bill2

DO NOT SCRATCH THE TATOO. It's going to itch like hell while it heals. don't pick at the scabs or will you screw up the design, and it will look like shit. I got a dragon on my shoulder in 1975 while in Germany with the Army. The colors have faded but the outline is still very clear. I didn't put anything on it while it was healing, just rinsed it in the shower with now scrubbing.

Motorcycling. From what I've seen on this site, a lot of skydivers ride - dirtbikes, street, sport,touring, whatever. Of course, looking at all the threads on dropzone.com, you could probably create a site devoted to women's breasts. It sure as hell would get a lot of traffic. So Sangiro, are you thinking about another site to create and run? At some point you'll have to quit your day job.

I jump at Bay area skydiving in Byron. Great place, the facilities (no restaurant or bar) aren't much, but the staff and instructors are great and always willing to help out. And it's about 45 minutes from where I live.

* Kentucky Fried Movie (absolutely hilarious with the spoofs. Team that one up with Enter the Dragon with Bruce Lee (probably the best martial arts film of all time) and you've got a great evening. * Patton * The Airplane movies with Robert Hayes were a riot. * Wait until Dark (some really suspenseful scenes) * Point Break, just mindless recreation * The Killer Elite, great gun battles **Not out yet, but I've seen a preview and I think the Lord of the Rings trilogy will be outstanding. I hope - I've read the complete series 12 -15 times, including The Hobbit.

1) outside the main theater at Ford Ord CA (back in the 70's) 2) in an outside jacuzzi at a hotel in N CAL

Congratulations on getting into this sport. I've only done 14 jumps, but each time I go I marvel at the fact that I can throw myself out of a plane at 14,000 and the sky now becomes my personal playground. It's an incredible feeling.

Nathan, I had to reply on this one because I found my self in the same situation into my middle thirties (I'm 47 now and married). I have to admit that part of the problem was myself, I wasn't as nice as I thought I was, I never abused any women or anything like that, but I was a bit on the lazy side when it came to relationships and probably came off a bit dull as well. However, that said, I do think many women, not just ones in their early 20's, do have a yen for the bad boy. Then they spend all their time complaining about how insensitive men are. But it still boils down to controlling what you can control, and not worrying about what you can't. Women you run into are going to be what they're going to be, and you can't change them. And vice versa. So be yourself, do what you want to do and don't worry so much about having to meet women. As, I think it was Jessica who said it so eloquently about how women can smell desperation (maybe they smelled it on me awhile ago), don't worry about meeting women, if you are enjoying yourself in what you do women will want to meet you. If they don't, keep on enjoying what you're doing.

Keith, it's not that that inner city youths should not be counted, it's that when anti-gun folks quote statistics they want you to think that all of these gun deaths occurred when sweet innocent school children were gunned down. But the reality is that many of these deaths come from gang bangers getting shot by police or fellow gang member. However, the general public is much more horrified when a small child is shot than a gang member. Which is exactly what the anti gun folks want you to think.

Mike, you're right on target (pun intended). These statistics the anit-gun people usually don't exist, are made up, or come from incredibly biased studies. Example, the oft quoted that guns are 3 to 9 times (depending on who's doing the quoting) more likely to injure someone in their own house, like a relative or friend, was taken from the New England Journal of Medicine. The base group that they used for this study all had drug/alchohol problems to begin with. The actual percentage of mis use of guns among the general population is miniscule. If it were true that more guns cause more crime and deaths of innocent people, than Vermont should be a hotbed of gun battles. It is the only state in the union that allows people to carry concealed with no license required. Any adult 21 or over with no violent felonies can carry. Funny how you never hear about high crime rates there, or schools being shot up. And as I mentioned in my last post on this subject, read John Lott's book More Guns, Less Crime. Then you'll know the real story.

