Calling USHPA's Bluff

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dhmartens
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Post by dhmartens »

This is a test of the reinstated politics section of the forum.
Before I post the Grand Series Final of The Bob Show with 10 years of the series and several movies which are sold into syndication, much like Seinfeld/Simpsons and played as reruns.
I will post a teaser of a small segment of the plot and cut footage.
When we left off Hang Gliding had been relinquished to operate only at native American reservations. The last act of the banned Ushpa was to take their rrrg money and budget to the last penny and establish a flying site in the Malibu Chumash reservation.
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[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SJ5RWXnd99M[/youtube]
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BtJ3q9jIi_k[/youtube]
(edited re-added youtube deleted best native American songs)
The Ushpa executive committee even sold off their personal assets to purchase a stealth hang glider transport vehicle to transport hang gliders between Indian reservations without attracting too much attention from the authorities.
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This caution was taken after the Pasadena Hang glider seizure law had been expanded to all 50 states.
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Blockbuster full plot posting to follow later.
Last edited by dhmartens on Thu Jul 27, 2017 9:13 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Bob Kuczewski
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Post by Bob Kuczewski »

Great shot of the hang glider on a police car. Is there a story to go with the photo?

By the way, I started this topic about 15 months ago after Ken had written to another pilot behind my back:
Ken Andrews on April 16th, 2016 wrote:I've told Bob many times that if he would stop attacking Torrey and USHPA, then I would work to get his membership reinstated so that he could fly at USHPA sites again. So far, Bob has refused my offers.
So I challenged Ken to spell out his conditions in writing. I knew very well that when he began to get into the details he'd realize that such a gag order was ridiculous. Here was my prediction from the very first post in this topic:
Bob Kuczewski on April 18th, 2016 wrote:Ken's a smart guy, and it will be interesting to see how he handles this one. My guess is that USHPA (and Tim Herr) will urge him to find an excuse to avoid answering altogether. That's my prediction. But like I said, it will be interesting to see what happens.
Now we've seen "what happens". My prediction was correct. Ken could never spell out his terms because they would reveal the unconstitutional gag order (can't testify in court, can't speak at City Council) that U$HPA imposes on us in return for our ability to fly at what Ken calls "USHPA sites".

The waters were pretty muddy during my expulsion "trial". I had been arrested a few times based on claims by the Torrey business, and those charges were still outstanding at that time. But two years have passed now and the waters are crystal clear. All charges were dropped, and I can go to Torrey Pines whenever I want. But I can't fly because USHPA's expulsion has not been reversed. Regional Director Ken Andrews remains silent on the injustice.
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gregangsten
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squad car rack

Post by gregangsten »

Yeah, I'll second that. Where is this from?
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JD
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Re: squad car rack

Post by JD »

gregangsten wrote:Yeah, I'll second that. Where is this from?
You mean this?
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gKUYb8DoFPU[/youtube]
I regret not following the clouds to the East. I especially regret not replacing the AAAs in my Garmin Geko. I'll bet if Bob, Doug and I all flew OTB as a team we would have made it up the 15 and past Baker. Of course, had we all landed in Horsethief Canyon there'd have been a human trophy tied to the front bumper of that cruiser. It really does pay to listen and get along with people regardless of their status, position, beliefs and prejudices. Without such qualities, it's difficult to fly X/C and especially to get retrieved in a manner that allows continued flying privileges.
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dhmartens
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Post by dhmartens »

Bob, maybe Ushpa is waiting to see the outcome of the RFP before reinstating your insurance. Now, getting back to off topic.
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And now we introduce a new maniacal villain, or savior (depending on your perspective).
Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross.

