Niki1

I like this saying

Terry Jones and his supporters are world class Jackasses. But there is no excuse for what these animals in Afghanistan have done. Freedom of religion is still worth pursuing, but so is freedom from religion. I think the Afganis (?) should have responded by burning a bunch of Bibles. The way they did react just "proved the point." Most of the things worth doing in the world had been declared impossilbe before they were done. Louis D Brandeis Where are we going and why are we in this basket?

I think it was 16 years. Most of the things worth doing in the world had been declared impossilbe before they were done. Louis D Brandeis Where are we going and why are we in this basket?

Yes, a 24 footer will, but it is one tight puppy! ....with a MA-1 installed too, BTW. MEL A 24 footer in a Super Pro? Damn!! I once put a Navy conical (with water pockets) and an MA-1 in one. No table, no trick equipment. Just me and Terry Schroeder who had muscles in places I don't even have paces. The toughest pack job I ever did. I think I got 5$ for it. 1972 prices. I would not have done it for anyone except Terry. I knew he could pull it. I would suspect the pull force was a bit outside the legal limit of 25 pounds. Most of the things worth doing in the world had been declared impossilbe before they were done. Louis D Brandeis Where are we going and why are we in this basket?

"If you go to family reunions to meet women..." Jeff Foxworthy

I agree with all that except the age. One BIG problem with legalizing pot is that there's no test as to whether a person is under the influance at a specific time. Alcohol gets out of your blood and you're considered sober. You may be hungover as hell but probably not "arrestable" for DWI. Pot stays in your system for a lot longer. Even after all the effects have worn off. If there was a test to compare with the BAC I think the authorities might be more acceptable to the idea. A "field sobriety" test is a little too subjuctive in my opinion but perhaps some thing is better than nothing. Most of the things worth doing in the world had been declared impossilbe before they were done. Louis D Brandeis Where are we going and why are we in this basket?

Perfect is the enemy of Good. Most of the things worth doing in the world had been declared impossilbe before they were done. Louis D Brandeis Where are we going and why are we in this basket?

...and how are you going to do that? Reduce wages? (see other thread) An idea on the spur of the moment without research, facts or much thought process. When a company sends jobs out of the country, send the workers too. The ones who volunteer. They could afford to work for less because the cost of living is so much less. The company gets exprrinced workers at the new factory and cheaper laber costs. The workers who move get to keep their jobs and enjoy about the same or better standard of living. Probably wouldn't work for all situations like shoes made in Asia but heavy manufacturing like cars. Most of the things worth doing in the world had been declared impossilbe before they were done. Louis D Brandeis Where are we going and why are we in this basket?

See what happens when you empower size 8+ ladies! Yeah....if you can't get to the gym and eat well to fight them for the attention at the local bar just make it so that men won't know what a cute athletic girl looks like. Yup we just have to feed these cute little girls and give them massive fake boobies. Oh yeah that will so get us guys to reconsider not going after cute athletic girls...I mean after all they now have heaving bosoms! And who wants that!

How long have you known about this assignment? When did you start working on it? Oh my God! I sound like my mother. If it wasn't for the last minute, nothing would get done. Try PD's website or RWS sorry, UPT. Most of the things worth doing in the world had been declared impossilbe before they were done. Louis D Brandeis Where are we going and why are we in this basket?

Thinking for yourself is a really good idea. We were all taught that as children. Remember when you did some dumb "because Jimmy did it"? Your Mom said, "Well, what if Jimmy ran out into the road to play in the traffic? Would you do that too? You need to think for yourself." I guess some of us never really learned that lesson. My Mom said, "If Jimmy jumped of an airplane, would you do it too?" "Well, Mom..." Most of the things worth doing in the world had been declared impossilbe before they were done. Louis D Brandeis Where are we going and why are we in this basket?

