JDBoston

7 seconds? You must have some very tall antennas in your area. Joe

True, perceptions can differ, but I do try to base mine on what I consider to be reliable evidence, like listening to what he says and reading transcripts of it. I don't really agree with you that a politician needs to be noticeably smart to succeed in politics. A politician needs to be able to raise money and make people feel good. Sadly, they don't need to be able to win fair and open debates, or solve complicated social problems. Sure, they can't be Down's Syndrome-slow, and Bush is certainly smarter than a lot of people, but the Presidency is a tough job, and that's not good enough for me. And actually, he got to be President because the Supreme Court said so, not because he was elected... On Europeans, if you think they're all liberal, read some articles about French politics sometime. Not so. Joe

I think he means he looks over the railing down into their shirts. Am I correct, my brother? Joe

The reason Americans (well, some of them anyway) like Bush, and Europeans don't, is that there's a very strong streak of anti-intellectualism in America that makes a lot of Americans not really mind that the guy in charge of our country isn't very bright. This phenomenon doesn't seem to exist in Europe. So they understandably express dismay that so much power is being thrown around by a President who's inarticulate, not very knowledgeable about other countries, dismissive of complexity and other points of view, and generally shifty. The thing that bugs me the most in discussions about Bush is when people say, "well, he may not be the smartest guy on earth, but at least he's honest and he means what he says." BULLSHIT. I'm not a fan of Clinton either, but anyone who watches Bush in a back-and-forth exchange for more than 5 minutes and can't tell that he's a born liar is just plain blind. The general pattern: 1) factual assertion or question on some issue by other party, 2) emotion-based, essentially substance-less response by Bush. Sample: Q: "you say you're for [x], but didn't you support this bill such-and-such in 19-whatever that did [y]?" A: "I'm a good guy. I support [x]." I have never once heard him give a complete and specific answer to any penetrating question. And I don't care if "well, Clinton didn't either, blah blah blah." We're talking about Bush. Joe

Jesus, man, don't tip them off to it! Sometimes that's the only thing that gets me through the day. Joe

Rhino, I would only agree with that logic if he's already demo'ed it a bunch of times and still doesn't know if he's ready for it. If he hasn't jumped it yet, "lack of confidence" is not the problem. Lack of data is. Part of the reason, I'm sure, why he's asking for opinions here is to figure out whether the experts on the forum think it's too sharp of a jump to make at his experience level (downsizing to whatever wing loading it puts him at, plus going to an elliptical). Asking that question is the right thing for anyone in his situation to do. The next right thing to do, assuming no one knowledgeable says "hell no, you'll f*ing kill yourself under that thing" is for him to demo the canopy. Then he'll have a basis for making a decision... Joe

Come on, dammit, where's your cynicism???? Joe

Without knowing either of you (though it's possible if you jump at Jumptown - don't know from your profile) and taking the chance of sounding like an asshole, my gut feel on this situation is that he isn't interested, but lacks the balls and/or courtesy to tell you. It should be HIS job to pursue you, since he asked you out to begin with. There are numerous other possible explanations of his behavior, but this is the most PROBABLE one IMHO, based on how most guys I know think and function. I would recommend not wasting any more brain cycles on this dude. Joe

I have no problem with the book being thrown at people for doing something like that. All else aside, those dogs are f***'in EXPENSIVE to train. I don't know exactly how much they cost but I think it's at least in the tens of thousands of dollars. Way too much to let some lowlife get away with killing one. The way your post reads it sounds as if these guys were running away from the cops (police chase?). I think the cops should be able to do whatever they want to stop someone who has been trying to outrun them in a car. How many times do you read about some asshole trying to outrun the cops and crashing into a pedestrian or another innocent driver or something? Engaging cops in a car chase should, in my opinion, carry a charge of the same severity as attempted murder. Or first-degree stupidity. They deserve what they get, even after the chase ends. Joe

[ Watching my woman have an orgasm time after time. ] Rhino, you put that in so many of your posts, I think it should just be in your signature. However, I totally agree with. Not about YOUR woman, just about the concept... Joe

Yep, just bought that one for my 4-year old nephew. Joe

Ask him if he would stick his dick in some hooker with AIDS, with no condom, "only once, to see what it's like." He needs to look at things a little more rationally... or you could just stall him for 10-20 more jumps, I'm sure he'll find some way to pound in on a bigger canopy and maybe that'll scare some sense into him. Joe

One thing that would be quicker, cheaper, and more fun than the death penalty for people like this guy is to just put him in gen-pop and put the word out about why he's there. In fact, you could use the same method even for people who are just regular murderers. Put them in with the rest of the reprobates and tell everyone they're a child molester. Joe

