Next message: John Wallner: "My Boat Is My Castle: The 4th Amendment at Sea"
jeffh-TFS.COM wrote:
>
> What a bunch of whining. It is unclear to me why the focus seem to
> always be on drugs or safety inspections. The Coast Guard (and other
> enforcement organizations) has the duty, charter, and obligation to
> patrol our coastal waters and board any vessel they choose. That is
> the way it has been for a long time, and that is the way it shold be!
> Remember, the Coast Guard was (maybe still is) part of the Treasury
> department, and a big part of their reason for existance is to
> prevent smuggling. The emphasis right now seems to be drugs, but
> the also are on the lookout for people, animals, booze, and most
> anything else people try to bring into the country illegally.
>
> Although we who live aboard our boats consider them to be our homes,
> there is a vast difference between the conventional definition of a
> home and what we call home. We choose to live aboard. When me choose
> to designate a vessel (ship, boat, barge, or what have you) our home,
> we must be prepared to live by the rules laid out for those vessels -
> whether they be polution rules, traffic rules, financial rules, or
> boarding rules. To try to say the rules should be changes because
> we choose to call our vessel our home is ridiculous!
>
> I hope (but suspect otherwise) that the root of all of this outcry is
> not that the people who are so indignant about the boardings and searches
> really have a problem with the drug laws.
>
> I don't particularly enjoy being boarded, but it is my choice to live
> on a boat. The rules for boats existed long before I chose to live
> aboard, and if I don't like the rules I can choose not to live aboard.
> Talk about a moral tragedy. Some latecomer decides to join the club,
> and then change the rules.
Here's a very simple rule which has helped me sort out the cruelties
of life - I pass it along for those able to absorb it's meaning:
"In any situation, know how game is played and who is dealing! otherwise
don't get into the game"
