masterblaster72

The best kind of pizza is the kind I grew up on -- Abruzzese style -- white pizza with no cheese, just anchovies, rosemary and a touch of garlic. Delicious... Be humble, ask questions, listen, learn, follow the golden rule, talk when necessary, and know when to shut the fuck up.

mnealtx: You're making an assumption that the DHS offices for the smaller cities where the threat is extremely unlikely actually did their paperwork. And I'll bet if they did, it's probably because they don't have much else to do. To make a serious security issue reliant on some BS paperwork is exactly the kind of bureaucratic idiocy that you republicans claim to have such a disdain for. JohnRich: Yeah, you're right, it's all about me. Never mind the fact that an attack on NYC would likely kill thousands more than an an attack in Louisville, KY ever would...and never mind that an attack on NYC will have seismic effects on the entire country's economy. That was *weak*, Mr. Rich. I know you're scrounging, but I'm sure even you could do better than that. Maybe you should try bringing guns into the discussion or something. Be humble, ask questions, listen, learn, follow the golden rule, talk when necessary, and know when to shut the fuck up.

That's right -- I don't trust their judgement, especially if they take a secretive, black-box approach to the funding for states that get way more bang for their buck on each tax dollar paid. Wrong. One thing I've credited this president for is the fact that we've not had another terrorist attack since 2001. We've been on the right track as far as security in NYC goes. But to think that the job is done here to the point where funds should be cut by 40% is absolutely foolish. It makes no sense to me in light of the fact that so much work still needs to be done. Just as I'm certain of the fact that you're from Texas wouldn't have anything to do with your pro-Bush opinion. I use the transit system here almost daily and see its vulnerabilities. And that's just one of the many vulnerabilities that needs to be worked on. The improvements that still need to be made won't get done with 40% less funding. For an administration that's constantly pimping an illusion of strength on the issue of national security and feeding off post-911 fear, I expect better. Be humble, ask questions, listen, learn, follow the golden rule, talk when necessary, and know when to shut the fuck up.

I've repeated many, many times here that I am not a democrat, nor will I ever be. But I suppose if you think along such binary terms it's difficult to resist projecting that thinking to others. It's ok, I understand. Be humble, ask questions, listen, learn, follow the golden rule, talk when necessary, and know when to shut the fuck up.

Hey Rush, here's something you can make a t-shirt from and wear proudly. Be humble, ask questions, listen, learn, follow the golden rule, talk when necessary, and know when to shut the fuck up.

I saw nothing in that article that could possibly further the point that you're trying to make (whatever that may be). What I do see is typical Bush administration secrecy/lunacy. ...and of course it's a coincidence that the red states reap the most benefits from the new funding grants. I'm sure this evaluation process was done with the highest degree of objectivity and integrity. Whoops, I forgot to add the emoticon there: For the thousands of tax dollars that the government gets from me, I would expect them to know that the Statue of Liberty, Empire State building are more likely targets for the terrorists than Podunk, Kansas since their main goal is to take as many people out as they can and do as much economic damage as possible. I never claimed to be an expert in homeland security as you say I am (though I do appreciate the compliment); it certainly doesn't take an expert to realize that you don't slash funding to your main target by 40% while raising funding for extremely unlikely targets significantly. I'm feeling like a broken record. Be humble, ask questions, listen, learn, follow the golden rule, talk when necessary, and know when to shut the fuck up.

Good for you man, there's no pursuit more noble than spending time with your family. I can definitely see putting skydiving aside once I have a family as well -- I can imagine it's very tough to reconcile the risk of leaving your loved ones behind. Hope you keep your running game sharp -- aim for a marathon one day if you can find the time to train for one, it's a blast and a half and heaps safer than this sport. Good luck to ya Be humble, ask questions, listen, learn, follow the golden rule, talk when necessary, and know when to shut the fuck up.

I've seen you avoid answering questions in very similar ways. I was just aping what you do. Apparently not. You might want to actually read the article: So your party touts national security as one of its great strengths. Meanwhile, 5 years after 911, a terrorist can still row across the Hudson with a dirty bomb if he wanted to. Not to mention that our ports of entry are still quite far from secure. And you're making the analogy that security in NYC is in tip-top shape. I'm glad you're not in charge of my security. Thank you for making my point, Mr. Rich. mnealtx: You're telling me that NY's decade-old landmarks should be based on updated information? You would make an excellent bureaucrat. Be humble, ask questions, listen, learn, follow the golden rule, talk when necessary, and know when to shut the fuck up.

