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I read it 5 years ago, and instantly stopped eating BK, McDonalds and KFC. I have had the occasional Domino's pizza in that time, but i could count those times on the fingers of both hands over the 5 years. I used to eat fast food (usually BK or McD) once every 2 weeks or so, but stopped eating it not because of health issues (i was generally pretty healthy then and now) but because of my disgust at the practices of these companies, particularly McDonalds, at how they went about their business. I know hating on fast food joints has been flavour of the month for quite some time now, especially with reference to Supersize Me, but i just feel bad because in the last 4 months i have broken down and had BK twice, both times when making the same 300 mile journey on the motorway and having a distinct lack of anything else to eat for a meal. I didn't really enjoy eating it each time, but i thought "is it so bad to eat this stuff once in every blue moon?". Anyone who has read FFN, what do you guys think? Does anyone abstain (as i had for almost 5 years) from eating this stuff still, since reading that book? "Skydiving is a door" Happythoughts

shucks man, you say nice stuff. As to your specific post, that's the problem with making generalizations, people are individuals and when (I) put out a generalize comment about 'some' or 'most' people, specific individuals will feel slighted. my bad, However, since I did directly refer to the original post, I'll also quote from it: "Anyone not living in the US know what i mean? You guys have had it too good for too long." I'm not completely in the wrong, but I'll share it with you. Fair and valid point and slight wrongness accepted "Skydiving is a door" Happythoughts

Good points, thanks. "Skydiving is a door" Happythoughts

Thinking about PC in tow's again... Pull, nothing, look up, PC in tow. From my experience, regardless of if we are talking to cut away or not to cutaway and then reserve, i know the problem some people have had has been to have the PC of the reserve entangle with the PC of the towing main. So, is angling the head/midrift down, so your back is now more aligned to the horizon, rather than pointing directly up into space, THEN pulling reserve (after a cutaway or not, whatever) is this a good idea, since, if the spring pops the reserve PC away horizontally, it would make it less likely to entangle with the main PC and bridle, hopefully getting more clean air? It sounds far fetched, but is there any validity to this line of thought? "Skydiving is a door" Happythoughts

Rehwma, i usually agree with very much of what you say, and like your comments as they are well thought through, put across clearly and are not governed by emotion, but if you reread the 2nd sentence of my very first post it does quite clearly say: "It would also destroy less of the environment which we ALL rely on to sustain life, not place so much reliance on the role and power that major oil producing countries have in our lives, and benefit the general health of the populace by forcing them to walk or take some other mode of transportation" "Skydiving is a door" Happythoughts

Interesting points from you and Canuck above, thanks. "Skydiving is a door" Happythoughts

nonsense - the price is what the market sets, wherever you may be. When it's $1/gal we attribute a value of of $/gal, when it's $4/gal we attribute a value of $4/gal. You mean that the US have no sense of value to the high prices elsewhere. And what would be the point? We artificially raise the price to show sympathy? who does that help? It's like not eating to sympathize with someone starving on another continent - it's help no one to gratuitously flog yourself for something you are not responsible for. I wish the price of gas outside the US would halve overnight. I'd rather wish good fortune on others rather than wish bad fortune others. But the good fortune on others in the short term is bad news for all of us in the long term. The more fossil fuel we burn, the worse off this planet is, that's a well known fact. While i think we need something of a happy medium, i personally believe we need to err more on the side of restraint when it comes to fuel consumption if we can. If we choose not to do that, well we simply pay more for something that affects a greater whole than just ourselves. "Skydiving is a door" Happythoughts

Thank you for helping shed some light on this, it's been puzzling me for some while, and we probably won't come to any firm conclusions one way or the other, but it is interesting to look at. PS All the Americans I have met have been really nice people, i don't hate any of you guys. Some Brits will generalise (as most do), but just because they don't like Bush doesn't mean they hate you guys.

