SivaGanesha

This is interesting but fairly obvious and expected. Note the comment in the article--albeit from another news article--the guys fear they are not "in the same league" as the girls. Notice how this particular phrase--"in the same league"--seems to always be used in one direction only. It is always the men who are said to not be "in the same league" as the women--never the other way around. The study that I'd find really interesting would be one that put this to the test--partly because I don't know what its outcome would be: Specifically, first rate a group of both men and women by having heterosexual strangers of the opposite sex, who know them only by a photo(s), rate their photo(s). Take only the top 1%, by appearance, of both men and women. Then put a super-hot woman and a super-hot man in a room together--and see whether the guy is still really stressed or not. At this point--objectively--they are in the same league--they are both super-hot. But would that be reflected in their reactions to each other? "It's hard to have fun at 4-way unless your whole team gets down to the ground safely to do it again!"--Northern California Skydiving League re USPA Safety Day, March 8, 2014

The question could equally well be asked, though, who made 'we the people' the boss of everyone? It seems to me that the USA is based on some assumptions about God's views about human government too. For example--the opinion expressed in the Declaration of Independence that humans are endowed by their creator with certain inalienable rights. The USA seems to rely in its founding documents on a certain faith in what God's point of view might be just as much as kings and queens do with the 'divine right of kings'. I'm not aware of any actual evidence of God's real views either way. One can certainly offer an informed human opinion as to which system of government--a nearly absolute monarchy or a federal republic (not necessarily a completely pure democracy)--is a better way for humans to govern themselves. Both systems, though, seem to rely on an appeal to God's presumed views--and that's where both are on somewhat shaky ground. "It's hard to have fun at 4-way unless your whole team gets down to the ground safely to do it again!"--Northern California Skydiving League re USPA Safety Day, March 8, 2014

It seems that a few centuries ago it was simply taken for granted in many countries that you would have a king/queen. There were assumed to be no other options. A few centuries still earlier even the queen option didn't exist. It seems to me that, looking at history, there were a wide range of scenarios as to how the throne passed from one monarch--ie one king--to the next. Sometimes, indeed, one thug died or was killed by another thug and the new thug took over. Sometimes the throne passed quite peacefully from father to son. Sometimes there was no son or an underage son and there was much political intrigue--but little physical violence--regarding the succession. Sometimes the next person in line, according to the rules, was determined to be a foreigner from an enemy nation and the rules were still followed faithfully and the foreigner gracefully granted the throne. Sometimes not. The fact that there were clear rules of succession and a great deal of training that went into preparing a son to take over his father's job suggests to me that, while people were well aware that physical violence was always a possible factor in determining the new king, they were also aware that it was far from an optimal solution. It also suggests that aging kings cared--in general if not in all individual cases--what happened to their kingdoms after they died. In short, monarchy is a system of government which has/had its better and its not so good moments. Judging the system of monarchy by its more thuggish moments strikes me as a bit like judging 200+ years of American democracy solely on its worst moments like Watergate or the 2000 election. "It's hard to have fun at 4-way unless your whole team gets down to the ground safely to do it again!"--Northern California Skydiving League re USPA Safety Day, March 8, 2014

Execution of an innocent person is, by far, the worst because it involves premeditated killing by the state. In all other cases, even the death of a bystander in war, decisions made at an individual level may play a role and so it is--in a relative sense--less serious. "It's hard to have fun at 4-way unless your whole team gets down to the ground safely to do it again!"--Northern California Skydiving League re USPA Safety Day, March 8, 2014

The problem is more that the neighbor's horse has gotten in and has eaten all the hay. "It's hard to have fun at 4-way unless your whole team gets down to the ground safely to do it again!"--Northern California Skydiving League re USPA Safety Day, March 8, 2014

Certainly I would describe him as a fiscal conservative but then again I would consider it virtually impossible to amass great wealth in industry without being a fiscal conservative. "It's hard to have fun at 4-way unless your whole team gets down to the ground safely to do it again!"--Northern California Skydiving League re USPA Safety Day, March 8, 2014

I still get the sense that you aren't familiar with the Border Patrol checkpoints. At a Border Patrol checkpoint, most people are waved through with no documents being shown and with no words being spoken. A decision is made to question a few based solely on what the officer sees. Based on that, one might be tempted to conclude that color of skin would be the primary consideration in deciding who to question. However, the experience of my acquaintance shows that they use more sophisticated criteria. Whether those criteria are fair or similarly result in some people being unfairly singled out for hassling, I do not know. What I do know is that it is not based solely on race. If it were, my acquaintance would not have been caught. "It's hard to have fun at 4-way unless your whole team gets down to the ground safely to do it again!"--Northern California Skydiving League re USPA Safety Day, March 8, 2014

