No more spearfishing in south Florida?

[dumpsterDiver]

The Florida Government is running this thing. This is your tax dollars at work. FDEP is running this.

 

[CuzzA]

I stand corrected. I'm curious, would they also be the government agency that oversees the beach renourishment taking place down there that will blanket the reefs and likely kill a substantial amount of coral?

 

[dumpsterDiver]

I stand corrected. I'm curious, would they also be the government agency that oversees the beach renourishment taking place down there that will blanket the reefs and likely kill a substantial amount of coral?

They appear to FUND beach renourishment..

Beaches and Coastal Systems - Beach Erosion Control - Florida DEP

 

[CuzzA]

Ha. Ya see, how can we take these people seriously? As with most of these departments, it's a house of cards. They want tax payer funds for government jobs, they can't get them unless they create a problem. Here they are contributing to the destruction of reefs and then will turn around and blame recreational scuba spearfisherman. Or in other words, throwing **** at the wall and hoping it will stick.

 

[buckled plates]

They are not an authority, but by insinuating themselves into the regulatory process, they will gain the authority they seek.

It's not about spearfishing.

It's about power, it's about control, it's about the money that flows to those that have it. It starts with "useful idiots" (Vladimir Lenin), who intend to do something beneficial (save the reefs) but are soon overtaken but by those with a darker agenda (K Street lawyers and the lobbies who make a fortune representing environmental interests in Washington). It works by peeling one skin off the onion at a time. It starts with an attack on the interests of a minority, turning each minority in that larger group against the other (divers against spearfishermen; spearfishermen against anglers; anglers commercial fishermen, and on and on ad nauseum).

They succeed by taking us down one minority at a time.

"First they came for the socialists and I did not speak out, because I was not a Socialist. Then they came for the trade unionists and I did not speak out, because I was not a trade unionist. Then they came for the Jews and I did not speak out, because I was not a Jew. Then they came for me...and there was no one left to speak for me." Pastor Martin Niemoller (1892 -1984)

So it's not about spearfishing my friends, it's about us.

It's about our sport, our passion, our access to the sea. It's about making them the gatekeepers; giving them control, and running our lives. From start to finish.

Ask our friend from Australia about gun control in his country. He'll tell you how it's done, piece by piece...though it's likely he supported that too.

 

[Bennno]

It's about making them the gatekeepers; giving them control, and running our lives.

Who is 'them'? The Illuminate?

Ask our friend from Australia about gun control in his country. He'll tell you how it's done, piece by piece...though it's likely he supported that too.

Have you been to Oz? They're doing pretty good.

 

[CuzzA]

I don't know about OZ, but they perfected it back in Germany just several decades ago... I guess since just about everyone has passed from that era, there's no one to speak out and people in this country are actually considering a socialist for our President. We're regulated to death. Don't get me started on my industry. It makes me sick.

 

[Bennno]

...there's no one to speak out and people in this country are actually considering a socialist for our President.

Oh yeah, cheaper education and healthcare would be such a nightmare.
I watch fox news too and these morons don't even know the difference between socialism, communism and Stalinism. It's just pathetic.

Do you what democratic socialism means? Do you know that practically every free country with high standard of living, high level of education and high life expectancy has democratic socialism?
I bet, if you knew what it was, you'd be a major fan.

I don't know about OZ, but they perfected it back in Germany just several decades ago...

You are not comparing Australia's gun laws to the nazis, do you?

We're regulated to death.

Huh? You realize that you guys just had a financial crisis due to a lack of regulation in the financial sector, do you?

 

[buckled plates]

No, I'm not from Oz. I'm from the Eastern Shore of Virginia, one of the last truly un-developed and unspoiled regions along the east coast of the US. The reason that region is unspoiled is because the Nature Conservancy owns vast swaths of land, including all the barrier islands separating the mainland from the sea, and that is good. What is not good are the multitude of shadowy organizations that work behind the scenes to further exclude mankind from any and all activity on those lands, including fishing and hunting; furthermore, the efforts of these groups to expand their influence over the land use in that region, and elsewhere, is unrelenting. They won't stop until they control it all.

