I was watching the news a little while ago and noticed a commercial for a golf course. They were urging the populace to reserve a T time for only $59 for O*N*E round of golf to be played on O*N*E day. This was a special offer as normally they charge $89!

I think that just about puts the cost issue to bed as it is really not as major a player as many would wish to make it. No, I really think (DANGER: OPINION HERE!) that those who hide behind the checkbook as reason NOT to join the AMA are just not willing to share in the efforts many make to keep this hobby fun for all.

As for ousting the rascals, I don't think that is exactly called for in all cases as there are a great many hard working modelers in positions of authority all across the country. That being said, I do believe I and at least one other have stated our opinions and identified DVP's we feel need to be removed. Not being perfect, a simple review of actions (public, private [implied], and semi-private [you heard about it]) is all that you need to do to figure out who the players are and what "they" want. In other words, you don't have to take MY word for it if you get your own answers.

While I don't agree that we need to change the players, I do feel very strongly we need to change the rules to the game. Marc referred to some bad decisions that have been made and he is right. The amateurs we have elected to do the brain surgery on the AMA do not all have the credentials we would expect of the average physician and they do make uneducated mistakes. In fact, we seem to have a bunch of amateurs telling the educated professionals HOW to do their job rather than defining WHAT that job should be.

Then again we need folks willing to do things like control the purse strings better than was done with the computer systems and photo copiers we bought into. Maybe take General Electric model of getting approval for expenditures above certain amounts. Somebody needs to review major expenditures "we" are making but to do that we NEED to define that level.

Another area we need to attend to is the nomination and election process as it is very clear that what is done today encourages probable deceit and nomination control.

The most important thing 'we' NEED to address is the communications channel. Get rid of the censorship used to control what the membership finds out from PUBCOM. Make all the various committees and their membership public, in MA at least once a year.

By the way, another example of the bad communications is the agreement on RCU about the 2001 audit. Today is the last day of 2002 and we are fighting about HISTORY rather than planning for the future because the information was just made public. Try driving your car with your eyes on the rear view mirror!

W*E* have work to do guys!