A shining beacon of eternal Truth or just a small stop along the way of spiritual evolvement?

Can a place such as the David Icke Forum remain a constant in the ever-growing and evolving fields of spirituality, conspiracy research, world news/politics and all around Truthiness? Or can it actually become less relevant as a person grows along their path and maybe even actually hinder ones forward progress?

It seems there's always been a lot of talk from a lot of people on the forum but never really any kind of action taken or even suggested! (Cues the infighting!) Whatever guiding force there is behind that site, behind the scenes, it looks to only have interest in keeping a well-trodden walkway of heavy traffic and site hits coming in daily and out the window with any glimmer of cohesive integrity giving to the new and unknowing lurker a sense of despair and ultimately one of defeat.

Couple that with an over the top, heavy-handed Admin team that seemingly go out of their way to not only facilitate but to protect the very ideals and values that David Icke has so staunchly railed against for so many years now and it doesn't paint a very nice picture of what I would've at one time called "an awesome place"....


Has the DIF outlived its usefulness?

Wonderful piece Sir,

I think the site had it's potential like so many others. There was a point in time where there was a wealth of information, intellectually stimulating exchange between like-minded individuals, and generally a pretty good vibe.

In their quest to allow different sides to voice opinion, I think the mod team may have lost track of it's own rules and accommodated individuals who would use that as a platform for hate speech and fanaticism. Those who questioned that either left on their own accord, or were banned unjustly. Ironically the forum has taken on characteristics of the very system Mr. Icke writes and lectures about resisting. I have to agree with you, Phem. Hypocrisy doesn't paint a very nice picture.

Elements of the newly disjointed forum community may have little bits and pieces of relevant information for newcomers, but ultimately the atmosphere my drive them away. I would personally say that Yes, it has outlived it's usefulness.

Interesting question...

I started frequenting the icke site as having come to a few realisations about the world and wanting to explore ideas with open minded and respectful people. Having followed ickes career since the wogan interview and particularly after 9/11 I found that more and more subjects I was interested in appeared via google to be being talked about at his forums. I lurked there during what many feel were the 'golden' times of the dif - when it was in its infancy and the place felt like a community, positive and as if it could be the start of some sort of change.

I watched as that changed - slowly at first but increasingly you could see it becoming less about sharing information and more about extreme and distasteful views, arguing for the sake of it and baiting. I took a break from posting just before 'modgate' and watched as people were banned, rules were changed and all the 'isms' came to the fore.

I started posting again and made my disgust at what was to my mind becoming a huge issue publicly known. I found all but one or two mods to be singularly unhelpful - despite my insistence that I wished to speak to the forum manager about the issues I had - I never once had an acknowledgement of my concerns let alone any discussion with anyone other then to be told that if I could not handle the forum perhaps I should go join cbeebies. This in response to a complaint I had made when one of the forum members was the target of racial abuse from another poster. I was also informed not to bother reporting anymore posts.

I watched as members en masse attempted to discuss in the open the fact that many there disliked the tone the place was taking - I participate in attempts to stop the sort of threads that were blatantly racist, anti semitic and homophobic. I did as instructed - made threads and contributed to threads that were more positive and less offensive.

I spent a lot of time over my posting tenure wondering if I was just being oversensitive - I spent a lot of time and energy attempting to respond to that which I found distasteful in a calm and balanced way - only to be constantly abused harassed and called names.

My experience on that forum is one of overwhelming negativity - with any attempts to form bonds and create positive interactions to be frowned upon.

I am positive that one of the reasons that the chat rooms never seemed to work was because of the difficulty in monitoring them and because people formed close bonds through live chat.

I am convinced that the pm restrictions are in place to prevent people from interacting in a more personal manner and so that they are easier to monitor - The excuse given about it taking up space was ridiculous and transparently false when you consider that what really takes up space is the posting of videos and walls of text.

The hypocrisy in the rules compared to what is preached is quite frankly astounding - a lot of fuss is made about free speech and a lot of the distasteful things written are 'protected' under the guise of free speech but as many here are painfully aware, free speech does not exist there. Rules are changed in a 'problem reaction solution' type manner and the place is run using the same sort of techniques that got microsoft into trouble - they have no problem threatening legal action against smaller sites they view as 'threats' or infringing their copyright.

