Re: B.A.H. No H*lmet July 4th - Cycling Mob: Road Cycling, Mountain Biking and More

07-09-2003, 08:12 AM

x-no-archive:yes

> You want *real* insurance cost saving and injury reducing from mandated
> helmets? (If they are indeed as effective as they say)
> Mandate them for auto inhabitants. Go look up how many car crashes result
in
> head injuries, even with seatbelts and airbags. But no. We must
concentrate
> on a minority population, and not inconvienience the majority. My
> goodness...just getting them to put down the phone and drive is a major
> hassle.
>
> Pete

This has already been done with motorcycle helmets and crashes. When the
helmet law was taken away, head injuries and insurance payments AND payments
going to the charity hospitals went 'way up. A lot of people don't have any
insurance and the rest of us pay for their care---and with a head injury,
the tax payers can pay for many, many years.

Pat in TX
>
>

07-10-2003, 12:13 PM

Not the America that I know. Compromise and middle-ground are the tools of
the unprincipled. Philosophy is not an auction. Democracy is the rule of
fools by fools.

07-10-2003, 04:37 PM

In article <[Only registered and activated users can see links. ]>,
[Only registered and activated users can see links. ] says...
> In article <Wm4Pa.634$[Only registered and activated users can see links. ].prodigy.co m>,
> [Only registered and activated users can see links. ] says...
> >
> > "Pat" <[Only registered and activated users can see links. ]> wrote
> > > This has already been done with motorcycle helmets and crashes. When the
> > > helmet law was taken away, head injuries and insurance payments AND
> > payments
> > > going to the charity hospitals went 'way up. A lot of people don't have
> > any
> > > insurance and the rest of us pay for their care---and with a head injury,
> > > the tax payers can pay for many, many years.
> > > Pat in TX
> >
> >
> > That's the price of freedom . . . it's either that, or we concede to the
> > government the right to tell us every little thing we gotta do to keep from
> > having to create another health care expense. Bike helmets today, dietary
> > regulations tomorrow, bedtime rules after that. Not my idea of good
> > government . . .
> > --Tock
> >
> >
>
> Why are the words "compromise" and "middle ground" always met with such
> looks of bewilderment in America?

No, but it sure seems like it sometimes, especially in public
pronouncements (as opposed to private negotiations).

--
Dave Kerber
Fight spam: remove the ns_ from the return address before replying!

REAL programmers write self-modifying code.

07-10-2003, 06:12 PM

"Zoot Katz" <[Only registered and activated users can see links. ]> wrote in message
news:[Only registered and activated users can see links. ].ca...
> Thu, 10 Jul 2003 19:28:48 GMT,
> <Q7jPa.72328$[Only registered and activated users can see links. ].com>,
> "Buck" <j u n k m a i l @ g a l a x y c o r p . c o m> wrote:
>
> >So the reaction is to dig in and fight at the first sign of anyone trying
to
> >reach the middle ground.
>
> Now there's a progressive idea.

Can't blame them though. It's one of those creeping problems. What was
considered unthinkable fifty years ago was seen as "progressive" twenty-five
years ago then became tolerable ten years ago and is now supposed to be
completely acceptable and seen every day. In some cases this is the right
thing to do. In others it is tearing at the moral fabric of our society.

-Buck

07-10-2003, 06:49 PM

If this 'right thing to do' is progressivism and change for change's sake
then it is never the right thing to do. Principled change is fine but
change willy-nilly has brought us to these dire straits. Imagine having to
acknowledge B. J. Clinton(spit) as an ex-president.

"Buck" <j u n k m a i l @ g a l a x y c o r p . c o m> wrote in message
news:R9oPa.53210$[Only registered and activated users can see links. ].com. ..
>
> Can't blame them though. It's one of those creeping problems. What was
> considered unthinkable fifty years ago was seen as "progressive"
twenty-five
> years ago then became tolerable ten years ago and is now supposed to be
> completely acceptable and seen every day. In some cases this is the right
> thing to do. In others it is tearing at the moral fabric of our society.
>
> -Buck
>
>
>

07-11-2003, 07:45 AM

In article <Q7jPa.72328$[Only registered and activated users can see links. ].com>, "Buck" <j u n
k m a i l @ g a l a x y c o r p . c o m> says...
> "Chris Phillipo" <[Only registered and activated users can see links. ]> wrote in message
> news:[Only registered and activated users can see links. ].. .
>
> > Why are the words "compromise" and "middle ground" always met with such
> > looks of bewilderment in America?
>
> Bewilderment? More like anger. Have you ever heard the phrase, "give an
> inch, and they'll take a mile"? Once someone reaches that first compromise,
> someone else is going to come along and challenge the new status quo. Then a
> new compromise is reached. Then the next challenge comes along. And so on,
> and so on..... Such is the way of the world. Compromises are often just tiny
> steps towards an end result that one side or the other really doesn't want.
> So the reaction is to dig in and fight at the first sign of anyone trying to
> reach the middle ground.
>
> -Buck
>

Did you intent to hold yourself up as a prime example of my point or did
that just happen accidentally?
--
_________________________
Chris Phillipo - Cape Breton, Nova Scotia
[Only registered and activated users can see links. ]

07-11-2003, 08:24 AM

"Chris Phillipo" <[Only registered and activated users can see links. ]> wrote

> Did you intent to hold yourself up as a prime example of my point or did
> that just happen accidentally?

Recognizing the way something works is not the same thing as being a
participant. I have a good understanding of the homosexual point of view,
but that doesn't make me gay, does it?

Understanding how people think is important to understanding how to affect
change. Culture plays a major role in social change. Many of the foreign
students I have met over the years have trouble understanding how the U.S.
culture works. Well, that is part of the problem. There is no "U.S.
culture." We have a conglomerate of many, many cultures. This is difficult
for them to grasp because they come from a mono-culture. Many of them,
before coming to the U.S. had only seen foreign faces on television. They
start to understand our problems when they look around and see faces from
all over the world. Even walking down the halls causes trouble when they
first get here. We drive on the right, so we usually walk down hallways on
the right too. Imagine having to hold onto stairway railings with your right
hand if you had done it with your left all of your life....

So, just because I can explain to you the general point of view, don't lump
me in with it.

-Buck