livendive

Did you just say that 40 million more people are going to have access to healthcare that do not currently? And you'd prefer they continue to go without? Blues, Dave "I AM A PROFESSIONAL EXTREME ATHLETE!" (drink Mountain Dew)

Did you miss the parts where the House and Senate passed the law? Blues, Dave "I AM A PROFESSIONAL EXTREME ATHLETE!" (drink Mountain Dew)

Yeah right! Right now as it stands what i pay for health care is tax deductible...so is this a tax that is tax deductable? My sales, property, and excise taxes are deductible. Blues, Dave "I AM A PROFESSIONAL EXTREME ATHLETE!" (drink Mountain Dew)

I'm with you, so please grab me a Philippe Dufour Simplicity while you're at it. Blues, Dave "I AM A PROFESSIONAL EXTREME ATHLETE!" (drink Mountain Dew)

Picture must have been taken down. Clickie no workie. Blues, Dave "I AM A PROFESSIONAL EXTREME ATHLETE!" (drink Mountain Dew)

I developed an allergy to nickel shortly after my teenage years and had to give up watches for awhile, as even those with hypoallergenic backs and leather straps still have cheap metal in the clasps and the pins that connect straps to watch. I still appreciated them, just couldn't wear them. Now fully hypo-allergenic watches are becoming more common, so Muttley bought me a Bulova skeleton model last fall and I'm digging it. Blues, Dave "I AM A PROFESSIONAL EXTREME ATHLETE!" (drink Mountain Dew)

Kinda, but my first tandem was to get my rating. Blues, Dave "I AM A PROFESSIONAL EXTREME ATHLETE!" (drink Mountain Dew)

I agree with what John said. I also think the mainstreaming of the sport by tandems has resulted in some safety advances, but I'm not a huge fan of the corresponding culture shift. Overall, I think tandems have been good for the sport, but it hasn't been without some costs. Blues, Dave "I AM A PROFESSIONAL EXTREME ATHLETE!" (drink Mountain Dew)

I have two Vector rigs and one of them is getting on in age. I'll probably be looking for a good condition Vector rig to replace it with this winter. I wouldn't go so far as to say I prefer the Vector system, I just don't have any problems with it, so can't justify several thousand dollars to change to something else that I don't have any problems with, given that I'll never recoup that money. When the day comes that good condition Sigmas can be found for no more than double the price of a Vector, I'll switch, but I suspect I'll retire from tandems before that happens. Blues, Dave "I AM A PROFESSIONAL EXTREME ATHLETE!" (drink Mountain Dew)

He didn't go around it. Those of you who hate him so much want him to cut spending...he just did. He cut spending on enforcement of immigration law against hard-working, productive young people. I find that a much more palatable concession than, say, taking food off the table of unemployed citizens. You'd prefer we deny medical benefits to the indigent, but keep kicking out studious kids and service members? Blues, Dave "I AM A PROFESSIONAL EXTREME ATHLETE!" (drink Mountain Dew)

Congrats Gary. You're old. On July 8th I'll hit 17 years and thus become legal in some states. Blues, Dave "I AM A PROFESSIONAL EXTREME ATHLETE!" (drink Mountain Dew)

I don't think this word "proven" means what you think it does. Invisible, immeasurable, unrepeatable effects on things not even known to exist make a better case for the word's antonyms. Blues, Dave "I AM A PROFESSIONAL EXTREME ATHLETE!" (drink Mountain Dew)

I'm not sure where you checked, but your sources suck. Blues, Dave "I AM A PROFESSIONAL EXTREME ATHLETE!" (drink Mountain Dew)

Re; "Caucasian Americans For Obama - Can't find the website" I completely missed that because I didn't search for that. I searched for the African Americans for Obama... Perhaps not searching for it is why you couldn't find it? Besides that, would you have a problem with "Veterans for Obama", or "Women for Obama", or "Senior Citizens for Obama"? Blues, Dave "I AM A PROFESSIONAL EXTREME ATHLETE!" (drink Mountain Dew)

I thought the recall was a poor attempt anyhow. Walker won the election...deal with it (in the absence of serious ethical breach, criminal activity, etc). My only complaints about the entire situation were: a) how political the cuts were in the first place (entirely unions, which usually vote blue, but exempting emergency workers who generally lean red). I think tax increases and spending cuts should at least make appearances of bipartisanship, with the entire populace bearing the burden, not just the other guys. and b) the infusion of out of state cash to a state election. I'm on Ron Paul's email distribution and support him, but also have the same complaint about him. Something like 2/3rds of the money the GOP spent in Wisconsin came from out of state, and Ron Paul keeps asking me to donate to this or that liberty-minded politician in some other state. Those issues/elections should be decided by the people in those states, and I think those of us *not* in those states should leave them alone and let them decide what's best for them. Blues, Dave "I AM A PROFESSIONAL EXTREME ATHLETE!" (drink Mountain Dew)

