Censored!!!
This modest, non-threatening web site has been censored -- and then lied about!! For a short, glorious time, this site was part of the POW-MIA Webring. Then, on April 9, 1998, I received the following e-mail message:
QUOTE
This letter is to inform you that your site has been removed from the POW/MIA Ring. . . . As it is now, your webpage is contrary to the beliefs of myself, the Ringmaster, and what I wish the POW/MIA Ring to stand for.
It is nothing personal, and I will not discuss or argue with you about this. (sic) Please remove all references to the POW/MIA Ring, including graphics, links, etc., from your webpage immediately.
END QUOTE
If my site offends anyone, I really do apologize. Of course, if the problem is that true believers can't stand a healthy dose of facts, . . .
Update: Censored Again
Update: "POW-MIA Internet Blackout Day" a Total Bust
Not only censored, but now, lied about
On October 4, 1998, I received the following e-mail from an individual identifying herself as "Lady Jen," claiming to represent the POW-MIA Webring:
QUOTE
Mr. Schlatter...you begged me over and over again via e-mail to add you to the POW/MIA Ring! You submitted a messy and unprofessionaly Pro-POW/MIA just to get in, and out of pity, I added you. I had no idea who you were from Adam...
You have every right to express whatever opinions you wish, but you fraudulently entered the POW/MIA Ring by expressing a Pro-POW/MIA sentiment, when that was never your intent, then cried censorship when you were removed. Had you been upfront and honest with me about your intentions, perhaps your *opinion* would have been allowed to remain. But you were sneaky and dishonest, and it was that which was not welcome!
I explained to you that you were welcome to start your own anti-POW/MIA Ring, but I see you chose whining over action. You are truly pathetic....
LadyJen
Honor Our POW/MIA's; Gain A Full-Accounting of Our POW/MIA's;
Educate the Public about POW/MIA's; Ensure This Never Happens Again!
(sic)
END QUOTE
And now, the truth
Permit me to shine the spotlight of truth into this dark corner.
The message quoted above is typical of the attacks that one faces from the MIA cult. "Lady Jen" is promulgating untruths -- no, that's not right -- "Lady Jen" is lying. But, as she spreads this story, her supporters will hear only her side of things and they will add one more sin to my account. Here are the facts.
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As I was browsing around the WWW, I discovered sites with links to the POW-MIA Webring. As with any other webring, there is a selection where one can submit a URL to be added to the ring. I did that. Nothing more. |
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I submitted the URL for my site and received an automated reply with instructions on how to join the webring. I modified my site to join the webring. |
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A couple of days later, I noted that I had not been added to the ring. I sent an e-mail inquiring as to whether I had made an error in my HTML or something. Shortly thereafter, I was added to the site. |
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Then, a very few days later, I received the April 9, 1998 e-mail that is quoted at the beginning of this article, telling me I was not welcome on the ring. That's it, folks. Exactly what is it here that constitutes begging "over and over again. . ."? |
"Lady Jen" lies again when she says "You submitted a messy and unprofessionaly Pro-POW/MIA just to get in, and out of pity, I added you. (sic)". This statement says that I submitted one site to get in then switched sites once I was admitted. Nonsense. I suspect what happened was that "Lady Jen," or someone in the ring adminstration, added my site without checking it first. When they discovered the facts of my site, they could not tolerate reality and pitched me out.
Is my site messy and unprofessional? Maybe so. I put the site together on my own, in my spare time. I am not a professional graphic designer, not a writer or skilled editor, and I did not ask for advice about design for the site. My original MIA site is no longer available; I put it together using Netscape Composer, it was rather flat, colorless, and unattractive.
You see, friends, this is the sort of abuse you take if you challenge the mythology.
I have no problem with "Lady Jen" excluding me from her web ring, her "POW-MIA Freedom Fighters" site, or any other entity that she controls. The problem comes when she lies about it -- which is exactly what she has done here. Of course, in view of her comments on the MIA issue, I am not surprised at her lies and misrepresentations -- that sort of behavior is typical of the MIA cult.
Update: Censored again
"Lady Jen," on her "POWMIA Freedom Fighters" web site, maintains a message board where visitors can post messages and exchange comments. I have posted a few items on the message board. In early August 2001, I posted an article that poked holes in one of her favorite topics. Then, around 10:00 p.m., 9 August, I tried to visit the POWMIA Freedom Fighters message board -- I was denied access and was greeted by this message:
Sorry, the owner of this service has elected to ban your IP address (deleted) from using any of their services. If you have any questions please contact the owner of the Web Site, NOT Bravenet. Thank you.
Now how about that!!! First, "Lady Jen" censors me from the POW Webring then she bans me from the POWMIA Freedom Fighters message board. What could she be afraid of? On the MIA Facts Site you will find a guestbook. Anyone who wishes is welcome to add their comments -- I do not delete anything posted on the guestsbook (except for pornographic material -- occasionally someone posts an invitation to a porn site and I delete that). Of course, "Lady Jen's" actions are typical of a cult -- control the information to which members and would-be members have access, don't let them see anything that differs from what the cult wants them to believe. I was not surprised when she banned me -- it's typical.
Update: "POW-MIA Internet Blackout Day" a total bust
"Lady Jen," owner of the "POW-MIA Freedom Fighters" website annually touts February 1 as "POW-MIA Internet Blackout Day" on which Internet sites that honor and truly care about missing men should black out their site and insert instead a notice that the site is observing "Blackout Day."
Today is February 2, 2003 and as we all know, just about every "POW-MIA site" on the WWW was blacked out yesterday in observance of "POW-MIA Internet Blackout Day."
Well, not exactly.
I spent Saturday, February 1, 2003 hiking on snow-covered Holston Mountain in NE Tenneessee. Later in the evening, after returning home, I surfed over to "Lady Jen's" "Freedom Fighter"site to find it blacked out. The page showed a black background with a photo of single candle burning and a notice that the site was observing "POW-MIA Internet Blackout Day."
I then checked out the following web sites:
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National Alliance of Families |
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Advocacy and Intelligence Index (AII) |
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Ted Sampley's Veteran's Dispatch |
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Jennifer Martinez's mythology-filled website |
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The POW Network |
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Task Force Omega |
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Fourteen "POW Remembrance sites" that I found through Google -- checked them out as a random sample. |
And would you like to guess how many of these sites -- all of which purport to honor and really care about missing men -- were blacked out in honor of "POW-MIA Internet Blackout Day." If you said "Zero, zilch, not a one," you'd be right.
UPDATE, 28 November 2006. Not that it matters but "Lady Jen" -- webmaster of the POW Freedom Fighters website has now changed her name. She is no longer known as "Jen Bauer" -- she is now "Sjana." Once a nutcase, always a nutcase.
And -- by the way -- immediately above I cite my experience on 1 and 2 February 2003 when I found only one "MIA" website blacked out on "POW-MIA Internet Blackout Day." Since then -- 2004, 2005, and 2006 -- I have checked various MIA websites on "POW-MIA Internet Blackout Day" with the same results.