peacefuljeffrey

I dropped my dad off at PBI to fly back to NY last week. As we dropped his luggage with the skycaps, I took a glance at the list they had taped down to their counter: all the items that passengers were prohibited from bringing in their carryons. I was amused when I saw Kubotan on there. They are the 5.5" aluminum or wood cylinders used as self-defense keychains. They are prohibited. I made some conversation with a skycap about the irony of prohibiting Kubotans, but allowing walking canes. I specifically asked, "Would they allow someone who walks with a cane to bring it?" (I have also seen specifics of where a cane must be stowed in the cabin, so yes I knew they allow them.) There is a company called "Canemasters" who makes quality wooden canes that can be used as a martial arts weapon. In fact, the crooks of the canes are widened to allow for hooking necks and limbs. Presumably, these are no less allowed than those CVS-type hollow aluminum canes. I asked the skycap, "So all someone has to do is just show up with a cane, maybe fake a little limp, and say they need it to walk, huh?" Yep, was the response. Funny. When you think about it, what can they do? Require you to have a doctor's note excusing you for having a cane? Refuse to let those who need canes have them? So in the end, you can't have a 5.5" piece of blunt aluminum, but you can have a 2 pound shaft of polished oak with a crook on it, which can be used to jab or swing. This is the logic of those who are supposedly protecting us. Now, don't get me wrong, I think we SHOULD be able to bring canes... and Kubotans, and pocketknives. I used to travel with my Spyderco Delica in my pocket. I just read that the TSA, which has been fighting tooth-and-nail to prevent pilots from taking part in the congressionally mandated armed pilots program, has authorized only TWO PERCENT of our pilots to carry firearms on board flights. And the "sky marshal" program that the TSA favors instead has marshals flying on some paltry pathetic percentage of flights. The whole fuckin' thing is a joke. It's why I would sooner drive from FL to NY than take a flight -- and DID, just this month. - -Jeffrey "With tha thoughts of a militant mind... Hard line, hard line after hard line!"

It's not something as simple as a knife or a broken bottle that allows a terrorist to take over an airplane; it's the general attitude, and willingness to comply, of the people on board. I suspect that if we hadn't spent the last decade or so raising a nation of pussies that this wouldn't be a problem. Jim Hear fucking hear!! - -Jeffrey "With tha thoughts of a militant mind... Hard line, hard line after hard line!"

Had Gore taken his OWN HOME STATE of Tennessee, Florida would have been moot as well. I think Gore's failure to do that is very telling. Everyone looks to Florida to "blame" for W winning; why don't they ask Gore what he could have done to convince his own "neighbors" to vote for him? - -Jeffrey "With tha thoughts of a militant mind... Hard line, hard line after hard line!"

Well, the reason we care so much is that if he were to run, we'd finally shut the mouths of those who won't stop their bitter insinuations and allegations that Bush's people somehow stole the election for him the first time, when he got his ass roundly kicked the second time. We'll never get to prove how full of shit they have been all this time. I love the bumper stickers that looked like the genuine campaign ones, but they said, "Sore / Loserman." LOL!! -Jeffrey "With tha thoughts of a militant mind... Hard line, hard line after hard line!"

Uh, no. Money is an abstract concept. You have fewer DOLLARS than your roommate. You have less money. Similarly, you have less time to spend, but fewer hours. Kids, this is why you should stay in school! - -Jeffrey "With tha thoughts of a militant mind... Hard line, hard line after hard line!"

That's what I'm saying. If you're talking about a quantity that can be counted (like cars in a parking lot), you say "FEWER." If you're talking about an amount that can be measured (like a mound of sugar), you say "LESS." It's just correct grammar. - -Jeffrey "With tha thoughts of a militant mind... Hard line, hard line after hard line!"

