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Post by bonfield on Nov 5, 2019 12:59:05 GMT -5
Some people may have lingering questions about why this forum was started, or why the OCPS was closed, so this thread will be to clarify a few things.
Before I discuss what Justin Dunning(aka H2O) has done, one crucial thing that he didn't do is start the OCPS. Carl Mazur, the best admin the Canadian CP community has ever had, was responsible for the OCPS, so why does Justin Dunning get to kill it?
Prior to CPNorth, Justin was attempting to force everyone off of the OCPS and onto his personal project, the CPSC. Why he was trying to force his monopoly on everyone else isn't exactly clear, but the fact of the matter is that he tried to take freedom of choice from the Canadian CP community. Not everyone was on board with his new forum, and some who were at first later decided that for one reason or another, it just wasn't for them.
When members began posting on OCPS again, Justin made it clear that he would be derelict in his duties as admin there so as to allow OCPS to fall into disrepair and favour the forum he wanted to promote. The members who were still actively posting on the OCPS approached Justin with a proposal to keep both forums running, to cross-promote each other, and to allow people their right to choose. There was also a new admin suggested, but Justin started giving various excuses to try to protect his stranglehold on the forums. Why Justin didn't trust that member with the responsibility to be admin is beyond me, I'm not a doctor and I can handle this job easily enough, so the person that was suggested would definitely have been a suitable candidate.
Shortly afterwards, Justin locked the OCPS so that no further posting was possible, and he didn't even announce it when it happened, so it looked like it was abandoned when in reality, the people still using it were simply kicked off. When he made it clear that he wasn't going to let people post on any forum but the one he chooses for them, the only thing left to do was to create a new forum that would at least provide another option, which brings us to CPNorth.
Now I can't read Justin's mind, and I can only speculate on what his exact motivations were for his actions, but his actions do say a lot about the character of the man who tried to impose his monopoly. Before he shut down the OCPS, he was caught tampering with image links, which made the OCPS look faulty when it was really Justin messing around, and I can say with certainty as a Proboards admin that his excuses did not make sense, and were likely false.
Another great thing about the OCPS is that the admin and staff were never constantly trying to shake you down for financial contributions or plants for their fundraisers, but as soon as the CPSC was up, that all changed, and staff there are still asking for money to this day. How much money Justin has taken in, and what it's been spent on, nobody can say as they have opted not to be transparent with these matters.
Whether or not the Victoria Butterfly Gardens has played a role in closing the OCPS is unclear, but a VBG staff member admitted to me in an email that they do get some of their display plants through the CP forums, so having one of their employees force everyone onto a forum run by a VBG staff member would undeniably be an advantage to them, even if a clearly unethically obtained advantage. And thanks to Justin's lack of transparency on the CPSC fundraising, for all we know he's spending that money on new plant material for his employers or business partners. There is conflict of interest and unanswered questions surrounding Justin Dunning in his role as an admin on both forums.
And to add insult to injury, he barely even posts on the CPSC anymore. He had to kill the OCPS, and for what, to promote a forum that as of this thread's creation, he hasn't even bothered to post on in nearly 3 months(just 4 days short actually)! Willy does all the heavy lifting on the CPSC in terms of running the place and posting, and would likely be far less conflicted as an admin, but I could care less how the CPSC is run so long as they're not doing it at everyone else's expense, and that includes Justin stepping on the neck of the OCPS.
The OCPS can be re-opened, but one persons decision is ultimately what is keeping it closed, maybe one day Justin will put the community's interests ahead of his own, and once again, let them choose for themselves.
I just had to get this off my chest, and having it posted will save me having to explain it over and over again.
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Post by dvg on Nov 18, 2019 13:22:55 GMT -5
It's a sad state of affairs when our once harmonious online CP community is now split up between three separate forums.
Because of immature leadership on the part of Justin Dunning, and the pursuit of his own personal vanity project, he has succeeded in putting senior members and moderators at odds with one another.
A poor leader can do much damage to a community in a short period of time.
However, mature leadership can reunite our community again.
We had previously suggested that Lloyd be placed in the Admin position on OCPS, since everyone trusts Lloyd and he has shown himself to be a decent and honorable person over many years.
Up until now, i have not publicly spoken out on this topic, but because of Justin Dunning's lashing out in response to Bonfield's post, and him subsequently disabling my account on the OCPS, i feel compelled to now call him out for his actions.
