Monday, February 18, 2019

Overpaid

FEB 22 UPDATE: We've switched to embedded comments so it's easier to reply to particular comments, and this will allow sub-threads on those topics too (and possibly make it easier to ignore certain other comments). Let's see how this works.

A comment on our previous post inspired us to do a little research. Here's what your favorite (or least favorite) Hoofer staffer gets paid per annum:

• Outdoor Programs Dir. Joe Webb: $52,570
• WUD Cultmaster Jim Rogers: $47,922
• Hoofer Advoosigator Dave Elsmo: $46,205
• Director of Kiddies Susan Dibbell: $121,899
• Wis. Union Führer Mark Guthier: $158,500

That last one is almost eighty dollars an hour--to sit in his office on the fifth floor and come up with new ways to waste money. For reference, a full professor makes around $100K, although that can vary somewhat.

A sailing instructor? $10/hr, give or take a buck (which would translate to $20K/year if full time were possible)--to go out and risk our lives, get sunburned, cut, bruised, yelled at, and hammered. We do it all for a fraction of what the office minions make. We might as well be volunteering.

And do we really need an advoosigator? Hoofer Sailing always managed itself in the past. Why pay one individual $46K/year to tell us to be sure to tie our shoe laces? As far as Jim's returning as advoosigator, that's unlikely, but not because it would be a pay cut. As of 2010 Jim was making a cool $46K--about what he's making now (that's what is meant by stag-nant wages). There just isn't a whole lot of opportunity for advancement at the Wis. Union, unless you aspire to become Union director, which in fact is Jim's stated goal. (are you grooming him yet, Mark?)

Another comment questioned the need for a Head of Instruction. Alas, someone has to organize and schedule lessons, and a rotation, like we have for security, would be a mess IMHO. But that doesn't mean HOI has to be a full time position.

Note that the above are 2017 salaries, so they've probably all creeped up a few bucks since then.

55 comments:

  1. What can be done to sever David Elsmo's ties with Hoofers? He's been on a power grab since day 1. Many dozens of sailors have been destroyed by his lies and political wrangling. Who in any leadership role doesn't live in fear of him? and how can he be brought to justice?

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  2. Oh please. Leave your "good old club" shit in the trunk, okay? For one, you do not know the definition of homophobic, which you revealed in the response to one of the people who commented on your last post. And number two, you are living in the past. Things move on. So do you need to also. It is sad that you seem unable to.

    Are you bitter because they will no longer let you swill beer and sail with a young babe on each arm? Are you bitter because you are getting old, and the younger girls are no longer attracted to you, which they never were. Or are you just longing for the good old days of "acceptable loss", like the kid that drowned a few years ago. Because of booze. NOT because of the skipper of the boat.

    Because YOU and your ilk decided that not having non-sailors wear a life jacket on the boat, which you KNEW he was, was okay. And that liquor was acceptable? Collateral damage to your desire to sail while you are drunk and hunting for that young babe you seem to desire? So what do you do? Blame it on the skipper. For getting into a situation that YOU and your friends created.

    When in fact it was the fault of ALL of those who let this practice go on. ALL of you! If you want to look at it hard, in the mirror, all of the people that let that go on (no life jackets on non-sailors), owe the world a life. Hope you pay it back. While you may not like it, and it may hurt, the truth is still the truth.

    Dave Elsmo has nothing to do with it. Wake up. People...ADULT people need to run things, or you get what you had. And what you had hurt a lot of people and killed one. Ever count up the ambulance trips created by your beloved old dock system? That also is on you. But it is SO easy to lay the blame on Elsmo, right? So easy to want the inmates to run the institution, right?

    What did that get you? A dead human being. A vibrant and delightful human being. Who did not KNOW about booze and sailing, or not jumping into the water from a moving boat. Because you....YOU did not think about what might happen in your alcoholic buzz. You just wanted YOUR fun....and a kid died. Needlessly. Not to repeat myself...but that is on YOU. Do your even KNOW his name? DO YOU?

    Wow....the salary information you give is SO secret and pertinent. So much so that it is public record! This is your great revelation? THIS is what you spent five nights writing your blog about? This is what pisses you off? Then. Go. Get. A. Job. People work in the world to make money. By what RIGHT do you deny them the ability to do so? Because you cannot make any with your record? (not naming names, so let us be clear)

    One would imagine that you are truly pissed because you are NOT coming back to this club. Ever. They are unlikely to have you, for some very good reasons that you never tell your readers about. How about you lay all of THAT out in your next post?
    Might be quite interesting. Or are you afraid to?

