wolfriverjoe

God Damn!!! This thread SUCKS!!!! Not as much as this video does. There's always THIS old favorite. "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 a complex, ever changing and very much uncertain thing. I'm searching for a meaning and greater purpose, fully aware that there may not be one. I mostly believe in a mono-theistic God. One who has an overall plan, but because we humans have free will, that plan may be thwarted in the short run. If you've read Asimov's Foundation trilogy, a comparison could be made to the Second Foundation, the keepers of the Seldon Plan. I do my best to come to an understanding of his (her, it's whatever) will for me to fulfill this plan. Because the God I believe in is a God of love, his will doesn't involve killing, hurting, hating, spitting, throwing rocks or any of the other hurtful things the "fundie nutters" do in the name of their God. I believe these things because of a variety of small miracles I have experienced. The restaraunt scene at the end of Pulp Fiction has one of the best descriptions of a miracle I have come across. Skip to about 1:30 if you don't want to hear about how pigs are filthy animals. The experiences I have were subjective, personal and certainly may have been misinterpereted. Others may call them "freak occurrences" and that's up to them, I won't argue. (from the scene)"What is significant is that I felt the touch of God." There are some very valid sociological reasons that we as a species have "Gods". No successful society I know of in all of history hasn't had them (I could be wrong). It's ingrained in us and has probably evolved to the point that our brains are hardwired to believe in this sort of thing. That doesn't mean that it has to be true. So, despite my experiences and beliefs, God may or may not exist. And, from my spiritual point of view, that doesn't matter. Really, it doesn't. If God does exist, them I am doing my best to do his will. Which is basically helping my fellow man, trying to make the world a better place for all to live in, and at least trying to not make it worse. I am of course not completely perfect in this. If God doesn't exist, then I have set myself an unreachable goal of perfection. Trying to help my fellow man, trying to make the world a better place for all to live and trying to not make it worse. Meditation and prayer play a part. And again, if God exists or not, they help me quiet my mind, give me focus and help me cope with the trials and tribulations of day to day life. So regardless of God's existence, my beliefs help me be a better person. And beowulf wrote: There's a variety of evidence to believe in God. I've experienced it. It isn't proof, but it suggests to me that God exists. I fully understand that it may be my own desire to believe warping my understanding. Spiritualism is a way of life, a belief system. It exists. Whether or not the bases of the beliefs exist is a different question. And as I said above, whether or not God exists doesn't affect my spirituality. If not, it then becomes a placebo, but since the end result is me being a better person, and the world being a (very very little bit) better place, then I'm ok with that. "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

Ok, in a non-partisan way, there is way too much potential for abuse. As was stated, someone could go on (let's say) Fluffybunny.com and deliberately post a copyrighted link, make a complaint and get it shut down. The operators of Fluffybunny.com suspect their comptetion, SpeechImpairedDuck.com of doing it, so they do it to SpeechImpairedDuck.com. Then, either: A: SpeechImpairedDuck.com doesn't realize that it was Fluffybunny.com, but instead believes it's Be VewyVewyQuiet.com and retaliates against them. or B:SpeechImpairedDuck.com does realize who it was and goes after everyone associated with Fluffybunny.com. There's too many constitutional issues about due process for this to go too far. At least I hope so. In any case, if it goes through, expect someone to use it to attack numerous government websites to demonstrate how stupid this 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

Evolution and creation (as written in the bible)are mutually exclusive ideas. They can't both be right, which is why we have the fundie nutters fighting so hard against science on this issue. It is yet one more thing that shows belief in the supernatural(god, spirits, whatever) is ridiculous. Huge difference between the "fundie nutters" and those on a quest for faith. As someone who considers myself spritual, I find the fundie nutters as objectionable as you do. Their blind following of obviously false beliefs is idiotic. Their attempts to justify, explain and rationalize them are insulting. Look at some of the back and forth Jaybird and I had. Lots of spirtual folk don't believe that the bible is historically accurate. My dad was a devout Catholic, and a respected scientist. He knew perfectly well that the biblical accounts were myth. That didn't stop him from believing in God. Nor did his belief in God interfere with his scientific quests. Like BikerBabe, he kept them seperate. Did you read the NPR story I linked? "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 don't have to apologize to me. Maybe I should apologize to you. Your enthusiasm is great. The excitement of first timers is one of the things I really love about this sport. I did get a kick out of it. But the idea that it was unique, especially considering how many of these contest requests show up around here, is a little much. Good luck, both with the contest and your life together (really, no sarcasm at all). Just make sure you do another jump in the future. "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

