FliegendeWolf

Hi everyone, So...I just got back from Germany and, judging from the 80000 new posts in The Bonfire, I don't think I missed too much... Seriously, how have you all been? A One that Isn't Cold is Scarcely a One at All

Okay, no other takers then. The book is Thomas Mann, Doctor Faustus, trans. John E. Woods (New York: Vintage International, 1997), 318. Mann was a German novelist. He wrote this book in 1947 regarding Germany's state in the world in the first half of the Twentieth century. By adopting the legend of Faust, he creates an allegory in which Germany sells its soul to the devil. The citation struck me because I have heard so much rhetoric about the Iraq war that sounds exactly like that. That "we had been forced into war," that "our sole defense was our own great might--or better, our ability to carry war immediately onto other people's soil" and that "the nations out there might condiser us disturbers of peace and justice, intolerable enemies of life--we had the means to bang the world over the head until it formed another opinion of us, and not only admired us, but loved us as well." I guess my immediate feeling about this is that the human tendency to demonize one's enemies by believing them to be "inhuman," "monsters," or "animals," to name a few, is an attempt to hide from the fact that, as human beings, we have the same propensity for good and evil as any other human being, whether we like to pretend so or not. Insert Abu Ghraib here. Bottom line, I find it striking that a German novelist, who himself is writing critically about Germany's history last century, should speak in the same terms about their history as we do our own. And that our own knowledge of history allows us to see how misguided Germany's perspective on its history was should remind us that we are just as human and just as fallible. A One that Isn't Cold is Scarcely a One at All

My feeling on this whole thing is: this guy develops what seems to be an unstoppable, bulletproof, explosive proof vehicle, and he shoots himself at the end? Christ, he should have patented the damn thing and sold them to the military! A One that Isn't Cold is Scarcely a One at All

Well, I was hoping to get a few more guesses first. Any other takers? So, no, it's not Caesar. Good guess, though. A One that Isn't Cold is Scarcely a One at All

I was doing some reading today and came upon the following quotation. It must say it left me with a sense of deja vu. Two bits to the first person to come up with the author/book. A One that Isn't Cold is Scarcely a One at All

Who would I pick? I would pick #1: Anybody but Bush or Kerry. . . . Wait a minute, did I misunderstand the question? A One that Isn't Cold is Scarcely a One at All

I made my first skydive there as well, although I was living in Michigan at the time and did my AFF there. They did not have the PPP when I was there, though. It was an ordinary Caravan that I jumped out of. I did recognize your rig and jumpsuit, though. So a hearty welcome to the skies! And have a malted shake for me over at the Utopia Diner. A One that Isn't Cold is Scarcely a One at All

CLICKY! Nice job. Where was your jump, by the way? Was that Greensburg? A One that Isn't Cold is Scarcely a One at All

Boy, such unmitigated anger coming out of this thread... A One that Isn't Cold is Scarcely a One at All

During Scott Miller's canopy control course on Friday, we were supposed to practice flaring about ten times before coming in for our approach. I was so busy focusing on the flares, that I wasn't paying any attention to where I was or where I was heading. Long story short, I was facing downwind, and by the time I started noticing this, it was 1500 feet, and I was way downwind of the landing area. Luckily, I managed to turn my pattern into one long final approach and made it just fine, but boy did I feel stupid. A One that Isn't Cold is Scarcely a One at All

Scott Miller today. Monday's landing suggested I really need it! A One that Isn't Cold is Scarcely a One at All

Well, rape is never about sex, per se, it's about power. A One that Isn't Cold is Scarcely a One at All

Thought my reserve died. Paraflite made a mistake! Someone else's chute. Now I need not take the year off from skydiving. Since I have a rig. There's no way I could have afforded to purchase another reserve. A One that Isn't Cold is Scarcely a One at All

So I got home from work today and there was a voicemail...Paraflite called to tell me that they made a mistake, and that the lemon reserve was in fact somebody else's, and that mine came in today, he looked it over, and determined that it's in perfectly good condition! WHOOOO-FUCKING-HOOOOOOOO!

