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Please don't dent the planet. Destinations by Roxanne

Hmmm....I was actually more interested in the topless jump aspect of that post. And no, I'm not too young Please don't dent the planet. Destinations by Roxanne

...not the least of which is to cover things up. I couldn't help notice the jumper in this video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zx3SdjTPCIE Thr first jumper who's sitflying in the green t-shirt. Looks like a problem waiting for a place to happen. I'm pretty sure a friend of mine spent the rest of this life pulling on his t-shirt and his reserve handle. Let's be smart out there. Please don't dent the planet. Destinations by Roxanne

The day before my 2nd jump in 1981 Neil Weiss put his belly banded gear on with a twist in the PC bridle. On opening he decided it was a pilot chute in tow and reached back and pulled the pin on his container. His round reserve never cleared the resulting horseshoe. I was scared silly on my first jump but it did seem a bit surreal. I'm pretty sure it was when Neil went in that I understood you could die...and also that people were dying regularly. Someone once told me that knowledge replaces fear and I think that's true...but in this sport it goes full circle. You'll eventually gain enough knowledge to be fearful for completely different reasons. Please don't dent the planet. Destinations by Roxanne

My SO is a nurse. Has been since 1979. She has a measure of compassion I'm not familiar with but I know it takes that kind of compassion to do the job well. Her most recent job was as Director of Nursing at a facility for profoundly mentally retarded adults. I visited the place on more than one occasion. I am so happy there are people who truly care about others in that state. They make up for people like me who are extremely uncomfortable around mentally retarded folks of all ages. Most of her residents were non-verbal. It took her over a year of observing them to begin to know when something wasn't right. I was always in awe of her abilities. I also think too many people get into the nursing profession for the $$. Bad idea. It take serious commitment to patient care. Back in the day (early 80's) she was a charge nurse in a local ER. Wow does she have some stories including doing what she could for somebody who went in. Having to tell parents their 16yo daughter is dead because the stupid 16yo boy was trying to impress her with his driving skills is something anyone who wants to be a nurse should seriously consider. Tough hours, little respect, and a chance to make a real difference in people's lives. I know she wouldn't change it for anything Please don't dent the planet. Destinations by Roxanne

Thank you for your pursuit. Please don't dent the planet. Destinations by Roxanne

No one "allowed" us to choose. We chose anyway. C'mon Bill....big difference in military and political capabilites today. I shudder to think how difficult it would be for us to gain independence from England today if they didn't want that and we had no military machine. What are you talking about? The great majority of the insurgents in Iraq are Iraqis. Sure they are. Their power base is gone and they don't like the fact they don't control things. I'm talking about outside intervention from Iran and Syria whose worst nightmare is a democratic Iraq in their backyard. Those folks aren't fighting for their homes. So you are contending we did not participate in either World War? Odd! I'm saying we tried in vain to stay out of it, to practice isolationism and supply goods and arms at the same time. Please don't dent the planet. Destinations by Roxanne

Our Islamist enemies do not give a damn about the way we vote, think, or live. Though any country they ruled would surely not look like ours, they are motivated by the belief that U.S. foreign policy is an attack on Islam, its lands, and its believers. Hmm..so we should be the only ones being attacked. In 2003, in the Netherlands, Theo van Gogh was brutally murdered by a Muslim angered at him for producing a documentary film critical of Islamic treatment of women. Dutch libertarian Presidential candidate Pim Fortuyn was murdered by a Muslim-sympathizer assasin a year later. Gays and Lesbians in Amsterdam are routinely stoned and spit on by Muslim youth, for the high crime of holding hands and kissing in public parks or strolling down the avenues. Muslims in cities such as The Hague and Rotterdam are pushing local councils to outlaw prostitution and marijuana use. Paris just last year banned nude sunbathing on the river Seine. The official reason was for "health reasons." But insiders admitted that it was due to growing Muslim pressure against public nudity. Two years ago, Muslim Youth rioted throughout Copenhagen to protest cartoon depictions in a Danish newspaper of the "Prophet" Muhammed. Last year in Germany a longstanding Opera had to be censored by local authorities for fear of offending Muslims with a less than flattering depiction of Muhammed. Why don't we ever hear Ron Paul talk about the Radical Muslim assaults on liberty throughout Western Europe? Has Ron Paul or other leftwing libertarians for that matter, ever addressed the issue of the rising tide of Radical Islam sweeping Western Europe? http://libertarianrepublican.blogspot.com/2007/05/ron-paul-is-wrong-radical-muslims-do.html They hate everyone who is not a true believer. Their goal is domination through religion. It's not our policies, it's our lifestyle. Please don't dent the planet. Destinations by Roxanne

