Los Angeles County Supervisors Meeting

[majiemae]

Bob K and Joe F. Speaking at the Los Angeles County Supervisors Meeting - speaking on the issues going on with Dockweiler and USHPA.

[SamKellner]

Thank You majiemae for your continued efforts

[Bill Cummings]

Yes thank you form New Mexico

[majiemae]

Bob and Joe are at the Los Angeles County Supervisors Meeting to thank them for the change in the USHPA rules about flying at Dockweiler. Let's hear it for Los Angeles County Supervisors!!!!

[SamKellner]

...

[Frank Colver]

Fantastic! Joe and Bob you said the good and right things. I wish I could have joined you at the Supervisors meeting but I'm glad I was able to join you the day before, at the historic day at dockweiler. A day of true FREE FLIGHT, done the way it was in the beginnings of the world wide sport of modern hang gliding.

Our own W W Condors (330 & 225) are on the way from Michigan, as we speak so, we can have these great gliders available, now the we are flying when Windsports Condors are not available for our use.

I don't understand those on other forums who willingly want to pay and pay and pay again, to enjoy their sport when there are other ways available.

Frank Colver

BTW - See the photo in my profile. That is one of the hills I learned to fly on and I never paid anyone to qualify use it. Unfortunately, the LZ is now solid houses or I would be back there again for more fun in the sun. PS - Volmer Jensen soared that hill in his VJ23. He didn't pay anybody to qualify either.

[Rick Masters]

I don't understand those on other forums who willingly want to pay and pay and pay again, to enjoy their sport when there are other ways available.

Joe and I have fond memories of Wikipedia and the mental midgets from Paragliding Forum who pose as Paragliding editors there:

Fatalities    May 19, 2010

I suggest that the section fatalities should be removed. I can't think of any other sport-page with a list of fatalities in wikipedia. There are such lists for B.A.S.E. jumping but not IN wikipedia. Another reason to remove it is that it is just not in a readable form but only a huge incomplete block. Nain Deathlegs (talk) 12:13, 10 May 2010 (UTC)

I am aware that the paragliding community does not wish to allow a fully cited paragliding fatality list to be published on their Wikipedia Paragliding How-To as it exposes the pervasive myth of paragliding safety. The associated, cited reference to the official British Hang Gliding and Paragliding Association observation that SIV training is counterproductive was also removed (without comment), apparently to preserve the likewise pervasive myth that training and skill make a difference. As the removed fatality list clearly illustrates, sudden collapses and uncontrolable, nose-down spiral dives continue to kill pilots across all skill levels, including the very best, the most famous and most accomplished. The list itself stood for 19 days. I find it curious that the Wikipedia UberEditors state, under the Safety heading, "This section does not cite any references or sources. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (August 2009)" Over 100 citations were removed, along with the fatality list and BHGA reference. This is perhaps a sad commentary on the Wikipedia universe. Or perhaps the truth will come to light. To me, the most important aspect of any sport is the fatality list. The term "sport" implies a significance of skill level. But in paragliding, the ugly fact that half the people getting killed are getting killed by the failure of their equipment is being kept hidden. I realize that I am not pursuing this agressively enough to do justice to the Wikipedia vision but I must admit, I posted the list primarily for my own verification: to see how long it would stand. Now I have the list but the readers of Wikipedia don't.Nopara (talk) 03:42, 19 May 2010 (UTC)
https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Talk:Paragliding&oldid=362941837
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Definition (Wikipedia)
    Stupidity is a quality or state of being stupid, or an act or idea that exhibits properties of being stupid.
    In a character study of "The Stupid Man" attributed to the Greek philosopher Theophrastus (c. 371 – c. 287 BC), stupidity was defined as "mental slowness in speech or action". The modern English word "stupid" has a broad range of application, from being slow of mind (indicating a lack of intelligence, care or reason), dullness of feeling or sensation (torpidity, senseless, insensitivity), or lacking interest or point (vexing, exasperating). It can either imply a congenital lack of capacity for reasoning, or a temporary state of daze, or slow-mindedness.

