Orange1

You folks give yourselves way too much credit. Out of the 10000 pages you would struggle to fill even one page with factual and useful information. More than one page as 377 said... HOWEVER... if certain people (note the plural) didn't feel the need to post the same stuff over and over and over again (you know, like a child: if you say it often enough it "becomes true") we could probably have kept it down to oh less than a hundred?! Skydiving: wasting fossil fuels just for fun.

Wow, finally. Don't let the door hit you on the way out. Sometimes, I wish there were "like" buttons here Skydiving: wasting fossil fuels just for fun.

Awesome story. Thanks for sharing. Skydiving: wasting fossil fuels just for fun.

I think we should make this a sticky Skydiving: wasting fossil fuels just for fun.

My view of the crisis is that it had a lot more to do with mass stupidity than crookedness - stupidity on the part of everyone from regulators, bankers, supposedly sophisticated investors who bought products they didn't understand and were actually the key to keeping the whole thing going, not to mention consumers who somehow thought lying on loan applications was smart. But I understand the human instinct to blame someone, and who better than the bankers? As for the bailouts: I find the idea incredibly distasteful, mainly from a moral hazard perspective. The alternative, however, which seems to be little understood on main street, was a credit crunch the likes of which would probably have made the great depression seem like a picnic. When things have gone too far, there are no good choices, only bad ones and worse ones. But certainly regulators need to wake up to prevent this happening again because you know what... It's starting again already (risk being priced too low, which is what [url]started the ball rolling last time), backtracking on too big to fail, etc. All that said, I still wouldn't want a convicted serial thief handling my bank deposits. Skydiving: wasting fossil fuels just for fun.

Just saw your edit re low tariffs/high penalties....well! You'll very soon find some of your industries go out of business entirely, while others where there is less import competition will have much higher prices for US residents than otherwise. I've never quite understood the thinking that protecting say a few thousand or even tens of thousands of jobs is worth it at the expense of the other 200 million (or whatever it is) people who live there. Some quick calculations will tell you whether there is a net benefit or net cost to the economy; even before you take into account the companies who will relocate headquarters to circumvent the penalties while taking advantage of low tariffs to 'export' to the US. I'm going to take a wild flying guess here that you never did Eco 101. Skydiving: wasting fossil fuels just for fun.

You may not be aware of this, but there actually is a brand of Levi's specifically aimed at the African market. Not sure if it has been rolled out anywhere else. On the other matter.... You can't turn globalization back. And looking just at the issue of who is employed where is, well, simplistic. Levi's profits accrue to the parent company and get spent on other things in the US, shareholders who receive divs there spend them in the US, etc. Just one example. Higher cost labour in the US = less profits (or higher prices) = others losing their jobs. That's just one example. The mistake most armchair economists (and some supposed professional ones) make is never looking beyond the first link in the chain. Oh, and protecting your industry isn't the answer either. Why do you suppose clothes are so expensive in SA? Because of the legacy of years of protection! Our clothing industry has all but shut down, amazed not only to have Levis here but have the factory winning the award. Clearly we need more managers like that to run other factories here. Oh incidentally.... Re industries pulling out to make things cheaper elsewhere.... You think that hasn't happened? You think the US is the only country that's lost jobs to Asia? Do you know what the percentage of profits earned on the S&P comes from outside the US btw? Skydiving: wasting fossil fuels just for fun.

Clothing is a very important industry in little landlocked Lesotho. They also make Levis in Cape Town btw

Hi... Letter has been discussed before here and elsewhere. Can't remember the details but it was clearly a fake. Cannot recall for certain but didn't they find the hoaxer on it too? Edit: apparently Galen Cook has been resuscitating this too: http://www.examiner.com/coast-to-coast-radio-in-national/galen-cook-reveals-evidence-of-db-cooper-identity ...although this article is some months old now 2nd edit: OK, unlike some people I can admit when I am wrong Found an old post by Snow - but it doesn't seem it was conclusively concluded the letters (there were 4) were fake. I may be getting mixed up with the other hoax (magazine revealed cooper?) Um, again, Skydiving: wasting fossil fuels just for fun.