    Again, I shall never name names, except for your trying to run me over in a Walgreens parking lot. You know who you are. I know who you are. And that I shall never forgive. You. Are. Toast. An easy take down because you think you are so clever. But you are not. So have at it. Take another run at me, okay? This time I will not keep it to myself. Keep watching your six.

    Are YOU, in the interest of being fair, going leave this comment up for all to see? Of course not. Because they might start to question your motivation, right? Because you cannot admit to the fact that your policies caused the life of a priceless human being, and injured a number of others. Some of the badly.

    There are two ways to go here. One in which you go on with the life you put yourself into. A bitter and angry life. The other with a fresh start at doing something valuable to pay back the life that YOU and your policies helped cause. Something more worthwhile than smearing people who called you out to begin with.

    Again......do you even know the kids name that your policies killed?

    ReplyDelete
  3. Getting Better All The TimeWed Feb 20, 07:16:00 AM PST

    We now have a new marina being built! IMHO that is pretty effing awesome. I have no love for the old piers that were past being scary. They had become downright dangerous.

    Not sure what the hullabaloo above is all about. Just know that things are looking up at the club. 2.5 months to go and we'll be sailing on Mendota.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Cause You Gotta Have FaithWed Feb 20, 01:07:00 PM PST

    Rest your tired eyes upon Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 and may it comfort your chafed and irritated souls.

    Try Walgreen's for anything else that is chafed and irritated.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Uh, sure. But Walgreen's did not work out so well for me. I nearly got chafed and irritated (and run over) in the parking lot!

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  6. The drowning death was not caused by booze, alcohol will never be kept off of hoofer boats, all the policy will do is stop people from requestiong help when they NEED it the most, because of fear of punishment.... 75 YEARS with no deaths. 1 year of prohibition and our first death!!! with another to follow 2 years later.

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  7. Sergeant Safety BuckleThu Feb 21, 08:33:00 AM PST

    The death before last was due to someone jumping from a moving boat without a life vest. Do you drive a car without a seat belt?

    The most recent death was an accident. If you added-up all the hours and number of rescues by UW-Rescue over 20 years, this was a one-off accident.

    We cannot protect against every eventuality. But we can make sure that training for staff and members is adequate. Life vests like seat belts save lives. IF you don't wear a seat belt you're rolling the dice unnecessarily. Plus, if and when you drown you impact the lives of your family, Club Members, First Responders and others.

    Don't be selfish. Give everyone else a break and wear the life vest. This should be done everywhere not just at Hoofers.

    This PSA sums it up. https://youtu.be/4nAJ8EG8MVE

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  8. Sergeant got it right all you snowflakes. You die drowning it's your own fault for not wearing a life jacket. Even knocked-out cold by a swinging boom, a good life jacket will keep your head above water until you regain consciousness or until a Rescue boat pulls you from the blue green muck. Anyone not wearing a life jacket on a club boat should be suspended for 2-4 weeks and put on shore garbage detail while having to wear a Life Jacket. Gotta Learn People. Gotta Learn.

    UW-Rescue ROCKS!

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  9. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

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  10. We hate to remove comments, except when personal names are used or people are identifiable (people other than Hoofer crooks), but we removed the previous comment because (a) the person is no longer in Hoofers and didn't commit any crime related to his Hoofer employment, (b) it wasn't news anyway--that article was a year old, (c) it has nothing whatsoever to do with this post, and (d) the guy has had a hard enough time and doesn't need more people linking to an old story about how he allegedly assaulted someone at Hoofers, got charged for it by the lackeys at UWPD, tossed in the slammer without a trial, and then charged with other stuff for good measure. UWPD are like sharks--once they pick up your scent, they won't stop until your life is destroyed. That's what is known as a police state.

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  11. Oh my, Fleet Commander....you think that assault with intent to murder is a trumped up charge? Wow. You are one sick person. Besides, why not tell you readers that this SAME individual was subsequently arrested for having materials (that I cannot name without naming him) that were highly illegal and intended to "cure", in his mind, some of the wrongdoing he thinks was done to him by UWPD and/or Hoofers?

    Where is you head, man? He did NOT allegedly assault someone. He attempted to MURDER someone. Why do you not call what is PUBLIC record for what it is. This was straight up assault with intent to murder, and he plead down for reasons YOU do not know, and that I shall never tell you.