I wanted to recycle this thread. Last weekend I was at the DZ and the winds were probably 10-12 mph steady, gusting to 15-20 mph. I made one jump, and as I was touching down at full flare got blown back on my ass (0.86 wing loading, Triathlon). Not very dramatically, just enough to knock me off my feet. That was jump #68. I ended up sitting out the rest of the day, as did some people with more experience than me, while some people with less experience than me were up in the air. I know everyone has their own opinion on what's safe for them, but I'm just curious what the really experienced people on this board think about conditions like that w/my wing loading and experience. My canopy control is fine - stand up fine pretty much every time (except when I get pulled back on my ass, or the first couple jumps getting used to my canopy), no out landings (1 or 2 beer line violations), and now land within 10m of target center the majority of the time. I guess what it came down to for me is that wind is basically the 1 variable in the landing sequence you can't control, and if the winds are funky, there's one link in the accident chain right there. So what's the verdict: the right decision, or unnecessarily cautious? Joe

X is actually one pair of legs rooted on the ground and one in the air. O, well, we can all figure that one out. Joe

It works even better if you just get a rigger to sew your top flap to the closing loop itself. Much more secure that way. Joe

Unfortunately, Western culture and the English language have thus far failed to produce a similarly snappy term for guys to use referring to themselves. If we had one, I'm sure we'd use it with pride... that said, I'm not in the habit of calling girls sluts myself. Joe

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story2&cid=519&ncid=519&e=1&u=/ap/20020916/ap_on_re_us/kidnapped_girl Well, only if the judge upholds it. Joe

That's a valid point. Joe

Yeah, I also like to face up jump run and watch the group(s) after me open. It's really cool seeing people fall by in a track while you're under canopy. Of course they're always AT LEAST a few hundred feet away from me... Joe

But child abuse and screwing an 18 year old are not the same thing. I don't know enough about his writing to say what DEGREE of hypocrisy there was, but I still don't think it's anyone else's business unless there was some other aspect to it that wasn't revealed. More to the point, I don't think it's been clearly established that any harm was done to anyone. If that's not the case, I'd be happy to revisit my opinion. I just don't think it's possible to make the blanket statement that it was unethical, or even equivalent to child abuse, without knowing more of the particulars. Joe

Well, usually in freefall I try to track straight down jump run towards the group that exited before me, cause that way I can open as close to them as possible and I don't have to chase them too far for my impromptu CRW practice (it's more fun if they're not expecting it!). So usually under canopy I'm focusing on trying to snag one of the other canopies on the first pass so I don't have to hook around for a second try. Unfortunately, I don't really have time to look out for other canopies besides the one I'm trying to dock on. I like to keep the stack right over the runway because of the thermals. All that bouncing around is really fun, especially when my legs are hooked through someone's lines. Then typically I'll let the other dude go and try to beat the Otter down to the ground so the pilot has to go around while I drag my canopy off the asphalt. I know he gets a kick out of that - I mean, it would be so dull otherwise, just shuttling group after group of paying passengers with no rest. Hmmm... maybe I was inspired by the Nippleboy posts. That's my humble tribute. Seriously, besides the usual shit like avoiding other people and setting up to land, I like to just hang there for a while with my arms at my sides and the toggles up in the keepers. I find it to be a pretty cool feeling. Joe

There's a difference between conduct that seems immoral to some people and conduct that is criminal. Adultery, for instance, is not a crime. Neither is having consensual sex with a legal adult, no matter how much younger they are. I think it's absolutely ridiculous for some guy to lose his job because he had consensual sex with some girl years and years ago, unless this guy was a screwup or unreliable in other ways and this is just the excuse they used to force him out. The girl must have been of age, otherwise I'm sure they would have mentioned the words "statutory rape," and if there was enough meat to the allegation to get this guy canned, then I'm certain they knew her age and identity. The only victim here is the guy's wife, and hell, maybe she didn't even know about it until somebody decided to drop the dime on him, years after the fact. Either way, I'm sure she's very grateful to that anonymous tipster for letting her dirty laundry out in public. Do we even know that they're "happily married"? Do we know if they're even still together? Joe

It's all pink on the.... you're right. Never mind. Joe

How many climbers we got here? I'm interested in how much crossover there is with skydiving. I'm going to go take a 1-day intro class up in NH in a couple weeks. I don't like heights very much, so I'm looking forward to browbeating myself a bit. I think I'll just hang off the rock and make myself look straight down for as long as I can stand it. Even better, if anyone here climbs in NH and knows anything about IMCS (International Mountain Climbing School) in North Conway, feel free to pipe up or PM me. Joe