It's not polite, and being that he's a rather touchy fellow judging from many of his SC posts that I've read, I thought I'd call him on it since I'm sure he'd react similarly. Why dignify his question with an answer if he can't ask it politely. So to continue the dialogue and answer the question -- how to distribute the funding? I'm no expert on government expenditures, but common sense dictates that you don't significantly slash funding to your main terrorist target and increase it significantly for extremely unlikely target cities. There's your answer in short, very simple: don't cut funding to the bullseye terrorist target by 40%. A question I'd like to ask of any of Bush's supporters is how do you justify cutting funding to NYC by 40% while increasing aid to Louisville, Omaha, Jacksonville and St. Louis by 20-40%? And don't leave the list of landmarks for NYC blank. Another sterling example of this administration's incompetence. Talk about "encouraging terrorists." This administration has demonstrated again and again that it lacks very basic common sense. Apparently so do the administration's supporters, if this all has to be explained. Be humble, ask questions, listen, learn, follow the golden rule, talk when necessary, and know when to shut the fuck up.

Please enlighten us with what you think the appropriate fund allocations should be. Give me the courtesy of an accurate quote next time and maybe I'll answer your question. Be humble, ask questions, listen, learn, follow the golden rule, talk when necessary, and know when to shut the fuck up.

Looks like being a red state has its rewards. I wonder if Nebraska or Kentucky even generate enough tax dollars to justify the federal dollars they receive. And then you hear the rednecks gripe about welfare state. Maybe their politicians should try practicing what they preach and try holding their own. More idiocy from this administration. What else is new. F.ck Bush and the GOP, jerkoffs come to NYC for their convention, tout 911 to their advantage, and then this. And let's keep hearing more about how strong republicans are on national security. Absolutely disgusting. Be humble, ask questions, listen, learn, follow the golden rule, talk when necessary, and know when to shut the fuck up.

Truth, maybe? Reminds me of something Stephen Colbert said recently -- "reality has a well-known liberal bias." Be humble, ask questions, listen, learn, follow the golden rule, talk when necessary, and know when to shut the fuck up.

The second doctor did not tell me it's a bad idea. Nor did he say it's a good idea. I posted here to get different points of view, and they were helpful. My intention was to see some views other than my own on jumping with a slight injury. After getting the first few responses, my mind changed about jumping over the weekend. When I got my second opinion from the other doctor the day after about what would really be harmful in regard to this injury (repeated stress), I thought out the consequences and decided to give at least one jump a try. The first felt fine, and so did the rest. I ended up jumping based on how I felt, and I felt good enough to jump throughout the weekend. The last thing I want to do is irritate anyone or waste their bandwidth or time, and I will refrain next time from trying to gather different points of view here. Though I tend to think that a lot of these responses are written with good intent -- skydivers looking out for fellow skydivers -- sometimes it occurs to me that some are just looking to vent when they see the opportunity, with a smack of self-righteousness. I doubt you would do that, though. I'm finished posting to this thread and I do appreciate the responses. The last word is all yours. Feel free to leave it on a note implying that I'm stubborn, stupid, dangerous, have delusions of omniscience, etc. if that's what you enjoy -- I'm rather self-deprecating by nature so I won't take a whole lot of offense to it anyhow. Be humble, ask questions, listen, learn, follow the golden rule, talk when necessary, and know when to shut the fuck up.

