TomAiello

I dunno. Going after a madman with nukes might be a good way to ensure he starts lobbing them around. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

So, what'd you think of Liv? -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

What areas are they in? You don't happen to have a breakdown, do you? I'm thinking that soldiers called up are pretty easy to get rid of--you just let them go home. The addition of a bunch of Homeland Security folks? Well, I personally think it's pretty silly and could have been better (and more cheaply) handled by private contractors (maybe Halliburton would have bid?). But, I can't throw that all on Bush, because I think _any_ president would have had a similar response post 9/11. Anyway, I'm just wondering what percentage is in those two areas, and where else this is happening. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

I was recently surprised to learn that the "correct" pronunciation of "nuclear" depends on whether you are speaking American, Australian or English. I'd stretch and say that means there can be regional dialect differences within various nations as well. I suppose that means that we're all morons for insisting that "our" pronunciation is the correct one. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

Actually, what would be worse is to start long term programs requiring constant maintenance forever. I know that Bush has done some of that, but in terms of total impact over my lifetime, I'm more worried about expansions of social programs (that are incredibly difficult to roll back) than the initiation of wars (which eventually end). There is, of course, a certain additional expense in waging a relatively selective war. If you really want to see a cheap war, you could always go for the glass parking lot approach. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

Does anyone have any actual specifics on Kerry's Health Care Plans? I've just spend 30 minutes looking around for specifics, but all I could find were Kerry's campaign page, which is really vague, and a bunch of right wing rebuttals of Kerry's plan as incredibly expensive, ineffective, etc. Can anyone point me at hard data as to what Kerry wants to do? -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

I heard that to be a democrat you have to believe that racism was a good thing in the 60's, when democrats controlled the South. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

I don't know of any health plans, gov't or private that pay for those things, except in the case of a mastectomy. Surely you don't mean that? After all the news stories about military coverage for boob jobs? -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

Must one be a jumper? If not, I'd nominate Joy Harrison. She gives a bunch of her time and energy to us all, pretty much just for love of the community. If so, I guess I'd nominate Rick _and_ Joy, because they're both going above and beyond in keeping our link to our history alive, and that is one of the only coherent links in our community. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

Russel basically has no movement or feeling below the chest. The leg motion is incidental, not conscious. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

Is that some strange conservative fetish where you cover each other with Spam? Oh, yeah, baby. And you know what else we do with it? -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

ABA videos are available here. They are, in order, Fistful of F-111, For a Few Jumps More and No Morals, No Ethics, No Conscience, No Guilt. Another personal favorite is Beyond Extreme, from Tom Begic, aka Tomar Entertainment. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

Something to consider: This is an open forum, and calling the NPS names isn't really going to help our case with them. In some places, NPS policy is "ignore if at all possible". This kind of discusison makes it pretty tough to ignore. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

I'm going to move this the Bonfire, as it's not really BASE related. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

I will hold a BASE First Jump Course on October 1st, 2nd and 3rd (Friday, Saturday, Sunday) in Twin Falls, Idaho. Course will begin at 8am Friday and conclude at 6pm Sunday. There will be no charge for this instruction. The course will focus on basic BASE skills, with an additional emphasis on the history and ethics of BASE, and the teamwork necessary to many BASE jumps. Course requirements: 1) Gear: I have some spare gear I can loan out, but it’s best if you can come with your own. Contact me for help finding gear, if you do not own it. 2) Mentoring: You must make a reasonable effort to find an experienced jumper local to you, who can help you with your jumping when you return home. You must provide me with contact information for this jumper, so that I can talk with them. If you cannot locate someone, I will assist you in doing so. This requirement will be waived for jumpers in an area where I am unable to locate a suitable mentor. 3) Skydiving prerequisites: You must have appropriate skydiving experience, as evaluated by me. I will ask for details of your experience when you contact me, as well as contact information for jumpers able to verify your experience. Course Syllabus: Day 1: Packing Discussion: The risks of BASE Exercise: Letter to family Packing Discussion: Differences between skydiving and BASE cultures Day 2: Exits Discussion: BASE History Exit Training on Launch Simulator PCA BASE jumps Day 3: Deployment Discussion: BASE ethics BASE jumps: Hand held, delay nomination Discussion: BASE community BASE jumps: Delay nomination, stowed Space is limited, so I will accept the best prepared applicants. If you want to come, you must contact me via PM here on DZ.com or via email (tbaiello@mac.com). If you have any questions, post here, or PM or email me. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

Is anyone driving from Denver to Canon City on the evening of Friday, October 8th? -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

Um, did you mean for this to be in Speakers Corner? -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

I've actually got some video (BASE 38 gave it to me) that shows aerobatics off that bridge, in the way back. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

Yeps, Bill's rihgt. Us Buschies sur cn't spill or tipe. And in addition to being illiterate, we're all rude as heck. As with most anything, there are folks with poor grammar, rude people, and those prone to rushing to judgment on _both_ (or perhaps on all seventy two) sides of the issue. edit to add: I think the difference may be that there are more articulate liberals willing to sit around and debate all day. Most (not all) of the articulate, thoughtful conservatives would rather do something else. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

Just don't try driving from Twin Falls to Sun Valley while John Kerry is vacationing here. Why he doesn't fly into the airport there, I have no clue... -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

Can you elaborate? -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

When you move a thread, you do it with a pull down menu. Introductions is right next to Bonfire in that menu. If you accidentally drop it in the wrong forum and hit the "move" button, you can't get it back unless you are a moderator in the forum you moved it into. So, my guess is that someone who is not a moderator in Introductions missed by one place, and now has to wait for Skymama or Sangiro to catch their mistake and move it on to the Bonfire. We're not perfect, we just try harder. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

You're sounding awfully Libertarian there. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

Actually, I think of this kind of thing as being right in keeping with the spirit of BASE. Have a look at Nick's "Be Franklin" post. "...in real terms the essence of BASE jumping is leaving behind the common wisdom, to seek out new ideas and to push the bounds of what's acceptable. " -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

I think a different standard is applied to random internet-posting skydivers than the one that is applied to Presidential candidates. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com