Justin might be able to abuse his Admin powers by sneaking around in invisible mode on the OCPS, while he cowardly deletes and wrecks links, pics, posts and content from our members there , but with this thread, he will now be held to account for his actions.
dvg
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Post by bonfield on Nov 18, 2019 16:58:16 GMT -5
It's what I've slowly come to expect of him over the years. I'm the last person who should be throwing this stone, but the guy has some issues that he doesn't always deal with in a constructive manner. It sucks that he would do that to you though, until now I thought it was still beneath him to start punishing other members of the community for things they didn't even do. Shortly before he killed the OCPS, I openly criticized him regarding that impending action and a few other related matters, he then banned my account so that I can't even see anything but a grey screen if I try to go to the OCPS. It is strictly punitive, since posting on the OCPS is disabled, there aren't really any other plausible reasons to keep me banned, unless he doesn't want me reviewing an agreement regarding several hundred dollars worth of Nepenthes seeds that his supervisor Kurtis Herperger refuses to honour to this day. Maybe there are things he doesn't want you to be able to see either, but all of this being done in secrecy, invisibly, doesn't exactly scream "nothing to hide". Hopefully when he's done with his tantrum, he'll re-enable your account so that you're not cut off from your personal contacts, and whatever content you may have discussed in your PM conversations.
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Post by bonfield on Dec 5, 2019 17:52:43 GMT -5
Well, this thread has been up for a whole month now and neither Justin nor his staff/friends on the CPSC have had a thing to say in his defense. I notified Justin of this thread the moment it was created and invited him to post a response on his forum, or on this one, even promising I wouldn't censor/ban him for saying anything I disagree with, a policy he attacks his dissenters with on other forums. Why he hasn't denied the allegations of abuse of authority and financial impropriety has yet to be explained, and his refusal to address these serious matters does not instill confidence in him as someone who has the moral backbone to be in his current position. Even when his actions are put aside, his inaction stands out. He either for his own reasons refuses to post on the forum he killed the OCPS to promote, or possibly his employers are worried about his actions drawing unwanted attention to anything they may be doing, and have ordered him to not post. Either way, if he won't/can't contribute to the community, he shouldn't cling to power, and just hand over the admin positions to others who do, like Willy, Lloyd, or any of the vast number of people in the hobby who could do a better, less conflicted job than him. It's not like he really added much to the community to begin with, his post count on the OCPS is by his own admission false, part of a joke I suppose and not in any way an effort to inflate his his actual contribution, and he has been more than a little parasitic when it comes the giveaway sections on each forum, check through the following links, and you'll see that Justin consistently signs up for giveaways, but has held none of his own. ocps.proboards.com/board/40/giveawayswww.carnivorousplantsociety.ca/index.php?forums/giveaways.42/ I'm not saying that everyone who signs up for a giveaway is in any way indebted to return the favour to the community, but when he has the resources that he does, has signed up for as many giveaways as he has, and is also in an admin position where he should be leading by example, I do believe that he does warrant being called out as a sponge. There has been a lot of damage done to our community as a result of his zero-sum approach to the forums, including the loss of many senior members who may have been retained if the original forum had been left open as an option. It's not too late to reverse some of this damage, and the only person who continues to inflict it on our community is Justin. He could unlock the OCPS, he could answer for his actions, his choices are his own, and they raise questions about whether he is actually dedicated in the least to the national CP community, or if he just sees it as a resource for him, his island buddies, and the Victoria Butterfly Gardens. I still welcome him to post a statement in response to the criticisms being leveled at him, he will be granted the freedom of speech here that is missing on the CPSC. As of this posting, CPNORTH is the only Canadian CP forum with an admin who is willing to post and contribute. Justin, if you can prove me wrong, you should really do so, innocent people don't usually hide like this. Please just do the right thing.
