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- Nov 2, 2008
- Messages
- 22,093
So much money is wasted in the government. Why the f*** do they build these fancy stone walls on highway overpasses? Hey look at that overpass, it beautiful!
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"Frisbee Golf" mention in Time magazine recently; Ouch
- Thread starter Oregon Southpaw
- Start date
Adaven
Eagle Member
While I am no great fan of Dr. Laura I do think this is a great idea.
ryanmmacoustic
Newbie
What the heck is "clock golf"?
Noun 1. clock golf - a form of golf in which you putt from positions arranged on the circumference of a circle around the hole
Here's the full context, for those too lazy to click through to time.com:
Biden saw this day coming. In February, the Vice President and Ron Klain, his chief of staff, penned Barack Obama a memo predicting that spending $787 billion on tens of thousands of projects through hundreds of agencies would create opportunities for waste and corruption on an unprecedented scale. Biden suggested that someone with heft needed to be put in charge. During one of their weekly lunches, the President read over the memo, nodded and then handed it back to Biden. Do it, he said. Months later, Biden still laughs about how it happened. "Last memo I've written him," he says. "No more memos." (See pictures of Barack Obama behind the scenes.)
After decades in the Senate (where he was no slouch at snagging funds for his home state of Delaware), Biden knew his way around a rotten pork barrel. So he set up an in-house watchdog group, with a team that would grow to eight and a charge to keep the spending clean, quick and defensible. Economists will tell you that the most important part of a stimulus is getting the money into the economy fast, where it can replace lost consumer and business spending and keep people employed. But Biden's team knew that it's just as important to maintain public confidence in the enterprise, especially in an age of $500 million helicopters and Bridges to Nowhere. At the White House, this worry translated into a simple if fuzzy standard for deciding which projects pass muster: prudence. "It's like pornography," says Edward DeSeve, the senior adviser to the President for recovery and reinvestment. "You know prudence when you see it."
Biden's team informed states and localities months ago to scrub their wish lists of anything that might be seen as unnecessary or wasteful. White House officials were happy to sign off on bridge repairs and roadwork on busy intersections and new runway signals for strapped airports. But they have spent a lot of time trying to kill projects that sound like red alerts on Fox News: a plan for military-cemetery headstone-straightening was scrapped, as was a request for a $10,000 refrigerator to house fish sperm in South Dakota. Gone too was $7 million for Interior Department aircraft to study bird migration. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood persuaded the governor of Ohio to redirect $57 million for future road-project planning to immediate construction. Cities and states were told to stay away from swimming-pool construction and anything with the word golf in it — Frisbee golf, clock golf, minigolf. "The Frisbee people are going to be unhappy with me forever," says DeSeve.
Biden saw this day coming. In February, the Vice President and Ron Klain, his chief of staff, penned Barack Obama a memo predicting that spending $787 billion on tens of thousands of projects through hundreds of agencies would create opportunities for waste and corruption on an unprecedented scale. Biden suggested that someone with heft needed to be put in charge. During one of their weekly lunches, the President read over the memo, nodded and then handed it back to Biden. Do it, he said. Months later, Biden still laughs about how it happened. "Last memo I've written him," he says. "No more memos." (See pictures of Barack Obama behind the scenes.)
After decades in the Senate (where he was no slouch at snagging funds for his home state of Delaware), Biden knew his way around a rotten pork barrel. So he set up an in-house watchdog group, with a team that would grow to eight and a charge to keep the spending clean, quick and defensible. Economists will tell you that the most important part of a stimulus is getting the money into the economy fast, where it can replace lost consumer and business spending and keep people employed. But Biden's team knew that it's just as important to maintain public confidence in the enterprise, especially in an age of $500 million helicopters and Bridges to Nowhere. At the White House, this worry translated into a simple if fuzzy standard for deciding which projects pass muster: prudence. "It's like pornography," says Edward DeSeve, the senior adviser to the President for recovery and reinvestment. "You know prudence when you see it."
Biden's team informed states and localities months ago to scrub their wish lists of anything that might be seen as unnecessary or wasteful. White House officials were happy to sign off on bridge repairs and roadwork on busy intersections and new runway signals for strapped airports. But they have spent a lot of time trying to kill projects that sound like red alerts on Fox News: a plan for military-cemetery headstone-straightening was scrapped, as was a request for a $10,000 refrigerator to house fish sperm in South Dakota. Gone too was $7 million for Interior Department aircraft to study bird migration. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood persuaded the governor of Ohio to redirect $57 million for future road-project planning to immediate construction. Cities and states were told to stay away from swimming-pool construction and anything with the word golf in it — Frisbee golf, clock golf, minigolf. "The Frisbee people are going to be unhappy with me forever," says DeSeve.
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This is an excellent idea.. hope you act on it.
KzooKid
Par Member
Well Edward DeSeve, as Butters from South Park would say: "You can go to heck!"