Lest I be misunderstood as a know-it-all type with low jump numbers, I should explain myself. The orthopaedist appointment was cursory at best. Including the x-ray, not even a 15-minute appointment, with very few questions asked, while two other patients were waiting in other rooms to see the same doctor. I was simply told to refrain from any form of exercise involving the lower body, no physical therapy, no MRI. What I did know is that I did not have a fracture, at least not the kind that would appear on a regular x-ray. The doctor was being very conservative, and I think part of that reasoning is the sue-happy climate we live in. I should also explain that it hurts to walk only the day or two after I run. If I don't run, the pain subsides. I felt a second opinion was warranted, mainly because the appointment was so cursory in nature. So I called my PPO plan to see if second opinions are covered, and it turns out they are. And I was fortunate enough to get an appointment with a sports medicine doctor on Friday who specializes in leg and hip injuries. He reiterated *no exercise*, at least not until our next appointment, which is in two weeks. Not what I wanted to hear, but it is what I expected to hear. This doctor had me stand in certain positions, had me do certain stretches, etc to find out the particular nature of the injury since the groin is a complicated area of the body where many different muscle groups converge. He determined that my injury is an overuse injury, and told me that the greatest risk will be repetitive motion and stress on the muscle. I explained to him that I skydive, what a PLF is, the risk of hard openings, landings, etc. Again, he reiterated that it is repetitive motion that is the greatest impediment to recovery for my injury (not something like a 5-second run from a no-wind landing). Though he did not tell me to skydive (and he made it a point to neither discourage me nor encourage me to skydive), he stressed many times that it is prolonged, repetitive stress on the muscle that will impede recovery from this type of injury. He also told me that whatever I decide to do with my weekend, that if I feel any increased pain at all in my groin area, to stop immediately. I know the risk of a hard opening or of pulling a muscle on a run-out. But that's with any jump, whatever shape one may be in. Fortunately, I was able to do 15 jumps over the weekend, did not encounter any additional pain, had soft landings, and I'm feeling better today than last week. Perhaps a bit riskier than usual, but then again, we know what the risks are in this sport. I thought hard about it, was cautious over the weekend with my landings, and all went well enough. Thanks for your responses -- I'm know the above responses were written with good intent. Be humble, ask questions, listen, learn, follow the golden rule, talk when necessary, and know when to shut the fuck up.

I know, that was a blast. I never knew tracking could be so much fun. And I had no idea how much I suck at it until now. But I made progress over the weekend and got my last tracking dive right (finally) and stayed with the group, albeit a bit high above them. I have a lot to work on but I learned *a lot*. Thank you CK1 for a great weekend. Be humble, ask questions, listen, learn, follow the golden rule, talk when necessary, and know when to shut the fuck up.

I'm no expert myself, but I can say for starters that it's difficult because you have winds up to 160mph (or maybe more) working against your body while you're busting out those moves. It takes work to get to the point where you can tame that force and execute those maneuvres with precision. But I think you're way ahead of most folks if you already have experience as a gymnast. I defer to Ms. Barnhouse on the finer details of what's involved. As far as deploying your canopy, you revert to the standard belly-to-earth position to deploy your canopy, so you would not be executing any moves while you deploy (see the video I linked to earlier in this thread from Dragonfly Freefly -- you'll see at the end that the jumper goes belly-to-earth after she's done with her routine). Be humble, ask questions, listen, learn, follow the golden rule, talk when necessary, and know when to shut the fuck up.

Right on dude Exactly why I find freestyle so appealing -- I used to break dance back in the day and was great at it, one of the best in my school. I've long had the ambition of taking it up again, but I just don't have the flexibility I had as a teenager. Freestyle skydiving is how I could meet that ambition halfway. You can see someone busting a windmill in (only a tiny portion of) this video on skydivingmovies.com. Would have been nice to see that jumper's whole freefall -- she really knows what she's doing. I know all of those moves you can bust out -- if you can do a windmill with no problem then you must be a pretty skilled break dancer. You'd probably make a damn good freestyler considering you used to be a gymnast as well -- go for it. Be sure to post your vids on skydivingmovies.com when you have some ready

They've been saying that for years now. When I was a kid, soccer was by far the most played sport by kids in the suburbs I grew up in. But as far as the popularity of the sport goes, not much has changed since then. MLS was supposed to blow the sport up in the states. Instead, it continues to struggle and each year there are rumours of it going belly-up. As long as advertising slots and airtime are an integral part of televising sports in the USA, soccer will *never* become a mainstream sport. I mean, advertising has become an event in and of itself when it comes to the Super Bowl. Look at all the timeouts in mainstream American sports. In contrast, there is only one time-out in soccer. American advertisers don't dig that, even with the sideline billboard alternative. Bad for business. Also, American sports are about the big score. Look at most of them -- scores are quite high and occur fairly often. Soccer takes patience, and involves a release of angst that's built up during the playing of the game. Sometimes the game is even anti-climactic. Fundamentally un-American in comparison to the other high-scoring games. If anything resembles soccer most closely, it's hockey. Maybe not a high-scoring game, but at least there are some fights that serve as a sideshow to the lack of scoring... Be humble, ask questions, listen, learn, follow the golden rule, talk when necessary, and know when to shut the fuck up.