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Post by bonfield on Jan 28, 2020 14:06:20 GMT -5
Well, I sent Justin a message on New Year's asking him if he had anything to say to the community regarding his actions, and while it prompted him and Kurtis to post, they both decided to deflect, give non-answers, and muddy the waters regarding the allegations. I clearly got under Kurtis' skin when I pointed out what a mooch he was on the forums, he immediately started bragging about giving away " oodles" of plants to his friends and colleagues off the forums, while confirming that he has never in his life held a giveaway on the OCPS or CPSC, still ready to show up with hands out whenever other members were being generous and actually contributing to the forum. Most of the people in this community are fairly selfless and give away lots of plants, very few of them go online and start boasting about it after, especially if they're involved in robbing Canada of the OCPS. Kurtis Herperger and Justin Dunning are still a couple of selfish, greedy, unaccountable, sleazy peas in a pod, and Kurtis' recent posts(why do you think he's back after such a noticeably long absence?) show that at least 2/3 of the Victoria Butterfly Gardens management is standing behind Justin's actions against the online CP community. The VBG would clearly benefit if one or more of their employees was corrupt enough to attempt to force a monopoly on a CP community that once had freedom of choice, after all, some of their profits are derived from the display(and possibly back door sales?) of carnivorous plants. Isn't it great when one private enterprise on the island gets to make decisions for all of Canada's hobbyists? I want to make it clear that I have nothing against the CPSC, in fact I think Willy is doing a great job as the de facto admin there, he doesn't even complain when Justin shows up to take credit for all the work. I just don't think that Justin Dunning should have committed any of the number of abusive and corrupt actions against the OCPS, primarily locking it down to favour the CPSC. So Kurtis showed up on a forum to brag about what he didn't do for the forums(kind of messed up), Justin showed up long enough to stroke his ego and again dodge relevant questions, it will be interesting to see if they have the backbone to actually reply to this thread. They are notified every time there is a post here, so their cowardice/shame is the only thing holding them back. It would be funny if either of them hold their very first giveaway in the near future, but there might be a question as to their motivation now, lol. I still extend an invitation to both of them to respond to the allegations against them either on this forum or on theirs. If they believe there is anything incorrect about what has been said, they should speak up, if someone was making similar statements about me that were false, you can be damn sure I would set the story straight. Ball's in your court guys.
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Post by bonfield on Aug 23, 2020 0:06:51 GMT -5
I've noticed that Justin hasn't really changed his tune, even after his questionable actions were brought to attention, his posting since then only indicates that he doesn't really care about the CP community, and only clings to his admin position to make sure he can censor his critics, benefit him and his cronies, and generally stroke his ego. In the last several months since the last post in this thread, he has still not taken his responsibilities seriously, has raised further questions about the transparency of their finances, and is still tarnishing the CPSC with its original sin of killing the OCPS for its own gain, which he can still undo any time he wishes.
One of the first things that needs to be said of his most recent "reporting" of the CPSC finances is that without a second party reviewing the account linked to their donations and costs they're covering, it is nothing more than him asking us to take his word, just like some leaders believe they don't need to have their tax returns reviewed by others. If the CPSC staff was serious about being on the level with their book-keeping and reporting, it's fairly simple. There are four CPSC staff in total, the two younger ones in BC and the two senior ones in Ontario, if one of the staff in one province were to be the primary account holder/book-keeper, a member from the other province could periodically check in on the account to verify, so we're not just taking the word of one potentially conflicted individual. Having the two members in different provinces would also go a long way to assure donors that there isn't any excessive influence to misreport by other local members. These measures would certainly provide a system of checks and balances that is noticeably absent at the moment. Right now, whatever he reports could simply be whatever is convenient for him to report.
He may be complaining about having to cover recent costs, but there would be more money in that fund if he wasn't using some of it to schmooze and curry favour with other growers and societies, which when Justin Trudeau does that with taxpayer money is an outrage, but is perfectly acceptable for Justin Dunning and money that was meant for forum-associated costs. He also shouldn't be trying to garner pity for the little he has to pay into his project considering how he has bragged in the past about in one event being able to help raise over $13,000 for Camp Medeba.
On the subject of Camp Medeba, that is another matter that really should have been brought to the Canadian CP communities attention much sooner, especially since the admin of the CPSC is likely still supporting them, possibly with CPSC and Victoria Butterfly Gardens resources. Our hobby, most would agree, was founded by Charles Darwin, and to think that it may in any way be so closely connected to such a conservative evangelical organization that exposes children to literalist teaching of creationism and diluvialism is something I and others find disturbing. I had the misfortune of attending Camp Medeba in the mid-90s, my parents only chose it due to its location relative to their travel route, and they didn't realize until later just how batshit religious that place really was. I had been to a normal summer camp prior to Medeba, so I had a frame of reference. While the unbearably long bible study was bad enough, I also got to hear such helpful explanations as "dinosaur fossils were put here by the Devil to trick you into not believing", needless to say I was fully an atheist by the time I left. When I finally stopped being sent there, it was a relief, although Justin's parents who run the place would still bother my parents for donations later, which thankfully by then they had the good sense to say no to. At least we know where Justin gets the attitude that others need to fund his ventures.