It would have been nice if he could have fucking "accepted it" before dragging the American people through fifty-some-odd days of the nastiest, most venomous dispute and internal strife it has seen since the civil rights era. This was nearly a country of "brother-against-brother," all because this prick had the hubris to not be willing to "accept" his loss until he had it smashed in his face. That's why it's so peculiar that a guy who supposedly wanted it so bad, supposedly had all the "numbers," did not come 'round again to try to win in '04. If it's all true about him "having the numbers," and it's all true about how "the American people" are so fed up with Bush, who's doing such a shit job, it should be a walk in the park to take the next election. And he's not there making the attempt. I am skeptical that someone who gave such a tantrum over losing the first time is not interested in winning again, and I think it suggests he doesn't even believe his own hype about how popular he supposedly was. - -Jeffrey "With tha thoughts of a militant mind... Hard line, hard line after hard line!"

The word ya want is "fewer." And I wouldn't want to live where they make huge legislative decisions that confiscate private property from millions of law-abiding citizens just because of the actions of a single person, or even several people. They had that shooting in Tasmania and they decided it was enough to mean that ALL gun owners had to get screwed and pay for it. That's bullshit, and it's no way to run a country. - -Jeffrey "With tha thoughts of a militant mind... Hard line, hard line after hard line!"

This whole tragedy is hard to read about. I can't imagine the pain that Paul, his family and his friends are going through. Of course, since we're both skydivers, he's a friend I just haven't met yet, and so I feel sympathy and a hope that he gets out of danger and recovers soon. Peace, - -Jeffrey "With tha thoughts of a militant mind... Hard line, hard line after hard line!"

I forgot the guy's name, but out at Clewiston FL last weekend, on a load between the two I was on, a guy flying video for a tandem lost his still and video setup to a hard opening as well -- helmet came off. I'd never been around when something like that happened. They recovered his stuff but I heard it was pretty ruined. I never did get to see it. I felt bad for the tandem passenger. She was scared enough just about doing the skydive. I'm sure she was disappointed that she got herself to do it and then might or might not have been able to have video of it. (I suppose that the video might be good til the impact, and the stills might be good unless the camera case got cracked and exposed the negs.) - -Jeffrey "With tha thoughts of a militant mind... Hard line, hard line after hard line!"

I'm still at the stage that wherever I jump, there's a low-timers' landing area. At SoBe, it was south of the tarmac near the wind sock and wind tee. I jumped for the first time at Clewiston (Air Adventures) last weekend, and was instructed about the location of the "student landing area." I can't remember if I was told to land there, but I think it was expected (I had 78 jumps at the time, and now have 80). I am not too proud to land in the "student landing area" no matter where I jump. Since the fact is that I am a relatively inexperienced skydiver, why should I try to pose as anything else? In time I'll have the jumps and experience to safely land in the "advanced landing areas" wherever I go. In the meantime, I land in the places that are safest for people of my skill level. They tend to be wide and free of obstructions, and they also are low-traffic areas, generally. The fun of my skydive is not based much on where I land, but how I land: safely or unsafely. I simply want to be able to gather my canopy, pack it, and skydive again. If I land 75 yards away in the "advanced" area, it has no effect on how much fun I had in freefall, or on my landing flare. I think that if people are going to get bugged at the antics of others, they may well be justified, BUT, if they are honest about it, they must realize that there is little they can do to change those who will land in all the crazy ways you griped about. They CAN, however, opt to land away from the others in a part of the field that leaves them relatively safe from others' poor judgment or skill or recklessness. So take it for what it is: that is my recommendation to anyone who doesn't want to land where people are hot-dogging or being unobservant and dangerous. Land elsewhere and you'll live to land again. - -Jeffrey "With tha thoughts of a militant mind... Hard line, hard line after hard line!"

Good, I'm not a reckless guy, but it's something I've thought about. I am in no rush to die (I have forever to be dead, right?) but I still am fascinated by the idea of making that transition, and curious about what being dead will be like. I've felt this way a long time. So I'm all about maximizing my human lifetime, but still wonder about its end. I answered, "Yipee! Here we go!" because I hope that I'll be able to be calm and peaceful if I ever am in a situation where I know I'm about to die and cannot change it. I've had numerous dreams (dozens) in which I have died in all different manners. In the best of them, I centered my mind and got all Zen-like and peaceful, and let it come. In many of those dreams, I found myself "conscious" after my body's "death." It was wonderful and soothing and reassuring. When I wake from a death dream, I often feel empowered and full of unstoppable vitality. So I would sure hate to die angry. I would not like to be thinking bad things about anything as I cruise in for my final landing -- not about the parachute manufacturer, or the pilot, or other skydivers, or my technique... I just want peace everlasting, and I would want my final moments to be spent preparing my mind for it. No anger. - -Jeffrey "With tha thoughts of a militant mind... Hard line, hard line after hard line!"

