peacefuljeffrey

Arbitrary rules are pointless and indefensible. A REASON behind a rule -- say, for instance, No Baggy Pants because they can easily conceal a weapon -- that can make an otherwise "arbitrary" rule defensible. There is no possible harm that can come of bringing, say, a magazine article about a gun, or a magazine photo of a gun, or a non-firing 1.5" long plastic toy gun, into a school. A rule against such things is not just arbitrary, it is offensive to reason. It is not an adequate defense of such a rule to simply say, "It's arbitrary. That's how rules are." Rules should not exist if they do not serve to perform a function such as enhancing clarity, order, safety, or something along those lines. A rule for the sake of a rule is an abomination. What if they said, for no apparent reason, that everyone who walks into a courthouse had to do so backwards while humming the theme from "Happy Days"? Would you defend it just because "it's the rule," or would you ask why in fuck's sake they felt the need to have such a rule? -Jeffrey -Jeffrey "With tha thoughts of a militant mind... Hard line, hard line after hard line!"

We have every right, at all times, to freely criticize. What are you trying to say? That some people are so above reproach that our first amendment right to speak freely is squelched because of their stature, and our right is void in such circumstances?? That's bizarre thinking. I reserve every right to criticize that woman. She is promulgating a bizarre suspicion and accusation that she has not substantiated and cannot substantiate! It is indefensible to just make an accusation and then clam up when it comes to proving what you claimed is true. The woman deserves all the criticism she gets, and I'll be damned if I'll stop it just because you claim I have "no right at all to criticize." -Jeffrey -Jeffrey "With tha thoughts of a militant mind... Hard line, hard line after hard line!"

As a scientist I hate to see when another scientist makes a statement like that. Where is the evidence? Without some strong evidence this is all horse shit. Exactly. Now who in the scientific or political communities will stand up and say bitch, unless you have some proof instead of some nipshit conspiracy theory, shut the fuck up 'cause you sound like an idiot? A Nobel prize is no excuse to just spout off at the mouth with any ol' idiotic rant, unproven and unsubstantiated. I mean, does her Nobel prize have anything to do with AIDS research? It'd be like someone winning an Academy Award for a documentary film and then running off at the mouth with some drivel about the presidential race or something. Where's the connection? Where's the relevance? -Jeffrey This is true. Just like being born with a silver spoon, being given an oil company to run into the ground and owning a ball team doesn't qualify you to be President of the USA. OMFG what on earth does this have to do with President Bush!!!! How many times have I seen Ron or Anvil or somebody say, "Watch how quickly a liberal takes this and mentions Bush" and I have to say, it is sooooo true. Can't you discuss a single thing without having to drag out that tired subject and bash Bush? It seems ridiculous -- your comment is utterly detached from anything, and seems to do nothing but underscore a pathological-seeming need to make everything into an opportunity to tell us -- again -- how much you loathe and disrespect the man. Really -- why? -Jeffrey -Jeffrey "With tha thoughts of a militant mind... Hard line, hard line after hard line!"

What sound reasoning can there possibly be (honest question) behind objecting to a picture of a gun? I have heard of kids getting thrown out of schools because they had little G.I. Joe plastic accessory guns (an inch and a half long!!!!!). What possible reason can an authority figure give for banning such things? It can't possibly be a functioning gun, nor is a picture of a kid holding a gun able to hurt anyone. They seem to be objecting to IMAGERY. And that's abhorrent, and irrational, and censorship. It's not even censorship that can claim to accomplish some sort of good. -Jeffrey -Jeffrey "With tha thoughts of a militant mind... Hard line, hard line after hard line!"

