3ringheathen

Heavily? Absolutely. In large quanities? By the pitcher. Do you ever mix it with Tequila. Only when I need to be bullet proof or invisible. Patron? Known by name at several bars. Do you drink watered down beers like Bud Ligh, Coors Light...anything Light? As a last resort. Do you ever swear that you will never drink again and ten minutes later grab another dirnk? No. Such promises usually last well into the evening. Do you have a rpoblem with dirnking? It's expensive. Do you think you can outdrink anyone? Not since I met that punk from Scotland. He puts me under the table everytime. Do you drink during lunch at work? Only when doing tandem videos. Do you ever complain that your drink is weak? No. If you order straight Scotch it's always damned strong. Why am I bothering with this? Oh yeah, I've been drinking. -Josh If you have time to panic, you have time to do something more productive. -Me* *Ron has accused me of plagiarizing this quote. He attributes it to Douglas Adams.

The best base jumper ever is hands down: That guy from Paraguay. A pioneer in just about every respect. -Josh If you have time to panic, you have time to do something more productive. -Me* *Ron has accused me of plagiarizing this quote. He attributes it to Douglas Adams.

I had a different bad experience with Best Buy: I ordered a custom computer it was going to take two weeks to be finished and sent to the store for pick up. I went to the cash register to pay for it with a check, and they wouldn't accept it. Apparently SCANcheck or whatever service they use profiles customers and decided that my check was too risky. I'm not sure why, I have excellent credit, and since I'd just re-fied my house, I had enough money in my account to by a couple dozen top end computers. The manager wouldn't help me even though I wasn't even taking anything from the store for at least two more weeks. By that time, the check would've cleared. Bonehead business policies and decisions. I'v bought one or two things there since, but avoid them whenever possible. -Josh If you have time to panic, you have time to do something more productive. -Me* *Ron has accused me of plagiarizing this quote. He attributes it to Douglas Adams.

Karen: I'm not aware of any fatalities, yet. I'm not concerned about a total malfunction, I'm concerned about hesitation on a low jump. Has it happened? I think it probably has. Whether or not the jumper realized what happened is another story. Has it been documented? I don't know, but theoretically it could. I'm not going to wait for a fatality before I take the risk seriously. YMMV. The environmental concerns occured to me. I think a happy compromise would be girth hitching a small brown rubber band. I'd imagine that this is safer, and generally, even a broken band that's been girth hitched will stay with the gear. It's what I usually do. If I'm doing an ultra low jump, I won't even girth hitch it, just for extra peace of mind. A side note: FWIW I don't doubt the motives of any manufacturer so far. We're all in this for fun, but it's a complex game with a steep learning curve and huge penalties for screwing up. It is the nature of the sport. I'm sure every one of us is clueless about something that others take for granted. That's why this forum is so valuable. -Josh If you have time to panic, you have time to do something more productive. -Me* *Ron has accused me of plagiarizing this quote. He attributes it to Douglas Adams.

I don't get it. Certainly there are people out there with far more jumps than me that use Black rubberbands on their tailgate without problems, but the potential problem is indisputable, and so very easily avoided. Why would you endorse using something that might hang up and kill when an alternative is readily available? Is the inconvenience of replacing a rubber band that great? boggled. -josh If you have time to panic, you have time to do something more productive. -Me* *Ron has accused me of plagiarizing this quote. He attributes it to Douglas Adams.

At least you have an excuse for saying 'I do'. I was sober and made the same mistake. -Josh If you have time to panic, you have time to do something more productive. -Me* *Ron has accused me of plagiarizing this quote. He attributes it to Douglas Adams.

Ok. That's one exception. If that's it, I think it bolsters Moore's point. Further, the article says that Rep. Hunter was instrumental in thwarting a key Bush policy because he felt it would endanger troops. He arrived at his conclusion based upon feedback from his son's combat experience. -Josh If you have time to panic, you have time to do something more productive. -Me* *Ron has accused me of plagiarizing this quote. He attributes it to Douglas Adams.