Certainly all illegal immigrants who have been convicted of a crime above and beyond their illegal entry to the country, as Hitler was, should be deported. If the person's entry to the country was illegal to begin with, and they commit other crimes after arriving, surely even the most liberal defender of their 'rights' must concede that at some point they've overstayed their welcome? People like Hitler are, fortunately, rare, so the chance of them actually rising to the level of evil of a Hitler is, thankfully, still low--but the risk is there and clearly increases the more crimes they commit, so why take the risk if they weren't welcome here to begin with? No this wasn't my point since he soon annexed his native Austria, as well as many other countries, and persecuted people pretty much everywhere he could control. The irony is more in the fact that his rise to power came in a country that came close to kicking him out. The other irony is that people are comparing this law to Nazi Germany whereas in fact the last best chance to stop Hitler before his rise to power would have been if Weimar Germany had had a similar law after the Beer Hall Putsch. At that point his charisma and danger was known but he didn't yet have the huge crowds behind him--he was still stoppable. Once he started getting massive crowds backed up by his thugs he was almost unstoppable in his rise to power. "It's hard to have fun at 4-way unless your whole team gets down to the ground safely to do it again!"--Northern California Skydiving League re USPA Safety Day, March 8, 2014

It was at a Border Patrol checkpoint, which is not the same thing as a border checkpoint. There are a number of them at various locations within 100 miles of the Mexican border. Most people are just waved through with no questioning at all. This might lead one to the initial conclusion that they make the initial decision to question someone based on my race, but the experience of my acquaintance, a white male, proves that it is more complex than that. "It's hard to have fun at 4-way unless your whole team gets down to the ground safely to do it again!"--Northern California Skydiving League re USPA Safety Day, March 8, 2014

Just to get all the facts out...Hitler was an illegal alien. He was from Austria and illegally in Germany. Had Weimar Germany had a legal tool like the Arizona law on its books, Hitler's ass would have been deported back to Austria where it belonged following his Beer Hall Putsch, and Hitler would never have come to power in Germany. "It's hard to have fun at 4-way unless your whole team gets down to the ground safely to do it again!"--Northern California Skydiving League re USPA Safety Day, March 8, 2014

Yes, in fact. I once knew a white male from the UK who was arrested at one of the Border Patrol checkpoints near San Diego and then deported. He wasn't, from a race or national origin perspective, the typical illegal alien one would find near San Diego, but he was nevertheless an illegal alien, and justice is blind as to race and/or national origin. "It's hard to have fun at 4-way unless your whole team gets down to the ground safely to do it again!"--Northern California Skydiving League re USPA Safety Day, March 8, 2014

You mean like Bill Gates coming to Stanford...a billionaire lecturing a bunch of millionaires, millionaires' kids, and potential millionaires on the benefits of philanthropy...and the next morning there are just as many homeless dudes sleeping at the bus shelter across the street from Stanford as the day before? Is that what fiscal conservatives do the help the world? "It's hard to have fun at 4-way unless your whole team gets down to the ground safely to do it again!"--Northern California Skydiving League re USPA Safety Day, March 8, 2014

Here it is: Barack Sr and Barack Jr Does anyone know if that is a conveyor belt for luggage or a security checkpoint right behind Barack and Barack? Seems like rather lax security. "It's hard to have fun at 4-way unless your whole team gets down to the ground safely to do it again!"--Northern California Skydiving League re USPA Safety Day, March 8, 2014

If you type "Barack Obama" into Google one of the top ten autocompletions that comes up is "birth certificate". Evidently it is NOT a dead horse for a lot of people "It's hard to have fun at 4-way unless your whole team gets down to the ground safely to do it again!"--Northern California Skydiving League re USPA Safety Day, March 8, 2014

One or both of these documents is a forgery...which one(s)? document number 1 document number 2 "It's hard to have fun at 4-way unless your whole team gets down to the ground safely to do it again!"--Northern California Skydiving League re USPA Safety Day, March 8, 2014

Hope to be there. As you know I'm in the process of interviewing / moving for a new job. It seems likely to happen--and will give me a lot more $$$ for skydiving (eg finally buying gear, etc)--but I may not be quite settled by late June. But I'm going to do my best to be there. "It's hard to have fun at 4-way unless your whole team gets down to the ground safely to do it again!"--Northern California Skydiving League re USPA Safety Day, March 8, 2014

: 1 : Just one for me...seems to be a major cold going around since after my one jump I...literally...came down with a pretty bad cold. A bit disappointing since it was looking like a weekend to make a bunch of jumps. Don't think I actually caught it at the DZ since I'd been feeling it coming on all week...but it hit full force and rather suddenly right after my jump. "It's hard to have fun at 4-way unless your whole team gets down to the ground safely to do it again!"--Northern California Skydiving League re USPA Safety Day, March 8, 2014

