livendive

It's very difficult to pin down, and I think reasonable minds can reach different conclusions. While some would say sperm and eggs represent "potential" life, others believe it's not a life till it can survive outside the womb on it's own. In between, there's a fertilized egg toward one end and and a recognizable independent heartbeat toward the other. All I can say in absolute terms is that I don't know when something exhibits "life" in a way that is more deserving of protection than the owner of the womb in which it resides. I can say almost as emphatically that neither does anyone else. I personally believe that it happens sometime right before viability of the fetus, and if it has any reasonable chance of surviving outside of the womb, it should probably be protected. Because this subject is an area of intersecting greys that different people will interpret differently, I don't think anybody should be allowed to force their personal conclusions on anyone else. Blues, Dave "I AM A PROFESSIONAL EXTREME ATHLETE!" (drink Mountain Dew)

Indeed. I'd like to hear the justification from our right wing friends of why some of these fund managers making up to $100Million a year pay tax at around half the rate I do. Don't sweat it. It'll trickle down eventually. Blues, Dave "I AM A PROFESSIONAL EXTREME ATHLETE!" (drink Mountain Dew)

Paste from here Blues, Dave "I AM A PROFESSIONAL EXTREME ATHLETE!" (drink Mountain Dew)

It seems to me that you think I'm loading it more than that? I weigh 115 lbs, about 135 EXIT weight. That gives me a loading of 1.28ish, say 1.3. I;m not at all saying this makes it any better, but I know guys with sub-200 jumps loading canopies at 1.6-1.8 elliptical and non-elliptical. I was at a 1.35 wingloading at 50ish jumps. That was stupid and I wouldn't advise it to anyone. Thankfully, it was a fairly docile canopy (Triathlon) and I got very lucky to only have two minor landing injuries with it, both on the same jump (sprained R. knee and L. ankle). My first jumps at >2.0:1 were when I had 150-160 jumps, on a couple of Jalapeno's (a 120 and a 108). That was incredibly stupid, and I doubt I'd have escaped much more than the two jumps I made on them without hurting myself. Assuming you've got somewhere around 200ish jumps (??) and average canopy skills for your experience, I don't really have a problem with your wingloading, but the Cobalt is a pretty aggressive canopy. Can you get away with it? Perhaps, especially if you keep yourself humble and keep your fallibility in mind. If I were you, I'd at least come up with a structured plan to familiarize yourself with the canopy, all of its control inputs, and its responses, then do some drill flights to ingrain a "flare first" muscle memory for unexpected situations near the ground. Humility, a desire to learn, and an overbearing eye toward safety will take you far. Blues, Dave "I AM A PROFESSIONAL EXTREME ATHLETE!" (drink Mountain Dew)

http://www.tri-cityherald.com/tch/business/story/9433520p-9345667c.html I guess I need to go get some stuff myself pretty soon. FYI - Muttley & I are moving to Pasco in a couple of weeks and the guest room won't have nearly so much junk in it. Have you met Minka yet? Blues, Dave "I AM A PROFESSIONAL EXTREME ATHLETE!" (drink Mountain Dew)

An awesome zombie song!

Fucking awesome!

I like Ron Paul too, but I'm a little concerned about his pro-life position, especially this (from his website): "In Congress, I have authored legislation that seeks to define life as beginning at conception, HR 1094." Now I tend to doubt that he would get such legislation passed, but the fact that he wants to makes me unlikely to vote for him. What you said. His hardcore anti-abortion stance seems to run counter to his otherwise attractive platform, and is the only negative I have seen so far on him. Still, he's probably my second choice after Obama. Blues, Dave "I AM A PROFESSIONAL EXTREME ATHLETE!" (drink Mountain Dew)

Perhaps Scott Lutz can answer this one for ya. Blues, Dave "I AM A PROFESSIONAL EXTREME ATHLETE!" (drink Mountain Dew)

I think this one was by George H.W. Bush, and it referred to the U.S.S. Vincennes shooting down an Iranian commercial airliner, killing some 300 innocent civilians. Blues, Dave "I AM A PROFESSIONAL EXTREME ATHLETE!" (drink Mountain Dew)

Washington is no longer quite so enlightened. While you are free to pick a primary to vote in, you can only pick one. So if you vote for a Republican presidential candidate, you have to vote for a Republican in each other race as well. Having primary votes for more than one party will disqualify a ballot. Personally, I liked it more when I could select my favorite person in each race, regardless of which party they were affiliated with. I think the touted prospect of an organized effort to nominate a weak member of the opposing party smack of paranoia. And while a party should be free to select their nominee without outside interference, to me at least, the freedom of the people to vote their conscience outweighs it. Blues, Dave "I AM A PROFESSIONAL EXTREME ATHLETE!" (drink Mountain Dew)

http://www.cnn.com/2007/HEALTH/11/05/injured.soldier/index.html?iref=mpstoryview#cnnSTCPhoto The pictures tell the tale. Glad the guy is going to be ok.