After witnessing the culture of Medeba and the conversations I've had with their staff, there are a few things that were evident. If you oppose the teaching of creationism/intelligent design alongside evolution, including giving it equal scientific validity without the same burden of proof, then you probably shouldn't donate to the Dunnings and Camp Medeba. If you support a woman's right to choose, LGBTQ rights, and haven't been fond of the religious right's pursuit of legalizing discrimination under the banner of "religious liberty", then you probably shouldn't donate to the Dunnings and Camp Medeba. Justin may not work at Camp Medeba anymore, but he clearly supports it, and to support him financially is likely to benefit his family's right-wing evangelical organization even if only to help him with his efforts to fund-raise for them. Given the onslaught of science-denial originating in communities like that one, I don't believe we're doing ourselves or society any favours by sending them money.
I knew Justin on the forum for around 5 years before I realized who his parents were, and then I still gave him the benefit of the doubt, even after every red flag his actions sent up. Only once he showed his true colours and locked down the OCPS for the dubious reasons he offered did I finally give up on trying to reason with him in private. A conman can give you any number of BS excuses when you're alone with them, but it's a bit more difficult with an audience that can fact-check your statements.
The OCPS stands for the Ontario Carnivorous Plant Society, and was killed by a guy who doesn't even live in Ontario! When Justin started the CPSC forum, he could have effortlessly allowed the OCPS to resume under its original name, but that would have messed with his vision of a monopoly. Now it seems that he only ever posts when he goes on hikes with his buddies from the island, and that could not emphasize more how he views the whole of the Canadian CP community as a resource to be controlled only by him and his boys club. He can still unlock the OCPS forum, but since that wouldn't benefit him or his island buddies, I guess Canada's most populous province will still be denied the forum he took from them. He and his enablers need to respond to these allegations against him, they're aware of these posts, and haven't denied any of it. While people who speak out against him on the CPSC often face censorship/banishment, this will always be a place that values the freedom to criticize those in power over the need to protect the fragile ego of dear leader.
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Post by bonfield on Sept 11, 2020 19:26:48 GMT -5
This thread must have struck a nerve, last Friday I heard a knock on the door to find out that Justin had called the RCMP, lol. After a brief explanation, the officers understood how their time had just been wasted by some oversensitive little snowflake who finds it easier to talk to the police than to simply offer an explanation for his actions to the CP community. I sometimes joke about how that weasel runs the CPSC like a police state, but this shows just how much validity there is to that view. This was a Friday evening in Peterborough, a city that has high rates of domestic abuse, sexual assault, and other violent crimes, especially on the week-end, and victims of those situations had to wait because law enforcement was having their time and resources wasted by a thin-skinned, conniving twerp who absolutely refuses any accountability on his end, but should you speak out against him, rather than respond he'll just waste the time of the police in two provinces in the hope that he can intimidate you. Why should he care about how his actions could harm others though, he was raised by Bruce and Glenda Dunning, the two God botherers who had to be ordered by the government to not move forward with their actions which would have more than likely cost the lives of scores of people in rural Ontario. Earlier this spring, Camp Medeba was posting on their website that they intended to move forward with opening the camp for the summer, with measures they felt would prevent or mitigate the risk of outbreak. In late May, only after the order was given by the government of Ontario that they remain closed for the safety of the public did they actually change their plans and close. The point being, even when faced with the prospect of causing an outbreak cluster in the middle of an area with a statistically high population of seniors and very limited medical resources, they had to be outright ordered to do the right thing instead of being able to decide for themselves. Knowing what we know now about how easily children can spread covid, and how many outbreaks are tied to right-wing religious organizations that place their beliefs and revenue streams above the lives of others, I have no doubt that Medeba would have offered the worst of both worlds and could have been directly responsible for the many deaths that would have followed. As someone who has elderly relatives living within proximity to Camp Medeba, I have to express my disgust with the Dunnings for putting a price on human life, Bruce and Glenda should have had the basic