Yeah, the help you got from U.S. servicemen and women doesn't matter nearly as much NOW as when HITLER WAS DROPPING BOMBS ON YOUR FUCKING CAPITAL CITY. Easy to take us for granted now, I guess -- wasn't so easy then. And this is your fuckin' gratitude. Nice. -Jeffrey Of course i'm thankful for all US involvement and assistance with abating the spread of Hitler and the Nazis, that's a moot point. I am thankful (if that;s the right word) that Pearl Harbour happened only in so much as it got the US to join the Allied forces and fight. I daresay if it hadn't happened, we may well have become a united Germany, under Hitler, because traditionally, the US voting public at the time were very much against putting resource into a then European war. It's unfortunate, but you could say history repeats itself with the events post September 11th. This raises an interesting point for another post though, thanks. "Skydiving is a door" Happythoughts

As a Brit, should i be thankful to the US that i'm not speaking German? How central was the role of the US to the war? If Pearl Harbour hadn't happened, would the US have gone to war? Was their involvement more based on the desire to contain the spread of communist nations and ensure that the capitalist ideology survived by ensuring the survival of the allied countries and their financial stability to trade with the US? Don't misunderstand this post - i am IMMENSELY grateful to all those who faught against the Axis countries and bow to those who gave their lives against them. The reason i posted this is i was told in no uncertain terms in another post that, were it not due to the US, i would be speaking German. I know there were huge losses for all Allied countries involved, but does anyone have numbers for those lost by country? While a fairly basic, and also sensitive area for research, I think this might provide at least some indication of whether Hitler may have won or not. "Skydiving is a door" Happythoughts

At least now we understand why (jealousy) the rest of the world keeps talking shit about the U.S. And you know what's funny? They bitch about U.S. energy consumption -- as if the U.S. is full of native-born Americans ONLY -- no immigrants, no illegals, no tourists... THEY contribute to what we use, and how much we pollute, too, ya know. In the last 10 years, the population of the U.S. has grown by HOW many million people who came from other countries? And people bitch about how much of the world's resources we use. Is there any other country that has as many people pouring into it each year from other countries? To live permanently? Cut us some fuckin' SLACK, already. If it weren't for the U.S., I know a fuck of a lot of British skydivers who wouldn't have a cheap place to come and fuckin' jump. Open your fuckin' eyes and quit your pathetic bitching. -Jeffrey I doubt many of the illegal immigrants are driving around in vehicles that get less than 10 mpg. I think they are more concerned with living and surviving than what options they should be getting on their Escalade or Hummer. This is an old post and if you read the whole thing, you will see much of it has already been discussed, and my points - while vociferous at the outset - were not really heartfelt. Of course, i do not want gas to double overnight because the knock on economic effect for the average American would be awful but you will get the jist of things by reading through the whole post. There is also a distinct difference between jealousy and a sense of responsibility, forced or otherwise. My post topic referred to the fact that Americans were at the time, being forced into a sense of global responsibility through perhaps either lowering gas consumption, or selling a gas guzzler to get a more efficient car. Either that, or, to keep the car that they had, but just pay the price for consuming a large amount of a damaging and ultimately limited resource where consumption has a knock on effect globally. When you pay a low price for something you will never truly attribute a sense of value, fiscal or otherwise, to that something, until the price of it rises. "Skydiving is a door" Happythoughts

Seconded "Skydiving is a door" Happythoughts

I saw that documentary too - harrowing indeed. What surprises me is knowing what we do, we still satirise and laugh at Kim Jong Il (for instance his fascination with the movie industry, how he is portrayed and parodied in Team America etc). It's pretty strange to me. I agree with sudsy that by it's definition it's not genocide, but it's right on the line. Allowing people to starve to death and torturing and killing those who won't tow the party line is up there with the worst of them. The worst thing is it's going to get far worse before it gets better for the people of North Korea, and that's regardless of any intervention from the international community. "Skydiving is a door" Happythoughts

Looks like a good idea. Wonder what your guys take on it was? "Skydiving is a door" Happythoughts

thats a good idea

thats cool, i didn't just mean give as in time or whatever, i just wanted to know if anyone gives anything to anyone (or anything, like plant a tree for nature or whatever) other than stocking up on pointless gifts and too much food. "Skydiving is a door" Happythoughts

