[Fists] CW use (or lack of)

[w8fax at wildblue.net]

Here is a quote from the ARRL letter concerning 10 meters. With the recent band openings on six and ten, it appears to have some "watchdogs" befuddled as to what they are hearing. " Skolaut, who manages the Official Observer and Intruder Watch
programs, said that people have called and e-mailed ARRL HQ inquiring
about hearing IDs repeated in code on various 10 meter frequencies."
Apparently, these "watchdogs" cannot:
a. Copy morse
b. Do not have current band use charts showing where "who" can operate.
c. Do not know what beacons are, and that they are very common on ten meters as well as six.
d. Cannot copy morse.
There is also some concern about ops using SSB below 28.300. No surprise there either, as it seems a lot of hams don't know the band allocation rules. A good many even believe that CW is banned from the phone bands, not knowing that the only place on any current HF area that CW is not allowed is 60 meters.
 After hearing about the MARS gang deciding that maybe it wasn't such a hot idea to drop morse so hastily, I wonder where this is all headed.
  Morse skills used to be a goal that ALL must attain, or not advance beyond the novice level. In our effort to make everyone more equal over the years we have muddied down our skills to almost zilch in this area. Yes, many are taking up morse, and I applaud them in there efforts and they deserve a "way to go". However, trying to pass traffic at 8 words a minute with no knowledge of protocol is not conducive to good communication. Yes, accuracy DOES transcend speed, it does NOT, however, transcend endurance.
 Look at the list of "slow speed nets". Compare it to the list of "CW nets", or "Hi speed nets"
 I am afraid the horse has left the barn and is either not coming back, or has died on the road. 
 I belive it is dillusional to believe that MARS running a few "practice" nets is going to do anything for anybody, other than give a seldom used service something to do.
 Enjoy CW while you can. It WILL slowly fade into the past. The REALLY funny thing is, almost 100 percent of the kids I have had to my station are most fascinated by morse, and are not at all interested in digital or voice. Two have become hams. I had one girl, about 12, who learned to hear and send her name in about 15 minutes. I know, I know, it's just not possible because we all know morse is JUST TOO HARD...........have fun....get out to field day and lay down the mic, show folks how much fun radio is with a KEY....73...good luck.......Al W8FAX 2192