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funks

Why are we so protective of our sport?

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Who cares what other people think? who cares how the media portrays us? Who cares if someone wants to start a freakin club called Skydivers against or for whatever??? Why are we so serious about this???

Unless any of this crap will ever affect my ability to jump out of an airplane every weekend i could care less. I am sure that there will be those that will say that if our sport gets a bad name due to any of this crap that somehow or another we wont be jumping anymore....sorry i just dont buy it....

Maybe people just need to lighten up??

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It used to be that skydiving was a relative unknown and was comprised of a very small sub-culture of society. Now, it's a whole lot bigger and more visible. It used to be that we didn't give a rat's arss what anybody thought of us. I think the core still feels that way. If somebody starts a "Skydivers in support of bashing Bush" campaign, it won't affect me even a little bit.

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Very well put funks. Skydiving is an activity that has brought us all together. Period. It is not a sacred cow for God's sake.

Plus, what's the harm in the world knowing that skydivers are mostly intelligent and compassionate about the well-being of their neighbors?

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because if we have a really bad name, the government is going to want to regulate us.



So, if I'm one of those eco-terrorists and I decide to start a "Skydivers against SUV's" group and we go around blowing up peoples Hummers, the government is going look more closely at and put more restrictive control on skydiving as a sport because I've given the sport a bad name?

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I have never witnessed anywhere else the type of "community" found at the DZ. An inherent respect for others seems to be the guiding light for all of us skydivers. Simply, if you have no moral code, you won't last long at the DZ.
It is not a bad thing to reveal this to the world. Wow... people who get together weekly and enjoy the thrill of a lifetime... and Oh My God... they are educated too.

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the post addressed the portrayal of skydiving by the media, which recently (King of the Hill, and some news reports) has been pretty bad. we don't want people to perceive our sport as more dangerous than it really is. that's what I was talking about.

I don't give a damn who wants to start what club or why.

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Are you serious? What is bad about being politically and socially conscious?

there is ABSOLUTELY nothing bad about politically and socially conscious* kudos to all that are :)
but, i think you are misunderstanding what some of us were trying to say. i think it's really great that you have strong views and you are proactive. that's REALLY Good, but politics control pretty much everything in this world. they control our sport ~ so if you believe that it's silly to "care for the name" of a sport, then by all means: enlighten us as to how politics could Never affect a sport?

air addict, funks & pajarito, i am sincerely asking this because i would like to be educated on something i may be unaware of B|. so, i ask this question in true sincerity 'k'

~ meL* Pink Mafia / Tunnel Mafia Sister

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the post addressed the portrayal of skydiving by the media, which recently (King of the Hill, and some news reports) has been pretty bad. we don't want people to perceive our sport as more dangerous than it really is. that's what I was talking about.

I don't give a damn who wants to start what club or why.



thats my point...who cares how people perceive the sport. If they want to do it then great, if they dont want to do it based on media attention then screw 'em, its their choice...

The media will never change...no point in bitching about it....

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but, i think you are misunderstanding what some of us were trying to say. i think it's really great that you have strong views and you are proactive. that's REALLY Good, but politics control pretty much everything in this world. they control our sport ~ so if you believe that it's silly to "care for the name" of a sport, then by all means: enlighten us as to how politics could Never affect a sport?



Bush has spent the last 3 years getting back at California for costing him the vote count. Certainly a group/city/state can suffer.

But honestly I can't imagine that a group of Democrat skydivers interested in forming Skydivers Against Misinformation would be big enough to even register attention. There's only 30-40,000 active jumpers to start with, so you might top out at a thousand or two. That's smaller than most local unions.

So do it if you feel so compelled. Just know that a lot of people come to the DZ to avoid work/politics/stress/whatever and may not be open to election discussion.

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who cares how people perceive the sport. If they want to do it then great, if they dont want to do it based on media attention then screw 'em, its their choice...



However, if the general perception is good, it's easier to deal with the airports that most of us prefer to jump out of, and attract enough students to finance the turbine aircraft most of us prefer to jump out of, and finance the expensive new equipment that most of us prefer as well.

It's easier to believe that a problem with a respectable looking enterprise is an anomaly or something; when it looks shaky, you might be more likely to sue to put the bastards out of business. Of course, then it would suck to be the up-jumpers.

That said, how many people reading this thread think "Proof" (which is the original version of the skydiving scene in "Fandango") is a riot? :ph34r:

Wendy W.
There is nothing more dangerous than breaking a basic safety rule and getting away with it. It removes fear of the consequences and builds false confidence. (tbrown)

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So do it if you feel so compelled. Just know that a lot of people come to the DZ to avoid work/politics/stress/whatever and may not be open to election discussion

umm, okay :S. maybe you didn't mean to reply this to me, but i don't feel compelled at all :D.

~ meL* Pink Mafia / Tunnel Mafia Sister

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who cares how people perceive the sport. If they want to do it then great, if they dont want to do it based on media attention then screw 'em, its their choice...



