TomAiello

I had this problem (me snoring, not my wife) and did a bunch of research. It turns out that something like 90% of snoring is caused by nasal congestion. Here's some things that I found to be helpful. Air filters (put a HEPA filter right next to the bed). Nasal decongestants (take some right before going to bed). Breath Right strips (the things actually do work). There's also a variety of "anti-snore" products on the market, but in general I think you ought to try the easy fixes first. Plus, with less congestion, the (previously) snoring person sleeps better as well. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

Also for many American ones. The Art of War is required reading at both our Army (West Point) and Air Force Academies. I'm not sure about Annapolis. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

I disagree. I don't really believe in God and Satan as generally expressed in the christian tradition, but I could still view those people as "evil". Good and Evil are moral concepts, and as such can be related to humanity directly. It is possible to believe in those concepts without hypothesizing the existence of any particular deities. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

Something else that might tip you off that the "Socialists" in Hungary are a bit less socialist than you'd expect (aside from their inclusion of multimillionaire tycoons in their party) is their alliance with the "Alliance of Free Democrats". The SZDSZ (Szabad Demokratak Szovetsege gets translated as Alliance of Free Democrats) is actually the closest thing that Hungary has to a classic Liberal (in US terms, Libertarian) party. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

You still have to generally evaluate the whole picture of various people (be they candidates for office or not). Virtually everyone is going to have done things, or have characteristics you don't like. The trick is sorting through and figuring out who, on balance, you like more, and who, on balance, you like less. I don't think Ron is blindly worshipping George W. Bush any more than I think you are blindly worshipping John Kerry. You've just each chosen to support the candidate you think is most compatible with your personal beliefs. You don't have to defend every single thing someone has ever done to vote for them. Nor do you have to deplore every single thing someone has ever done to vote for their opponent. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

Pretty sure that's not the Marxist view of what "communism" is. Remember the old "from each according to their means, to each according to their needs"? Classical liberals want everyone to have an equal chance. Communists want everyone to have an equal outcome. Still, I laud your definition of "liberal" and I wish more shared it. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

You might be surprised at some of the things the "Socialists" and "Communists" have done in Hungary. If I recall correctly, Horn Gyula (later a socialist prime minister) was the Communist foreign minister who "tore the iron curtain" according to Newsweek. He began allowing East Germans to cross the Austrian/Hungarian border so they could move to the west. It was also a "Communist" prime minister (Kadar Janos) who inaugurated free market economics in Hungary in the early 60's, and a "Communist" prime minister (Nagy Imre) who withdrew Hungary from the Warsaw pact in 1957 and called for a NATO invasion. Trying to pigeonhole various political parties in unfamiliar parts of the world based on the English language labels we apply to them often isn't helpful. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

It's more telling to consider casualties as a percentage of total population, or as a percentage of able bodied population. No idea what those figures are, but I'm betting France took more losses figured either way than the US did. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

What is the difference between incurable mental illness (of the homicidal variety) and true evil? -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

Logically, we shouldn't push them to the point where they respond with terrorism. That's not in our self interest. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

Gus isn't governed by our FARs. I'm not sure what the rules are over there, but each jumper ought to check specific rules in their own localities. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

Believe me, I am very in touch with the health care issues. And my take on them is very skewed by my own perspective. My self interest is going to override any general argument you make, here. Hmmm. Maybe I do want Edwards in the white house. At least then we could guarantee his frivolous lawsuits wouldn't drive up costs any more. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

I disagree. Being an individual in the US, you have a government to protect you, and to punish those who harm you. Being a sovereign nation, you do not. There is no effective worldwide government. I'm not sure if such a thing is desirable or not, but that's another discussion. I see being a sovereign nation as more like being an individual in a lawless patch of the old west. You try to make friends with your neighbors, hoping they'll help you in times of trouble. But when push comes to shove, the only one you can count on to look out for you (and your dependents, if any) is you. If that means infringing some other people's rights, so be it. Just as long as you do so carefully enough that you don't piss off enough of your neighbors and they form a posse to come string you up (which would be the danger here). The balance is between your neighbors views (because they effect your future wellbeing) and your wellbeing. "Rights" are useful concepts because they give you an idea of what folks will take before they get pissed off. But I think that's about as far as they go. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

