Zennie

This is bascally the dilemma that governments have when dealing with terrorists. It's another case of blaming the victim when the bad guy does something wrong. "It's your fault 10 people died because you chose not to kill one person." No. It's not my fault. You're the one who made an immoral demand upon me. You're the one who killed the 10 people. Not me. My hands are clean. Don't try and transfer your guilt and blame over to me. So I guess I'm saying I'd refuse. I will not kill an innocent person. Period. Would I hate it? Would I feel terrible? Yes. Would I feel guilt? Probably. By virtue of my decision 10 people died, but I was not the cause. The person doing the killing is the killer. Not the person who chooses not to kill. This is kind of a classic act utilitarian vs. rule utilitarian debate. For those of you who aren't familiar, utilitarianism is the philosophy that the right thing is that which causes the greatest good or the least harm. "The good of the many outweighs the good of the few." Act utilitarians analyze things on strictly a situational basis. So the act utilitarian would likely choose to kill the one person. After all, fewer people die and that's the greatest good (or more accurately, the least harm). Rule utilitarians are guided by general principles which they believe, if followed, will result over the long term in the greatest good or least harm. So even though killing one might cause the least harm in this particular situation, the ripple effects of catering to a captor's demands, compromising one's principles, and just generally becoming a participant in a culture of killing will in the long term cause more harm. Obviously I fall in the latter category. I just believe killing is wrong (except in self defense or defense of others). Period. And I won't be a party to it. Period. You might make an argument that killing the one is "defense of others", but I wouldn't call killing an innocent an act of defense. Maybe that might result in death now, but hopefully someday more people will share that view and violence will diminish. To me, that is how we achieve the greatest good... by sticking to our principles, leading by example and trying to bring about positive change in people's values and attitudes. - Z "Always be yourself... unless you suck." - Joss Whedon

I dunno man. I think I'm out on the "impeccable safety record" part. You saw my landing last weekend. That's the second time in as many weekends that I've been "talked to" for cross-winding it in the main landing area. Gotta stop doing that. Oh and BTW, it's Ted, but that's OK. - Z "Always be yourself... unless you suck." - Joss Whedon

Just an update on the PC101 vs 120 quandry. I went to the Houston Camera Exchange today and saw a 101 and 120 side by side. The 120 is freaking BIG compared to the 101. The ad pictures don't give you that impression. So a 101 it is. Just gotta find the best deal from a reputable vendor. Dbuys had it for around $950. I'll poke around a bit more. - Z "Always be yourself... unless you suck." - Joss Whedon

I'll pencil it into my calendar. I was thinking of going to Eloy, but I can't miss an opportunity to meet the skybytch. Who else is seriously considering going? And who all would be up for staying at Ballys? - Z "Always be yourself... unless you suck." - Joss Whedon

Names were omitted to protect the guilty. No. My landings are the hottest thing on the DZ right now. I keep blowing past the swoop pond and cross/down-winding it into the main landing area. Damn shifting winds. Heh. Sometimes I'm scared of me. I look in the mirror and go AAAAAAGGGGHHH! - Z "Always be yourself... unless you suck." - Joss Whedon

I'm planning on being there. Unfortunately, I was so busy with work I forgot to get the early registration in. Oh well. It'll still be a blast! - Z "Always be yourself... unless you suck." - Joss Whedon

Huh? - Z "Always be yourself... unless you suck." - Joss Whedon

LOL. I guess that brings up an exception.... if my SO were willing to jump in the sack with the both of us that would be a different story. - Z "Always be yourself... unless you suck." - Joss Whedon

A couple of quotes (combined) from the previous thread got my attention. OK this is another one of my pet peeves. Hypothetical: Let's assume I'm in a relationship with someone. A beautiful, gorgeous, naked, horny woman (or guy if you're female or gay ) is placed in front of me. Let's also assume that I was guaranteed that no one else would ever find out if I had sex with her. Would I have sex with her? No. Why not? Because it doesn't matter what people at home know or don't know. It's about what I know. It's about what I am doing, not who knows it. It's about being able to live with myself and being able to look myself in the mirror knowing I did the right thing. It's easy to do the right thing when it's in your interests to do so. But I take more pride in having done the right thing when the thing I had to do was something I really didn't want to. And anyone who knows me knows I'm no religious fanatic or anything. I'm agnostic for God's sake (nice pun there eh?). I do the right thing for it's own sake, not because I fear judgment or Hell or anything. So anyway, enough preaching from me. Given the above hypothetical, what would you do? And no I won't lambaste anyone who says they'd jump right in the sack with her (or him for you ladies), so be honest. - Z "Always be yourself... unless you suck." - Joss Whedon

