Scott, Your succient comments are amongst the wisest and most commonsensical to ever grace this forum. I cringe every time I read the laments of the hand wringers who worry about every fool that dies doing something he has no business doing. For those that abhor unneccessary deaths; have you ever considered condemning the misguidingly revered Abraham Lincoln, who led America into a Civil War that killed more Americans than all other wars the US ever fought put together? Why are you worried about the occasional single death when you could be questioning why 600,000 Americans were killed due to one general incident. There was a boy who hopped the fence into The Prospect Park Zoo one night here in Brooklyn, NY a few years ago and then hopped the fence into the bear cage where he was mauled. After the boy was extracated from the cage, the bear was shot. And If I'm not mistaken, the family then sued the City for damages. It's amazing what the misguided thoughts of some individuals can induce. It's probably because most right minded folks are working and too busy supporting themselves and their families to have time for promoting nonsense. On the other hand, those inclined to activism tend to be people with whacky ideas. I wish there was a legal team that would sue the Government for the real wrongdoings they perpertate on the people, such as closing a National Park because there are wild animals in it, or dispensing tax money to clever attorneys who know how to milk the follies the U.S. Courts routinely entertain. Date: Wed, 17 Apr 2002 From: KiAyker_at_aol.com Subject: Re: [Paddlewise] accidents in general - another option This whole discussion reminds me of the time a young child was mauled by a lion at Caspers Wilderness Park, here in sunny Southern California. The family sued the county and amazingly won a bucketful of money. Just what part of the word, "wilderness," did they not understand? So the park was closed to small children for a number of years while the county tried to figure out just how they were supposed to protect people from nature in what was supposed to be a wilderness setting. Nature can be sad and cruel. Personally, I see incidents like the uninitiated getting in over their heads (literally) in a kayak as natures way of culling the weak and stupid among us. Sure, try to educate the ones that are willing to listen. But there will always be those, in every sport and activity, that will resist being educated, and may end up paying the price for it. The bigger problem, as I see it, is how do we hold onto our own freedoms while the do gooders of society are trying to protect us from ourselves? Scott So.Cal. Yahoo! Tax Center - online filing with TurboTax *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - Any opinions or suggestions expressed here are solely those of the writer(s). You must assume the entire responsibility for reliance upon them. All postings copyright the author. Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
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