The headlines are one big advert for gareth and david icke 'products' and the utterly disgraceful pleas for cash to fight court cases are indicative of how those who browse and use the forums are treated - like cash cows.

Icke forums serve one function and one function only - to make money for 'brand icke' and those who post there keep the hits on google going and the people enticed in.

I think that at one time years ago it was a beacon for like minded individuals to talk and share with icke as the figurehead.

The fact is that Icke being as well known as he is, is going to draw people in and that can be a good thing - if the forum is run in a manner which is inclusive, respectful and friendly - it could have been a fantastic platform from which to create something really positive - as it stands it is a recruitment service for extremists from all sides and all agendas.

A lot is made about 'jdif' shills going on there but no shred of evidence - whereas oioioi provided evidence that stormfront were indeed sending its members over to start threads and generally spread their 'special' kind of hate.

What was done in response to that evidence? feck all

Links to aryan recruitment websites have been in signatures - but can we mention a positive place like this? nope

Outlived its usefullness? for those who wish to make a positive contribution I would say so yes - for those who seek to cause further divide then no it is incredibly useful.

Bravo, thoreau!!!

You get the emot-Icke-on.... (get it, Icke-on - icon.... harr, harr)

I was only a poster on the DIF for about a year (though I was very active in that time) so I can't really comment on it's historical usefulness. I can only really comment on the time I was active.

Like thoreau, I signed up because my years of internet research had often thrown up links to the DIF. Eventually I came to the conclusion that it would be a good idea to start posting there. I fully endorsed it's touted status on free speech so was not in the least surprised to find that many people with rather outlandish ideas had gravitated there. I was more than happy to spend time 'debating' these views with them.

Over time I noticed increasingly that things that were being said there took the free speech idea and abused it. My time became less and less useful in the wider picture. It became more and more taken up with trying to present an alternative to the bigoted views of certain very active posters. I noted that if I tried to talk about my ideas/research on alternative ways for us as a species, I'd be jumped upon by the same faces. They would do their best (and usually succeed) to steer the debate in such a way that it became farcical.

Anyway, towards the end of last year an incident occurred where one of the nicest posters ever was subjected to what can only be called racial abuse. At this point I lost my temper and very publicly railed against the admin for tolerating this behaviour. In a particular thread, I called the worst ones out and from that time the clock started to tick.

Unable to sit idly by and let the forum be a platform for continual bigotry, I put a lot of effort into organizing a boycott of 'race threads'. I contacted the people that I could see were regularly opposing the racists and asked them to try an experiment. That being, to not post in the race threads for two weeks to see if they dropped down the board. Many people, although sceptical, agreed to try. Early signs were good. The race threads did indeed drop down in the first few days. I didn't want to be underhand so I PMed various admin to let them in on it. To my surprise, certain high level admin reported back that they'd prefer it if I stopped the boycott. They said it would just allow the racists to debate unchallenged. At the time I thought this was a reasonable concern (naiive ole me) but pointed out to them that this was not happening and that the threads were getting lees and less traffic.... It is my considered opinion that the admin did not want these threads to disappear. They did not want the community working together to make them disappear. This view is based on PMs I received from admin. Needless to say the boycott fizzled out and normal service was resumed.

I have had the displeasure recently of having PM conversations with one sean. Someone who you are all aware of. I was attempting to raise my concerns about certain posters being banned for relatively minor 'offences' primarily oioioi. This is the sanctioned way of doing things at the DIF. By contacting admin. sean straight away said "what are you accusing me of?" I replied that I considered that to be a strange response.........Suffice to say that I got nowhere with him so I took to starting some unsanctioned public threads. Like the oioioi appreciation thread . At this point I went to the top of their radar watch list. Threads and posts I made would disappear literally instantly. They started going into the private "No Nasties" group and disappearing my comments there too. They started going through my PMs. Constant surveillance and a cycle of "On Warning" holidays.

Then they banned me for asking someone for their email address.....

So, my view is that the admin at the DIF thrive on all the division, bigotry, intolerance and negativity. They do not want people working together for positive ends. They abuse their own systems to quell dissent. Those systems are in place specifically to allow the bigots to post with impunity. Stick your head above the parapet and you will be banned for the most stupid reasons imaginable.

