Sinkster

One example of why there might be a rush is at my dz you can only do beach jumps if you have a C license. U get the idea.

thanks. btw, last time I talked to Lynette she said she had over 2000 something jumps so I think the bio is a tad out dated...

Someone on rec.skydiving summed up how I feel about this article nicely when he wrote: "The article was long on innuendo and "he-said, she said", but short on specific evidence. An indication that it is a witch-hunt could be seen in the attempt to link "near misses" between jump planes and airliners on approach to Midway and O'Hare, to Skydive Chicago operations. SDC is NOT under any published airport approach route or any airway. Another Illinois DZ is under the Midway localizer, but the way the article was written the reader is led to infer it is SDC. Either poor research or an absence of journalistic ethics." See this thread.

All I can say is that the FAA and the general public better stay the heck out of skydiving and not try to protect us from ourselves. Let's hope we can continue to keep a low profile so the safety police stay away!

I used to kayak a lot in the summertime in Colorado and Utah. Typical fare was Westwater Canyon, the San Juan, parts of the Green River, the Shoshone (sp?) section of the Colorado and the Arkansaws. Also surfed 'Big Sur' on the Colorado when the water was high enough. I've almost been more scared kayaking than skydiving, but rarely. Worst was facing Skull rapid for the first time in the sheer walled granite Westwater Canyon. Dunno why, but that one was freaky. Could be the MASSIVE 'hole' though. Shoshone was also a rush. Fun stuff.

someone else = Malcolm i think heh it starts with an M i know. i only met 'M' one other time so that's why i can't remember, plus i'm bad w/ names. doh! Thanks for posting the pics btw AndyMan so I can save them.

I just wanna say that it was great meeting all of ya'll and also that Lindsey was so awesome she jumped with me and another low-timer and we got 6 pts!! That was the funnest[sic] rw jump ever! That may not seem like much to most of you guys but for a newbie like me it was the best! (the only other 3-way i did was with newbies and someone floated BIG time and i did a 4-way once but as u know from my previous post from that experience we didnt even hold together it was a zoo! lol)

Sorry to hear that man. My mom did the same thing to my dad btw, but now he is much happier than he was with her (aside from losing his children). He ended up finding someone who really appreciates and loves him, and I know that there is someone else out there like that for you too. This was also after over 10 years of marriage. Btw, statistically women instigate more than 75% of today's divorces.

I agree.

ummm... where do you work so I can send my resume?! I take it you write code?

Yeah, that may be what this thread is about, but not what was being addressed. If you really could care less, why even bother with a response?

I am with rgroper in my beliefs. (although I arrived at it independently as an individual soul before God (as it must be)) "Men go out to admire the heights of mountains, the huge waves of the sea, the broadest spans of rivers, the circle of ocean, the revolutions of stars, and leave themselves behind." -St. Augustine as he also unknowlingly described the alure of skydiving.

No, I think your problem is that I really honestly do believe that God is real and am willing to act upon that. A belief is often described as an idea that one is willing to act upon. What you want me to do is simply stay silent or include some tag with my posts to tell the world that really what I am saying is just as pointless err I mean as "equally valid" as what everyone else is saying.

So do you even believe your *own* opinion? If you don't claim it to be fact, why would you even bother to say that belief in God is equivalent to believing in "fairy tales" and is "delusional"? Are you worried about defending your own ideas so you just stick that tag line in? If it is because you are a skeptic, why even bother saying anything that would be suspect by your own system and therefore pointless to even say? Don't be afraid to stake a claim.

This is a popular saying among atheists. (and for good reason) But it is critically dependent on your world view and what you define morality (and religion) to be. (obviously) Therefore, this idea is up for grabs. Philosophers have argued over that issue for centuries. My take, after careful study, is that religion and morality (not religion as a belief system but as a relationship with a real God) are necessarily connected and I can support that assertion if need be. (with the basic idea being that u need to bind yourself to an eternal power in order for all the categories of good and evil to be available to you) Now, I do know some so called Christians who live like heathens and I also know some very intelligent atheists who live with a supremely higher moral code than the average population. (i suspect this has to do with intelligence more than any particular religious choice though) So I do agree that one can live a fairly moral life as an atheist, but ultimately it is incomplete. (God changes the inside of a man where the outward acts of religion or duty fall utterly short.) Remember, ought implies can, and no one can be morally perfect in *this* lifetime. Something to think about.

