metalslug

Hmm... We are talking here about domesticated pets in urban areas. Had these pets been born in the wild they would have been allowed to breed unchecked with all their plumbing in working order. When overpopulated, and depending on their rank in the food chain, many of these pets would have died from not being able to find food or from becoming food for other pets. My point therefore is that, while the wholesale euthanasia of pets is a disheartening statistic, it can perhaps be seen as an organised urban substitute for natural ecology. I certainly believe that sterilising one's pets is preferable, to avoid the scenario above, and I justify this 'mutilation' by suggesting that pets lack sufficient 'intelligent emotion' to truly understand the implications of their injury. IMO, a creature's quality of life is relative to their understanding of life. To my knowledge, all such pets are still fully functional in every other aspect of life and appear to be quite happy into old age. Research into pet birth control ? Sure I'd welcome that, and I suspect some work has/is already being done in this area. I've yet to read about practical, reliable results though. When a pet reaches old age and appears to be suffering from organ failure, the loving owner has 3 options. (1)Do nothing other than the usual care of years past and allow the animal to suffer slow. (2)Take it to a vetinary clinic and demand that it be placed on drugs and life-support as we would do with grandma, but many clinics may refuse under the circumstances. (3)Euthanasia. Is (3) such a bad choice ? I can think of a few humans that would prefer it for themselves. - No 'mericans were harmed during the making of this post.

"Racism and sexism are alive and well in the US" ...and in many other countries, and it's not necessarily a bad thing. Billvon's referenced article is a case in point. One problem is that the world has become so hyper-sensitized to those two words and look around nervously whenever they are used. The very words alone raise great big red flags for moderators in these forums. As many have mentioned already, the context of the article suggests measures that would benefit certain races or groups, and these measures may well be a good thing. But why call a spade a shovel ? It's outrageous that people only make a fuss about discrimination when it's derogatory or detrimental to a particular group, so much so that the very definition of the word has become twisted in the minds of many people as something that only applies to 'negative' situations. In theory, we should all be at risk of being banned from this forum for suggesting that a particular race or gender group has a different life expectancy than others. Science has no place in the domains of religion and political correctness. - No 'mericans were harmed during the making of this post.

Exactly what JP said, it's racism. So is affirmative action. Dictionary definitions are quite exact. Incidentally, affirmative action was conceived to assist minorities, which is now a quirky irony in South Africa in that it's currently being used to discriminate against minorities. - No 'mericans were harmed during the making of this post.

I think I know where he wants to go with this: An article concerning the countries listed, in relation to the email encryption software export licenses, can be found in the column on the right on this page. A possible reason why this restriction exists was suggested by lawrocket and Kennedy, namely that the CIA and NSA wish to monitor communications in those countries. Apart from the more obvious terrorism links, I think gravityizsexy is interested to know what other criteria (if any) may have been applied to arrive at this list. - No 'mericans were harmed during the making of this post.

These countries are all excluded from having an import licence for Ciphire Labs E-mail encryption software ? - No 'mericans were harmed during the making of this post.

M.Night has played a cameo role in all his big movies. Some people have suggested that he may be emulating Alfred Hitchcock. Clicky - No 'mericans were harmed during the making of this post.

I dont care much if its on TV, but I want it to be bigger. A simple illustration of this is by comparing US skydiving to skydiving in smaller countries. Smaller countries have, on average; Smaller aircraft, no proper windtunnels, fewer really good specialist coaches, only operate on weekends, less exposure to serious competition, .. and probably other things I havent thought of. It's generaly accepted here in South Africa that serious skydivers will not develop any kind of world-class skill unless they spend a few years in the US or France, countries where skydiving is 'big' enough to constantly dominate the world championships each year. For the fun jumpers; bigger planes, bigger boogies and bigger "DZ vibe" would probably be their best benefits. On a broad scale, bigger would appear to be better in any country, for all the aforementioned reasons, even in the countries that are already big. - No 'mericans were harmed during the making of this post.

Yeah, stop the ass-kissing threads . I'm starting to feel isolated. Small photos and less-than-serious posts dont tell me very much about these fine people. I dont know yet who I want to ass-kiss. One day, when I'm big, I'll be coming to a boogie over there, and then y'all had better line up for evaluation. - No 'mericans were harmed during the making of this post.

It was alright, but was also by far his least impressive work in my opinion. My brother, by contrast, loved it and thinks that people watch Shyamalan's films for the wrong reasons. People have come to expect the surprise, the twist, the brainteaser; and the less dramatic or more predictable this twist is, the more dissapointment viewers may feel relative to their expectations. My brother enjoys Shyamalan because he believes that they are all very well acted. No scene or character is over-acted or overdone. Despite the supernatural themes in some; the reactions, body language and behaviour of the characters in his films are very authentic, sometimes candid. Well, thats one view.