So? If they want to change, let them. If they don't want to change, that's fine too. We should be an example to them and then let them choose whatever they want. That would be great if only they were allowed to choose. You know that's not the case in many places around the world. they have been fighting there for thousands of years; only brutal tyrants have managed to force peace on the people there I'm sure the people are OK with that. 2) we went in without a plan Maybe not a good one. I'll concede that to you. 3) we provided a sanctuary for Al Qaeda in Pakistan and a training grounds for them in the streets of Baghdad Yep.. Prior to the invasion AQ didn't exist anywhere in the world but Afganistan. 4) people will fight for their homes no matter what color their skin is or no matter who they pray to Iranians and Syrians don't have homes in Iraq. When was it a disaster? Prior to both World Wars when we buried our heads in the sand and pretended it was their problem, not ours? Maybe when we were repeatedly attacked in the 80's and 90's and chose to ignore it? Please don't dent the planet. Destinations by Roxanne

Um, we've tried interventionism before, and PROVED that it was a disaster. Specific examples? Please don't dent the planet. Destinations by Roxanne

Or if the former -- improving America's standing in the world -- enables, is perhaps even *critical* to accomplishing the latter -- Tell me your vision of how that's accomplished. Short of Bill's idea of placing a big bubble over the US and telling everyone else to get f&%ked, I don't think it's possible. There will always be some person or country wanting to improve it's position at the expense of some other persons or countries. Any time that occurs there will be conflict. Somebody's not going to like what someone else is doing. Please don't dent the planet. Destinations by Roxanne

Thats awesome! We wenrt from an average of 593 deaths a day to a constant 593 deaths a day! Take a look at the data. I haven't found a single day where 593 deaths were included. The average is wrong...way too high. Please don't dent the planet. Destinations by Roxanne

Today there are some 200 sovereign nations in the world. Of these, 120 are multi-party democracies. Compare this with 1970 when there were fewer than 35 nations that were not outright dictatorships or operating under the iron fist of the single party rule of Communism. http://www.usadaily.com/article.cfm?articleID=183759 That didn't happen by accident. I still believe that there are people in this world who want democracy and need our help to attain it. Who better than us? We have the money and the might. If we could see through the din of the drive-by media and take a closer look at the people I think most want us to be involved. Have you asked yourself why it's such a battle in Iraq? I beleive the possibility of a democratic government in the Middle East scares the hell out of the surrounding governments. They don't want their citizens to see what it would be like for them to live in a democracy. We do important work all over the world. It's not perfect and never will be. Your isolationist proposal would be a disaster. We've tried it before. Please don't dent the planet. Destinations by Roxanne

Umm..that's 593 people per day. The numbers just don't add up. That study has a big flaw. Household interviews are hardly accurate. On what do you base that assertion & authority? What was the flaw in the statistical method? Because the values do not fit what you (or I or anyone else) want does not invalidate them. VR/Marg Pre-invasion (n=82) Non-violent deaths Heart disease/stroke Cancer Chronic illness Infant Accident Old age Infectious disease Other (non-violent) Violent deaths Other explosion/ordnance Air strike Total deaths Post-invasion (n=547) Non-violent deaths Heart disease/stroke Cancer Chronic illness Infant 29 Accident Old age Infectious disease Other (non-violent) Violent deaths Gunshot Other explosion/ordnance Air strike Car bomb Unknown (violent) Accident Total deaths Let's just start here. Am I to beleive that prior to the invasion there were no deaths from gunshots in Iraq? The only way someone dies violently in Iraq prior to the invasion was by some explosion or airstrike? Please. And how does accident figure into the equation twice? Let's just say the 593 number is valid. According to Iraq Body Count's latest incidents page http://www.iraqbodycount.org/database/incidents/ on November 30 there were 15 deaths. Are you saying that somehow 578 deaths went unreported? I know there is some number that gets missed but I seriously doubt its 97.5% of them. Please don't dent the planet. Destinations by Roxanne

