How would you handle this?

[ArcticDiver]

This story has more legs than the octopus did ... and in classic FOX form, they've changed the facts a bit.

- I've never told the London Daily Mail anything ... what they quoted there came from an interview with Seattle Times journalist Lynda Mapes
- I am not a "local Seattle blogger" ... about 90% of my internet postings are right here on ScubaBoard.
- Meyer did not "bang it with a pole" ... nor is there any evidence he used one to get it from its hiding place
- Meyer didn't do an "about face" ... he was honest that he still wants to hunt octopus. He simply agrees that they should not be hunted at popular dive sites, and supports changing the law to protect them in those areas. I view that more as a learning experience (which I welcome in anyone, especially a young person and new diver) than an "about face".

I don't understand why ... nearly four weeks after the event ... this story is still in the news. Surely there are more important things going on in the world. Those of us involved in the incident have resolved our differences and moved on in constructive ways to reach an accommodation that everyone can live with ... what more needs to be said?

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

Actually the answer is pretty simple. You challenged not only the legal actions of a person but the underlying rules. That kind of story almost always has legs. I would be surprised, assuming you continue to work the system, if this isn't being reported on periodically for quite some time in the future.

 

[diverdoug1]

I would be surprised, assuming you continue to work the system, if this isn't being reported on periodically for quite some time in the future.

:laughing::laughing::laughing::laughing::laughing::laughing::laughing::laughing:

---------- Post added November 27th, 2012 at 12:14 AM ----------

I don't understand why ... nearly four weeks after the event ... this story is still in the news.
... Bob (Grateful Diver)

Don't act so surprised. I think it is because someone spoke towards someone who was not breaking the law, and tried to impose his own sense of justice on a law abiding citizen. I think that is what has given this story legs. This story would not have caught most folks interest if you had caught this kid poaching Octopi illegally (in fact I would have been giving you an "Atta' Boy, You go get 'Em Bob!" "Which congress member do you want us to write to?"). But you did not like what the rules and laws allowed him to do. Your first action should not have been to besmirch the lad, it should have been to do your best in getting the rules changed, but leave the kid alone. If you are of the persuasion that "the ends justify the means", great you got your way, I just think it was dirty.

 

[diverdoug1]

My mother taught me to respect the rule of law. When I asked if you had done anything to repair this kid's relationships with the dive shops in the area (after you played a role in hurting those relationships), you shrugged and "imagined that they weren't going to hassle him anymore".

 

[Peter Guy]

[Just because I sometimes like to poke sticks into an ant hill.]

Diverdoug wrote

My mother taught me to respect the rule of law.

As an attorney by training, I applaud that you respect the rule of law. However, perhaps you have forgotten that just because something is legal, doesn't make the actions "right" in a societal sense. The law often lags "right and wrong" and this is one of those cases (and if you don't believe that is true, think about all of the back and forth regarding homosexual rights and the law during this past election cycle).

Anyway, this whole incident wasn't about what was legal, but what was socially "right" and even Dylan agrees that what he did was not socially right, EVEN THOUGH it was legal.

"The Law" attempts to create absolute boundaries, but society in fact sets them.

 

[boulderjohn]

However, perhaps you have forgotten that just because something is legal, doesn't make the actions "right" in a societal sense. The law often lags "right and wrong" and this is one of those cases (and if you don't believe that is true, think about all of the back and forth regarding homosexual rights and the law during this past election cycle).

All the segregation rules (Jim Crow) in the south were totally legal until people who did not respect those laws acted in such a way to get the laws changed.

 

[BDSC]

Anyway, this whole incident wasn't about what was legal, but what was socially "right" and even Dylan agrees that what he did was not socially right, EVEN THOUGH it was legal.

Perhaps now Dylan knows what he did was not socially right, but at the time that Dylan took the octopus, did he know then it was not socially right? If he knew his behavior was socially wrong at the time then maybe he deserves some, but not all, of what came his way. But if he didn't understand that his behavior was unacceptable, perhaps he deserved none of it.

 

[rhwestfall]

Perhaps now Dylan knows what he did was not socially right, but at the time that Dylan took the octopus, did he know then it was not socially right? If he knew his behavior was socially wrong at the time then maybe he deserves some, but not all, of what came his way. But if he didn't understand that his behavior was unacceptable, perhaps he deserved none of it.

Interesting card to play...

Do you think he knew it was wrong to put up the racial slurs and animal cruelty pictures on his FB page?

 

[BDSC]

Interesting card to play...

Do you think he knew it was wrong to put up the racial slurs and animal cruelty pictures on his FB page?

I think using racial slurs and being cruel to any animal is wrong. I'm not sure putting that on FB is a right or wrong thing but a person should not be surprised if they get a lot of grief for doing so.

Do you think it's actually wrong to post such things?

 

[rhwestfall]

A bad choice of a word. "Wrong" in a sense of it being socially unacceptable, but it is legal...

edit: the animal cruelty stuff is just plain WRONG!

 

[boulderjohn]

Interesting card to play...

Do you think he knew it was wrong to put up the racial slurs and animal cruelty pictures on his FB page?

I think using racial slurs and being cruel to any animal is wrong. I'm not sure putting that on FB is a right or wrong thing but a person should not be surprised if they get a lot of grief for doing so.

Do you think it's actually wrong to post such things?

People rarely post things on FaceBook pages that do not show their mindsets and lifestyles. When you post racial slurs and pictures of animal cruelty on your FaceBook page, I believe just about everyone expects the friends who view them to be amused and approving. I believe Dylan got a real shock of reality when his FB page was widely viewed and condemned by people outside of his circle of friends and relatives. I think that finding out how many people think differently from the way he does was a real surprise to him, and that is probably why he pulled the page down when that reaction became so overwhelming.