ahegeman

That's a good point. You get used to making one association, then they switch it up and you get screwed up on whichever one comes second. --------------------------------------------------------------- There is a fine line between 'hobby' and 'mental illness'. --Dave Barry

I'm a bit disapointed that Bill dropped this turd on us, defending it once by tossing another lame accusation of racism at me for calling him on it, and hasn't been seen since to defend his ideas. Where's that famous willingness to admit when you're wrong that he so admires? Come on Bill! You were so proud of Bush for admitting he may have been wrong, we'll be just as proud of you! --------------------------------------------------------------- There is a fine line between 'hobby' and 'mental illness'. --Dave Barry

Perhaps he was suffered enough. But, rules are rules. --------------------------------------------------------------- There is a fine line between 'hobby' and 'mental illness'. --Dave Barry

Being someone who's all for letting people kill themselves with their own stupidity (I say this as someone who's never lost a friend that way), I gotta say THIS is by far the most persuasive argument I've heard for a wingloading BSR. Enough people keep killing themselves under perfectly good canopies and maybe the FAA will take an unwelcome interest in us. How much danger do inexperienced jumpers under too small of canopies really pose to other jumpers? Would a 100 jump newbie at 2.0 really pose much danger to others? I know the canopy flies faster, but would it affect his ability to fly a pattern? Is he/she more likely to panic and cause a collision? Are there any incidents where a jumper on an "inappropriate" canopy hurt or killed someone else because of that canopy? For me that would be another persuasive argument. Are there any US dzs out there with formal canopy restrictions? I've heard of plenty of times where the DZO will not let a particular jumper jump a particular canopy, but are there any with solid rules in place? I know it'd be a pain to enforce, but at least it would be there. --------------------------------------------------------------- There is a fine line between 'hobby' and 'mental illness'. --Dave Barry

Here's a link to the "Implicit Association Test" project at Harvard. These are tests designed to highlight unconscious biases you may have in various areas such as race, gender, age, presidents, etc. I've only taken the Race IAT, and found it interesting, though not necessarily accurate. Any statements I make below are based on just that test. I've tried to take some of the others but haven't gotten them to work. I suspect the site is perhaps a bit overloaded with people linking over from wherever I found it posted, though I cannot remember where that was. If you are interested, you may want to take the tests before reading the rest of my post as it may screw up your testing. Its a timed test that requires you to respond to flashed images and words by placing them into one of two categories quickly. In the Race IAT, you will be asked to quickly categorize "bad" words and "good" words, and pictures of black faces and white faces by pressing buttons on your computer. If you get the categorization wrong, the test lets you know so you can fix it. There is a control section where they simply test your ability to categorize things by first categorizing just "bad" words vs "good" words, and just black faces vs. white faces. The "e" and "i" keys represent the categories. The meat of the test, however, is in the last two sections. There you will be asked to categorize the same words and pictures one after the other, randomly mixed together. In one of the last two sections, the "e" key is for "bad" words and black faces, and the "i" key is for good words and white faces. In the other, it is partially switched, with the "e" key for "good" words and black faces, and the "i" key for "bad" words and white faces. Wanting to answer as quickly as possible, you will find it easiest to do the categorization by saying to yourself, "OK, for this part black equals good and white equals bad", then for the next part, you will proceed under the association that black equals bad and white equals good. I suspect comparing how well you perform through each section is the basis for their comparison. If you perform the categorizations well when you operate under the association black=bad and white=good, then you make that association easier and thus have a preference for white. Supposedly I have a slight preference for black, and I think that result is because I got 3 categorizations wrong under the white=good scheme, and 1 categorization wrong under the white=bad scheme, so I didn't perform as well when I had to say to myself that black is "bad". I'm not sure its an entirely solid methodology because the last section is where you have to make the black=bad association, and that's where I became aware of how the testing worked, and its probably pretty useless if you know what's going on. Perhaps they randomize the order of the sections - I don't know since I've only taken the test once. Despite what billvon may think, I like to think I have no preference either way, but of course that's the whole point of the test. I found it interesting, though. edited to add: Dang. Sorry for the long post. --------------------------------------------------------------- There is a fine line between 'hobby' and 'mental illness'. --Dave Barry

I'd really rather not think about that while I'm strapping myself to the floor of our Caravan. And I especially don't want the guy who's leg's I am sitting between on that floor to be thinking about the time he got some "action" there. And if he asks me for a "pin check" after that I'm really gonna be upset. --------------------------------------------------------------- There is a fine line between 'hobby' and 'mental illness'. --Dave Barry

Oh, and you forgot Robert "Grand Wizard" Byrd (D) in your list of racist politicians. Are you sure you weren't talking about Republicans? --------------------------------------------------------------- There is a fine line between 'hobby' and 'mental illness'. --Dave Barry

Is the Progressive Media Project racist? Maybe the Urban Institute is a bunch of racists? Maybe they aren't, but we KNOW that those cross-burners at the NAACP are DEFINITELY a bunch of racists for being against raising the retirement age because blacks have lower life expectancies. For all we know, the guy was wrong and there isn't a real problem due to other factors he is not aware of. But it is certainly reasonable for a non-racist to think that Social Security's current structure and proposed solutions might be a problem with respect to race and say its worth looking at. This is unreal. Some poor Republican representative can't even suggest looking into ways to fix a potential but very subtle systematic bias against minorities without being excoriated by an obviously very intelligent liberal. Many are so convinced Republicans are a bunch of racists they won't believe it when evidence to the contrary is staring them in the face. So tell me, what's a Republican to do? --------------------------------------------------------------- There is a fine line between 'hobby' and 'mental illness'. --Dave Barry