There are two schools of thought regarding environmentalism: The first is the John Muir/Sierra Club school that sees man as an interloper, an intruder, a despoiler of nature. As they see it - with religious conviction - nature is pure and mankind impure, and thus man must be walled off from nature entirely. The other is the Aldo Leopold/conservationist school that sees man as occupying a natural part in the world, and believes that the best way to preserve nature is to keep man involved with it.

One does not have to be from Oz to believe there are people - however well intentioned - that are working to drive others off the land (and sea) entirely: no fishing, no diving, no anchoring, no access period. Forget leaving only bubbles; you won't even be leaving a wake.

So no, I'm not from Oz...You're just naive, my friend and, as a diver, in the eyes of those pursuing this ant-spearfishing rule - you're next.

 

[CuzzA]

Oh yeah, cheaper education and healthcare would be such a nightmare.
I watch fox news too and these morons don't even know the difference between socialism, communism and Stalinism. It's just pathetic.

Do you what democratic socialism means? Do you know that practically every free country with high standard of living, high level of education and high life expectancy has democratic socialism?
I bet, if you knew what it was, you'd be a major fan.

You are not comparing Australia's gun laws to the nazis, do you?

You must not understand how the USA became the super power it is today. You see, it wasn't socialism, it wasn't by taking half of a man's earnings, it wasn't by getting FREE stuff. It was capitalism. In other words, HARD FREAKING WORK!!! You earned it and it made everyone better. We made the world better.

Democratic Socialism? You mean Europe right? Like as in European debt crisis, right? Please, I want nothing to do with that. I don't want your taxes, your healthcare, your debt, etc. Unfortunately, that's the path the U.S. is on. So when our current debt of $20 trillion plus continues to rise by this ridiculous idea that you can spend freely without consequence and our economy crumbles, not only will the world economy crumble, I'll be sitting here saying... "I told you so," and hopefully I'll have my ducks in a row. Where will you be? An indentured slave to the state?

Let's make a couple things clear. I'm not a millennial. So I don't have this participation trophy, give me free stuff because I'm entitled to it attitude. I was raised by sensible parents and WW2 vet grandparents. Growing up, I wasn't given anything. No car, no scholarship, no free lunch. I earned it. Payed for everything through hard work. Working 3 jobs in college.

Today, I'm a financial advisor, so I know a thing or two about our financial system. You are wrong about the housing bubble. Regulation created it. The democrat socialist idea of everyone should be entitled to a mortgage created it. Banks were mandated to give subprime loans to those who did not earn them through a history of good credit. My colleagues knew then this was going to bust. When I have friends telling me the banks are issuing $200k mortgages with credit scores in the 500's with late payment histories and income that can barely make the monthly payment we knew it was coming.

Here's another terrible piece of regulation I deal with today. Created by Alex Sink (D) when she was the chief financial officer of the Fl. Dept. of Financial Services... In Florida, when you turn 65, you become dumb (according to Florida). You can no longer "freely" choose to purchase the "best" safe annuities (self directed pensions) available unless you have a net worth over a million dollars. Now why did she do this? Well, she was a top dog at Barnett Bank (now Bank of America). Billions of dollars were flowing out of the banks to the better investments offered by financially sound insurance companies and she had to stop this from happening to protect her buddies. So who gets screwed? The retiree who has to accept .5% interest at the bank or even more ridiculous, invest their retirement savings in the risky stock market where they can lose it all. Do you see what just happened? It's freaking corrupt.

It's actually ironic we're having this discussion on a scuba diving site. When I took up this sport not only was I shocked that it is self regulated, but it was a breath of fresh air for me. Pun intended. But, I guess that won't last long as evident from the topic of this thread.

It's truly disturbing how hard this country fought to defeat socialism and today we have people like you supporting it.

BTW, I wasn't referring to Australian gun law. I was referring to socialism and Nazi's. I figured being that your profile says you're from Germany you would have picked up on that without an explanation.