TomAiello
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Everything posted by TomAiello
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I know a crew that recently acquired a new member, whose previous career was (in all seriousness) "Bank Robber." The guy can apparently give lectures on what not to do while robbing a bank, how the security systems are arranged, and how to keep your face off the camera. Interesting set of crossover skills, there. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com
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I used to be one of those guys with six pack abs. Nowadays, it's more a mini keg than a six pack. And, unfortunately, no matter how good of shape I get in, the left side of my lower abs will never get defined again (as a result of spinal injury and nerve damage from that nasty accident). Price I pay for the life I lead, I suppose. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com
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I missed weighing in Friday, because at weigh in time I was busy freezing to death on an icy rooftop. But my monday weigh in was 181.5 and 21%. What's the notation? 212.5/165/31/21% ? Did I get that right? At any rate, I've lost 31 pounds so far on my weigh from 212.5 to my goal weight of 165. Travellling thursday and friday played hell with my workout schedule (and my eating schedule--it's always harder for me to eat right while travelling). I did manage to get some yards in the pool today--around an hour and 15 minutes--but it didn't go so well, as I was incredibly sore from shovelling snow out of my yard on Sunday. Tomorrow, will, hopefully be another (and a better) day. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com
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For those using extra long bridles: Be aware that BASE gear went down that road (I've seen some old gear with 12 and 15 foot bridles) and came back. Not only is there a point of diminishing returns in terms of escaping the burble, but there are also some weird entanglement issues with long bridles. In one documented BASE accident, a 12' bridle came all the way around the nose, allowing the PC to wrap the slider during deployment. On a skydive, this would likely require a cutaway. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com
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Who is Andrew Sullivan? -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com
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Have you ever driven stoned? No need to answer that publicly... But I heard, from a friend of mine, that he thought he was safer driving on LSD than driving stoned. I won't say that it's better to drive drunk, but I will say that it's worse to drive stoned than many other ways--and safest to drive cold sober. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com
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The problem I've seen is that the slow down in phase 3 is far less predictable than the improvement in phase 4. Sometimes it's almost no slowdown, and sometimes it's a whole lot. Variation worries me at low altitudes. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com
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Your Crispi's are in my size (I know because they were the ones I tried on when I ordered mine). And mine are getting along, so I'll probably need to replace them sometime this summer, anyway. How much do you want for yours? -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com
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I'm just curious why you wanted to include the name of people posting here? -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com
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Of course. I was just reading (perhaps too much) into DexterBASE's comment about meeting average Iraqi's while patrolling through their neighborhoods. If I saw armed foreigners patrolling my neighborhood, I'd have to feel pretty strongly positive to overcome my initial reaction and chat with them. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com
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Sure. I wasn't saying he'd gone out and done a survey, or anything. The question was basically "what makes you think that?" I thought that DexterBASE had already explained that, and was trying to help point that out. That said, I wouldn't expect someone attached to a Marine force to be meeting only "friendly" natives. In fact, I'd expect that a soldier on the front lines would be more likely to see the unfriendly faces, and their view might be skewed a bit toward the negative. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com
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I've stood for the National Anthem of several countries not the US. Are you saying we ought to be sitting down if, when visiting another country, they play their national anthem and everyone else stands? That sounds awfully disrespectful to me. Would I recite their "pledge"? No. But I'd stand up with everyone else. I'd see that as a reasonable degree of respect to accord my hosts. edit to add: surely you don't think that at the Olympics, only citizens of the medal winners ought to stand when their anthem is played? -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com
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Just judging by his previous posts, I'd say that his personal experience on the ground there is the thing that gives him that idea. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com
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I didn't edit his text. The thing is that I've seen things like "kitten" refer to photos of someone's pet, as well as photos of female genitalia. It's better if you are quite explicit in your labelling. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com
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Bridle over occurs when the bridle wraps the PC and knots it off, preventing inflation. A single attachment point handle contributes to this, as does weight on the apex of the PC (which is why handled BASE PC's come standard with a lightweight handle that has two attachment points). I have seen this malfunction before in person. I've also seen the PC make it all the way through the loop, and result in a knot in the bridle. This malfunction has been the cause of at least one documented BASE fatality. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com
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Certainly they would not. But the American people would be unlikely to accept a dictator who abducted and tortured his political opponents in the US, either. I can't say what I would think were I an Iraqi. I rather suspect I'd be one of the guys lobbing bombs around, but since I'm not there, I have no idea. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com
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I agree. Nobody wants the police at their house unless they've been called. Sure, but when they're abusing their kids, it's probably better if the cops show, even if the parents haven't called. Following your analogy, it seems that the cops liked so much the living room and what it has that they don´t want to leave. Well, more accurately you might say that the cops decided that if they left without any adults in charge of the house, it might develop into a crack den. We're sort of straining the analogy here. I'm not expressing an opinion on what I think of the current US occupation of Iraq, morally. I think that politically it's necessary to the point of inevitablilty. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com
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If you find the right mail client, you can set a word filter, and just filter the word "cum" out, sending any email that includes it directly into the trash. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com
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Same reason we avoid them in BASE. They can encourage a bridle-over malfunction of the PC. On a BASE jump, this is obvious death (and has resulted in such). On a skydive, it may just result in firing your reserve through a trailing PC--which might not result in wrapping the two. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com
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Iraqi Govt Death Squads, SF and the Salvador Option
TomAiello replied to Hipwrddude's topic in Speakers Corner
Please look for existing discussions on a topic before starting new threads on them. Discussion remains more coherent if it stays in one thread. Thanks! -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com -
I know Tom B did some large number in one day. I'm not sure who has the record. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com
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My favorite is: "Education is always a weapon." - Tibor Frank -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com
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-- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com
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Ok, whatever. I missed the part where I was expressing any opinion about Iraq (or current world events). Where was that, again? Remember, I was asking about your "nothing justifies violence" philosophy--not about any particular current events. It seems like you think I'm arguing some side here. I'm really not. edit: By the way, wouldn't "nothing justifies killing" mean that resisting violent occupation was unjustified, since even violent occupation doesn't justify responding with violence? -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com
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To paraphrase Frank Yerby. I believe that every man has a right to a house, if he can afford it. And around that house, he has a right to build a fence. And in that fence, he may decide to put a gate. And in that house, he may keep a gun. And if anyone, be he the President of the United States, or the Secretary General of the United Nations, walks through that gate without permission, he has a right to use that gun. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com