" Religious nutcakes (reduntant term) are all the same. You can take what they say and change the proper nouns and it would come out the same. They all say, "My way is the only way. All other ways lead to damnation." All the different beliefs have their fundamentalists and all of them spout the same shit. It makes me wonder if there is a "fundamentalist gene." They have found a homosexual gene. Some people are born that way. There may be a "fundamentalist gene" and some people are born THAT way. I would feel better about them if that were so. To think that anyone chooses to be such an asshole is really upsetting. http://www.bbc.co.uk/science/horizon/2003/godonbrain.shtml Religious beliefs are a malfunction of the brain. In Morgan Freeman's "Through the Wormhole" he talks about this. It's the same Dr. Persinger. http://wormholeriders.com/blog/?p=15167 I remember a quote (but not who said it), "If God did not exist, we would invent him." It appears that we did. Most of the things worth doing in the world had been declared impossilbe before they were done. Louis D Brandeis Where are we going and why are we in this basket?

Yes. You're right. And they want you to invest a lot of money in a developement project that's 20 East of Daytona Beach. Just send me the cash and I'll see that they get it.

I thought that this would get some comment on SC. http://news.travel.aol.com/2011/03/28/woman-claims-she-was-fired-by-tsa-for-being-a-wiccan/ It sounds to me like it was the "mentor" who was out of line. The bigger the bureaucracy, the more spectacular the fuck up. But they never admit that they fucked up. Most of the things worth doing in the world had been declared impossilbe before they were done. Louis D Brandeis Where are we going and why are we in this basket?

... The sooner mankind gets over this crap the better we ALL will be. We have big enough problems in the REAL World without having to deal with the problems of a mythical one. I don't think it's the "crap" that's so bad. It's the fundamentalists, radicals if you will, who say theirs is the only way. A belief system is not a bad thing in and of itself but anything carried to an extreme is going to be perverted. "Support mental health or I'll kill you." When radical assholes hijack a belief system, and other weak minded people follow, it's like mass hysteria. Reason and logic are the first casualties. Thank God (irony intended) that we have no such assholes in our skydiving community. When it come to bloody conflict between lawn darts and belly fliers, the end of the world will be near. Most of the things worth doing in the world had been declared impossilbe before they were done. Louis D Brandeis Where are we going and why are we in this basket?

I am currently deep in the bible belt. I find it quite amusing how similar it is to islamic society. For example I have seen a number of priests in their black robes and the ONLY differences between them and an imam are it is a bible not a koran and a cross hanging from their neck. It is funny how similar parts of the US are to the middle east. Even funnier that it is those parts that misunderstand the middle east the most. Religious nutcakes (reduntant term) are all the same. You can take what they say and change the proper nouns and it would come out the same. They all say, "My way is the only way. All other ways lead to damnation." All the different beliefs have their fundamentalists and all of them spout the same shit. It makes me wonder if there is a "fundamentalist gene." They have found a homosexual gene. Some people are born that way. There may be a "fundamentalist gene" and some people are born THAT way. I would feel better about them if that were so. To think that anyone chooses to be such an asshole is really upsetting. Most of the things worth doing in the world had been declared impossilbe before they were done. Louis D Brandeis Where are we going and why are we in this basket?

There was an NPR story on all the tragic eventts in Japan not long after it all went down. It mentioned a situation like this. It may be the same one. In the story, both dogs were rescuded. One is OK and the other worse off one will be OK. The big overall story is almost overwhelming but a specific situation like this is heart wrenching. Most of the things worth doing in the world had been declared impossilbe before they were done. Louis D Brandeis Where are we going and why are we in this basket?

Freebags are not that easy to find after you deploy, even in that environment They're only CALLED "freebags." About $280 for a new reserve pilot chute and loose bag. I'd like to see the next few pictures. Most of the things worth doing in the world had been declared impossilbe before they were done. Louis D Brandeis Where are we going and why are we in this basket?

That asshole!! What a shitty idea!! Some one had to say it. Most of the things worth doing in the world had been declared impossilbe before they were done. Louis D Brandeis Where are we going and why are we in this basket?

Crazy women. Isn't that a redundant phrase?

The Boss said, "I may not always be right but I'm NEVER wrong." Most of the things worth doing in the world had been declared impossilbe before they were done. Louis D Brandeis Where are we going and why are we in this basket?

Wow. That was in '89? Only 22 years ago? It seems like a lot longer than that. Well, like the guy said, "It's not the years, it's the milage." As best I can remember, the tersh was some thing like a Featherlite that I put on a long bridle and in a bag with a pillow handle in an old Jerry Bird Ripaway chest container. The theory was that I could ttear the velcro container open, grab the handle on the bag and fling it out past the problem where it would open in clear air. That was the theory. I'm just as glad I never had to actually try it.