You know what the problem today is? Not just in commerce but in the world of ideas too our age is putting on a veritable clearance sale. Everything can be had so dirt cheap that one begins to wonder whether in the end anyone will want to make a bid. (Kierkegaard

It is true that in matters of faith one cannot prove the object of that faith or else it would be faith no more. However, that does not make my statement contradictory. Irrational? Yes. Absurd? Yes. But still, I am certain that God exists and have faith in Him. -Sinkster "The present generation, wearied by its chimerical efforts, relapses into complete indolence. Its condition is that of a man who has only fallen asleep towards morning: first of all come great dreams, then a feeling of laziness, and finally a witty or clever excuse for remaining in bed." -Soren Kierkegaard

You may not be certain, but I am. And yes, I will DARE say that I am, even after a few years of philosophy to get me sufficiently jaded. I am staking the rest of my life on it. However, like rgoper says, all our arguing is futile. The idea of demonstrating that God exists, could scarcely suggest itself to reason. For if God does not exist it would of course be impossible to prove it, and if he does exist it would be folly to attempt it. This is what is sad when one contemplates human life, that so many live out their lives in quiet lostness ... they live, as it were, away from themselves and vanish like shadows. Their immortal souls are blown away, and they are not disquieted by the question of its immortality, because they are already disintegrated before they die.

lol, I started going to a barber shop since I started jumping. Before, I had excess dough to throw away and used to pay 25 a cut. Now it's 9. The way I look (for a week or two afterwards at least lol) reflects the price but it's worth it. Besides, who wants to attract a mate when jumping takes enough money as it is.

Ignorance itself is without a doubt a sin for those who do not wish to understand; for those who, however, cannot understand, it is the punishment of sin.

Taken from cnn.com: Speaking Thursday at the G-8 summit in Canada, Bush said the ruling was "out of step with the history and traditions of America," and said it highlighted the need for "common sense judges that understand that our rights are derived from God." At least someone has a clue.

Jesus knew their thoughts and said to them, "Every kingdom divided against itself will be ruined, and every city or household divided against itself will not stand. If Satan drives out Satan, he is divided against himself. How then can his kingdom stand? --Matthew 12:25-26

The root of a tree nourishes all that follows. If the root is corrupt, the rest of the tree will wither. If the root is good, the rest of the tree will be blessed. Read the opening of the Declaration of Independence again and you will notice that the idea is that undisputable rights come to us from God. Governments are established to uphold those rights. Take away God and you take away the rights and then there is nothing to even be defended by any government at all! So what is the deepest root?

You're kidding right? What most people don't realize is that God has everything to do with the justification for our individual rights and the laws that protect us. I don't think there are very many people who can provide a *rational* justification for individual rights without appealing to God that doesn't reduce the notion of justice and rights to some sort of function which then undermines the notion of justice itself. Kant had one idea, for example, based on the notion of humans as the ultimate valuers in the universe which means that we must have unconditional worth ourselves in order for us to be able to truly imbue value upon anything. (which still ultimately needed God for other reasons). So people, at least think for yourselves why you believe what you believe and how you can justify it, and if you can't--consider why! (for example, consider why is it that people even feel they have a right to be 'free'. is it just because the government is supposed to allows us to do certain things? WHY is it supposed to? is it because we are meant to live free, and if so WHY?) In any case, my main point is that issues like these are actually important for some of us and for good reason. While I will not despair in myself when such rulings are made for my God will always be with me regardless of the state of those around me, it is sad to see our nation destroying the very foundation that justifies and upholds our freedoms. In other words, without "one nation, under God", there will never truly be " liberty and justice for all". I've said it before and I will say it again "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.--That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men..."

thanks for the chuckle