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Wilbur's Super hero power is that he yields "Provision 232", The ability to block Aluminum imports so important to Hang Glider construction and spares.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wavXCSIUjSk[/youtube]
The Carbon Fiber industry would love this but in the short term we would have to find inventive ways to build and repair hang gliders.
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to be continued.....
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Bob Kuczewski
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Post by Bob Kuczewski »

dhmartens wrote:Bob, maybe Ushpa is waiting to see the outcome of the RFP before reinstating your insurance.
That's a nice thought, but the RFP outcome has no bearing on whether USHPA should be expelling people for testifying in court, speaking at their City Council meetings, or starting their own hang gliding association.
dhmartens wrote:Now, getting back to off topic.
You forgot one of my favorites:

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NME (Jonathan Dietch) wrote:I'll bet if Bob, Doug and I all flew OTB as a team we would have made it up the 15 and past Baker. Of course, had we all landed in Horsethief Canyon there'd have been a human trophy tied to the front bumper of that cruiser.
"human trophy tied to the front bumper"

Is that a threat of some sort Jonathan?
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dhmartens
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Post by dhmartens »

Proclamation and "Day Of Reckoning part 1"
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YPTTsicfOn0[/youtube]
Ushpa fears restoring BobK's insurance because he comments on Proclamations in front of the SD City Council?

Or maybe its this content they are afraid of:
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vVjp_pDKoUI[/youtube]

I get the feeling some of the paragliding schools were intimidated to not bid on the RFP.

Off Topic:
The Native American tribes after much deliberation have made a Proclamation to help the pilots regain their ability to fly the American territories. Some felt a kinship after enduring a similar persecution,
while others bought into a conspiracy that the U.S. Government was driving pilots on to the native lands in order to seize their land much like they did in the 19th century.

20 minutes history of Native American suffering and beguile:
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ipdn9QFqgZo[/youtube]


A sign was given with the birth of an Orange Buffalo.
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The pilots presented the Tribes with a glider made of Sacred Eagle Feathers
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All was fine until the spares ran out and there was the "Day Of Reckoning"
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YKSk25Usc3w[/youtube]
No not the 2016 sci-fi movie, the lack of spares, to be continued....
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dhmartens
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Post by dhmartens »

We interrupt this thread to go back on topic:
This interruption is brought to you by Bud Light.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5pCcpto9xNA[/youtube]

BobK: There is a defective insurance organization known as "USHPA"
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zVbeM6AnK0g[/youtube]
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dhmartens
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Post by dhmartens »

I come looking for the climatic conclusion but only find an infomercial for hang glider repair duct tape.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0xzN6FM5x_E[/youtube]


At 1:43 into this video MacGyver uses it to repair his hang glider.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sNe0n6hwCs0[/youtube]

Meanwhile the Chumash are ingesting hallucinogenic gypsum weed and making cave paintings.
http://youtu.be/kcjtwb5oS-E?t=6m27s

And now a teaser for the next(final?) episode.
https://generalaviationnews.com/2009/01 ... ibal-land/

The Hualapai Nation tribal police have cited a pilot for flying his ultralight over tribal lands near the Grand Canyon, according to a Jan. 22 report by Cyndy Cole in the Arizona Daily Sun. After flying over the western Grand Canyon, pilot Lionel De Antoni landed to find that his motor home had been towed and tribal police were waiting for him. He was cited by Hualapai Nation police for trespassing via ultralight plane and for not buying permits to fly over the tribe’s land.

The Federal Aviation Administration says the tribe is overstepping its jurisdiction in fining the pilot as much as $25,000 for violating its airspace. “A tribe has no authority over airspace and cannot charge people for using it,â€Â� said FAA spokesman Ian Gregor. “The federal government has sole jurisdiction over the nation’s airspace.â€Â�

To make matters worse the Oscar Meyer Wiener Mobile was involved in several highspeed chases while transporting hang gliders and sustained moderate damage on multiple occasions but was repaired by the cherished club volunteers.



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dhmartens
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Post by dhmartens »

And now the conclusion(part 1 of 2)...


