happythoughts

The problem with big records is that they require so many planes. Here is a plane that could hold everyone and use different exit doors. Problem solved.

I believe that if you started 100,000 miles out or so you'd be close to escape velocity http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Escape_velocity when you hit. For Earth, that's about 25,000 mph. Some of the really smart math pros here could figure it out exactly.

If I am ever kidnapped, and you are negotiating, don't take the first offer. Two weeks with me and they will pay anything to return me. That's assuming anyone would want you back With the money the kidnappers would be offering, they could deal with it. Also, I have compromising photographs in a safety deposit box if an odd "accident" should ever happen to me.

If I am ever kidnapped, and you are negotiating, don't take the first offer. Two weeks with me and they will pay anything to return me.

So don't bother organizing a tracking dive at the Moon. Got it. When Kittinger was freefalling, it was estimated that he fell at over 600mph because gravity kept accelerating him, but there was no drag caused by air. On the moon, decelerating would be a problem.

There are two approaches to gaining knowledge. a posteriori - or empirical knowledge is gained mainly through experience. So, if your someone says that you cannot change your fallrate, when you do it all the time, then arguing is rather pointless. "I change my fallrate all the time in freefall." "No you don't." Seems pretty ridiculous, doesn't it? a priori - is the "beforehand" knowledge. Usually the empirical knowledge exists and then the a priori mathematical tools are applied to give a formal structure to the event. That structure is used to "predict" the behavior. We all observed gravity before we knew it could be measured. The problem occurs when the mathematics is incorrectly applied. Newton's first law of motion is often stated as An object at rest tends to stay at rest and an object in motion tends to stay in motion with the same speed and in the same direction unless acted upon by an unbalanced force. The argument error is always in the "unbalanced" force. "Terminal velocity" is not a fixed number because the forces can be changed. Forces - Gravity increases your speed. Drag decreases your speed. Drag = body position and air friction. People quote tests made in a vacuum. (Nobody jumps in one.) If they did, no drag. An open parachute and a closed parachute weigh the same. In a vacuum, they have the same fallrate and skydiving would suck. In a vacuum, there is no air friction caused by different fabric types or air deflection on body position. Arguments like these are promoted by people who don't actually understand the concepts. Some too lazy to think it through and parrot something that they heard before. Arguing with them is valueless. In order to end the conversation, I just ask, "If drag is not a factor, then an open parachute and a closed parachute fall at the same rate, right? We'll test your theory. I'll open mine and you leave yours closed." However, I generally just drop the subject and move the conversation to other topics.

The first thing that you have to understand about college is, even if you win an argument with your instructor, they will get even with you later. (Think grades)

It is ok if people attend your wedding dressed like characters from science fiction.

If you stay in the sports for 5 years, you will personally know someone who has died. Also, among your friends who has been in the sport for 5 years, half of them have broken/fractured something. Someone goes to the doctor and says, "Doc, it hurts when I do this." The doctor replies, "Don't do that." Learn from fatalities and don't do that.

That several of my skydiving friends would die. Recently, I had someone tell me that they never would have gotten into the sport as a career if they knew how painful this would be.

A fun and interesting time. Good to chat with people about stuff other than skydiving.

My ex used to have a big thing about shoes around the house, even the bedroom. There were days that I came home from work at 9 and went straight to bed because I was getting up early. I wanted to take off my shoes next to the bed and go to sleep. Nope - they had to go in the closet. Even though no one would be in the house from that point. So, the moral is, I did it. Not because it made any sense, but because it was really important to her. The phrase "important to her" means "unhappiness for me if I don't do it". People need to consider that even though they consider VD to be a hollow, meanless, manufactured event - if is "important to her", they need to figure out why they can't just do something nice for her, for that reason alone. Even if you don't want to, is going out of your way on one day a year, such a big deal? If small things are a problem, I suspect that they give very little in most instances also.

It is interesting that the qualifier "non-athletic subject" is necessary to validate. Essentially, non-sports trivia. A Trekkie can name all the Starships. Trivia is trivia. Sports trivia is where someone can name some obscure sports statistic that occurred in 1960 in a sport that they don't play. How many amatuer boxers do you really know? The sports Geeks have an opinion though.

