BikerBabe

funny thing. I used to be an atheist. I thought the Big Bang theory was true. I am now a Christian. and you know what? I STILL think the big bang theory is true! *gasp* I KNOW! hard to believe isn't it? The one constant through my change in faith is that i have the mind (and even the heart) of a scientist. I get so sick of these arguments that science and religion/faith/belief/whatever are at odds. They aren't. The never had to be. For me, they never will be. and i pray that as time goes on, more and more folks will come to realize the same. To me, science is one of the tools God gave us to help understand Him better. We have rational minds with the abilities to reason out countless problems, both scientific and otherwise. To say that God doesn't want us to use the abilities He gave us kind of strikes me as blasphemous (for lack of a better term). Who knows, maybe someday there will be some kind of evidence, proven by the scientific method, that God does exist. Then again, i've seen different levels of proof required for ANY sort of scientific theory. Some people will NEVER EVER have enough proof. Some already do. That, m'dears, is where faith steps in.

as someone who suffers from moderately severe seborrheic dermatitis (that's dandruff, only i have it on my face as well), often times going out in the sun is the only way to get my skin looking somewhat presentable again. bring on the crisco, baby! Never meddle in the affairs of dragons, for you are crunchy and taste good with ketchup!

the title of your thread and your subsequent arguments are misleading. The poll choices don't really reflect what you are implying. First: That being stated, your thread title and continual use of the term in regards to government taxes implies that taxes are some sort of punishment the government inflicts on the people. Perhaps taxes such as sin taxes and sales taxes could be considered "punitive" in nature. Income taxes? not really. I don't believe the government has it out for you, nor are they sitting in washington cackling evilly rubbing their hands together saying "HAHA! THIS'LL hit em where it hurts! Gotta teach those people a LESSON!" They are trying to pay their bills (well, that could be argued, too, i suppose, heh). i hope you aren't planning to use the results of this poll to support some claim. if so, you should add other polls for spending, deficits, etc. As has been said, you cannot separate this out into a simplistic yes or no question. Basically, your use of the term punitive and your subsequent posts in this and other threads lead me to believe you are making an underlying (erroneous?) assumption about the motivation for taxation by the government. ANy counter to said assumption seems to be met by you with disdain or the "stick to the subject" argument. The previous posts ARE sticking to the subject. Just because they are saying something you don't want to hear doesn't mean they are off-topic. Never meddle in the affairs of dragons, for you are crunchy and taste good with ketchup!

yup, sucks. Luckily the home we're trying to sell is located in a state (NM) that wasn't overly affected by the inflated home prices of the last few years. We're actually probably going to make a profit! which will, of course, be used to buy a smaller, older, house with less land in the great state of california. I still think home prices here in CA are inflated. though i'm not sure if they will drop much further, to be honest. Of course, having lived in Ohio and New Mexico previously, where a 2500 sq ft house with an acre of land was at most 250k, perhaps my perspective is skewed Never meddle in the affairs of dragons, for you are crunchy and taste good with ketchup!

i chose "passive" though i'm online most of the time. Home computer, cell phone. on the PC i use IM, the web, and online gaming. I will NEVER give any employer my personal cell number. If they want to provide a phone for me, that's fine. When i traveled a lot, i refused to work on planes, in the car, or at home. We lasted for however many decades keeping work at work and not bringing it home (with some exceptions). We still can. I don't have a blackberry, don't use facebook or myspace (*barf*) and i don't plan on it, either. I don't need the hassle in my life. I get overwhelmed just trying to decide which task to do first when cleaning my house. if i had a job calling me, paging, texting, whatever, i'd go bonkers. This is one of the reasons i'm increasingly hesitant to rejoin the "corporate" american workforce. I don't WANT to be hyperconnected. Never meddle in the affairs of dragons, for you are crunchy and taste good with ketchup!

Never meddle in the affairs of dragons, for you are crunchy and taste good with ketchup!

you know thirdworld, i'll ask you the exact same thing i asked rush (and never got an answer, btw). What sort of "proof" would YOU need to change YOUR mind? Scientific studies and reports obviously don't work. So what would cause YOU to agree that GW or whatever you wanna call it is actually happening, and that in order for humans to live a decent life on this planet, we need to change? Turning on your faucet and nothing comes out? Falling ill with a respiratory disease due to chronic lack of oxygen? what is YOUR burden of proof. rush couldn't answer the question. Can you? Never meddle in the affairs of dragons, for you are crunchy and taste good with ketchup!

i just tell them "it's not perfectly good...it's got this big hole in the side!" or "you obviously have never seen a skydiving plane..." Never meddle in the affairs of dragons, for you are crunchy and taste good with ketchup!

it is amazing =) bring your earplugs!!! Never meddle in the affairs of dragons, for you are crunchy and taste good with ketchup!

roadracing is actually more safe than any other form of motorcycle riding, in general. Roadracers wear full racing leathers (about 1/4 " thick) which includes armor protecting the spine, shoulders, knees, elbows, etc. Helmets are of course required (full face, heh), as well as heavy duty boots. Check out what your local motocross rider is wearing next time you see one. That being said, sometimes no amount of protective gear will prevent a fatality. From that article, it sounds like Dunlop's accident was exacerbated by another rider "clipping" him once he was down. If he had to crash, i'd much rather my hubby crash on the track than on the street or dirt. the vast majority of road race crashes end up with the rider standing up looking sheepish but walking away unharmed. Never meddle in the affairs of dragons, for you are crunchy and taste good with ketchup!