when the Anti-Gun crowd gets people over here to turn in weapons it is considered "progress" to them. I see people turning in weapons that would be used against our service men and women as progress. You may disagree. So gun rights are OK for Americans but not for Iraqis? Except for isolated instances of crimes, we do not have WAR-ZONE-type violence on our streets, in general. I don't necessarily believe that weapon hand-ins are the way to go in these places. Who is going to hand over their weapons? Certainly not anyone intent on continuing to fight and kill. So what good are they? They're no more functional or useful than signs in stores that say, "No concealed weapons allowed." We all know how much attention robbers pay to those signs. But in a place like Iraq, it is easy to see why taking automatic rifles and rocket-propelled grenades from the general populace might serve a safety-related function; but since we don't conduct ourselves like that in America, we keep our guns because on the whole, we're not acting like psycopaths with them. (And before you cite some anecdotal crime statitistics or examples, I would remind you that with 80,000,000 guns owners and 250,000,000 guns, we don't have anything remotely like a "gun crime wave" going on here. The VAST majority of guns and gun owners are not involved in any criminal violence.) -Jeffrey -Jeffrey "With tha thoughts of a militant mind... Hard line, hard line after hard line!"

You're thinking of Mulholland Falls. Not the same movie. And whatever you do, don't confuse it with "Arlington Road." That was one disturbing movie! -Jeffrey - -Jeffrey "With tha thoughts of a militant mind... Hard line, hard line after hard line!"

Thank you! (Speaker's Corner type rant coming) Who belittles something or someone because they don't understand it? Is it out of fear? Do these people have to feel they have handle on everything in order to feel safe or smart? Nope, sorry. I just think that some moviemakers are either out of touch with an audience, in which case they make a film that just doesn't "reach" the audience, or they are trying desperately to be enigmatic and "offbeat" and they end up making pretentious shyte that no one understands, but many people like to pose as though they understand. To me, a movie does not have to be comprehensible by the lowest common denominator in order to be good -- I watch some "complex" movies now and then -- but when it is impenetrable, I think it's a waste of time. Do you really mean to imply that I must be just dumb or something? Do I write like I'm the kind of dullard who can't understand an "art film"? Ooooh, thread-bleed. You're talking now about what I said about that Nobel laureate who claimed -- but offers no proof or evidence -- that HIV is a biological agent that was deliberately created! You defend people spouting off unsupported nonsense as "new ideas," and scorn anyone who challenges their legitimacy? What if all we ever did was spout off "new ideas" and never analyzed them and challenged them for proof of correctness? We'd be inundated with nonsense, and all of that nonsense would make equal claims of being valid, but most of it would actually not be. How would a bunch of new ideas, each made with a minimum of evidence if any, no matter how crackpot, floating around benefit humankind's understanding of our reality? [replyPersonally, never understood or even was able to follow David Lynch - even Twin Peaks. Just heard about the girl-on-girl in Mulholland Drive. Whoa, the crucial admission at the very end of the post that kicks you back down into the pit with the rest of us proles who don't understand WTF Lynch is getting at! Welcome back! So what is it about his films that you defend as worthwhile -- apart from the sole "value" they have as having been an exercise in freedom of expression? I never challenged free expression. What I challenged was the idea of going on and on (making movies, or unfounded assertions about HIV) but "saying" nothing. I maintain that such drivel does not further mankind's cause. -Jeffrey -Jeffrey "With tha thoughts of a militant mind... Hard line, hard line after hard line!"

Get 'em rusty, off cars in a junkyard. If one is recovered, you don't want your fingerprints on it, and you don't want it looking all freshly-store-bought. I like that plan, though. -Jeffrey -Jeffrey "With tha thoughts of a militant mind... Hard line, hard line after hard line!"

You can get a judgment against someone for what the court finds he "owes" you for your bills, pain, etc. That can be held against his future earnings, to be sure. Sometimes, I've heard, people even get on a payment plan if they aren't good for the entire sum all at once. And yes, in many places drivers are required by law to carry insurance so that they can pay the people whose property and bodies they damage. The law also requires people to not murder people or steal from them -- for all the good that laws do to see to it that people don't actually DO the prohibited things. Laws have no physical power to keep themselves from being broken, now do they. -Jeffrey -Jeffrey "With tha thoughts of a militant mind... Hard line, hard line after hard line!"