A couple of points I'd like to bring up. 1) Define what you mean by gun control. Gun control can mean anything from hitting your target to banning all guns (which is what a lot of gun control types really want, no matter what they say in public about responsible gun ownership). 2) Banning guns or making guns harder to carry/own does not prevent criminals from getting them or using them to commit crimes. the very definition of criminal is one who breaks laws, so banning guns will not affect them. Much the same as drug laws don't prevent people from getting heroin/coke/meth etc. Also, many of the "liberal elite" who are so rabidly against guns, such as Sen Diane Feinstein from CA, carry guns themselves. If they were really against guns the would never carry one. Many Hollywood types cry out for gun control/banning guns but see nothing wrong with their having ARMED bodyguards around them all the time. Most people can't afford armed bodyguards. The reality of banning guns is that only criminals and well connected and rich people will have guns to protect themselves. Here in the bay area in CA, where concealed carry permits are incredibly hard to get, there was a scandal where the top financial contributors to a sherriff's reelection campaign were able to get carry permits. Of course the sherriff denied that the campaign contributions had anything to do with this. Yeah, right. 3)There have been no public and fair debates on guns in America. The anti gun groups don't want it to happen. If you're really serious about studying this, read "More Gun, Less Crime" written by John Loch (spelling?) professor at the University of Chicago. When he began the book, he was not a gun owner but was against them. By the time he finished, he had purchased 3 pistols. Go read the book, he really gets into the statistics and tells you where he got every last stat in his book. 4) Comparing England to the US is not realistic. Try explaining why Switzerland and Israel have just as high gun ownership, if not higher, and their crime rates are lower than ours. You also might note that England has a 50% higher rate of "hot burglaries (where someone is in the house at the time of the crime) than the US. 5) The Justice Dept (under Bill Clinton, not George Bush) stated that they estimate that guns are used to protect people 750,000 to 1.5 million each year. In almost all of the cases, the gun is not fired, just displayed.Other estimates (such as Prof. Garry Klech) of FL state university places those numbers even higher. 6) It is ludicrous to think that the police will always be there to protect you. The Supreme court decided a few years ago that the police are not legally obligated to protect you. They are however, obligated to protect society, not the individual. And a gun is still the most efficient way to protect you. There is no way that you can fight off several attackers or someone much stronger/younger than you. And before you say I'm wrong on this, I have a 2nd degree black belt in Tae Kwon Do. My instructor was a hard as nails 5th degree who also owned guns because he knew the reality of street fighting and the limitations of what a person can do in that situation. 7) The media always covers shootings by some nut case, but never, or rarely, covers situations where a gun was used in self defense. Passing laws won't stop suicidal nuts like those kids in Colombine from killing people. If you're planning on killing yourself, as these two did, laws mean nothing to you at all. Anyway, that's my 2 cents. So fire away.

Hey Bill, Where do you jump at? ____________________ I jump at Byron, do you?

14, including 1 solo now that I finally passed AFF.

Unfortunately, due to the possibility of terrorist action, some airports have been shut down. General aviation around nuclear sites is now prohibited, at least until November 7. So that means Byron (in the bay area CA) is shut down, along with numerous other airports around the country. I hope it doesn't last too long. I just passed AFF and did my first solo last weekend, which felt great.

I'm not sure if you mean just completing AFF or actually getting a license, two very different things. I took me 4 months to complete my AFF, between repeats and high winds at Byron here in CA. I know one guy who did the 8 AFF levels in one weekend, with no repeats. I am now working on my license, but still need to learn how to pack and to do the hop 'n pop so it will be awhile longer before I get my license. BTW, I didn't mind the extra jumps in AFF, I just considered them more coaching for what I needed to progress.

Great videos. Jason you're right the first one is 680 south in the east bay. Sport bikes aren't the only ones that can lean over in the curves, I've got a BMW R1150GS which can embarass a lot of sport bike riders, depending on the skill of the rider of course. Like so many other things in life, it's the human factor that is the most important.

Pretty pathetic, trying to make money off of a situation like this, as well as sounding like an out of control asshole. Sangiro, more than your hand being held, it sounds like his hands should be held so he can't type anymore.

First off, thanks to those who stuck up for some of my comments. As people have pointed out, hate crimes are a bogus concept not because of the crime committed, but because of the fact that everyone's life is supposed to be the same before the law, at least until proven guilty. Hate crimes really depend on where you live and your station in life there. I just had dinner with a friend from India, who stated that after several years living in the USA, he found India to be far more racist country than the United States. Anybody can be the victim of a hate crime, if you use the definition of a hate crime as crimes being committed because of skin color/sexual orientation/religion. It doesen't make it any less of a crime if it is a white male being killed because he is in the wrong part of town. As for Fallin Woman's comment that I must be a white male because of my oversimplification of issues, that sounds like an oversimplification in itself. I have personally compared checks in various jobs and the women make as much if not more (depending on office politics). Yes there are many women who make less money than men, for a variety of reasons, not just because of evil white guys conspiring against women. As for your statement about comparing school teachers to investment bankers, when studies are done on who makes more money, men or women, all jobs are taken into account and compared as a whole. You are right there is an old boys club, but there is also an old girls club as a guy I know, who just went into elementary school teaching, just found out. In his first meeting, when discussing a policy with the other teachers (by the way he was one of 2 male teachers in the room out of about 50) the group leader turned to him and asked "what does your kind think about this?" kind meaning men. That is just as bad as statements made by men that women can't handle a certain type of job. My overall point is that it's not just white males who are ignorant or narrow minded, it's not just white males who commit crimes. We are all, men/women/blacks/hispanics/muslims/catholics/whites, what ever category you fall into, guilty of this type of thinking.

