[blml] 2007 laws

[Eric Landau]

On Oct 18, 2007, at 1:01 AM, Grattan Endicott wrote:

> From: "Eric Landau" <ehaa at starpower.net>
>
>> Let us hope that by the next round of law revisions the high and
>> mighty who sit on the councils of the WBF will have recognized the
>> reality that confronts actual bridge players who live in jurisdiction
>> of certain NBOs, including one very large one, to wit:
>>
>> Individual players wishing to express opinions have a better chance
>> of conveying those opinions to the WBF if they write them on a piece
>> of paper, put it in a bottle and float it out to sea than if they
>> send them to their NBO.
>>
>> Grattan and the others, I'm sure, see some distinction between
>> politely guiding players to send opinions to their NBOs and simply
>> telling them to ---- off, but from where I sit there's no practical
>> difference at all, and the WBF should not be surprised when players
>> react to such "guidance" accordingly.
>>
> +=+  Opportunity given to some 116 NBOs* to comment on our drafts
> as they were in November could well have landed us (me) with an
> indigestible problem in collating them law-by-law for presentation  
> to the
> DSC. As it was, the responses returned from NBOs were not so extensive
> that I was unable to sort them in that way and communicate them to
> colleagues. Offering the opportunity to bridge players generally to  
> present
> their views direct would have opened up an unacceptable risk of  
> clogging
> to the procedure, and in any case it was proper that players should  
> present
> opinions to their NBOs for consideration and influence upon the  
> replies
> NBOs would send.  If players feel that their NBO is deaf to their  
> thoughts
> players should use the ballot box to encourage greater attention  
> for their
> correspondence; we do not determine their representation or the  
> corporate
> structure of the organizations of which they are members.
>                                                 ~ Grattan ~   +=+
> (* plus eight Zonal Organizations and the Portland Club)

That makes 116 NBOs, eight Zonal Organizations, one Portland Club,  
and zero ordinary bridge players.

I understand perfectly well why the WBF insists that players should  
present opinions to their NBOs for consideration.  But if this is to  
be anything but head-in-the-sand hypocrisy, it is incumbent upon them  
to demand that NBOs accept players' opinions and consider them if  
those NBOs wish to be included in the process.  And if they truly  
believe that the apppropriate recourse is for players to "use the  
ballot box", they should demand that NBOs elect their officials in a  
sufficiently open and transparent manner to allow ordinary members to  
influence the outcome as a condition of WBF membership.


Eric Landau
1107 Dale Drive
Silver Spring MD 20910
ehaa at starpower.net