Bob Kuczewski - 2011/12/09
I've spoken with Tad many times on the phone, and several times he's made the assertion that his presence on this forum is actually contributing to the growth of the US Hawks.
bulls***.
1. There's NO POSSIBLE WAY an assertion like that can be made. The best one can do is make a guess.
2. At this stage and for the foreseeable future I'm not at all interested in contributing to the "growth" of the organization - just laying a solid foundation upon which it can grow in a competent responsible manner. And for that task US Hawks has grown way too much already.
I do agree that Tad has brought some people to this forum, but at the same time, I also know that he's driven (or kept) many other people away.
And since all men are created equal we don't hafta look into any quality issues. This is only about getting numbers so a Bill, Antoine, Mike, Nobody, and Zack is always gonna be trumped by a Davis, Jack, Pilgrim, Rooney, Sam, and Terry.
So I haven't been able to tell if his presence is beneficial or not.
Depends upon what your objectives are and how you define beneficial. On the morning of 1986/01/28 NASA's objective was to get the Challenger off the ground. They WERE successful - much to the surprise of a lot of engineers whose objective it was to keep it on the pad until the job could be done right.
During my recent cross-country drive, I had the chance to speak with Tad again on this topic, and he again asserted that his presence (and posts) were contributing to the growth of the US Hawks...
bulls***. He expressed the OPINION that the wire would PROBABLY be a lot dustier minus his posts.
...more than they were harming it.
If it starts going down the "Preflight, Hangcheck, Know you're hooked in." path it needs to be stopped, redirected, and/or harmed - from the inside or outside.
So I've decided to put that assertion to the test.
Minus the consent of the lab rat. But hey, who give's a rat's a** about a rat's a** anyway?
Starting today (December 9th, 2011)...
...a date which will live in infamy...
...I've restricted Tad to only posting in the "Free Speech Zone".
bobk - 2011/10/19
OK, so exactly where have I been a "Current Dictator"? Please name one single instance. There's no need to write War and Peace. Just tell me where I've acted as a "Current Dictator" on this forum?
Yeah, that's how Hitler started out - arbitrarily excluding people from mainstream discussions and giving them special little roped off areas where they could carry on their discussions with other subhumans.
I plan to continue that restriction for about a month...
Define "about". I was "suspended" from the Capitol club form for PRECISELY three months about three years ago. And I'm REAL curious as to the reason you have for not saying until "December 9th, 2012". Guess ya better leave things open ended just in case this little "experiment" in restricting unpopular speech is successful beyond your wildest expectations.
...to see if that helps or hurts general participation in the rest of the forum. This restriction is not intended to be any judgement on Tad or on the value of his posts.
Who the hell CARES what this restriction is INTENDED to be or do. Everybody within earshot with a respect for rules and principles should be REAL uncomfortable with what it DOES - regardless of how he feels about the victim or what he says.
Instead, it's intended to simply answer the question as to whether Tad's presence is helping or hurting the growth of the US Hawks and the US Hawks forum (a question he posed himself). At the end of the month, I'll review the results of this restriction to see if our forum participation (measured in posting rates) has increased or not.
All comments are welcome (either here, by PM, or in the Free Speech Zone). Thanks.
Yeah, I've got a comment. bulls***.
You don't have a freakin' clue what science is and there's not a snowball's chance in hell you ever will.
Brian Vant-Hull - 2008/06/30
...and inspected, under controlled and numerically repeatable conditions, the barrel release...
Scientific experiments are CONTROLLED and REPEATABLE. What you're doing is a total farce and fraud.
1. The traffic doubles. So what? How do you know it wouldn't have tripled if I had stayed?
2. The traffic drops to half of what it was. Maybe it would have gone to a quarter if I were involved.
3. Your sample size sucks anyway. If Bill recovers from the flu you could see a 33 percent spike in activity level.
4. Is lotsa traffic necessarily a good thing? If the number of halfwits writing "Preflight, Hangcheck, Know you're hooked in." quadruples will that bode well for a good 2012 season?
