TomAiello

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Everything posted by TomAiello

  1. TomAiello
    I see that all four of your posts, made in four different forums, are identical advertisements. Hmmmm. I can't wait to see the poor sod who get's "switched" into being a camera flyer/DZ bum but has never made a skydive. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com
  2. TomAiello
    Doesn't that imply that we chose the ones to whom we belong? -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com
  3. TomAiello
    I'd say a new thread was a good idea to keep this issue separate from the "what would the societal ramifications of outlawing abortion be?" thrust of that other thread. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com
  4. TomAiello
    I disagree. A child "belongs" to their parents far more than they "belong" to any other person or organization. Your position seems a short step from saying that the government ought to make all the decisions about how are children are raised, because they "belong" to society, not to their parents. A parents right to raise their child as they wish is pretty high up on my list of "don't mess with this". The cornerstone of that right is the principle that until you reach majority (at which time you "belong" to yourself), you "belong" to your parents--and no one else. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com
  5. TomAiello
    I think that very few pro-lifers would make this statement as an absolute. Most of them (i.e. the real people in the real world, not the people who are so ardent that they post about it in internet discussions) allow exceptions for special circumstances (rape, risk to mothers life, etc). Perhaps this could be viewed as one of those special circumstances? -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com
  6. TomAiello
    Since Sun Tzu is required reading at all the US service academies, as well as most ROTC programs, I'd guess that what you really meant was something more like "it's painfully clear to me that few of these people remember their Sun Tzu." I agree that that's a shame. Sun Tzu had almost as many good things to say as Jimmy Buffett. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com
  7. TomAiello
    Not necessarily. There are plenty of pro-life folks who aren't absolutists. Assuming that describing oneself as "pro-life" implies an absolute opposition to all forms of abortion is sort of like assuming that all pro-choicers believe abortion is ok up until the very second of delivery. This issue is a long way from black and white, and trying to draw bright lines just doesn't seem to serve it well. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com
  8. TomAiello
    Remove the "believes in God" bit, and you've summed up my feelings on this. I don't think there is an absolute answer--that's why it's such a perennial topic of debate. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com
  9. TomAiello
    I wonder if PP ought to separate their activities into two distinct sets, one that does abortions, and one that does everything else? Kind of like the NRA does with the ILA--one budget to do education, and a completely separate one to lobby. Maybe that would help them pursue the rest of their mission without interference, and focus their "political" efforts on the more controversial bits? -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com
  10. TomAiello
    I like your thinking. Taxes impose an unacceptable first amendment burden. Since the first amendment protects individuals, that means that taxes on individuals are unacceptable under the first amendment. I'm actually not mocking you here. I really do think that taxes ought to be unconstitutional--in all cases. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com
  11. TomAiello
    I generally agree with you. But you have to realize that these guys are very experienced BASE jumpers, usually with far more BASE jumps than skydives. I'd say it'd be better if their terminal BASE jumps were counted in the "number of jumps" to allow them to practice wingsuits out of planes. In general, that would put them up over the required 500. I dunno. It doesn't effect me personally, but I do think it's silly to see people who are solid jumpers, and would prefer to practice in a safer environment, but are forced to learn in a dangerous way by the regulations. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com
  12. TomAiello
    Congratulations. I think the numbers are an amazing way to stay in touch with the roots of our sport. I can't wait to see #1000 come out. Maybe we can all throw a big BASE party.
