Coast Guard halts man running on water

[shinblind]

Guy builds a bubble to run on the Ocean and the Coast Guard hauls him back to shore.

http://www.cnn.com/2016/04/25/us/bubble-man-rescue/

The Coast Guard told him not to embark, he left anyway, they hauled him back to shore.

Maybe he should practice this stunt in Michigan first. Get his sea legs so to speak.  The cooler temps and traveling on fresh water would overcome two of biggest obstacles. Overheating and keeping hydrated.

Maybe the Maritime  Museum could sponsor his run across the Lake. Wouldn't cost much. Plenty of publicity. They could display the craft along with their other exhibits.

I remember a ways back when 2 guys from Ludington tried to cross Lake Michigan in a bathtub, they were never heard from again. Lots of local rumors about their demise. A few years later another attempt to cross the Lake was made in a bathtub. Ludington to Manitowoc  This time successful. Maybe that bathtub is still floating around. Would also make a good exhibit.

https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1310&dat=19690825&id...

 

[XLFD]

Great defense of your opinion, Willy.  Big Government's favorite tactic is to appeal to protecting us from what they perceive as dangers, but quite often that danger is ourselves exercising our own liberties and freedoms.  In Alan Ross' case, we had a 50 something year old kayaker of reasonably sound mind enjoying his kayak ride, and the state totally ruined it under the guise of doing it for his safety.  There are few places safer than a jail.  Let's throw anybody who smokes, climbs mountains, has a body mass index over 35, speaks during public comment at Ludington City Council meetings, etc. into a jail or government program to protect them from their own behaviors. 

If Willy or anybody else old enough to get a license wants to drive their car without a seatbelt for themselves that should be their prerogative.  Throughout the licensing process, which is a necessary evil in itself, the dangers of not driving without seatbelts used to be logically explained to the students before the seat belt law came into effect in 1985 in Michigan, the first to consider seat belt laws in the nation.  By 2000, the law was changed to allow police to cite you for no seat belts without any other offense. 

It is definitely common sense to believe in the safety benefits of wearing a seat belt, and up to 98% of the population now wears seat belts.  But New Hampshire does not have a mandatory seat belt law and their rate is just under 75%, just like Massachusetts, Mississippi and Montana, who have mandated seat belt laws.  South Dakota actually has less than 70% of their population using seat belts with a law mandating their use.

These comments also presage an article I have been working on regarding the motorcycle helmet law.  Let the bubble rider do his thing, I am sure all the resources the USCG have directed towards prohibiting Reza from doing what he wants to do is costing us more than either of their 'rescues', which they hyper-inflated to win the PR war.

[Jasper]

The citizenry of the USA live under an illusion of freedom. This illusion is propagated by the media and government at all levels. We are not "Free." It is all beyond delusional.

[AQUAMAN]

Freedom is a great responsibility to have for all of us Americans. We must learn to use some logic and temperament in our freedoms and rights, lest we lose them to higher authorities. What the law tries to measure is the "standard of reasonableness". When that common thread of logic is pushed to an envelope of careless or reckless conduct, you exceeded your freedoms. That's why this Baluchi guy was warned with a letter from the USCG to begin with, the first time he was stopped. All types of vessels MUST be certified CG worthy for the sea or lake, that's something every mfr. of a boat has to do by LAW, before you can even sell it to the public. Reza Baluchi's "home-made bubble boat" wasn't safe for the trip to Bermuda, thus his stop and return to shore. The USCG does not have to approve every vessel that's on the water, they must come into inspections and be approved before they can be registered by the DMV, then the boat builder is in compliance. In this case, both the vessel and the nature of the voyage were both contrary to maritime laws, and his actions were suspended. I'll just bet he was ticketed and fined this time too, which he deserves. 

[XLFD]

Perhaps Gandhi said it best.  One person's personal quest for spiritual enlightenment, or for scientific knowledge, or for testing their own bounds, or for helping their fellow man or for a host of other things should not be unduly constrained by laws made for "safety" or "security".  Laws are restrictive, freedom is expansive, they should work together.

[shinblind]

“Begin with a charter of Duties of Man and I promise the rights will follow as spring follows winter.”    M Gandi

"Gandhi spent more than 50 years in active public service and understood the need for legal safeguards to protect fundamental rights.  However, he believed that a commitment to personal responsibility, not insistence on rights, should govern conduct and social policy.
 
H.G. Wells once asked for Gandhi's views on a document Wells had co-authored entitled Rights of Man.  Gandhi did not agree with the documents emphasis on rights.  He responded with a cable that said, I suggest the right way.  “Begin with a charter of Duties of Man and I promise the rights will follow as spring follows winter.”
 