You shouldn't be - I used to fix helicopters!!! ------------------------------------------------------------ You got it Nataly! If you can fix choppers, you can fix just about anything in a house. ZooBrotherTom - former AH-1S Cobra TI Where is the sink in a helecopter? Nataly doesn't need a plumber, she needs a new flat mate. Most of the things worth doing in the world had been declared impossilbe before they were done. Louis D Brandeis Where are we going and why are we in this basket?

My diving coach (springboard diving) made what he called Tiger Piss. Break up some dry ice and put it in a big container, maybe a cooler. A few quarts of Hi-C grape drink and an equal amount of vodka, gin, just about anything. It's a great Halloween drink because it smokes like a witches brew. It gets so cold it turns into a Slushee type thing. It is really easy to drink. By the time you're finishing the second one, you start feeling the first one. Be warned

Some back/ground/work. (No one ever accused me of being concise.) You see the pictures of big formations and say, "WOW! Those guys can really skydive." You see a picture of a sufrer. The POV is at water level, half way up the wave with the surfer in the tuve comming at the camera. You say, "WOW! That's some surfer there, alright." Maybe. But the guy behind the camera has had to do a lot more, a lot better to get that shot. Think about it the next time you look at a pictute of a really good skydive or almost any athletic feat. "How did they get that shot?" When Bill lBooth came up with the idea for the pilot chute with no mesh, a lot of us said, "Wha...?" I took it up to Pigeon Forge (the only skydiving wind tunnel at the time) and tested it. It had just as much drag as a conventionsl PC and was a lot more stable. No dancing around all over the place. So let's go jump it. Bill wanted 40 jumps to be vidioed so he got Mike McGowan to do the vidio. We did a couple with Mike behind me when I cutaway but that didn't satisfy Mike or Bill. Mike said, "We'll get out higher and you dock on me. I'll take us to a good place to cutaway and I'll be in a better positon to get the shot." I said, "Mike, I'm no CRW guy. Are you sure?" "It's what we have to do to get the shot." After 12 or 15 jumps like this, I'm staring to get comfortable with docking on him but Mike's having a problem. With my canopy on his back and his feet hooked on the "A" lines, he's having a diffficult time looking down and back with his full face camera helmet. He has a solution. "After you dock on me, get on your brakes and I'll come down your lines to the cascades. I'll put my feet behond the "B" lines, you get off the brakes and I'll go back up. This will put me further back in the cord of your canop and it will be easier to get the shot." I said, "Mike, are you sure about this? This doesn't seem to be a good idea. You're going to have my canopy all around you before I cutaway and it's likely to get worse after I do. Are you sure?" "It's what we have to do to get the shot." "OK. But remember, I'm leaving anyway. You're the one who's going to have deal wiith all that stuff." We tried it and it worked better than I expected. We did the next 20 or so jumps like that with no problems. And then... On this jump, Mike wasn't going back up my lines as quickly as normal. Maybe I didn't have my hands as high as I should have but for whatever reason Mike looked up to see where my canopy was. When he did, he wound up sticking his cameras right into my center cell. Now his head is being bent backward and he's yelling for me to get back on the brakes so he can come back down and get his cameras clear of my canopy. He's 12 to 15 feet away and yelling some thing up to the sky. I can't hear what he's saying, just, "UGH ARG RAF GAH." Or some thing like that. I finally, finally get on my brakes to go back up to him to see what he's trying to tell me. That's what needed to happen and instead of carrying on a long converstion we went ahead and finished that jump and the rest of the test jumps without further incident. I've still got quite a few photos of those jumps and Mike got me in the USPA calindar. July of '86 (I think) right at Nationals when I was running the loft for RWS at Muscogee. I had a lot of people say, "Good picture." I would ALWAYS reply, "Let me tell you what Mike had to do to get the shot..." Now the test jumps on the "Bridle Deployment Myth", those were just as fun. And again, the guy in the picture is not always the real hero. Most of the things worth doing in the world had been declared impossilbe before they were done. Louis D Brandeis Where are we going and why are we in this basket?