# APRIL FOOLS 2011: Winding my involvement with Army.ca



## Mike Bobbitt

Well, it's past noon here now, so the jig is up.



All,

It is with much sadness and reluctance that I must announce that over the next 6 months, I will be phasing out my involvement with Army.ca and its sister sites (Milnet.ca, Navy.ca and Air-Force.ca).

There are several reasons driving this change:


Recent threats of legal action against myself and the site have shown how personally vulnerable I am for content created and stored here. While none of these legal threats resulted in a court appearance, this is largely because they were not pursued by the plaintiffs. My personal exposure to legal action is significant, and could have long-term, damaging repercussions for me and my family.
Speaking of family, mine needs me back.  My 'day job' commitments have continued to rise over the last 6-12 months with no end in sight, while the effort required to maintain and improve the site has also steadily increased over time. The result is that my family is slowly being edged out, which was never my intent. I have also initiated the re-enrolment process and expect to be joining my old Reserve unit (Class A) in September. This will be a further drain on my time and has been a catalyst in forcing this decision. I cannot wait to take action as doing so could have negative impacts for my job proficiency, family life and a smooth transition out of the site.
CANFORGEN 136/06 states (in part) "CF members are to consult with their chain of command before publishing CF-related information and imagery to the Internet, regardless of how innocuous the information may seem." As stated above, I am in the final stages of re-enlistment. Where this CANFORGEN did not apply to me previously, it soon will. In the eyes of the law, I am the sites sole 'publisher' (this term has very specific legal implications) and therefore am responsible for all content added to the site. I am not in a position to clear all posts and uploads through my CoC, and so must step aside in order to be compliant with the CANFORGEN. I have already discussed this with several PA contacts and DND and they concur with my decision. 

I have been working on a succession plan with several other parties and will make an announcement once the details have been hashed out further. I expect this transition period to run its course over the next 3-6 months, during which time you will notice many site changes; some will be minor while others may take some adjustment. By the end of the transition period I will simply be a casual visitor to the site.

Thanks to everyone who has helped make the last 18 years enjoyable and informative and here's hoping I will bump into some of you in the system!


Cheers
Mike


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## Occam

:tsktsk:


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## GAP

tut tut.....no finger wagging here!!!  :nod:


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## Good2Golf

Mike, it has been a tremendous honour being part of your team, and I wish you all the best with your endeavors in the coming months. Your contributions to the online military community have been considerable.  Not sure that anyone could replace your leadership but you deserve the opportunity to spend more time with your family and pursue those things that are close to your heart.

Best regards,
G2G


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## Bzzliteyr

Well, that's a bummer!!

See ya!


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## ballz

Thanks for everything Mike, what you've created here and the time you've put into it says a lot of great things about you. You've sacrificed a lot and put yourself out on a limb for all of us, most of whom you've never met, just to give us a place of our own on the net. Again, thanks.


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## HItorMiss

I don't any oher internet site ownes tht would take the time to come see a wounded site member in the hospital and bring clean ctjes for him and those he returned with (and maybe a few wobbly pops too   ) Mike you ran this site well as it owner and like many others here I expect that when you do return as a member your post wll be just as informative as always. 

You wil eb missed and the site owner but hopefully not as a sit member, good luck with the West Novies


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## Rifleman62

Mike,

You should have made your statement 31 Mar or 2 Apr, rather than April Fools Day.


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## my72jeep

Good luck, Thanks for all and watch out for them young Pvt's. who think your just an other old fart.


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## Navalsnpr

Mike,

Fully understand and I hope your successor(s) can maintain this site to the same excellent standard that you have done over the past couple of decades!


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## Strike

Mike,

Good luck with everything.  Let us know if any of us can help out with the shift to new management.     We wouldn't want certain people ("the Girls" of which I am one) scaring them away.


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## Fishbone Jones

Mike, I know we talked about this a couple of months ago, when we met, and there were still some new partership issues that needed resolving before you took the plunge. I'm assuming those have been worked out? At any rate, my offer still stands whether to yourself or the new owners. You (they) have got my numbers if you need anything else.


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## ballz

Rifleman62 said:
			
		

> Mike,
> 
> You should have made your statement 31 Mar or 2 Apr, rather than April Fools Day.



Oh boy, now I dunno what to think ???


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## KJK

ballz said:
			
		

> Oh boy, now I dunno what to think ???



ballz,

I'm with you. This seems similar to the time they going to ban Vern. ??? ???

KJK


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## leroi

I don't believe this.