Andy_Copland: I hear ya...if you think Japan gives it 100%, then Korea gives it 110%. No one plays more spirited football than they do, and i think they transform the game into an endurance sport. -- kirzz: Got an extra ticket or two? Please? How do you feel about Australia being in the WC? -- xnawakx: Ya think Croatia and France will go out in the first round? Why? I like your optimism (especially in regard to France), but I don't see France going out like suckas like 2002 -- with Trezeguet and T. Henry on offense, and Viera and Zidane, etc. in midfield I think they can repeat what they did in 1998. I hope they don't. And remember, Croatia was #3 that same year...they're no joke. Be humble, ask questions, listen, learn, follow the golden rule, talk when necessary, and know when to shut the fuck up.

I too am interested in eventually learning freestyle. Right now I'm learning how to freefly. Only thing is that I'm pretty stiff in general, not very flexble at all. I see the stuff that freestylists do and like Royd, I think it has a lot of aesthetic appeal that other skydiving disciplines do not. But doesn't it require time in the gymnasium and something like yoga as well if you want to be half-decent at it? I think I remember reading in Parachutist magazine that Yoko Okazaki used to be a gymnast or ballerina or something like that... As an aside, know where I can find some good freestyle video on the net? Skydivingmovies has only a few freestyle videos. I know of this one from Dragonfly Freefly (fantastic), but not many others. If you know of any, please share, it's great stuff to watch. Thanks.

Travman: Yes, it could. But no exercise and no skydiving for a month is really f.cking up my program. My two favorite pastimes... -- Sunshine: That's a good point, I didn't even consider that. Sh.t. -- Casurf: doctor was adamant about physical activity. I asked him about alternatives to running, he said no to biking, no to swimming, no to ellipticals. Nothing involving the legs. In light of that, I doubt that he would have said ok to skydiving. I'm f.cked. Thanks for your responses...

I went to the orthopaedist yesterday and he told me to refrain from any physical activity for the next month because I have a small tear in my right groin muscle. No exercise, nothing that involves impact. Nada. I think skydiving will be ok, but I'm a bit worried about the landings. Some of my landings, especially when I flare a few feet too high, can have an impact on my legs. Has anyone jumped with leg problems? If so, how did you avoid aggravating your problem? I'm thinking of landing each time with a PLF on my left side. Good idea? Thanks for your input... Be humble, ask questions, listen, learn, follow the golden rule, talk when necessary, and know when to shut the fuck up.

Well, they were found guilty. I'm interested in hearing what the sentence is going to be. Bank on an appeal. If there's a significant sentence, count on a pardon in early 2009 for Kenny-boy. Be humble, ask questions, listen, learn, follow the golden rule, talk when necessary, and know when to shut the fuck up.

Group C looks like the group of death. The rest are fairly predictable. A: Germany, Poland B: England, Sweden C: Argentina, Netherlands (but could just as easily be Serbia & Montenegro) D: Portugal, Mexico E: Italy, Czech Republic F: Brazil, Croatia G: France, Switzerland H: Ukraine, Spain Possible surprises: Paraguay, Cote d'Ivoire, Angola, Ghana, Korea. Be humble, ask questions, listen, learn, follow the golden rule, talk when necessary, and know when to shut the fuck up.

I remember 2002, I was just trying to poke fun at your fierce rivalry and stir the pot a bit. I didn't know that you beat Argentina in a friendly recently though. That's impressive. USA? We're not playing the USA ladies team. And Freddy Adu isn't in the mix yet. Therefore, USA isn't much of a threat. Ghana is way more of a threat in the group than USA is. Agreed, Czech Rep. will be a very tough team to beat. I call a 0-0 tie, or 1-1 if any blood is shed at all, which I doubt. I can guarantee you there isn't going to be a drubbing on either side of that match. As far as your group goes, you got lucky. I don't think England will have much of a problem with Trinidad or Paraguay. I do look forward to your match against Sweden. Be humble, ask questions, listen, learn, follow the golden rule, talk when necessary, and know when to shut the fuck up.