Gandhi asked us to remember that if our rights are inalienable, our responsibility is indisputable - given to us by every religion and culture - to treat others as ourselves.  He focused on this most fundamental of human responsibilities.  If we keep it as our ideal and try to move toward it, we reduce the emphasis on rights and bring personal responsibility to a higher level in guiding our thoughts and actions.  In both the political and business arenas, commitment to responsibilities impacts individuals and groups to look for ways to produce benefits for all."

http://www.collaboration.me.uk/Rights___Responsibilities.html

[shinblind]

Exactly correct Aquaman.

I don't wish to have to subsidize the stupidity and ignorance of either bubble man or kayak guy nor anyone else who believes the rules shouldn't apply to them. 

If either would exercise a legally binding waiver that if their activity went south that they would not expect a rescue effort and that they were posting a bond before hand for any expense that was involved in the removal of their remains and vessels. And that neither they nor any representative would file suit and sue if anything unfortunate happened. And that they had proof of adequate catastrophic medical insurance, liability insurance and burial insurance.

Then you what? Go out and have your fun.

But don't expect me to subsidize your activity because you decide not to adhere to the mandated safety requirements.  It is one thing to be ignorant before the fact, it is another to be intentionally ignorant after the fact because you have some adolescent fantasy that your rights require me to subsidize your foolhardy endeavor.

[Willy]

“They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty  nor safety.”
― Benjamin Franklin

When someone stands up for liberty and rights they are not subsidizing stupidy. What they are doing is reinforcing the claim to their rights. Using stupid people as an excuse to relinquish our rights is just plain stupid. The problem gets sticky when citizens think that the Government deserves to put limits on people and use all of the progressive excuses to do so.

Some of the comments seem to suggest that the Government has the right to control every aspect of our lives. To those people I say you have given up on the Constitution and liberties. Again using common sense and ignorance to deny liberties is not what the Founders of this Country had in mind. Everyone is ignorant and everyone can be singled out for a lack of common sense. I guess these same individuals support Obama care, legalizing illegal immigration, NSA's massive data gathering of citizens phone and internet activity, oppressive taxes, warentless searches, etc. etc. Not only do you appear to support  these Unconstitutional infringements by condoning other freedom robbing laws but you are subsidizing them as well. These example I have stated are the culmination of a huge loss of freedoms that started with small freedom losses such as seat belt laws and PFD laws. The Government is not our friend, the Government is a boot on everyone's necks.

[shinblind]

Yadda yadda yadda.  You are starting to sound shrill like Hillary and the Benghazi issue.

I don't want to have to subsidize anyone's stupidity.

Interesting you quote Franklin.  He started the American Insurance Business. Ben didn't believe in subsidizing stupidity either.

 

[Willy]

Shrill is as shrill does as long as it speaks out for liberty. Bernie and you also have a lot in common since you both believe in rigid Government controls. I don't believe Ben forced anyone to buy insurance or required PFD on boats.

[AQUAMAN]

Willy, you should look at the charts of the ocean, or maps for the land masses. This Balushi guy is attempting to go from Palm Beach Florida, to Bermuda, an island that is over 100 miles off the coast of Carolina, and 300 miles north of Florida. That's about a 400-500 mile trip, not a scant 50 miles or so. So, when you equate that to the type of vessel he has, which isn't even a vessel, but a bubble-thing, it's not going to make the trip, can't, it's simply impossible. This is the Important Point the USCG is making, he can't make it, even in the 5 months proposed by he himself. There are way too many variables on the ocean for this to be a positive trip. That is why he, and any other idiots, must be stopped, and returned to shore, it's too crazy an idea to be a "reasonable effort"!

[Willy]

I understand how crazy his idea may be and I certainly would not attempt it but what he was doing was fulfilling his desire to do something no one else has done. It's his life and his business. Look at all the first attempts people have done to set records and accomplish achievements that are out of the ordinary. Why didn't the Coast Guard stop the woman who swam across Lake Michigan and all of the other Great lakes? Sounds crazy to me. Why wasn't Chuck Yeager stopped before he broke the sound barrier? That certainly was a crazy thing to do. Talk about not using common sense, who in their right mind would attempt to break the sound barrier in a land based vehicle or in a free fall? The Government should have stepped in and stopped all of this nonsense, after all it's their job to protect us and stifle the human spirit. What really suprises me is that people are so willing to give up their own rights and the rights of others just because the Government says they should. I bet the Native Americans wish that the Spanish authority would have stopped Columbus when he attempted his crazy lack of common sense adventure.

[shinblind]

You sound Slick, Willy or is he another hero of yours? :-))

Ben didn't force you to buy insurance. But the fire dept was aware who had insurance and who did not.

If your house and my house were side by side in BF's time, and both were on fire and I had insurance and you didn't Ben would have told the fire department would put out my fire. He would have told you to piss in the wind.