    In Understanding Stupidity, James F. Welles defines stupidity this way: "The term may be used to designate a mentality which is considered to be informed, deliberate and maladaptive."
    Welles distinguishes stupidity from ignorance; one must know they are acting in their own worst interest. Secondly, it must be a choice, not a forced act or accident.
    Lastly, it requires the activity to be maladaptive, in that it is in the worst interest of the actor, and specifically done to prevent adaption to new data or existing circumstances."
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Stupidity Author Arrested    
November 9, 2002|By JosM-i Dante Parra Herrera Staff Writer
http://articles.sun-sentinel.com/2002-11-09/news/0211090082_1_shopping-center-books-internet
Lantana — For James F. Welles, stupidity was not a banal quirk of life, but a social phenomenon worthy of scientific study. So much so, that he wrote two books about it.
But police say Welles easily could have been a subject of his books last week. On Nov. 1, Welles, 61, was arrested in a sting operation as he tried to meet a fictitious 15-year-old girl with whom he had made an appointment on the Internet to have sex, Lantana police Detective Todd Dwyer said.
    "This guy is a Ph.D. in biology from Tulane University," Dwyer said. "Apparently very smart."
    Dwyer, a detective in the Law Enforcement Against Child Harm (LEACH) federal task force, said that about three weeks ago Welles initiated a conversation with him on an Internet chat room, thinking Dwyer was a 15-year-old girl. Dwyer said the conversations were explicit and they arranged to meet at a Lantana shopping center on Nov. 1.
    But as the date of the meeting date drew closer, Welles was growing weary. At one point he wrote to Dwyer that he thought that law enforcement might be "looming in the background." Because of that Welles did not want to take his 15-year-old date back to his Pompano Beach home, but preferred have their encounter in his car, Dwyer said.
    When Dwyer said to make their meeting at the shopping center look normal, the supposed girl was to call Welles "Dad" or say that he was her coach.
    About 6 p.m. on Nov. 1 , Welles drove to his rendezvous, but instead of a 15-year-old he was met by two uniformed officers who arrested him.
    Welles is the author of The Story of Stupidity and Understanding Stupidity, books in which he analyzes not-so-brilliant moves people make and the behavior's context in history.
    In the preface to Understanding Stupidity, Welles wrote: "Haunting me almost daily during the writing of this book have been vivid memories of my most stupid failures. ... Why did I trust her? Why did I believe him? ... Why didn't I shut up? None of these personal experiences appears on the following pages even in an indirect sense. ... However, my motivation was intensely personal."
He faces one count for soliciting a minor over the Internet and was released on bond after his arrest.
"He practices what he writes about," Dwyer said.
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As Welles' perverse penchant illustrates, stupidity is a choice, not a forced act or accident.
The fact that most of the people to which you refer have previously chosen to hang themselves high above the earth from laundry without a critical aerodynamic evaluation may be representative of the overall quality of their decision making.
It will probably take centuries for these dimwits to realize that California Recreation Law is real and USHPA insurance is a scam.
https://portersimon.com/californias-recreational-use-trail-immunity-laws/

[dhmartens]

Love it.
Ushpa has unwittingly unleashed the "Wrath of Khan".

[Bob Kuczewski]

There's a lot of good infrormation in Rick's post, but he saved the punch line for the end:

It will probably take centuries for these dimwits to realize that California Recreation Law is real and USHPA insurance is a scam.

Fortunately, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors is helping to underscore Rick's point. Now we just need to start working on the other hundred odd sites around the country.

Thanks Rick.

[Bob Kuczewski]

Love it.
Ushpa has unwittingly unleashed the "Wrath of Khan".

I would prefer an analogy to the American Revolution or the Civil Rights Movement. But the "Wrath of Khan" shares some of those elements ... and is much more entertaining.

Thanks Doug. I always enjoy your contributions.