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Let's hope our bible thumping politicians don't legislate us away from this next great technology. Uh, hello ? Earth to Scooby, you're already about 5 years too late. God's messenger, George W Bush already forbade federal funding for stem cell research on all but 61 pre-existing stem cell lines in Aug 2001. While this does not technically outlaw stem cell research, the funding limitations mean that ALL funding resources have to come from somewhere else. This makes for a far more effective strangulation on research than any legislation merely banning the research altogether. It means that a scientist doing stem cell research in God's Country cannot use a cell centrifuge or computer in the same building, or even the same building or any rooms therein, if they were funded in any part by your tax dollahs. The Taliban already rule. Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

This is an excise tax on those who don't have AIDS, just because they don't, and for no other reason. How many other diseases have their own dedicated tax? What makes you think people with HIV/AIDS don't fly ? You've probably sat next to several or many people with the virus already. You probably know people who have it and just don't know it because they'd rather not advertise the fact. It can be argued that AIDS is the most serious and destabilizing pandemic since the medieval Black Death. The economic and social dislocation of its wiping out a whole generation of the people who would've hopefully done the work, the educating, the child rearing, etc. of a whole part of the world is some serious shit. It's also sadly beyond the UN's competence to deal with, as the place is a fucking cash toilet. Fortunately there is a ray of hope in outfits like the Gates Foundation. That said, it's unfortunate that the Frogs have decided to build Kofi Anan another villa by the beach with your AIDS tax. A tax for taxes sake. Bon voyage mon ami !! Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

lol the jumping out of planes part is fine its difently the second one. the nice guys dont scare me it's the ones that think like me that I'm worried of Does sis go to college ? It's probably already too late. If she hasn't already got off to a running start in high school.....but your sister would never do THAT would she ? I know you'd like to spray a can of Wolf Repellant on her, but maybe just letting her know "these guys are dogs" once is the best you can do. Because whuffo guys are also dogs and she's already dealing with it as she thinks best, whatever that is. Heaven forbid, one of these days she might even get married and make babies. Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

And mom and dad just celebrated 34 years in May. My mom and dad are married 51 years now and my wife and I passed 25 this April, as did the wife's brother and his wife, and her cousin and her husband. One of my brothers is at 13 and counting with his wife and their three kids. There may be something to it running in families... It's no cakewalk either, it's a decision with little catch phrases like "for better or worse", and "in sickness and health". The wife and I have each had one major serious attraction to someone else, which neither one of us gave in to, something that's a lot easier said than done. Remember all those "lovesick" feelings you'd get every other day or so in high school ? When you're an adult, about 12 years into a marriage they can hit you like a hurricane and it's terrifying. It's biochemical attraction that wants us to reproduce with someone. The force it can hit you with, out of the blue and the way it can make your skin burn, is frightening. Not an easy thing to deal with and obviously not everyone does. Marriage flies in the face of most of our "values" nowadays. After the initial year or so of 24/7 sex, it's about making choices outide of the usual instant gratification mode we've been raised to expect as some kind of God given right. Some people never figure it out either & I feel sorry for them. Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

Dude, that's where you put the heroin. Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

..as a second option to the spring loaded. May not have time to reach. Would like to hear the arguments for and against that one. First problem that comes to mind is that a pull out, or any hand deploy, would defeat the use of AADs as we know them (Cypres, Vigil, etc), as they rely on releasing a spring loaded pilot chute. The other thing is a spring loaded p/c gets off and away when you pull the ripcord and release it. Any kind of a hand deploy is still in your hand until you let it go and you may not be marveously stable. I'd rather not be tumbling ass over teacup with a pull out in my hand and a freebag bouncing around on my back. Come to think of it, hand deploys of any kind would also defeat RSLs and even Skyhooks. They HAVE been tried, as far back as 25 - 30 years ago, but mostly for special purposes like stunt rigs for movies, like the James Bond rigs in Moonraker. And in conclusion, I was thinking maybe of a rig with an "inflatable partner" ? Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