A very successful insurance agent....who still stole coats? I would rather trust someone who had committed one large scale theft under huge financial pressure (say to fund a needed expensive surgery) than someone who was a serial offender to the extent he gave his occupation as thief. But ultimately I would rather neither of these was handling my money. In fact to use your own examples I would prefer an ex drug dealer than an ex thief. More to the point, there are plenty of honest people who have never committed any crimes who need jobs too. Would much rather have one of them dealing with me, thank you very much. You are once again letting your personal biases get in the way of an objective reading of the facts. Skydiving: wasting fossil fuels just for fun.

Jo, seriously! You want ex-cons to be involved in insurance and banking? These are jobs where the public places a high level of financial trust in the people. Do you understand the concept of fiduciary duty? The very last person I would want to be on the other side helping me is someone with fraud or theft convictions. I mean, honestly....I find that idea so bizarre. Do you honestly think Duane would have been rehabilitated in a job like that? I think he, and others who are serial thieves, would simply find them easy pickings. There are plenty of jobs where people can earn an honest day's living, but they need to want to be honest in the first place. Skydiving: wasting fossil fuels just for fun.

Re shoot down orders.... Sometimes a president has to make a decision to sacrifice a few to save Many. The classic example is Churchill allowing the bombing of Coventry because they couldn't let the Germans know they had broken the Enigma code? Skydiving: wasting fossil fuels just for fun.

And, Farflung, remember retirement ages then were around life expectatancy (retirement ages haven't changed really since). So, you worked practically until you died, maybe a year or two of social security in it. Now, you work, then use public health funds to keep you living for as long as you possibly can to draw pensions! And yet US demographics are way better than many other countries, mainly thanks to immigration-friendly policies. So you still have younger people working to pay the social security. (iirc this is properly termed intergenerational transfer). Countries like Japan on the other hand are about to go .... Poof. Skydiving: wasting fossil fuels just for fun.

Point of order: I called Jo out because she was accusing Jerry of saying something wasn't there, which probably wasn't. Her entire argument crumbled when after vigorously telling us why she would have called it a mountain, she now suddenly claims she told Jerry "or hill". Cn anyone believe this sudden change! Who was it who said " you are entitled to your own opinions, but you are not entitled to your own facts"? Skydiving: wasting fossil fuels just for fun.

Sigh. Now Jo is "not well schooled". A couple of days ago she was mocking Jerry for his spelling and apparent lack of education (according to her) and telling us how well educated she in fact was. Jo, you can't have your cake and eat it. And irrespective of how well schooled you may or may not be you can't change facts. A hill is not a mountain, and you can't blame Jerry for saying there was no mountain when this is just a fact, anymore than Jerry could tell you for example that lying should be spelt lieing. If you can't even see the inconsistency in your own arguments in something as simple and as clearly demonstrable as this then there truly is no hope for you. Skydiving: wasting fossil fuels just for fun.

Ok, so let's get this straight. Jo starts a post with ""something everyone needs to understand", which already tells us she thinks this thread is about Jo Weber, not DB Cooper. Then she goes into another hysterical rant about Jerry, part of which is that she saw a mountain that Jerry said was not there. It is then pointed put to her that there are in fact no mountains there and what does she say? "You call them hills, I call them mountains" as though it is a big joke. Well, I guess this is where the phrase making mountains out of molehills comes from- people like Jo. So, Jerry was right. He may well have been right about everything else too, as Jo seems to shift her story again as it suits her. There's another great example. The hill of a petty criminal becomes, in Jo's mind, the mountain of Cooper. And that's all her case is:wishful thinking, so-called circumstantial evidence which isn't even there, and a load of baloney. Jo, you threatened to "go public". Please - do so. Skydiving: wasting fossil fuels just for fun.