human decency to not let the bottom line of their organization influence their decisions when they have such potentially deadly consequences, especially with the abundance of information that was already available at the time regarding just how dangerous and contagious this virus is. I bring this up not only because I am seriously revolted by what nearly happened because of their callous approach to the situation this summer, but to emphasize just how messed up of an environment Medeba was and how it may be affecting how the CPSC is being run by its current administrator. Beyond the basic disregard for community, Justin has also turned the CPSC into a place where it's expected that tithings are paid, and panhandling is not only tolerated, but encouraged. If you see just how much begging for donations is going on at Medeba's website, you can see where Justin gets this behaviour. Don't forget, Justin does fundraise for Camp Medeba, which appears to have ramped up its efforts to maintain revenue, so I wouldn't put it past him to be doing what he can to help that right-wing creationist factory, possibly even using resources from his positions on the CPSC and at the Victoria Butterfly Gardens, something he appears to have done in the past. I have been to Medeba, and I can say that it is fairly antithetical to the majority of both the Canadian and global CP communities in its highly conservative values and rampant support of exposing children to anti-science that many, including TV's Bill Nye, consider to be child abuse( article supporting this). Also, I'm not saying they're white supremacists, but I brought up the concept of a non-caucasian Jesus with a few of them, it was always hilarious to watch their eyes bug out and listen to their pretzel-logic arguments against the very idea of it, lol. If you're wondering just how much Camp Medeba views Canada as a country meant to mainly serve the needs of white Christians, let's play a fun game of "find the person of colour" with a picture of the current Medeba staff: medeba.com/default/assets/Image/Year%20Round%20Staff/staff2020.jpg In summary, we have people who are aware of Justin's actions and how he is basically the Jerry Falwell Jr. of the Canadian CP community, and still feel comfortable continuing to support him. I'm fine with that, but for those who aren't aware, this thread has become essential to shining a light on how the cultures of Medeba and the CPSC are becoming more and more similar for a reason. If anyone has anything to say in opposition of what has been discussed in this thread, you are free to do so without any fear of retaliation, especially involving the police, lol.
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Post by windowsillnepenthes on Apr 23, 2021 12:25:26 GMT -5
My turn now After a discussion yesterday with Bonfield where I learned a lot about what happened but also about the potential role I would have played (although I find it hard to believe it given the little influence that I could have at the time), here is my version of what happen: Over the past 20 years I have seen most forums stagnate and then die and finally disappear completely, crushed by Facebook. Whether in hobbies such as carnivorous plants, fish, or even Dendrobates (poison dart frog). Keep in mind that I did not know the liabilities and that I was discovering this new world: 1/ An old forum that was no longer functional. 2/ A person's desire to create a new more stable forum. 3 /finally the instruction to move from the old to the new. So for me, it was clear that rather than having 2 forums to compete against each other (because that's what it is) coming together to resist Facebook seemed much more logical. So yes, I did encourage the move to the new forum given the information I had at the time. - Am I responsible for any resulting problems? Possible.
- If at the time I had known about all this, would I have made the same decision? Probably not.
- Do I feel sorry for what I said? No. I don't feel responsible because given the information I had, it seemed like the best possible recommendation.
- Do I feel sorry for what happen in the Canadian CP word? Yes, but again: You don't know what you don't know...
If it helps some people sleep better at night and blame me for whatever happened, so be it. Have a great day everyone.
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Post by bonfield on May 5, 2021 13:19:13 GMT -5
On this World Carnivorous Plant Day, let's not forget that Canada has the only carnivorous plant community in the world that financially supports abusing children with anti-science. Justin Dunning, Willy Chung, and Dr. Lloyd Gordon(really, a doctor should know better) should all be ashamed of themselves for helping to create a society where children are abused at a young age into distrusting scientists who may tell them the world is older than 6000 years old, or that you can't put two of every animal on a boat and save most of the world's living organisms from the "Biblical flood".
Seriously Lloyd, would you have sent Josh to a shithole that was teaching the same nonsense as Camp Medeba? Didn't think so, "Doctor", way to wipe your ass with the Hippocratic oath.
Extensive updates to come.