    Readers...PLEASE take everything you read from this blog-master with a grain of salt, okay? Clearly he is either an idiot, or is sliding down the slippery slope of dementia. Or both. Why do I check in once in a bit? Just to remind him of this fact. For me? It becomes a matter of correcting lies and half-truths.

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  12. THIS is the person you think was railroaded by UWPD? That right? This IS using names, contrary to your policy, but if you can call our so-call crooks within Hoofer's with no proof, then surely I can give your readers the news, right?

    And the NEED to read the truth.

    By Will Husted | February 21, 2019 12:00 am
    A Madison man is expected to appear in court this week after police found homemade explosives believed to be linked to a possible attack on UW-Madison in his apartment last year.

    Brian Campbell entered into a plea agreement in which he pleaded no contest to charges of possessing improvised explosives and second-degree reckless endangerment, according to the Wisconsin State Journal.

    Under the current agreement, prosecutors can ask for no more than three years of prison time. Assistant District Attorney John Rice filed a memorandum to the court Tuesday outlining a narrative of domestic terrorism, including searches on Campbell’s computer outlining explosive-making instructions and a map of university tunnels.

    In February of last year, police seized explosive materials including a green fuse cord, a homemade detonator, a metal pipe, a metal switch and a threaded brass pipe cap from the defendant’s west-side apartment.

    In the memorandum, Rice said Campbell’s computer password was "McVeigh," the last name of the man who bombed a federal building in Oklahoma City in 1995, killing 168 people.

    Campbell was banned from UW-Madison after assaulting a fellow member of the Hoofers sailing club in 2016.

    Circuit Judge Susan Crawford has the ultimate decision over Campbell’s sentencing time. He could face up to 16 years in prison.

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  13. We removed a nonsensical comment at 7:41 but will leave the new Brian C. post as it is indeed news, though it's not clear why you are posting it here. I personally had not seen the latest on that, but seriously doubt that Brian tried to murder anyone. More likely he lost his temper and reacted to one of the many a-holes who inhabit Hoofers. I am not trying to defend him, but if you believe whatever the authorities tell you without a second thought, that is dangerous.

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  14. All of this is a matter of public record. It is reported in the Madison News this week. This news has a direct link to Hoofers and the UW. All you have to do is look a Madison news site and there it is front and center.

    In a club of over a thousand people you are going to have at least one person who has a monkey wrench dropped in the gears of clear rational thinking. Yet another one off. Nothing to see here people, move along.

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  15. Here is the comment you removed (07:41). Let your readers judge if it is pertinent to this blog, Hoofers, and you. You only think that it nonsensical and does not belong on a Hoofer blog because it contains corrections to your version of reality.

    -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Anonymous said...
    Hold on, anonymous @ 1151 PST

    The prohibition on booze did not START until two weeks after Matthew died while jumping off of a boat, without a life jacket, and died of a cold shock heart attack. PLEASE at least try to hold onto the facts, okay?

    TWO WEEKS....and the entire keel-fleet did N O T H I N G. Save for to blame Elsmo in some convoluted manner. Then ELSMO made you wear life jackets and keep booze off of your precious honey traps.

    YOU did not. Do not EVER try to duck it, okay? YOU OWN MATTHEWS DEATH! Because you. did. nothing. You say we cannot keep booze off of Hoofer boats? Then keep looking over your shoulder pal, because a whole lot of us are watching. And if we catch you, you too will be out of the club like the idiot that writes this blog.

    Thu Feb 21, 07:41:00 PM PST

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  16. Two things happened that went wrong. Passenger unexpectedly leaped from boat without life vest and the Skipper and Crew had difficulty retrieving said passenger in time.

    The Club should re-certify every keel skipper each year. States do this with driving licenses for seniors. That re-certification should cover everything required for a rating. Crew Overboard Drill should cover the unexpected. Successfully executing a COB in a set time should be mandatory.

    Let's get our sh$t together for the coming season. How about a big sign near outdoor rentals that shows number of days since last accident. That would raise awareness.

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    Replies
    1. Sorry, I am not certain you are correct on drivers licenses. They are five YEARS for seniors as well. Try not to put up crap for facts?

      Delete
    2. Thanks for taking timeout with your job at the DMV to comment.

      Delete
    3. My pleasure. The DMV is always at your service.

      Delete
  17. Making people take another skipper testout every year is not the answer. I mean, can you imagine the chaos? The solution is to make sure people are qualified BEFORE they get skipper rated, people like Michaela who are great to party with but only have a rudimentary grasp of boat handling.

    It is true that more emphasis on MOB procedures would be very useful.