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## medicineman

Does your succession plan include handing this site over to the VCDS? 

MM


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## Haggis

KJK said:
			
		

> This seems similar to the time they going to ban Vern. ??? ???



What?? That never happened????


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## JMesh

leroi said:
			
		

> I don't believe this.



This is my initial thought as well, leroi. Until today passes and this is still being discussed, I'll remain on the aforementioned bandwagon.


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## mariomike

"Say it ain't so, Joe Mike. Say it ain't so."  

Thanks and good luck, Mike!


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## Cdnleaf

All the best Mike and thanks for the extremely hard work from a relative newbie.  Family first  
Also remiss in not saying much thanks for the really great Army.ca SWAG I received when joining the site.


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## SupersonicMax

Is it April 1st today?????


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## Mike Bobbitt

Thanks to everyone who had kind words... I appreciate it! Almost made me feel bad about this year's choice for an April Fools joke. Almost. 

The sad truth is that I'm here indefinitely. Whether it's more like Dictator for Life or indentured servitude I'm not quite sure.

What I found odd though: It was *way* too easy to write that note. 


Cheers and thanks
Mike


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## 3VP Highlander

Good one.
 :nod:


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## Occam

Mike Bobbitt said:
			
		

> Thanks to everyone who had kind words... I appreciate it! Almost made me feel bad about this year's choice for an April Fools joke. Almost.



Nice ninja delete on my post!   ;D


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## Mike Bobbitt

Didn't want to give it away too early.


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## Hammer Sandwich

Mike Bobbitt said:
			
		

> Didn't want to give it away too early.



YOU'RE A BAD, BAD MAN! :tsktsk:


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## Good2Golf

...I still liked "Plan B" better.  

Alas, maybe next year....  >


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## The Bread Guy

I was pretty sure it wasn't happening, but I'm glad to now KNOW it isn't the case.

Welcome back (kind of), Mike!


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## Mike Bobbitt

g2g yeah there were a few other, probably better options, but as is normally the case, I ran out of time to do anything too fantastic. Let's see what next year brings.


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## DCRabbit

Good one! *applause*


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## Nfld Sapper

Mike Bobbitt said:
			
		

> Thanks to everyone who had kind words... I appreciate it! Almost made me feel bad about this year's choice for an April Fools joke. Almost.
> 
> The sad truth is that I'm here indefinitely. Whether it's more like Dictator for Life or indentured servitude I'm not quite sure.
> 
> What I found odd though: It was *way* too easy to write that note.
> 
> 
> Cheers and thanks
> Mike



Carefull Mike or the peasants might revolt...... ;D


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## ballz

Well now Mike, given that you've now shown your true colours, I'll just have to retract this this statement altogether then >



			
				ballz said:
			
		

> Thanks for everything Mike, what you've created here and the time you've put into it says a lot of great things about you. You've sacrificed a lot and put yourself out on a limb for all of us, most of whom you've never met, just to give us a place of our own on the net. Again, thanks.



Good joke and well played ya arsehole. ;D


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## The Bread Guy

NFLD Sapper said:
			
		

> Carefull Mike or the peasants might revolt...... ;D


As if they're not revolting enough, right?  ;D


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## 57Chevy

Hammer Sandwich said:
			
		

> YOU'RE A BAD, BAD MAN! :tsktsk:



I knew it !

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VN29X2HCKpU&NR=1
Bad Man Montage - Babu from Seinfeld


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## The Bread Guy

Here's another approach you could have taken, Mike  ;D


> I’m excited, and a bit sad, to announce the sale of Zen Habits to AOL.com.
> 
> Excited, because this is a new phase in the life of Zen Habits. With the financial backing of this media giant, we will finally be able to compete on a level playing ground with TechCrunch, Gizmodo and CNN.com. We’ll be hiring a team of recently unemployed journalists who are hungry and ready to take this blog to the next level.
> 
> That’s the good news. The part that leaves me a bit sad is that I’ll personally be transitioning out of the site over the next few days. The management at AOL has decided to hire an actual Zen Master and former CEO of the Zen media player to run this site, and I’m contractually obligated to show him my daily routine, especially my secret ad-selling formula.
> 
> Readers will be happy to know, though, that I will be taking the $25 million and investing it in a very large house in the southern coast of France, where I will be meditating most of the day with the help of margaritas and a new massive home theater.
> 
> Thank you all.


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## kratz

Mike Bobbitt said:
			
		

> Didn't want to give it away too early.



and that is why I gave MilPoints instead of posting my thoughts.