At first I thought that sean was behind all this and that he may be the one Credo Mutwa warned DI about. Then I became aware of PMgate and realised this has been the way of DIF for a long time. For DI to not know this is unbelievable. He MUST know about it. Therefore I am now of the opinion that DI himself is all about footfall and revenue. He is not what he purports to be. That disappoints me and I would LOVE to be wrong about it. So DI get yourself out there to prove people like me wrong cos at the moment, we are gunning for you. We have a duty to the free to gun for you...........

^This

I've been with the DIF a hell of a long time and what dub explains is precisely what the top mods are after.
More hits and google ranking and to hell with the consequences.

They enjoy the daily mail links and the heated arguments, the total opposite of what Icke himself supposedly stands for.
Icke DOES read that forum and he no doubt approves, at the end of the day its how he makes a living.

There's only so far you can go with 'truth' and its very simple, there is no grand conspiracy as such. We all contribute to it with the monetary paradigm, we all know it and we all accept it because at the end of the day we have no choice.

Admitting these painful truths is the first step on the path to enlightenment, seeing as the DIF can't even come to an agreement over such simple issues I fail to see the point in participating there anymore.

All they wanted me for was to grind the racists against a millstone for them and I refuse to do it anymore.
F**k them. They are going to get what they deserve now and the stormfront crowd will take over.

I joined DIF for the oddest of reasons.
I'd lost contact with an old colleague of mine who was also a very precious friend.
A few google searches later I came across a conversation on DIF which indicated her sister was posting there.

I signed up with the sole intention of messaging her, getting some contact info and then moving on. The '10 posts before you can pm' set-up frustrated that plan.

Naturally I was aware of Icke but I have always been skeptical of some of his more outlandish propositions. His talk of the Zionist banking cabal was bound to leave the door open for the not-a-nazi brigade, they will grasp any straw of justification for their hatred.
As soon as that evidenced itself on his forum, in my view, it would be incumbent upon Icke to quash it by making a very clear statement differentiating Zionists from 'teh joos' and instructing his moderation team to ensure that blanket racism would not be tolerated with the same effort and dedication they apply to zero tolerance of moderation discussions.

However, on the internet clicks are cash and principles get tossed aside easily.
You sell to advertisers based upon site activity numbers, number of, (claimed), members, etc (notice that you may be banned or inactive but your name still appears on the memberlist?)
Contentious issues generate the bulk of responses. Responses = clicks = traffic = advertisers audience = ca$h.
It's about the money Lebowski.

I didn't know about Dub's boycott but I'd quickly formed the view that the fascists and anti-fascists had a symbiotic relationship which enabled the race topics to continually dominate the boards and had taken the decision to bite my tongue rather than feed the beast.
(That gets tough on there, trust me).

I had already mentioned to Dawnbreak that I was ready to bail from DIF.
There were a load of folks on there I respected and found interesting but they're here now.

I have a confession to make...

I too very quickly grew tired of the hate over there, and made a big deal about quitting and publicly asking for my account to be closed/inactivated. This in itself was an interesting experience, as members whom I had thought I got on quite well with, became rather 'bitchy' and judgemental about my asking for my account to be inactivated. It was certainly an eye-opener re some members, anyway.

I went away for a few weeks and thought about things, and more or less decided that a far better way to go would be to do my bit to combat said posts, as dubs has touched upon.

And so, I turned myself into a bit of a 'caricature'. I happened to have an old avi lying about so decided to put it to use and created a new account. I did so because I had made a bit of a fuss about leaving before and my intentions were purely to disrupt those types of threads as much as I could, so I had thought it really wouldn't matter what I 'looked' like.

The avi happened to be of a woman, and so when creating my account, I chose a name that may have indicated I was actually a woman, to go along with it. In retrospect, I shouldn't have done this, as I ended up feeling like a bit of a fraud, and like I was actually deceiving those people I had gone there to support.

If I did so, I can assure you it was not my intention and I soon left again when I realised I could no longer pretend to the people I was actually growing to respect and care about.