Here's an example. http://www.2oceansvibe.com/2008/11/06/the-daily-voice-maintain-their-high-level-of-journalism/ And yes Georger, I think this forum has become a tabloid. The good stuff is so buried between outlandish conspiracy theories and rubbish. Between Jo's hysterical rantings, Blevins' righteous self-defense, Jerry not knowing when to stop... But mainly because, as you have pointed out before, Jo just rants and shuts down any useful line of enquiry. Can you tell I am getting heartily sick of this. Skydiving: wasting fossil fuels just for fun.

Yeah, I know, but tabloids do serve a function. I need to know if Jennifer Anniston is pregnant. I need to know if Angelina is cheating on Brad, or vce versa. That info is available nowhere else. Indeed, because contrary to popular opinion (or desire), many papers actually like to print the truth Me, I'm on the fence. I understand wanting to give credit to Bruce. On the other hand, I look at the paparazzi photos of Tina and think... this is exactly why this story has ended up in a tabloid. People here say tabloids serve a function because people who otherwise would never read newspapers, do. Me, given the crap they write here (which makes the Daily Mail look like the Guardian) think it actually might be better if they didn't read anything Skydiving: wasting fossil fuels just for fun.

For this who are not aware, the Daily Mail is a tabloid.... And given their reputation, I would not immediately jump down Bruce's throat about him being referred to as an "expert". (and even I know that witness protection doesn't involve putting someone in a "nunnery" without bothering to change their name or without hiding which convent she is in!) As for Tina leaving...well I daresay it was not a calling but an escape for her so not surprising it wasn't lifelong. The article in general looks like a typical Daily Mail article: utter hogwash. Skydiving: wasting fossil fuels just for fun.

Be careful! Jo calls them WHITE LIES. White lies are not 'lies' ??? These were not white lies. They were told to try protect a vindictive woman from the scorn she fully deserves. I am livid. Skydiving: wasting fossil fuels just for fun.

Well Jo so you did complain. You may not think he was a loss because he didn't tell you what you wanted to hear - though unfailingly polite in the face of your rancorous rants. The rest of us thought he was very valuable. You did the forum a huge disservice. This also means you have blatantly lied in the past about this. Trying to justify it now just makes you look worse, not better. Skydiving: wasting fossil fuels just for fun.

I never said you got Carr demoted. I said that it seemed you were the reason he stopped being a valuable contributor to this forum. It seems he got told to stop posting here. Did you or did you not complain about him to someone in the FBI? Simple yes or no is all that is required. Skydiving: wasting fossil fuels just for fun.

Jo keeps denying she had anything to do with Carr having to leave this forum. I, for one, would certainly be interested if there was proof otherwise. If nothing else, it's a good guide to how reliable someone is should they deny something that can be proved to be in fact true. Skydiving: wasting fossil fuels just for fun.

I'm impossible? That is funny, Jo. I'm terribly sorry you hate it so much when your constant lack of logic and flights of fancy are pointed out. As has been said many times - all you need to do is come up with something tangible. Not unreliable memories and conspiracy theories and impossible demands of everyone. The really ironic thing that is that you expect proponents of other Cooper suspects to come up with evidence or logical argument, yet seem to think you are excluded from this. Oh wait, that's because you "know" the truth. Skydiving: wasting fossil fuels just for fun.

Was Doug Pasternak in the room when Duane said what you claimed he said? If not what is the point of asking him? Ah, Now you assume it is a prison. Assuming something doesn't make it reality. Blevins - Cooper may be a small part of your life but as has been pointed out - it doesn't really change the perception of your arguments here. You, like Jo, need to get someone with an objective eye to read over your posts and see the way they come across to a disinterested individual. (I'm going on faith that both of you know the difference between disinterested and uninterested.) Skydiving: wasting fossil fuels just for fun.