QuoteFamily members of one of the big shots sold their EADS stock right before it tumbled...I guess there is no equivalent of the SEC in Europe, or if there is, they're either not paying attention or just don't care. -------------------------------------------------------- Reminds me of the time in 1997 when Fill Condom sold a huge chunk of his Boeing monopoly money the week before the first loss in fifty years was reported and the stock tanked. Boyd Givens, the CFO got busted for it, and sacked. But not old Fill, he was permitted to throw a few more of the guys (like Ron Woodard in Renton) to the sharks before the board finally wised up and sacked his ass. These guys all belong on a chain gang together, "what we have here is a failure to communicate". Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

Darius, that's because the moment Israel gives an inch of territory to the Palestinians, the Palestinians immediately start launching rocket salvos into the nearest Israeli town that is now in range. You got any excuses to offer about that ? They're always pulling this kind of crap, especially with Hamas at the helm now. It's somehow okay for Hamas to send suicide bombers into Israel ? It's somehow okay for Palestinians to make a urinal out of the Church of the Nativity ? It's somehow okay for them to pull crap after crap and then talk about "international law" and the "deaths of innocents" ? Fuck 'em. The Palestinians elected Hamas, they can live with the government they elected. If they think they're going to get the world's sympathy for behaving like assholes, they're sadly mistaken. I used to be a real peace & brown rice hippie about how mistreated I thought the Palestinians were. Until I saw those assholes dancing in the street and firing their fucking AK-47s in the air on 9/11/01. They want a war, they've got one. Their main complaint is they can't seem to live with the consequencxes of their own actions. So fuck 'em, kill 'em all. That's what we think here in America Darius, we're out of patience and just want to kill 'em all. So tell your friends 'cuz that's the way it is. Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

Item 1 - And yours doesn't ? This is a common female misconception. Item 3 - God gave you two hands, so slap him ! Item 4 - WTF is a Dutch oven ? Item 5 - Bathrooms usually have a fan and/or window, or else they're not up to code. Some instruction on your part may help. Item 6 - Pissing is okay, lugeys are not (see Item 3). The pee goes down the drain into the same sewer as your toilet. Besides, it's fun, you should try it. You wash with soap in the shower anyway... Item 7 - This is why women love us. Item 8 - And I suppose you don't shave your legs or pits ? Items 9 & 10 - You say this like it's a bad thing. If it bothers you, maybe you can help and do it for him. Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

The Shiner President replies, "I figured if you guys aren't drinking beer, neither would I." Good one Dave. Heard that one somewhere else, only it was the President of Guiness in a delightful Oirish brogue. We DO in fact have Shiner here in So Cal and I tried some on your recommende, it's good stuff. Around here Sam Adams seems to be a good crowd pleaser at the dropzone, to almost everyone's tastes. But in Corona's defense, I gotta say after the beastly hot day we had at Elsinore yesterday, the Corona somebody handed me at day's end sure was welcome. The hotter the weather, the lighter I like my beers, in the gray chill of winter I like 'em dark and heavy. Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

Me either, not this way anyhoo. I always thought of goose stepping as the way the Nazis would march around like they wanted to kick somebody's ass with their big boots. But sometimes that's a good way to deal with the people you're describing. I mean hell, with the wonderful meds available to them nowadays, why should we put up with them at all ?? Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

I got one in a boogie bag at Elsinore once. Made me think "Dude, this place REALLY wants me to be safe..." Let's be saferer out there, in whatever position we assume, at whatever altitude ! Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

Now sex is safe and skydiving really is dangerous. No, sex is safer (read the post). Skydiving is dangerouser. And reserves, like condoms can break. But more people have died from not using them (either or both) than from using one that broke. Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

Should give you some good fundraising pointers if you ever want to get on a serious team. Especially if you want to train on THE Skyvan used for the Nationals. Anything that can give you that edge over the competition. Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

