peacefuljeffrey

Doesn't really matter what we know about the article's writer, or the study. The democrats are claiming that the "assault weapon ban" reduced firearm-related crimes, even though we KNOW for a FACT that it had nothing to do with how a firearm operated, or what ammunition it fired; it had only to do with cosmetic features altogether unrelated to the firing of bullets. Tell me, Quade, what do we need to know about Seper or the study in order to draw our own conclusion that claims that the ban affected gun violence are just so much bullshit? Or do you still believe that lack of a flash suppressor or bayonet lug make a gun safer? Do you also believe that the guns sold legally minus those features were not available (at even lower prices!) to criminals who wanted to continue to use "assault-style weapons" in their crimes? So I don't care if I can't un-spin the article (if indeed it is spun to begin with -- which we don't yet know). I know all I need to know to logically dispel the myth that the AWB is responsible for any drop in crime, or any increase in safety for American society. It just is not logically credible. - -Jeffrey "With tha thoughts of a militant mind... Hard line, hard line after hard line!"

I forgot to add the fact that as "arrogant" as we are supposed to be, we remain incredibly hospitable to people from nations all over the world to come and live and work here, and make their fortunes and become better, more educated, more happy people. The typical American may not focus much on the victories of athletes from Botswana in the Olympics (do the Botswanans cheer the Americans?) but that does not mean that the typical American will spit at a Botswanan if he is riding the bus through a typical American town. Many of us are warm and welcoming to people from all cultures and countries. We throw our doors open wide and welcome everyone, and still we take shit from people who hate us because of their own blindness to our goodness. Erroll mentioned that three of the South Africans Olympians are on U.S. scholarships. So, a free education in the U.S., and we're still arrogant elitists, right? Maybe we should be flattered by the fact that everyone holds us to a higher standard than the rest of the world. I suppose that in France, they cheer just as much for the Olympians from other countries as they do for their own? Suuuure. - -Jeffrey "With tha thoughts of a militant mind... Hard line, hard line after hard line!"

So when people like you chuckle at Americans losing, because you claim we're arrogant, does that second wrong make it right? I mean, we're talking about the perception that the rest of the world rejoices when America takes a hit, and then you go and essentially say "Yeah, we do," and act like it's noble or something? Just what justifies acting so spitefully? The fact that you think we're spiteful of the rest of the world? If America is condenscending toward other countries, maybe it's because we witness the atrocities that go on in those cultures: things like sentencing young girls to gang rape because of some perceived slight to the male member of another family; female genital mutilation; throwing acid in the face of a woman who spurns a man's advances; how about the Congolese massacre of 160 men, women and children using machetes and automatic weapons? (Can you imagine what it must be like to be murdered with a machete?! I sure as hell can't.) Maybe we have pride in the fact that we have a 228 year history of defending individual liberty and guaranteed safety from oppressive government. Maybe we find it hard to understand loving a homeland that is ruled by warlords who steal humanitarian aid and horde it for themselves and their murderous minions. Maybe we're proud that our country is not besieged by paramilitary forces who kidnap and murder in order to terrorize, and to fund coups. Maybe we are proud of the fact that AIDS does not infect 25-50% of our adult population; or that our population does not superstitiously believe that having sex with a virgin will rid us of the AIDS virus (as I have read goes on in some African nations). I have to admit that it is hard to be humble when you're as damned good as we are. What country just had the first private manned vehicle go into space? But if you're going to fault us for displaying a little well earned arrogance, don't go claiming you're holier than though if you're going to admit to gloating when we fail. It makes you as bad as you claim we are. - -Jeffrey "With tha thoughts of a militant mind... Hard line, hard line after hard line!"

Did you go to the Michael Moore School of Editing? - -Jeffrey "With tha thoughts of a militant mind... Hard line, hard line after hard line!"