Not unlike Mystery of Time and Space and the Crimson and Veridian Rooms. The Chasm A One that Isn't Cold is Scarcely a One at All

He was reputed for his flatulence. To this day, one often hears "Jesus, was that you?" I've often said that the existence of flatulence is proof that God has a sense of humor. A One that Isn't Cold is Scarcely a One at All

You have got to be fucking kidding me. That means the terrorists will have won. What makes you think we are not already in it (a pissing contest)? What makes you think that if we were to pull out of Iraq, we would not still be it it? Al Quaeda and other terrorists do not really give a fuck about Iraq. All they care about is destroying the American infidels. We are in a giant pissing contest dude, and one of the things that bothers me is that some people don't really give a shit if they get pissed on or not. I'll bet Mr. Berg's parents give a shit. I give a shit. You're absolutely right. We already are in a pissing contest. But how do you expect a pissing contest to end? Heading in this direction it's going to continue to get worse and worse. We retaliate, they retaliate. We blow up their cities, they blow up our cities. How much destruction (on our side as well as their side) are you willing to deal with? How many more of our cities do you want attacked and how many more of our citizens do you want brutally executed? Is it worth paying any price so long as our pride is intact? A One that Isn't Cold is Scarcely a One at All

Funny, I've not met anyone that hasn't been angered by the apparent abuse by our MPs. Are you observing or experiencing different? See here A One that Isn't Cold is Scarcely a One at All

I can all too easily imagine a cartoon almost exactly the same as the one you attached, except the newspapers are reversed and the people reading them are Americans. A One that Isn't Cold is Scarcely a One at All

Don't you realize that the terrorists are thinking the exact same thing? Look, I was filled with one hundred percent utter disgust and anger when I first read this in the news today. As Michele points out, I can't understand the mentality of a person who would do such a thing. Frankly, though, I can't understand the mentality of a person who would make prisoners pose in the sort of pictures that came from the prison, or rape them, or murder them either. As I see it, the United States is fast losing its claim to moral high ground, and the worst thing that could happen is for us to get into a pissing contest with these terrorists. A One that Isn't Cold is Scarcely a One at All

Well, the reserve is officially totaled. Paraflite ran a porosity test which ran up too high, and decided it needed to be relined. In their opinion, it was not worth putting the money into the reline for that canopy. I'm of that opinion, too. So, if you find yourself with one too many reserve canopies in the 190 sq ft range, gimme a holler. A One that Isn't Cold is Scarcely a One at All

Wow, that was really cool! I saw a part of that, but not the whole thing, on display at the Haus der Musik in Vienna last year. A One that Isn't Cold is Scarcely a One at All

The date on the last article is May 11, 2003. A One that Isn't Cold is Scarcely a One at All

Fenway Park? A One that Isn't Cold is Scarcely a One at All

[sigh]...I was really hoping this would be my bust-out year for jumping. If you have a look at my numbers to your left, you'll see that I haven't jumped squat in two years. Since I now own my gear and am not paying for AFF and coaching and what not, I hoped my numbers would go up. But, boy, when it rains it pours. After dealing with this issue, I am still no closer to having gear back (the second rigger is now sending it back to Paraflite for inspection...god knows when it will come back). I can rent gear, but I almost always work weekends and the weather has not cooperated. Today, the weather is beautiful, so I called the dz to get recurrent for the season, and they said there are no instructors available today. I swear, I'm getting so frustrated with being stuck on the ground, and am wondering whether it's meant to be. Quite a few years ago, I was into the drug scene, but had never taken LSD. Although acid was readily available, any time I thought I might like to try it, the supply would dry up and I couldn't get any. When the urge passed and I didn't feel like trying it, it would again become available. This happened so much that I eventually I decided that there was a reason why my attempts at taking LSD kept getting thwarted, and decided that that's a good enough reason not to try it. In other words, what's meant to happen will happen, and there's no sense fighting some things. Well, I'm beginning to get to that point in my frustration with not being able to jump yet this year that I'm wondering if the same thing is happening here. Am I really not meant to jump anymore? Is there a reason why these obstacles keep popping up? Should I stop fighting it? A One that Isn't Cold is Scarcely a One at All