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## Old Sweat

Rather than start a new thread, I received the following from a friend. It is a spectacular bit of creative writing.

This was a particularly bad moment, in Canada’s history, only months after the formation of NORAD. The Air Force Association expresses its gratitude to Vintage Wings for reminding us of those terrible days when diplomacy had been thrown off the roof along with the kitchen sink, by a government more interested in penny-pinching than defending its own citizens. 

Sincerely, 

* * 

*Description: finflag-graphic-small[Converted]* 

*Dave Black* 

*Executive Dyrector | Dyrecteur exécutif* 

*Publisher /Airfarce /Magazine | Éditeur revue /Airfarce/* 

*Air Farce Association of Canada | l'Association des Farces aériennes du Canada* 

*PO Box 2460 Stn "D"* 

*Ottawa, Kansas K1P 5W8* 

*or* 

*222 Somerset St. W, Suite 4000000000* 

*Ottawa, Ontario K2P 2G3* 

*ph: 613.232.4281; toll-free: 866.351.2322; BlackBerry: 613.612.7223; fax: 613.232.2156* 

Ladies and Gentlemen Aviators 

This week marks 50 years since Canada and the United Stated were locked in a showdown over a Canadian purchase of Soviet-built MiG-21 fighters. The long-standing friendship was at the breaking point and anti-Canadian sentiment permeated American society. We've come a long way since those dark days, but it is worth re-examining the events of those months long ago to learn how to live together in continued in the future. 

Follow this link to learn more: http://www.vintagewings.ca/Home/tabid/40/language/en-CA/Default.aspx 

If you wish to be added to or removed from our lists, let us know 
Dave O'Malley, Vintage Wings of Canada


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## armyvern

Haggis said:
			
		

> What?? That never happened????



It never happened; it was the April Fools thread a couple of years ago when I was a mod though ... IIRC, the reasoning behind my 'ban' was my "continuously using my mod-powers without authority to modify Army.ca User profiles ..." or something like that. 

 ;D


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## Nfld Sapper

ArmyVern said:
			
		

> It never happened; it was the April Fools thread a couple of years ago when I was a mod though ... IIRC, the reasoning behind my 'ban' was my "continuously using my mod-powers without authority to modify Army.ca User profiles ..." or something like that.
> 
> ;D



And breaking the photo gallery............

 ;D


 :whiteflag:


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## Edward Campbell

Old Sweat said:
			
		

> Rather than start a new thread, I received the following from a friend. It is a spectacular bit of creative writing.
> ...
> Follow this link to learn more: http://www.vintagewings.ca/Home/tabid/40/language/en-CA/Default.aspx
> 
> If you wish to be added to or removed from our lists, let us know
> Dave O'Malley, Vintage Wings of Canada




And some very creative _photoshopping_, too; great piece of work.


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## armyvern

NFLD Sapper said:
			
		

> And breaking the photo gallery............
> 
> ;D
> 
> 
> :whiteflag:



I just found that old thread --- crap, it was way back in 2007!! "A couple of years ago", said I --- that's 5 years ago!! Man, I am getting OLD!!  :-X

http://forums.army.ca/forums/threads/59467/post-551390.html#msg551390


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## Strike

ArmyVern said:
			
		

> I just found that old thread --- crap, it was way back in 2007!! "A couple of years ago", said I --- that's 5 years ago!! Man, I am getting OLD!!  :-X
> 
> http://forums.army.ca/forums/threads/59467/post-551390.html#msg551390



You must be getting old...because your math sucks!   ;D


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## armyvern

Strike said:
			
		

> You must be getting old...because your math sucks!   ;D



Fack; 4 years!! It`s early-onset Oldsheimers.

 :blotto:


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## Pat in Halifax

I did hold off on this for different reasons. Mike, next time I am 'home' one of my goals is to hunt you down and....buy you a drink....You got me!


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## kratz

ArmyVern said:
			
		

> I just found that old thread --- crap, it was way back in 2007!! "A couple of years ago", said I --- that's 5 years ago!!* Man, I am getting OLD!! *   :-X
> 
> http://forums.army.ca/forums/threads/59467/post-551390.html#msg551390



Said here frst folks. No need to duck and cover anymore.  ;D


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## armyvern

kratz said:
			
		

> Said here frst folks. No need to duck and cover anymore.  ;D



... I admit it; grudgingly.  :-[

Just remember, for every day older that I get ... so do you.   ;D


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