shaiziel

I've thought about it. The tinfoil hat wearing folks who talked about 9/11 being a Neocon conspiracy made me realize how much I really cared about the country. I was just thinking to myself and told others if it ever came out in the wash that any of this shit was carried out at the hands of the people in our government, I'd be lining up with the others outside our leaders homes, ready to open fire. My blood boils thinking about that. I care about the country but I won't jump in front of the bullets for an ungrateful society. I think it's getting time for an attitude adjustement. ---------------------------------------- 6.8% - Almost there!

I like this post really. I stand by what America was built to achieve and I appreciate the values America has had. But those things are being drowned out by the darker sides of human nature. Like any empire, destruction ultimately comes from within. And the nature of the creation and destruction of empires is cyclical. Trying to stop the cycle from going negative and turning it positive requires miraculous effort on the part of everyone. This doesn't really happen at all that I can see. It works just like the ocean tides. There are bigger things at work that just can't be stopped without some sort of inciting event. ---------------------------------------- 6.8% - Almost there!

Just trying to plug the noise. I know the positive and enriching posts are there. Just give me a moment. ---------------------------------------- 6.8% - Almost there!

This social battle isn't the problem. It's the economic clusterfuck we've put ourselves in. Only the big dogs can sort out their own problems which just happen to affect us. Unless you're talking French Revolution style, blood in the streets of the "oppressive rich", there will be no fight to fight by the little guys. In actuality, I just want to make sure I'm in a place where my status as a human is still in place. Revolution and things of that nature require lowering the value of the opposing parties humanity. I will not deal in that business. ---------------------------------------- 6.8% - Almost there!

This rationale is summed up with the "Oh look you saved a penny! Oh look I saved a dollar!" way of thinking. And it's true. The pennies we save are nothing compared to the dollars the top 1% are saving. ---------------------------------------- 6.8% - Almost there!

Here's the big misconception. Making a billionaire pay taxes isn't punishment. It's fair. You shouldn't give a billionaire tax breaks because he worked harder. Last time I checked, the billionaire rides to the bank on the backs of the people who work for him. ---------------------------------------- 6.8% - Almost there!

So true. "You're with us or against us." I'm just the type of person who thinks "Man, shit is getting bad around here." And a lot of it is attitudinal and socio-political. But those things, compounded with an economy that is hurting, and hurts more due to those attitudes and actions, are bringing a nasty stew to a boil. And I'd rather not be in it. ---------------------------------------- 6.8% - Almost there!

Oh but thank god for Bush's tax cuts. Because a healthy economy is an economy where the disparity between rich and poor is as wide as possible. That way the rich can create jobs for the poor and help the poor become rich too! Make the tax cuts permanent! ---------------------------------------- 6.8% - Almost there!

I will add that, essentially, our "War on Terra" has been paid for, not by us, but my Europe and China. The only thing worse than the fact that we've borrowed so much, is that we haven't used anything we've borrowed to truly better ourselves and protect our long term interests. If you think this war has made us safer, you're living in a dream world. We have gained nothing, and lost everything. ---------------------------------------- 6.8% - Almost there!

The problem with having the opinion that "Oh we do so much and give so much to other countries" is that for the past few decades, we've been borrowing and borrowing and borrowing and never paying down the money we owe to other countries. It's like asking China for $10 and giving Ethiopia $3. Or, more accurately, it's like borrowing $10 from China, to buy some clothes FROM China. We get the goods, but we haven't paid for them. It's theft frankly. But the other countries say "Ok, we'll add that to your IOU". When the countries stop giving credit, THAT is the point when our economy, which at this point DEPENDS on the borrowing to sustain our lifestyle, will truly tank. Bush and Co. can tell ya all about how many jobs we made last month and how interest rates are rising and life is all fuckin peachy. But the reality is that those things are not the BIG picture. And the big picture is grim. People in America tend to think only about how things are going in America in THEIR lives. I joked about it in a previous thread "There are Americans, and everyone else!". But that attitude does exist, and it, combined with your liberal/conservative propaganda is hiding the larger truth. There is a river in Egypt. It's called, De-nial. ---------------------------------------- 6.8% - Almost there!

BTW Royd, don't think I'm some tree-hugging hippie who never wanted to do anything for his country and expected nothing but luxury. I tried to sign up for the military. I figured it would be a good move. They didn't want me. Didn't even tell me why, they just said no thanks. So I have no shame in leaving. If I'm right, and lot of other people who are a lot more knowledgeable about the current affairs of the world are right as well, I'll be feeling pretty bad for the people who, in their arrogance, never thought to get out. ---------------------------------------- 6.8% - Almost there!

They do go up and down. But as far as societies go... the ups and downs last for a LONG time. I'm just thinking I want to find a new ice berg since this one appears to be melting. ---------------------------------------- 6.8% - Almost there!

