wolfriverjoe

It seems that we are far more interested in promoting business interests of the major corporations and generating income for the military-industrial complex than actually promoting democracy and freedom. But I've gotten really cynical about that stuff in recent years. And many (not all, but many) veterans I know agree with that sentiment. While some are vehemently against burning the flag, saying "I put my life on the line for that flag", others have a much better (IMHO) view, saying that they didn't put their life on the line for a piece of cloth, but for the freedom to do and say what one chooses, even rather unpleasant things like burning the flag. The good old "I may not agree with what you say but I will defend to the death your right to say it." "There are NO situations which do not call for a French Maid outfit." Lucky McSwervy "~ya don't GET old by being weak & stupid!" - Airtwardo

I'd agree with you. As for his time in office, well . . . . . . Jerry Baumchen He was horribly ineffective in office, but has since turned into one heck of a decent human being. Even better than Richard Nixon turned out to be, which was pretty good too. He was always a "heck of a decent human being." Always. It actually turned out to be his biggest weakness as President. Not his own decency, but his tendency to assume that other people were also decent. He seemed unable to understand the concept that some people are "not nice". It allowed foreign leaders to take advantage of his decency and use it against him. "There are NO situations which do not call for a French Maid outfit." Lucky McSwervy "~ya don't GET old by being weak & stupid!" - Airtwardo

Yep. And had the owner stopped there, this would not have been an issue. Very good reason why people shouldn't have involved conversations via text message. E-mail would have been better? If she was stupid enough to put that sort of crap in a medium that is permanent, then she deserves the penalty. Although, if it had happened in a conversation (either over the phone or in person) it still would have been discrimination, illegal and punishable. Just not really provable. If the landlord had said something like: "You are changing way too much here. The original deal was 2 people. No dogs. Either stick to that or the deal is off" Then there would have been no problem. Edit to add: And an aggressive dog in a place that rents to people with the ad saying "Dogs considered" is really dumb. Either socialize the dog properly so that it doesn't "eat" other dogs, don't allow tenants to bring dogs, or get rid of the dog. If the landlord's dog was to attack a tenant's dog (or even simply a dog walking past on the sidewalk) there would be serious consequences. The fact that the landlord was already aware of the behavior would make it worse. "There are NO situations which do not call for a French Maid outfit." Lucky McSwervy "~ya don't GET old by being weak & stupid!" - Airtwardo

Well, now there's a death. https://www.wsj.com/articles/gop-activist-who-sought-clinton-emails-killed-self-1500002994?mod=e2fb WSJ article, sometimes these links only go to a paywall. Well, obviously, if the note found by the body says that there was no foul play, then nothing suspicious happened. Could be he was really sick. Could be he saw the writing on the wall and knew what was coming with respect to Russia and Trump, could be that he was killed to silence him. I honestly don't know which, but given the conspiracy stories that surrounded Vince Foster's death, Alex Jones and his ilk should be foaming at the mouth... Except that it's their guy this time. "There are NO situations which do not call for a French Maid outfit." Lucky McSwervy "~ya don't GET old by being weak & stupid!" - Airtwardo

True. There was more to it than just the racial issues. But that doesn't change the fact that Barker texted: Regardless of how it got there, it got there. "There are NO situations which do not call for a French Maid outfit." Lucky McSwervy "~ya don't GET old by being weak & stupid!" - Airtwardo

Well, yet again, a racist idiot goes and does something stupid and illegal. And, yet again, cites Trump. Fortunately, she paid a price for her behavior ($5k in this case). Racial discrimination is illegal. Providing the proof via text messages that it was just that is stupid. "There are NO situations which do not call for a French Maid outfit." Lucky McSwervy "~ya don't GET old by being weak & stupid!" - Airtwardo

Ya know? I'd love to see Congress, all their staff and all their families (staff families too) be required to use the VA. To go through all of the hoops and hassles that the VA makes the veterans go through. They would never go for it. But it would be cool to see. "There are NO situations which do not call for a French Maid outfit." Lucky McSwervy "~ya don't GET old by being weak & stupid!" - Airtwardo

The part that gets me about this (and it's a bit off topic) is that lawsuit. How in the world can that lawsuit happen? They were soldiers in the US Army. They were invading/occupying a foreign country. They were killing and injuring lots and lots of the opponents. So one of those opponents hits back. One is seriously wounded, one died. That's called war. Wouldn't a suit like this set a precedent? One that would allow those opponents to sue the US soldiers who injured them (or a suit by the families of those killed). How about the innocent civilians killed accidentally? Could their survivors sue the soldiers who dropped the bombs, launched the rockets, fired the guns, ect? Not the US government or the US military, but the actual, individual soldiers? Based on the little I know, the suit against Kahdr was a default judgement because he was in Gitmo and unable to defend himself. That doesn't change the very simple fact that the suit never should have made it to court. "There are NO situations which do not call for a French Maid outfit." Lucky McSwervy "~ya don't GET old by being weak & stupid!" - Airtwardo