Honestly, I'll vote for him because I think he'll do a better job as president than Kerry. I mostly think this because of their various positions on domestic issues. My big issues right now are (a) health care--and I think Kerry's got some of the worst ideas I've ever heard, plus his running mate is a lawyer who made his fortune driving up health care costs for everyone (did you know that there are expensive diagnostic tools that yield no improvement in outcomes, yet are used on every pregnant woman in the US, simply to avoid a lawsuit from John Edwards? I'm not joking, the American Academy of Obstetrics and Gynecolegy admits that the devices have no value, but they have to use them, specifically because of actual, specific, "ambulance chasing" style lawsuits filed by John Edwards), (b) taxes, (c) use of National Parks (where republicans are far more likely to come around to letting we, the people, use them) and (d) gun rights. Don't get me wrong, there are things I think that Kerry has better than Bush on the domestic agenda. But on balance, I think I'll be happier in Bush's vision of America than Kerry's. This whole war overseas? Yeah, it sucks. But it sure sucks a lot less than say, Kerry's plans for us here at home. Plus, I simply can't vote for a ticket that includes John Edwards. The man is the worst kind of bottom feeder. I mean, come on, suing the American Red Cross three times, and seeing it as a "major career step"? -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

Actually, I do care. I find it disturbing that you don't differentiate between greater and lesser crimes. I mean, heck, even the justice system (at least in the US) differentiates between misdemeanors and felonies. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

Sovereign nations are supposed to act in the best interest of their own people. That's what "sovereign" means. That's also what we elect our leaders for (to act in _our_ best interest, not the world's). I might disagree with the notion that a particular thing Bush does is in the best interest of the American people. I definitely think it is his duty to act in ways that he sees as being in the best interest of the American people--even if those interests conflict with everyone else on earth. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

I agree. I was trying to illustrate that putting victimless cocaine use on a plane with massacring innocent civilians was equally a joke. I've made numerous illegal BASE jumps. By your logic, that puts me on the same level as someone who snorted cocaine, drove drunk, or massacred innocent civilians. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

Isn't that one definition of faith? -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

So, by your definition, Martin Luther King, Gandhi, and anyone else who practiced civil disobedience is no more than "criminal"? I, personally, don't believe in victimless crime laws. I think they ought to be repealed. And, while I'm sure this isn't GWB's take on it, I couldn't care less if someone violates them. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

Kev, Ron, cut it out. This forum has enough pre-adolescent behavior without an endless stream of "I know you are but what am I?" -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

Try contacting Basic Research. I know there is a crew of out of towners dropping through on friday, but I think they're headed out into the desert pretty quickly thereafter. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

Until I get wounded in a war zone, I'm reserving judgment on anyone who has done such a thing. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

Ooops. I marked that I hadn't killed anything. You've just reminded me of the time I offed a rat, using an ice axe (it was a big rat), for similar reasons to your own. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

Are you using muscle relaxants? They've helped me a lot. PT has also been very useful. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

I had a burst fracture of L1 in 2000. I had L1 replaced with a cage, and a fusion from T12-L2. I was jumping again around 9 months later, with very minimal soreness and no loss of motion. I did suffer loss of feeling in some areas around my hips, as a result, and that feeling has not returned, but the inconvenience is very minor. A word of warning: reinjuring such a fusion is far worse than the original injury. I snivelled in around two and a half years later, and the fusion shifted, fracturing T11 and L3. At that time, the doctor told me that had I never been injured before, I likely would have sustained only minor injury from that accident. The second accident has left me with significant daily pain and minor loss of motion. Bottom line: once there's metal in your back, you are forever more susceptible to re-injury in a similar manner, so be careful. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com