Tag Archives: law

Strike is Over…For Now

Posted on by
Comment

An Eclectic Mind and Maria’s Guides are back online.

Stop SOPA / PIPA
CC0 Image: KSimmulator

Yesterday, Wednesday, January 18, 2012, this blog, An Eclectic Mind, and my other main site, Maria’s Guides, went “on strike.” Like so many larger and more influential sites — such as Wikipedia, Craigslist, Reddit, and Boing Boing — I’d decided to help spread the word about the potential implications of the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) and PROTECT IP Act (PIPA) by giving site visitors an idea of what things could be like if SOPA or PIPA became law. While I don’t claim that either I or this site have the ability to sway public opinion, I believe that a strike can be most effective when everyone participates. I was just doing my part.

(To be accurate, I need to point out that my sites were still accessible after seeing the initial information screen. I’ve worked very hard to build readership on The Eclectic Mind and Maria’s Guides and didn’t want to completely alienate visitors who were looking for specific information. (At least 75% of traffic to my sites comes from search engines.) But in order to see the content, visitors had to look at the Strike message and find the “Continue to Site” link. Or visit it more than once during the day. And judging from the site stats for the day, I can only assume that many people did not take that extra step — which doesn’t surprise me, given the extremely short attention spans of people these days.)

Amazingly, there are many Americans who don’t realize how SOPA and PIPA could affect them. And, as evidenced on Twitter yesterday, there are a surprising number of people who have never heard of either one. (If you’re one of these people, you might want to watch this video, which explains it using a whiteboard and a discussion of the actual wording of the legislation.)

So I’m glad I participated. I helped spread the word. I hope a lot of people did and that awareness for the potential problems was raised. With the participation of over 6,000 sites, I was one of many.

Did the January 18 Blackout/Strike help? This Forbes article certainly makes it seem as if it did. PC World confirms this. And Wikipedia reports lots of support from users.

But the fight is not over. Many Senators and members of Congress still support SOPA, PIPA, or both — including, embarrassingly, BOTH of the idiot Senators from my home state of Arizona. Although the vast majority of informed Americans area against SOPA/PIPA, our elected lawmakers apparently don’t remember who they are supposed to serve: the American people — not special interest groups. The only way they can be reminded is if we remind them — by contacting them and letting them know what we think.

I’m doing my part. Are you doing yours?

Because if this legislation passes, sites like mine — and so many others across the web — might go dark forever.

Stop SOPA/PIPA. Stop Internet censorship.

Take the Blame for Your Own Mistakes

Posted on by
6

Stop trying to pin the blame on others when you screw up.

I have to blog this because I’m pretty fired up about it.

This morning, I got an email message from a lawyer looking for an R44 “consultant”, someone who could

…educate us on the practical day to day operations of an R44. As a consultant, we would not reveal your name or association to anyone. We simply need someone to call when we have a question.

The email message provided enough information that I was able to track down the accident report for the accident the lawyer is working on. Although he didn’t say so, he made it pretty obvious that both Robinson Helicopter Company and the maker of the R44 Raven II’s “auxiliary” fuel pump could be targets of a legal action.

I read the accident report. Without going into details — in this instance, I want to protect the identifies of the parties involved — it was a pretty clear case of pilot errors in judgement and execution. As I summed it up in my email response:

The pilot elects to make an off-airport landing at very high density altitude to take a leak, starts to take off, then overreacts to a yellow caution light and tries to perform a run-on landing in rough terrain.

The helicopter rolled over and caught fire. The pilot and passenger were badly burned.

The details of the Full Narrative Probable Cause accident report paint a picture of a low-time private pilot who flies less than 100 hours a year making a very long cross-country flight in mountainous terrain. There’s evidence of poor flight planning and poor fuel management. But most evidence points to poor judgement on the part of the pilot. Nothing was wrong with the helicopter. It performed as expected in the situation it was put into. The pilot simply made a series of bad judgement calls.

How many times have I seen this in accident reports? Too many to count! The vast majority of aviation accidents are caused by pilot error. Period. This case is no different.

Yet there’s a lawyer involved and that means someone’s thinking about a lawsuit.

Sure, why not? Why not blame Robinson for not issuing [yet] another Safety Notice, specifically warning pilots about landing in mountain meadows at more than 10,000 feet density altitude? Why not blame them for allowing cockpit caution lights to illuminate when the pilot is operating close to rough terrain at maximum power? Why not blame them for not forcing pilots to tattoo emergency procedures on the back of their right hand so they can easily consult them during flight? And the pump manufacturer — why not blame them for making pumps that can have low pressure indications that trigger a caution light?

