wolfriverjoe

To agree with a lot of others, no. Part of the reason it seems that way is the 24 hour news cycle that has to have a headline about something all the time. Part of it is the way information is transmitted rapidly across the internet. Until recently, the rants you see here in SC would be limited to coffee shop discussions, bar arguments and nasty letters to the editor in the newspaper. Now that idiots can rant about "Obama tearing the nation apart" or "The Tea Party tearing the nation apart" or "The gays destroying the moral fiber of the nation" and on and on and on the discussion is much more open and vitriolic. But most folks are quietly going about their lives, trying to get by as best they can. Same as always. "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

Nope. Not just you. I'm trying to keep busy today. No family events today, most of my friends are with their. Weather cold and snowy, so i't mostly indoors stuff. So I'm doing a bunch of little things around the house. Taking care of a lot of those "I'll get to it one of these days" things that seem to never get done. "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'm going to guess that they are going to find a last-minute, short-term, "band-aid" fix. Interesting interview that has shown up on facebook: http://www.theblaze.com/stories/best-moment-ever-or-over-the-top-cnbc-anchor-takes-dem-senator-to-task-for-fiscal-cliff-charades/ "Are you guys incompetent or what?" Duh-huh. Is water wet? Is the sky blue? "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

That's hilarious. Especially the part where it says he's a Mormon. "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

Just to pile on... Were any of them in New Orleans in fall 2005? Those guys didn't seem to have any problems following orders to disarm the public. "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

What makes you think that? Really, the "majority of Americans"? Carry permit issue numbers usually run around 2% or so (at least in the "Shall Issue" states). And many (most?) permit holders don't carry all the time. And even those that do don't live in the "Deepest fear", at least not those that I know. They are more the same sort of peope that have a fire extinguisher handy. They don't live in the "Deepest Fear" of a fire, they just know that if a fire breaks out, it needs to be stopped as soon as possible, before it grows out of control. And that a fire extinguisher is the best way to do that. Similarly, the gun that they carry is for the remote chance that they will face a serious threat. If you read through the "Did you ever need to use a gun" thread, you will see that those people weren't looking for trouble, or living in the deepest fear of it. They were just going about their daily business and they found themselves in a situation that dictated that they respond with a gun. And most of those situations would have turned out far, far worse had they not had a gun (or in one case, a knife). Even most cops, who carry every day of their professional lives, never need to shoot at anyone. "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, he clearly states commercial sales. Not just "sales", and clearly not "all sales." Would that mean he means to differentiate commercial sales from private sales? "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

#1 - Learning at the DZ you plan on jumping at is a good idea. You will build relationships and friendships with the rest of the usual crowd. You will also learn any peculiarites of the DZ that you wouldn't know about if you learned somewhere else. #2 - Hawaii is known for "interesting" winds. IIRC, visiting jumpers have to have more than just an A to jump there. You might give the DZ a call and ask 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

It really is a good idea... for a new cartoon by Namowal! Duck Tape. I like the term Apart from that, the student harness is very sturdy so to say. Each of the upper hooks (and the MLW it is connected to ;-) is able to hold ~ 2,5 t (2500 kg ~ 5500 lbs) Well, technically, it's called "Duct" tape. But because the pronunciation of the 2 "T's" is too much effort, many people pronounce it "Duck" tape. And of course a savvy marketing type has capitalized on it with the brand name Duck Tape. "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

