TheAnvil

LMFAO. Damn! You noticed! Now the secret is out. I'm practicing. I've been clandestinely developing my own newtork: AnvilNews - Right and Proud of It. I'm tired of the left leaning SOBs on Fox getting called right wingers, so I'm going to show 'em all what a REAL right wing network would be like. I'm going to launch it next July 19th with a DUI awareness gig at Chappaquiddick. Vinny the Anvil Post Traumatic Didn't Make The Lakers Syndrome is REAL JACKASS POWER!!!!!!

Mike I thought about this for a bit myself. I think it's sort of an inferred responsibility for any of us selling a canopy/rig to ask the person we're selling it to how many jumps they've got/experience level/etc. But for new purchases, new gear purchases, and etc such questioning is infeasible. In Paul's case, he was told by several people at H-town that he did NOT have the experience to jump that canopy and was putting himself in danger by doing so. He made a choice not to listen to people that he KNEW had a lot more knowledge and experience than he. Knowing all of the Hollister crew, none of them would have done so in a degrading or asshole-ish manner. All of us liked him and everyone who told him that was just looking out for a friend, I'm sure. Now, sadly and it brings a tear to my eye, he's paid the ultimate price for his choice. But it was his choice. I think that BSR is needed and Paul's incident is a true testament to that fact. Perhaps drumming it into students' heads harder in the training process as well. Probably the most immediate and effective thing all of us can do - instructors and non-students alike - is make sure we TALK to these newbies (I'm still a low timer newbie type as well) about such things and do so frequently. I think BillVon had a post a while back about the responsibility that comes with drinking free beer a while back, and that's sort of what I'm getting at. More prayers for Paul and his family. This is a tragedy for the whole skydiving community and all of our friends. Vinny the Anvil Post Traumatic Didn't Make The Lakers Syndrome is REAL JACKASS POWER!!!!!!

I'm with you there, brother. Sometimes lefties actually say some good things, but their lack of credibility makes it impossible to vote for them. That, and the fact that I disagree with the majority of the things they say. Vinny the Anvil Post Traumatic Didn't Make The Lakers Syndrome is REAL JACKASS POWER!!!!!!

Today Californians go to the polls. We'll have some results tonight or in the wee hours of the morning. Will Arnie be the next governor? Will voters forgive racism and Busta-MeCHA's refusal to condemn racist organizations? Will Davis somehow survive? We'll have all the answers soon....... Vinny the Anvil Post Traumatic Didn't Make The Lakers Syndrome is REAL JACKASS POWER!!!!!!

Dude, that's not cool. I hope that's sarcastic, but even then that is not cool. That's the anti-thesis of everything Bill is. Vinny the Anvil Post Traumatic Didn't Make The Lakers Syndrome is REAL JACKASS POWER!!!!!!

Bill this is beneath you. You must be tired or something. The person in question was HAPPY to see a successful black family having a nice night out and you slam the hell out of him. He was noting a statistical anamoly and was apparently HAPPY that this family was staying together in spite of the statistics. There is nothing racially prejudiced about noting something anamolous due to well documented statistics. It saddens me that anyone cares what anyone else's race is too, but there was absolutely no malice in that guy's observation whatsoever (not that lack of malice excuse either racism, bigotry, or racial prejudice - I can detect neither of these from the context of the quote you presented). For true comments full of malice. hatred, and racism refer to Julian Bond or Kweise Mfune's comments about the Republican party or Judges Pickering or Bork. Truly disgusting. Vinny the Anvil Post Traumatic Didn't Make The Lakers Syndrome is REAL JACKASS POWER!!!!!!

OK. twist my arm. I'll come to ZHills sometime....... Vinny the Anvil Post Traumatic Didn't Make The Lakers Syndrome is REAL JACKASS POWER!!!!!!

You come to Cali and leave without so much as calling TheAnvil???? Glad you are happy though. Have fun in FL. Vinny the Anvil Post Traumatic Didn't Make The Lakers Syndrome is REAL JACKASS POWER!!!!!!

Just talked with Kath a bit ago and Paul is hurting in a major way. Everyone should say a prayer for Paul because he's going to be lucky to live, given the severity and extent of his injuries. His parents have flown in from Canada and are with him now. Paul needs vibes more than all the rest of us combined. Vinny the Anvil Post Traumatic Didn't Make The Lakers Syndrome is REAL JACKASS POWER!!!!!!

Congrats! Don't go to 'the dark side' too soon. Vinny the Anvil Post Traumatic Didn't Make The Lakers Syndrome is REAL JACKASS POWER!!!!!!

I would have cutaway myself, but due to the loading of the canopy. I had a really similar thing happen to me a few weeks ago and landed it via rear risers. Vinny the Anvil Post Traumatic Didn't Make The Lakers Syndrome is REAL JACKASS POWER!!!!!!