Begin to think that all cops are that way? Really? While I can't say for sure, I'd guess a lot (most?) inner city blacks already feel that way and have for a long, long time. I'm neither black nor poor, but I know full well how bad the Chicago Metro cops are and have been for a long time. Groups like BLM are simply telling the rest of the world about it. "There are NO situations which do not call for a French Maid outfit." Lucky McSwervy "~ya don't GET old by being weak & stupid!" - Airtwardo

Well, then the lats are going to be a bit long, and the chest strap will likely have a bit of a 'tail' to it. The rig might slide around on your back a bit, and lift up some if you sit fly. My understanding (and I could be wrong) is that the yoke is most critical, because too big and the rig can slip off your shoulders. It also cannot be changed. MLW is also important so that the lats and leg straps are positioned correctly. Unless way off, the rest of it is comfort and appearance. As far as "perfect fit", how well did your student gear fit? For the most part, student gear is "one size sorta fits well enough to be safe and work." "There are NO situations which do not call for a French Maid outfit." Lucky McSwervy "~ya don't GET old by being weak & stupid!" - Airtwardo

You love that term. There is no evidence to support your claim. I don't believe Poland believes your statement. Obama sucked up to him, that is on video. No evidence? Really? Your denial of things that conflict with your beliefs is rather obvious to anyone. Anyone else that is. "There are NO situations which do not call for a French Maid outfit." Lucky McSwervy "~ya don't GET old by being weak & stupid!" - Airtwardo

Well, both yes and no. The residents really don't trust the cops. They've seen too many situations where the cops lied about something and got away with either hurting/killing an innocent person or arrested and convicted an innocent person. There was an interview on NPR in the wake of the Freddy Grey death, where the residents (Baltimore) openly admitted that they were reluctant to call the cops on many occasions. They had to weigh out the question of whether the cops would make the situation better or worse. When most of the shootings are gang related, the residents aren't going to say anything. In addition to not trusting the cops, they know perfectly well that the gangs will retaliate against anyone who talks. Any statement made by a witness to the cops becomes evidence and available to the defendant. So nobody will go on record about what they saw (understandably). The cops know this and know perfectly well that the shooter is known to a lot of people, but nobody will tell them. They really don't push the investigation all that hard. No real point. OTOH, when an innocent bystander is killed in the crossfire, particularly a kid, both the cops and the residents are upset enough that someone eventually tells the cops who the shooter was. "There are NO situations which do not call for a French Maid outfit." Lucky McSwervy "~ya don't GET old by being weak & stupid!" - Airtwardo

This is the dumbest reason ever. Change the USPA name to US Skydiving Association. That solves that non-issue and is more representative of, you know, skydiving. And how is tunnel flying "skydiving"? It involves neither "diving" nor the sky. It's simulated freefall, and for that it is an awesome tool. But actually jumping from a plane involves a lot more than freefall. How many topics are typically covered on Safety Day? Freefall safety is just one of them. "There are NO situations which do not call for a French Maid outfit." Lucky McSwervy "~ya don't GET old by being weak & stupid!" - Airtwardo

Then you are missing out on one of the true joys of skydiving. Walking up to some rando, telling them you suck and are new, and asking if they want to jump. If I am not doing a camp or something that I paid extra for I would definitly jump with you and make sure you know that I expect nothing and I hope you fuck everything up on the jump as most of my jumps go to shit anyway. ' That normally takes any pressure off you and then we will go out and do something easy and awesome and I will only be pissed if you don't have a big smile on your face after you land. So, yes, go to a different DZ and finish your A license and then go and funnel some formations! PS Put the SIM next to the toilet and you will have read the thing cover to cover within a month. ^This. Big time. When I was new, there were a few older, experienced jumpers that would always do a jump or two with me. They wouldn't jump with me all day long, but they would rarely say 'no' to at least one (and there would be a reason if they said 'no'). They told me that: It was fun to jump with the new people. The enjoyment and enthusiasm of the 'new guy' made it more fun Me not being very good made them have to be better. It was more challenging to jump with me because they had to work harder to make up for my shortcomings. I made them look better than they actually were. As I slowly become a "crusty old guy", I am finding out how right they were. As a result, I will almost always include a 'new guy' if they are around and interested. More than once, I've seen a newer jumper out waiting for the plane, and finding that they were just doing a solo, included them. Two became three, three became four. Obviously, the others I was jumping with were ok with this. There are a couple very simple, yet challenging jumps that can be dirt dived (dirt dove?) in a matter of minutes and are appropriate for low skill/experience levels. I sometimes hear 'I'm not sure you want me on the jump, I'm afraid I'll mess it up'. My response is always "You better not mess it up, that's my job." I did a couple twos and threes over 4th weekend. One was with a very new jumper who didn't have a lot of jumps with other fun jumpers. She was thrilled that we made 3 points. She said that it was the most successful jump she had had so far. How do you think that made me feel? "There are NO situations which do not call for a French Maid outfit." Lucky McSwervy "~ya don't GET old by being weak & stupid!" - Airtwardo

