happythoughts

Cameras are a money maker. Anyone who does not support the revenue stream will become an ex-Sheriff shortly.

JFK was sold to the American public like Elvis. Handsome and personable. The first President that tv really helped (Kennedy vs Nixon debate). Actually, he messed up just about everything he touched. His "dream" programs were just that. Most were later gutted by other Presidents when people finally understood that they didn't work in reality. People treat him like he was Elvis in a suit. I thought he was one of our worst Presidents.

When Jeb was Gov of Florida, he was a pretty good governor. I observed a few things. - The first one was the amount of criticism because of his name. Nothing was ever said about his actual actions, legislation, or programs. Many critics had (as usual) no actual knowledge, just knee jerk reactions. - When there was some type of civil vs gov issue, the special interests (like money-scamming lawyers and the ACLU) would demand a state-level special investigation to override the usual legal process. Jeb would say, "There is a process in place and we will follow that." So, he supported the structure of govt and law and gave no one special privilege. He also didn't strong arm the local politicians just because some special interest wanted him to. - He supported environmental initiatives that were clearly defined on the state web page and financially supported them. Hydrogen/electric/hybird cars. - He understood the culture of the state.

Jesus may have been a Mafia Capo. His followers are running the rackets in Rome. clicky

She must have seen one of those "drink responsibly" ads and didn't want to drive anywhere. Perhaps the alcohol industry will now promote "stay home and drink on your roof" as an alternative.

Gorgeous, crazy, fun, happy, mixed-up, sexy, tired, manic, huggy, WooHoo! Gone.

Kinda like the mid-1700s, eh? By dickheads, I assume everyone means people who don't understand that being called a "100-jump wonder" is not praise? 100 jumps is 100 landings. It seems like I've got stupider because I knew everything when I had 100 jumps. Now, I tend to sit and listen to more experienced jumpers and learn stuff. A good rule of thumb - If 10 experienced jumpers are trying to convince someone to exercise caution, maybe they should STFU. People who have time-in-sport have watch an incredible number of injuries happen. They aren't just talking out of their ass to irritate some newbie. They are trying to keep them out of the hospital. Of course, the general responses are: "But dude, I have Mad Skillz, you don't know me" or the ever-popular... "People who push the envelope are making the sport progress" I don't care how much tunnel time someone has. It doesn't teach you to fly a canopy. It doesn't teach you to be safe in the sky with others. People who let their mouth overload their ass, end up as a member of the heavy metal club.

My son once wanted to ride his bike in the rain. "no" "I'll wear a raincoat" "no" "...and stay on the sidewalk where it's safe." "no" "...and come home if it starts to lightning." "no" He planned on discussing it with me until he came up with a scenario where I would agree it was a good idea. This could be a long thread.

Well, in all fairness, I was warned. You know me well. So what did I do? I was doing that again today, a year later. What do I find? Someone with Mad Skillz. I have come to accept One-person stupidity, like swooping at 300 jumps and femuring next to the pond. (We still have the video because Dave wanted his "cool" landing recorded with his camera.) So, today we have another future Scavenger Hunt candidate. A one-sided conversation of experienced jumpers saying "stop that"... and the future candidate saying, "...but dude, you don't understand, I have Mad Skillz." That's quality. You rarely get a totally one-sided thread.

What is your definition of a big-way? For flatflyers, on something like a 20-way, there are people next to you on breakoff. Most of the time, for 15+ jumpers, it may be a staged breakoff. There could be a second line of trackers following you while you are doing the gymnastics. You could be putting others in danger by changing altitude or course heading. I have been in jumps where there were assigned breakoff altitudes and opening altitudes. It is scary enough to know that four stages tracked off ahead of you without the fear of losing sight of them.

Didn't jump today. Sunday, at Zhills, there were 3 Otters flying back to back. My last jump was load 44. Two organizers were doing formation groups. Two or three other organizers were doing smaller flatflyer loads. There were several other freefly organizers around.

It's a duty. I try to keep the public informed. I could use one, but they look like small sizes. I need the chubby middle-aged guy size.