If his passport is so stamped it is thick as a book, most likely (I could be wrong though) he has not spend much time in any of those places. Maybe that's because it quickly became apparent that being in those places sucked compared to being in America. - -Jeffrey "With tha thoughts of a militant mind... Hard line, hard line after hard line!"

Learn to make hemp necklaces. Order a bunch of closing pins. Get some very tiny split rings (like keyrings) from a craft store. Put the closing pins onto the split rings and make closing pin necklaces for selling to skydivers. (Skydivers will buy anything, trust me!) Even if you don't bother making closing pin necklaces for sale, knot tying is great relaxing activity. I suggest you buy a book called The Complete Book of Decorative Knots by Geoffrey Budworth. It has a lot of really cool knots with very understandable diagrams. It's very satisfying to tie a nice Turk's Head or Monkey's Fist. (Yes, the same Monkey's Fist that is used to make pilot chute handles! I personally made the one that's on my rig.) Budworth is certainly not the only guy who's written knot books, but he's one of the best. He is a founding member of the International Guild of Knot Tyers. You can't go wrong with any of his books, but the one I mentioned is very good for learning the knots used to make necklaces and such. Even if he spells his name wrong. Blue skies, - -Jeffrey "With tha thoughts of a militant mind... Hard line, hard line after hard line!"

I've thought about the question, "How would a whuffo manage in freefall with zero training?" I think that because a whuffo would have no ability to stabilize the freefall, everything after that would be jeopardized. I remember that on one of my earliest skydives, I was potato-chipping and was reluctant to deploy until I had settled, and by that time, my instructor, Dave Cole, had already docked with me (to my utter surprise) and just as I was reaching, oblivious to his proximity, he was deploying me! The whole reason I was late in reaching was because I was still rocking around on my belly. I can easily imagine a whuffo flailing away, constantly changing attitude, if not flipping end over end the whole freefall. What kind of deployment would they have if they were flipping all over the place, totally out of control? Because I am very doubtful that they would, during a 45-60 second freefall, somehow figure out how to fly their body even if only on their belly, and manage to get enough control to have a stable deployment. And if they are flailing and flipping, I can't imagine them having a successful reach for the pilot chute. Whether they pull a silver ring or a pillow or what have you is dependent on whether the example is of a whuffo who has been briefed on gear but never trained in a skydive, or a whuffo who is simply handed a rig and told, "Go jump it." I am reminded of two news stories I have read in the last year or so. Both involved "suicide by Cessna," in which the suicidee exited a small airplane without a parachute and died after impacting the turf. One guy was here in Florida, actually. He had been a pilot in the past; he had undergone ear surgery, he told a new instructor, and asked to be taken to 9,000 feet to see how his ears would handle pressure changes. He asked for a steep turn to be performed, and during the turn, he opened the door and jumped. I read that after being a skydiver, and thought that there is little chance this guy got to enjoy or even experience much about the last minute of his life. I imagine that as soon as he hit terminal he was probably shocked by the fact that he couldn't maintain a stable orientation. Does anybody believe that he would be able to intuitively figure out how, unassisted? Flailing to their death, that's how I imagine whuffos going down. Put a parachute on them, and I think they're unlikely to get it deployed. I can't speak from much knowledge as to whether a CYPRES-fired reserve would have a clean and proper deployment for a totally flailing, or limp, whuffo (but I guess they work for limp unconscious skydivers, so perhaps it's likely to get a good canopy out even if flailing). Landing would be the best chance for major problems even if the freefall had gone well, because few whuffos would know anything about flaring, and if they did know, would know little about when to do so. How many would think about wind direction and landing upwind? Blue skies, - -Jeffrey "With tha thoughts of a militant mind... Hard line, hard line after hard line!"

I'm not allowed to download ANY software to this machine, that's why. I'm stuck being able to watch ONLY what's able to run on Mac's stupidass Quicktime. - -Jeffrey "With tha thoughts of a militant mind... Hard line, hard line after hard line!"