Well, you see it as "going to be helping." How about "They were already helping, but this was an 'extra' bit of assistance"? "There are NO situations which do not call for a French Maid outfit." Lucky McSwervy "~ya don't GET old by being weak & stupid!" - Airtwardo

Ron's politics have nothing to do with faith. He has nothing at all to give. Your ego illusion is in error. How can I correct that? Show some indication that you actually practice the teachings of your "savior". "There are NO situations which do not call for a French Maid outfit." Lucky McSwervy "~ya don't GET old by being weak & stupid!" - Airtwardo

If all that were true, why do we have Donald Trump as president? There is only minimal substance to those claims or none at all. Just fake news from California. Minimal substance? Really? "Fake News" from California? That's funny. I've both heard of all of them and personally experienced several. And I'm in Wisconsin. One more time: Just because you don't like what it says, it's not "Fake News." Just because you do like what it says doesn't make it true. "There are NO situations which do not call for a French Maid outfit." Lucky McSwervy "~ya don't GET old by being weak & stupid!" - Airtwardo

No, silly. The negative side by being a scary black man (and "Secret Muslim") in the White House. After all, it was his presence that drove all of the bigots and racists out from under their rocks to vote for Trump. "There are NO situations which do not call for a French Maid outfit." Lucky McSwervy "~ya don't GET old by being weak & stupid!" - Airtwardo

It's a classic interrogation technique. Give the subject enough info hang themselves with their own lies. Not that Trump and his minions need to be played to get them to lie... About anything. However, I wonder if it's intentional. After all, they are using (mainly) anonymous sources within the administration. The initial story may be running with all (or at least most) of the info they have at the time. After it 'hits the streets', other sources may surface with more info. "There are NO situations which do not call for a French Maid outfit." Lucky McSwervy "~ya don't GET old by being weak & stupid!" - Airtwardo

Well, I'm an American and I absolutely despise Trump and all his lies. "Fake News" has become a euphemism for "News I Don't Like". Trump has accused major news organizations of being "fake", despite a long history of accuracy. Yet you believe some of the most egregious perpetrators of fake news (Blaze & Brietbart to name a couple). The lies, deceptions and traitorous behaviors of Trump and his minions are becoming more numerous and outrageous by the day. Yet you and your ilk "support" him. And call the accusations "Fake News", despite the proof. Rather amusingly, you continue to spread false accusations about Obama and Clinton, despite a complete lack of proof about them. Isn't one of those "commandment" thingies you espouse something like "Thou shalt not bear false witness"? I find it incredibly hypocritical (not surprising though) that you support him. "There are NO situations which do not call for a French Maid outfit." Lucky McSwervy "~ya don't GET old by being weak & stupid!" - Airtwardo

Not the stupidest question by a very large margin. Sandy Grillet once said: This fits that to a "tee." (I told you I was gonna steal that one, Sandy ) USPA calls it "Pack opening altitude", which means PC out and at bridle stretch, pin pulled. A fraction of a second after PC toss. So I would go with "When you toss the PC." After all, putting your hand on it or even pulling it doesn't necessarily mean you've thrown it. As always, not an instructor, no warranty express or implied, consult your physician if you are up for over 4 hours, close cover before striking, contains flammable gas under pressure. "There are NO situations which do not call for a French Maid outfit." Lucky McSwervy "~ya don't GET old by being weak & stupid!" - Airtwardo

Well, with how well the whole "health care overhaul" process is going, apparently Paul Ryan has so much spare time that he can respond to television comedians who criticize it. And, as noted in the video, Seth Meyers actually read the e-mail, unlike many Congress-creatures with the health care bill. "There are NO situations which do not call for a French Maid outfit." Lucky McSwervy "~ya don't GET old by being weak & stupid!" - Airtwardo

Not really. Stupid people want to video everything. Just because they whip out their phone at the drop of a hat doesn't mean that they don't get distracted by it. Kinda like the idiot I saw the other day. So busy videoing the accident scene he was going by that he rear-ended the car in front of him. "There are NO situations which do not call for a French Maid outfit." Lucky McSwervy "~ya don't GET old by being weak & stupid!" - Airtwardo

Seen on FB: The devil enters a church. Everyone flees in terror except for one old man. The devil asks the old man: "Why didn't you run? Aren't you afraid of me?" The old man replies. "I'm not afraid of you, I've been married to your sister for 20 years." And: It takes 43 muscles to frown and 72 to say "Fuck off." Totally worth the extra effort. "There are NO situations which do not call for a French Maid outfit." Lucky McSwervy "~ya don't GET old by being weak & stupid!" - Airtwardo

Then you aren't listening. Or looking. It doesn't make the major news much, but community leaders have been protesting against the violence for a long time. "There are NO situations which do not call for a French Maid outfit." Lucky McSwervy "~ya don't GET old by being weak & stupid!" - Airtwardo