  13. TomAiello
    I've really been impressed with Troy Hartmann. When you contrast his approach to high publicity stunts with that of some other folks (like Felix Baumgartner), there's just no comparison. I always get the feeling that he's trying to look good _and_ make the sport look good. Kudos to Troy...I remember his second BASE jump... -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com
  14. TomAiello
    The Pigeon Commercial linked by Snopes is pretty funny, too. But the Cat one was definitely worse/funnier in that "oh god it's horrible but I can't stop laughing" way. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com
  15. TomAiello
    I'm not entirely willing to agree with that. I think it would depend on timing and the nature of the attack. Regardless, the point I was trying to make was that the Spanish electorate reacted to a terrorist attack in Spain in the opposite way to what the U.S. electorate would likely do following a similar attack in the U.S. That doesn't mean that one is right or wrong--simply that the cultures of the two nations are sufficiently different to lead to different outcomes. Such a large difference is naturally going to cause misunderstanding between the peoples of Spain and the U.S., with Americans thinking "I can't believe what a bunch of wimps they are" and Spaniards thinking "I can't believe how bloodthirsty they are" about each other. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com
  16. TomAiello
    I think we're hitting a big cultural gap here. I'd guess that a large scale terrorist attack on US soil days before the presidential election would give Bush a boost. Americans tend to react with a "oh, yeah, well I'm gonna come over and kick your butt, then!" attitude. So, no, I don't think that's "normal" at all. At least, that reaction wouldn't be "normal" in the US, which may be where the different views are coming from, here. Normal for Spain? Sure. Normal for the US? I don't think so. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com
  17. TomAiello
    ROTFLMAO! That was horrible, and hilarious, and horribly hilarious. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com
  18. TomAiello
    For how much longer will this be true, though? I'd guess that advancing technology will make this "impossibility" possible long before laws currently on the books are repealed. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com
  19. TomAiello
    Ordinarily, I'd say more experience prior to trying something new is a good thing. But in this case... I know several Norwegians who made their first wingsuit flights off cliffs, because they had insufficient skydives to legally practice out of airplanes first. When that's the result, maybe the regulations are a bit over the top. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com
  20. TomAiello
    Warning, thread drift ahead... I used to have a bumper sticker that read "I'm Pro Choice on Everything". You can get one at the Libertarian Party's on line store. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com
  21. TomAiello
    Hmmm. I'm pro choice, but I'm just not that worried about it. I'd rate the chance that Abortion would become illegal in the US as something hovering around 0%. Even if Roe was overturned (probably a good idea, if you ask me--I'd love to see abortion rights based on a better decision [the dissent in Webster, for example, is a much better articulated position, in my opinion]), that would just make abortion legality return to state-by-state decisions. What do you think is the likelihood of California, for example, outlawing abortion? -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com
  22. TomAiello
    I read this thread, and then I looked at your sig line, and then I laughed, and then I thought "how about a twelve pound nestle crunch for 25 dollars?" And then I thought that a more appropriate response might be: "There's still time to start a new life in the palm trees." There's incredible wisdom in that little nugget. I know people who have struggled for years in life situations that just didn't work for them. Then one day, almost out of the blue, they stood up and just chucked the whole thing, went somewhere else, and started over, with something else. Not one of them (and I'm one of them) feels that it was a bad decision. They invariably wish they had done it sooner. For guidance in tough times, some people read the Bible. I just listen to Jimmy Buffett. The junior mints are still out there. You just have to go get them. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com
  23. TomAiello
    I'm voting _for_ Bush, because he's not Kerry. How's that for putting it on it's head? -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com
  24. TomAiello
    My list was something like this: 1) Has to excite me sexually. Has to be excited by me sexually. 2) Have to have great sex. 3) Must be willing to cuddle after sex. Every time. 4) Must give me that warm, held, "home" feeling. That's it. Everything else is negotiable. I evolved that list over a long period. It was originally really long, but then I discovered that I could get lots of things that I thought I needed from my mate from other people. I don't need deep intellectual conversations with my mate--I can get them from other friends. I don't need someone who goes BASE jumping/skydiving/climbing with me--I have friends who do that. It basically boils down to "what do I need that I _can't_ get from anyone else?" Those are the non-negotiable items in my relationship. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com
  25. TomAiello
    I prefer not being confined to the bed. Being confined is so much more fun if you do it all over. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com