FIFY

In the California incident, the students that were shot were Asian immigrants. Purdy was a racist xenophobe. Columbine, Paarl, San Deigo, Cleveland were all students that did the shooting. I don't know about this latest one. Hmm so someone would leave a known reason/motive out of a post to gain an advantage Really? What do you mean Marc? I don't play semantics games, I don't play "gotcha" games, I don't play "I know you are, but what am I" games. I really don't know the motive behind the Sandy Hook shooting. The hysteria, overreaction and overall bullshit surrounding it; along with the usual suspects making the usual incorrect statements about guns and gun laws just make my blood pressure go up. So I haven't been listening to a lot of news about it. And I haven't read each and every post in all the threads about it for the exact same reasons. The only thing I've heard is that the shooter was angry because he thought his mother was going to have him committed, but I haven't heard confirmation of it. Skyrad is one of the more reasonable folks on here. I don't always agree with him, but he doesn't play any of the above listed games either. He asked a question, I tried to answer 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, the landing area proposal is to address the claims of "safety issues" and traffic conflicts for access fights. And the ramp checks are up (in part) because of a couple high profile situations involving aircraft maintenance. I don't see the FAA getting too excited for an issue that has happened 3 times in the last 10 years in the US, where a check in wouldn't have changed the outcome anyway, (2 were dead on impact, the one that wasn't had already said "don't look for me, I'm gonna land by my trailer). Edit to add: I'm not against implementing one, and I make sure everyone in my group makes it back, but I don't see a burning need for this. "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 public position in support has been stated. There has been a call to get rid of "guns" in general. I don't know how getting rid of guns means not getting rid of guns. Well, in the early 90s Feinstein went on 60 Minutes and said that if she could get the votes, she would have banned "assault weapons" completely. As in "Mr and Mrs America, turn them all in." Admittedly, not all guns completely. But still very much confiscation. http://www.sfgate.com/opinion/openforum/article/2nd-Amendment-Mr-and-Mrs-America-turn-them-2813319.php "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

In the California incident, the students that were shot were Asian immigrants. Purdy was a racist xenophobe. Columbine, Paarl, San Deigo, Cleveland were all students that did the shooting. I don't know about this latest one. "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

Why not? You say you have issues with heights, so what? So do a lot of skydivers, including me. The thing is, in the door of the plane, it's not height anymore, it's altitude. It really is different. "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

A couple years ago, these guys put together the "Unhappy Grouchmas", which was a rather bizarre collection of "Christmas themed" videos. This year, they are celebrating both Christmas and the end of the Mayan calendar. It's sort of an advent calendar, with something new added each day. Something very, very silly, funny and bizarre. http://dis.tractionco.com/ There's a bit of background on it here: http://www.tractionco.com/blog/305-the-making-of-apocalymas---part-1 http://www.tractionco.com/blog/307-the-making-of-apocalymas---part-2 And some pics of the Honey Boo Boo cutout (if you want to know what Honey Boo Boo has to do with the end of the world, then you have to look). http://www.flickr.com/photos/tractionsf/sets/72157632250027828/ "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

Hi Aphid Seen all stuff before except the airplane. Thats a nice looking plane. Got a Name? I think it's a Grumman Goose. https://www.google.com/search?q=Grumman+Goose+Amphipian+image&hl=en&tbo=u&rls=com.microsoft:en-us:IE-Address&rlz=1I7TSNO&tbm=isch&source=univ&sa=X&ei=amPSUNLbNsLu2gXjh4GYDQ&ved=0CDYQsAQ&biw=1366&bih=673 Or maybe a Widgeon. https://www.google.com/search?q=Grumman+Goose+Amphipian+image&hl=en&tbo=u&rls=com.microsoft:en-us:IE-Address&rlz=1I7TSNO&tbm=isch&source=univ&sa=X&ei=amPSUNLbNsLu2gXjh4GYDQ&ved=0CDYQsAQ&biw=1366&bih=673#hl=en&tbo=d&rls=com.microsoft:en-us%3AIE-Address&rlz=1I7TSNO&tbm=isch&sa=1&q=Grumman+Widgeon+Amphipian+image&oq=Grumman+Widgeon+Amphipian+image&gs_l=img.3...55068.61464.0.64257.16.14.2.0.0.0.117.1123.11j3.14.0.epsugrpq2high..0.0...1.1.ziFjPawVGEg&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.r_qf.&bvm=bv.1355534169,d.b2I&fp=659ddd4b77b9b4d6&bpcl=40096503&biw=1366&bih=673 "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

Haha, some of us fought that question out in another thread recently. While the above advice is good and safe, my opinion was NOT to land way out in the middle of some damn field, that is muddy or filled with crops or even just easy pasture but a long walk. Land as close to the EDGE as you think advisable given your experience. Yes, edges of fields are filled with roads/ditches/fences/wires/buildings etc. Stay a safe distance away from them, especially to make up for any accuracy errors when landing away from the DZ with poor wind references. (Heck, if I did twist an ankle I'd rather not have to walk 1500' to the next road to be found.) But no need to land all the way out nowhere. And that makes the hike back, easier. We didn't fight it out, we had a reasonable and thoughtful discussion, didn't we? "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