Why in the world would the pilot in command even consider taking the blame for the results of his own poor judgement?

Because it’s the right thing to do? Am I the only person who actually cares about silly things like that?

As I told the lawyer in my email response,

It sickens me that people can’t admit they made a mistake and get on with their lives. It sickens me that lawyers go after deep-pocket manufacturers to squeeze them for money when they are not at fault. Lawsuits like this are hurting our country, destroying small businesses like mine by jacking up expenses for insurance and equipment “improvements” we don’t really need.

Yes, it’s unfortunate that the helicopter crashed and the people inside it were burned. But it isn’t Robinson’s fault. And it isn’t the pump maker’s fault. The pilot needs to understand this and stop thinking about promises of big settlements. He needs to stop trying to blame others for his mistakes.

Do you think they’ll contact me again about being a consultant? Now that would be a bad judgement call indeed.

Note: If you plan to comment on this post, please limit your comments to the topic of inappropriate legal action. I will not approve any comments that attempt to discuss this particular accident or my summary of it. I assure you that my conclusions are fact-based; you can probably find the accident report if you try hard enough and judge for yourself. The last thing I need is for lawyers to start coming after me.

Must-Read Monday: Off-Airport Helicopter Landings

Posted on by
6

Three of my better articles on this topic.

One of the things that sets helicopters apart from other aircraft is our ability to land just about anywhere. In these three blog posts, I address some of the issues of off-airport landings.

  • At Lake Pateros

    My R44, parked on the side lawn at the Lake Pateros Inn in Washington State. I was based there for 10 days during cherry drying season in 2008.

    Finding a Legal Landing Zone – March 6, 2009 – A detailed discussion on how you can determine whether it’s legal (or wise) to land in a specific off-airport area. Includes photos of my helicopters in various off-airport landing zones over the years.

  • Swansea Here We Come! – March 13, 2006 – An account of all the hoops I had to jump through to get a BLM permit to land at the Swansea Townsite.
  • One Gig, One Dozen Off-Airport Landing Zones – March 19, 2010 – A brief blog post about a job I did that required me to land in more than a dozen off-airport landing zones in the same day. Some photos.

When I started browsing for articles to include in this list, I found it odd that the ones I thought I should include were all from March — in different years. Coincidence, I think.

These are not all of the articles I’ve written about Landing Zones. Try searching the site for “landing zone” or clicking the relatively new landing zones tag to find more. I’m sure I’ll cover at least one other aspect of landing zones in an upcoming Must-Read Monday post.

Interesting Links, April 8, 2011

Posted on by
2

Here are links I found interesting on April 8, 2011:

  • YouTube – Burnistoun S1E1 – Voice Recognition Elevator – ELEVEN! – Funny.
  • Whooping cough outbreak in Floyd County blamed on lax vaccinations – Don't be an idiot. Vaccinate your children!
  • 5 Copyright Facts Every Blogger Should Know – Here are the basics of copyright for anyone who publishes (or republishes) content on the Web or elsewhere. Simple, brief, and easy to understand. Stop copying content. Read this.
  • Corporate governance: The shareholder awakens – "Companies’ owners are slowly beginning to hold bosses to account, starting with closer scrutiny of their pay." It's about freaking time. Read more in The Economist.
  • Notes from the Field: Measles Outbreak – "Measles was declared eliminated from the United States in 2000. However, importations of measles from other countries still occur, and low vaccination coverage associated with parental concerns regarding the MMR vaccine puts persons and communities at risk for measles. Public health and health-care providers should work with parents and community leaders to address concerns about the MMR vaccine to ensure high vaccination coverage and prevent measles." In this case, one unvaccinated child gave measles to 12 others.
  • Make the Wealthy Pay their Fair Share – "With or without a government shutdown, Republicans have already won the debate on our nation's budget. Why? Because the corporate media is on their side." Read more on ThomHartmann.com.
  • It’s Not Really About Spending – The GOP is attempting to hold the country hostage, doing huge harm to the economy, just so they can get their way on a few ideological issues.
  • Why Pay Congress? – "If we careen over a cliff on Friday and the American government shuts down, hard-working federal workers will stop getting paychecks, but the members of Congress responsible for the shutdown are expected to be paid as usual." Can you believe this bullshit?
  • Shutdown: The budget fight just gets dumber – "Lawmakers are behaving in ways that would earn them a time-out if they were in kindergarten." Ya think?