Bigwallmaster

Take advantage of what? In what way? Having our troops overseas gives them no strategic advantage. You said it yourself; it only takes a few of them to pull off something major. Doesn't matter where our troops are.

In response to your original question. . . . . Besides oil, and corporate exploitation and all that other shit we have heard before, I strongly believe that one of the key reasons for our presence in Iraq is to keep radical extremists focused on attacking our troops over there, rather than carrying out attacks on our homeland. Lets face it, nothing is going to piss off a bunch of radical muslim extremists more than to have a 130,000 troops from the "Christian Nation" on the muslim holy soil. And where would you rather fight these crazy fuckers, over there, or on U.S. streets? The bottomline is that our presence in Iraq is a driving force for these young muslim males recruited by Al-Queda or other extremist groups, to flock to Iraq and "Fight the American Infidels!!" Are they still planning future attacks on U.S. soil? Sure. Will they pull a few off? Probably. But think about how many of these young radicals we would have planning attacks against U.S. cities, if we didn't have this war to distract them. Anyone else with me on this? Cheers and Happy New Years to everyone. J.P.

Yeah I've done it too. And it does depend on their look. I've done some work for homeless shelters in L.A., and some of these people wouldn't get a dime from me based upon their cracked out, drug induced look. ....hey at least when I do drugs I try to look presentable!

Eh. . .no. I had a pitbull in college. She was a really sweet dog and very obedient. . . . .I thinkoccasionally there are bad eggs in every bunch. I think any dog that shows a dangerous mean streak should be dealt with.

Nah! I just do more drugs!

I generally use masking tape slider up. --------------------------------------------------------- How many wraps?

Oops. I didn't even realize I had posted a site name. Sorry about that.

I know it is best to use the tailgate on slider down jumps. What about slider up pack jobs? Should the tailgate be used everytime? Are there situations where it is best to avoid using the tailgate? J.P.

BASE jumping has no more of a negative impact on the environment than hiking or climbing. And people die hiking and climbing. And emergency services have to be utilized to deal with those incidents. So what's the real issue here? ---------------------------------------------------------- I am in full support of making BASE in Yosemite legal. And I agreee with what you said; in fact climbing has much more of an impact on the environment than BASE. If you have ever done a wall in Yosemite, you'll know that some of the belays smell like latrines, and the base of the walls. . . . .huh! Lets just say there is more than enough garbage to make it unsightly. But as a fair and balanced person, I can understand why the NPS doesn't want parachutes popping off EL Cap on a busy summer day. There is a traffic problem in the park, and let's face it, your everyday day Joe is naturally pretty shocked when they see someone parachuting off of a Yosemite wall. The area around El Cap meadow can be very congested with pedestrian foot and bike traffic. A distracted driver could cause an accident. But at the very least, NPS could make it legal for BASE during the early morning hours before the heavy traffic begins. Not to mention making it legal to jump other sites in the valley, where spectators aren't an issue. The bottom line is that the NPS hasn't done a very good at being fair and balanced in the design of their laws, let alone the enforcement of these laws. It will be very interesting to watch happens in light of the "behind the scenes" issues that 428 mentioned. Cheers, Bigwall

A little story about NPS Park Rangers. They are poorly trained when it comes to law enforcement. I was on a climbing trip about 5 years ago. My cronies and I had been in the park less than 30 minutes when we got hassled. We had been drinking, but none of us was legally drunk. They hauled us off anyhow. They also found a bag of mushrooms and some dope in my buddies car. Okay here's why I think the rangers are idiots; 2 days later after we got out of jail and the court hearing was done, we went to the impound yard to get my buddies car, and there on the front seat was the shrooms and dope!! And yes, we stayed, we climbed, and we shroomed!!! Cheers, J.P.

It's actually pretty easy to explain to experienced climbers. "You know the difference between leading and free soloing? Well..." ---------------------------------------------------------- . . . . .Yep. That pretty much sums it up!! J.P.

I have met a surprisingly large number of newish BASE jumpers who don't understand. And a disturbing number of BASE "instructors" who don't discuss the risk level at all with their "students". --------------------------------------------------------- Yeah Amen to that Tom. I think there's alot truth in this statment. BASE instructors need to emphasize and re-emphasize that this is not skydiving. As a newcomer to BASE, reading posts in the BASE ZONE and chattin' with people at DZ has really helped me understand that going from skydiving to BASE is like taking a quantum leap in terms of safety, required training, & progression. When it comes to clearly explaining this to my whuffo family and friends I really struggle at doing a good job of trying to justify my actions to them. J.P.