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Post by bonfield on May 29, 2021 17:47:05 GMT -5
Seeing as Justin Dunning and Kurtis Herperger are still posting without having offered any explanation for their behaviour, it seems that an update is necessary. First, I would like to let people know about the motivations behind some of Kurtis Herperger's actions, past and recent. On November 2, 2020, Kurt put on his bigboy pants and had his very first giveaway after years and years and years of doing nothing but taking! Was it generosity, gratitude, or any other positive feeling that was driving his decision? Or did it have something to do with what I posted on the Victoria Butterfly Gardens facebook page just hours prior to his giveaway post? Earlier that day, I noticed that the Bateman Gallery had posted a picture of Justin that looked exactly like the type of propaganda that Putin has used, so I decided to do the right thing and notify the public not to buy into Justin's PR tactics too readily. Within less than 10 minutes, the picture had been deleted. I can't say if it was the Bateman Gallery that had deleted it, or the Victoria Butterfly Gardens, but either way it seems that Justin's history was sufficiently disturbing to both that they didn't want it being discussed further. Did Kurtis Herperger offer any defense of his little underling? No, instead he posted a giveaway, his first ever and only after I lit this fire under his ass, likely in an attempt to salvage some of his reputation, while allowing Justin to take even further criticism with no one to have his back, including Kurt. Kurt just isn't a decent or honourable enough person to have done a giveaway without being provoked into doing it, and he seems the need to inflate himself to more than he really is, but for a guy who went by "Smashy Uppercut" for years, he certainly is handling this situation with his tail between his legs. What more can you expect from the douchebag who would self-apply a nickname like "Kdawg"(like hell he doesn't ask everyone to call him that)? I discussed the events of that day as they occurred with a few other people, including DVG, so they can be verified. In addition, Kurtis Herperger has admitted in an email that he, his co-workers, and his employer the Victoria Butterfly Gardens draw profit from the actions of their staff on the forums. Why should Ontario have to lose access to a free and established CP forum just to benefit a privately owned, overpriced tourist trap out in BC? If Kurtis or the Victoria Butterfly Gardens are really facing such financial hardship that they have to engage in this type of parasitism on an entire country's hobbyist population, they should apply for financial assistance, and maybe consider scaling down their lifestyles. Also, another reason the OCPS needs to be re-opened is because when you get down to it, the staffing situation on the CPSC is a joke for a number of reasons. Before I go further into this matter, I'd like to make clear, Hal is a great guy who had nothing to do with the closure of the OCPS, and was largely absent for any of the CPSC's scandals while he was taking a break from the hobby. He is the only one on their staff who has never harassed me for money or free plants, which after dealing with the other 3 staffers for long enough, is something I truly appreciated. So onto the remaining 3 stooges, Justin, Lloyd, and Willy. Justin's problems have been discussed to great extent already, and there is certainly more to go into, including from the information on him I've received from Kurt in the past(it was quite the phone call, lol). I'll be posting more new details in the coming months/years about why he is one of the worst people to be running the CPSC, especially when in Ontario and Quebec alone there are dozens of people who could do a better and less conflicted job than him. For now I'm just wondering if he's deeply ashamed of his parents and what they do, as I've been discussing him with various people in the local and international CP community, I've found that many who have known Justin for years had no idea about the Junior Jonestown out in West Guilford, which you'd think he'd mention at least once if he wasn't seriously embarrassed to be from there. Lloyd Gordon is also not quite the person that you'd think he is, I've heard complaints from my customers/peers about him approaching them for donations of cash or plants for Justin's endeavor, something I corroborated as he has done so with me from time to time after the community was forced to participate in their "pay for play" forum. I've tried to get answers from Lloyd about relevant subjects such as intellectual property ownership, funding, and financial oversight on his forum, but he couldn't even reply to admit he doesn't know and is pretty much only there to create the illusion that there is an adult in the room. I'd expect more responsibility from a doctor, but recently I found out that he's pretty much just as terrible at that job too, at least according to several of his patients: www.ratemds.com/doctor-ratings/dr-lloyd-p-gordon-toronto-on-ca/www.healthgrades.com/physician/dr-lloyd-gordon-2y6pc Is it really surprising that a doctor who treats his patients that way would be so derelict in his responsibilities as a moderator? In the past, it was suggested that Lloyd could be the admin on the OCPS, an idea that Justin shot down because of "security issues", an excuse used by tinpot despots everywhere. I would have to agree with him just a little now, Lloyd's main focus these days seems to be issuing geriatric ramblings about squirrels and his neighbours, so I could see him slipping and letting the wrong people gain access to his account. Maybe if he wasn't so busy trying to shake down forum members or theorizing about rodent-influenced weather patterns, he'd have more time to be a better doctor. Regrettably, the CPSC is left with someone who never asks questions of his dear leader, and can't really