If you and your innie each had substantial income, your IRS marriage tax will exceed that $3k. About double that in my case. Was that awhile ago? Because as far as I know, the "marriage penalty" (difference between 2 single deductions and one married filing jointly deduction) hasn't been a factor for a couple of years now. We do both have substantial income, but there's a difference in tax rates that we'll be averaging when we marry. This year when we did our taxes, we had our accountant combine our returns just for planning purposes, and the difference was relatively minor...somewhere between a few and several hundred more. The biggest difference, it seems to me, is the loss of her standard deduction. Right now I itemize out the house & business expenses plus she takes a standard deduction. After the marriage, we'll itemize out the house and business...and that's it, we can't take both. Overall, most of the domestic partnership tax will return to my paychecks, as we seem due for at least a couple thousand dollar a year raise. Blues, Dave "I AM A PROFESSIONAL EXTREME ATHLETE!" (drink Mountain Dew)

I can't agree with this. If you have a dedicated spouse you've spent, or are spending your life with, you should be able to pass on these benefits. I work for a company that contracts to the federal government, and my health insurance covers my domestic partner. Neither my employer nor my insurer cares that we're not married, they pay for it as if we were. The problem is simply that the IRS cares that we're not married, so the portion of my insurance premiums paid for by my employer are considered taxable, whereas the exact same benefits for a spouse are not. The difference? I have about $3k/year taken out of my paycheck to cover taxes on "imputed income", i.e. my employer's contribution to my partner's health insurance. Our fix is easy...as I have an outie and she has an innie, the "domestic partner tax" will go away when we marry this fall. I'll basically get a $3k/year raise right off the bat, entirely from the government (its cost neutral to my employer). It bothers me that gay couples don't have that option, and that the federal government is imposing a significant tax on them just because they have the same genitalia. Blues, Dave "I AM A PROFESSIONAL EXTREME ATHLETE!" (drink Mountain Dew)

I think the key is escalation of threat. If you threaten someone (by word or action) without them first having threatened you, SYG should not be an option. If you tell kids to clean up their mess, and they come after you, SYG is available. If you push them back and threaten to kick their butts if they don't clean up their mess, SYG should not be an optional defense. Yes, obviously this would be difficult to enforce, but I think it does get at the heart of the matter. A question of provocation would be even worse, but could be implemented, i.e. if you were deliberately provoking someone, with full knowledge that they might react physically, SYG could come off the table. I dunno how to fairly include such qualifiers, but a complete lack of them makes for an unjust law. Blues, Dave "I AM A PROFESSIONAL EXTREME ATHLETE!" (drink Mountain Dew)

The victim was a hispanic named Jesus, and the perp was sampling the eucharist. Blues, Dave "I AM A PROFESSIONAL EXTREME ATHLETE!" (drink Mountain Dew)

The UPT mod is pretty much the same. I was incorrect on that count in my previous post. Blues, Dave "I AM A PROFESSIONAL EXTREME ATHLETE!" (drink Mountain Dew)

I think what you just said is that, given such institutions are legally allowed to discriminate on the basis of religion, it follows that they should also be able to discriminate on the basis of gender, so long as their beliefs are cited as the premise? Seems like a decent argument. Blues, Dave "I AM A PROFESSIONAL EXTREME ATHLETE!" (drink Mountain Dew)

I don't know about best, but backgrounds in law, military, or state/federal government seem to me to be the top tier. Second tier, I'd say business management, government agency, history. Third tier - social services, healthcare, science/engineering fields, law enforcement, financial services, emergency response/preparedness, defense (non-military) Non-factor or detrimental: sports, music, acting, religion, etc. Blues, Dave "I AM A PROFESSIONAL EXTREME ATHLETE!" (drink Mountain Dew)

Tough to be sure, but I think it's her backstrap. If so, it looks like it's below her butt, which would facilitate this sort of problem (exiting between the backstrap and the backpad). Blues, Dave "I AM A PROFESSIONAL EXTREME ATHLETE!" (drink Mountain Dew)

Thank goodness the youtube video is taken down. Would scare potential students imo. What's wrong with letting them make informed decisions? A very small fraction of instructors really are that bad, and I can't think of a good reason to hide that from prospective students. The trick is putting it in perspective. That can be difficult on youtube, where the 1% of bad videos get 1000 times more views than the 99% of non-descript Tom Petty tandem videos. Blues, Dave "I AM A PROFESSIONAL EXTREME ATHLETE!" (drink Mountain Dew)

By some yes, but Mike is also a member of USPA. Bill is not. Huge difference. Your personal opinion of the GM program has no bearing on this situation. Sparky Ah, I didn't realize Dause was no longer an individual member either. That said, I don't see how your personal opinion of Craig's allegiance to Bill has any bearing on this tandem jump. Craig may or may not be a lackey, and I don't really care either way. While I'll agree that if Bill is not a member, he should have no say in USPA activities, if Craig agrees with him, he's no worse than any of the other DZO's who are running this trade organization. Blues, Dave "I AM A PROFESSIONAL EXTREME ATHLETE!" (drink Mountain Dew)