The whole notion that just because it did not happen to the OP, then it
will not happen and is a "Chicken Little" type concern is what is
ridiculous. With the amount of sea traffic, the problem the OP
identified most certainly *will* happen. I see nothing "Chicken
Little"ish about his post.

It seems to me that being a "Chicken Little" is not the danger here.
Being a Sheep is the danger. Unfortunately, there are a lot of Sheep
in our society. The only time the Sheep exhibit any semblance of
courage is when they "flail" a person with the courage to stand up and
speak out about a government run amok.

Voting, political contributions and writing to our congressional
representatives are not the only ways we influence our government. One
way we influence our government is exactly what the OP did. We co-opt
other people in government. The OP talked with someone else in
government (a CG officer) about the problem he experienced and the
unreasonableness of the government's policy. That sort of grass roots
feedback is exceedingly important in guiding our government. (Yes.
That's right. Just as our Constitution says, our government is ruled
by us. It is our responsibility to guide and control it. Daily. Even
minute by minute.)

The other thing the OP did right is exactly what you "flail". He
discussed the problem he found with other citizens. With us. Yep.
That's right. (Again.) It is our responsibility to discuss our
government among ourselves.

I applaud the OP for having both the courage and the integrity to do
his duty. (While being completely on-topic for the NG, I should add.)


Bill Kearney wrote:
The whole notion that it's somehow any sort of realistic risk. Sure,
there's all sorts of things that "could go wrong" but in reality they very
seldom do. Seems it's just fashionable lately to scream like Chicken Little
about so-called risks because of increased security procedures. I find it
rather tiresome.

"claus" wrote in message
. ..
What hype?

"Bill Kearney" wrote in message
t...
And I can not help wondering if you get arrested if you run your vessel
aground before you check with Customs :-)

Why bother worrying? It's far easier to just flail the hype on a
newsgroup
instead. Yeesh.