Andie787

So, the chemicals were "buried" and at the same time "ready to go" huh? Many do believe that if the US doesn't find something soon they'll make sure something gets found. I think that this is a tough spot for the US to be in. Also: Unfortunately this might not be true since private US companies shipped chemical precursors to Iraq throughout the 1980's. Even after they knew that he used chem weapons on Iranians, Kurds, etc. "It was later learned, that these microorganisms exported by the United States were identical to those the United Nations inspectors found and removed from the Iraqi biological warfare program." Source: "U.S. Chemical and Biological Warfare-Related Dual Use Exports to Iraq and their Possible Impact on the Health Consequences of the Persian Gulf War," Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs with Respect to Export Administration, reports of May 25, 1994 and October 7, 1994.

I like #4 too. It's original. Number 1 and 2 are B-O-R-I-N-G!

I guess with a lot of weird shit and punctuation.

*sigh* I've been in arguments before about the value of a human life. No resolution is possible. By your moral math 1 American = 3 Iraqis. I'm sure that number could go much higher and still be "acceptable". You have to realize that the US is on thin ice internationally. Everyone knows the US will win this war, and everyone is watching to see if the US will mess up. There is immense pressure to do things by the book and not show any undue aggression or inappropriate patriotism. This must be a difficult task. This is war. And Americans are discovering it is real. Soldiers die in wars. If an army's first priority was keeping the troops as safe as possible, then they wouldn't be fighting at all. I doubt the US Army has become "win and mnake them love us at all costs". How do you think your criticism helps?

I'd rather a heart that bleeds than one made of stone and fortified by misdirected revenge. Do you not see the irony of your statement? If more hearts bled. fewer people would be dead.

How about "Might is Right" or "This bomb brings freedom. Sorry you'll miss it" or "Killing Iraqis is funny!" or "I'm not ignorant, I just don't know any better"

Ack! I installed this at work and it caused problems. Also, when I used the uninstall option, it didn't uninstall anything except the shortcut in the Program menu. The biggest problem of all is that my company is still using Windows 98. This screensaver brought on the blue screen and my machine crashed every time I tried to open Explorer, until I manually deleted the files. I'm going to install this at home tonight so it can work all day while I'm here rebooting... Andie

That's not a nice way to spend the last year or so of life, is it? I say bring the dog home and make your parents pay the inevitable vet bills. Old poodles are deaf and crap on the floor. But I think this dog would be grateful to get away. Andie

I never got mine either and I'm in Canada too. I won it with a different login name that I haven't wanted to delete in case my t-shirt doesn't come! I guess I'll e-mail them too...

Like most of you, I think it was very good of Kevin to post what happened. He obviously believes in helping others learn and stay safe, and in the spirit of the skydiving community. A community that at once amazed me with its openness and drew me in with its sense of tightknit family. It also scared the shit out of me with its acceptance of danger and death; taken very seriously, yet at the same time treated so lightly in jest. Kevin must have been expecting some criticism and was prepared to ignore it or address it as he felt the need. I can understand his defensiveness, but questioning someone's experience level politely but directly is not an invalid response. And I don't think it's fair to say only people that know you or have jumped with you have a right to question your ability/experience. If that's the case why not e-mail the incident to only your friends for discussion? It's an open forum and respectful (if somewhat direct) questionning can be responded to and misunderstandings can be corrected. GEAR CHECKS: I only have 15 jumps and I know that I likely wouldn't have missed that misrouted bridle. Now, before you jump all over me, let me tell you why. I'm a newbie. It takes me forever to do a gear check because I have to think about everything I'm looking at. When I open the main flap I'm thinking: pin is correctly though loop (happy or sad), pin is tight and doesn't slip, bridle is properly routed and tucked in, pilot chute is secure but easy to pull, and when the flap is closed very little bridle is visible... and so on. I used to watch my JM doing a pre-flight gear check and (like everything in this sport) I was thinking, I can't wait till I can do that so easily! I figured, with time and jumps I would be able to just glance at the three-ring assembly or the pins and *know* something was wrong. And maybe that would be true most of the time. But maybe one time I would just glance at it and see nothing wrong because the last 100 times I did it there *was* nothing wrong! I think this type of mistake is more likely to happen to someone with medium experience than to someone with less experience (as long as they have thorough training). Think back to when gear checks were not routine for you. When you had to actually think about what you were looking at, when each jump was bringing you to a new level of joy and fear, when it took you 30 minutes to pack because you had to make sure everything was perfect, when you were beyond the numbness of your first skydive but you hadn't yet become comfortable with this strange backpack that was going to save your life. Maybe take the time this weekend to show some newbie how to do a complete gear check and a pre-boarding buddy check. Maybe get them to show you what they know, so you can help them understand the rig better. But look at your gear through new eyes. Then use those new eyes on your own and your friends gear. Thanks for sharing this story Kevin. As I once overheard at the DZ: "Skydiving has got to be the only sport where people love to tell stories about how they screwed up!" Why? Because when a skydiver screws up, he must subsequently SURVIVE. And that's pretty exciting. Andie

Hey Vicky, I'm in Ottawa too! Not much jumping when it's -23 celcius every freakin' day!! A.

The other guy was also charged with rape and the girl apparently said more than was reported in that editorial. There are several differing accounts: http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/nation/1732032 http://www.metnews.com/articles/john010703.htm There's always more to the story, isn't there?

I've seen one student chicken out. He was Mr. Extreme sports, or so he thought. He rode the plane down. And since he and his friend had biked about 60 kilometers and camped at the DZ in the rain and then waited around all day, his friend was pretty pissed. On my boyfriend's first jump (IAD): JM: Get ready BF: Do you have my pilot chute? JM: Yes I have it BF: Are you sure?! JM: Get the fuck outta here! GO! Andie

What about ummfriend? As in "Hi, this my, umm, friend Bob"or "So are you bringing your ummfriend to the Chirstmas Party?"

Hi, I'm looking to develop a forum (for car people, not skydivers!). I was wondering if you used forum software, like Discus, to create this forum. It's really good. Thanks, A.