Anyway, that was my second incarnation there and I was Madame Follette. As I said, my intentions had been 'good' but I just felt guilty when I realised how many folks there were taking me on face value. I was thought to be 'Ragnarok' in disguise for a while, which I took as a compliment, but I am not and never have been the legend that is.

I chose 'Madame Follette', a literal translation of Miss Dotty, purely because of the avi I had at the time (see below). I must clarify that I have no wish to be a woman or deceive people into thinking that I am one. I am quite happy with my junk just as it is, and this has nothing to do with split peronalities or cross-dressing (though I do enjoy a good frock every now and then).

I don't do well 'deceiving' and the whole point of being back there was to try and achieve some positive change. I apologise to anyone who didn't already know this and I hope we can continue our friendships over here. I don't make a habit of pretending to be something I'm not, I just thought it was a good idea at the time and possibly a way to diffuse some of the hate stuff going on over there.

For a while, I watched dubs and others and saw that the work they were doing was good, but ultimately futile, as has been stated, because those types of threads appear to be exactly what admin over there are looking to encourage, for whatever reason. I am very much of the opinion however, that people need to see this stuff for themselves.

I appreciate that money is involved here and that some folks may end up paying for books and other things before they come to the realisations that we all have. Hopefully, this very site may set some inquisitive minds to thinking a bit deeper about things, so to carry on posting here is a positive step in the right direction, imo.

I agree with all the sentiments expressed so far in this thread and I am very glad to be a part of this new site. It's also a relief to not have to don that wig and uncomfortable shoes everytime I want to post.

MF says "hi", by the by.

ohh it was YOU! people mistook you for rag all the time lol

david ickes #1 rule.. dont question authority

lol, I used to love MF's posts, in hindsight it all makes sense.
I always thought MF was a bloke, I too thought it was perhaps raggy or even oioioi having a laugh. :p

Update:

I wrote the above.
Refreshed my browser
and in another tab .......
You have been banned for the following reason:
No reason was specified.

Date the ban will be lifted: Never


Thanks for confirming you're a bunch of thumb-sucking, insecure assholes.

featheredfish wrote:
Permanent dif ban cherry officially 'popped'. Yay!

featheredfish wrote:
LMAO!!

Says it all. Well I'm not arguing with the SF crowd on there anymore, they can do it themselves.

Ab's was Madame Follette

The 3 O'clock thread was really interesting.

I agree with phem though , I think forums change, and I think the DIF is not changing for the better.

When I first joined there was alot of interesting conversations and, I think, a lot of respect shown between fellow members.

But the main site has just become/or is becoming extremely 'ist'.

You can almost set your clock by it, there will be a 'It is the jews fault thread' followed by 'no it's the muslims' 'it's the blacks 'its the gays' 'its the poor people'

And then there is small group who always seem to get away with suggesting paedophile is 'normal'

The ironic thing is it's becoming filled with posters who are constantly promoting the very values that 'David Icke' says he dispises.

I'm not a fan of David Icke per say, but I do think he has some valid points, but he is as others have pointed out a business

Oh, I used to LOVE Madame Follette's posts I was really sorry to see "her" suddenly go inactive.

And "she" was our own hairy-bottomed Abs all the time. You really did "her" very well.

people should start to notice a lot of folks going missing soon, fish. maybe it will make some kind of impact.
i just wonder who it is doing the bans instead of just deleting and slapping your wrist.
i almost say he is a cult leader.

dear leader's rule #2 dont disrespect the $$$

cantata wrote: Agreed!
You had me fooled ya big twunt!

I got really worried about MF when 'she' went inactive so soon after 'her' fathers demise.

featheredfish wrote:
I felt just awful about that particular post, ff. My father had actually died and that did actually happen, I just couldn't tell you all who I actually was. I should've pm'd you all to explain as abs but I just thought better of it.

I am sorry, but thank you for your kind words in that particular thread.

I too have been hitted with teh banstick - I guess that sean et al want to police the entire interwebs!!

batou wrote:
It makes sense now how I used to see someone being banned but couldn't find a post in their history on DIF which would have indicated where they'd crossed the line.

They were probably disappeared because they'd tried "exposing the dreamworld we believe to be real." or some such idealistic nonsense.