DanG

I just heard about this today: http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/more-50-amputees-skydive-over/story.aspx?guid=%7B8AC2F853-52F3-4144-B818-CDB01240BCA2%7D&dist=msr_3 Does anyone know any details? - Dan G

It would be really cool if you continued to do the Rubik's cube experiment every 200 jumps or so. I find that my brains works a lot better in freefall that it used to, but when I take a layoff, like over the winter, I'm back to being much more easily overwhelmed until I get current again. - Dan G

Whoosh. Do you really think that if government went away all of our problems would be solved? "Just let the free market decide" works great for the price of cantaloupe in Boise, but not so well when your talking about human rights, including the right to bear arms. Do you really want your 2nd Amendment rights policed by the free market? Whoever has the most cash gets to decide what your rights are? Sure the government makes stupid decisions all the time, my point was that the stupid decisions are the result of the fact that they are people, too. They'll make the same stupid decisions working for Globocorp as the ones they make while working for BLM. - Dan G

I'd say the only way to stop corruption, influence peddling, etc. is to make people stop behaving like human beings. Whether government is making decisions, or the free and open market is making decisions, human frailty and vice will always play a role. Government is made of people, but so are businesses. Corruption will continue until our robot overlords finally show themselves. - Dan G

Paralympics includes events for people with various physical disabilities, not just paralysis. Otherwise your definition seems about right. - Dan G

Hi Peter, I met you briefly last night. Hope you finally got your car started. I've found that the best way to make sure an unwanted nickname is forgotten is to ignore it. The more you resist it and insist that people stop calling you Peaches, the more people will want to call you Peaches. It may already be too late, best of luck though. I also have no idea how you ended up with Peaches, but I suppose it could be worse. - Dan G

I'd settle for stories that existed. Both of those links were broken. - Dan G

Not a personal insult at all. At least compared to what I wanted to say. And I did re-read post #29. I still think you're full of shit. - Dan G

How about just one or two? - Dan G

On the other, other hand where's the proof that they're not all clones from Alpha Centuri here to suck our brains? I haven't seen any proof of that either! If you're going to claim a fact (illegals take more out of the system than they put in) it is your job to show even a shred of evidence to support it. It is not everyone else's job to prove you wrong. Cool, if it's on the news it shouldn't be so hard to Google it and bolster your case. Sure you can. If you qualify for Medicare or Medicaid you get free healthcare. Or are you arguing that all illegals get free medical care regardless of their situation? If so, that's another claim I think you'll have trouble proving. Again, please share. Make sure to include data on how widespread the problem is, and if it is offset by SS contributions, unemployment insurance contributions, and other taxes. Good luck with that. Maybe not. You haven't shown us anything to indicate that your news tells these stories either. - Dan G

That claim has been made here many times. No one has ever backed it up. Are you any different? - Dan G

Am I the only person here who is quite alarmed and deeply offended that the ultimate armchair stud is calling the heroes of Flight 93 a bunch of cowards? WTF? I mean really, WTF? - Dan G

How good is your grammar and spelling in Swedish? (edit: Dammit, two seconds too late!) - Dan G

Pretty big leap to assume that conditions were so horrible because the name at the top of the paychecks was HRH. You sure that there were no other causes for the bad conditions? - Dan G

Actually, the article quotes her as saying tearing families apart is un-American. The actual quote appears to have been, "Who in this country would not want to change a policy of kicking in doors in the middle of the night and sending a parent away from their families?...It must be stopped....What value system is that? I think it's un-American. I think it's un-American." Fox News just chose to intepret her comments quite loosely, thus the headline, "enforcement of immigration laws in the United States is 'un-American.'" But I wouldn't expect Fox to dig past a sensationalist headline. - Dan G

Thanks for the gross generalization. There are some large and quite reputable dropzones, including mine, that are club operated and like it that way. One could make the argument that clubs are safer because there is no profit motive by a greedy individual to cut corners. I think your opinion of club dropzones is not founded in reality. - Dan G

It seems that no matter what the Obama administration does regarding the VA you will find a way to see it in a negative light. I agree the third party insurance idea was stupid. It is also never going to happen, and you seem to be the only one who refuses to recognize that. The budget calls for a massive increase in funding to the VA, and all you can say about it is that is it a plan to backdoor socialized medicine. If your buddy GWB had proposed the same increase, I very much doubt that your reaction would be to criticize it as socialization of national healthcare. The VA system (and I'm already in it, so I know firsthand) is sometimes extremely frustrating and poorly managed. Sometimes, however, it works beautifully. Just like any other system, it has flaws and good points. Increasing funding may not (will not) eliminate all flaws, but I find it hard to swallow your apparent argument that it will not have any positive impact on the system. - Dan G

Yes, I'm Batman. If you read my post I said that there are groups trying to polarize military members and veterans against the President. Yes, in fact that makes me sad. You read your own bias in and assumed that I meant that ONLY groups trying to polarize military members and veterans make me sad. The general state of political discourse in this country (and most especially this site) makes me sad. The fact that some people so badly want the President to be the boogeyman that Rush Limbaugh says he is that they'll jump on any anti-Obama bandwagon that happens by makes me sad. And the fact that you're apparently resigned to receiving only half-truths and selective reporting as "the way of the world" makes me sad. Demand more and maybe you'll get it. - Dan G

Why can't we do both at the same time? Why are the two even connected in your mind? Cancer kills more people than drunk driving, so why don't we start worrying about drunk driving after we cure cancer, okay? - Dan G

You're right. Since everyone does it that makes it okay. Thanks for being such a moral beacon. - Dan G

You've gotten a ton of good advice in this thread, some of it conflicting, but none of it wrong. That's true because jumpsuits are a very personal part of your gear. What works fine for some people may not work for others. If you're sure you want to get into freeflying, get a freefly suit with grippers. The extra fabric will slow you down on your belly, but you won't have the control and power you'll get from a real RW suit. You probably wwon't use the grippers when freeflying, but they're nice to have when you want to make an RW jump. Since you can't freefly in a real RW suit, but can do decent RW in a freefly suit, if you only want one suit right now, I'd go with a freefly suit. Talk to the manufacturer about your size and weight and they can probably recommend a cut that will work for you. I have four suits: a tight nylon RW suit with massive booties that kicks ass for 4-way, a loose cotton RW suit with smaller booties that I like for larger group jumps where I suspect the fallrate might be slow, a freefly suit with grippers that I use on my belly when jumping with wee people (and flail around in whilst trying to freefly), and a camera suit. Eventually you'll end up with a gear bag full of cloth, too, but starting out right now I think a freefly suit with grippers might be the right way to go. - Dan G

Read the rest of the thread and comment again. - Dan G

Marg, Thanks for posting the rest of the story. There are clearly groups out there trying to mobilize military members and veterans against the administration using half-truths and selective coverage of important stories. It saddens me that people are so ready to believe these stories without digging even a little deeper. And if they do remove the ban on concurrent receipt, drinks are on me. - Dan G

Yup, you said that. I didn't reply to you. I will however, reply to your characterization of people who disagree with you as "you Constitution lovers." Are you saying you don't love the Constitution? Is there now something evil and "liberal" about loving the Constitution? - Dan G

Louisiana argues that it is their right to teach religion in science class, then why should they be upset when scientists exercise their rights not to go there? Or do you only believe people have rights when they support your views? - Dan G