5. The wire heats up because people are pissed off that I've been kicked off. "Oh, look! Tad's gone, participation goes up! I was right all along and there's the PROOF!" Are you counting Nobody's flurry of recent posts to bolster your position?
6. If this bulls*** "experiment" has the desired effect of bringing all the "Preflight, Hangcheck, Know you're hooked in." halfwits into circulation as desired I guess we'll be "conducting further studies"?
And here's a few other little side benefits I get for being volunteered for your "experiment":
You are not authorised to view the member list or profiles.
And I no longer have ANY search options available.
And I can't PM anybody. But I guess anybody I'd have a reason to PM would be OK with that.
Oh well, sacrifices of lab rats must be made in our relentless pursuit of truth.
Hey! Sam, Terry, Pilgrim...
Got an idea! Start a thread in General titled "we luv cats". Post to it twenty times a day, the rates will go through the ceiling, Bob's experiment will be a smashing success, and everybody's Tad problem will be ended just as successfully as it was at the Davis and Jack Shows and all those other places I've lost track of.
What will keep the US Hawks from becoming another USHPA or HGAA?
You will ... hopefully. The price of freedom is eternal vigilance. Everyone has to do their part once in a while. If you see something that's not being done correctly, then it's your duty to speak out. One big difference between the US Hawks and other organizations is that the US Hawks really does honor the free speech of its members.
Needs editing. Let's try this...
Nothing. If you make too much noise about stuff we're doing wrong I'll cut your wire. If you don't like the way I'm running stuff go start your own organization - I'm the one who makes up the rules as I go along here. Love it or leave it.
If Jack had banished Scott and I to "the basement" and allowed others to post references to our basement posts in the main forum, then I suspect Scott and I would have lots of people participating in those discussions.
And that would have made it OK.
Let me make it clear that I have no problem with people reviewing your ideas Tad.
1. Cool! I'm sure they'll all be thrilled to hear that they have your permission.
2. "MY" ideas like...
- If you take a hand off a stuffed basetube to release you can count on doing an unplanned semi-loop.
- A light weak link is a helluva lot more likely to cause a dangerous stall than prevent one.
- The more confident you are that you're hooked in just prior to the instant of launch the more likely you are to find yourself hanging from the basetube the moment after.
In fact, I'm likely to post links to your writings myself.
Super! Then they'll be able to easily find everything I say with which you're in total agreement. "Click here to see Tad's take on the downsides of clipping barbed wire fences on landing."
But while you have lots of good information, your presentation is so poisonous that it not only defeats your own posts...
And you've made that determination how?
...but drives people away from the forum in general.
Good. Can ya give me some pointers on what I'm doing right? I recently noticed Pilgrim was still on the list.
The results of the test that I've mentioned above will tell us whether that's true or not.
bulls***.
If the forum grows during your restriction, then that will be an important data point.
And when flocks of Rooneys, Rooney Followers, and Rooney Harmonizers start flocking in, thanking you for making this a better place, and making their opinions on physics available to their fellow halfwits, of what use will that data point be? Nah, just kidding. Everybody and his dog know how that data like that gets used. And isn't there some saying about "lies, damned lies, and statistics"?
Jim Rooney - 2009/11/03
God I love the ignore list
Tad loves to have things both ways.
First weaklinks are too weak, so we MUST use stronger ones. Not doing so is reckless and dangerous.
Then they're too strong.
I have no time for such circular logic.
I had it with that crap years ago.
Jack Axaopoulos - 2009/11/09
Guess AeroTow didnt take my last warning seriously.
Jim Rooney - 2009/11/09
I think my opinion on Mr Negative are pretty clear, so I'll just say
Ah, with that out of the way....
Back on topic
Ryan...
Tad, the current restrictions are designed to determine whether you're viewed as a "spammer" by those who want to build the US Hawks.
1. Guess what, Bob. I'm viewed as a spammer now by those who want to build the US Hawks and have good records of playing well others. So I'm pretty sure I'll still be viewed as a spammer at the "conclusion" of your "experiment".
