pirana

I'd say power has the potential to corrupt. Not all people with power, authority, or other tools of influence abuse them. Depends on their principles. " . . . the lust for power can be just as completely satisfied by suggesting people into loving their servitude as by flogging them and kicking them into obedience." -- Aldous Huxley

That's too bad. Nothing is beyond a good joke. Lighten up, you take yourself and your sexual preference way too seriously. It's sex. It's supposed to be fun, not a political stance. If, in the interest of correctness we are reduced to only telling jokes that are sure not to offend ANYONE IN THE ENTIRE FUCKING WORLD, the only humor we would be left with is the weak shit inside Laffy Taffy wrappers. I personally enjoy the shit out of jokes about white male 50-something guys. Fucking hilarious. " . . . the lust for power can be just as completely satisfied by suggesting people into loving their servitude as by flogging them and kicking them into obedience." -- Aldous Huxley

Are you sure of this? I know very few people who attend church on Sundays. Actually, the number of people engaging in religious practices is decreasing. If it weren't for the population explosion going on in certain very religious places - - it would be dropping like a rock. " . . . the lust for power can be just as completely satisfied by suggesting people into loving their servitude as by flogging them and kicking them into obedience." -- Aldous Huxley

No we don't. There's theories and inferences. Get with the times. Read up on current findings. We have now been able to image other solar systems in all stages of development - including the first visual images of planets. You do not even need to go as far as the very stuffy reading of journals and annals. Just pick up Astronomy magazine, the more current edition the better because we are discovering shit at an amazing pace. 3 or 4 years ago the experts were saying we'd be visualizing exo-planets in another decade or 2. Even the experts underestimate the constantly increasing pace of change. We're probably scant years (maybe months) away from hard confirmation of atmospheres around other planets that could support life as we know it. Imagine the impact to the communal human psyche when we first confirm an Earth like planet. A place with lots of water, similar atmosphere, moderate temperatures, seasons, (and no Starbucks). I hope I get to witness it. Meanwhile we will still have people insisting WE are God's chosen children, the center of the universe, blah, blah, blah. . . . " . . . the lust for power can be just as completely satisfied by suggesting people into loving their servitude as by flogging them and kicking them into obedience." -- Aldous Huxley

Outside of the human thirst for meaning, is there any why? Well, there is a lot of cause and effect. But if you mean intent, or with purpose. No, there is no intent to the natural world outside of human thought (and maybe a few other chordates). " . . . the lust for power can be just as completely satisfied by suggesting people into loving their servitude as by flogging them and kicking them into obedience." -- Aldous Huxley

The difference between science and religion is that one person doesn't decide the "truth." Scientists can and do disagree, and go on to debate, sometimes stooping to childish levels, but it's all about verifiable information. The Church excommunicates. In the older days (as well as certain parts of the world), they imprison and kill the heretics. Yup, in the Good Old Days Hawking would have been crucified. Or maybe they would have just taken away his batteries. " . . . the lust for power can be just as completely satisfied by suggesting people into loving their servitude as by flogging them and kicking them into obedience." -- Aldous Huxley

No God necessary is not the same thing as saying there is no God. In fact, the world and everything in it could have been created by God, and He might have left proof of His deeds, and no God necessary might still be true. Logic, . . . it's not for everybody. If you must drink, don't derive. " . . . the lust for power can be just as completely satisfied by suggesting people into loving their servitude as by flogging them and kicking them into obedience." -- Aldous Huxley

That's not true. Science fits together very well. One of the main criterion for being accepted as a valid scientific theory is that it is self-consistent and fits in with everything else we know to be true. If it fails any of those tests, it gets dumped. Just because you can't explain how science fits it all together doesn't mean that others can't. Stephen Hawking would disagree. So would Albert Einstein. With which part(s)? That science fits together, or the criterion for a valid theory, or that things get dumped, or that just because one human can't figure it out doesn't mean that others can't? Some combination of those, all of the above? " . . . the lust for power can be just as completely satisfied by suggesting people into loving their servitude as by flogging them and kicking them into obedience." -- Aldous Huxley

"Put on a black tobaggan hat and ran into the woods." I can't stop laughing about that. Not sure if it is the meaningless reference or just the visual of the guy bounding into the woods as the solution to his situation. Very funny. " . . . the lust for power can be just as completely satisfied by suggesting people into loving their servitude as by flogging them and kicking them into obedience." -- Aldous Huxley

Strongly advised that you not freefall without a parachute. " . . . the lust for power can be just as completely satisfied by suggesting people into loving their servitude as by flogging them and kicking them into obedience." -- Aldous Huxley

I wouldn't consider an online forum as having cleared you. You very well could be losing it. " . . . the lust for power can be just as completely satisfied by suggesting people into loving their servitude as by flogging them and kicking them into obedience." -- Aldous Huxley

I'm still waiting to hear . . . The Plan " . . . the lust for power can be just as completely satisfied by suggesting people into loving their servitude as by flogging them and kicking them into obedience." -- Aldous Huxley

Spot on. Said it before, say it again - - these are dinosaur companies that were so out of tune they need to be allowed to fail. Smarter people will pick up the pieces and move forward. When they first asked for money it was so painfully obvious that what they were asking for was only the first round. Those loan guarantees will have to be repeated 10 times over before they have any chance of survival. " . . . the lust for power can be just as completely satisfied by suggesting people into loving their servitude as by flogging them and kicking them into obedience." -- Aldous Huxley

Even though they are no longer truly 2X4, they are still measured in INCHES, and are still 16" on center. What is a good reason to change that? (All wiring has been replaced, with cable that came in 100 FOOT rolls. And actually, it was built with true 2X4 studs, then "sheeted" with full one INCH thick rough cut lumber for the sub-floors and outside of outer walls). The only thing I can think of that is metric are the shingles; which is OK since they do not need to fit rafter spacing. So especially with millions of units of housing stock, why change to metric? The runout period for having to keep standard dimension stuff around for repair and modification would be decades, or more like centuries. What would be the driving force to impose something other than 4X8 sheets, 2X4's, and whatnot? Just to be like somebody else? " . . . the lust for power can be just as completely satisfied by suggesting people into loving their servitude as by flogging them and kicking them into obedience." -- Aldous Huxley

Executive Bathroom? " . . . the lust for power can be just as completely satisfied by suggesting people into loving their servitude as by flogging them and kicking them into obedience." -- Aldous Huxley

And how would building trades deal with this? Are all of our material dimensions going to have to change? No more 2X4's, no 4X8 sheets of plywood. If I'm doing repairs on my old farm house will I have to buy metric sized materials and cut them down? Studs will go to half a meter on center? " . . . the lust for power can be just as completely satisfied by suggesting people into loving their servitude as by flogging them and kicking them into obedience." -- Aldous Huxley

OH YEAH, THAT'S EASIER. That would be like saying one-five thousand two hundred eightyeth of a mile instead of sayibg one foot.fiftySo instead of saying foot. " . . . the lust for power can be just as completely satisfied by suggesting people into loving their servitude as by flogging them and kicking them into obedience." -- Aldous Huxley

That's got a kinda cute ring to it; but way more nasty than cute. " . . . the lust for power can be just as completely satisfied by suggesting people into loving their servitude as by flogging them and kicking them into obedience." -- Aldous Huxley

They wanted our blue jeans. That would be brown jeans, maybe tan. Pretty sure that was before they started dying them blue. " . . . the lust for power can be just as completely satisfied by suggesting people into loving their servitude as by flogging them and kicking them into obedience." -- Aldous Huxley

Only thing I have against metric is the naming convention. Very clumsy off the tongue. Way too many redundant syllables. We have nice simple stuff like inch, foot, yard. Metric you have to say millimeter, centimeter, decimeter. You could get rid of the assininely redundant suffix and shorten them up to mill, cent and deck; but the problem is the units for volume (and damn near everything else) use the same root words. I'm not joking; this is a huge cultural barrier that our government never took into account. When I say inch, I don't have to say inchimeter to make sure you know I am talking length instead of volume. When I say cup, I don't have to say cupileter to make sure you know I am talking volume instead of length. That is the problem with metrics. Regardless of how much simpler it makes the lives of mathemeticians and lab technicians; it is pain in the ass terminology to speak for everyday stuff compared to gallon, mile, and acre. That said, simply due to the ever-increasing integration of goods and services; we will eventually complete the switch. " . . . the lust for power can be just as completely satisfied by suggesting people into loving their servitude as by flogging them and kicking them into obedience." -- Aldous Huxley

Exactly. They've got to get the running dog, evil snake, war mongering infidel, hissing cobra, rhetoric warmed up for the new guy in office. Reading anything officially released by Hamas or Hezbolah or any of the fundamentalist Islamic governments is damn near comedic. They are so over the top in their evilness adjectives that they read more like The Onion than a genuine press release. " . . . the lust for power can be just as completely satisfied by suggesting people into loving their servitude as by flogging them and kicking them into obedience." -- Aldous Huxley

I figured you were kidding. Actually, I was afraid I might be on the list and my very fragile sense of self was about to sink even deeper into the depressive muck that is my life. Well, it's frozen muck right now. " . . . the lust for power can be just as completely satisfied by suggesting people into loving their servitude as by flogging them and kicking them into obedience." -- Aldous Huxley

I read a lot on these forums about newer skydivers that need to do everything quickly and loudly, and unfortunately come across them occasionally under incidents when they refuse to heed good advice. Must be a character trait that some people just can't handle the normal pace of anything; even something that is already shitloads of fun and excitement. Dave seems to have this issue. It's not that I think he is a bad person (though that Barak thong around the bonfire was a bit over the top - again with the everybody look at me thing), I just wish he was a bit safer. " . . . the lust for power can be just as completely satisfied by suggesting people into loving their servitude as by flogging them and kicking them into obedience." -- Aldous Huxley

Can I see the rest of the list. " . . . the lust for power can be just as completely satisfied by suggesting people into loving their servitude as by flogging them and kicking them into obedience." -- Aldous Huxley

That's one way of saying it. I would just add that the fact he had to brag it up, to the point of getting caught, tells a lot about the guy. Some people need a lot of external validation, even if it means blazing a prime base site. No way a person with an ego (or alter ego) like Dave can carry a secret like this. Also, I didn't think he was banned; just grounded. It was very near the end of the season, so it might have been for the balance of the summer. I didn't ask but my guess is it was as much a call to slow down and stop doing stupid shit as it was for going so low in front of a large group of whuffos. Again, that need to not just do stuff, but be seen doing it. If SD ever takes up swooping, we might as well take up an immediate pool to defray his inevitable medical/funeral expenses. " . . . the lust for power can be just as completely satisfied by suggesting people into loving their servitude as by flogging them and kicking them into obedience." -- Aldous Huxley