That study estimated that close to 650,000 Iraqis had been killed between March 2003 and 2006 Umm..that's 593 people per day. The numbers just don't add up. That study has a big flaw. Household interviews are hardly accurate. indicates 78,690 - 85,711 violent Iraqi deaths since 2003. This number is much more believable and easier to validate. One could also consider the 250,000 - 500,000 children then-UN Ambassador & former Secretary of State Albright... And Saddam could have stopped all of it anytime he was ready to adhere to UN directives. Sad. Totally unnecessary and avoidable but for a crazy dictator. [iHere's one link. It's common knowledge; you should be able to find any number of sources. So now we're including numbers from Hiroshima and Nagasaki? Do you feel using the bomb was a bad idea? Wait. Of course you do. You'd have rather seen thousands of allied forces die trying to take an island from a fanatical dictator. Revisionist history at work again. Here's a document that I am sure you despise; it's dozens of decades old: http://www.archives.gov/...rs/constitution.html Can you imagine? Idiots like me believe in that old stuff. Heck, even soldiers pledge to defend it. Make sure you tell them the document they are defending is meaningless next time you talk to them. Funny. In none of my posts have I questioned anyone's allegiance or morals. You imply that I despise the constitution. Kallend says I'm not concerned about right or wrong. Isn't it the right wingers who are supposed to question your patriotism if you're not pro-war? It just grates at you that I don't care about our "standing" in the world. You think I'm the enemy. I see some validity in your point of view. I think it'd be just peachy if we were able to raise our standing in the world and defend ourselves against radical muslims bent on our death & destruction. I just don't care about the former if it means sacrificing the latter. Please don't dent the planet. Destinations by Roxanne

[reply If someone killed your family and gave you $5000 to compensate, would you forgive them? Are we talking Pakistan or Iraq? >What parents and children are you referring to? One example: =================== Wednesday, April 2, 2003 lndependent/UK Children Killed and Maimed in Cluster Bomb Attack on Town by Robert Fisk in Baghdad and Justin Huggler At least 11 civilians, nine of them children, were killed in Hilla in central Iraq yesterday, according to reporters in the town who said they appeared to be the victims of bombing. Reporters from the Reuters news agency said they counted the bodies of 11 civilians and two Iraqi fighters in the Babylon suburb, 50 miles south of Baghdad. Nine of the dead were children, one a baby. Hospital workers said as many as 33 civilians were killed. Terrifying film of women and children later emerged after Reuters and the Associated Press were permitted by the Iraqi authorities to take their cameras into the town. Their pictures – the first by Western news agencies from the Iraqi side of the battlefront – showed babies cut in half and children with amputation wounds, apparently caused by American shellfire and cluster bombs. ==================== If someone did that to your family, would you be understanding or angry? Of course I'd be angry. Fog of war Bill. There were Iraqi fighters there too. Innocent civilians will always be hurt in any war. I don't like it but it's a fact. >As I thought. You think it's our fault. Nope, I don't. I fear you are having trouble with reading comprehension. >Sad that FDR got involved in WWII? Sad that Truman used a nuke on >Japan? Cuban missile crisis was wrong? WWII? Nope, our constitution clearly calls out the right to defend ourselves from enemies who attack us. But we were attacked Bill. Repeatedly. Are you for getting Somalia, the first WTC attack, Khobar Towers, the African Embassies, or the USS Cole? How many times do we allow ourselves and our innocent civilians to be targeted? You'll fire back that it wasn't Iraq. I submit that Saddam was involved. WMD's? Gone before we got there. Probably in Syria now. Using WMD's on innocent civilians, killing hundreds of thousands of men, women and children? Yes, that is bad no matter who does it. You keep spouting hundreds of thousands. SHow me where that number comes from...that the US and coalition forces have killed that number. Cuban missile crisis? Yes, that was bad - but it had a GOOD outcome. No wars, no children killed, no US troops dead. Had GWB been in charge, we no doubt would have attacked the USSR and Turkey in retaliation - and you and I might not be here to argue about it. Fortunately a cooler head was at the helm. Comparing the two is like apples and oranges. You said it was "sad" that our history includes going in search of monsters to destroy. I disagree. You revisionist historians always try to use today's situation and apply it to events decades ago. Doesn't work...never will. Please don't dent the planet. Destinations by Roxanne