    As for the comments up above with an obvious agenda against certain individuals, this blog, whatever, you are boring.

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  18. Re-certification is a great idea. So what if it scoonches a weekend. Club could get shut down indefinitely if we have more deaths. No more deaths!

    And put on the friggin' life jackets already. Lot of people fall from keels, get a quick lung full of water and sink like a rock. The one who jumped from the boat probably had just that happen. If he had been wearing a life jacket he would be alive today. Skipper could have taken as much time as necessary for a safe pick-up from the water.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Life jackets are for kiddies and non-swimmers (see our old post on that). (I'm really just posting this to see if threaded comments are working okay. Seem to be.)

      Delete
    2. Really? Life-jackets are for kiddies and non-swimmers? Try that on with the MAJORITY of racing fleets, AND the ASA and see how it plays, okay? They would light upon better words than I can, but you would get the message. So Matthew was a "kiddie", and acceptable loss? So that you could be a MAN? Wow. Sick. And if you KNEW he was a non-swimmer, which I always ask when taking out a lesson, you did nothing? Murderer!

      Delete
    3. I wasn't the skipper on that fateful cruise, nor anyone else who works on this blog. The skipper was Michaela Rabas and we'll never know if she asked everyone on board whether they were competent swimmers. One would assume that if somebody wants to go swimming, as Mohammed, er, Matthew, did, he must be a decent swimmer (the report concluded that he was).

      Delete
    4. So blame it on Michaela, right? For sailing under policies that YOU all put down. It was up to HER to even think about life-jackets, because NONE of you ever considered that this sort of tragedy might be happen? Is that not what fleet captains are supposed to DO? Buy you blame the woman and ease your soul, that it? But it is not, you see. For EVERYONE on keels owns Matthew's death. Don't you DARE try to lay it on Michaela. I did not even know her, but I DO know a hit job to ease a guilty soul when I see it. Shame on you. Shame on us. Shame on ALL of Hoofers for putting her into that situation. Most of all? Shame on YOU, for continuing to pretend that Matthew's death was only because of MIchaela's actions.
      You are a dried up, used up, dreadful human being. Go ahead and that THIS one off. I shall just continue putting it up every night after you go to sleep. IF that is what you call it.

      Delete
    5. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

      Delete
    6. And I shall put back the post you deleted because your readers need to hear it. I left out the onerous stuff you do not seem to like, though you give out quite a lot of it on your own.

      Last thing, Mohammed WAS a decent swimmer, but actually died of a cold-shock heart attack the minute he hit the water. THAT is why no one, despite desperate efforts of the skipper and crew, could find him. He was already dead. YOU even published the report, yes?

      Did you know that? Did you know that MY SON died because of policies that you and those like you created? Did you? Hell, you do not even know his proper name. Does calling Matthew Mohammed make you feel better?

      Delete
    7. Oh here.....let me put the deleted comment back for you,okay? Or do you not want your readers to see it?

      "are you serious? Was Mohammed YOUR SON? Do you use his given name, Mohammad, to make it all impersonal, to distance MY son from your conscience? Just another rag-head, right? Is THAT what you think?

      By what right......what right do you have to call my dear son "collateral damage"? That neither he, nor the skipper were not following the Rules? For there WERE no rules! Because of you.

      He did NOT know to wear a life-jacket, you say? Mohammed did not know from anything about sailboats. And yet,you were all eager to put him out on a sailboat without a life jacket. Damn the consequences, right?

      Having spoken with Michaela on this, it was YOU that that set the rules that caused the death of my son. She was just following the rules that you laid out. That you modeled for her! And now you have the temerity to blame HER? Shame...SHAME ON YOU!!!!!!

      I think that you are comfortable blaming her to clear your own conscience, yes? again, shame on you. Whomever writes this blog.

      Am I drunk? YES! But I've been that way for as long as my priceless son drowned for NOT doing the basic life-saving thing that a non-sailor was supposed to do. That YOU were supposed to help him understand and do.

      I really do not care if I live. Because the light of my life is gone. My SON is gone. I find with each passing year the pain gets worse. But you do not care, do you? So long as YOUR soul can blame someone else to make you feel better.

      This is on YOU...and all of the things you let stand because you wanted booze on your boats, and access young girls. You are ALL deluded. So go ahead....go ahead and delete my post.

      But at least I will have known that someone may have read it. You. Are. A. Murderer. My only hope is that you go to sleep tonight and think about this.