Remember the Seinfeld episode about the "Bro"? The bra for men? Here it is An online Japanese lingerie shop, in their mens section. It is noted as being the number one seller. Personally, I thought the target audience would be fat middle-aged guys with moobs. Apparently, not. Just FYI

In this case, his Z1 was split open. That is a pretty significant impact. The previous poster regarded helmets as only valuable during nominal blows. His head is quite a bit less durable than the helmet. If he had not been wearing the helmet, it would have been his head that was split open instead. That is almost assured to be fatal. From my view, the helmet saved his life. No question. As far as other types of injuries, you can only do so much. I used to have this helmet argument with Treetop all the time. He would throw in every type of accidents to find any exception (for the primary purpose of just arguing). Yep, we can't make a helmet that will take every shock and save your life. In the required Florida motorcycle class, they tell you bluntly that at speeds over 100mph, the helmet will not save you. It was stated that, in most of the cases over 100mph, the rider is decapitated. So, regardless of design, motorcycle helmets only do so much also. However, the value of helmets can't be minimized when I have personally seen them totally destroyed with force that was guaranteed to kill someone. No, they aren't just for little swipes, as was stated. In big impacts, they have saved many friends.

I'm known for long stories. It's handy to have small flaws. Anyway, I have a simple test. It's a test for preachers. Preachers irritate me. They seem to have such confidence from the public. I like to see if it is well-founded. I'm not a religious person, but I like to ask them one simple question. "What was the most important thing in the Sermon on The Mount"? Simple story. They pass around a basket with food and it returns with more in it than when it left. Some fish, some bread, maybe a bottle of wine. Some preachers say it was a "mystical". Like a Leprecaun that gives you a $10 bill in your pocket forever. They want it to be mystical. They sell it that way because they control the path to mysticism. I think that is the wrong answer. My personal view is that people put stuff in. If they had an extra fish, they put it in. To me, that is the miracle. Maybe even people who didn't have any extra stuff. Maybe they shared. Maybe I'm wrong, but I enjoy my interpretation better. Ever know someone without a lot... but everytime you stop by, they give you a sandwich, or a snack, or a glass of wine? That's because the last person who stopped by, they left some chips and a bottle of wine, or a movie to watch. It is important to observe the everyday miracles between the imperfect, as people are kind and to each other.

There was all the re-appearance of stuff in the movie. Like when Big Jim rescued the people in the prison. WTF? Where did he come from? "Catholic High School Girls In Trouble" It's like one of those investigative news documentaries that we all secretly new about. A lot of the sub-references are lost on you, unless you saw Kung Fu movies at a drive-in on $3 a carload night. You can still buy KFM in Circuit City movie section. Saw it there the other day. (I wouldn't try to buy anything using the CC online. "Windows which is what you would be buying for now?" Had to hang up and go to the store.)

The problem with the Single Truth is that there must be 200 bunny trails leading off in the wrong direction. The Bible notes two central problems. - Angels (good or bad) are smarter and more powerful than people. - Satan is trying to mislead. Pecking order: God Angels People Satan (Lucifer "Light Bringer") was an angel. He is just going to be smarter and powerful than people. So, the problem is to help close up the misleading cults and offshoots. His minions are going to mislead people all the time. How to identify them? His sin was to show people the tree of knowledge. That they could think for themselves. So, anyone who is letting people decide moral truth for themselves, is leading people away from the original Single Truth. They are a false prophet, obviously a minion. Let's draw a line around 1600. Any religious sub-group created after 1600 are Satan worshippers and leading the flocks astray. (That should get rid of a few pesky Calivinists.) This job will be easier for the Muslims because there are fewer schisms to deal with. Christians have about a zillion sects. At the very least, maybe the Fundamentalist Baptists will make it okay to dance again. You've got to admit, if the biggest problem that your religion has is dancing, that's not bad. There were a few Buddhists tossing hand grenades during the 60s. Dancing is less destructive.

Sorry, I just finished watching the movie. Some parts just made me crack up. I enjoy a good chuckle on Christmas Eve. (umm...most all of the time, actually.)

Based on that, we are lucky that the Pope isn't black, after the pasting that the Italian army took in Ethiopia around the turn of the century. "But sir, they're armed with spears..." People could be celebrating Kwanza instead of Christmas.

I like the South Park idea. It might be worth an email to the shows creators. If you saw the show that they did on the Mormons, this is just a huge opportunity.

Sure, but look how well that's turned out Religiously? It worked great. Christianity is famous for absorbing the traditions of foreign lands and religions. Remember Easter? Was there a Giant Bunny who hopped out of Jesus tomb and gave Mary an egg? Nope. Easter or "Ester" was a druid goddess of fertility, hence all the bunnies and eggs and dancing around the "maypole"... right around Spring and the planting season. "Santa Claus" or Saint Nikolaus. Christmas tree? The symbol of eternal life. Queens without Kings have a tough time. When Nimrod died, his wife said that he came once a year to collect gifts. ...right in the middle of winter. Also, she had a child a couple of years after he died. So, he had a heir. That's nice. Probably as easy to sell as Mary being a virgin. "It was an angel... really... a really hot... angel."

How exactly could you buy out another religious faction if they did not want to be bought out? Let's say the Catholics were tired of "competing" with the Scientologists, what could they possibly offer them to entice them to give up a continuous and "forever" revenue stream? I just don't think it's possible. Let's save the Scientologists for later. Let's talk about some Protestants, Southern Baptists and Northern Baptists. They mostly agree. Primitive Baptists (the really conservative ones), not so much. A lot of money is generated through wills. I once saw an estimate that a huge hunk of Texaco was owned by the Catholic church due to people leaving them stock in their wills. It is kind of like GM and GMAC. The good money is in the financing, not making the cars. Eventually, the smaller churches would be happy to sell out and get a piece of the pie without having to actually run services. The smaller churches could still run call centers with volunteers to encourage the donations. Collect the cash for 15%.

"The popcorn that you are eating has been pissed in." Opening line in the Kentucky Fried Movie. A Zucker Bros film from back in the day. Rather unpolished. A collection of skits. Some satire, some just offensive jokes. Part worked, part didn't. Most of it was just making fun of tv and other movies. There was one recurring joke where people are randomly shot with arrows. In the middle was "Fist Full of Yen", a takeoff of "Enter The Dragon" (and 95% of the Kung Fu craze). My fav was a line by the newscaster, "Moscow in flames, missiles headed for Washington. Film at 11."

This isn't really too hard to figure out. Each faction has a different leader. Nobody wants to give that up and new ones are "created" on a regular basis by individuals that want to be in charge so they can handle the collection plates. You're never going to see any sort of consolidation. "want to be in charge so they can handle the collection plates" I'm sure that there is a process because that is how political parties manage to merge. Local->State->National The Vatican does it well because they collect money from all over the world. The factions just need to see a better common interest. In business, banks buy each other out and close branches.

Personally, I think that things worked a little smoother back when there wasn't so much religious divisiveness. There was one religion that pretty much backed the govt in current power. When Marco Polo was in China, there was talk of bringing religous scholars from Italy so that they could debate scholars of the East and determine the "best" religion. Western scholars weren't too keen on the idea. Kind of hard to produce facts to prove something that is based on faith. Plus, it was probably pretty difficult to find an impartial religious figure to do the evaluation. Debates of that type are rarely of value. In most cases, the "facts" of a religion are based on acceptance of the total truthfulness of the central "book" of a given religion. People are arguing that the other side won't accept "their truth", so it remains at a standstill. However, it would certainly help if there was only one flavor of a particular religion. All the religions seem to have a variety of tangents. So, what we need is a little consolidation. Each religion should hold debates within their group and determine the most valid version of their creed. (Kind of how the playoffs work in basketball.) Since the Christians have so many versions of Protestant, a little extra time could be allowed for them. Then, later, the primary Protestant cult could debate the Catholics.