Last year I flew to Albuquerque and rode up in one of the hot air balloons during their International Hot Air Balloon festival. There were balloons landing all over the place for that festival - sure, the pilot would try to land in an open field, but if they couldn't they would land in a residential street, in people's driveways, etc.

Ballooning is one of those things where you are essentially "at the mercy of the winds" in some way since the balloon floats on box currents high up in the air. Much of the time the pilot lands in the spot he was hoping to, but it's not uncommon to have to find somewhere else to land.

Great stuff!

This isn't really true, though. Cosmo for example is not "run by men"; the last three editors of the magazine have all been women. Cosmo defiantly tends to feature "slim and tall" models on its covers, with the bizarre juxtaposition of featuring articles such as "Love your body no matter what the size!"

The truth is, is that even if women WERE in charge of more businesses (which they aren't, only because we got a "late start" to the business world); there would still be some sort of "feel bad about yourself" campaign set forth by someone. It all comes down to what sells and what motivates people to "fit in"....

Wow, thanks for all the neg-reps, people. Would it help to tell you all that my sig other of two years, very close friend for eight JUST got back from a 6-month deployment in Afghanistan?

Would it help you to know that we've both made very considerable sacrifices in our relationship tremendously for him to SERVE, such as deployments / a long distance relationship for a good number of years to keep it all in tact just because we love eachother?

Would it also help to tell you that his Dad was on assignment - which I consider myself close to his family - at the pentagon during 9-11 - if he had been a section over would have been killed?

Hate to tell you all this, but yes, taking pictures of someone you just killed is considered tasteless. Being in the military and in combat zones does not therefore entitle you to doing this and in short "acting unprofessional" at an often "very professional" job . This goes for all people in uniform that often face a lot of dangerous situations similar to those in the military.

Do I understand the horribleness of being at war? Absolutely.

Does that mean the picture was therefore "not tasteless?" Absolutely not.

Downright tasteless.

I don't understand what you are not understanding about my original comment that I had doubts about her story but in no way did I say that "she was a liar, could not have happened, etc" I don't disagree with you that it is wrong to say that she is "a liar" when there was no CONCLUSIVE evidence at the time that she was lying. I STRONGLY disagree with your idea that doubt cannot be expressed and to take what everyone says at face-value simply because it is a touchy subject. It is equally important to reserve judgment in some cases where things do not "add up" and to reserve that judgment in a respectful manner, AS it is to be skeptical., and there is absolutely nothing wrong with doing so in a respectful, courteous and without labeling / definitive statement (i.e. "you must be lying, there's no way that could happen!") manner.

I still do not however understand how you can believe that the above was not at all questionable and how to you it apparently "falls under weak reasoning". The probability of a situation like that happening in such an area that traditionally has such high-traffic with no witnesses and clues *and* on April Fool's day is considerably low or a heck of a coincidence. Let's be real.

She did not see her attacker in broad daylight and hardly any details about it (yes I know this happens, but in conjunction with...) She went home without telling anyone whatsoever, presumably at least an hour's drive IF she lived in Portland. Bridal Veil falls (which is where she claimed it was, in another article) is very close to the road and not exactly an 'isolated area', hardly ever without people, it was a Sunday thus more than likely a number of hikers on the trail and it was APRIL FOOLS DAY.

Seriously? Are you really, REALLY going to tell me with all the above factors that you would NOT think "gee, I wonder if this story is actually true"?

Did you read my original statement? Did you read me saying "It wouldn't be right to say she was lying but that doesn't me that we should just blindly accept what she was saying and that it should be done with respect?" I don't think anyone should have called her a liar for the very reason that it could have been true.

But any individual that would have had the improbable circumstance above happen to them on April Fools' day of all cases, I'd like to think they would give people who had some doubt "a little slack".

And no, my mom didn't say that to me. I am just highlighting that every false report creates a feeling of unsafeness in others that needn't not be there.

Do you know why we should question stories such as hers? Because it's chicks like this that make my Mom call me and go "I don't know if you should hike in that area, did you know a woman was RAPED there!!" *worry worry*

Why should we NOT question if there is obviously something rather "questionable" about a person's story?

There is absolutely nothing wrong with questioning a story respectably. Saying they are lying, that's a bit presumptuous, but giving the same old trite "warm fuzzies" just because you feel it's the "right thing to do" I think is just very gullible.

Yeah, this was fishy from the start for a variety of reasons.

I think what bugs me is that I find if a person often mentions their "doubt", people seem to automatically assume they are some horrible monster for not expressing only sympathy / condolences instead.

Some guy replied to my original comment where I expressed a lot of doubt about this story, saying "How do you feel now that it's been verified by police?" I didn't reply, but I basically thought "Oh yes. Because the police are not refuting her story but have virtually no evidence that MUST make it true!!!"

Seriously. Questioning the validity of a story that has so many holes and pointing out such does not make you a "bad person" - it just makes you smart.

Because it's an eerie, rusted old ghost ship and the remnants of a horrible moment of history where thousands of people died?

That is extremely creepy.