Since everyone seems to have different ideas about just how safe or dangerous our sport is, I sort of connected with the concept of "safer sex". Originally in the age of AIDS there was a lot of talk about "safe sex", use of condoms, selectivity over who you jump with (oops, getting my sports confused here...). The conclusion though is that if you are sexually active you can't be truly safe unless you're celibate (i.e. you don't jump), and even if you're monogamous or wear the appropriate "rig", you just never know. But you'd be even dumber not to do those things, so now we talk instead about "safer sex". Well, ditto for skydiving. If we can never make falling through the sky truly 100% safe, we sure can make it a lot "safer", which is what I think most of us, even the naysayers ("skydiving is not safe", etc opinionators) are trying to do. This is more a philosophical daydream than a hard nuts & bolts issue, but hey, it's Friday and I've got an hour to kill before getting off work. Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

When you open you should always do a controllability check as soon as safely possible. Should be no problem if you're throwing it out as high as 4.5k. By doing a controllability check you're automatically releasing both your brakes to turn left & right, then flare. If you did have a toggle misfire, this simple control check should straighten you out right then & there. Controllability checks are boring, but without them how do you know your wing is safe to fly at all ? I even say "boring" out loud when I'm doing mine, but I do it just the same. It's basic safer skydiving. As for stowing toggles and packing, I think people are mistaken to set their brakes when they land. There are too many distrctions competing for their attention. Stowing the toggle to prevent spinning the line up is fine, but the real stow is for the packing area, where you can focus on what you're doing. When you set your brakes, simply take a moment to tug on the brake line and WATCH to see that the metal guid ring is holding the toggle in place. Toggle should be BELOW the guide ring and this is where most people screw up - it's where I screwed up the last time I opened with a misfire. Just look closely, tug on the brake line enough to see that everything's correct on both toggles and you're good to go. And whether you use a packer or do your own packing, you should always be the one to set your brakes, set your kill line, and re-open your collapsed slider. If you don't do it, well who knows ? Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

Oh my god, I saw some of them godless atheistic flagburners on the drive home from work to today and they wuz burnin' up a storm at almost every red light I was havin' to stop at. Big flags, little flags, in between flags, mah gawd it was just awful and that's not even thinkin' about what all this flag burnin' is doin' to the air pollution index. Criminy, somebody ought to amend the fucking Constitution before some poor asthmatic child goes tits up. It's down to one fucking vote in the Senate ? Does anybody even remember the quote about the flag being the last refuge of scoundrels ? I'm tempted to burn just a teensyt weensy flag in the privacy of my own bathroom just to celebrate and give thanks for one small freedom preserved. We are so close to losing ALL of them..... Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

And that's why shrooms are the favored drug of air traffic controllers. Comforting thought, no ?? As for the guy taking the test, if you're topping the charts at 3X max, quit smoking dope and wait a couple months. Why be in a rush to fail ? Besides, you might like sobriety once you get used to it. Mental clarity is a high in itself. Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

Also, and this is no shit, click from this site directly into Skydive Radio.com and download Show #14 with the first Brian Germain interview. Brian explains a life saving radical flat turn maneuver that can save your ass if you've already been dumb enough to start a low turn. It ain't over 'til it's over and Brian explains how you can stuff a sock in the fat lady before she starts singing. Check it out, this info is as important as knowing how to cutaway from a malfunction. Then make a hop & pop and work on it 'til your legs ache. Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

Which may explain why Customs found a huge stash of the stuff in Rush Limbaugh's luggage upon his return to the U.S. ??? Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

Considering there is a book on the shelf at Barnes & noble titled "The Ethical Slut", and that you yourself have used the term "sport fuck" in reference to some past adventures, I see no problem with anyone being a slut per se, although the label can be damaging. Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

Remember, the tree is believed to be from the Jackson era. Yeah but Jackson was a Democrat, which is out of favor mit der ruling Partei. Are you sure it wasn't chopped down ? George Washington couldn't tell a lie, but another George W would..... Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

Yeah and monkeys are flying out my butt in time for "Malcolm In the Middle". I hope the Israelis kill them all, just by way of saying howdy. Fuck 'em, they're vermin. Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

No, but you were there, you were part of the effort, and look at what you learned. It's still worth walking on air for a couple days, ya think ? Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

The whole thing sounds fantastic. Congrats. You'll be walking around a foot or two off the ground at work for a week or two... Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !