kimemerson

How do you feel about the "fewer", "less" confusion?

Hey, it wasn't I who did that. I'm just the messenger here. But kudos on your employing, "imagine", "John Lennon" and "politics" into one sentence.

http://decider.cf.huffingtonpost.com/

I'd be more curious to see who believes in the devil. Who believes in divine reward and punishment? Who believes in a vengeful god? I believe all religion is selective superstition. I believe we hold ourselves in control through religion, by letting religion be our control. I believe the use of the term "lamb" is not a mistake. Religion is the Judas goat.

well, there are temporary blips, up one month down the next, down one month up the next. Then, there's the notion of kiling at all vs not killing at all. Does it matter one way or another if the numbers are floating up & down. Dead is dead and killing is how it happens. We ostensibly showed up to deal with WMD and there aren't any. So why again are we killing and beng killed? It all escapes me.

oops, too late

#229 but complacency was nowhere near the place. I was sharing a rig with a rigger friend who had no container but had a main. I had no main. So we pieced together what we had and shared. His main, a PD 170 (F-111, pre- Zero-P days) had a tear at the bridle attachment point but we didn't know it - yet. He had jumped it last and when I noticed it wasn't up to par, I cursed his sorry ass. But as I reached for the reserve rip cord I remembered just who had packed the reserve and I rather quickly took back all that cursing and praised his sainted ass. I now have about 4,000 jumps and five mals. God I love this shit!

Tossing Press secretary is hardly a big toss. Even if Rove goes, this is piddle. Get them all out. Every last one of the fuckers from George on down.

Wrong. You're there to stop the splat

so far it's looking relatively limited in the choices here. Fairly single minded. Ever considered classical, jazz or blues? Skydiving elicits many emotions as does music. No need to limit skydiving to only one direction. I've used Beethoven, Miles Davis, Duke Ellington, my own work. At times I do wonder if it's a generational thing (I'm 53) but I've been into quite an eclectic variety of music all my life. Others must be too, maybe. At least one other? For a whiole there I used Yello, a European duo who put out some interesting stuff. Or how about Raymond Scott? Please think variety and range. It's gotten so I can't stand most if most all skydiving videos anymore because they seem to be only a slight variation on a tired theme. No one has any creativity, no sense of stepping out of the standard molds and daring enough to expand. Pity. Sad. Limited. Empty.

You Serious? I can appreciate the health benefits of "healthy" peanut butter but I can also appreciate the taste of Jif or P.P. Health benefits have fuck all to do with it. I just like the pure good taste of peanut butter. I don't need candy. And I really don't need good taste to be disguised. It's all really a matter of refined tastes, I suppose. Peanuts aren't made with sugar and they are already soaked in oil. Adding shit just takes the goodness another step away from me. Plus, I admit, I'm a minimalist when it comes to food. I appreciate food in original, unmolested forms first, then slowly add as needed. But I'd be willing to bet a good number of people who prefer the additive laden PB have also had many foods that are so many steps removed from their original state. Packaged veggies - not garden fresh. Prepared and processed foods. I don't know. I'm not a "health freak" - as though being healthy requires freakiness. I just like my food unfucked with and closer to natural as possible. Somehow, for me, that makes it more like food and less like shit, plastic, garbage, disease and pain. I'm not a health nut but I do enjoy health as oppsed to its alternative. And it occurs to me that the evidence is in on how to be healthy and it seems to have nothing to do with sugars, extra saturated fats, and chemicals. As Dylan said, "You don't need a weatherman to know which way the wind blows" Doesn't take a smart guy to see what is healthy and what isn't. Just happens that what's healthy is largely also what's good. Not always, just frequently enough to carry weight. Go figure. Eating enough trash will catch up with you. All things do.And, frankly, most PB is trash. It may taste good to the immature palette, and tasting good seems to be all anyone cares about anyway. But tasting good alone won't do you any good. And once you have limited sugars, you do begin to taste foods as they are meant to be tasted. Sugar alters the taste sensation so that eventually that's what you expect. So does salt. There's a whole world out there that is full of good, untainted, unadulterated foods. Shoving chemicals and additives in your gullet will keep that world away. Ok BY me, just not FOR me.

most of the name brand PB has sugar and added oils. Don't know why, they just do. Too few ingredients labels say "Peanuts" and end it there. Again, don't know why. I prefer roasted Valencia peanuts with nothing else in there. Usually found in health food stores and in bulk. Just peanuts. Roasted & ground.

Had two going for a while there, before I became uni-partnered. And we kissed all we wanted. We knew the rules of the direction of the relationship. We "dated". Did other things.We were friends too. Fuck buddies are part of a fantasy and as such you can add or subtract all you want and not color the fantasy into a corner. They can be any descriprion you want. One point of this relationship is the freedom from expectation. So kissing can very much be part of it. Kissing can be hot! Why not go for the heat when you're fucking for fuck's sake? (That's not like 'for Pete's sake'. That's 'for the sake of the fuck'. Just a little clarity.)