Let's face it. The America we have grown up in prior to 2000 is waning. A lot of problems we're experiencing were started long before then but they are coming to a head now. Economically, while Bush spins up fantasies of "improvement", we are actually teetering on the brink of devastation. Our currency becomes more devalued by the day as our trade deficit rises by the day. The lifestyle we live is perpetuated by borrowing from the same people we're buying from. This cycle and all of it's positive side effects will come to an end as countries pull the plug on lending to us and transfer their currency allegiance to more solid ground, namely, the euro. I read a book that referred to America as "the world's glorious beggar." We are becoming the poor man wearing silk. Obviously this won't continue as our debts come due and we struggle to pay them off without having a real production/export orientation to our economy. We are dying economically. Socially, the future is just as grim, but much more subtle. The Constitution, the foundation upon which this country was founded, is in more danger now than it has ever been. We are stuck under a false pretense that we should be fighting a war on terror. The Republicans believe we never will truly win, the Democrats believe absolution is possible, but it doesn't matter. We will never truly win, and there will be no absolution, but yet we are still pouring our last resources (most of which are borrowed) into a wet dream of a war that will serve nothing more than a carrot guiding a horse off a cliff. It will be the long slow death nail of the way of life we once knew. Hell, the way of life we once knew is already gone. You can blame it on 9/11 if you'd like, but not everything about where we are now, as compared to where we were prior to those events, is NOT the direct result of said events. But it doesn't matter. Times are changing and honestly, the cards we're holding does not look good. I don't hate America. I don't hate Republicans or Democrats. I don't hate Iraqis or Iranians. I simply don't like what we've become. I'm not pointing blame. A lot of different variables influenced by a lot of different places of a accountability have contributed to our position today. Honestly, I'm looking elsewhere for my future. I don't know where I can go or what I can do to facilitate my well-being when I get there. But I do feel that if I want to do what's best for me, I probably shouldn't stick around here too much into the future. Guess it's about time I should learn a new language and get ready to become the humble immigrant. Anyone else feel like they want to get out? ---------------------------------------- 6.8% - Almost there!

Adopted here. Parents tried to get me when I was less than a year old, my bio-mom took off shortly after and kept me for the next 4 years. Just under 5 years old, my parents finally got me. My last impression of the situation was that I was going to spend the night! My mom and bio-mom had apparently been friends in the past. Mom was a paranoid schizophrenic who had a history of drug problems and was into prostitution at one point. I don't resent anything about the situation and I don't really blame my bio-mom. Shit happens but good things came from it. I've been able to see my bio-mom for a few years now but I haven't had the real desire to. When I was 10-13 I hung out with my bio-grandmother and that was really cool. I sometimes think to call her up but I've never got around to it. I don't really know how I feel about the situation, I just don't think about it much. ---------------------------------------- 6.8% - Almost there!

Far to go. Ain't that the troof. ---------------------------------------- 6.8% - Almost there!

last date to get in was on the 11th. So looks like ya won't anyway! ---------------------------------------- 6.8% - Almost there!

What? It could have been worse... I think. ---------------------------------------- 6.8% - Almost there!

On my tandem the TM supplied me with some of the single piece goggles that fit over my glasses. They worked pretty well. ---------------------------------------- 6.8% - Almost there!

I always liked it better as well. I could go change it back... but that would require paperwork ---------------------------------------- 6.8% - Almost there!

Before adoption, Colten After adoption, Don It's never used. ---------------------------------------- 6.8% - Almost there!

I like your style Eugene! I'm just thinking there is a better word/phrase to use than "experienced". Cause even after 100 jumps, that's a "lot" of experience (though maybe not as much as many) but you wouldn't necessarily be a person I could consider an authority on the sport. ---------------------------------------- 6.8% - Almost there!

The pricing system wouldn't work. You might not have to lay as much pipe from client to client. Better to charge a flat rate. ---------------------------------------- 6.8% - Almost there!

No sex for me. Pizza delivery not so bad. As long as I can be home before 12:30a. ---------------------------------------- 6.8% - Almost there!

Finding jobs that are worthwhile and will allow me to work from 6:30p-11p (7:30p-11p on Tuesdays, off on Thursdays and Sundays) are few and far between. But if I found one, I wouldn't turn it down. I could conceivably work everyone's late night except for thursday (each night of the week, one of us stays til 7) but I don't know if that's doable. At this point, I'm up for it and when my boss get's back from surgery, I'll probably ask him about it. ---------------------------------------- 6.8% - Almost there!

So I reasoned that if I work one our of overtime everday between now and the first week of November, that equals $1200. Of course when I adjust for income taxes I'll probably be more like $900 if I save all my overtime money. That being said... my new regimen is to work an hour of overtime everyday and deposit $8-10/day into my savings. Over a 20 day work month that comes out to about... $180 per month that will come strictly from overtime. I'm definitely planning on spending less on lunch as well. (Insert typical Ramen joke) This week I went with sandwiches (2 per day, though I may cut it down to 1) and dinners are usually provided by the parents unless my dad is out of town. (Mom don't cook when dad's gone.) Anyway... I will be depositing my overtime money daily (so long as ING lets me) so that should help me feel good about the progress factor. I'm thinking there will be a good chance I won't have met my monetary goal by the end of the year so I may end up waiting until early year. But I'm not slowing my pace as a result. As anyone may have read, my insurance went down $40/mo so I will be depositing at an additional $40 into savings every time my insurance is due. I'm definitely hoping having this goal to save for the purpose of skydiving will help me in the future for saving for other things if not just to save in general. Good stuff. But that's all for now. 4.5% today! ---------------------------------------- 6.8% - Almost there!