Phi for All

Trekforce from the UK recently added a building to their school and I'm sure they could use educational materials. It might be interesting to find out whether the residents intend to remain to expand the village, work at the Mayan ruins at Lamamai or move to some of Belize's bigger towns. I read where they also watch communal television at night via generator. It could be interesting to study what such a small village likes to watch on TV and whether they might supplement their educational approach with a DVD player and some really good discs.

1. Blow up and tie off the balloon. 2. Take a straw and cut it in half because you don't need it to be too long (this is the part that will ride along the fishing line). 3. Cut the top of the straw lengthwise with a sharp knife or small scissors (so it can be placed over the fishing line) 4. Glue the straw along the top of the balloon in the direction of travel (from the top of the balloon to the part you tied off) and let it dry overnight. 5. Slip the cut straw over the fishing line. 6. When it's time to travel, snip the nozzle end of the balloon (the part you tied off) to make it shoot down the wire.

Creamed corn wrestling is... an acquired taste. And nothing against you personally, but stiletto heels make you look effeminate.

Even for a well-off individual, the suit idea isn't the best. A suit would distribute buoyancy around the whole body more evenly and whether you want to float or just jump you would still want your feet oriented to the ground for re-entry. Suspension beneath some kind of balloon is best.

I've often wondered if there are other layers of the universe we can't sense because we lack the organs for it, or have them but favor the five we know instead. How would we know that things have a smell if we lacked the receptors to sense it? Perhaps having a new neurotransmitter that excited a dormant sense or inhibited something that blocked that sense might give us heightened access to power over the physical laws that we previously lacked.

Scotch tape 3-4 paper clips in a chain to the underside of the balloon. Not enough weight to slow it down much but enough to keep it from rotating. And still relatively free!

After checking out the online stuff, my $2 idea is more like $6-$7. Personally, I like Anjruu's idea of the straw glued to the balloon. Use a wood glue like Elmer's since a superglue may eat a hole in the latex. You'd need to cut a slot along the SIDE of the straw so it can be attached to the fishing line. Use scissors to dramatically snip the tied end of the balloon to get you going. Here's the kicker: go have a burger and soda at Red Robin or some other place that gives balloons to the kids. You talk them out of an unfilled balloon, make sure to grab the straw from your soda and you tell the teacher your vehicle cost you nada, zip, bupkis. And your vehicle will have a sponsor's name on the side.

If you're in the East Coast of the US, Walgreens or Hobby Lobby may have them, or any specialty kite shop. Turnertoys.com and magiccabin.com sell them online. If you're in Peru or Columbia I have no idea of any shops where you can find them.

Buy a $2 rubberband powered balsa-wood airplane. Attach the landing gear assembly upside down, snip off the wheels and bend the end of the gear wire into a small circle (this is where the fishing line will run through). You could attach the other leg of the wire near the tail for stability with the same wire circle. Wind up the propeller and let it go. If it's stable enough on the wire you may not need the wings or tail either.

Is this for the OP's floating idea or for the ammended moon-jumping idea?

I figure if 45 weather balloons could rocket Larry and his Lawnchair to 16,000 feet, 4-6 weather balloons could probably make the average person bouyant enough to broad jump onto the roof of his own house. Think how much fun you could have in a park wearing a simple rock-climbing harness attached to some weather balloons, as long as you remembered that your mass would remain the same.

I tried looking up the world record and couldn't find it, but every reference I saw for lemon-eating contests were for a certain number of lemons in the shortest time (usually three lemons). Best play it safe.

How is it NOT honoring the bet if he takes precautions to minimize his discomfort? As long as he actually eats the lemons what difference does it make what he does to prepare for it?

Think about it, though. Floating would be boring since it's so passive, and you'd need to push off stable objects to get any movement. Sounds like an indoor idea. Wouldn't it be cooler to simply be lighter as opposed to your muscle mass so you could be outside and jump twenty feet or higher and float back to the ground? Then your suit wouldn't need to be as big (but probably still too big to be practical). You'd need six standard commercial helium tanks (the kind you see in stores that sell balloons, approx 230 cubic feet of helium, about US$90 each) to give you enough lift to take ninety pounds of weight off you. That's one big, expensive mylar suit.

There was a recent (2004?) pension overhaul bill passed that allowed for some restructuring because the 30-year Treasury bond rates were inadequate for pension purposes. I thought everyone from corporations to unions to House and Senate including Reps and Dems were behind that one. Just because it allows corporations to dissolve pension plans doesn't mean they won't put something more effective into place. Dissolving the old in favor of the new shows the system is working and adapting, and doesn't guarantee the workers will be "cheated".

OK, lotta perverts. We'll get this looked at. In the meantime, you might want to prune back some of those PM gems and get rid of anything with which you can bear to part.

Mine is unchanged but I'm in a different usergroup. Is anyone else having this problem? I sent a PM to the Admins asking for clarification. It may be a decision based on necessity so be prepared to live with it. Ecoli, it could also be because you are sending out too many rude or suggestive PMs. The image attachments of you in the buff are nice but completely unneccesary and may have violated forum policy or exceeded your allotted bandwidth.

I have to say also that I applaud IMM's patience when it comes to the OP's fervor in launching a diatribe while at the same time being unwilling to take the time to respond to dissenting views. Mike T feels it's worth our time to listen to him, but not worth his time to respond. I really appreciate a young person's ideological drive to see perceived injustice corrected and the world made a better place. It should never be snuffed out but it needs tempering through debate and experience to show them that everything is not just black or white. Focussing on specifics is the key to changing a system, not attacking the system as a whole. Some things are working quite well and we don't want to throw out the baby with the bathwater.

News to me. Did it automatically delete anything past 25 or do you have more than 25 now? Nothing has been discussed about it in the Mod forum. Admins would be the only ones who could change it and I doubt they would do so without warning unless something dire was happening.

Short replies: Cyclical, as always. Most corporations = not bankrupt. Are closed borders your answer? Bush = Master of the Weather? No, they can't. All the citizens? Not me. My advice = stay away from cults. You are extremely easily brainwashed.

I've always heard that bird song is mainly for establishing territory, which birds need to do for a variety of reasons. Proclaiming sex and availability, scaring off enemies, maintaining bonds with their mates and offspring, that sort of thing. The regular patterns, especially in the morning, are probably a warning to others that "this nest is mine, approach at your peril". Maybe there's no need in bad weather because no birds encroach when the winds are high or it's raining.

The home page is not so much for new members as it is for attracting new members. In marketing, you try to show your best face, not your crazy face (j/k). We want serious members who don't mind showing us their "wild side", not members with "wild side" zip codes who only vacation in seriousness.

Sorry you can't be bothered. My reply to to you would tax your attention span so I'll just say I disagree completely.

I think patriotism is just the name you give to the support of an ideal on a national level. I don't think obedience is as much a part of it as is shared goals. Patriots follow leaders who share the national ideal, or that "for which we stand". Smaller groups adhere to the will of the group and call it religion or civic-mindedness or even team spirit. The smallest groups call such adherence "marriage" and look for one other person who shares enough ideals to make them a viable partner in living arrangements and raising children. Who I like doesn't play as much a part in patriotism either. I may not care for someone personally but will follow their lead when they show me they share the same ideals I do.