With spares exhausted, a keel was broken, carbon fiber manufacturers started price gouging.
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A price quoted $7,000 for a carbon fiber Keel.
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[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eNpis3pogck[/youtube]

With nowhere else to go the pilots sought the wisdom of the Chumash.
It seems years ago when it became illegal to sell fowl across state lines the Chumash stockpiled an assortment of "Punt Guns" (elephant guns), and these could be retrofitted to function
as a hang glider keel.

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Some of the more inventive/resourceful pilots began hunting wild boar with the punt gun keel.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ySSlBTpZNjc[/youtube]

Stay Tuned for the cliffhanger and some insider information on the next BobK show code name (Anzio/Casino).....
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dhmartens
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Post by dhmartens »

This hang gliding "fake news" alert is brought to by:
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ZWukwHR3Ts[/youtube]
A massive pilot protest has taken place as a result of hunting wild pigs with
punt gun keel hang gliders.
It seems a group of pilots made up of vegans, vegetarians, animal rights activists, and gun control activists have joined forces to counter the weaponization of hang gliders and aerial hunting of wild pigs.
In protest hundreds of pilots are removing their gliders crossbars and selling them in the spares market to make up for the aluminum shortage. They are also modifying their gliders into the crossbarless "Bowsprite" design.

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Furthermore, this group of pilots have begun marketing the remaining for sale punt guns to NRA rifle collectors to drive the price up to make them unfeasible for hang glider repair work.
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we now take you back to your regularly scheduled programming.
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dhmartens
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Post by dhmartens »

jury duty so I will post what I can.

Not much has happened, everyone is silent, BobK who was the other bidder at Torrey that was turned down?

Because of lack of information , attempted laser audio surveillance at NRA headquarters.
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Transcript of conversations:
"garbled...... did you really think they(vegans, animal rights activists) were going to think we would sit by while they had a supreme court ruling upholding the punt-gun hang gliding ban? ....garbled......

..and that we would challenge them by landing a hang glider directly on Pasadena court house lawn with our crack legal team on premises waiting to watch the 2nd amendment violated... garbled...



wait ,was the national hang gliding ban just lifted?
was USHPA allowed to join ushawks.org as a sub-chapter?

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h7O-xiZcOAo[/youtube]
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Bob Kuczewski
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Post by Bob Kuczewski »

dhmartens wrote:jury duty so I will post what I can.
Thanks for participating in our justice system. A jury of impartial citizens is one of our most important protections against tyranny.
dhmartens wrote:BobK who was the other bidder at Torrey that was turned down?
The city of San Diego turned down my request for that information. The corruption runs deep.

Note that Ken Andrews has still not clarified the terms required to be a member of USHPA that were requested at the beginning of this topic. That was April of 2016.
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Bob Kuczewski
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Calling Ken's Bluff

Post by Bob Kuczewski »

Back on topic...

In April of 2016:
Ken Andrews wrote:I've told Bob many times that if he would stop attacking Torrey and USHPA, then I would work to get his membership reinstated so that he could fly at USHPA sites again. So far, Bob has refused my offers.
Also back in April (of 2016) ...
Bob Kuczewski wrote:Here Ken, I'll even help you get started...
In order to be eligible to fly at USHPA controlled sites, I hereby agree to ....
.
.
.
Just fill out the rest and we'll all see how reasonable that looks.
Pure silence from Ken ever since. That's a textbook case of:

- a bluff made
- a bluff called
- a bluff exposed as a bluff

I know that Ken is well-liked at Sylmar as he should be. But being liked does not equate to being correct. There are many likable people in USHPA who led to it's loss of insurance.

There's a reason Ken can't fill in the blank. It's because any restrictions would reveal what Los Angeles County now understands ... about USHPA.
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Jim
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Incorruptible

Post by Jim »

Ken Andrews does not bluff. He doesn't know how. He is as guileless, straightforward and honest a soul as you could ever hope to meet.