I'm thinking about volunteering at homeless shelter this year, which would be something of a change. Normally i'm like all the other mindless drones, who consume more than they should could or otherwise would. Anyone actually give anything to anyone/anything other than just a monetary/financial gift, and outside of direct friends/family? "Skydiving is a door" Happythoughts

I haven't had cable for about 5 years now and we only get reruns on terrestrial TV which i have seen. I believe they are up to series 17? I saw all of them (bar 1 or 2) up to about series 10 or 11, and then a scattering in between. Some were definitely hit and miss. Anyway fill me in - those who are "up" on the newer stuff - are they still funny? It's about the only thing (other than Discovery, National Geographic and the Food network) that i miss from cable "Skydiving is a door" Happythoughts

I was in a discussion the other day, and we were talking about skydiving. A mate of mine suggested that skydivers were brave people, i initially said they were stupid... but then i thought "why were they stupid" and i couldn't come up with a reason my mates argument was that to be prepaird to die for what you believe in, can't be an act of stupidity, but an act of bravery. He made no comment on whether it was right or wrong, idiotic or not.. but solely on stupidity or bravery anybody else think they are stupid ? _____________ Think about it when speaking to a whuffo friend who doesn't "get it". Same principle applies. "Skydiving is a door" Happythoughts

What an erudite and well argued post, thanks and i heartedly concur with what you say. Ever thought about running for Mayor? "Skydiving is a door" Happythoughts

Not my absolute favorite, but pretty good. My fav has to be Jurassic 5...old school sound from a relatively new group. If you have not heard them, check em out. Follow that with Atmosphere. This guy is damn good. J5 are nice, you should also check People Under the Stairs, if you like J5 i think you might like those guys (check for LA Story and Acid Raindrops for some of their fresh production). Ozomatli, the spin off from J5 who originally had Cut Chemist as part of the ensemble also have a nice interesting flavour. As far as i'm concerned Cut Chemist as a producer can do no wrong, that guy can't lay down a bad beat and is very nice on the cut too. "Skydiving is a door" Happythoughts

This guy has bid on one for $5,999. http://cgi.ebay.com/Microsoft-Xbox-360-Game-Console-Bundle_W0QQitemZ8236334613QQcategoryZ62054QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem Pointless, but there you go. "Skydiving is a door" Happythoughts

Guys i want to get a digital SLR for my wife, as she wants to start to get into photography, but she is not a skydiver. However, there will always be the possibility i could nab it for the odd weekend for jumping here and there and take it with me, right? Seriously, it will specifically be for her, for non jumping purposes, but i don't think you can get anything decent for under $400 right? I would prefer build quality over masses of features that she would never probably use anyway. We both have always used compact digital cameras but i would like to get her this as a gift to foster a growing interest she has in stills photography. If anyone has any suggestions or could point out a few sites i could check, i would really appreciate it. Many thanks. "Skydiving is a door" Happythoughts

http://andylittle.org/img/trading-spouses-hi.wmv This woman is crazy. I missed this show, did anyone catch it or have it to upload somewhere? I feel sorry for the husband and kids, look at their faces. "Skydiving is a door" Happythoughts

I love the look of an Escalade (you rarely see those here in London, but you will see almost every other type of SUV around a LOT), and i'm sure being all high up and whatnot is quite good fun. But you know what - given the running and outlay cost of one of those things, if i had the money to buy one, which i don't, i wouldn't. For one i do think they consume a hell of a lot of fuel and i'm one of those people who thinks a scarce resource should be consumed somewhat frugally. I'm not a tree hugger by any means, but i would consider myself a somewhat responsible citizen of this planet. If i had that sort of money to blow, i would probably get an Audi - fast, safe and they look damn nice. They also have a better fuel consumption than the average SUV and aren't as played out. So i guess fashion and features would come first to environmental concerns, but environmental concerns do form an element of the decision making process, if that makes sense. "Skydiving is a door" Happythoughts