However, if the general perception is good, it's easier to deal with the airports that most of us prefer to jump out of, and attract enough students to finance the turbine aircraft most of us prefer to jump out of, and finance the expensive new equipment that most of us prefer as well.

It's easier to believe that a problem with a respectable looking enterprise is an anomaly or something; when it looks shaky, you might be more likely to sue to put the bastards out of business. Of course, then it would suck to be the up-jumpers.

That said, how many people reading this thread think "Proof" (which is the original version of the skydiving scene in "Fandango") is a riot? :ph34r:

Wendy W.



If people are concerned about how we are portrayed in the media then perhaps those people should become a little more active with public awareness instead of sitting around on an internet chat board bitching about it.......but oh wait, that might mean forming a group to get the message across, and that might offend some skydivers who dont want to be represented as a whole, oops...never mind, ignore my suggestion;)

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A really bad name?????

A really bad name!!!!!!!

Are you serious? What is bad about being politically and socially conscious?



If you were - Politically and socially concious you wouldn't be supporting Kerrwards.
I'm not usually into the whole 3-way thing, but you got me a little excited with that. - Skymama
BTR #1 / OTB^5 Official #2 / Hellfish #408 / VSCR #108/Tortuga/Orfun

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Because it is NOT just jumping out of airplanes, it’s the DZ family.
And I like not knowing every aspect of someone’s beliefs, I like not being judge for any thing other then my willingness to learn. I don’t want different groups at my DZ.We are one group skydivers. Maybe I have been lucky but I have felt nothing but love from the skydiving community. I would not want any thing to change that call it fear of change it is what it is. I don’t want to fuck with a good thing.
I'd rather be hated for who I am, than loved for who I am not." - Kurt Cobain

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I don’t want to fuck with a good thing.



And, yet, you are anti - Bush - Interesting.:P:)

I respect your difference of opinion -
I respect your different views on comon issues,
What I will not advocate is someone delegating an opinion for me.

If you see 12 people in dark sunglasses, don't assume that all of them are trying to keep the sun out of thier eyes.
I'm not usually into the whole 3-way thing, but you got me a little excited with that. - Skymama
BTR #1 / OTB^5 Official #2 / Hellfish #408 / VSCR #108/Tortuga/Orfun

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how politics can not affect this sport...***

I never said that. I sincerely believe politics can affect the color of my eyes if the powers that be choose to do so. The way you prevent politics from interfering with your precious "names" and "sports" is by electing officials that do not use a monopoly press to debunk truly rational and intellectual beliefs.

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***The way you prevent politics from interfering with your precious "names" and "sports" is by electing officials that do not use a monopoly press to debunk truly rational and intellectual beliefs. ***

So you don't think that Kerry and Edwards should be shown, ever, on CBS, ABC, NBC, CNN, or PBS -
I'm not usually into the whole 3-way thing, but you got me a little excited with that. - Skymama
BTR #1 / OTB^5 Official #2 / Hellfish #408 / VSCR #108/Tortuga/Orfun

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I have never witnessed anywhere else the type of "community" found at the DZ. An inherent respect for others seems to be the guiding light for all of us skydivers. Simply, if you have no moral code, you won't last long at the DZ.
It is not a bad thing to reveal this to the world. Wow... people who get together weekly and enjoy the thrill of a lifetime... and Oh My God... they are educated too.



Your moral code, as expressed in your "Skydivers Against Misinformation" thread, seems to be "If it came from Republicans, it's misinformation, and if it came from Democrats, it's Truth," and that's objectionable. It exposes your lack of objectivity. If you gave the impression of being for Truth no matter who it comes from, then more people would get behind you on it. But skydivers are bound to object to your co-opting and usurping the name of "skydivers" in your quest to destroy G. Bush because your use of the term "skydivers" implies that we are all unified behind this cause, and we certainly are NOT.

And the recent implication I've seen made in the last few posts seems to attempt to be,"If you're anti-Bush, that means you're socially responsible and care about your fellow man. If you're not anti-Bush, by extension, you must not be those things."

What a load of shit.

-
-Jeffrey
"With tha thoughts of a militant mind... Hard line, hard line after hard line!"

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how politics can not affect this sport...***

I never said that. I sincerely believe politics can affect the color of my eyes if the powers that be choose to do so. The way you prevent politics from interfering with your precious "names" and "sports" is by electing officials that do not use a monopoly press to debunk truly rational and intellectual beliefs.

and i Never said you said that :D* it was a question that you completely twisted into a statement :P ~ it's okay though.

okay, so now i understand --- if i vote kerry for president of the united states...i won't have to worry about politics interfering with "sports & names"... but if i elect bush, then my sport could......:S... well, i will just leave this alone because it makes absolutely No Sense to me [:/].

good luck with your endeavors kristian -
your determination is commendable :)

~ meL* Pink Mafia / Tunnel Mafia Sister

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