2. What are the qualifications one needs to get on YOUR list of people who want to build US Hawks?
Jaime Perry - 2009/11/10
Trenton, Georgia
I can't say that I'm sorry to see him go.
BUT ...
I really wish the sport had a die hard advocate for safety improvements because I think we have alot of room to improve the sport. Sometimes Tad makes some good points, he just goes about things in the most ineffective and offensive way. Imagine someone as passionate as Tad that was a great communicator who could influence people and make things happen ...
Honestly now that he is banned I'd like to see some rational discussion about some of his safety concerns without his obnoxiousness making me leave the threads.
I've only been a pilot since September 07 and there have been numerous serious accidents at my local flying site. I don't feel like we do a good job of compiling the information on the incidents to make use in an effective lessons learned program. I wonder alot lately "What can I do to make a difference" ?
HG.org really has the ability to make a big difference in this sport, I'd like to challenge all of us to figure out how to use this wonderful place(that SG has so generously provided) as a powerful advocate for safety in this sport.
SG I know your reluctant to ban anyone but I support you on this one. It had gotten to the point that I avoided mentioning safety at all so as not to lure Tad into any thread of discussion.
Thanks for all that you do again !
And I'm ABSOLUTELY POSITIVE that The Bob Show (that Bob has so generously provided) will start becoming the powerful tool for promoting safety in this sport that The Jack Show did after halfwitted twits with broken ignore buttons were no longer being forced to read my ineffective, offensive, obnoxious posts.
The restriction is also designed to see if it makes the US Hawks "a better place" to use your choice of words.
Jason Dyer - 2010/04/03
awww, I'm going to miss him.
I think in principal he has a good thing going, but his bedside manor needs a little work Anyone that goes against his grain is misquoted and bullied somewhere in a full page of opinion and strife.
Thanks Davis, it will be a better place without him.
Rob Wenban - 2011/07/19
Melbourne
Thanks Davis, he has nothing constructive to add, he simply causes trouble - well done!
It UNDOUBTEDLY WILL make it "a better place". You learn from the masters quickly, Grasshopper. Now wave bye-bye to your soul before you push the flush lever.
Both of these are in the eye of the beholder, and that's why we have to "do the experiment" to see how it turns out.
1. Physics doesn't give a rat's a** about eyes of beholders. You take a hand off the basetube at the wrong time you're gonna be upside down regardless of your opinions and beliefs on the issue and what it says and doesn't say in "Towing Aloft".
2. When you say "we" "have to" do the "experiment" who is "we" and who's holding the guns to "OUR" heads?
3. I'm pretty sure you've got the Peter "Unplanned Semi-Loop" Birren vote safely in your pocket. (Pretty good timing, huh Peter?)
4. It sure is a good thing I've got JD Guillemette repairing helicopters for my freedom somewhere in the middle east right now.
Since you've been a big advocate of testing (weak links, release strengths, etc), then I hope you won't mind the inconvenience of this current experiment.
1. Yeah, I actually mind the "inconvenience" a lot - especially using the weak link analogy 'cause most of the time they're not able to function very well as weak links after the conclusion of the testing.
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances. The President For Life, however, may do whatever the hell he pleases at any time, for whatever reasons, and using whatever stunningly transparent pretenses he pleases.
2. Stupid people tend to hate me, smart people tend to like me. The bent pin release is proof that only one or two glider people in a thousand are capable of understanding fifth grade science. And if you DO understand fifth grade science you won't win any popularity contests in this sport or on this forum.
I hope everyone who's enjoyed corresponding with Tad will continue to do so in the Free Speech Zone.
Jim Rooney - 2011/08/26
If someone's got a problem with it... we've got over ONE HUNDRED THOUSAND TANDEM TOWS and COUNTLESS solo tows that argue otherwise. So they can politely get stuffed.
As my friend likes to say... "Sure, it works in REALITY... but does it work in THEORY?"
Hahahahhaa... I like that one a lot
And if you don't wanna have your conversations restricted to the "Free Speech" Zone you can politely get stuffed.