Accusations of censorship from Jim Cunningham

[NickB]

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I received this email from Jim Cunningham during the last hour.

Nick,
I am sending you this email direct as communication via the forum seems to be suspect.
In the last couple of days I have spent a fair time typing out two contributions to your forum.
In both cases when I click on SUBMIT, the entire content disappears into cyberspace and does not register on the forum site.
The fact that the content does not praise either yourself or your cohorts suggests that my contribution is being censored before it gets the chance to appear.
This is a serious allegation, with regard to freedom of speech on your forum, and if untrue I would like assurance that this is not the case, and an explanation of why this has happened.
I have sent out some BCC copies of this email just in case you should ignore it.
Jim Cunningham.

I would l like to draw our readers' attention to the fact that Jim decided to copy his email to person or persons unknown using the BCC facility in his email client. Normally I would have kept this private between Jim and myself, but as he has decided to impugn my character to these unknown people I thought I would publish his libellous email and my response (below) in open forum.

Jim,

I strongly resent the accusation. Of course your contributions are not being censored. I have never 'pre-vetted' posts prior to publication, even when posting was anonymous.

It is something to do with the setup on your computer. It is not an uncommon occurrence.

In future, before you press 'submit' I suggest you copy the contents of your post to the clipboard so if it happens you can just paste it into a new post.

(Highlight everything you have typed then press CTRL-C to copy it. Place the cursor in the new post where you want to copy it to and press CTRL-V)

And - I don't have any 'cohorts'. Like many of your political persausion you assume that anyone who thinks differently is part of some sort of conspiracy.

As for sending out copies of this email to people - well, frankly, that leaves me no alternative but to post this on open forum, as it appears you have been making accusations about me to person or persons unknown behind my back.

This correspondence will therefore be published in full.

Nick Bowles

You are right about one thing Jim, it is a serious allegation. You have not just libelled me privately, you have sent this correspondence out to other people. You have potentially damaged both my reputation and my livelihood, as my work relies on people trusting me with their data.

I expect an apology. Here, in public. Soon.

Then I expect you to get back to your 'BCC' correspondents and tell them that you were wrong.

[Gavin Rae]

hi Nick

For info

Just to say that I experienced difficulties around 6.10 am this morning posting a message (response)

I was using my i pad and when I pressed the submit button it disappeared sideways right at a high rate of knots !! - when I tried to retrieve the page it was blank - initially I thought I had mistakenly pressed the submit button before finishing my reply

I then typed the same response another time shortly later and It was accepted

Any ideas why this happened ?

Regards Gavin

[Gavin Rae]

hi Nick

For info

Just to say that I experienced difficulties around 6.10 am this morning posting a message (response)

I was using my i pad and when I pressed the submit button it disappeared sideways right at a high rate of knots !! - when I tried to retrieve the page it was blank - initially I thought I had mistakenly pressed the submit button before finishing my reply

I then typed the same response another time shortly later and It was accepted

Any ideas why this happened ?

Regards Gavin

[NickB]

Hi Gavin,

It can happen if you take too long typing a post and the network refreshes the page. I have no idea what the time limit is or if indeed there is any reliable guide. This does not mean there is a fault with the forum, it is just the way the internet works. It is not peculiar to this forum, it happens on lots of forums. It may also happen for other reasons. Here's two ways to avoid being annoyed by it:

Firstly when you click submit and it essentially refreshes the page. Hit back on the browser and most of the time there it will be for you to submit again.

Secondly, as I said to Jim, copy any long post to the clipboard before hitting submit. That way if it vanishes you can simply paste it into a new post.

BTW Gavin, do you know why your post (above) has appeared twice? This is another glitch that other forums also sometimes experience. It is most certainly not part of a conspiracy against Jim Cunningham.

[Gavin Rae]

Hi Nick

Firstly - Apologies to other readers for me using the forum to reply in this way

I don't have any idea why there are two replys from me

I'm certain I only pressed the submit button once !!! (Like this morning)

Many thanks for your speedy reply

Regards Gav

Ps at this point I am going to press the submit button once ....... !

[jimcee]

c

[jimcee]

One despairs
The preceeding message is what happened when I tried to follow our administrators advice to save a message from oblivion - yet another one bites the dust - hopefully this one will go out and I may try again tomorrow.

[Bill McDicken]

Don't give up Jim. It'll all be sorted out soon enough..........Damn technology!!!

[NickB]

One despairs
The preceeding message is what happened when I tried to follow our administrators advice to save a message from oblivion - yet another one bites the dust - hopefully this one will go out and I may try again tomorrow.

Highlight the whole post

Hold down the CTRL key and press the 'c' key at the same time.

Now press 'submit' as normal.

If - and only if - your message vanishes THEN start a new message, hold down the CTRL key and press 'v;

The copy and paste routine is only as a backup, not instead of hitting the 'submit' button.

And don't forget if your message vanishes to also try using the 'back' button in your browser. The message may still be there.

You could also write your message n Word or some such programme and copy and paste it from there if you find that easier.

[jimcee]

Another attempt – this one by composing in Word (no compunction to get it all typed quickly before it disappears),
Some observations on the correspondence to date –
I am surprised that it appears under an Independence heading – I would have thought Procedural rather than Political.
However –to the main points – The reasons for my contracting our administrator to seek assurances were-
1) Typing out a lengthy reply twice, and having it disappear when trying to submit – this does not happen with any other function on my computer.
2) The fact that previously on this website, my efforts have been subjected to censorship. (this was not complained about at the time)
3) The fact that the subject matter of this particular posting was to a certain extent critical of our administrator – and others.
The reason for sending it directly, rather than through the forum was because I didn’t consider it something to be aired publically – although I do admit that I sent out a couple of blind copies, and had I been wiser, I should not have acquainted the administrator of that fact .
However the recipients of the BCC’s are both disaffected members of the community and unlikely to have any impact on the reputation or livelihood of the administrator.
I cannot see how my message could in any way be construed as libellous, and I apologise if our administrator sees it in such a light.
P.S. That method of transmission worked a treat and has the advantage that one can easily produce a printed copy - useful in the event of litigation.

[NickB]

2) The fact that previously on this website, my efforts have been subjected to censorship. (this was not complained about at the time)

Your posts have never been censored as far as I can remember. Posts are only likely to be censored if they break forum rules or offend common decency, usually by using inappropriate language or attacking another individual.

I am still somewhat annoyed that you are emailing people accusing me of things I have not done. That is most certainly libellous - ask your solicitor if you are in doubt.

I can see I am not going to get an apology, so while you are free to argue against my views on politics or life in general I will warn you that any further paranoid posts accusing me of censorship or any other jiggery-pokery I have not committed are liable to be censored, and you could end up with a ban. This is not personal - please check the forum rules carefully and you will see that this is made quite clear.

As for helping you with the problem of your disappearing posts - well, you are welcome, no thanks necessary