Wanna see how your stimulus money is being spent?
http://www.stimuluswatch.org
Wanna see how your stimulus money is being spent?
http://www.stimuluswatch.org
KzooKid
Par Member
Frisbee people?!?! What do you meeeaaaaannnn--Frisbee people?!?!
Lewis
* Ace Member *
This is how I see the economic downturn as an opportunity for disc golf. Think of it this way: would a parks department that's strapped for cash rather spend its resources on expensive community centers and baseball fields and other such construction projects, our would it rather find less expensive and lower-maintenance things to do with their land, such as allowing a motivated club of disc golfers to design, install, and maintain a course on their land using largely if not entirely volunteer labor? The choice is easy to me. All we have to do is convince the parks departments that the courses will be valuable additions to the communities, and watch the bottom line work in our favor.
Lewis
* Ace Member *
There's also the environmental issue. Sure, the city arborist might not be all enthusiastic about what our discs do to the tree bark along the fairway, or what our foot traffic does to the occasional hillside, but is there even a comparison between our environmental impact and the impact of razing the woods to install flat, open, frequently fertilized ball-sport playing fields? I've got nothing at all against ball sports, but when it comes to low-impact on the environment, we've got a distinct edge. I honestly don't think the White House, or really any of the out-of-touch-with-America Beltway fatcats have any idea who we are or what we do.
Given how often I have to explain the sport to people, it's not just politicians who don't know what we do, and think it's a silly thing to spend money on. I think I made a convert out of a friend's sister who works for a parks department when I told her how easy and cheap a course is compared to things like ball fields and playgrounds.
Lewis
* Ace Member *
This is how I see the economic downturn as an opportunity for disc golf. Think of it this way: would a parks department that's strapped for cash rather spend its resources on expensive community centers and baseball fields and other such construction projects, our would it rather find less expensive and lower-maintenance things to do with their land, such as allowing a motivated club of disc golfers to design, install, and maintain a course on their land using largely if not entirely volunteer labor? The choice is easy to me. All we have to do is convince the parks departments that the courses will be valuable additions to the communities, and watch the bottom line work in our favor.
It really won't help that you need tons of room for an 18 hole course. A park area dedicated just for DG. It is more money than some of us think. Upkeep and all will add up fast.
But then again $20,000 is pocket change to some cities.
Our good 'ole state...S.carolina, won't put in anything for a state park...which is sad because other states do. However, I will give Oconee County credit, they already 3 courses in currently, and are working on 1 more, and will expand 1 18 hole course into 36. We have some great political people in place there, and we have avid disc golfers that work with them <And having a Mayor of a town being a disc golfer helps>. Oconee county is relatively small, and rural, but is slowly becoming a disc golf mecca.
Now, my feeling is, they just had TV media showing that the most obese people are in the southeast, the media is stressing getting outside to exercise, why not have more places to play Disc golf???....It's exercise, and it's family friendly....c'mon politicians, open your eyes, disc golfers are not all long haired hippies!!!....
OK, rant over...
Now, my feeling is, they just had TV media showing that the most obese people are in the southeast, the media is stressing getting outside to exercise, why not have more places to play Disc golf???....It's exercise, and it's family friendly....c'mon politicians, open your eyes, disc golfers are not all long haired hippies!!!....
OK, rant over...
ChainMan
Eagle Member
I've given up on the idea of any new city dg courses in my fair city. Even though my home course is one of the busiest in all of Colorado I think the council looks at it as a deficit rather than a positive. They empty the trash cans and that's if for maintenance. All other work is done by volunteers. The city sees the disc golf course as an enforcement issue, low income compared to soccer and softball fields etc. etc. I think they are missing some key positives. Disc golf brings income to the city through retail sales of gear, convenience stores, lodging, food and fuel. Disc courses are usually set up on land less than ideal for virtually anything else. Citizens who have a number of outdoor activities to choose from tend to be happier and healthier contributors to the community.
We've come a long way baby but there's still a long way to go before we have the respect of some other sports. But activism does count and the more influence you can exert on your local officials to support disc golf the better. If communication isn't your forte` take a city official out on the course for a round!
Also, if anyone has any numbers on what kind of income a tournament can bring to a community, please share.
We've come a long way baby but there's still a long way to go before we have the respect of some other sports. But activism does count and the more influence you can exert on your local officials to support disc golf the better. If communication isn't your forte` take a city official out on the course for a round!
Also, if anyone has any numbers on what kind of income a tournament can bring to a community, please share.
I'm sure a tournament has some beneficial impact, but I'd say it would pale greatly in comparison to any of the following.
- Large profile sporting event (baseball, football, NASCAR, etc.)
- Convention
- Softball or any youth sports tournament
- Graduation or wedding weekend
Part of the problem is we are with minimal exception an adult sport that is practically limited to how many people we can put on a course during a tournament.
....that just throw big parties for themselves anyway.