Well we humiliated the little fucker though. Is he coming back after that? Christ, Vinnie was a bit perturbed.

you say your injury wasn't so bad. Is it possible that when you started jumping you figured you could either die or get hurt but figured it would happen only once? (Ok, sure, dead only once is a given...)Skydiving is a sport in which,if you stay with it long enough, could hurt you more than once. Several times, maybe. And not all of it just gets better and heals. Some of the injuries stay with us. So don't allow anyone or yourself to kid you. You can indeed get hurt again but it's a matter of sort of dismissing or almost denying that fact while doing all you can to minimize injury. But please don't let the fact that you could get hurt keep you grounded. You could just as easily - and it's very likely - never get hurt again. It's been done. Besides, it looks like you have some dreams to meet. Go for it.

care to quantify that with some 'statistics"? "Safety" implies an external force causing safety or assuring it as opposed to individuals taking the responsibility for safety on one's own. It suggests that the system or drop zone is safe and that individuals have less to do with it. Few drop zones are safe or not safe. it's the people. And until you can cite specifics, I'd suggest you steer clear of such outlandish and irresponsible commentary.

That's NEW York. I don't know how I feel about Ner York yet.

No talking in City subways? This is fantasy, right? Remember when Gulliani tried to ban jaywalking? I saw grandmothers lead toddlers in the middle of the avenue only to get to a cop - or gaggle of cops - gathered together and basically looking the other way. Saw the looking the other way thing a lot, even if it wsn't a grandma with moppet in tow. That whole ridiculous endeavor fizzled out soon enough. Right along with trying to make Manhattan auto friendly. What this means is that one tries to coral & rein in New Yorkers at their own risk.Risk of ridicule and civil disobedience New York style. Damn I love Ner York!

Don't own one. Don't feel I need one. Skydive anyway. Color me crazy if you want. But I figure if I can't cover my shit maybe I should be shitting. Tommy Piras died because his wasn't on and as a result sales of Cypres went through the roof. His accident put Cypres on the map AND IT WASN'T EVEN ON! Somehow, to me, that sort of reveals the pussy aspect of the sport. Here's an article I wrote a few years ago when I was S&TA at the Ranch. I am convinced Darwin's been cheated. http://theblueskyranch.com/sta/ke11.htm

could be tear drops or tracers

Well, I pretty much was curious as to what constitutes a civil war - without the hairsplitting civil war vs civil unrest thing. (And when does 'unrest' become war? Most warring sides might have a trace of unrest somewhere in the history of the war) They are in fact killing each other. I was also wondering if the distinction matters. And finally, I was wondering why the administration argues that it is not a civil war. Others say it it is. Does it matter? How? To what advantage? If it does matter, why would someone insist it is a civil war and someone insist it isn't? For arguement sake for the moment here, let's say Iraq is in a civil war. So? Do we care that it has become a civil war? Does Bush have an interest in not allowing the 'unrest' to be a civil war? And please, don't give me any more of that anti-liberal whining crybaby liberal media bullshit either. Conservative mantras and regurgitated bumper sticker logic is getting both tired and out of hand. Aside from the fact most of it is poorly informed if informed at all. My question has less to do with political leanings than defining a situation and recognizing it for what it is. So far, I don't see where the original questions were addressed. I didn't ask about the press either. And while I appreciate the perspective of anyone who has been there, I also know it isn't only military men & women who have been there. Many civilians - liberal and conservative - are there and have interesting perspectives as well. I have spoken with military and civilian. Talking to them does nothing to answer my questions to you, the skydivers who, for the most part, are not over there, but are here making opinions and decisions based on what we hear and trust and believe. So: 1. Is it? 2. Does it matter? 3. Why insist one way or another?

Every dictionary I consult tells me that a civil war is a war between two groups in the same country. That's simplified but that's also about it. So what does Bush & Co. have invested in insisting Iraq is not engaged in a civil war? Ok, Rather than debate whether Iraq is in a civil war, could someone just describe to me what IS going on there, and then let's see how that stacks up to the definition of civil war. I asked this question to friends, and one answer was that Bush et al simply don't want to admit any sort of defeat. But isn't there a difference between admitting defeat and accepting truth? Isn't there some value to recognizing what's really happening before your eyes so that you can act appropriately? If there is one way to respond to a civil war and another way to respond "assassins & thugs" or insurgents or adversaries or the enemy or terrorists, then isn't there some wisdom in getting the definitions - thereby the understanding - of what you're up to your eyeballs in? So is it a civil war, does it matter, and why won't Bush, Rummy, Condi, Dick and the rest allow some truth. Just give me some truth, as John Lennon might have said.

Schadenfreude is a great concept put into a single word. But I have to say I've always like the Brit expression, "Keep your pecker up".

From my logbook. I knew Chet in Deland in the late '80's - early '90's. Even did two jumps with him, with Chet as tandem passenger on a 10 or 12 way.

in their moments and according to my needs, almost every instrument has had an affect on me. From the picollo to the dijirido, the bagpipes to the kazoo. Every classical, blues, jazz, bluegrass instrument and more. Then there's the human voice! Ask me what I'm into this second (piano, but always guitar - classical, blues, jazz, rock).