What a great event! 2 DIFFERENT groups completing back to back 100 ways...was really amazing thing to see. But the coolest thing was that there were 62 (yes, SIXTY-TWO) people there who were on their very first 100 way! The beer was flowing freely great job, everyone! Never meddle in the affairs of dragons, for you are crunchy and taste good with ketchup!

Uhhh....last i checked Daryld Light, Mark Brown, and Bob ferguson all jump at Perris. And their loads are often full. Guess i'm confused here... Never meddle in the affairs of dragons, for you are crunchy and taste good with ketchup!

Yes I have and done a number of fun jumps with them while in Perris, and when @ The Farm I get on Stone loads or Andy ways. There aways good fun jumps. To get on good fun jumps I travel to places where you don't have to deal with any "bowling league style" wannabee's who all think their the next airspeed in training who show up and prance around expecting a whole dz to kiss their ass and worship the ground they walk on with all their special needs, like opening the dz early, passes @ 10K, debreif rooms at a dz that don't have that shit, setting up league meets at 182 dz's without informing them till the last minute and then, when two dzo's move around and do a bunch of shit to provide a turbine AC the 3 or 4 team decide the door on a beech 99 isn't good enough for them to run the meet, and they all pack up their shit and leave without regard for any of the bullshit people went through to get them a plane, let alone the other jumpers who showed up to jump a turbine and got watch the plane leave because the min. just walked out the door for a tail gate. It's fucking jumping out of a plane, society as a whole could care less how many points you can turn, you make no major contributions to society, like a cure for cancer or AIDS. If asked to drop a student @ 3.5 k to help the dz out you reply " I have to concentrate" and then get pissed when someone dose a woohoo on take take off and spend the whole ride taking invisable grips and giving the evil eye to those who are having fun and bitch about the camera men who are in back filming tandems. Got news for you, no one gives a fuck about your special needs other then those DZO's who kiss your ass and stroke your ego. It's people like this who are a major turn off to lowtimers and staff who have to deal with your "little league" meet for the day while you strut around acting like your hot shit, when in fact most will never medal at nationals or ever be the next airspeed. Many of those I speak of could learn a lot from the Anthony Stones or Mark Browns, Darryld Light, Bob F. Bob Strum, Larry Henderson, Scotty Carbone, Popsjumpers of the skydiving world. This one reason you see so many students get an A and want to hang with the free flyers and not want to do RW at a lot of dz's. People work real jobs and put up with uptight anal retentive pricks all week long and they go to the dz to HAVE FUN and make a few good jumps, swap a few lies over beers blow off all the bullshit of the real world, not bring it with them to the dz or deal with those types while there. Yes there are still those places where fun jumping can be found and no one will cry about a wrong grip or someone going low or flying the wrong slot, but there getting harder to find in places with friendly faces. Wait...who is being uptight and judgmental here? There are people out there who don't find it fun to jump out and flail around every single jump. There are people out there who ENJOY success and turning points. So why am I not allowed to have my fun? To me, the most fun I could have at the DZ is a training jump or a learning jump or a competition jump. How am I ANY different than you? Re-read your post then tell me who is being uptight here. I have NO problem with the folks you mentioned or the jumps they do. However, it's MY choice, and you will rarely find me on their loads. *shrug* Re-read what Rehmwa posted. he's dead on the money. Never meddle in the affairs of dragons, for you are crunchy and taste good with ketchup!

I did. You just dont like my answer. Any proof will be considered. But since there is not anytodate you have nothing either.. FYI Snarky does not become you *sigh* "any proof"? that's not an answer. i'm looking for specifics. All right. let me re-form my question once again. By what criteria do you judge "evidence" in this debate? What sort of "proof" will you take to be enough? Do you understand my question now? When you make a statement like "any proof will be considered," that leads me to believe that you have SOME criteria for judging whether that "proof" is indeed....um...proof. So what is it? what do you use to judge whether something holds water? I'm not being snarky. I just want to know. Never meddle in the affairs of dragons, for you are crunchy and taste good with ketchup!

rush, you still avoided my question. let me restate. What type of scientific evidence would cause you to change? What proof? From which "expert?" Go on, give it a go...make a stab at answering. Never meddle in the affairs of dragons, for you are crunchy and taste good with ketchup!