I agree with a lot of what's already written here. If you do want to go in, to whatever branch, get it in writing from the recruiter. I was in '74 - '78, and there were a large number of people who did not get what they thought they were going to. As its been said before, oral agreements aren't worth the paper they're written on. Definitely forget the first 6 months of being in, or even longer depending on what you signed up for. You'll be too busy training. Also, as I mentioned, give serious thought before you sign up. The military is a very very different world from civilian life, and if you decide a few months into that you want to get out, you'll regret it. The Army is a big institution that puts its needs above the needs of individual soldiers. I don't mean this in a negative way, any large institution is like this. the difference is that in this organization you can't leave when you feel like it. Don't let this scare you off, if you want to do it, go for it. It was a real enlightening experience for me (including 3 yrs in Germany), and made me appreciate college more when I went back and got my BA.

Ted Nugent is not an ignorant white male. As has been pointed out in this thread, no one would have said the same comment if a black or hispanic male had made comments about their own political views. He is right on when he says that hate crimes are a bogus idea. If a family member of yours is shot, does it hurt less if that person is white. Is a white life worse less than a lesbian one, or a black one? Stop creating more laws and enforce the ones we have. If someone commits a crime they deserve the punishment specified under the appropriate law, no matter what their ethnicity/sexual orientation/religion is. As for the bit about women making less than men, that's not true. When you compare apples to apples, the make the same. Compare a man and woman with equal work experience in their chosen field, same college degree, etc. and you get the same pay. Where the discrepancy comes from that the feminists like to harp on, is that so many women take years out to bear and raise children. Obviously, you can't expect a woman to make the same as a man if she has had a number of years out of the workplace. Add to that the fact that many women choose lower paying fields such as elementary school teacher compared to men who go into investment banking or engineering and it further distorts the results. Also, Nugent has been a strong supporter of gun rights over the years. It is hypocritical of Sen Feinstine to be so opposed to gun rights when she has had a permit to carry a concealed weapon for years. Which believe me, here in the PC capitol bay area of CA is next to impossible to get. Another way in which the PC folks are so hypocritical about do as I say not as I do. As for racism, don't act like whites invented it. I am married to an asian woman (I'm white) and I've heard numerous non whites make all sorts of racist statements. Believe me that non whites can be just as racist as any white that ever lived. I've heard them. The important thing about Nugent's statement is that he should have the right to say the things he does without automatically being condemned for being racist/violent/etc. and judging by some of the comments made here is just what is happening.

I don't know who they are, but that picture had to be taken during the summer, because cold tends to make everything shrink. I wonder if either of them get off before pulling.

Each of these posts has a valid point. Some of the people out there saying there should be no retaliation forget that this is not the first time we have had terrorist attacks (The '93 bombing at the World Trade Center, the Navy ship just a short while ago, etc) and that if we don't retaliate in some sort of way they will just keep doing it. Please don't take this to mean that we should "bomb Afghanastan back to the stone age". That's an absurd idea; most of the people there have been suffering for decades. I live in in the bay area CA and many Afghans live here, they would be overjoyed at the Taliban being kicked out but they certainly don't want the entire population wiped out. As for the statement that they are jealous of us, yes they are but not retaliating is not the answer. People who do these things need to realize that there will be a dreadful cost to them for the misery they have called. The Islamic fundamentalists who do this really do hate out society, it's not just jealousy. They don't like the fact that women control their own lives, they don't like the fact our society is so open and uncontrolled, and they would like to see us destroyed. As has been mentioned many times in literature they have put out. In a rather roundabout way, I'm saying that retaliation is a necessary part of being a nation, but we should do it where and when necessary, not indiscriminately. Finally, I would sort of like to see some of these people saying no retaliation at all, get punched several times as you mentioned in your scenario. Might be interesting to see their reaction.

Hi Jason, I repeated my level 3 and 4 because of a spinning problem. Once I managed to get my legs symmetrical, I was fine. The problem was the same as yours, I had one leg sticking up. Just think of it as doing an advanced turn before you've been trained to do it. Also, the toe taps are a good tip, they help you to realize just where your legs are and get them back to symmetrical. good luck.

Hi Sis, I say go for it, quit school and move to a drop zone. You can always go back to school later. I had a year of college after high school and quit to join the Army and then spent some time just bumming around. When I came back 5 years later I appreciated college much more. Also, I read in some magazine awhile ago of a survey of men in their 60's and what they regretted the most in their life. The vast majority regretted more what they had not done than what they had done and screwed up. So go ahead and move to the dropzone and jump like crazy.

I just read what those two idiots said. They're a disgrace to America.

I jump at Byron, in the bay area in CA. A great place to jump. I'm going to check out Monterey and Skydance once I get my A license