I'm Catholic but don't take everything coming out of Rome as Gospel. I guess that makes me a hypocritical Catholic, but since I'm a hypocritical libertarian I guess that's fitting. Beers to all, Vinny the Anvil

0:5:2. Vinny the Anvil also ran ten miles on Sunday morning. Hard to believe these stubby legs could accomplish such a feat, but since I was feeling pretty good at four miles out, I went for another. My legs aren't sore today. My long run next weekend might extend out further. NIGHT JUMPS IN H-TOWN FRIDAY NIGHT!!

This season has disappointed me so far, but I do enjoy the show.

Ooooooooh this sounds good to me. H-town on the road. Let's just snag some creepers....... Vinny the Anvil Post Traumatic Didn't Make The Lakers Syndrome is REAL JACKASS POWER!!!!!!

What issue are you talking about, specifically? The isolation of the Hawiian populace, coupled with their unique climate, history, large transient populace, and several other factors make the isles a horrible place for a social study whose results are to be extrapolated to mainland USA. The differences are monstrous - live there and you'll understand. Nope. Never said not noting race was the solution to ending racism. Nor noting the race of those applying for a loan, college admission or scholarship, or employment the solution. The solution is multi-faceted. Ending discrimination by the government is a key facet. So would ending the propaganda put out by certain groups which encourages people to identify themselves by their race. I'm not sure what you are trying to say here. Far more than most people here with the possible exceptions of BillVon, Wendy(wmw999 I think; I forget her handle; she's pretty cool though), or Riddler, I assure you. If you'd read the rest of my quote you'd find that I indeed have read studies about the supposed gender gap and found none convincing to me. What else might such data be used for? If you don't care what color anyone is, like me, you wouldn't see a need to collect it. Deaths? What are you talking about dude? Who the hell has died because somebody didn't ask what race they are? How does tracking someone's race prevent a death? Now if Prop 54 prevents doctors from sharing anonymous data with other doctors with regards to disease/results/observations, that would be wrong. If the proposition prevents this, I'm not aware of it. I don't understand the reason for asking someone's race when they apply for a loan, college admission, college grants/scholarship, government employment or commission, or employment anywhere. It is an irrelevant factor for me. As far as it's concerned, I don't care and don't believe the government should either. Vinny the Anvil Post Traumatic Didn't Make The Lakers Syndrome is REAL JACKASS POWER!!!!!!

OK I've had it with quoting for now. Even sparingly. Again you bring up some decent points but race, culture, and the prevalency of racism are now where we disagree. I do agree with you that without this racial data discrimination will be harder to prove in court. That is by far and away the strongest argument for being against Prop.54. However, I feel that the good outweighs the bad here. Let's see if I can answer a few of your points with out burdensome quotations. I'm not a full time teacher, though I've lectured at the graduate level on spacecraft attitude, dynamics, and control. There's rumor I'm getting drafted to teach a course in that this quarter - fuck me very much - because a professor is in the hospital. I also tutor kids in calc, physics, and other things. Since I've forgotten more about statistics than most people ever knew in the first place, I don't think being a teacher is relevant to one's ability to interpret them. Culture - and race are closely intertwined in many cases. Different companies have different cultures as well. Why should cultures be tracked? Yes - cultural differences DO affect a person's outlook on life. The standards of academic success are the same regardless of a person's culture. If that student and/or his parent choose not to meet those standards, it's THEIR own fault. Not the school's, not the state's, THEIR's. I've lived in Hawaii - near Kameamea actually - and know a bit about the Hawaiian culture. Extrapolating ANYTHING from data taken over there with regards to social issues here in the US is an exercise in futility. Horrible data pool from which to base one's conclusions. Race and Racism - There will ALWAYS be idiots out there who judge people by their race and discriminate - illegal or not. Just like there have always been murderers, thieves, and other criminals. Prohibition has never worked and never will. At what point do we say enough is enough, race is no longer an excuse? I say it should have been years ago. I've lived in rural America and in the big cities and don't really see how anyone can say racism is prevalent today (with the exception of Memphis, TN where anti-white bigotry is prevalent). Tracking racial data doesn't fix anything in itself. I've also seen discrimination in action - against both whites and non-whites - and tracking data does nothing to mitigate it. Active involvement by management in the immediate area can mitigate it. Parents of schoolkids sometimes speak other languages - regardless of race. Russian, Norwegian, German, Lithuanian, Swedish - I could go on. This can be handled at the local level without tracking race. A county or city issue. No race involved. In the end it is the student that makes the choice to succeed or fail - parents and teachers can only motivate. Gender is a topic which deserves a thread of its own. I've also seen gender discrimination in action - against males. Tracking does nothing to mitigate this. Direct involvement of managers, employees, and local folks can. Women make less than men? My college room-mate's wife makes $10K more than he does and they're both EE's at the same company! I think I've seen a few quotes about this and don't think any study I've read about really proved this to my satisfaction. Data Tracking in General of race and gender disturbs me because it's most likely use will be to justify some discriminatory program. The data will be used by those who wouldn't know a Borel field from a tobacco field, an anchor chain from a Markov chain, or a Gaussian distribution from a tortoise to mislead people. I feel that if not tracking such data helps to end racial/sexual discrimination on the part of the government, it's worth doing. Vinny the Anvil Post Traumatic Didn't Make The Lakers Syndrome is REAL JACKASS POWER!!!!!!

