On 21 Nov 2004 07:40:13 -0800, (DonQuijote1954)
wrote:

I know it's political, EVERYTHING is political. Whether in my
bicycles--that go unused--or my kayaks--that now will go unused--I
feel at the bottom end of the food chain. Polluting SUVs and
motorboats have it all; bikers and kayakers, get the scraps--if any.
Whether we are intimidated or regulated, we face the beast. It's a
jungle out there...

Where's the law?

Things get more difficult all the time...

Beautiful day for kayaking. Perfect where I live, since I live here,
in a wild place, mostly because I can walk to the bay, barely one
block away. So I just walked my kayak there until I heard someone--the
park guard--screaming. "No kayaks here!" "Why!?" I said. "Well,
regulations," he barked back. "But is there any law?" I insisted. He
informed me that the Parks Department doesn't want any legal suit from
people hurting themselves on the rocks... According to that logic, the
medical profession would be banned because you can bring suits against
doctors... And then I asked him if he didn't do anything about a
homeless couple near us, a common sight at the park. He challenged me,
"do they bother you?" And I say they don't bother me in quickly
passing through the park, but they sure scare the average family. In
effect, most of our parks remain no man's land.

Anyway I didn't take "no" for an answer, and I had him call the
police. But, of course, lion helps lion, and I was almost swallowed.
And they say they serve the community... I asked them why they don't
take care of the homeless in the park, and they anwered back that that
was a different issue. Thinking to myself, "shouldn't the issue be a
clean, safe park?" And then I asked, "where's the law that prevents me
from launching a kayak at this park?" They clued me in there's no law,
only the law of the guard, and roared at me to get lost at once or
else... And I say, I know that law, THE LAW OF THE JUNGLE...

NOTE: I called the Parks Department later and they confirmed the
prohibition. So a member of the community trying to have fun out there
is restricted by the "law"; the homeless though got the law on their
side. Where's the law?

***

THE LAW OF THE JUNGLE

Once upon a time, in the deep jungle, lived a Lion and a Monkey... One
day the Monkey, tired of the Lion always taking the LION'S SHARE, and
seeing that such injustice represented a danger to all the species of
the jungle, demanded JUSTICE... The Lion, yawning and stretching,
said, "You would have to have paws and sharp teeth..." Then the
Monkey, who was very clever, devised a plan: He would go to the
costume store, and look like a lion...

When the Lion saw him, noticing that the new lion wasn't a match for
him, and fearing COMPETITION, killed him on the spot --before the
indifferent look of the little animals of the jungle... And that's how
the Law of the Jungle was re-established one more time...

NOTE: Other monkeys survived him...

http://committed.to/justiceforpeace

Dude, it's a stupid park with a stupid rule. Get some perspective and start
lobbying. Call your state legislator he lives close. Try to sound unstoned and
persuasive.

Ron