JDBoston

26

Not everything in the news is warm and fuzzy, to be sure, but I think the major national and local outlets do generally avoid challenging our confidence in our leadership, laws, and foreign policy, which theoretically is a very important function of a free press. So maybe my last post put the emphasis in the wrong place. But in response to the statement that the government can't control reporters' access to information.... think again, my friend. A large portion of a reporter's success in getting good dirt for a breaking or even thoroughly-researched story depends on their sources within various levels of government and how cooperative those sources want to be. If that weren't true, we wouldn't need reporters, and we wouldn't need more than one news outlet. Joe

Part of each, I suppose. The thing I really hate (same as your last sentence) is that 99% of the people in the country seem to base their entire worldview on the morning paper and the evening news. It never occurs to them that there's anything else. Reminds me of a certain Aldous Huxley novel... Joe

Like it or not, it comes down to the free market system. The news outlets naturally act in their own best interests, and for the large, public, profit-driven news outlets, that means: 1) Appealing to the lowest common denominator in the audience, and not showing them stuff that's going to make them uncomfortable or guilty or make them stop watching the news. There's no sinister conspiracy at the top levels of new stations to feed people mindless crap. They do that because mindless crap is what the majority of Americans, voting with their dollars and their eyeballs, want to see. They don't want to hear about their responsibility to help people or how bad off everyone outside their little world may be. 2) Not biting the hand that feeds them, in the sense of pissing off government officials and other people who allow them access (and even tip them off) to newsworthy events and information. This is where the rich and powerful can play a role in what gets shown and reported on. The usual practice seems to be to affiliate yourself (for funding and support purposes) with one ideological segment of the rich and powerful, then feel free to slam a few people on the other side, thus satisfying the average Joe's desire to see some rich folks revealed to be scumbags once in a while, while not endangering your funding by pissing off ALL the rich folks. SO... I don't think current events news is ever going to be particularly controversial as long as it's being run by a large, for-profit business. The more analytical and thoughtful news sources, like some of the smaller-circulation magazines out there, are intentionally appealing to a smaller segment of the population, don't have to show ever-increasing revenues and profits, and are more likely to reveal the occasionally embarrassing and uncomfortable truth about a lot of things. The problem is, most people in this country honestly don't give a shit what the truth is. Joe

Doesn't make it that much better, but: http://www.truthorfiction.com/rumors/jackson-reynolds.htm Joe

Both good points. Injuries obviously aren't something you have any control over. And I don't think it means that someone loves the sport less if they stop for whatever reason they have, it's just that I can see there being a kind of categorical distinction between people who do it for even a very long while, but maybe not super long (tourists, per Kate's definition) and people who never stop. I don't know that any specific term was ever put forward for the latter category, and I would agree that everyone who skydives is a "skydiver," but I know that in my own life I have things that I LIKE to do and things that I can't NOT do. Given perfect conditions, and time, and money, maybe no one outside my own head could tell the difference between them right now. But in 10 or 20 years, someone who looks at what I do then, and what I did when I was 26, will probably be able to make a fairly accurate pronouncement on which is which. It's kind of a hair-splitting, philosophical subject, and certainly implies no disrespect, in my opinion, to people who give a lot to the sport but cannot continue in it for whatever reason. Joe

It's true, it's true. I do want to clarify, though, that I think I understand what Kate is saying and, though I lack the time/experience to really know, my instinct is that she's right. If some activity is really a part of someone's makeup, a part of who they are, then they won't be ABLE to stop doing it. They'll simply make sure (consciously or unconsciously) that they never make choices that start them on the road to totally giving it up. I can see that in many of my friends who are passionate about one thing or another. No matter what, they always make a bit of time for it, and I suspect they always will. I questioned my own true motivation at many points during my first 20-30 jumps, and occasionally I still do. I think having something to prove was part of it initially, as was the fact that jumping just seemed intriguing. Fortunately, the more I do it, the more I'm convinced that I do it just because I enjoy the activity and I enjoy the people and the atmosphere, but I don't think I will have really proven that to myself until I've spent a substantial amount of time in the sport. Anyway, I think I'm going to go hit on some non-skydiving law school girls tonight. Joe

My view on this thread's current subject (when does a skydiver become a "real" skydiver) is pretty much "who cares." Everyone has their own idea of at what point their efforts have entitled them to claim the "glory" of being a skydiver, and that's fine with me. I do, though, have a VERY big problem with someone doing 1 jump and trying to pass themselves off to adoring whuffos as a skydiver (while sober). I think that's pathetic, in a very NON-subjective way, and disrespectful to all the people who have fed a great deal of money, time, and courage into the student process and emerged on the other side. There are plenty of acquaintances of mine who have made 1 or 2 tandems at some point in their life, and I never even knew that until I started getting into skydiving and talking about it with people. They didn't hide it, but they hadn't been broadcasting it either, and I think that's the mature and CORRECT approach for anyone who's so far just dipped their toe into something, under very controlled conditions. No offense to any ASPIRING skydivers we have here - I know you guys will forge ahead! I know it's a common joke that skydivers can't stop telling people they skydive, and I've done that myself plenty of times in very un-subtle and self-serving ways, typically in the course of trying to get some ass. But I console myself with the fact that I've always been scrupulously honest about my experience level (not that any of the slags I was trying to impress knew the difference anyway!), and I didn't wear any skydiving shit until I got my license. Or at least until I finished AFF, whatever, I don't really remember. And by the way, I have no illusions of being any kind of authority on any aspect of skydiving just because I have a license. I'm just a raw beginner and I will be for years to come. But to the extent that skydiver means "someone who skydives," I am definitely a skydiver, and since I've done a little bit more than roll out of bed one morning and come home with a video and a certificate, I personally feel like I have earned the right to use that word. Joe

