livendive

Not taking that seriously. Blues, Dave "I AM A PROFESSIONAL EXTREME ATHLETE!" (drink Mountain Dew)

So I was just reading this article and figured I bash Bush often enough that I should offer up atta-boys when appropriate. I'm not sure of the cause, nor how widespread this problem is, but over the last 4 years my medical insurance premiums have skyrocketed while the coverage has decreased substantially. I just started a new job in December with what would by all counts be considered a "large" employer, and the options were the worst yet. When I did the math, simply accepting the catastrophic medical coverage ($3000 deductible followed by 100% coverage) almost made sense for me. The problems (currently) are a loss of all unused tax-sheltered money sitting in a medical savings account at the end of each calendar year, and the fact that I'm also covering my daughter who is getting to the age at which she makes her own health care decisions while not having sufficient disposable income to cover her costs. For these reasons, I went with a standard PPO plan and figure I'll continue with that until my daughter has another option for insurance. The cool thing about that article is that it says senior GOP politicians, including Bush, are pressing for making the health-care savings account contributions rollover from year-to-year and employer-to-employer. That way, those of us who rarely get sick can bump the account up to one year's deductible amount and then just let that ride while paying minimal premiums and sufficient annual contributions to hold it there. I'm not going to invest the effort of analyzing what role government should play in trying to "steer" market forces, and I'm not sure they should at all. Given that, and that the "market" seems to be trending toward such coverage, it appears Bush and his boys, in addition to taking care of his primary financial backers (big business), are trying to do something that will help us little guys cope with the results. An additional benefit I suspect we could see is a lot less money being spent for & against HMO legal protections, as HMO's would become obsolete. Also, it seems charges for services rendered would likely drop as consumers start to flex their muscle in a somewhat freer market. My point was that I read about something Bush is trying to do and my first thought was "Well I guess that's cool." Not something that happens very often. Blues, Dave "I AM A PROFESSIONAL EXTREME ATHLETE!" (drink Mountain Dew)

Funny I remember sitting in a very liberal hs social studies class where the teacher did justify it. I think they called it situational ethics A very poor ethical system, principally because it remains undefined and thus subject to change at the whim of the user. Blues, Dave "I AM A PROFESSIONAL EXTREME ATHLETE!" (drink Mountain Dew)

I'm tempted to ask you what's wrong with the analogy, but instead I'll just abandon it . . . I'd abandon it too, if I'd thought of it. Basically we would've started with the intense faultiness of your use of "store owner" to describe SH, and taken it apart from there. If not SH, who are you suggesting did "own the store"? Nevermind. My point remains that good side effects of bad actions do not justify the actions. I can be happy about the effect with praising the cause. That pretty much undermines your theory that folks can't appreciate/cheer for the elections without praising Bush. I'll allow you to concede now. Blues, Dave "I AM A PROFESSIONAL EXTREME ATHLETE!" (drink Mountain Dew)

Cute, but that's a bad analogy in every way possible. I'm tempted to ask you what's wrong with the analogy, but instead I'll just abandon it and simply state that one should always try to avoid actions for which the only explanation is that the ends justify the means. I understand that in the political realm, this might not always be possible, but one should still be capable of avoiding those undertakings in which the ends do not justify the means. Blues, Dave "I AM A PROFESSIONAL EXTREME ATHLETE!" (drink Mountain Dew)

Can you explain this a bit better? I have no problem appreciating and cheering the election turnout without giving Bush credit for having done the right thing. Simple. Although Bush didn't directly compel every Iraqi to get out there and vote, his doctrine made it possible. Without the invasion and subsequent actions (faults and all), the elections wouldn't have happened. Bush gets the credit. If a guy robs a store and gets money to feed his family, the kids eating is a good thing but that doesn't justify the actions that brought it about. Blues, Dave "I AM A PROFESSIONAL EXTREME ATHLETE!" (drink Mountain Dew)

Nope. You can step down to a Miata or up to a Porsche/Mercedes/BMW, but I can't think of another car that will be as fun in that price range. The S2000 is a well-built, fun, affordable 2-seat convertible that doesn't really have any competition. Blues, Dave "I AM A PROFESSIONAL EXTREME ATHLETE!" (drink Mountain Dew)

You should buy better cars. Blues, Dave "I AM A PROFESSIONAL EXTREME ATHLETE!" (drink Mountain Dew)

how then can you say you're against it, when you're not against banning it? When people stand by and do nothing, isn't that in fact communicating you really don't see it as wrong? IMHO, if you're against something, you should take a stand against it. Perhaps his stand against it is simple non-participation. He can oppose smoking, prostitution, abortion, and many other things without saying that others must share his view. We don't all have to agree on everything. Question - What criteria should we use in determining that Person A's moral system is superior to Person B's and that it therefore should be imposed on Person B? Blues, Dave "I AM A PROFESSIONAL EXTREME ATHLETE!" (drink Mountain Dew)