In 2016, he was also new to the director position and had no idea how much damage BK's chronic toxicity had inflicted on the USHPA, all of us as members, and even more personally difficult to the directors of the past 5 or 6 years.

Figuratively spitting in someone's face doesn't result in indulgence.

However, not knowing this, Ken told me, personally, before his first meeting, that he was going to bring up the subject of reinstatement for BK. He was supportive of BK's position and thought some compromise might be reached.

Fortunately, Ken <I><b>IS </b></i>a likeable guy and the incumbents didn't simply show him the door. He didn't tell me much about the outcome but I got the impression that Ken received an education in their side of the story and it was probably made clear to him that no such rapprochement was possible.

Is it revenge? Possible. Is it warranted? Possible. Inappropriate? Also, possible. But saying hurtful things about them is certainly not the way to a reprieve from non-flying hell.

Sadly, this leaves a pilot who wants to fly with few options. That he continues to alienate those who might be sympathetic to his plight is his responsibility, no one else's. Rather than speak directly with those whom BK accused of moral turpitude, corruption, indifference and collusion with vendors, BK continues taking shots.

Pointing at Ken Andrews, probably the only director with the temerity to approach the subject of BK's expulsion, will only lose BK whatever support he has. And he's way off the mark.
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Re: Incorruptible

Post by JD »

Jim wrote:....Figuratively spitting in someone's face doesn't result in indulgence...
Even Tad Earekson reinstated BK to Kitestrings.org but Bob's pathological 'Bobism' made that indulgence rather short-lived.
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Post by Bob Kuczewski »

Jim,

This topic was started because a pilot wrote to Ken complaining about my expulsion, and Ken wrote back:
Ken Andrews wrote:I've told Bob many times that if he would stop attacking Torrey and USHPA, then I would work to get his membership reinstated so that he could fly at USHPA sites again. So far, Bob has refused my offers.
Rather than go round and round as to whether Ken actually made such an offer (which I believe he has not), I figured I'd take him up on that offer. That's why I asked him to spell out the terms. Has anyone seen Ken spell out the terms? No. That's because Ken realized (or already knew) those terms would make USHPA look even worse than they already do.

"For Bob to be a member of USHPA he must promise never to testify against the Torrey concessionare in any court of law."

Really!?!

"For Bob to be a member of USHPA, he must agree not to report safety and lease violations to the San Diego City Council."

Again ... Really!?!

I believe Ken realizes he can't legitimately make any of those requests because they'd show the world what USHPA is really like. So he's simply refused to answer.
NME wrote:
Jim wrote:....Figuratively spitting in someone's face doesn't result in indulgence...
Even Tad Earekson reinstated BK to Kitestrings.org but Bob's pathological 'Bobism' made that indulgence rather short-lived.
Another misleading statement by NME. Tad actually kicked me off for using the name "Jonathan Dietch" in my posts after he'd told me not to do so. Tad goes to great lengths to expose the real names of people on his forum. It makes me wonder what kind of unholy bargain was made for Tad to ban people for using the name "Jonathan Deitch"? Maybe Jonathan threatened him as he did with the SHGA? But that discussion would deserve it's own topic.
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Post by Jim »

Saying that Ken never gave an answer and then placing quotes around red text confuses readers, implying that Ken or someone else actually said those words. They are made up by the author, not Ken. Attempting to goad Ken into a response is counterproductive.

All I have ever heard anyone in my circle of pilots (not Ken) say about BK's expulsion is that, possibly, with hat in hand, he should approach the USHPA leadership and ask what it would take to return. There is sympathy for his plight but his method of dealing with it leaves them shaking their head.

Since the USHPA meeting is in Silicon Valley this fall, perhaps it's a good time for some of BK's supporters, presumably local Californians, to attend and ask that question for him. Show the leadership that there is support for his return to flight.

