearly kill you with their boats, but then scream blue murder when you surf a wave in the flags lol"
• 'Surprised you would live anywhere near Byron with your screwed up pro science views, more like in a townhouse in Glebe lol"
• "Put the country up to it’s eye balls in debt in the last 3 years, there’s one."
• "Nocludo comes up with a 6 year old Insta post lol"
• "Abuse lol man up"

Almost all of these were directed at two users who Friar Tuck obviously doesn't agree with on other matters. Regardless, the comments are annoying, juvenile and an unwanted distraction as they trigger secondary, off-topic threads.

So, allow me to ask nicely: please don't be like Friar Tuck.

I don’t really notice his posts as I just scroll on by because there’s nothing of interest in them.

I like the title of this thread and it was good reading the last few pages . Don’t envy SN job of having to read all the comments to monitor these threads, must be very time consuming for little reward but I appreciate that they keep these forum’s going. It would be easier ( for SN ) to scrap them and minimise discussions . There is some interesting reading in these threads and I have learnt a lot without having to comment, especially on subjects I know very little about . Anyway its a beautiful looking day , unfortunately it’s tiny up this way but I will get the daughter down to the beach at some stage and push her onto a few . Enjoy your day swellnutters.

Nice one benny cheers mate. Keep the surf threads for surfing I reckon. Undecided on whether that should apply to burls and RK though, given their spite for one another is mildly amusing.

The cowardly act of censorship is pathetic and weak. Debate or ignore.

Censorship?

It’s not really censorship tho is it Michael? What was the dangerous idea that’s being shut down? Looks to me to be just a pest who follows people around on forums throwing abuse, being removed from the platform.

There’s nothing to debate, and the pollution of mindless personal sledging kind of detracts from the flow of the conversation…. Making it hard to ignore.

Nah Swellnet don't censor, as long as your fairly civil, you can debate pretty much anything here.

Just look at the Covid thread there was all kinds of crazy ideas allowed that would be deleted from Youtube or social media as seen as dangerous misinformation by some.

I think it was good it was aired and generally speaking people called it out and those who posted things like Plandemic just looked silly.

Elon would be proud.

The covid thread has been censored (deleted).

Eh? We didn't delete the covid thread. And it certainly wasn't censored.

Agreed. There’s a difference between censorship and moderation. Almost all forums have a behaviour and moderation policy. The moderators on this website are infinitely patient compared to most others and, I would suggest, long suffering of some fools who offer very little other than disruption and insults. Go to the pub and misbehave and you can expect to get bounced. The same should go here. Swellnet’s loss is Beachgrit’s gain. That’s where Friar Tuck belongs. He can share in the standard low brow chatter they engage in over there.

Swellnet can do whatever it wants. I was just offering an opinion on censorship. Not sure why it is denying censoring things when it clearly has. Has the definition of the word changed recently?

I think theres one Covid / Vax thread still open but hidden from View. ?

Michael Adam wrote:
Interesting how the covid fanatics always want to shut down the argument and avoid debate while the rest of us want to keep it going.

-----------------------------
icandig wrote :
All of the points have been made ad nauseam. It's circular, it becomes personal and it's boring. Got anything new to add? Feel free.
Arguing for the sake of arguing is ridiculous. I'm not changing your mind and no amount of confirmation bias, echo chamber, dunning kruger, bullshit links will change mine.

Michael Adam wrote:

Swellnet can do whatever it wants. I was just offering an opinion on censorship. Not sure why it is denying censoring things when it clearly has. Has the definition of the word changed recently?

Because the context that you brought up censorship is not the one that you’re quoting now. Ben has been clear that this is about behaviour, not opinion.

There’s a fine line between needling someone and nailing yourself ah @info; bahaha

Yeah, the SN crew are pretty tolerant. I’ve posted some pretty outrageous abuse towards RK and Indo and had 1 warning when I got quite personal.
Not an unreasonable reminder for us all and pretty open forums.
Like Supa said above I often learn a lot just by reading and wish I was better educated so I could make more meaningful conversation sometimes.

All good. Swellnet has the right to censor behaviours or opinions as it does. I still think it’s weak (and biased). That’s my opinion.

SN is a far more enjoyable experience when the focus is surfing and competitions. I am out of the remaining bs covid thread and have been for the past week or so…it is not worth the effort. I do love the live discussion during comps so will avoid drama and stick to that kind of stuff.

Michael Adam wrote:

All good. Swellnet has the right to censor behaviours or opinions as it does. I still think it’s weak (and biased). That’s my opinion.

Weak and biased?
Swellnet allows pretty much anything, any opinions no matter how wacky.
But clearly they draw the line at repeated abuse and insults.
Sounds like a fair deal to me.