Comments on: Joyriding Johor and Neglecting Nepal

By: DWA

DWA — Tue, 09 May 2006 01:12:59 +0000

Loren, with all due respect: lay down your arms!

Both you and the BFRO have done too much good work to put matches to it now. Defensiveness feeds on itself. Spin leads to counterspin (as I think you noted).

And I think it has been said before as well: this is the kind of thing that discredits cryptozoology. “Real,” stodgy, will-never-find-bigfoot-on-its-own science at least has the advantage of history and standing when it goes piddle-pants like this. You’ll never get there fighting like this.

Your sense of humor is one of your biggest assets. And you’ve said yourself how important it is. Don’t bury it when you need it most. Shame ‘em back into common cause. It’s the only way.

That said: the biggest potential impact of Bigfoot/relict hominoid confirmation — and it’s only potential and may be pie in the sky — is the potential for massive, protected reserves for a big omnivore with a huge range — the ultimate umbrella species. If sasquatch teaches us to behave….well it’ll be worth all the teeth-grinding you and BFRO have to do before you shake hands.

By: jayman

jayman — Mon, 24 Apr 2006 14:45:17 +0000

I follow a number of non-mainstream topics and issues, and unfortunately this kind of in-fighting seems endemic to all of them. Egos get involved, and everybody wants to be the one to break the “big” story, the one that will vindicate the whole issue. But the bickering only serves to discredit the whole thing in the public eye.

By: Craig Woolheater

Craig Woolheater — Mon, 24 Apr 2006 14:38:28 +0000

Texas version of the BFRO? While the TBRC was associated with the BFRO at one time, we have not been since September of last year. The TBRC members who were also members of the BFRO became sole members of the TBRC. Several other members of the BFRO who worked with the TBRC also left and became members of the TBRC.

Although you may have just been referencing the fact that I head up a Bigfoot research organization, I feel compelled to make that distinction, especially in light of tonight’s airing of the Penn & Teller program on Showtime.

By: Loren Coleman

Loren Coleman — Mon, 24 Apr 2006 10:18:45 +0000

Is the above comments something from a BFRO insider or defender versus someone who knows anything about how most people feel about or have experienced the BFRO? I don’t need any motivation from anyone, and don’t demean me with projections such as the above. I would be an idiot if I didn’t see and wasn’t able to critique the long-term and short-term behaviors of the BFRO, for what they are. The BFRO’s actions have been apparent to many, from alleged fiscal mismanagement to allowing “musk deer snorting reports” on their website for years as “Bigfoot sounds in the woods.” Sorry to disappoint anyone, but the BFRO has been making mistakes for a very long time. It’s what organizations ruled by one individual do if they continue to promote only one world view, at the exclusion of others’ suggestions, don’t show other researchers their “evidence,” build up a database of “reports” without any critical thinking, or don’t allow any type of peer-review. Read the remarks of some of the former “curators” (e.g. Jeff Meldrum, Rick Noll, Ron Schaffner, etc.) after they left. Look up the remarks of those who have experienced personal attacks from the BFRO. The classic characteristics are there that make the BFRO sound more like a cult than a research group. It is the pattern that worries many of us.

BTW, yes, I actually, have in 46 years, made mistakes. And yes, I have admitted them. This is unlike the BFRO that hides theirs, edits and deletes them from their history and website. But then what you have just experienced here, well, this a regular BFRO tactic, isn’t it? To turn the information-based discussion into something personal.

By: Peaks of Dan

Peaks of Dan — Mon, 24 Apr 2006 04:59:44 +0000

I get the feeling that your “motive” can be questioned when it comes to the BFRO. I feel your association with Craig and the Texas version of the BFRO has caused a “us vs. them” mentality. Without a doubt, the BFRO is the #1 web site in the nation when it comes to Bigfoot reporting. NO ONE in the nation has a broader data base than they do!
Yes, they “may” have made a mistake when it comes to the Sonoma Bigfoot footage, BUT in all your years of reporting, have you not been “taken in” or tricked into misleading information?

By: Ajeyya

Ajeyya — Sun, 23 Apr 2006 10:31:59 +0000

I do believe that the most important point is that there evidence of the existence of Bigfoot is yet to be found.
In earlier reportings about this creature, several names were given to it, including “King Kong”, obviously there’s not a clear idea that Bigfoot does not look like King Kong. For years, there had not been any reports of sightings, and a research professor conducting almost 20 years of research in the forest reserves in Malaysia had never once spotted any signs of the purported Bigfoot.
Some who may have gone into the API forum may have seen the newspaper article highlighting this point, a Malay article that I had already translated in there.

By: Limbit

Limbit — Sun, 23 Apr 2006 04:13:04 +0000

It seems rather naive to assume that putting an undiscovered species on a protection list will in any way help it. The animal is largely better off being undiscovered. The moment it is recognized by science there will likely be a demand for pouchers to capture specimen. I believe this would be especialy true in areas like Johor where the state government can not likely supply the creature ample protection. It’s like a certificate to become extinct or pushed out of a region. Given, at least there is punishment of some kind against perpetrators. But seriously, is the risk of a $10,000 dollar fine going to stop someone who believes they can make ten times that amount off the body of Bigfoot? Does the risk of a $500 dollar fine deter people from abusing domestic animals? Does the risk of decades in prison deter people from selling narcotics? It’s better for Bigfoot if people just believe the shaggy guy is an old miner’s tale.

By: Ole Bub

Ole Bub — Sat, 22 Apr 2006 17:05:01 +0000

I’m too dumb to have an opinion on all this hair splitting and legalese…does the left hand know what the right hand is doing?

It was damn nice of those folks to fund a habitat preserve in Bhutan….JMHO

The “Yeti” as a symbol of conservancy…I like it…beats hell outta Greenpeace…or…Peta…

“some day this war is gonna end”

seeing is believing….

ole bub and Toshiba the Samurai dawg