My first thought was that the band was Murph and the Magic Tones. Then I saw the dancers in the background and had NO clue what to think. "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, she seems to have started and deleted a thread of her own on this. And if you want lots of votes, search for the "Glory" thread. I don't care myself, but I'm sure you would get votes from the ladies on here for contributing to 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

Some of the requests for votes are pretty stupid. Others are so far removed from the community that it's ridiculous. A few are worthwhile causes or people who I actually know. Those are the ones I vote for normally. Guess which category yours went into.

No, I understand that the story was probably fed to the media by the opponents. But for Cain to think the sexual harassment suit wasn't going to come out was idiotic. And his response to it was worse. It wasn't the revelations that was the "shot in the foot" it was his responses. "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 hate to burst your bubble Romeo, but there isn't much "unique" about it. Lots of folks, both regular skydivers and non have done the proposal thing. Although having the family hold up the letters was pretty cool. And there's usually two or three requests for an online vote each week. And yes, since I decided to bust your balls about this, I did vote for you. "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, at least that's a jargon that has common acceptance, and comprehension, among a given sub-group. It's not a self-invented "language of one" like Jodie Foster's character in Nell. That was really "twinspeak", although the other twin had died young. And I have a very hard time understanding the OP. He's made several incoherent posts. He says English isn't his primary language, but this seems to go well beyond that. I dunno. "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

How are you going to define "elite"? How do you police this? You don't just start "elite" at something, there has to be a progression. That's the whole point of this thread, after all. What's the progression? I don't know how civilian aircraft display teams filter their applicants. But if you look at the Red Arrows and similar US display teams. It is only the cream of the crop that are selected and then undergo intensive training. I just think that to many of us skydivers believe we are good enough when to be blunt we are not and never will be. It is not so much a matter of progression and I think the statistics back this up. It is just that to really swoop, you need to be talented. I don't have the knowledge to propose how the selection is done. Right. And the PD Factory Team does the same thing. But just like the airplane demo teams, the canopy pilots are already highly skilled. They don't take the "best" pilots that are just off student status and teach them. And there are thousands of aircraft out there that are aerobatic-capable. Spin training is mandatory for a Flight Instructor rating (at least it used to be). Basic aerobatic training is available to just about any pilot who is willing to make the effort and pay the expense. A quick search found THIS Clearly aerobatic flight isn't reserved for the "elite". It is considered advanced, but is also considered helpful. The ability to recover from really unusual attitudes that aerobatic training teaches would have saved a lot of pilots over the years. And you are also going to have to define "Swoop." Competition? Multiple turn setups? Turns above a certain rotation (say more than 180)? Any turn? Any speed inducing manuver? I agree that too many of us think we can swoop when we really can't. But with the right attitude, proper training, dedication and the willingness to progress at a reasonable rate (all back to attitude) many of us could. "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

And still be way, *WAY* behind the Dem smear campaign against the Rep candidates. Very droll. The GOP candidates are smearing each other so well there's no need for the Dems to waste their energy. I don't see a whole lot of smearing by the GOP candidates. They seem to be almost (not completely) civil towards each other. But they sure seem to be good at shooting themselves in the foot (figuatively speaking, of course). Bachmann, Perry and Cain were all done in by their own issues, not attacks by the other GOP candidates (or even by the Dems). "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 not a billionare, but my money was taken (I prefer earned) from my employer. That can be the owner of the company I work for, or the clients that I do side work for. If I don't do a good enough job, I either get fired from my main job or don't have clients come back on the side work. The owner of the company I work for took it's money from their customers. They actually charge above market rate. They can do that and keep their clients because they provide above average 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