Reply to Jay Epstein Ramirez: "It's not that it "can" be a dangerous sport......the reality of it is that there are not many sports that compare ..... name one that you go to funerals on a regular basis. Or better yet in your other sports..... how many "other" sport friends do you have that are crippled????" ---------------------------------------------------------- I agree with everything you have said Jay. But I feel there are quite a few really dangerous sports out there that are on the same level as BASE, as opposed to just a few. I'm not going to name them all. One I feel that deserves some credit is hard Alpine climbing on big mountains. And no, I'm not talking about some yahoo that climbs El Cap or walks his way up the trade route on McKinley. I'm talking about extremely steep Alpines walls that are covered in rock/ice, where the climb is done in 1 push, ground up with minimal equipment, or even solo without a rope. Like BASE, there are a limited number of individuals in the world that are capable of climbing such things. Alot of very experienced climbers die every year trying Alpine style ascents of big technical mountains in the Himalaya, Canadian Rockies, etc. And most of them at one time or another in their career get confident to the point where they become naive. I guess that is what we commonly refer to as complacency. I would say that most fatalities in these sports happen for the same reasons you emphasized. . . . .naive people that have not taken the time to truly evaluate the degree of risk involved. . . .on a given day! In some cases these naive people happen to have alot of experience! ----------------------------------------------------------- "When I got up to go snowbaording yesterday(18 " fresh) I didn't take a med kit, I didn't alert my friends as to look for me if I don't check in, and I seriously doubt that with over 1000 ski days, I was going to get killed or even hurt. Even with a 1000 jumps...... anything can happen on any jump." ---------------------------------------------------------- I think this is a good statement, and really captures the very thing separates BASE from other sports. I also think that this relates to why basehoundsam's girlfriend is having trouble rationalizing the risks associated with BASE. Snowboarding/Skiing is not nearly as dependent on the functionality of gear, as is BASE jumping. I mean yeah, to some extent maybe if you were charging a really big and fast line up in Alaska. . .okay gear is important in that situation. But for the most part, let's face it BASE not only requires flying skills, but also gear thats going to work no matter what. I think it is this concept that makes it so difficult for our families and friends to relate to BASE jumping. Cheers, bigwall

Using a shitty harness is always a bad idea. I have a "Cadillac" by Misty Mountain Hardware. Very comfortable. Cheers, J.P.

I disagree, I never grab butts, I grab other things... -------------------------------------------------------- Yeah we know you're story lady! You're the one who hasn't gotten any in over year!! J.P.

Oh great so now we have 2 SoCal JPs and a NorCal JP. As if this shit wasn't confusing enough! ---------------------------------------------------------- Oh Jesus'd!! Stop whining!! How hard can it be? Everyone knows that I'm much better looking than other socal J.P.!! J.P.

Don't be such a prude!

Alright fine I'm a little out of loop these days! But that's only because the threads on here got so boring for awhile that I was happily shocked to find something I relate to. Debauchery and strip clubs to name just a few! Maybe I should rename this thread "10 reasons why Cleveland is a total s&*$hole!"

God Bless the Chaoskitty! Butt wiping with sand paper is a much better option than spending time in Cleveland! . . . .you get an honorable mention in my "Ms. DZ.COM 2004" thread!

Would abortion clinic be out of line here?

Alright let's here it. . . . Who do you vote for and why? My vote is Girlfalldown!!!! 1)She's an advocate for totally nude strip clubs 2) She started an official thread for flashing truck drivers 3) Debauchery, and drunken tomfoolery seemed to be re-occuring themes!! Cheers, J.P.

It's true! In fact this could inspire an entirely new thread. "Top reasons why Girlfalldown is Ms. DZ.COM 2004" J.P.

I can honestly say. . . . I feel for you girl. Cleveland sucks! Especially this time of year. Hell I like El Paso more than Cleveland. What does that tell you? Cheers, J.P.

First of all, it's official I'm in love! I love Girlfalldown's posts. . . . .they make all of the rest of you DZ.commers boring and pathetic!! Anyways, I absolutely agree with everything you said. All strip clubs should serve alcohol and be totally nude. Afterall, my 2nd favorite thing to do when I'm drunk is be surrounded by naked women!!! Cheers, J.P.

A Year!!!! Jesus. Suddenly I feel much better! Late October for me. Cheers, J.P.