be part of the financial scrutiny as he was irresponsible enough to get his ass booted from Paypal. And Willy Chung, that bottomless pit of ambition and capitalistic ADD, is a part of the CPSC that I'll never miss, even more so than it's malfunctioning PM system. In the over 10 years I've been growing these plants, I have never met anyone who would so consistently and incessantly bother me for transactions that I didn't want to enter into, I ended up posting fewer pictures because of just how frequently I would get contacted by him after, insisting I give him preference for any that were available in the future, and always trying to drag me into wholesale offers. The vast majority of the people I deal with in the CP community have been excellent with respecting boundaries, I want you all to know that I am not conflating their actions with Willy's. I've heard from private conversations with others that I am not the only one who has had this issue with the little greedy monster, but considering the culture of censorship the CPSC has adopted, is it any wonder you have to come here to find anything critical of it or those running it? The OCPS was a far less commercial experience before Willy started blurring the lines between the CPSC and his personal business, and I am far from the only one who gets a laugh that this seed vendor is also the guy supervising the CPSC seed bank, which is now on his store's website, lol. Willy has done a few good things though, his jacked-up prices have given other vendors an excuse to raise theirs, you can buy 3D-printed Easter Island planters for your CPs, for all that Easter Island has to do with CPs, you can buy crappy little calendars that don't allow notes/markers for important dates(but at least he knocked a whopping 15% off of the expired ones from last year), or shirts that look like a middle schooler's first graphic arts project that barely got them a passing grade. And on top of that, anything he sells that is connected to funding the CPSC has the stain of Camp Medeba and their creationist/diluvialist nonsense since Justin manages the CPSC finances and also donates to a place that I could best describe as "like going camping with Kirk Cameron and Mike Pence". You won't get answers from Willy about any of the garbage going on with the CPSC staff, and I doubt any answers he could give would be in his financial interest. He has at least given a little back here and there, more than can ever be said of his admin, but considering his complicity in many of Justin's actions by now, it's the very least he can do. Every time he'd contact me, it was like talking to a human pop-up ad, and when I tried to have the subject of sales and trade etiquette being established over on the CPSC, he said he'd look into it and then brushed it off, showing just how much he cares about having any true propriety in this community. The OCPS can still be re-opened, and these people can start responding to the questions that they are supposed to be responsible enough to answer. I'll be discussing more on this in the future, and the longer that Justin Dunning, Kurtis Herperger, Lloyd Gordon, and Willy Chung try to avoid these issues, the more creative I'm going to have to get in posting these questions in a way that will finally get their attention.
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Post by bonfield on Jan 7, 2022 21:24:39 GMT -5
It seems that Justin Dunning is back to posting about CPs on his social media again, without any defense or even mention of the allegations against him in this thread and by one of his co-workers at the Victoria Butterfly Gardens. In addition, I’ve noticed more disturbing behaviour on his part that should be called out in any community that claims to have even so much as a shred of integrity, and especially this one.
So another update is going to have be posted in the next month, including more on his financial improprieties, Camp Medeba, and an announcement that I’m sure everyone at the Victoria Butterfly Gardens will absolutely love. I hope in the meantime he can work up the spine to finally address the matters that have been brought up so far before this has to go further than it already has.
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Post by bonfield on Feb 8, 2022 2:40:14 GMT -5
After being given a month to do so, Justin Dunning has evidently decided not to offer any excuse for his various transgressions against the Canadian carnivorous plant community and his numerous conflicts of interest. These are serious enough that more people should be calling it out, or at the very least asking more questions, and the resounding silence from all directions raises questions about just what ethical standards are even present on the CPSC and at the Victoria Butterfly Gardens.
It has been brought to my attention that despite reassurances of financial transparency from the CPSC staff, Justin has completely neglected to update their finances for nearly two and a half years! His last attempt to show any record (since he is the only one supervising the finances, there's no-one else to verify that he's reporting accurately) was on September 19th, 2019. Prior to that, there are even questionable expenses that appear to be for the purpose of Justin schmoozing it up with reputable growers on everyone else's dime. Even with the more than two year absence of updates to their finances, he still has Steve Bradford and Lloyd Gordon panhandling on his behalf since he is too pathetic to even do it himself these days. Steve, Lloyd, Willy and the other staff must have a very low opinion of Justin since if they saw him as a responsible adult, they would reasonably ask him to carry out what little responsibility he actually bears on that forum compared to other staff. Glenda Dunning is the bookkeeper for Camp Medeba, so you'd think she'd at least have taught him to be a bit more accountable, or at the very least, how to better hide his lack of accountability.