      Delete
  19. Re-certifying everyone on every keelboat that they are rated on is impractical. That said- a plane pilot friend of mine once said "Most private pilots are competent. The ones that scare me are the ones that fly once or twice a year." I think that applies to hoofers- if someone was using their rating over and over last year, I am most co concerned about them, but if someone checked out a boat once or twice (or not at all), then I am getting concerned. The solution might be a software feature that puts skipper ratings on hold if it wasn't used enough the previous season, forcing a class and convincing an instructor that the rustiness has been overcome.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. This is not a bad idea, but what if I am so busy sailing Knotty that I don't sail the J24 for a couple months, maybe only once all summer, or maybe not at all? But I skipper other keelboats 50 times. Should I really have to recertify on the 24?

      Sailing is like bicycling, you don't forget how to do it once learned. Learning it well in the first place is what is important. I agree with Capt. MOB that careful evaluation is needed *before* giving someone a rating.

      Delete
    2. Good points regarding logistics of re-cert with multiple keels. Perhaps this can be done with multiple skippers at the very beginning of the season on the same craft. Peer-to-peer review and this has the spin-off benefit of sharing knowledge. Fleet Leaders can then do a lesson shadow to see skills in practice.

      Delete
    3. Many people complain that it is too difficult to get new keelboat ratings. Now club leaders are trying to make it harder to keep ratings too!? And, easier for those same leaders to take them away for no reason whatsoever. Ratings that expire, wow, what a power rush for those who hand out the ratings.

      If i don't follow you, are you really a leader?

      Delete
    4. Admiral, that is a legitimate beef Club Members have had since time immortal. It takes forever to get rated on a keel! Not aware of Club Leaders trying to rescind current ratings.

      We only rescind ratings after a boat winds-up on the rocks. Then we examine the current skills and abilities of the skipper whose boat crashed and say Oh well. It's the fault of the skipper.

      I think most of us are trying to move away from that current and failed model. But who am I to say that it failed? It's just that there has to be a proactive vs. reactive way of ensuring that skippers are competent and able.


      Delete
    5. "We only rescind ratings after a boat winds-up on the rocks."

      Does "on the rocks" include the big one off the end of the sloop pier? Did PeteM have his ratings rescinded after totaling Decoy a few years ago?? I don't think so, and yet, others have for much lesser screw-ups.

      Delete
    6. The point that was apparently lost. If so, then good case in point. Level the playing field for one and all.

      Delete
    7. Here's a great system. Everyone keeps their ratings until something happens where they shouldn't have a rating any more.

      You didn't ground a boat today? Awesome, you keep your rating!

      All passengers may it back to port and only required 24 hours in Alcohol Detox?

      Awesome! You keep your rating!

      See the problem is with the system. Let's stop blaming skippers and UW Rescue for promoting or leaving less than capable skippers in charge of boat and crew.

      Delete
    8. The wildcards in this are crew and passengers. Does the crew know what to do? The crew is the critical component. Passengers, on the other hand, need to understand what they have to do. Wearing a life jacket at all times. They should understand that jumping-off a moving boat may require a period of time before being picked-up.

      Just trying to put something forward that gets us to a better place.

      Delete
    9. Five minute required video for non-Hoofer passengers. "Don't Become a Water Zombie!" and then show proper life jacket and on the water safety stuff.

      Scare 'em Straight. Get them in the right way of thinking before the drinking.

      Delete
    10. So, on sail free days you would set up a bigscreen TV outside so that people in line can watch.. drownings? And/or people being knocked unconscious by flying jibes? Great recruitment idea.

      It is true that crew and passengers (I treat them as one in the same) must be made aware of things, but that is the skipper's responsibility. If you know your crew, you should already know their abilities.

      It would seem to especially a problem at kickoffs, where keelboats takeout lots of newbies. Yet, I cannot recall there ever being a serious incident at one of those events.

      Delete
    11. Ed Teach, they'll just feel even more badass cool after seeing how they were living on the edge with Hoofers. In fact it might lead to even more sign-ups.

      Let's stop being such a curmudgeon and propose something other than the current system. Or, the University will step in with a lowest common denominator approach that will be worse than anything anyone can come-up with in their wildest hallucinations.

      Delete
    12. Ground School Mandatory Training: Waterboarding.

      An overhead speaker blares Wear your life jacket and this will never happen again.

      That should do it. Freedom is messy.

      Delete
  20. Don't forget to add 20% to those base salary numbers above. Health and retirement fringe benefits also have to be paid by Hoofers.

    Now I'm really curious to find out who tried to run over who at Walgreens. The Hoofer mystery for summer 2019.