A little update, a day later. No, I do not remember the clinkish sound of the 3-ring releasing... and I don't even really remember much of the physical sensation of the moment of cutaway -- my memory of the whole thing really is mostly visual. I can very clearly, in my mind, picture looking down at my green and blue handles and wrapping my fingers around both of them. I remember thinking, "Oh my, I really do have to do this, and I'm about to actually do it!" In the kind of spin I was in, there was not much time between me and the ground. That thing was rocketing downward. Mark mentioned the winds, but I don't think they were quite 10-15... they were more moderate than that. Perhaps 4-7, I think, but I'm no expert judge of it. For some silly reason, after the cutaway, I was looking below me for the main! Hadn't made the realization that it would most likely be floating higher than I was! My reserve is a pristine, beautiful bright green. I had been told what color it was (by a rigger who had repacked it before), but had never seen it. It was funny, looking up at white risers instead of black, and no 3-ring alongside my head! I am fairly certain that there was no lineover during the actual malfunction. It seemed to me to be a straightforward line-twist, but how it got so severe, enough that I hadn't a chance of kicking out of it (least of all at 2,000 feet!) I have no idea. Brakes were still stowed when it was recovered. It did look bow-tied as it came down -- and yes, it was still reasonably inflated during its unmanned descent. It landed just east of the east fence of Sebastian airport, alongside (closed) runway 13/31. Many thanks to Mark, who alone saw the freebag come down, and who is the one who recovered it for me after a search of the grounds.

As a scientist I hate to see when another scientist makes a statement like that. Where is the evidence? Without some strong evidence this is all horse shit. Exactly. Now who in the scientific or political communities will stand up and say bitch, unless you have some proof instead of some nipshit conspiracy theory, shut the fuck up 'cause you sound like an idiot? A Nobel prize is no excuse to just spout off at the mouth with any ol' idiotic rant, unproven and unsubstantiated. I mean, does her Nobel prize have anything to do with AIDS research? It'd be like someone winning an Academy Award for a documentary film and then running off at the mouth with some drivel about the presidential race or something. Where's the connection? Where's the relevance? -Jeffrey -Jeffrey "With tha thoughts of a militant mind... Hard line, hard line after hard line!"

Just because she won a prize for planting a bunch of trees, doesn't mean she knows what she's talking about when it comes to medical topics. Actually, she sounds rather like an idiot, to me. According to things I've read -- like how in some parts of Africa, it is believed that a man having sex with a virgin will rid him of the HIV infection -- it's no fucking wonder "us black people are dying" at such a rate from AIDS. IGNORANCE drive that death rate -- nothing more. We are talking about a place where they wouldn't accept vaccines (what was that for, malaria or something) because they had come to suspect that the vaccine was a ruse to infect the population instead of protect it. If people were not so afraid of being politically incorrect and just walking right the fuck up to a backwards culture and TELLING it: "Look you are causing your own fucking problems with superstition, willful ignorance and bullshit shamanism instead of actual learning," then maybe some progress at saving lives over there could be made. No one wants to insult a culture these days, even if that culture is so butt-fucked backward that it is causing its own problems that could easily be resolved with education. -Jeffrey -Jeffrey "With tha thoughts of a militant mind... Hard line, hard line after hard line!"

How's this work, again? Anyway, no sex; 4 skydives (5 openings) I owe beer for my first reserve ride, on my last of the four jumps today. -Jeffrey -Jeffrey "With tha thoughts of a militant mind... Hard line, hard line after hard line!"

That's Clark, nice. I'm gonna miss that dude. Seemed like one of the true good people in hollywood. Embodied ideals, at least through one particular character, that we all can be proud of. Blue skies, Chris. -Jeffrey -Jeffrey "With tha thoughts of a militant mind... Hard line, hard line after hard line!"

Yep, beer is owed! I had my first cutaway mal up at Sebastian on Sunday. Strange, I know, but my moderately loaded Lotus 170 ended up with major unrecoverable line twist, flung me into a steep spiral dive, and I chopped at 2,000 after an initial deployment at 4,000. Freaky strange and cool, all at the same time. Looking back, it's a sorta fun memory. I have a flashbulb image of both handles in my hands (yep, kept them, too!) and the feeling that Hey, they DID work right! Friends managed to help me recover both the main and the freebag (from the ground, mind you), too! All in all, a growth experience; one that I wouldn't mind if I didn't have to ever repeat, but it's an exhilarating thing to make it through unscathed! Now that it's safely just a memory, I wouldn't trade it. Maybe I'll have that "different" look now. Blue skies, -Jeffrey -Jeffrey "With tha thoughts of a militant mind... Hard line, hard line after hard line!"