Jesus that should go without saying. Guys that hit women are weak. Actually anyone who has to resort to violence to get what they want are weak. Weak and insecure. Like the hitting, it's a sign of weakness. It's preying upon someone who is vulnerable. They stay in relationships like that because they can maintain control. Control they wouldn't have if they were with someone who was able to stand up for themselves. It's also a projection of their own insecurities upon the other person. It's a classic example of "elevating" yourself by knocking down those around you. Pretty lame if you ask me. I'd prefer to maintain a relationship with my personality. By having a person like me, and want to be with me, for the type of person I am. If they don't, well, then they aren't the right companion. - Z "Always be yourself... unless you suck." - Joss Whedon

Come to me my children. I want you all. MWAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!! Seriously though. I try to encourage people to do RW for at least the first hundred jumps or so. If they like RW, cool. If they wanna do freefly, that's cool too. In those first hundred jumps you learn a lot about body awareness and working the relative wind. Cause & effect stuff. That knowledge will serve you well no matter what discipline you take up. I'm convinced I learned freefly faster having done RW for about 100 jumps or so. That said, always try to jump at least once a day with one of the noobies. I remember how I felt when I was just starting out and how much I appreciated it when the better jumpers would jump with me (like Paula & Mikey). It was nice to have a success and get some good feedback. It's nice to now be able to give some of that back. I like jumping with noobies. I love seeing the smiles on their faces. Plus it helps me with my skills. I really gotta fly my butt off to stay with someone who's corking & sliding & then dropping like a rock. It's challenging. You can learn something from anyone... even if they aren't intentionally teaching you. If you aren't, then you aren't trying hard enough. - Z "Always be yourself... unless you suck." - Joss Whedon

I... am... so.... fucked.... I'll throw in my $0.02 on the shaved head thingy since I'm one of them. I don't have a receding hairline... I have a hairline that's in full retreat. I've always hated it. But Liz wouldn't let me shave it off, but now that's not an issue so bye-bye hair. The shaved head thing is kind of dicey. You have to have the right shaped head to pull it off. My bro has been doing it for years and looked pretty good, so I figured I'd be OK. But still I gradually shaved it off just to make sure. Well that and so I didn't freak out my co-workers. Personally I think the receding hairline makes you look older and I always felt kinda dorky. So anyway, I do it because I like the way I look and quite frankly it makes me look younger. If chicks dig it, cool. If not, cool. - Z "Always be yourself... unless you suck." - Joss Whedon

Huh? - Z "Always be yourself... unless you suck." - Joss Whedon

Yepper. Computer Science is more about logical thought and problem-solving than anything else. Languages are just tools. Give me a person who has exceptional analytical skills and no language experience over the language guru who can't think a problem completely through. I can teach the analytical thinker the API and syntax. I can't teach the language god how to problem-solve. - Z "Always be yourself... unless you suck." - Joss Whedon

I dunno. It's done me right so far. That & Adderall. - Z "Always be yourself... unless you suck." - Joss Whedon

Wellbutrin in high doses is known to cause seizures. I know 'cuz I'm on it. I'm not saying this is what's happening here (though it may be), but I wouldn't be surprised at all if that's what happened to your friend who was on Wellbutrin. - Z "Always be yourself... unless you suck." - Joss Whedon

Just wondering... Is it possible you may have had a seizure and no one was around to see it. I've had friends who have seizures and they say they never know what happened. Oneminute they're OK, the next thing they know they're sort of going "Huh? Why am I one the floor?" - Z "Always be yourself... unless you suck." - Joss Whedon

I just looked them up at resellerratings.com. They got a score of 0.83. Thanks but I think I'll stick with dbuys. - Z "Always be yourself... unless you suck." - Joss Whedon

According to the chart the video actual resolution is 970K for the 120 and 690K for the 101. Still resolution was the same (1M pixel), but I was more interested in video quality. But maybe I misunderstand what video actual means. - Z "Always be yourself... unless you suck." - Joss Whedon

WHAT? No freeflying in the "variations" listing? He was obviously led astray by some belly flier. - Z "Always be yourself... unless you suck." - Joss Whedon

I'm looking to buy a new video camera and I've been taking a hard look at the PC120. Not really because of the Bluetooth technology, I could care less about that, but rather the 970K pixel video resolution. I can get one at dbuys for around$1350. But I can also get a PC101 at the same place for about $950. I'd get the 101, but I think the video resolution is still around 690K pixels. So my question is, for those of you that are familiar with the 120 & other models, do you notice a significant increase in video quality that would justify plunking down the extra $400 or so? - Z "Always be yourself... unless you suck." - Joss Whedon

Heh. Kinda like my sig. - Z "Always be yourself... unless you suck." - Joss Whedon

And congrats on your 600th girl! This weekend's gonna be a little screwy but I'm gonna try & make it down. Gotta get you away from those flat-fliers. - Z "Always be yourself... unless you suck." - Joss Whedon

YEAH BABY!!!! Must... get.... video... camera.... - Z "Always be yourself... unless you suck." - Joss Whedon

Ahhh sweet irony. - Z "Always be yourself... unless you suck." - Joss Whedon