Something still doesn't add up here. Since the dog is or was at some point in the possession of the authorities, presumably it could have been tested for rabies. If it had rabies it presumably would not have been released even with the payment of a fine. If it did not have rabies presumably the kid would not need rabies shots. "It's hard to have fun at 4-way unless your whole team gets down to the ground safely to do it again!"--Northern California Skydiving League re USPA Safety Day, March 8, 2014

Apologists for illegal immigration like to talk about the jobs "Americans won't do" but the facts do not bear this out. Every time when an ICE raid separates a group of illegal aliens from their ill-gotten jobs--eg Yamato Engine Specialists in Washington state and Columbia Farms in North Carolina--there are American citizens lining up to apply for the jobs just vacated. One (of many) problems is that our messed up immigration system actually allows an alien in deportation proceedings to apply for temporary employment authorization--so that after a raid, an employee who had no valid papers before often ends up being granted such papers "temporarily" while the deportation case drags on. So the company hires them back--legally this time--and the American workers who applied are SOL. Although the employment authorization may be "temporary" and expire when the alien is finally ordered deported, it gives them a status which then allows them to apply for a social security number. Once you have a social security number, it is yours for life, so if they choose to stay illegally, the net effect of the raid is actually to make their life as an illegal EASIER (because now they at least have a legal SSN). It's a very complex game and counterintuitive in a lot of ways. American citizens will do any job that is available to be done--the only reason some jobs tend to go to illegals is because it is easier to take advantage of illegals so some unscrupulous employers prefer them. There are no jobs American citizens won't do--but there are some US employers who won't hire Americans. "It's hard to have fun at 4-way unless your whole team gets down to the ground safely to do it again!"--Northern California Skydiving League re USPA Safety Day, March 8, 2014

So that means the FAA thinks poorly of its air traffic controllers? Actually, you're correct. Most of the FAA regards us as overpaid arrogant bastards. Let me put it this way--if a dude came home and announced to his wife/girlfriend that he'd just gotten a 2% raise, do you think it would increase his chances of getting laid that night?

Ignorance is bliss! Shah that is one of the dumbest things you have ever said! You have not a damn clue what a lot of companys are doing just to keep the doors open right now so people still have jobs! I can't comment on every company but from an overall perspective I think Shah is right. Wall Street has rebounded a lot over the last year. But the unemployment rate has yet to follow suit. The wealthy may be doing some things to help people get/keep jobs but they are clearly feathering their own nests first. "It's hard to have fun at 4-way unless your whole team gets down to the ground safely to do it again!"--Northern California Skydiving League re USPA Safety Day, March 8, 2014

My personal view is that while giving no raise at all would be understandable in today's economy, giving a 2% raise is in fact insulting. I know that sounds contradictory but the message that comes across from the two actions is very different. Giving no raise at all sends the message that, hey, the company still struggling and simply cannot even think about raises this year. Giving a 2% raise sends the message that the company is doing well enough to give raises, thought long and hard about what this particular employee is worth, and decided he/she was worth only a 2% raise. Definitely a big slap in the face. Be glad you still have a job but be even gladder when you find another one and can kiss these folks goodbye. Giving no raise is a commentary on the economy as a whole; giving a tiny raise is a commentary on what this specific company thinks of this particular employee. Think of it as being like tipping a skydiving instructor. If a student gives no tip at all this is understandable because lots of people feel that tipping is very optional in this sport. But if the student gives an insultingly small tip--let's say 50 cents or something--it sends a message of displeasure with the service that wouldn't be sent if no tip at all was given. "It's hard to have fun at 4-way unless your whole team gets down to the ground safely to do it again!"--Northern California Skydiving League re USPA Safety Day, March 8, 2014

It would certainly be a good test of whether the skills of "today's talent" are based, at least in part, on having well designed jumpsuits that enable everyone to fall at an approximately equal rate. "It's hard to have fun at 4-way unless your whole team gets down to the ground safely to do it again!"--Northern California Skydiving League re USPA Safety Day, March 8, 2014

+1 -10 People who are drunk have no business driving or skydiving but they still have every right to defend themselves in a potentially deadly confrontation. The fact that A is sober and B is drunk in a confrontation between A and B does not necessarily mean that A is right and B is wrong. "It's hard to have fun at 4-way unless your whole team gets down to the ground safely to do it again!"--Northern California Skydiving League re USPA Safety Day, March 8, 2014

That'd be the lazy ass category. I can say that cuz I'm a student. I just was laid off from my job and then I'm going back to school in September--so I think I've got "lazy ass" well covered