I have trouble reconciling using the term "genius" to describe a man whose films are typically inscrutable, dense, impenetrable, and probably only truly make "sense" to their creator. No, "genius" is a term that should be reserved for people who can actually get their meaning across to their audience. Is a teacher a good teacher if he knows his subject like no one else does, but constantly confuses his class and does not get them to understand the lessons? -Jeffrey -Jeffrey "With tha thoughts of a militant mind... Hard line, hard line after hard line!"

Hated it. Stupid, confusing, meaningless. I was upset that I had wasted my time. Incredibly, good things had been said about it -- or so I think I had heard. I can't imagine liking that movie. Boring, slow, confusing, slow, dull, and did I mention incredibly slow? -Jeffrey -Jeffrey "With tha thoughts of a militant mind... Hard line, hard line after hard line!"

Dude, a country like that -- where no one is free because the state is supreme -- ain't worth defending. When protecting the people so that they can live becomes more important than the premise of living free despite the risks that freedom entails, then you have it backward and need to start over. -Jeffrey -Jeffrey "With tha thoughts of a militant mind... Hard line, hard line after hard line!"

I disagree. But hey...everyone has an opinion. Dude, are you fucking kidding me? It was said that "increased security" is no justification for trampling the People's inalienable rights, and you said, "I disagree," which means you feel that "inalienable rights" are not inalienable, and can be infringed upon if the goal is noble. That's scary. What's worse is I hear more and more people claiming this same sick belief. -Jeffrey -Jeffrey "With tha thoughts of a militant mind... Hard line, hard line after hard line!"

If being a wealthy and powerful nation that has freedom of religion and speech pisses off some neighbors, fuck 'em. Someone will be mad at us no matter what we do. No joke. Some people don't realize that, or won't accept it even though it's reality, and they insist that we contort what we do and who we are in order to try to placate a bunch of people who hate us and will hate us no matter what. -Jeffrey -Jeffrey "With tha thoughts of a militant mind... Hard line, hard line after hard line!"

Folks, before we get too absorbed in the puerile oversimplification about people graduating last in a class, let's also remember that there are standards for graduating period, and we can hope and expect that if people don't meet some minimum standards, they don't graduate at all. The implication that someone at the bottom of a class that is held to high standards in the first place is somehow going to be incompetent or something is specious on its face. -Jeffrey -Jeffrey "With tha thoughts of a militant mind... Hard line, hard line after hard line!"

I imagine I don't know much about it besides a synopsis, but I tend to dislike stuff like that. I prefer to live with risk rather than sacrifice privacy to those who promise to keep me safe but who generally fail every time despite what we give up to them. This type of thing essentially means that we live under constant suspicion, and nothing we do is actually in confidence and privacy. That is anathema to me, and should be to anyone who claims to love freedom. -Jeffrey -Jeffrey "With tha thoughts of a militant mind... Hard line, hard line after hard line!"

Okay... just as long as the imaginary friend didn't make any videotapes that she left around... -Jeffrey -Jeffrey "With tha thoughts of a militant mind... Hard line, hard line after hard line!"

C'mon, c'mon!!! Ok, here's another... (Antonio Banderas back to Johnny Depp) "...So, you want me to kill the cook?" "No, I'll kill the cook, I'm parked out back anyways." "Once Upon a Time in Mexico" (which, by the way, I thought SUCKED!) New quote: "Ever use one of these before?" "Just 'cause I'm a schoolteacher don't make me a pussy." -Jeffrey -Jeffrey "With tha thoughts of a militant mind... Hard line, hard line after hard line!"

Just to throw a curve into this interesting thread, maybe the 2 guys practise a religion that condemns masturbation? Most religions condemn murder. Have there never been murders committed by people who claim to be Christians, Muslims, Jews...? My point is, even if they were, that proves nothing. -Jeffrey -Jeffrey "With tha thoughts of a militant mind... Hard line, hard line after hard line!"