Re: [Paddlewise] bracing and power

Craig wrote:



>>>>>>>....If *LONG* paddles were as terrible as everyone says they are then
why would at least some Inuit keep on using them? It sure would be fun if
someone would make a 9' long GP and report back.<<<<<<<<



I'm sure I could get Chuck to agree that just because everyone (else) does
something one way that doesn't mean it is the best way of doing it. It is
perplexing, but we will probably never know why, so we should stick to
physical arguments that stand a chance of being measured rather than use
appeals to authority.



I often find myself in the unvast minority. Back in the sixties I thought that
the best solution to the drug problem in the US was to make ALL drugs legal.
Everyone, including drug users I knew, thought I was just crazy. More and more
folks are coming around to my point of view over the years, including many
very conservative thinkers such as Milton Freidman, William S. Buckley and
most of the Libertarian Party. I have a plan to alleviate much of the damage
this will cause (even though just doing it by proclamation would improve the
present situation and costs to society immensely). I call my plan "The Truce
with Drugs". Essentially it involves the government selling the drugs in a
regulated way that the users can be kept track of (for research and pricing
purposes) and to providing a secure place for the user (and the public at
large the uncontrolled user might effect--or with some drugs restricting what
can be attempted under thier influence if home use is allowed--like drunk
driving laws) and pricing each drug according to what the cost of that
individual drug is to society (and what is needed to protect the user and the
society). All funds would be strictly used for education about the real
dangers involved and to alleviate to cost to society that users of any
particular drug are causing. There would be no profit motive incentive to
spread addiction. The user would have a reasonable price and wouldn't likely
have to steal and push them to maintain their addiction, Organized crime and
turf wars between gangs should disappear with the profit gone as it would be
hard to compete with the government price (unless like with gambling addiction
the government gets greedy and encourages the practice to fund unrelated
programs funded by the lottery--which I call the Stupid Tax). Less criminals
would get filthy rich and be less able to corrupt the police departments.
Think what would happen if the addictive substance nicotine/tobacco were made
illegal. Yes, tobacco is a serious problem now but making it illegal would
probably make Prohibition seem like a walk in the park. That is not all the
details of the "truce" but you get the idea. BTW i don't ake any drugs unless
a doctor can convince me they are really necessary for a cure. For pain, such
as after I left the hospital after a hernial operation, I toughed it out
(although I did fill the pain pill prescrition in case I couldn't). That
includes caffine (I save it for when I could fall asleep in a dangerous
situation otherwise), alchohol, aspirin and Chap-stick.



My point is that the native paddlers may do it the way they do because that is
what someone in a position of influence thought (and their ideas remained
dominant long after they were dead) and the few who thought of a better way
weren't listened to as they were obviously, out of step, deviant, or some
other slanderous term for "doesn't believe what I believe (and most right
thinking, honest, God fearing, American's believe, DADGUMMIT!").
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