TomAiello

Back off the country music before we send you home to Denmark... -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

I think I read that series through about 15 times when I was a kid. Wasn't Dawn Treader number 3? I can't wait to see what they do for Reepicheep. I think he was my favorite character in any of the books. My favorite book was undoubtedly A Horse and His Boy, though. I think that The Silver Chair was probably the one I liked least. I seem to remember the books getting renumbered sometime after I read them, to go in chronological order. When I read them, they were in the order they were written in: 1) The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe 2) Prince Caspian 3) The Voyage of the Dawn Treader 4) The Silver Chair 5) The Horse and His Boy 6) The Magician's Nephew 7) The Last Battle Ah, the nostalgia... -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

Honestly, I think it's worth the money. Apex has probably the most experience teaching of anyone on earth at this point, and I recommend them to anyone looking to take a first jump course. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

Oh, we're all suffering... hang on, let me stick a smiley in the middle of some lines of text, just for you. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

Those are "freefall paragliders" to you. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

Um...what's that? Nietzche wrote Thus Spake Zarathustra, which famously includes the lines: "The old gods are dead, they all died laughing, the day one grim old beard of a god stood up and said 'thou shalt have no other gods before me.'" Interestingly, Frank Yerby later spun off of this for the title of his The Old Gods Laugh, which is a personal favorite of mine. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

Just a reminder that you have only a few weeks left to apply if you want to come to this class. I've got two slots left that I'm holding until August 1st, at which time I'll pick up where I left off in sending invitations. If you've applied, but not yet heard back, hang in there, because there will be a few more folks who I can't invite until August 1st. I've had a total of 27 applications for the 5 slots in this class, so competition is fairly tight. If you need to know sooner, to plan things, and you haven't heard, feel free to email me and I'll let you know where you are on the waiting list. The top 2 on the wait list will be invited unless I get a better applicant by the end of the month. Thanks! -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

I doubt it. The meeting went fairly well. Although, seeing that the ABP has removed the BOD member resident in Utah, as well as one of the two representatives who attended that meeting, I can see why you might think that. I'll be curiously watching (from the sidelines) to see how the Utah issue works out. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

It was also various military forces (in the Polish case, ironically, the "allied" Soviet army) that deprived them of their freedoms. Military might is a tool. Like many tools, it can be used in various ways. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

That's my fault. I removed a discussion along those lines. I didn't want the forum to get bogged down into a rehashing of Robin's historical sins. If you search the BLiNC archives, you can find that issue done over and over. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

ding ding we have a winner!!!! In fairness, I feel like I did what I could to help, and was told that my contributions were not desired. I don't think the ABP actually wants people to try to help--hence the new, streamlined organization. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

Walt, Please refer to the forum rules, specifically: Your post has some interesting points for discussion. It also has several "Muslim Jokes" that are in very poor taste and quite unnecessary. Please edit the post and remove the jokes. I'll give you the chance to do that yourself, but if they're still there in 6 hours (the edit timeout limit), I'll do it for you. Thanks! -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

Does the FAA require that your main be TSO'd or is it just the harness/container and reserve? The main does not require a TSO. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

Who judges that? You or God? There's actually quite a bit of interesting literature, and academic research, on the difference between a cult and a religion. So, in a sense, lots of people have tried to judge that. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

The domain name isn't the deciding factor. The actual apparatus which is the ABP rests almost exclusively in the hands of two people. Jason Dawson, the organization's webmaster, controls the web page, including the letter writing system and email lists. Gardner Sapp, the executive director, controls the physical property of the organization, including the membership cards, t-shirts, flyers, and, perhaps most importantly, the bank account. In practice, these two people between them could decide to ignore, or eject, any other person or group of people from the organization. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

I think you'll find that Vector is too small for your properly sized BASE canopy. Your best bet is probably going to be to borrow or rent larger gear to practice with. I've got an old accuracy rig I use for jumping BASE canopies out of planes. You're welcome to borrow it, but you'll probably need to get the reserve repacked. Send me a PM if you'd like to use it. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

The mission of the APB, as stated on their web page is: Note that representing jumpers, or communicating with jumpers, or even being jumpers, is not part of the organizations mission. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

Although this is correct, I don't really think it has any bearing on his ability as an advocate or organizer. For example, I've got no idea if Chris Needels is any good as a skydiver, or even if he's a skydiver at all. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

See the bottom of my post for the official ABP statement. Jason Dawson told me yesterday that the reorganized ABP has no interest in representing the BASE community. The organization will move toward it's goals of BASE access as it sees fit, without consultation or discussion with other jumpers. I believe that it is felt that BASE jumpers, on the whole, are not mature or far sighted enough to be involved in a campaign for access, and that a few dedicated individuals will serve the ABP's goals better than a larger group. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

Yesterday, Robin, with the backing of Gardner and Jason, informed the rest of the board (myself, Jason Bell, Martin Tilley, Adam Filipino, Todd Shoebotham and Jimmy Pouchert) that we were no longer part of the organization. Since Gardner controls the bank account, t-shirts, membership cards, and other physical apparatus, and Jason Dawson controls the web site, mailing lists, and other electronic apparatus, they can pretty much do as they wish. It is my assumption that they will continue to pursue BASE access goals. Apparently they feel that they will be better able to pursue those goals without the aid of the aforementioned former BOD members. Gardner has given me his word that should the ABP cease to pursue these goals, any remaining treasury monies will be donated to an appropriate charity. No. Jason and Gardner were clear in stating that this is not a member driven organization, and there will be no voting to determine anything, by either the membership or the board. I must admit that at this point I'm very taken aback, and a little confused by this whole thing. Suffice to say that I regret having encouraged others to donate money, and I find it particularly ironic that I was on national television wearing an ABP shirt on the same day the ABP told me that I was having a negative effect on their efforts for greater access. Below, I've reproduced Robin's letter to the board. I have the original word document, with Robin's signature and the ABP letterhead, but the graphics files are too large for DZ.com attachment. Feel free to email me if you would like a copy. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

I think they've already got their Utah stuff lined up. I did suggest that they visit with Jimmy and Marta, but they weren't too keen on it. They are, apparently, covering Lost Prairie, though. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

I think that either of those things would undermine our system of law. Case law evolves. That's how we got Roe. To say that it ought to stop evolving at some arbitrary point seems short sighted. A judge, especially a Supreme Court Justice, has a duty to continue the evolution of the case law. If a judge, especially a Supreme Court Justice, sees a law that he thinks is unconstitutional, he has a duty to rule against it. Judges who just accept what their predecessors have said, or just accept the laws as they have been made without considering constitutional issues? What would be the point of having appellate courts, then? -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

Press report in English here. Transcript of that report has been posted to the Incidents forum. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

Which is funny because we discussed other states with legal BASE when we were talking to them off camera. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

I'm pro choice, and I wouldn't be sad to see Roe overturned. I think it's pretty crummy law, actually. I'd much rather see abortion rights given a firmer footing than the (easily attacked by lawmakers) nebulous penumbra rights. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com