<div class="FTQUOTE"><begin quote>Originally posted by: blackballed


...and so will yours, my friend. [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-wink.gif[/img] </end quote></div>

LOL [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-happy.gif[/img]

How you been BB? [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img]

 

I've been just fine and thanks for asking. [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-wink.gif[/img]

Anybody who's met me in person..and I'm 'guessing' here...probably pretty much knows that I would nine times out of ten greet them with a great big 'ol smile regardless of whatever has been argued up here in the past...and mean it.

I really don't have much more to say in regards to these important subjects (as you can see in my signature; the very last period of this nasty end game is about to be wrapped up) yet I just wanted to thank my fellow posters for the often stimulating debates that 'I believe' afforded many of the newcomers in this sport a brief synopsis as to exactly how we have gotten to where we are today....an opportunity that was certainly unavailable to them previously. (I'm not a big fan of the 'you just don't understand' or 'what have you done for the sport that compares with my effort' crap that greets most newbie offroaders seeking info with but simple questions in hand...and never will be).

I'll be back to lurk and maybe post a few links with nothing much more said; but I do appreciate atvconnection for having the guts to allow a good number of these stories to be told for information's sake and do hope that God blesses both you and yours, MWQ...as well as every other poster on here that I've had the pleasure of speaking with.

Keep up the good work, guys! [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img]

John

 

<div class="FTQUOTE"><begin quote>Originally posted by: blackballed

I've been just fine and thanks for asking. [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-wink.gif[/img]

Anybody who's met me in person..and I'm 'guessing' here...probably pretty much knows that I would nine times out of ten greet them with a great big 'ol smile regardless of whatever has been argued up here in the past...and mean it.

John</end quote></div>

Thats good to hear and Your welcome. [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img]

I would like to meet you as well as a few others from the connection. We cant agree on everything, that would be boring. [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-wink.gif[/img]

 

I have thought about this for a while.. and can't let it go. BB, you and I have been on the same side on many arguments. You have to admit, when everyone was against you, I supported your cause in Mich. I helped call out the bad guys, and between the two of us, I think we laid the subject bare for all to see. Muddy was your friend once too... but since you chose to attack in a public forum, I just have to respond to clear my name. First off, don't even try to hang the deaths of kids on ATV's around my neck. I think my record on child safety is pretty clear. I also think my record on parents getting educated on the subject of ATV's in general is pretty well established. I also think that I can honestly say I have pointed out areas where training programs, and CPSC guidlines need improvement etc. I also have pushed for consistancy in laws, and how they are applied. I also have worked with local, state and federal authorities to further our cause for several years. Like you have. All in all friend, I think my record is pretty well established. For anyone, and that includes yourself, to acuse me of being anything but sincere in my passion on the subject would be... well just plain wrong. I thank the people on this list that I have debated with over the years for listening, and for coming to my support as a result of your attacks. They know better... and I know better. If this is what you do to your friends... well I can't imagine what the enemies must go through.
I sincerly hope that soon you get to win an argument without attacking anyone with an opinion that does not fall in line with yours. As one moderator has stated, you have gotten your self banned more times than we can count. Maybe some people are ok with your methods. I am not. I have channeled my anger into something more constructive. And found I achieve better results. No I don't win them all, but I can see the positive results in taking an alternative path to the in your face approach. It works for me... and I don't go through life angry any longer. I hope you find your zen as well. You really hit a chord with me on the kids dude... that one I can't forgive... You are SO wrong with that statement it is impossible to even put it in words. Not ones that can be printed here any way... Oh and for the record, the stones may be old... but they work as designed.. even in the mangled crippled state I find myself these days.... We still know what to do with them, and when to stand up to blowhards...

 

thats all I have to say about this thread [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-happy.gif[/img]

 

DB,
your name is not tarnish in the least.

#1 Most of us that been on the Connection for awhile, know your record for safety concerning our kids and Off Road products.