I have met some of the leaders. They are dedicated to the sport at the expense of their own livelihoods. They aren't getting rich off the USHPA and they aren't megalomaniacs trying to rule us all. If the leadership were that bad, free flight enthusiasts, an unruly bunch, would abandon them. Those taking issue with their stewardship should meet them and see what kind of people they really are, which is, just like the rest of us.
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JD
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Post by JD »

Cheer up Bob. I dedicate this song to you....

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FkZt3kZRFcI[/youtube]
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Bob Kuczewski
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Post by Bob Kuczewski »

Jonathan, it's a little frightening imagining you scouring the internet to find a song to post that expresses your obsession for me. Please stop.

Jim, thanks for your thoughtful comment (a nice contrast to Jonathan's class clown apprach).
Jim wrote:Saying that Ken never gave an answer and then placing quotes around red text confuses readers, implying that Ken or someone else actually said those words.
USHPA effectively did say those words. Read the expulsion letter carefully and tell me if you disagree. USHPA dragged it out to seem overwhelming, but the summary is exactly what I've paraphrased. Ken has also effectively said those words by taking no action on the matter. Furthermore, I believe the meaning was clear enough ... as evidenced by your own understanding.
Jim wrote:They are made up by the author, not Ken. Attempting to goad Ken into a response is counterproductive.
Those quotes paraphrase USHPA's expulsion letter. Read the original expulsion letter again and tell me if you disagree. Ken wasn't on the board when USHPA took that action, but he's become a party to it since then by his own inaction. I am not trying to "goad" Ken to do anything. I am urging him to either do the right thing or take ownership for failing to do the right thing.
Jim wrote:All I have ever heard anyone in my circle of pilots (not Ken) say about BK's expulsion is that, possibly, with hat in hand, he should approach the USHPA leadership and ask what it would take to return. There is sympathy for his plight but his method of dealing with it leaves them shaking their head.
When someone steals something you've earned, do you go beg them "with hat in hand" to give it back? What message does that send to the thief? USHPA crossed a line when they took away my ability to fly at Sylmar and other sites for political reasons. I earned my ratings with my time, my resources, and my dedication ... just as you did Jim. That should never be stolen from any of us as a form of political revenge for testimony in court or at city council meetings.
Jim wrote:Since the USHPA meeting is in Silicon Valley this fall, perhaps it's a good time for some of BK's supporters, presumably local Californians, to attend and ask that question for him. Show the leadership that there is support for his return to flight.
Justice is not a numbers game. USHPA's expulsion was wrong whether opposed by one pilot or ten thousand. I won't beg the thief to give back what was rightfully mine to begin with. I will, insread, work to remove USHPA's ability to abuse their power against all pilots. That's what we've done at Dockweiler. I believe L.A. County looked at that expulsion letter and felt they could not be party to that kind of retaliation against citizens. They took the extraordinary action of allowing flight based on a waiver alone because they recognized the injustice. I believe they also agreed with arguments that no other sports require membership or insurance. That's a direction USHPA will never endorse because it would rob them of their monopoly control over free flight.
Jim wrote:I have met some of the leaders. They are dedicated to the sport at the expense of their own livelihoods. They aren't getting rich off the USHPA and they aren't megalomaniacs trying to rule us all. If the leadership were that bad, free flight enthusiasts, an unruly bunch, would abandon them. Those taking issue with their stewardship should meet them and see what kind of people they really are, which is, just like the rest of us.
I am sure there were supposedly "good folks" in Salem when they were killing their fellow citizens as witches. Human beings have a high degree of social "herd animal" in their DNA. There's a lot of "go along to get along" on USHPA's board. It's reinforced in their meetings. It takes a lot of social courage (very different from physical courage) to stand up for what's right in that kind of setting. That was demonstrated in Salem and Nazi Germany and everywhere else where injustices are perpetuated by "fear, uncertainty, and doubt".

Jim, I have no patience for the class clowns like "NME". But your message tells me that you're giving this some thought and thinking things through. While we may not agree, I do appreciate the sincerity I sense in your message. Thanks.
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