Not really. If you had a career in congress and then presided over it for 8 years, campaigned hard for presidency and lost by getting screwed in the highest court in the land; would you go back for seconds? My point was, he claimed the people really wanted him. HE apparently really wanted to be president -- he fought tooth and nail to have it all decided in his favor. That behavior is at odds with his not running again. Admit it, to go from rabidly pursuing a decision in his favor, to having no interest in running, is an extreme change of heart. If he wanted it so bad, AND Bush has been making such a mess of things, AND if there's any truth to Democrat claims that the American people are tired of Bush and want him out, that should have cleared the way for the guy who supposedly came so close to winning last time to pretty much pick up his supporters right where they left off, add to their strength the support of those disenchanted now with Bush's supposed failures, and win the '04 election. I'm saying that the fact that he is not running is just about an admission that all they were saying in the past about how America wanted Gore as president was just so much inflated chest-pounding. The Supreme Court, as I understand it, did not make a verdict and did not "select" Bush as president. It simply let stand lower court rulings against continuation of recounts in Florida. Florida law was clear about the time allowed for recounts. Deadlines had passed, and people were still clamoring for recounts which were at that point extra-legal. The point is, Gore would supposedly be so popular now that Bush has "screwed up so badly," that it wouldn't be nearly as close as it was last time -- the Supreme Court would never get drawn into it. That is, unless it's all bullshit what the Gore camp says about how he was the guy America wanted. -Jeffrey "With tha thoughts of a militant mind... Hard line, hard line after hard line!"

Knowledge implies awareness of what has already been discovered. Imagination implies being able to conceive that which is not yet known, experienced or envisioned. I'd take imagination any day. But the question is stacked in a weird way. If you "took" imagination, would that mean you'd have to foresake actually "knowing" anything that is known? i.e. give up your knowledge bank in favor of being able to imagine anything that is not already known, but not knowing the things that are already known? - -Jeffrey "With tha thoughts of a militant mind... Hard line, hard line after hard line!"

Aye, I haven't figured out why I would want a ATM card that lets one take money out of my account without having to provide a PIN or show ID. All those VISA ads convinced me to never get one. Only at GAS STATIONS have I ever encountered the ability to use the ATM or CREDIT CARD (works with either kind) without having to enter the PIN. As I said, this was so all the way up the east coast. But go into a supermarket or Target, etc., and you do have to enter the 4 digit PIN. I don' t know why it's different at gas stations, but it is. - -Jeffrey "With tha thoughts of a militant mind... Hard line, hard line after hard line!"

I haven't yet seen it, but read good things about it. It got amazingly little hype for who was in it! I mean, really, a Jim Carrey / Kate Winslet movie that you heard nothing about on t.v. or elsewhere? If you didn't read about it in the paper, you didn't know about it at all, I think. Weird, for a guy who gets like $20 million a movie. - -Jeffrey "With tha thoughts of a militant mind... Hard line, hard line after hard line!"

A big difference exists between a guy who says he doesn't want to run and never has run and a guy who ran, claimed to be the winner, fought in court to be declared the winner, groused for months and years (and his people did, too) about having the election stolen, and then come the next election, "doesn't want to be president anymore." He sure wanted it in late 2000 and early 2001. What happened to his drive, his resolve, and his claims that he'd be a good president? Suddenly he "doesn't want" to be president anymore? "Doesn't want" to run and campaign? HE CLAIMED TO HAVE MISSED BY A NOSE! (Or rather, he claimed to not have missed AT ALL!) Shit, if he HAD been elected, does that mean that by this date he would have long since stopped wanting to be president, and he would have just languished away his final couple of years in office?? The claim of not wanting to run this time kind of diminishes the claim of how bad he wanted it last time. That's all I'm sayin'. - -Jeffrey "With tha thoughts of a militant mind... Hard line, hard line after hard line!"