I watched a guy at Sebastian do a barrel roll exit on a hop-n-pop at 5,000, and since I had never seen it before, it looked COOOOOL!! He also didn't open until what seemed really low, to me... He definitely delayed about 10 seconds. I was actually getting concerned until I saw him pop. I haven't done a whole lot of different exits yet, with only 100 jumps so far. I've done three-forward-loops, which is fun. I've dove, and forward poised (big arch type), a few Horny Gorillas, and so far, my favorite, the Sit exit (both backward and forward). I like the sit because it's really interesting to already be in a sit-fly right away, and simply feel the relative wind shift direction.

Yep. If Kerry wins, you can PUKE into it. - -Jeffrey "With tha thoughts of a militant mind... Hard line, hard line after hard line!"

I just looked and voted: skydiving is LEADING with a plurality 28% -- five percent higher than the next leading choice! BTW, motocross would be stupid to add to the Olympics. For one thing, it's already in the X-Games -- which kick the shit out of the Olympics anyway -- and for another, it's not really "athletic" in the same sense as gymnastics, skating, snowboarding, skiing, boxing, etc. It's on a fucking motorized vehicle for chrissakes! The Olympics is realizing (slooooowly) that their events are outdated and boring. Besides which, the huge moneymaking machine that is the Olympics is so fraught with corruption and greed that it sickens me to even think about watching it. And what's with all the piece of shit CHEATERS trying to get in while using steroids and banned stimulants?! Is this the character and moral fiber of "world class athletes" -- "win at all costs, even if you have to cheat to do it"? I guess advertising contracts mean more to these people than self-esteem does. I spit on them and the Olympics. I hope skydiving does NOT get added to the Olympics, now that I think about it, and I'm sorry I added a vote for it. That would just cheapen and sully skydiving. - -Jeffrey "With tha thoughts of a militant mind... Hard line, hard line after hard line!"

WTF?! Just because I'm stuck using a piece of shit MAC at work, that means I can't watch the videos on that site? How motherfuckin' LAAAAME! I HATE sites that either don't put up both formats, and I HATE using a fucking piece of shit MAC. - -Jeffrey "With tha thoughts of a militant mind... Hard line, hard line after hard line!"

Man, I'm not the most sensitive fucker in the world, but I can't believe I'm the first person here to post about my SADNESS that this little boy DIED. Who gives a shit about the movie or the price of popcorn. I can't believe how you're trivializing the DEATH OF THE BOY. Rest in peace, kid. - -Jeffrey "With tha thoughts of a militant mind... Hard line, hard line after hard line!"

My brother, nine years my senior, used to take me to scary movies all the time when I was in single-digit ages. I saw Phantasm at 8 years old, and The Changeling sometime around then also. Both terrified me and gave me the creeps for a lonnnng time. And I LOVED it.

I'll bet he did not. I'll bet that if he did break his leg, it was while landing his canopy. - -Jeffrey "With tha thoughts of a militant mind... Hard line, hard line after hard line!"

omg someone pass the defibrillator! Jeffrey,i agree 100% See?! You don't have to always be wrong!! Blue skies, - -Jeffrey "With tha thoughts of a militant mind... Hard line, hard line after hard line!"

What can I say? I'm one of few posters on at this hour; there were a lot of posts to respond to by the time I got to this thread; and most of the stories read like absolute bullshit. Not my fault. I'm sorry if my skepticism threatens your believing in any way... but if you're certain that your little ghost stories are true, then my poking at their frailties shouldn't matter worth a whit to a true believer, right? Now, anyone ever seen a GREMLIN while flying? Blue skies, - -Jeffrey "With tha thoughts of a militant mind... Hard line, hard line after hard line!"

And people think I'm being extreme when I say that I really feel that people responsible for computer sabotage, fraud, hacking and unauthorized access should be executed. These scumbags are totally screwing up a miraculous thing (the Internet) for their own egos and/or profit greediness. If we don't put a stern price on such behavior, we will eventually have to SCRAP using the Internet because it is so incredibly vulnerable on all sides. - -Jeffrey "With tha thoughts of a militant mind... Hard line, hard line after hard line!"