Speaking of the other staffers, I would like to address my prior comments regarding my experiences with Willy; not only do I stand by every one of them, I think that his behaviour that I had brought up may have contributed to his condition. He mentioned that he had put off getting the earlier symptoms checked because he dismissed them as just the result of exhaustion from being overworked at his job, on the forum, and with his various personal projects. If he had not been carrying Justin's dead weight, and anyone observing the CPSC over the last few years knows that's exactly what he has been doing, he may have had more time to commit to his own well-being. Many believe that in addition to Willy's "burn the candle at both ends" attitude, he was unduly burdened with picking up the slack of an admin who beyond the existing liabilities he brings to the community, is also just unwilling to commit that much effort. I hope that Willy takes it easier on himself in the near future and makes it out of this experience stronger than before, even if I didn't appreciate how he and other CPSC staffers started behaving towards me after they decided to shut down the OCPS and appoint themselves as tax-collectors. He may even want to consider that if he really feels the need to continue with anything even approaching his previous levels of contribution, that he at least gets the recognition it warrants and be appointed as administrator, since he is doing all the heavy lifting.
The financial complications that Justin has brought to this community go even further when you consider that Justin openly brags about having raised over $13,000 in one single event for his parents' Evangelical camp using butterfly wing jewelry, the materials for which he likely sources from his employers, or from connections he has through them. If he is able to so easily procure funding for his family's creationist factory, then why does he need to shamelessly beg the rest of us, even if through some of his CPSC proxies, for the money to keep his project afloat, especially since prior to his monopolistic decisions, we had a free alternative that wasn't connected to a bunch of religious wahoos that infect children with anti-scientific beliefs? If the forum costs $1,000 a year to run, he could have kept it running for nearly 15 years using just the methods he used to benefit his parents and the organization that pays their salaries, but it doesn't seem to even cost $500 per year, so the decades he could have kept it running on his own are just everyone else's burden to pay for, even if they in doing so are really helping him to further fund that Evangelical shitshow that brainwashes kids into believing that evolution is a lie and should instead place their faith in fairy tales being taught as literal history.
On that note, even if his financial f-ckery wasn't enough, he should be ashamed for the outright embarrassment he brings to Canada's carnivore community for his support of an organization that has indoctrinated several generations of children with creationist beliefs, and I say that having interacted with many who had attended that dump and bought into what Bruce and Glenda were shoveling. If we as a society are having a conversation about whether Joe Rogan should be promoting anti-scientific beliefs to adults who are capable of doing their own fact-checking, then why the hell are we not talking about people like Justin's parents promoting anti-scientific beliefs to children? My point being, raise kids into believing that preserving only two of every species on one boat and being able to restart each population from those two, don't be so shocked when they turn into adults who believe that Bill Gates put nanobots into the vaccines. I've mentioned Camp Medeba to many CP hobbyists from around the world and they are in disbelief that the CPSC and their staff would not only allow this, but not even question it in the least. Justin has not only shamed himself in his inability to explain his support of what Camp Medeba does to children, but also most our community for being complicit. Sir David Attenborough, who is usually reserved when it comes to such matters, has even campaigned to end the teaching of creationism, which would place him in square opposition with the CPSC given just how much their staff seems to not want to ask any questions about what Justin and his family are up to, but still direct funding to them.
As for that announcement I had promised the Victoria Butterfly Gardens, I found that the more I dug into what Justin was up to, the more questionable activity I had detected at his place of employment that seem to be of concern to not only our community, but possibly also the authorities, including allegations from his co-workers that his actions amounted to violations of federal laws. The range of concerns I have extend beyond what should be covered in one forum thread alone, so in the next week or two, I will be unveiling a new venue to have these matters brought to the public's attention. Any VBG staff will be welcome to join and have their say, and I will be fair to them in a way that Justin seems to never be to those who ever dare question him.
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Post by bonfield on Mar 6, 2022 22:12:50 GMT -5
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Post by bonfield on Mar 14, 2022 23:06:10 GMT -5
As Justin Dunning and Kurtis Herperger have not made any indication that they will be providing explanations for their actions or other various concerns regarding the Victoria Butterfly Gardens, I believe that the VBG is in dire need of a watchdog to keep them honest, that is why I have created the following forum: butterflygardens.proboards.com Anyone who has seen " Bug Out" knows just how out of control a place like this can get with the wrong staff, it will be in the best interest of the employees, living exhibits, and general public to have this kind of external oversight. Updates to follow...
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Post by bonfield on May 9, 2022 0:11:08 GMT -5
Looks like he still wants to pretend that he hasn't pulled all the crap that he's pulled. If he can post about a hike, he can post about his financial improprieties and the creepy shit going on at Camp Medeba. Updates over the next few weeks, Don Calveley should be paying close attention to these ones.
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