The oven is a good place to check, especially now that there's not a bun in it! Where's my commission from the list?! Blues, Dave "I AM A PROFESSIONAL EXTREME ATHLETE!" (drink Mountain Dew)

I think skydiving can help correct chemical imbalances to some extent (and similarly cause them in another). I think the bigger impact skydiving has for me is keeping things in perspective. Daily problems can loom larger as time passes, and far surpass the worries they merit. There's something about flying among friends and later hurtling toward a nonchalent planet that helps shrink problems back down to their proper size. I mean by comparison, is it that big of a deal that your neighbor's dog keeps shitting in your yard (e.g.)? Blues, Dave "I AM A PROFESSIONAL EXTREME ATHLETE!" (drink Mountain Dew)

What is going on in the referee's lap behind you? Blues, Dave "I AM A PROFESSIONAL EXTREME ATHLETE!" (drink Mountain Dew)

I know we were going to call some peoples - I can hardly believe I didn't get a call or two this past weekend, and I think you might need to go farther back than just a couple of days to identify where you lost it. Blues, Dave "I AM A PROFESSIONAL EXTREME ATHLETE!" (drink Mountain Dew)

If you're trying to clean a dirty pussy, you've got it backwards. You're supposed to start out by giving a tongue bath to a clean pussy, and finish by making a mess all over it. Blues, Dave "I AM A PROFESSIONAL EXTREME ATHLETE!" (drink Mountain Dew)

My primary doctor is a friend of mine. He's given me the controls in one of his gliders and I've jumped from another. I've taken him on a tandem, used his hangar for tinkering with my trailer, and drank a lot of his beer. I make a pointed effort to not abuse my access to his cell phone/hangar/email/free advice, but he is absolutely available. His office is on the other side of the parking lot from my office, and a quick email "Hey Jim...you got time to see me today?" usually gets me in promptly. Note I don't think I've ever needed more than 10 minutes of office time with him. When bothering him doesn't seem reasonable, I have two other friends who are skydiver medical types who are always helpful. Just a few weeks ago I found myself in an ER for a few hours, but not until after friendly, frank advice over the phone had failed to resolve the issue. I hope they know how much their help is appreciated (especially in that instance!). My orthopedic doctor is a couple hundred miles from me. He's available by e-mail and always gets back to me within 1-2 days. Those conversations are quite frank and very appreciated. Our DZO is a dentist, and yes, he's opened his office on a day they were closed to help me out with a cracked tooth. As for the refill thing...yes, that seems ridiculous to me. If nothing else, for something like an anti-inflammatory med, just ask them to give you 12 refills. That ought to limit the fee to once a year, and zero if you coincide it with an annual office visit. Because of my relationships with the docs who help me, I would have no problems throwing them some BS fees on occasion to cover for the times I don't get charged. The easy access to good people who actually care about *me* is worth far more than any co-pays or administrative fees they might want in return. Blues, Dave "I AM A PROFESSIONAL EXTREME ATHLETE!" (drink Mountain Dew)

Not if she's an outlier. Blues, Dave "I AM A PROFESSIONAL EXTREME ATHLETE!" (drink Mountain Dew)

OK, I'll admit Mary Ann was pretty hot, but still...all but one of the choices are tall chicks! Jeannie was a little under 5'4", her maiden name was Moorhead, her nickname was BJ, and she's got the sub role down pat. Winner! Blues, Dave "I AM A PROFESSIONAL EXTREME ATHLETE!" (drink Mountain Dew)

Schedule a block of tunnel time immediately before the interview and a series of shots right after.

If things were progressing reasonably well, a quick poke in her ass without advance warning might produce that surprised look on her face that always pushes me over the top. Blues, Dave "I AM A PROFESSIONAL EXTREME ATHLETE!" (drink Mountain Dew)

I thought "best" meant one, as in first place or whatever. Blues, Dave "I AM A PROFESSIONAL EXTREME ATHLETE!" (drink Mountain Dew)

I say that's bullshit. It's clearly frame-by-frame photoshopped. Blues, Dave "I AM A PROFESSIONAL EXTREME ATHLETE!" (drink Mountain Dew)