#2 One only needs to see WHO [BB] is making these grossly mis-lead statements and concider the voice behind the source.

Dont get your blood pressure up over some useless hot bag of air that has very little facts to support most anything that he states in his posts. This guy would be able to find fault with God if you allowed him to.

Just keep being YOU and dont let the BB stuff get to you..95% of the folks that know him, understand that he adds NOTHING but sarcasm/critisizm to our sport and does absolutely NOTHING himself but sit by his PC and whine about what everybody else is doing incorrectly.

Bill

 

I second that!

BB, perhaps you should check into the Mental Health Thread in the healthboard forum. [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-happy.gif[/img]

 

i think the use of proper riding gear whould reduce serious injuries and death.use of a helmet, chest protector, riding boots, and other gards.

 

Dragginbutt and Muddy4Life,

It's one thing to cry foul about the facts as presented by a poster up here...yet both of you have sidestepped the opportunity to dispute said facts in every single reply that you've made to me lately...and substitued that chance with constant attacks on my character instead.

Read 'em, guys...and if you're still in denial after doing so...take a look at my signature and then ask yourself exactly what kind of leadership it actually is that you've both been sheepishly defending for all these years...or why that it has always been 'taboo' to talk about it?

Our leaders have had the power for over 20 years to sit each and every one of us on one side of the fence or the other on these safety-related issues...I have pleaded with these same people many times to do so...and all you guys want to talk about 20 years later is how 'positive' we all should be about the carnage we witness STILL occuring all around us or that...(whew!)...thank God nobody that "nobody has had to step up like a man, on that one" regarding what has been happening in the Appalachian region from day one.

I've supported and even defended both of you guys many times also, I'm afraid.

And if either of you can name one person on this forum who has done more of this before I (by gosh) 'dared' to disagree with either one of you...then I could actually somehow understand the abrupt turn around in our friendship one heck of a lot more than I do now.

May the Good Lord bless both you and yours and keep it between the trees,

John

 

While tragedies such as the one reported below appear to be concentrated in the Appalachian region, sadly, this story (and a dozen more like it each month) proves the problem is nationwide.



8-YEAR-OLD IOWA BOY DIES IN ATV ACCIDENT
Posted: July 10, 2007

IOWA - Tanner Prizler, 8, of rural Williamsburg,Iowa, died Monday night from injuries he suffered when he lost control of, and crashed the all-terrain vehicle he was driving a little before 4 p.m. while riding through a hayfield near his grandmother's house.

"He was with his brothers, and they found him and brought him up to the house,'' said Laurie Prizler, his mom. "They were just coming back from seeing their Dad in the hayfield.''

Nobody saw the accident, she said, but the family's best guess is that Tanner turned around to make sure he was ahead of his brothers and lost control of the ATV.

Tanner was going to be a third-grader this fall at Williamsburg Elementary School.


************************************************** *************


Let's break this down:

#1 An 8-year-old little boy who just finished the 2nd grade last month...

#2 Is expected by the adults responsible for his safety to operate a motor vehicle, off-road, with the same judgment, skills and body strength, that we as a society reserve for 16-year-olds operating motor vehicles on relatively smooth and predictable highways .

#3 AND, NO ONE CAN PROVIDE ANYTHING BETTER THAN A "best guess" AS TO WHAT KILLED THIS CHILD!!!

At the risk of repeating myself, I'll repeat myself:

"If we as a society are willing to allow parents, and other adults, to ignore laws that are already on the books concerning the safety of children, then what's the purpose of having laws in the first place?" ... "We have got to put emotions aside and ask: 'Would this child be alive if the responsible adult had acted responsibly?' If the answer is 'Yes,' then this adult must be held accountable for their irresponsible decisions which resulted in the loss of life of the child for which he or she was RESPONSIBLE."

Paraphrased from a post I made on 03/20/2007 at 11:06 PM