That wussy mountain didn't even show up last time. I was there. We all jumped out - and where was the mountain? Nowhere near the landing area like last time. I think I might have to hike over there and talk to it a bit. Give it a bit of encouragement before the jump. Let it know that I'm now the kinder, gentler Anvil and won't kick its ass quite so badly next time. Apologize for pissing all over it last time. That sort of thing. THen, once in freefall, if it comes near me, I'll put it in the Camel Clutch. And then LizzieB will use her ninja skills to turn it into a mole-hill. Vinny the Anvil Post Traumatic Didn't Make The Lakers Syndrome is REAL JACKASS POWER!!!!!!

A well written post. I'm going to stray from your color scheme and quote sparingly. An underlying theme throughout your remarks is a belief that race is a factor in everything. I do not share this belief, as you'll see if you read on. Race doesn't really mean a damned thing to me. Yes. If, for some reason, Latinos and European Americans are performing at very different levels at the same school, the district needs to be able to analyze why this is and adjust methods accordingly... do they need to send notices home to parents in English and Spanish? do they need to re-evaluate their programs for English Language Learners? Is there some kind of discrimination going on that needs to be addressed? Schools need to be able to look at these things. Race is the factor here? I'd say parents' tax returns and education levels would show a much stronger correlation with student performance than race. Only those who adhere to the common stereotypes of minorities would believe otherwise. Again you break people into groups based on race. There are poor performers from all races. Who cares what race they are? The students should be targeted for extra assistance by performance - not race. Academic tests determine who needs to be targeted. Race is irrelevant. The race of a child has nothing to do with their academic success. You can possibly show a correlation between the two statistically, but those using such a statistic are using statistics as a drunk does a lamp post - it sure as HELL isn't for illumination. The amount of motivation they get from their parents - regardless of color - along with the child's work ethic determine his/her academic cuccess. Analyzing racial data for a reason would be beneficial only for those who believe race is a factor adhere to your tenets. I do not believe this and see absolutely no logical argument to change my belief. Again - try parents' tax returns as a metric. And without checking underneath my bed every single night, I have no assurance that a one eyed one horned flying purple people eater isn't there. The argument you present is one based on fear. I don't buy it. Cops do their jobs well and 'tis the few bad apples that give cops some bad publicity. Unfairly targeted because of their skin color my ass. Contrary to the garbage put out by the left and their syncophant organizations, racism isn't prevalent in America today. So much for equal protection under the law. Nightingale, all throughout your well written and thought out post we see your assumption that race is the predominant factor in this, that, and the other. It isn't. Individuals determine who they are and what they do. Some choose to identify themselves by their race and blame their failures on everyone else being racially prejudiced. These are weak individuals who don't have the courage to face life and deal with it head on. Those are the ones who support racially discriminatory programs and scream 'racism' every time they lose or come up short in anything - it gives them an ez out from reality. They are cowards and I want no law on the books that will enable them to take this ez out in any manner. Vinny the Anvil Post Traumatic Didn't Make The Lakers Syndrome is REAL JACKASS POWER!!!!!!

I've been training. I've been headbutting desks, books, trees, and even concrete in preparation. That mountain is TOAST!!!!!!!! Vinny the Anvil Post Traumatic Didn't Make The Lakers Syndrome is REAL JACKASS POWER!!!!!!

I'm Appalachian White. Myself and my redneck kin have for years been victimized by those who make fun of our accents. Our lack of shoes, dirt roads, schools with asbestos ceilings that used to be Civil War hospitals, and such have made us an oppressed people. I demand redneck reparations! Vinny the Anvil Post Traumatic Didn't Make The Lakers Syndrome is REAL JACKASS POWER!!!!!!

How do you think Gore got so many votes? Vinny the Anvil Post Traumatic Didn't Make The Lakers Syndrome is REAL JACKASS POWER!!!!!!

That mountain is a wuss. I don't think it's going to show up. We'll see....TheAnvil is in.....

The NK regime is a stressor on the Chinese due to the many NK refugees living in the mountains of China right across the border from NK. I thought their actions during the last round of talks was a slap in the face to the Chinese, who had arranged them. I think the DPRK wants the US to agree not to interfere with its trade because US/Aussie/Japanese efforts to stem the flow of drugs from that country have been successful in many cases. I heard James Woolsey give a lecture in which he called any treaty with the NK's less than worthless and said we should actually consider a first strike option. Scary as hell coming from someone of his stature. Not sure if I agree with him or not yet. Vinny the Anvil Post Traumatic Didn't Make The Lakers Syndrome is REAL JACKASS POWER!!!!!!

No way dude. You entered. now you are trapped. Drawn into the political threads.......