I just read that a pc in tow might have been caused by the use of black rubber bands on the multi stows. For those that don't know, black rubber bands tend to be much stronger, much more difficult to break. This isn't necessarily a good thing. I'm casting one emphatic vote for *not* using anything other than your basic brown 'standard' skydiving rubber bands on any component where failure to release could be fatal. Small or large, or cut in half as needed is ok. That pretty much excludes black rubber bands from use in BASE jumping. That's my personal, but strongly held opinion, FWIW. Thoughts? -Josh If you have time to panic, you have time to do something more productive. -Me* *Ron has accused me of plagiarizing this quote. He attributes it to Douglas Adams.

I'm using the HC 30, and am very happy with it. It performs well, and is one of the smallest/lightest/cheapest digital cams currently available. I set it on sport mode 90% of the time, and switch to auto near sunset or on really grim days. I've only been jumping it for one season, but it's held up in the face of heavy use for tandem vids and the occasional BASE jump (hard openings). -Josh If you have time to panic, you have time to do something more productive. -Me* *Ron has accused me of plagiarizing this quote. He attributes it to Douglas Adams.

Another strawman argument. The school district hasn't omitted the facts, with the notable exception of one teacher's class. Perhaps they were attempting to choose the lesser of two evils. It's painfully obvious to most that their isn't enough info to draw valid conclusions yet. It's also clear that you're not letting that stop you. I think that's a shame. -Josh If you have time to panic, you have time to do something more productive. -Me* *Ron has accused me of plagiarizing this quote. He attributes it to Douglas Adams.

That's irrelevant since we are dealing with what is on our money now. It's not clear to me why you think that's irrelevant. At anyrate, while related tangentially to this thread, it's a separate topic. If you want to discuss it, can we start a new thread? Given that the school administration made a point of limiting a specific teachers use of these materials, and still allow others to make similar references, the logical assumption is that they don't want to go down the path you describe. Whether or not the actions the school chose were a reasonable reaction to this teachers as yet unknown behavior remains to be seen. It would appear that they are at least trying to find some happy middle ground in the political minefield they've been thrust into. -Josh If you have time to panic, you have time to do something more productive. -Me* *Ron has accused me of plagiarizing this quote. He attributes it to Douglas Adams.

Ok...so then we're back to the 1860s and "In God We Trust"... where's the problem? No. We're back to 1776. According to the link you provide, 'In God We Trust' didn't appear until the 1860's. As I noted, that's nearly 100 years without such a reference. -Josh If you have time to panic, you have time to do something more productive. -Me* *Ron has accused me of plagiarizing this quote. He attributes it to Douglas Adams.

Think container lock. For some reason, the pilot chute isn't generating enough drag to open the container and extract the parachute. It could be a pilot chute issue. Possiblities include: Worn out, damaged, wrong size pilot chute for the planned delay, or random freak occurence such as bridle tangling with/pinching off the pilot chute. Or the pilot chute can be just fine, but something prevents the container from opening. Possibilities include: Mis-routed bridle, improper closing procedures, a poorly/improperly functioning shrivel flap on a velcro container, too much tension on the closing loop(s) of a pin rig, and so on. It's always a bit disconcerting to hear about this type of problem. If anyone can shed light on the specifics of this incident, it'd be much appreciated. -Josh If you have time to panic, you have time to do something more productive. -Me* *Ron has accused me of plagiarizing this quote. He attributes it to Douglas Adams.

The complaint that you supposedly read makes it clear that this is not the case. Once again: other teachers are allowed to reference god and religion. This single teacher is not. Therefore the teacher did something that the administration feared crossed the line between /teaching in context and prosyletizing. What personal attack is that? What unsupported assumptions have I made? None that I'm aware of. Further I didn't ever state that my conclusions were the only ones possible. How does making false statements in court work for you? I derived that statement from this website: http://www.firstamendmentcenter.org/rel_liberty/establishment/index.aspx -Josh If you have time to panic, you have time to do something more productive. -Me* *Ron has accused me of plagiarizing this quote. He attributes it to Douglas Adams.

Dollar bills didn't have that slogan on the until 1957. Other currency did almost 100 years before. For a history of In God We Trust: http://www.ustreas.gov/education/fact-sheets/currency/in-god-we-trust.html That still leaves us with nearly 100 years of no such references. If we're going to roll back revisionism, we have to roll it all the way back. -Josh If you have time to panic, you have time to do something more productive. -Me* *Ron has accused me of plagiarizing this quote. He attributes it to Douglas Adams.