What is wrong is where you are starting from. You automaticly assuming that we are destroying the planet. If one really cares to look at it, all this green stuff and green house gas crap has nothing to ddo with the planet. In the end, YOU want to force what you believe on the rest of us. As for harm of "changing"? The implications of the change you advocate is a huge list. And nearly non of them are good. But lets say you are correct in some fashion. Then common sense would beg for change. But, people will only do that if the information being put forth is truthful. Saddly, this is not the case. Eddited to add: We are already seeing the effects of the kind of change you advocate. Those being gas prices and food shortages. If you really care to look I asked for what sort of proof you would need. Please answer my question. Is there ANYTHING that will EVER be "truthful" in your eyes? what if it is completely counter to your current world view? Is there ANY evidence you would accept...or would you continue to call it a lie? If so, please, tell me. Tell us. I am not talking about what is out there now. I'm talking about what, in YOUR mind, will prove to YOU that we do, indeed, need to change. Me, i don't need proof. I believe we should be good custodians of our planet no matter what. Cutting down forests, polluting our air and water, etc...that's not being a good custodian. Honestly, it's not an argument based on consequences. it's an argument based on the means. So I say again...does it really matter if it's humanity or not? Never meddle in the affairs of dragons, for you are crunchy and taste good with ketchup!

In the end...does it really matter? Does it TRULY matter? What will it take to cause people to treat the earth better? If there was unequivocal evidence that humanity was indeed ruining this planet, would you change then? Or would we continue to argue? What sort of evidence would you need, deniers, to decide to change? Give me examples here, because all I ever see is the same "it's not real and here's why". So look at it from the other side. What, for YOU, would MAKE it real? If one day you woke up and took two steps, then passed out from lack of oxygen? You turned on your faucet and nothing came out? You drove your car to the gas station and it was closed...they were all closed for lack of supply? What would it take? And would it be too late? Then I ask you, tell me the harm in changing NOW. Tell me. What is the harm in changing NOW? Never meddle in the affairs of dragons, for you are crunchy and taste good with ketchup!

Funny, i went through SERE training too. And i understood that the "torture" they did to us during the resistance portion was meant to teach US how to deal with a shitbag enemy doing it to US....NOT to teach me what our interrogation techniques should be. I think you might be missing the entire point of SERE... Never meddle in the affairs of dragons, for you are crunchy and taste good with ketchup!

I didn't know which to vote for, because from my travels abroad, this is what i've seen: People don't hate America. People hate "Americans". You can read the news and this or that government's opinions of our policies, but down on the streets of places like Europe, etc, people don't care about that stuff. People care that they see Americans laughing at or dismissing their culture as unimportant. Americans not bothering to learn their language when traveling and just expecting everyone to know English. They care that they see Americans with this enormous cultural arrogance, that everyone and everything should conform to OUR way of doing things, rather than US making a little effort to conform to others. Next time you go abroad (if you even do, that's part of the problem....how many people actually have passports?) take a look at the "backpacking" scene. Travelers who are there to actually experience the culture of a foreign land. Watch how many Americans wear Canadian flags. Ask them why. I honestly think most non-americans still see the US as a place for opportunities. But like a lot of the faith vs. religion arguments you see on here, "Americans" are much different in practice than the America of the ideal. Never meddle in the affairs of dragons, for you are crunchy and taste good with ketchup!

You know, if you think about it, Disney seems to have a *thing* for orphaning their characters. How about Bambi? and the lion king? and it's not like the babies are already orphans. During the movie, the parent is either dragged away or dies a horrible grisly death. it's a little, um, disturbing, dontcha think? Never meddle in the affairs of dragons, for you are crunchy and taste good with ketchup!

wow, a candidate that speaks truth and tells it like it is. sounds like he's got another vote. what a stupid bullshit thing to be arguing over. Stupid. Bullshit. Never meddle in the affairs of dragons, for you are crunchy and taste good with ketchup!

you have got to be SHITTING me. you know, i haven't really been too into this race. too much bickering. but to be 100% honest, Obama's willingness to tell it like it is, and the media's utterly RIDICULOUS treatment of him...you know? they make me want to vote for him MORE. It's like a big joke. I hate coffee. i mean shit, i guess that means i could never run for president! Never meddle in the affairs of dragons, for you are crunchy and taste good with ketchup!

AFMC = you fly a desk. i highly doubt they're on the "high risk form" bandwagon yet. unless they are on one of their kicks where they try to prove that they are real soldiers too and try to make everyone act "operational". You should have seen it when they tried to make the SPOs do PT programs. HAHAHA. Working in AFMC is like working at Boeing. 9-5, emails and power point all day, tons of stupid contracting regs. Yes. it's sad. Why do you think i left? lol! I joined the AF to see the world and work with planes. I ended up seeing a computer screen and working with...civilians. Never meddle in the affairs of dragons, for you are crunchy and taste good with ketchup!

lmao quade....nice one. Never meddle in the affairs of dragons, for you are crunchy and taste good with ketchup!

on the up side, the carpenter ants taste amazingly like lemon drops.... Never meddle in the affairs of dragons, for you are crunchy and taste good with ketchup!