"Military museum raided - War material uncovered!" Sounds like a bad Irish joke, doesn't it ? No, quite possible in Africa I'm afraid to say... In response: This would all be hystericaly funny.. if I didn't live here - No 'mericans were harmed during the making of this post.

I have no doubt he's a fine person

Getting old is a bitch, eh Sparky ?

Spain, Portugal, Brazil. Bloodlines from the Iberian Peninsula have produced some extraordinary people.

I found what I expected to find, my old parachuting avatar and the Super Vehicle 001 - No 'mericans were harmed during the making of this post.

Not to hijack the thread away from US politics, but as coincidence would have it, there has been a recent news article suggesting that the South African judiciary is under political threat. In a speech delivered at the New York University Law School in the United States, the leader of the main opposition party, Tony Leon, had the following view: No 'mericans were harmed during the making of this post.

Congrats

Well, where would the competition end ? I have wondered already what motivates people to make these dives. For science? (animal testing?) For record-making pride ? For fun ? Who's fun ? Would everyone prepare as well as Nightjumper ? Apart from oxygen, many animals (including dogs) have sensitive ears that require special ear plugs, big pressure differences are very bad for them. It does mildy concern me that some non-essential achievements are only achievable with the consent of a person or creature that cant give it, or apply the necessary precautions. - No 'mericans were harmed during the making of this post.

In what category does the record with Cara actualy fall into ? Highest dog ? Highest animal ? I had been wondering about something. Are you not concerned that too much publicity over this will bring out some nutters ? ...people who will want to make even higher altitudes with their cats, rats and racoons for the sake of a record ? - No 'mericans were harmed during the making of this post.

I think its important to note that HH primarily runs a skydiving forum, not a political forum. As has been mentioned before, SC and Bonfire are just 'noise', a repository for things that dont belong in the skydiving forums. As such, I doubt he takes it too seriously about who gets banned in Bonfire or SC, nobody is deprived of useful skydiving information. The moderators also have their own private forum and not all of them are "left", "right" or have the same friends. If a political or other bias is perceived to be present, you can be sure the moderators raise the matter in their own forum and HH would know all about it. As a community forum, the actions of moderators will be silently judged by community opinion, and those moderators will live with the reputation and respect (or lack of it) that they carry as a result, for better or for worse. I dislike "authority figures" more than most people do, so I absolutely understand the frustration experienced by banned members who believe the moderators made a mistake, but I also think that posting in Bonfire and SC should perhaps not be our primary motivation for visiting DZ.com -

The artists obviously got very creative with their cover art.

Very many authors and writers have photographs of themselves on the back cover of their published works. Brian Germain has a large full color photo on his latest book. I think that using a real photo as an avatar adds a more personal element and/or some sincerity to comments posted, a better indication that the poster is not some nameless, faceless troll. However, if you're specificaly refering to members that change their best avatar photos as often as their socks, then you may be on to something. - No 'mericans were harmed during the making of this post.

Many people out there believe the Christmas tree originates from pagan traditions, and is incorrectly associated with Christianity. (Read here and here.) They say the tree is a phallic symbol. So, what's under your Christmas dick this year ? - No 'mericans were harmed during the making of this post.

I read somewhere that, prior to about 1950, there were no claims or accounts from anyone of spacecraft or alien abductions. The popular claim before that was witches. Yup, witches. People claimed to have seen broomsticks in the sky and been visited by witches or goblins who would abduct them, paralyze them or terrorize them in some way. Witches were a more common paranormal belief back then. Nowadays, since Hollywood has brought us Star Trek, Close Encounters and other sci-fi, its easier for the modern mind to connect their dreams and unexplained experiences (read about "Sleep Paralysis") to aliens and spaceships. It's been a while since anyone last reported being abducted by witches. - No 'mericans were harmed during the making of this post.

Yup, what lawrocket said. I'll bet there are way more people giving constant attention to their appearance than to their personalities and intellect. Woman especialy seem very self-conscious of their appearance. There must be a reason for this. I'm sure most women would rather have beauty than brains ...because they know that most men can see much better than they can think. - No 'mericans were harmed during the making of this post.

Alrighty, now I'm a little puzzled. Unless I'm misreading something, you all appear to be saying the same thing. Sparky listed rule (3) and Billvon and LiveLifeGoJump have suggested there can be circumstances where rule (3) actualy applies. Why the fuss over LiveLifeGoJump's comment ? - No 'mericans were harmed during the making of this post.