Re: [PSUBS-MAILIST] Empress of Ireland (was: Forbes story)

[Coalbunny <coalbunny@vcn.com>]

Sadly Steve, you hit that baby right square on the head.  Right now they
are attacking model rocketry.  Next?  Hmmmm.  ATVs?  Off roading? 
Personal submarines?  Ahhhh, the part we all dread!  What people don't
see is the "threat" a personal sub can *appear* to be to those that are
untrained.  They see a sub.  They think "he's trying to hide something
or hide himself while doing something wrong".  Doesn't matter IF the
intent is there, what counts is the interpretation of those that are
ignorant and armed.  Let's see you argue with a boat load of armed
psycho park rangers.  
This really bothers me as I'm not near any oceans.  I suppose I could go
to Flaming Gorge (UT/WY), Lake Powell (UT/AZ), Seminoe Lake (WY), Lake
Mead (AZ) or even Blue Mesa Reservior (CO).  One problem- they may be
big enough to satisfy my submairne interests, and they are deep enough
as well, what keeps all that water back?  A dam.  What kind of dam? 
Nothing major.  Just a HYDROELECTRIC dam.  You know, a terrorist would
love to hit a hydroelectric facility.  Lake Powell produces a lot of
juice for LA and Las Vegas.  Same with Lake Mead.  A lot of those are
high output.

Ok, so you have an ignorant armed ranger or cop sitting at the lake for
lunch.  He sees you pull up with a sub and start putting it in the
water.  TERRORIST!!!!!!  So he pulls up and demands your paper work. 
You show it, but to no avail.  Afterall, a terrorist would stop at
nothing to destory something like that dam, right?  Uhhh, yeah.  Right. 
lol!  I know and YOU know they won't, but this is a ranger that has
difficulty putting two and two together without a building permit.

Are all ranger and law enforcement authorities like that?  No.  I never
said they are.  Unfortunately I have met a few that are just like I
described.  I had a 1988 Nissan pickup painted camoflauge for hunting
season.  Got pulled over for close to a hour or two by a county
sheriff's deputy.  His first question, "So, are you one of those crazy
militias?"  And this was BEFORE 9/11.

I realize that with the political crap that one fella was ranting about,
you guys may not appreciate what I'm saying.  But think about it.  Now
it's model rockets.  Do you really want to wait until the next thing
resricted is personal submarines?  Honestly a psub, in theory, has all a
terrorist could want.  More so than model rocketry.  How long do you
think it's going to be until they start restricting psubs?  

I don't know if I'll ever get mine built.  First things first, get the
money and the plans.  And between now and when I get all that, they can
change the laws making it illegal.  Oh well, all that time and money
right down the toilet.

Sorry for the rant, but it's true.  You just gotta think about it, is
all.
Carl


Steven Mills wrote:
> 
> >From: Coalbunny <coalbunny@vcn.com>
> >
> > A few years back there was a buddy of mine that had some land in Eastern
> > Utah.  He found some raptor-like lizard buried there and the BLM told
> > him he couldn't touch it.........snip...............
> >
> > Sorry, rambling again.
> > Carl
> >
> 
> Indeed, Carl, don't get me started. Unfortunately this is not a singular
> or isolated incident.  There are other cases just as incidious.
> 
> My concerns would be bureaucratic redtape and restrictions imposed
> on personal submersibles.  There's already talk about putting a clamp
> on model rocketry because of security risks.  I know....what does model
> rocketry have to do with pSubs? Nothing and everything.  Legal things
> tend to have a cascading effect and once precedence is in place it can
> have an effect in other areas.
> 
> If anyone took the time to read some of the messages in the Slasdot
> site:
> 
> Ref : Thursday, February 20, 2003 4:11 AM "Check this out!"
> > "Dale A. Raby" wrote:
> >
> > Well, gentlemen, we have been "Slashdotted"!
> >
> > http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=03/02/19/177211
> >
> 
> There were more than a few messages expressing concern about pSubs
> being a risk to "homeland security'.
> 
> I don't expect nor is it my intent to extend this topic beyond this message.
> However, it might behoove some of us to keep vigilant watch on any
> legislation that will preclude an honest pursuit among honest and sincere
> individuals engaged in the science and engineering of submersibles
> and exploration.
> 
> There ! Enough said. I'll shut up now.
> 
>  --Steve

-- 
"You delight not in a city's seven or seventy wonders, but in an answer
it gives to a question of yours, or the question it asks you, forcing
you to answer, like Thebes through the mouth of the Sphinx." -- Kublai
Khan