JDBoston

If they haven't heard of it, they probably won't be interested in the debate, so it kind of self-selects...

Like they would say in Coffee Talk (an old Saturday Night Live skit, for all you furreners etc.)... "Intelligent Design is neither intelligent nor design - discuss." Since I started this thread, I'll go first. "Science" refers to theorems that can be proven wrong. Begging out to a higher power due to "irreducible complexity" is therefore not science. Evolution has many practical applications - vaccine development, among other things. Intelligent design "theory" has none, because it isn't science. Schools that refuse to teach kids science are not helping kids learn how to make sense of the world around them. The madrassas in Pakistan are a good example. Hopefully the American Midwest won't be next. Stop the insanity! Joe

That may be true, but religion is BY NO MEANS a necessary component of a moral life. Many religious people are also highly moral and do a good job of bringing their kids up. That's fine - many non-religious people are the same way. Maybe on another thread we can discuss Catholic schools and priests. Religion and morals are NOT EVER the same thing. And when religion mixes with public policy, it's a bad thing. The people in control no longer have to justify, account for, or explain the benefits of the laws they pass or the actions they take. They simply do what benefits them, or what they want to, and explain it away with assertions that can't be debated except by theologians. Religion is a very fine thing on a personal & family level, but it has also been used as a very convenient shield for atrocities, repression, and personal depravity, in varying degrees, in nearly every historical situation I'm aware of where it managed to get its claws into public institutions. Look at the Crusades, the Islamic states, Israel/Palestine, etc. I don't think any of those periods/regions suffer(ed) from TOO LITTLE involvement of religion in public life. Perhaps people with more knowledge of history than me can chime in here with some counter-examples from the last few centuries? I'd be interested in hearing about them. Joe

I'm with Will. I think it was also aimed at the advertisers who've been using the "extreme" image to suck money out of the couch potatoes. Regardless, I think this guy is actually defending the purity of "extreme" sports more than anything else, and is pissed that they're being cheapened and overmarketed to people who don't have a clue what they're about. Joe

I got a Racer for my first rig and have a Triathlon 190 and a PD 193 in it. I've got a pull-out with the tuck pocket riser covers. One ride on the reserve, which worked as intended and opened VERY quickly... Overall, I was very impressed with the ease of customizing my order (digging up leftover tie-dye scraps to use on it, totally custom-made to my measurements, bungee cord loops on the legstraps, hook knife pouch, dive loops, etc.) and the quality of the craftsmanship that went into the rig. They actually held up delivery for a couple of weeks because they didn't like the way the riser covers turned out and wanted to fine-tune them. I don't think you'd get that kind of attention from some of the bigger manufacturers. It fits great, it works great, customer service was excellent, and I have no complaints.

Please define "pommy bint." I think I can kind of puzzle it out from the context but I'd like to know exactly. Thanks! Joe

Does it have anything on the front of the shirt, or is it just the one graphic you see on that URL? Joe

You start with 31 tandems and they take you up to 45,000 feet, eh? So that's how you guys do things down there... Hope the tandems were free. 31 tandems would be about 2x the cost of a complete skydiving rig here in the US. Joe

I started with 3 tandems. I would've done AFF if I had the balls. I'd never been under a parachute before, or bungee jumped, or anything, and I didn't want to discover that I wasn't cool with the whole concept 5000' up, under a parachute by myself. But I think pure AFF is way better from a learning standpoint. Joe

Go find some girl you want and mention in the course of conversation that you're going to go skydiving on X date - how about June 29th? Then go do it. If you don't do it, the next time you talk to her you'll look like a puss... wimp, I mean. Hell, maybe she'll even go with you. Isn't that motivation enough? Good luck!!!! Joe PS What exactly is "commoderarity"? I knew I should've played more of those team sports...

Just cause they don't have livestock in Cambridge... Joe

True, but they don't usually wear skimpy clothes when the weather sucks. The best I can do usually is cruise around down by the Charles looking for wet t-shirts on joggers. Joe

Make that three. I'm going to drink all weekend and see a movie or something. Joe

Aha. But to take it one step further: if someone has enough space to speed up in the right lane and then cut left to pass you, then YOU should actually have been in the right lane to begin with. The left lane is for passing only, so the part of the left lane you're entitled to begins a few car lengths before the car you're going to pass, and ends a few car lengths after it. The left lane is not simply for people who are accelerating relative to the cars in the right lane. So if you're using the left lane properly, and getting back into the right lane after you've passed each car, then it should be impossible or at least horrendously, obviously unsafe for anyone in the right lane to try and pass you WHILE you're in the left lane. Make sense? Joe

Your post seems a little self-contradictory.... perhaps it was intentional? I constantly do the second thing you referred to (pass people on the right because they're going too slow in the fast lane), but it seems to me that if someone is doing the same thing to me, well, it probably means I'm going too slow in the fast lane.... Joe

I'm an American, and I have no qualms about doing that in a closed lane/construction setting if I'm in any kind of a hurry. The interstate exit scenario you describe is, in my opinion, a TOTALLY different thing, and I wish death and leprosy on anyone who cuts to the head of a backed-up line at an exit. But if there's construction ahead, and people are intentionally leaving a whole lane open so they can sit in line and wait, that's their own f'in problem. They're actually causing more traffic to back up by doing that. So what. There are many kinds of rude driving behavior I hate, but this behavior is actually pretty logical in my opinion. Of course, I have been driving most recently in Manhattan and Boston, so my opinion may not be representative of the rest of the country... Blue skies to all you poor people sitting in line stewing, Joe

1. CASA 2. CASA 3. CASA But I gotta admit I'm curious about hot air balloons. Joe

I carry a knife because there's no reason not to, and it was only $25. Joe

0:2:1 First time I held a sit, for a good 6-7 seconds. Damn, that was a cool feeling! Now if I can just replicate it... Joe

What's in a dacari? Joe

Hey Chromey, what hotel do you manage in Boston? Joe

Skydiving takes more balls and dedication than most of the other stuff on people's resumes about what they "achieved" in conference rooms and at their desk. If you can't make an interviewer realize this, they're not that bright. And who wants to work for someone who's not that bright? Sure, it may pay just the same, but eventually it'll piss you off in some way. I interviewed plenty of people before I started jumping, and it's definitely the kind of thing that would make a favorable impression on me. Same thing with rock climbing, mountain climbing, flying, diving, etc. As long as you have the skills for the job, and as long as they're not looking for a drone with no personality, I'd say mention it for sure. Joe

Jesus, are you serious??? Someone needs to take up bowling. Not that bowling is an inferior sport, I don't want to rekindle the previous discussions..... Joe

My view is a computer screen with a fortune cookie fortune taped up on it: The hard times will begin to fade. Joy will take their place. You will get a different job. Wait... I think that third line was my imagination again. Behind me, I have another cubicle. But I do get to drive home along the Charles River. Joe

Fuck, man...... there's some good stuff here, but how about a bunch of URL links with one of these segments as a teaser?