[TheForge] Interesting Article OT:

[Peter Fels & Phoebe Palmer]

Sure Keziah:
I know several poor, idealistic lawyers who sacrifice as much for their 
values as artists do....but had the potential to make much more money 
and didn't.

Keziah's Forge wrote:
> Peter:
> 
> Thank you so much for this observation.  About time someone said it/  For 
> years I have been saying that the legal profession ought to take its PR cues 
> from the NRA, beginning with "Lawyers don't sue people: people sue 
> people."..
> 
> Peter
> 
> 
> ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: "Peter Fels & Phoebe Palmer" <artgawk at thegrid.net>
> To: "Blacksmithing List Sponsored by ABANA" <theforge at mailman.qth.net>
> Sent: Thursday, August 20, 2009 2:24 PM
> Subject: Re: [TheForge] Interesting Article OT:
> 
> 
>> The lawyers are just doing their client's bidding.
>> Blame the foks who enter into unjust of frivolous lawsuits.
>> Blaming the lawyers is kinda like blaming the cops for the
>> laws...sometimes they overstep the bounds, but mostly not.
>>
>> Bruce Freeman wrote:
>>> Mike,
>>>
>>> Blame the lawyers.
>>>
>>> If you have a dog that will bite people, the last thing you should do
>>> is put up a sign "Vicious Dog" because then if your dog DOES bite
>>> someone, you've effectively admitted culpability - end of story.  If
>>> you put up a sign, "Guard Dog on Duty" and it bites someone, than,
>>> perhaps, the case will be adjudicated on the facts.
>>>
>>> Likewise, don't name your dog "Wolf."  Name him "Wolfgang Amadeus" and
>>> call him "Wolf" for short.  (True story!)
>>>
>>> Therefore it remains necessary for those of us who know the hazards of
>>> this or that to tell folks the true stories.   The labels will never
>>> do it because no company wants to admit culpability.  There is no
>>> chemical that can't be used safely.  The protections one must take may
>>> be cost prohibitive, however.  I have a friend who routinely uses HF
>>> to etch glass, and has no problem handling it.  She is most definately
>>> aware of the danger, and deals with it.
>>>
>>> The case of Karen Wetterhahn shows why each of us must be responsible
>>> for our own safety.  No one else can possibly understand exactly how
>>> we will be using chemicals.  Or, for that matter, what physical
>>> hazards we'll let ourselves be exposed to.
>>>
>>> One thing I keep coming back to is that experience is NOT a good
>>> teacher with regard to safety for the simple reason that accidents are
>>> fairly rare.  You must think through what MIGHT happen, judge the
>>> probability of it happening and the consequences should it happen, and
>>> work to prevent those occurrences that have significant probability
>>> and consequences.  Just because it has never happened yet, doesn't
>>> mean it can't happen and won't ruin your day (life?) if it does.
>>> Experience may help you judge consequences, but experience is a very
>>> poor teacher of probability because one chance in ten or one-hundred
>>> SEEMS low to use, but if that's a measure of deaths, think again.
>>>
>>> Bruce
>>>
>>> On Wed, Aug 19, 2009 at 4:45 PM, Mike Spencer<mspencer at tallships.ca> 
>>> wrote:
>>>
>>>> Enough of those scenarios and we don't find safety warning credible
>>>> even when they say, "Get this on your fingers and you will die in 10
>>>> minutes" or "breathe these fumes and your liver will turn to compost
>>>> before bedtime."
>>>>
>>>> - Mike
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> [1] E.g. dimethylmercury: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karen_Wetterhahn
>>>>
>>>> --
>>>> Michael Spencer                  Nova Scotia, Canada       .~.
>>>
>>>
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