I think that the F-16 and F-15E aren't designated (or re-designated) with an "A" because they were originally fighters. The attack capabilities are either secondary or later additions. The -18 was originally designed to be both (as was discussed until well after the horse was dead). There are those on here who enjoy nit-picking. Although they can get tiresome sometimes, it is nice to know that most of the details on these sorts of things are going to be accurate. Either to start with or after the nit-pickers get done with them. And thanks for posting the video. It was very cool. "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

Ummm... you may want to do a quick search on many of JRs posts... just saying. Restricted, not prohibited. All of them are here in SC. For the most part, the word "Gun" in any other forum will get it moved here pretty quickly. FWIW, I don't have a problem with it. It's made clear in the rules and it's fairly and evenly enforced. "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 private enterprise. They can do what they wish. Just like private entrprises out in the real world. They can choose to prohibit guns on their premises if they wish. You can then choose to do business with them or not do business with them. Personally I generally choose not to. The mere mention of guns is heavily restricted here (on DZ.com). Yet I don't hear any complaints about that. "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

Hold it up to the mirror, John. It's not the name I'd choose for someone claiming expertise on packing, but I suck at choosing names. "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 can't see it being changed. Even though parachutes don't go very fast, airplanes still do. The reason for the difference above and below 10k is the 250kt speed limit below 10k. In theory, if the weather is jumpable, then the conditions are VFR. Unfortunately, there may be aircraft operating under IFR rules at that time. Those planes don't have to maintain cloud clearances and don't have to alter their flight paths to go around clouds (like VFR aircraft do). Those are the aircraft that may pop out of a cloud at the worst possible time. Those aircraft should be made aware of any jump operations in progress, but may or may not divert because of it. At one of the bigger ways at SDC Summerfest a couple years ago there was a notable go-around due to a "large package delivery company" plane on approach into ORD. It flew directly below the formation on jump run. "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 can't ignore DADT for this. 6 months ago, both of them could/would have lost their careers if that picture had been published. And it's the news media. They make huge fusses about stuff that is mainly symbolic on a regualr basis. "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

When "God" starts telling you to do anything with a gun, it's time to check yourself into a mental institution. While I agree with that sentiment in general, if you read the entire story you will see that he made the decision to pull the gun out because the bad guy had a gun pointed at him. He also shot twice, injured the bad guy and thwarted the robbery. If someone is pointing a gun at me, I don't need God to tell me to "do something." "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

Were you searching for atheism in your Oct. 25th thread? I can't tell if you believe in God or not. My position is a belief in a God; but difficulties with organized (dis-organized) religion. I admit I had less questions when I was a young altar boy, but felt an emotional bond with "God." Having said that, I don't know if it was an emotional relationship with God as much as it was the church fellowship of my peers, Priests, youth groups, etc. Anyway, with all the strife in the world today... decided to dive deeper into "a beginning of all religions." It's actually quite interesting. No, I was not "searching" for atheism in that thread...I've been an atheist for the a long time now. If you are fond of your belief in god, you may find that knowlege is your enemy. Proceed with caution... Knowledge is not necessarily the enemy of spirtuality (although it may seem that way to those who blindly believe what their religious texts tell them to believe). There are many who believe in God, but don't follow organized religion. Either because they believe that the religion was man made and therefore false, or if it was divinely inspired, it has since been corrupted and polluted by the people that were in charge of it. NPR had an interesting story on that. "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 not a scam. It is an opportunistic group that hopes to make a profit from somebody that possibly hasn't kept up with their recordkeeping and allowed their domain name to expire. It only costs them $10 to snap it up and they may get lucky with 1 out of 50 grabs. A scam would be if they sold you a domain name they hold (or maybe don't hold) but don't deliver. It's called "cybersquatting." Wiki Clicky "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

Plantman Fantasy I saw the first one on the original Beavis and Butthead. That show had some of the worst videos ever. The second one was fairly typical for the time. In the early '80's videos had some of the most insane shit in them. The musicians were often portrayed as heros of some genre or another. Gothic, mythical, underworld what ever. It was actually a pretty popular song. But it sure hasn't aged well. "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 is a roomba? http://www.dropzone.com/cgi-bin/forum/gforum.cgi?post=4229679;sb=post_latest_reply;so=ASC;forum_view=forum_view_collapsed;;page=unread#unread Or 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