I have no problem with legalized prostitution. My take on individual liberty is such that I think a woman should be able to choose whether or not she provides such services. Her body, her moral system, it should be her choice. That said, I have a serious problem with the thought of a woman being pressured into such a job. My suspicion however, is that the people who are quoted in that article are alarmists simply crying wolf. Blues, Dave "I AM A PROFESSIONAL EXTREME ATHLETE!" (drink Mountain Dew)

Can you explain this a bit better? I have no problem appreciating and cheering the election turnout without giving Bush credit for having done the right thing. Blues, Dave "I AM A PROFESSIONAL EXTREME ATHLETE!" (drink Mountain Dew)

I broke my own rule of only weighing in once a week and got on the scale this morning. 202...-2 since Friday. Blues, Dave "I AM A PROFESSIONAL EXTREME ATHLETE!" (drink Mountain Dew)

Nice work...that's great, dude! Well, after nearly a year off the workout regimen, I just did 20 laps on the local stadium stairs and a mile cool-down on the track. Other than wobbly legs, I feel good! (now that the nausea, sideache, and headache have passed) Blues, Dave "I AM A PROFESSIONAL EXTREME ATHLETE!" (drink Mountain Dew)

I was on cnn.com's message board during the last Seattle earthquake. I was worried about my family's new (to them) very old brick house, as well as a friend working very high up in a downtown skyscraper. Someone posted something along the lines of "Here's what it looks like right now outside my office window (downtown", and I mistakenly clicked it. It got me to the tubgirl.jpg picture referenced in that wikipedia article...by far the most disgusting thing I've ever seen in my life. I've thought a few times about disguising it and sending it to friends, but, well, that's just wrong! Blues, Dave "I AM A PROFESSIONAL EXTREME ATHLETE!" (drink Mountain Dew)

I posted this awhile back: Personally, I think the "issues" one is the funniest. Blues, Dave "I AM A PROFESSIONAL EXTREME ATHLETE!" (drink Mountain Dew)

Ahh...I see it. My mistake. Also notice the middle of the "satellite dish" structure. Blues, Dave "I AM A PROFESSIONAL EXTREME ATHLETE!" (drink Mountain Dew)

204 The weather hasn't complied for my preferred workout, so I've only lost 3 pounds. I'm getting sick of waiting for it to get nice out, so maybe next week I'll just freeze my way through it. 200...coming up. Blues, Dave "I AM A PROFESSIONAL EXTREME ATHLETE!" (drink Mountain Dew)

That's not what it says. It says they found 63 couples who were monogamous over that 6 month span, 9 girls who'd been with 2 guys in that span, 2 girls who'd been with 3 guys, and 12 guys who'd been with 2 girls. Blues, Dave "I AM A PROFESSIONAL EXTREME ATHLETE!" (drink Mountain Dew)

Date of first jump. I'll turn 10 this July. Blues, Dave "I AM A PROFESSIONAL EXTREME ATHLETE!" (drink Mountain Dew)

I completely agree. The people that are around can alter that experience some. I'm also glad that there are certain things I didn't do alone. I could've done them alone, but having people that were close to me sharing experiences with me has enhanced it sometimes. I agree and will add that other times, the experience itself isn't so much what I'm after, but the company/comradery. If I feel like hanging out with friends this weekend, it doesn't matter too much what we do...skydiving, snowboarding, go-cart racing, drinking, whatever. In those instances, the company is what I was going for so it would be silly to do it by myself. Blues, Dave "I AM A PROFESSIONAL EXTREME ATHLETE!" (drink Mountain Dew)

Hmmm, all of the pleasure, and none of the work. How you doin'? Blues, Dave "I AM A PROFESSIONAL EXTREME ATHLETE!" (drink Mountain Dew)

No, this doesn't belong in SC. I just thought I'd post the newest airport security device, along with my sincere hopes that all of you, ok, maybe half...strike that...around 20% of you will understand that sometimes compromises are necessary in the pursuit of safety. So wrap yourself in a cloak of patriotism and head down to the airport knowing you are a true hero for your sacrifice. NSFW Blues, Dave "I AM A PROFESSIONAL EXTREME ATHLETE!" (drink Mountain Dew)

Me too. I didn't tell a single person, so that nobody but me would know if I chickened out. Blues, Dave "I AM A PROFESSIONAL EXTREME ATHLETE!" (drink Mountain Dew)

Exactly why I wonder how it became common to take a date to a movie. Asking them out on a date is essentially saying you want to spend some time with them. Taking them to a movie means you want to spend that time ignoring them. Blues, Dave "I AM A PROFESSIONAL EXTREME ATHLETE!" (drink Mountain Dew)

Regardless of belay, isn't top roping kinda tough to do by yourself? Blues, Dave "I AM A PROFESSIONAL EXTREME ATHLETE!" (drink Mountain Dew)