Taking a good look at it could yield a methodology that is entirely race neutral. Maybe the way is to say that you can retire whenever you want, but only get X years of benefit for every Y years you paid in, or something like that. I'm sure that alone has plenty of problems I haven't thought about since I came up with it a minute ago. But it does show that realizing there is a systematic racial disparity could possibly yield a race-neutral methodology that works with a little rational thought. You do like rational thought, right Bill? Can rational thought about race happen around you without horrible accusations? --------------------------------------------------------------- There is a fine line between 'hobby' and 'mental illness'. --Dave Barry

All other problems having been solved, a brave California lawyer turns her sights on the last bastion of man's inhumanity to woman. --------------------------------------------------------------- There is a fine line between 'hobby' and 'mental illness'. --Dave Barry

While your condescension is appreciated, it is misplaced. I am well aware of the definiton of racism. Do you then think affirmative action is racist? Social Security is a benefit that systematically short-changes racial minorities already, by "treating them differently" as you put it and perhaps allowing them to retire sooner, or receive a larger benefit some other way, they may then on average receive the same benefit, and no longer be short-changed. I don't know that its a good idea either, but its at least worth looking at. He is in fact attempting to make sure we do not create an even more inequitable system. Quite the opposite of racism. I have several friends who have said to me, "Shit, I'm not even going to live to 65 - this is bullshit", or some variation thereof. Guilt? Are you trying not-so-subtly to call me a racist? If you knew me you'd think that was funny. I'm not a Republican, so no, no guilt there. My voting is all over the place. He is a Republican, and you automatically called him a racist because he had the temerity to mention that race may be a factor in retirement planning. Anyone with any brains takes their life expectancy into account when they plan for retirement. That calculation has to be different for minorities because the reality is they tend not to live as long, for whatever reason. If the government is going to do our retirement planning for us, then maybe it should take the same factors into account that we do. Its not racist to say that you need to take into account the fact that minorities are getting even more screwed as life expectancies creep upwards. Mindless finger pointing amid cries of "RACISM!" only keeps people from rationally addressing a potentially serious problem. He didn't even say it should be done, just that it should be looked at because it MAY be a problem. I think you seriously jumped the gun on this one. I understand the temptation. It was such a juicy little soundbite. Edited because I can't spell when fired up. --------------------------------------------------------------- There is a fine line between 'hobby' and 'mental illness'. --Dave Barry

Wow. You ought to be ashamed of yourself, Bill. I can see why you didn't provide a link, Lord forbid anyone should actually read that quote in context since it might become clear to them that he wants to examine race since the lower average life expectancy of racial minorities may mean they get screwed by Social Security's flat retirement age, and he wants to address and remove an unfair inequality that is currently victimizing racial minorities when they pay into the system at the same rate as everyone else and cannot enjoy the same benefit because they typically die sooner. Even Chris Rock recognizes that. He's talking about fixing a discriminatory rule, which just happens to be the EXACT OPPOSITE of what you are unfairly and dishonestly implying. But that wouldn't fit in very well with your reflexive stereotyping of Republicans, would it? Can't let the truth get in the way of our worldview I guess. edited to add: I see you posted the transcript while I was typing. Good for you. You are still wrong. --------------------------------------------------------------- There is a fine line between 'hobby' and 'mental illness'. --Dave Barry

A disturbingly revealing insight into modern leftist idiocy. --------------------------------------------------------------- There is a fine line between 'hobby' and 'mental illness'. --Dave Barry

And another fair game for Jazz? Ha! I think the other falconers would make fun of me then. --------------------------------------------------------------- There is a fine line between 'hobby' and 'mental illness'. --Dave Barry

You listen to a lot of Charlie Daniels, don't you? --------------------------------------------------------------- There is a fine line between 'hobby' and 'mental illness'. --Dave Barry

I'll be sure to look you up this weekend. Right on. Definitely the proudest day of my life so far. We'll have to jump together after you're legal. Edited to add: PS - I brought a keg of Shiner when I got my A. I'm just sayin' . . . --------------------------------------------------------------- There is a fine line between 'hobby' and 'mental illness'. --Dave Barry

Why'd you jump if the spots were so bad? Couldn't you smack the pilot around a little? I'm not trying to be a prick, just curious. --------------------------------------------------------------- There is a fine line between 'hobby' and 'mental illness'. --Dave Barry

Wouldn't miss the helicopter for anything. You? --------------------------------------------------------------- There is a fine line between 'hobby' and 'mental illness'. --Dave Barry

Lance'll be fine. He's already the most tested athlete in the world. He's probably proud of the fact that his accomplishments are so unbelieveable. Its people like him that renew my faith in humanity. --------------------------------------------------------------- There is a fine line between 'hobby' and 'mental illness'. --Dave Barry

Speaking of your back, how's it healing up? --------------------------------------------------------------- There is a fine line between 'hobby' and 'mental illness'. --Dave Barry

Another rabbit --------------------------------------------------------------- There is a fine line between 'hobby' and 'mental illness'. --Dave Barry

That you opened it at all thinking that was the title is telling. Jazz is the name of the bird working that rabbit over. --------------------------------------------------------------- There is a fine line between 'hobby' and 'mental illness'. --Dave Barry

Yum. --------------------------------------------------------------- There is a fine line between 'hobby' and 'mental illness'. --Dave Barry

Yeah. There's some screwed up people out there. Too bad the internet makes it easier for them to find you. Gotta cover your butt. --------------------------------------------------------------- There is a fine line between 'hobby' and 'mental illness'. --Dave Barry

it could have been a lot worse. Talk about taking a web forum too seriously. --------------------------------------------------------------- There is a fine line between 'hobby' and 'mental illness'. --Dave Barry