A long year later

It takes a year for the Earth to orbit the sun, a 580 million mile trip at 65,000 mph. That's 365 days, or 2,100 work hours for a single person. In four years of college, you only spend 1,900 hrs in class! Thus one person should be able to get a heck of a lot done in a year.

May 31 marks one full year since the Yu Chen tragedy. We hate to dwell on this incident, but at the same time, the death of a Hoofer Sailing instructor on the water--and especially the manner in which it occurred--overshadows other news. Let's also not forget the drowning off the O'Day in 2015. If you want the latest on socials, squirt guns, ice cream, etc, visit the club's official website (where you won't find anything on Yu Chen--shame).

A year later, the DA is still sitting on his hands with a thumb up his you-know-what instead of making a decision on whether to bring charges against the motorboat driver(s). Consider: if it wasn't their fault--if Chen did some stupid maneuver and landed himself smack in front of the motorboat--the report surely would have been released by now because it would clear the UW Rescue staff of wrongdoing. Thus it seems likely at this point that there will be charges.

If I were the family's attorney, I'd be getting mighty worried about crucial investigative records mysteriously disappearing. How do you even know what records existed a year ago..? The UW has produced its own report on the tragedy--which they too are refusing to release. Why? Did they have access to the sheriff's data while creating their report? One has to wonder if the UW is putting pressure on the DA not to bring charges because a criminal conviction would make for a much stronger civil suit, which they know is coming. By delaying a decision, the authorities are making it into an ever-bigger story.

Meanwhile, someone had a great idea to paint an old Tech sail and sail it around the lakefront on Thurs May 31 and/or Friday June 1 (it could be done on other days too). This would help to draw attention to the situation, especially if somebody calls the local news ahead of time. Hopefully someone is following through on organizing that because our specialty here is criticizing, not organizing.

Suck-starting Harvey

The motorboat, that is. We'd like to see them get it in gear and finish up their "investigation" into the tragedy that occurred last May. The UW and DA might think this issue is going to go away, but it's more likely to snowball when the New York Times and/or Chicago Tribune pick it up.

Meanwhile, as summer approaches, it's time to reiterate a few basic guidelines. Hoofer and Union management expect club members to behave in a respectful and non-discriminatory manner toward others at all times (especially when interacting with staff). If you're not sure what we're talking about, just pretend you took some Valium and Prozac, maybe with some oxycodone and/or a shot of tequila thrown in. Note: we are not pharmacists and do not necessarily recommend that mix.

Customers (paying club members) can be disciplined or even kicked out of the club if accused of violating the rules. Note that you don't actually have to violate any of them--you just have to be accused of violating them. So, here are a few guidelines you won't find in the Ground School Manual:

1. Male instructors: please don't offer other men sexual favors in the office (Badger ears are everywhere, ya know). This goes even if the action is intended to take place elsewhere.
2. Female instructors: if you wear a bikini on the job, don't complain when people stare, especially the mature men sitting under the canopy.
3. Hoofer "leaders" only: Do not send defamatory emails about anyone.
4. Club officers & instructors: Slandering people behind their backs is also illegal and could come back to haunt you.
5. Club officers and employees: Do not make false police reports about people you don't like. Although that can be more effective than other forms of abuse, e.g. removing a person's ratings without telling them or making them take lessons ad infinitum, and UW police never question what comes out of the mouth of a fellow UW employee, it is technically criminal.
6. Avoid trying to rip off customers anymore.

Hmm... those rules all seem to apply to sailing club "leaders," not to general "club members". Come to think of it, general club members generally behave themselves.

So let's get fired up for lift-in this Saturday (May 5) and for match-racing some new T-10s!

Dirty rotten crooks

We are approaching the 11 month mark since the Yu Chen tragedy last spring, and in May it will be one year. Yet, the sheriff's report and other records are still being withheld. We're unsure whether to belabor this story or just let it go. The unlawful withholding of public records is such a problem in Wisconsin that we decided to collect the contacts for the major area newspapers below. Anyone who cares might think about contacting at least one of these and suggesting an (updated) story:

Isthmus:
Judy Davidoff (replaced Bill Lueders): 251-5627
Submit tip or story idea: edit@isthmus.com

The Progressive Magazine (Madison)

Capital Times:
Main number: 252-6400
Submit news tip: citydesk@madison.com

Wis. State Journal contacts. The Wis. State Journal and Cap Times have covered the incident, although not lately, and the Milw. Journal-Sentinel had one brief note on it right after it occurred.

Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel:
Opinion/Editorials: 414-224-2143; jsedit@journalsentinel.com
News: 414-224-2318; jsmetro@journalsentinel.com

Chicago Tribune:
News tips & ideas: online form

The public records problem in Wisconsin is getting worse, not better. Without unfettered access to public records, there is little to keep public employees from indulging their natural tendencies and becoming crooks.

Show me your hands!

Those words were uttered by a white cop at a black man, Stephon Clark, as he lay on the ground motionless in his grandmother's back yard in Sacramento, CA on Sunday evening. He was motionless because two cops had just shot him 20 times.