To each his own. But if Princeton has PEAR, Stanford has SRI, and Duke Uni had the Rhine Institute they're curious about something. Not to mention that many Professors from world class colleges are memeber of the Society for Scientific Exploration. Then again what do a bunch of Phds know. Umm... All these big brains involved in the search for the paranormal. You use them as evidence for the existence of the paranormal. Why don't any of them have anything definitively, objectively proving the existence of ghosts, spirits, vampires, bigfoot, aliens, or any other heebie-jeebie? Why has no one claimed James Randi's offer of $1,000,000 if he can't disprove their claim of psychic powers? In my view, it's all bullshit until someone PROVES it. No one has. - -Jeffrey "With tha thoughts of a militant mind... Hard line, hard line after hard line!"

I have wanted all my life to encounter a ghost, and yet I have not had a single incident in which I feel I did. I wonder why that is. I surely don't think that my "senses" are closed to the possibility, but I don't believe all or most of these "stories." I think most of them are the result of imagination mixed with fear, and then connected with coincidence. - -Jeffrey "With tha thoughts of a militant mind... Hard line, hard line after hard line!"

The freaky part is that anyone claims to know what the two girls were trying to see or do if they both turned up dead. - -Jeffrey "With tha thoughts of a militant mind... Hard line, hard line after hard line!"

That's creepy! Was the guy wearing a hood or something? What was it about his position that you couldn't see something weird before you were two feet from him, and where was he facing that he had to turn to "face" you (haha, sorry)? This story reminds me of a short horror story I read as a kid called, "The Thing." It was about a traveler walking alone one night and he comes across a woman crying. He comforts her and asks her what's wrong, and she turns to look up at him and her face, as the book describes, "was as smooth and bare as an egg! Then he runs and runs, and finds a sausage vendor (I have no idea who the dude was who wrote this, or when and where... I mean, "sausage vendor?" at the side of a road at night?). He has trouble stammering about his fright, and he finally tells the sausage vendor (?!) what happened, and the vendor says, "Was it anything like THIS?!" and he turns to face the man and he has no face, just like the woman! And then the lantern blows out and the guy is left with the faceless THING alone in the dark! Oooooeeeeee-eeeeeooooooooh! Blue skies, - -Jeffrey "With tha thoughts of a militant mind... Hard line, hard line after hard line!"

Does nobody find it odd that rather than DESTROY the rumored vampires, the Catholic Church put them into coffins, sent them with a bunch of would-be nuns and a sailing crew to the New World, and then put them into an attic for "safe-keeping"? What on earth was the reason for not killing the vampires? And am I wrong in feeling that this story begins with a rational "reason" for the coffins being sent with the girls, and then degenerates into treating the vampire rumors as a truth? Besides, why on earth would rich parents send their girls to a convent in an area that is so dangerous that they have to bring along their own coffins?! Does any of that fit? How or why would vampires drain the blood of a victim through a small slit by the shoulder blade? - -Jeffrey "With tha thoughts of a militant mind... Hard line, hard line after hard line!"

If, after he slowly rolled off the throttle, and came to a stop, the deer jumped right across the nose on his face... had he not slowly rolled off the throttle, and kept going apace, he would have been well past the point in the road where the deer jumped, by the time it did jump. It's unreasonable to assume that if he had kept going, he would have been at that same point even if he had kept up his speed. It sounds like the only reason he had the miss-by-inches is because he slowed down and stopped. - -Jeffrey "With tha thoughts of a militant mind... Hard line, hard line after hard line!"

Does Skydive Chicago operate on its own private airfield or something?? (I'm unfamiliar with the place, but do hope to skydive there some day.) - -Jeffrey "With tha thoughts of a militant mind... Hard line, hard line after hard line!"