Because not even those gullible enough to believe the "Flapping Wings" video would believe an eagle big enough to grab Christie. Look how many people believed this. I'll bet there are a lot of people who still believe it's real, even after the makers adnitted the fakery. That's the whole point of a good hoax. Making people believe it's real. "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

Can any Porter pilots chime in here? Why would that spin not be recoverable? Not a Porter pilot, but I've done spin training (a long, long time ago). That was an inverted spin. While actually easier to recover from, they need opposite technique. If the pilot didn't fight it the right way, he would have made it worse, not better. He may not have realized it was inverted and tried to recover as if it was an upright spin. Or he never had any spin training at all and didn't have any experience at it. Wiki Clicky on spin recovery. "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

Around this crowd, I figured I may get lucky with a few authentic responses. I don't know personally, but Robin Williams had a pretty good description. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wpGtgZw5Z_U "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... when the fundamental purpose of membership and underlying philosophy of a group is that everyone involved with it is anonymous and anyone can participate anonymously and independently... what's so wrong with calling it "Anonymous"? Do you also have issues with Alcoholics Anonymous? Well there's a significant difference between a group that promotes anonymity both to: A)To prevent a charismatic leader from hijacking the primary purpose of the group B)To allow those who are afraid of being labelled and stigmatized to get help. And a group that commits crimes against people and organizations they don't like. While I despise the WBC and what it stands for, the do have a 1st amendment right to their position and to publicize it. A bunch of hackers attacking them while hiding behind the anonymity that the internet allows is cowardly at the least, and terrorism at the worst (I wouldn't go so far as to label them "terrorists", but some do). They aren't a whole lot different than the KKK hiding under the white hoods so that the rest of the townfold wouldn't know who they were. And the PGR doesn't advocate violence or even the threat of it. They will eject anyone who behaves that way. They simply offer a shield between any protesters and the funeral service. "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

Yes, they assisted the groups that later became the Northern Alliance, who fought against the Taliban. Their leader, Amhed Shah Massoud was killed by Al Queda sucide bombers posing as journalists on Sept 9, 2001. "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 there in the OP link. I think it's pretty cool. Small and light, so less power needed, so less battery capacity needed, and on and on. I've occasionally pondered the practicality of a really small one or two seat car, maybe along the lines of a racing buggy. Maybe a little bigger than a Honda Pilot (the off road one, not the SUV). Gas would get great mileage, electric wouldn't need a huge motor or battery pack. "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 what gets me, the poster starts with the above. Seems reasonable......... The follows with........ The area had been robbed - a lot. GZ does follow someone, thats a fact and get's out of the car. Thats a fact. That seems to be all we know. The TM group with say anything GZ says is a self serving lie. It goes to trial what happens if there just isn't any more evideance? You put GZ away because nobody should ever use a gun to defend them selfs?? Did you mean this to be a reply to me? It was probably directed at me, those quotes are my words. So... I don't automatically dismiss GZ's statements as "self-serving lies." But I don't accept them as unvarnished truth either. If you think about it, he would make a statement like he did no matter what actually happened. And I'm certainly not saying that nobody should use a gun for self defense. Nor should they ignore suspicious behavior. But I was taught that use of lethal force for self defense requires that the situation not be initiated by the person claiming self defense. And to never, ever, ever chase anyone. And GZ broke both of those basic rules. He put himself into the situation. Deliberately. A couple of instructors and a lawyer have told me that here in Wisconsin, what GZ did, no matter who started the final fight, would probably have resulted in 2nd degree murder charges. let's try it again. you said gz 'chased' tm. I've never heard gz say he 'chased' tm. he was following him. There is a difference. and again, there is no law against following someone. There may be a law about 'confronting' and 'threatening' someone -- and supposedly tm did confront and threaten gz. And we know from his records that tm was prone to violence, and drugs. So this behavior would not be out of character for him. A lot of people are parsing the difference between "Following", "Pursuing", and "Chasing." Continuing to follow someone after they try to escape and evade takes it beyond basic "Following," doesn't it? If I was walking down the street and a guy in a car started following me, and when I tried to evade by going somewhere a car couldn't go and the occupant of the car got out and continued to follow me on foot, then I would call the cops and say "Someone is chasing me." I agree that GZ never said that he chased TM. But saying that would be admitting an aggressive act that would damage his self defense claim. And while there isn't any law prohibiting following someone, it is an action that can be very threatening and intimidating. "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