Sinkster

I have semi-low jump numbers (100+) and am not current (but I will be this weekend weather permitting), but I am planning on attending Bridge Day to make a single BASE jump and then retire from BASE jumping. :) I kinda got bored of skydiving (and flying small airplanes once I did my first solo cross country and had to hit the books) when the intense experience wore off (i stopped being scared shitless and instead am just scared now hehe), so I quit jumping, but I am getting back on the horse just enough to do one BASE jump with reasonable safety. (have already decided BASE is too risky for me to do with any regularity at all, but have dreamed about doing it many times, so one time is worth the risk for me!) I wager with the altitude of the bridge and the water for landing there is enough wiggle room where my ability is not 100%. Anyway, does anyone think I am wrong for this? Just curious what the community feels about what is going to be essentially a BASE tandem for me. Don't get me wrong, I am planning on training for it, practicing exits at a pool, working on my landings, etc. (it is an epic adventure for me :)) But, I am going to be taking blatent advantage of the relative safety and accessibility of Bridge Day, to do a jump I might not do, without that opportunity. In other words, like tandems, Bridge Day is a shortcut to instant air-gratification due to the low requirements and ease of accessibility. (not that i'm complaining) I know I might get flamed for this, but I'm just curious as to what people think about it. Will this sort of thing 'hurt' BASE jumping like some people claim tandems have for skydiving?

Anyone help you out yet? I wrote tons of C in college... even made a text based adventure game in C.

I wrote an algorithm in C that works for any size of 'matches' and 'max take' amount if anyone wants to see it. Did it a couple years ago for a class.

Thanks for the post bill von. One would have to be intellectually dishonest to disagree with that.

good one. right on!

The video has been uploaded to the UPLOADS folder of ftp.skydivingmovies.com. If that is inappropriate, feel free to delete or rant of course with no hard feelings and my apologies. As for myself, I did not want to watch the video, but feel that the truth should be told about the attrocities of the Iraqis. It is an outrage. Support and pray for our troops!

Taken from another source. Do what you will with it but at least now you have the option: I quote: "The US media outlets have apparently decided not to show the al-Jazeera video of the captured US prisoners. If you want to download it from the al-Jazeera website, the URL is: http://www.aljazeera.net/mritems/streams/video/2003/3/23/1_146027_1_12.asf Be aware that the first half of the video shows a number of US soldiers that have been killed. A couple appear to have been executed at close range. Its pretty graphic. The second half contains interviews with the prisoners. The questions are asked in broken English and answered by the prisoners in English. My heart goes out to the prisoners who look to be scared shitless. If you had any doubt about the brutality of the Iraqis, this video will remove it."

Umm, I hate to tell you this, but that was a bad move and a not so good prediction! Markets rally as war looms (dated today)

Good idea. That way there will be more slaves for the conquerer because you are too weak or foolish to defend yourselves.

More crushed than the people who have experienced this?

thx for posting that. it was an interesting read

I almost totally agree. The only thing I am unsure of is whether or not we already have given Saddam enough time, or if it is even possible to insure that Saddam is complying without getting rid of him and his regime.

Good response.

It depends on the philosopher you ask.

On the contrary it implies nothing of the sort! What it does say, however, is akin to the following: If you see someone about to murder an innocent person in a back alley somewhere and you have the means to stop it then you better do so if you have the power to do it! In other words, if you know what the right thing to do is and are able to do it and do not do it--you are in error! That is what I said. I never said might makes right. That is why I referenced the classic and famous Athens/Miletus debate in an above post. Athens told the Milesians that 'the gods favor those with power' basically in their debate about ethics and the gods. The Milesians did not give in by principle because they were morally justified not to bend to the Athenians' will. The men were slaughtered and the women and children taken as slaves as far as I remember. This is real history and Athens clearly was morally wrong. Please read more carefully next time.

As for me, an American, you have it backwards. Most? Hate to mention this because we shouldn't act like Athens did to the Milesians, but we actually have more military might than any nation in recorded history. Heck, Texas alone has the 7th largest economy in the world. Maybe we should boot Germany off the ranking. The 'global stage' can't even get Saddam's weak country to cooperate. Doesn't seem like much help to me.

Why should it matter what we look like? If we believe that what we are doing is the right thing (as Bush does (or else he is malicious--which is doubtful)), and if we know that we have the power to do it (which we do), it would be wrong not to go to war with Iraq! (if war is indeed the only way to solve the problem, which seems unfortunately likely right now) I realize that the above statement may sound very simplistic or naive, but at the very least I hope to show that we shouldn't let mere popular opinion sway us in our decision about such important matters, but instead look at the facts whatever they may be. Note: I'm not picking on wildblue because he is only stating facts about our options, but only posting against the sort of reasoning I outlined above if that is a problem. Note 2: This post is possibly useless and irrelevant, but at the very least

Whoo-daddy! Yee-haw! *shoots gun into the air* God bless Texas!

I hope Socrates can offer you at least some small comfort in this time. There is wisdom in the passage below. It is worthy of contemplation no matter what you believe in. "God orders me to fulfil the philosopher's mission of searching into myself and other men, I were to desert my post through fear of death, or any other fear; that would indeed be strange, and I might justly be arraigned in court for denying the existence of the gods, if I disobeyed the oracle because I was afraid of death, fancying that I was wise when I was not wise." "For the fear of death is indeed the pretence of wisdom, and not real wisdom, being a pretence of knowing the unknown; and no one knows whether death, which men in their fear apprehend to be the greatest evil, may not be the greatest good." Blue skies brother...

Fyodor Dostoevsky explored this when he wrote The Idiot, which shows the inability of a truly innocent man to live in 'modern' society. "The story is basically about the sudden appearance of a near perfect man (or Dostoyevsky's idea of one) and the effect he has on a small group of middle class characters. They ask for his judgement and support in various mucky disputes and dilemmas, try to rob him of his inheritance, pick fights with him, fall in love with him, present him to each other as a prophet, a freak, a status symbol etc. Between them they land him in a psychiatric clinic, which, incidentally, is where he originally appears from." It is an intense and sorrowful exploration of the human condition.

Don't worry! I intend to get to all the drop zones around there including Aggieland and SS. It will be fun to meet all the infamous dz.com people. Ramon jumps at SDH so that's why I am going to start there, but it would be silly not to visit them all. Thanks to all for the welcomes and invites. I also plan to buy a new ff friendly rig asap and start really learning to freefly now that I can afford to jump enough to not just stay a little more than current.

hey now! I'm just trying to give a good vibe and let everyone know that I really am open minded and fun and not a bible-thumping dogmatic sourpuss even though ya'll manage to incite me to post on all the religious threads! I still have strong opinions and hold to them, but I no longer want to view it as an "us versus them" thing but rather a problem that we all need to work on--myself included. hehe It's a new year so why not start it out right and on the right foot?!

*LOL at both of you*

Just want to say that I just graduated from college and got a new job in Houston and am moving there in a couple weeks and will be jumping at Skydive Houston probably. Also, I want to apologize to all the "unfortunate" liberals and democrats out there because God is not a republican or a democrat, etc. and I've been way to extreme and stupid in my views on that and hope now only to support what is truly right whatever group it may be in. I also agree with bill von about the oil and gas stuff.

Try exiting the plane in a sit and hold it until you reach terminal. I can almost guarantee you will get that falling sensation! Also, when I exit from a Cessna as opposed to a faster Twin Otter I get more falling feeling due to the low airspeed of the Cessna. So I would venture to say that you get good falling sensation from a balloon or chopper and also depending on your body orientation as you first start falling.