A few updates. - We are in the process of locating a band or dj for Saturday night. - Alchohol may be available. So, dancing among the less skilled should occur.

A common complaint has been "we need more univ graduates", but there has not been enough seats. Students being turned away. More univ building projects means more seats and more construction jobs that have to be done on site, in the US. Pell Grants help kids get educations. I got one. I would love it if they increased the amount. Job programs provide training. "Sorry, we can't hire you because you have no experience." "How am I supposed to get the experience?" Even for college grads, I have heard the same thing.

I am surprised that the continuation of the Bush program is not subject to the usual hue and cry, because this seems to not be just support, but an expansion of the program. - Giving money to religious organizations. - Possibly pandering to the Religious Right ? - Programs ? A White House office is pretty powerful stuff. A lot of access to the President that a lobbyist would kill for. Personally, I am going to wait and see how this unfolds. I am interested to see what programs are actually funded. Obama worked with a lot of programs in Chicago to aid the poor. I would suspect that is the initial direction.

I didn't say it means negative, I said that it is generally used in the pejorative. I still haven't figured out how a Muslim security guard is going to be biased. What would they do differently than a retired Irish Catholic policeman? If someone goes to AA meetings, the "higher power" stuff is part of the package. If a Muslim security guard approaches someone, then what do they do differently?

The cash must have arrived at Tenas Bar in a container and then spilled out. Separate bundles would not arrive at the same spot (especially if the cash was lost on exit). That points to the cash successfully remaining in a container, even if not in the possession of DBC. The rubber bands would have been too fragile to be exposed to the elements for that amount of time and still held together the bills during any travel down the stream. After some time, the container could have ripped and then continued on its way. The remaining cash would just scatter. During a high volume period, the stream would carry it quickly away.

Maybe we are not looking at the positives on this. Right now, the post office is trying to reduce their number of delivery days to cut costs. How about this... On the Saturday deliveries, just give the mail to Jehovah Witnesses. The mail will be delivered by 8:15 with some bonus literature.

Ok, just so others don't have to guess. How are the Muslims going to go about their duties in any different fashion? I am trying to discover the difference here. They can always coerce them into a religious conversion in prison later.

So, where is the bias in this scenario? In the part of the thread we're talking about, it would be that they're Muslims that are against drug use. Pretty simple really. The Catholics would be fighting drug use, but they are busy putting gold plate on another gargoyle at the Vatican this week.

I did not write that. The security force was hired because of the common goals. Reduction of crime, drugs, and violence. Second, they were effective. Possibly, their tactics differed from the law enforcement community. They were constantly present and had more community support. (Police go home and the criminals return for retribution.) Third, motivation. The Muslims lived in the housing projects. They had a vested interest in the protection of the community which included their families and friends. Their motivation to accomplish those goals was provided by their religion. That is not an issue. If the Christian community wishes to provide the same service, they can too. (Perhaps the non-Muslims should examine their level of committment to their beliefs.) Edited to add: Personally, I do not support their religion, or any type of religion, mysticism, spirit-invisible beings. So, I don't agree with your religion either.

Scanned copies of armed service records, with training listed, are facts. There is no conspiracy to withhold such records. There is no linkage between wearing a hat and receiving parachute training. However, I have a picture somewhere of my friends wearing capes as children. It was an indication of my super-powers.

The best reasonable expectation that you can ever have is that things will work out equally. The hope is that your SO will treat you as well as you treat them. (I don't know if the divorce rate reflects that.) You should send flowers, with a nice card, to their work place so that there is public recognition. Make them a nice dinner. Buy some chocolate. If anyone thinks that doing something small, or spending $50, is too much to do something nice for their SO, then they shouldn't be surprised if life is fair. I also suggest being nice every day, even if it is just a kind word. Then, other events will pale in value.

Yep. Posters should be prepared to be quoted in the national media. Now that Phelps has been photographed, some editor is going to want an article about sports and drugs. Google is looking for this thread right now.