Notice the shot-counter at 1:10 in the above video, like in a videogame, which might be funny if this weren't footage of an actual murder. After unloading their magazines, the cops then engage in buddy talk for several minutes, unconcerned about the dying man on the ground.

"You alright? You hit?"
"Yeah, I'm good."
"You alright, dude?"
"Yeah, I'm alright. I don't think I'm hit or anything."

Of course the cops weren't hit--Clark only had a cell phone, and a white one at that. Maybe if your IQ is just 75, a white iPhone can look like a gun. For five minutes, the cops continue to hide just around the corner of the house from where they shot Clark, playing out the videogame scenario.

"I got him at gunpoint, dude. You do a tactical reload okay?" as if the dead Clark were going to pop up and attack like video game creatures do. One of the cops makes it clear (over the radio) that no one important has been injured: "I want everybody to know--we are fine, no officers are hit." Why is that even relevant to the situation?

Other cops arrive, and all four continue to stand there, shouting periodically at the bullet-riddled Clark. "Hey can you hear us?" and "Let's see your hands!" If there was any chance of saving his life, it evaporated in those five minutes.

The four heavily armed, sissy cops then call for a body bunker--a riot shield--before approaching the dead Clark.

Maybe police are rightfully cautious. Maybe there are people out there gunning for them, and who could blame anyone after all the recent murders by police? But this incident, like hundreds of other recent killings by police, highlights a serious and growing problem in this country: the lives of cops (and state employees in general) are valued more highly than the lives of everyone else. In 2017, cops in Amerika shot and killed 987 people, but only 46 cops were killed.

What does all this have to do with Hoofers? To some of us, the parade of cops who are getting away with murder is eerily similar to the lack of charges in the death by motorboat of Yu Chen almost a year ago now. At least in Sacramento, authorities released the video after a few days; the Dane County Sheriff and DA are still refusing to release the video of Yu Chen's death 10 months later.

Kinda makes ya wonder what it shows.

CIRCLE JERK

Beef jerky. Winter chow. We're talking about the meat heads and other Hoofer Sailing Club "staff" who exist mainly to serve and protect each other. The image at right, obtained from a source, was taken several years ago from the Hoofer Webcam. Click on the image to see the actual full-sized 1600x1200 capture.

What, you didn't know about the Hoofer webcam? That's because it was disabled soon thereafter by the HSC webmaster (guess who) because he and others didn't like that some plum smuggler had figured out how to capture time lapse video from it, and because such captures were being used to publicize screw-ups by Hoofer "staff".

Had they not removed that camera, there might now be video of the Yu Chen incident as the camera pointed straight at that part of the lake. (there may be video anyway, but the sheriff and DA are still withholding everything 8 months later.)

This is the Information Age, and knowledge is power. That's why those in authority do everything they legally can (and often illegally) to obtain information and then to keep it exclusively for themselves>. The Union's 100+ surveillance cameras are just one example. The public is not allowed to see any of that video, ever. Yet, Union staff, crooked cops, and other voyeurs can lock themselves in a room and study it whenever they like. If you're not breaking the law, who cares, right?

Who cares if they're getting off on girls in bikinis or you with your shirt off on the Terrace. Is the Union safer or better in any way since they installed all those cameras? Nope. The only deaths at Hoofer Sailing have both occurred after the installation of blanket surveillance--and after the removal of the one useful and publicly available camera at Hoofers.

Have you seen The Post yet? It's a great movie about crooked government officials trying to suppress public information, starring Meryl Streep & Tom Hanks.

NOTE: Thanks to those who posted the link with a bit of new info on the investigation.

Y.A.C.H.T.* XP

Are you young? Can you handle your liquor? If so, then why not join other hip young people on a cruise in the Bahamas this March! That's a cruise in the Bahamas, not to the Bahamas. You'll have to get yourself to Nassau prior to departure (no refunds if you arrive late).

The price is just $1300** or so for a week of total annihilation. There will be beer, rum, tequila... you name it. You'll have to buy it too, as this cruise is BYOB.

The graph above plots Hoofer alcohol policy vs. Yacht XP over time. Is it coincidence that Yacht XP's inception occurred right after alcohol was banned from Hoofer keelboats in 2014? You'll have to judge that for yourself.

Most organizers and participants are current or ex- Hoofers and their friends. Yacht XP's own Greg Bammel organized the last, semi-successful Hoofer cruise in 2014. After that, official Hoofer cruises were disallowed due to expensive screw-ups on the last two, so Yacht XP is now the only Hoofer-related*** way to get out on the water, get drunk, and get wasted!

Anyway, for under $2000 (probably--airfares to Nassau in March can be expensive), you can come and get shlt-faced with other young people and make up for all those times you wanted to drink on board Hoofer boats last summer but could not!

Note that the price goes up the longer you wait, e.g. signing up in January costs $1400**. If that seems expensive, it might be because Yacht XP gives big discounts to the skippers--who are hoping to get a free ride on you.

Hey, isn't that how it works in Hoofers too?

*Yet Another Crazy Hoofer Trip?
**Plus beer, liquor, transportation to Nassau, personal expenses, bar tabs, your share of any boat damage, etc.
***NOTE that Yacht XP is not officially part of Hoofers any more, but the two did have a formal relationship.