That would be hard to believe, given the claims of how the presidency was truly won by him and then stolen by Bush and the USSC. And my point about all those claims of having actually won the popular vote, etc. -- what I'm asking is, if that were true, it would mean that he should be an easy win THIS time, so why is he not the guy they Dems propped up to run? It seems to me like a person grousing about how he would have won a marathon pretty easily if someone hadn't deliberately tripped him, making a HUGE big fucking stink about it and complaining for four years, but then declining to run it again to really settle whether he would have won the first time. I mean, he does claim to have been the fastest runner... - -Jeffrey "With tha thoughts of a militant mind... Hard line, hard line after hard line!"

Well, during and since the war, the U.N. and its whining members refused steadfastly to get behind us and make workable solutions happen. They preferred to spite us by refusing to support us, and proved that they were more interested in seeing us fail than they were in helping the Iraqi people. Bunch of petty morons -- is it any wonder that Americans don't give a shit about what the U.N. and Europe says in criticism of America? And if the Iraqi people would sit down and put a damper on their hatred of all things American, they might figure out that if they let us conduct ourselves over there, EVERYTHING about their lives would be better. I guess they must like having bombs go off in their streets, and not have power and running water and stuff like that. Maybe it really is time to pull the fuck out, like I guess the U.N. would love for us to do, and let them die in their own filth, just to show by contrast what they could have had, but rejected. - -Jeffrey "With tha thoughts of a militant mind... Hard line, hard line after hard line!"

Maybe it's a tacit admission by the dems that Gore wasn't really quite the fireball of popularity that they would have had us believe. After all, if he was, they could have started way ahead in this campaign, and all the "Bush stole the election" resentment would have carried a lot of water. Apparently, they realized that Gore is such a loser of a candidate that even with all that advantage he STILL wouldn't win against Bush. Kinda gives lie to everything they said about how he would have made a better president than Bush -- and also to their claims of believing that Gore was the true winner in 2000. I mean, if they believed that, and if Bush truly has screwed up, they'd be running Gore against him again to finally put the "right" man in office. - -Jeffrey "With tha thoughts of a militant mind... Hard line, hard line after hard line!"

This is what bothers me about the claims that just about all democrats made about Gore in the last presidential election: They say that Gore really was the winner, and that he had the majority (or a plurality, at least) of the American people's votes. If it really was SO close -- more particularly if Gore really was the winner -- why then is he not the candidate they are running now?? I mean, if what the left is saying lately is true, Bush has screwed up, misled the country, caused the deaths of our troops, spent the (so-called) "surplus" that Clinton built (what a load of chicanery and bullshit), ruined the economy... SURELY, if all this is true and it is also true that the American people are aware of it, Gore, if he were to be running in this election, would have all of his prior support from those who voted for him, plus the support of more people who have seen how "bad" Bush has been for this country, and now Gore would be a shoo-in: the additional converts would easily put him over the top and now he'd win not only Florida but maybe *gasp* even his home state of Tennessee! So someone tell me why, if Gore really was the "real winner" last time, they didn't just send him through the procedure again this time to actually take the presidency. - -Jeffrey "With tha thoughts of a militant mind... Hard line, hard line after hard line!"

Fair enough Peace.

You should try the air quality in New Delhi! It's so thick I think if you exited a plane there you'll just remain stuck at altitude. Dude!!!! I guess I should buy beer now -- y-you're THE guy whose website this is, right? I've never been addressed by you personally before and it feels like a bona fide honor!

That's why if ya can help it, it's best to learn to be a pilot before you learn to be a skydiver. It's been invaluable to me. All the stuff about flying a landing pattern that is news to a new skydiver is old-hat to a pilot by the time he starts jumping. That much less to have to think about. It makes me really appreciate my dad a lot more, to realize how much I know simply because I had him for a dad...

Wow...you really, REALLY like feet, Jeffrey. My feet are pretty tiny...they fit into a man's hands. I remember having my feet kissed the first time that I ever made love. LOL! Tiny is good.