I jump a pull-out and I like it just fine. IMHO, the amount of force you generate pulling the pin manually vs. a pilot chute pulling it is just not very relevant. I have a hard time imagining a situation where the bridle is clear all the way from the pud to the pin, not hung up on anything, you have a firm grasp on the pud, and you just can't pull the pin because you can't put enough power into it. If that's the case, I doubt you could extract a pilot chute from a BOC pouch either. The possibility of a floating pud total is definitely there, but depending on the design of your rig (re: position of the flaps and routing of the bridle), you may be able to fix it easily without even having to get your hands on the pud again. I know because I had that specific "malfunction" on my 2nd jump on my rig. I was wearing leather gloves for the cold, and I dropped the pud right after getting it unseated. I groped around for about 4 seconds and then went silver, but on the ground, one of the other guys who jumps a pull-out showed me the two places I should be able to locate the bridle on my rig (a Racer) even if I drop the pud. I just hadn't taken the time to have that 5 minute conversation with someone before I jumped it, which was a $50 mistake on my part. The way it's set up, there's one place you can ALWAYS find the bridle: coming out from under the exact middle of the top flap, between the walrus teeth. You can just hook the loop of it with your thumb right there and pull the pin. Or hook it and then follow the bridle out to the pud if that makes you happier. So basically, it has its pluses and minuses like everything else, but like everything else, the better you understand it and the more you learn about your emergency procedures, the safer you'll be. Personally, I like having the PC inside with everything else so there's no danger of it slipping out prematurely. I like having a shorter bridle outside the pin to snag on stuff. I like reducing my odds of having a horseshoe. I like feeling the pin pull. But that's me. Joe

Me too.

Yeah, those power lines can just kind of sneak up on you, what with the fact that they run in perfectly straight lines between tall poles and everything. Joe

Andrea, I, too, once played the bassoon. It's true. However, I was only in 5th/6th grade at the time, so I had nothing better to do and getting laid was not super important to me yet. Joe

0 (number of seconds I could hold a sit wearing baggy pants and a t-shirt): 3: 1 (first helicopter jump) Joe

Load #2 - red shirt, tan pants, red & gold Racer. You? Joe

Well then, at least I won't be pissing away any more $65 jumps. Back to the regular stuff. Oh well. Joe

P*ssy. The chopper still goes when it's cloudy. Tomorrow's supposed to be better anyway. Joe

Yeah, that thing was pretty cool, huh? A little smaller than I anticipated... but real fuckin' fun! Hope it's still there tomorrow. Joe

I think it's better if they know that in advance of taking him off life support, so they can scoop the shit out and put it on ice immediately, instead of having to scramble to preserve stuff when the guy has been dead for a little bit already. You can probably tell from my technical vocabulary that I'm not a doctor. But I imagine that's the reasoning. Joe

Where do you guys live, at the zoo? Joe

I think theories like this are for insecure people with mild psychiatric disorders and a weak grasp on reality. I do get kind of a chuckle out of this stuff sometimes, but it depresses me that modern technology allows it to actually reach a lot of dumb, impressionable people. Joe

I just chew my food a lot. I stop eating because my food has gotten cold at least as often as I stop eating because I'm full. Joe

1. At one point or another I spoke 4 languages in addition to English 2. I don't like working in teams on things, and would much rather do it all myself if I'm going to be accountable for the result 3. I used to collect insects (yeah, that's right! I put 'em in display cases and everything) 4. I owned a hedgehog and two chinchillas in college 5. I can't fall asleep if I can hear human voices whispering in the next room, but loud street noise is no problem at all 6. My SAT Verbal was also higher than my Math 7. I hate low heights - cliff diving @ 25' or so is a whole lot scarier to me than anything I've done skydiving so far 8. When I eat a plate of food with several different dishes on it, I eat them in sequence instead of mixing them up or going back and forth 9. I am the slowest eater you will ever see. At restaurants, the waiter/waitress usually tries to take my plate 2-3 times before I'm actually done. That's all for now - Joe

I didn't mean the act itself. I meant his behavior afterwards. And it was a little bit tongue in cheek anyway, though obviously not intended to trivialize anything. Joe

They either got the right guy or they got the dumbest and unluckiest innocent guy ever. He takes a road trip to the middle of nowhere and scours his camper, including fumigating it with chlorine if I remember right, right after she disappears, he brings bloody clothes to the dry cleaner a couple days later, the blood belongs to the girl, and while he's showing the cops where he went with the camper he makes some offhand comment about how it would be a good place to dump a body. I think deep down, he wanted to be caught. It was a cry for help. Thankfully, law enforcement was listening, and now he can move along towards his likely fate of getting stabbed to death in the prison shower by some other reprobate. But I do agree with your sentiment, Clay. We can never be too careful with something of this magnitude and getting wrongfully convicted for something like this would actually probably be worse than dying. Joe

Rot in hell, rot in hell, rot in hell.... Joe