dbattman

Oh, man. That one is going in my 'favorites' for future use. Excellent choice- you have good taste.

I'm still waiting to see this broadcast, in all it's uncut gruesome nature. If you haven't seen it, Nic screamed until they sliced through his windpipe. Then there was just a gurgling sound. I'll never forget what that sounded like. I just watched a newspaper editor on CNN talk about how they plan to run a still shot with the lead butcher holding up Nic's head, BLACKED OUT! Show us the damn video. Don't you think we can handle it? We had to handle a steady stream of prison photos for two weeks. I think we were thoroughly desensitized by the extreme brutality of a guy wearing panties on his head. And that other one with the dog collar? Oh, the humanity! Nic was snatched in early April before the prison scandal hit the news. If those photos hadn't hit the airwaves, they would have found another reason to slice and dice him. By the way, Nic was a nobody. He wasn't a soldier, a political figure, or a Halliburton merc. He was just some sap over there looking for some work improving the communication net. That was after spending time in Ghana teaching science and basic building to villagers (among other things). Pearl had his throat slashed. Perhaps someone can correct me, but I don't remember anything happening to bring that about. That Italian was executed with a hood on his head, struggling to get it off yelling 'I'll show you how an ITALIAN dies!' Four bodies burned and strung up in a bridge. Was there a 'trigger' for these events? Swift retribution for supplying more electricity and clean water than Hussein, rebuilding schools, and trying to get the country back on it's feet? Yeah, that deserves an immediate retaliation. Let's not forget the Red Cross, the FIRST people to schow up after a disaster, flood, earthquake, random village slaughter, you name it- those barbarians definitely deserved a truck bomb for their involvement. Those who keep blaming this on Bush, or the prison, or the Marines attacking Faluja, or whatever other 'reason' can keep their head in the sand. These people have been slashing each others throats for two thousands years. This year is no different. The only difference is the throats aren't wearing a headress right now.

How is the program done out at Aggieland?

Does the rating have value? I imagine there's a redeeming quality or two in there. If you're looking at it from the angle of the experienced jumper knowing a few good drill dives there's some value to the rating. Do I need a three day course to learn a few drill dives? Not really. The redeeming qualities of the coach rating stop when you start requiring paid coach jumps. I've never liked places that charge new jumpers packing class fees, coach fees, jumpmaster fees, etc etc. Any dropzone worth going to will have experienced people willing to hold a base for a dive out or practice docks WITHOUT the new jumper buying the slot and paying a fee. Am I saying they should do that all day? Heck no, but giving back a slot once or twice a month isn't going to bankrupt you. Besides- it's really, really fun. If you've let yourself go long enough and need recurrency then I see justfication for buying a slot. When I was learning at the cessna clubs skydiving was about giving back. Our experienced RW groups break up to jump on two or three ways with the new jumpers on a regular basis. We hold free packing classes every few months where people volunteer. On cloudy days or during the slow weeks there's usually a few people practicing their pro pack with a watchful jumper nearby. People did this for me when I was starting out and I'll keep doing it for them for a long time. As the saying goes- just my $0.02, your opinion my vary.

Just so I understand, how does lifting out the d-bag cause the grommet to get coned INTO the bag? I would think this would be the outer link being pulled back towards the canopy after extraction from the bag.

More pictures of bridal wear These are pictures from my rig taken in January. The Monarch 175 had slammed this rig so many times the center grommet on the dbag was coned inside and had a pronounced edge that was causing bridal wear (presumably). There may have been some pinching, but I believe it was caused by edges on the beat up grommet.

This strikes me as being more of a 'tongue in cheek' scientific organization rather than an actual belief. Kinda like the Ig Noble Prize and the Annals of Improbable Research where a third of the pubs are real, a third are fake, and a third of the readers can't tell the difference.

Yeah, the phone number for the clam shack. Then they asked her if she had crabs, too. BWAHAHAHA!

Kamikazie inner tubes! Bonzai!

Eject! Eject from the whale!

Point taken on this, though. It is indeed difficult with the barrage and cacaphony of multiple media all clamoring for you attention. Kinda like that Monty Python but with the spam.

Cool- MXC shot in the winter time. I wonder if they'll still do the pond stuff.

Here's one. Hookitt's a fucker

Perfectly, and I stand by both posts. You're right- it was all just part of the slime campaign being run by the liberal media. And it was still a seven word fragment.

Hey, now that is cool!

Red Hat is a free download. I think I have my old MS-DOS 5.0 floppies lying around if you remember how to use naked DOS. Fun, fun, fun!

Already? I flipped over to History channel and the time just flew by.

Alright, thanks for the links. Thank you for also reminding me why I seldom post here and have grown to almost despise the internet. Let's take a post, pick out a fragment of a sentence, and JUMP ALL OVER IT! We have hundreds of people on this forum who could make a great living editing 'letters to the editor' or soundbites for the evening news and radio.

I thought they cancelled that show years ago. Huh-shows how much I care.

This one came to me in my email box the other day from my bro, Capt. Batt. Everytime I'm sitting in another hotel room fed up with a job I don't really care about anymore wondering if I can quit and still pay the mortgage on time, a picture like this show sup. Then I have to stop and slap myself for acting like such pussy. Look at this guy. I have absolutely nothing to say that could do this justice, so I won't even try. I'll just let you all decide for yourself. I attached the email text because I felt it was relevant to the forum topic. This is an example of the small differences that certain leadership qualities make. Stories like this are all over the military, and that’s why everyone in uniform loves our President. You’ll never see it on the news, but “we” know about it and that’s why we follow HIM and not his orders. Clinton would never have done something like this. That’s the difference between claiming to be a leader and leading. One pays lip service while the other gets to work. This one really touched me, so I thought I would share. How many people would dare to motivate this soldier by challenging him to a run, of all things? That seems to be the President’s attitude – face the fear and beat it into a bloody pulp. He visits all Iraqi wounded at the Walter Reed Army Hospital once a month. Kind of says something when the most powerful man in the world clears his schedule to shake hands and say “Thank You”. Leadership I am still learning from. Attached is a picture of Mike McNaughton. He stepped on a land mine in Afghanistan Christmas 2002. President Bush came to visit the wounded in the hospital. He told Mike that when he could run a mile, that they would go on a run together. True to his word, he called Mike every month or so to see how he was doing. Well, last week they went on the run, 1 mile with the president. Not something you'll see in the news, but seeing the president taking the time to say thank you to the wounded and to give hope to one of my best friends was one of the greatest/best things I have seen in my life. It almost sounds like a corny email chain letter, but God bless him. Love, Justin CPT Justin P. Dodge, MD Flight Surgeon, 1-2 AVN RGT Medical Corps, U.S. Army

Well, I've always considered 'ADD' to be uh, um, could you repeat the question? (Sorry, couldn't resist)

Doesn't look familiar. Must not be one of the 20+ I've been to. I'd be interesting to find out, though.

Well, you could put the money you saved into a small bottle of whiskey and boost the content. Yum!

Sure, lock him up for six months. Just be sure to let a violent felon out early to make room. I've always thought 'house arrest' more appropriate for non-violent/non-property crimes (property meaning theft, burglary, etc.). Just my $0.02.

Man, stay away from Southpaw Light. The taste is alright and you can't beat