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  21. We shall let that one rest for now. Until the moron tries it again. THEN? It shall not rest. But he will not try it again because he is, at heart, a coward. Only able to prey on women.

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  22. As I thought, nobody tried to run anybody over. Just some messed up Hoofer employee spouting off here because he can't do it at work. Walgreen's doesn't even have a parking lot, you dufus.

    ReplyDelete
  23. Ah, right back at you "dufus". You think that there is only one Walgreen's in Madison? This one DID have a parking lot. I was followed to that lot by the writer of this blog, and as I came out between two cars, he took a run at me. Not attempting to kill, but to scare. But what he does not realize is that he needs to actually hit me to scare me. So piss off and check your Walgreen's locations. Do not try to talk about stuff that you know nothing about, okay? Makes you look like a poor college student with a grudge. Sad.

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  24. No one who works on this blog "took a run at you." I sure didn't, and one of the others doesn't have a car, while the third lives in California. Oops. However, we're leaving your comment up because it's a great example of libel by a Hoofer employee. As usual, it's something that sounds plausible, can't be disproven, and undoubtedly went unreported to the authorities (because it never happened). You are a Hoofer employee, yes?

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  25. No, I am not a Hoofer employee. Stop trying to make your writing staff bigger than we know it is, okay? It makes you look not so smart.

    Oh, and it is only libel if I name the name of an individual. Under your definition, if I said that Pepsi sucked as a soda, they could sue me for libel.
    Your version of libel would provide a whole new opportunity for work in America. Lawyers!

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  26. Do not pretend to know anything about the law because you obviously do not. In fact it is perfectly legal to say Pepsi sucks, because it does. Even if it did not (and how would one ever determine that objectively?), you would merely be giving your evaluation of a widely recognized brand by saying so.

    However, it might constitute slander to say that a certain person's sailing sucks if objectively it does not, and it would certainly be libelous to write, for example, that a specific person bombed the pier with a J-24 if in fact he did not. It would also be libelous to write, for example, that a particular brand of soda contains nicotine if it does not. I am an attorney, btw.

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  27. I meant to add that it can indeed be libelous to assert something, as you have above when you claimed that the owner of this blog tried to run you over, if that individual (or individuals) can be identified and did not, in fact, attempt to do that. Thus, something can be libelous even if no personal names are used.

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  28. I bow to the law.

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  29. Yeah the sailing club and current cartel, including Elsmo need to be reigned in, badly. Lets return Hoofers to Student control and reverse the policies of the last 5 years.

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  30. The new marina gives the Club a fresh start. Let's use this opportunity to be more welcoming and inclusive of our disenfranchised African-American brethren.

    Only by working, playing,laughing and loving alongside one another will the wall of ignorance fall.

    All club members, tear down that wall!

    PS Discrimination is not just a white america thing. The club is represented by people from all over the world. It takes all of our diverse rainbow to reach-out.

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  31. Clearly there is plenty of ignorance in the club, as evidenced by the comment above. Also the comments promoting lifejackets, as are now required by the microbrains. Instead of treating us like children, they should be teaching responsiblity. But that would mean the microbrains themselves are responsible and not merely hacks trying to cover their a$$es.

    If someone is wearing a Hoofer PFD, properly zipped up, they can still get hit by the boom and knocked into the water, unconscious. If the skipper is as incompetent at crew-overboard pickups as you-know-who, the person still drowns because we have Type 3 PFDs. Only Type I and in some cases Type 2 will keep your unconscious face out of the water and keep you from drowning!!

    You would think that a university this size would have someone who isn't incompetent, in a position of authority. To the microbrains: Hoofers urgently needs 500 Type I PFDs.

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  32. Zounds like we need better PFDs. The Club should be responsible for buying proper PFDs.

    We can teach responsible boat use, but we cannot teach people to not be stupid. People are just too distracted to slow down and make the mental change from office/dorm/class to a lake that can suck you down and drown you.

    Now, we do have some level of competency that must be met before anyone can check-out boats A, B, C.

    If that system is as good as it gets then that's cool. Make sure you have PFDs and throwables, tell the crew to not go apesh*t crazy. If they do and toss themselves overboard, WTF can anyone do about that? That's just someone doing a random crazy thing.

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  33. No accounting for people going bonkers. The best we can do is ensure that boaters have access to good PFDs and remind passengers to not randomly throw themselves overboard.

    Whatever people do on land outside of the Club in parking lots or in eastern European hostels is their business.

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