Look, grab, protect, pull, punch From my FJC "The first thing to know is you're going to land. The question is how fast will you be going." Edited to add: The skydiver's prayer...Please Lord, don't let it be me who FUCKS UP. In regards to flying a plane..."If you want to go up you pull the yoke back. If you want to go down, pull back further." Please don't dent the planet. Destinations by Roxanne

Several times I've heard commercials on XM. I almost didn't notice it at first but a couple of times I'm like "hey...wtf?" Seriously thinking about voting with my wallet. Please don't dent the planet. Destinations by Roxanne

the loss in value of the $US in world currency markets. That too will affect you. http://abclocal.go.com/wpvi/story?section=business&id=5668191 When the United States dropped its rate, other banks did not follow. Now the spread between the interest rate at the European Central Bank (home of the euro) and the Federal Reserve (home of the dollar) is smaller than it has traditionally been, and that has weakened the value of the dollar against the euro. Second, central banks around the world have been diversifying their holdings away from dollars to euros, British pounds and so on. That means there are more dollars out there in currency markets available to purchase. More dollars floating around means diminished value. The news is mixed. It's good, because it makes what we produce here cheaper to sell in foreign markets, and that in turn spurs exports of our products around the world. That translates into more manufacturing and more jobs. For example, BMW and Mercedes Benz want to build cars in the United States, because they can do it cheaper in nonunion states than in Germany, where they'd pay labor and parts in euros, and then bring the cars to the United States, where they would be too expensive to sell at a profit. The free market system at work. Like water, it will always seek it's own level. It has little to do with our "standing" in the world. Please don't dent the planet. Destinations by Roxanne

If you're not saying our standing hasn't diminished on account of the war, are you admitting that it has diminished? Not sure what the question is here. Do I agree our standing has diminished because of the war? I'd say yes. Aren't you affected by the incredible waste of resources involved in the war? You view them differently than I do. Government waste has always existed...war or no war. I'll always be affected by it...so will you. If you're saying the war and the dollars spent are a waste I disagree Please don't dent the planet. Destinations by Roxanne

Well, since doing the right thing obviously doesn't matter, maybe your own self-interest does. You wouldn't owe YOUR share of the cost of a $TRILLION war. How does that relate to our standing in the world John? Try to stay focused on the topic please. Knew I'd have fun with this. You don't think invading and occupying a sovereign nation under false premises affects the USA's standing among the other nations of the world? Your opinion...duly noted. You don't think killing tens of thousands of civilians in that nation affects the USA's standing in the world? Last time I checked it wasn't the US detonating bombs in markets. You don't think holding citizens of that nation without trial, and torturing some of them, affects the USA's standing in the world? Citizens? Enemy combatants. You don't think imposing a subservient puppet government on that nation affects the USA's standing in the world? Subservient government? As opposed to a brutal dictatorship? You're views on the 4 points you made are well documented. As are mine. I'm not saying that our standing hasn't diminished. I'm saying I really don't care about our "standing" in the world. It makes no difference to me. Why do I care what the other countries of the world "think & feel" about the US? Hell, someone a couple of posts ago felt bad cause some little Iranian girl doesn't like us. There's enough to worry about without worrying about how other nations feel about us. Leave that crap to a group session. Slick Willy was so concerned about our "standing" that all he was willing to do was fire off a few cruise missiles. Imagine what would have happened if Geo H.W. was so worried about our standing that he let Saddam invade Kuwait. He made his famous "this will not stand" speech without worrying about who he pissed off. The "oh my gosh, they won't like us doing that" crowd is a big reason we are where we are today. I've seen where worrying about our standing gets us. Please don't dent the planet. Destinations by Roxanne

Which countries are 5 top recipients of US direct foreign aid (not even counting Iraq)? In 2006 it was Israel, Egypt, Pakistan, Columbia & Jordan in that order In what form does that vast majority of that foreign aid take? Military aid...most of it to Israel and Egypt. What percentage of the US's GDP goes to foreign aid? A very small percentage. Where does the US rank w/r/t assistance as percentage for foreign aid compared other states? Something like 17th? But it's 1st in total dollars. For the first time since Dwight Eisenhower was President, the US will be the second largest (in absolute amount) donor to the World Bank. The UK now surpasses the US contribution. China now contributes to the World Bank as a (albeit small) donor. U.S. officials stressed that the increase in their pledge was the biggest in three decades. The United States, which provided $22.7 billion in development assistance last year, remains the world's most generous nation in foreign aid. But analysts and some critics described the U.S. fall to No. 2 in IDA pledges as part of a trend, particularly during the Bush administration, of emphasizing bilateral channels that provide greater accountability and more flexibility in promoting U.S. interests overseas. Some have pointed to the Millennium Challenge Corp., the federal agency created in 2004 to lend to poor countries determined to have solid records on "good governance" and "economic freedom." I'm good with this. There are many countries who haven't seen much if any improvement after decades of aid. It's not the peoples fault, it's most definitley their governance. I think it's very telling that people start squeaking if the bank vault door closes just a bit. Here's a intellectually provocative Op-Ed, originally published in the Washington Times, which argues: "if you look at which nation benefits most from foreign subsidies, the U.S. would come out on top by a very wide margin." I disagree with some of Rahn's underlying thesis, but he does provide something about which to think, regarding net benefit of 'foreign aid.' VR/Marg A good article but I think he's confusing world markets with foreign aid, or at least he's lumping them together. I'll never un derstand why someone thinks it's a bad thing if we benefit from a trade agreement. Lord know we've taken it on the chin with some of them. A wise old man once told me it's better to trade with a country than fight them. Please don't dent the planet. Destinations by Roxanne

Are you ok with US soldiers being tortured? Do you approve of torture as a tool for information that is ok to be used by both sides? Or do you just believe as long as we are doing it it’s ok, but if any one else does it to us they are evil? I'm not OK with it. I'm also not OK with world hunger, oppressive dictatorships, and the designated hitter rule. Because I'm not OK with any of it doesn't mean it's not going to occur. It's an ugly world out there kids...better run for cover. Please don't dent the planet. Destinations by Roxanne

On May 16, 1997, the surviving participants of the Tuskegee Syphilis Study and the members of the Tuskegee Syphilis Study Legacy Committee gathered at the White House and witnessed the President's apology on behalf of the United States goverment. http://www.healthsystem.virginia.edu/internet/library/wdc-lib/historical/medical_history/bad_blood/apology.cfm To acknowledge the 100th anniversary of the January 17, 1893 overthrow of the Kingdom of Hawaii, and to offer an apology to Native Hawaiians on behalf of the United States for the overthrow of the Kingdom of Hawaii. http://www.hawaii-nation.org/publawsum.html “The United States of America apologizes to Mr. Brandon Mayfield and his family for the suffering caused” by his mistaken arrest, the government’s apology began. It added that the Federal Bureau of Investigation, which erroneously linked him to the Madrid bombs through a fingerprinting mistake, had taken steps “to ensure that what happened to Mr. Mayfield and the Mayfield family does not happen again.” http://www.nytimes.com/2006/11/30/us/30settle.html?_r=1&oref=slogin Please don't dent the planet. Destinations by Roxanne

On that I concur. Radical Islamists/members of the global salafists 'hate' me a lot more: independent, educated, feisty female! VR/Marg Oh it's worse than that. You wouldn't be who you are if they had their say. Edited to add: No. This has been so frequently debunked. Torture does not lead to actionable intelligence I have to disagree here. We wouldn't be discussing it's use of it wasn't somewhat actionable. Please don't dent the planet. Destinations by Roxanne