The complaint that you supposedly read makes it clear that this is not the case. Once again: other teachers are allowed to reference god and religion. This single teacher is not. Therefore the teacher did something that the administration feared crossed the line between teaching in context and prosyletizing. I hope you are not a trial lawyer, as I suspect ignoring facts that have been introduced to the court bodes poorly for your success. The real question then becomes: What was this teacher doing differently, and does it in fact cross the line? We'll have to wait and see, but our current supreme court tends to side with schools on such issues. Funny, our current supreme court isn't known for being too liberal. Let's see what happens. -Josh If you have time to panic, you have time to do something more productive. -Me* *Ron has accused me of plagiarizing this quote. He attributes it to Douglas Adams.

No one involved in this legal case is suggesting such a policy. It's a strawman argument. Dollar bills didn't have that slogan on the until 1957. Many have cried for restoring and protecting things the way they were. I agree. Let's remove the god reference from our money. It's not like the connection between churches and money will suddenly become a secret. -Josh If you have time to panic, you have time to do something more productive. -Me* *Ron has accused me of plagiarizing this quote. He attributes it to Douglas Adams.

Evolution is not incompatible with the idea of a creator/God. It's only incompatible with fringe fundamentalist/literal interpretations of the bible. Creationists don't have a rational leg to stand on. However, if they can distract and confuse people to the point that they think accepting the validity of evolution = rejecting god, then a lot of people overlook the glaring flaws in creationist dogma. The good news is that you don't have to choose between the extremes. The evidence for evolution is overwhelming, but it doesn't address who, what, or how this crazy universe was set in motion. Evolutionary evidence and science doe address *when* and that precludes most variations of creationism. -Josh If you have time to panic, you have time to do something more productive. -Me* *Ron has accused me of plagiarizing this quote. He attributes it to Douglas Adams.

If either the love or the religious faith are real, than they can't, nor would need to be, changed for the other. -Josh If you have time to panic, you have time to do something more productive. -Me* *Ron has accused me of plagiarizing this quote. He attributes it to Douglas Adams.

Yes I read the complaint. Did you? If so you ought to have noticed that it acknowledges that the restrictions are specific to this teacher. Other teachers are allowed to use similar materials. This strongly suggests something more is going on. No assumptions or knee jerk reactions on my part, just obvious implications suggested by the limited facts so far available. Gee, I've even made it a point to emphasize that it's premature to draw any strong conclusions. In fact I've reiterated as much three times now. Maybe "knee jerk" means something different to you than to the rest of us? Where's the line between explaining history and pushing religion? That's a good question. This lawsuit may help sort that out. That is, assuming the judge that hears the case maintains an open mind and doesn't start with the assumption that the school is engaging in historical revisionism and intolerance. Nothing to worry about though. I'm certain no one with formal training in law would make such mistakes! -Josh If you have time to panic, you have time to do something more productive. -Me* *Ron has accused me of plagiarizing this quote. He attributes it to Douglas Adams.

Why are you surprised? Just a few posts above yours Adam notes that: "BR's Vtec canopies had this rocking thing going on and I was told they attributed it to air coming in from the lower surface vents then out the nose. This could be." -Josh If you have time to panic, you have time to do something more productive. -Me* *Ron has accused me of plagiarizing this quote. He attributes it to Douglas Adams.

I'd guess that this reaction isn't that uncommon, too. Particularly amongst the crowd that's most likely to crater in at some point. I'm not saying that you will, but in my experience, such attitudes are predictive of serious injury. If someone stops reading this forum or ignores my advice at the dz because they can't stand the idea of being reminded that their decisions influence their chances of getting hurt that's their problem. No one is suggesting that everybody stop swooping, just that we not repeat the mistakes of others when they can be avoided so easily. Oh well, at least I can visit them in the hospital with a clear conscience, knowing that I tried. I wish you could see the look on "Bill's" face when I paid him a visit after his helicopter ride to the ER. I didn't have to say "I told you so." he knew it. More importantly, he wished he'd listened, but too late. When two really large bones are broken into 6-7 smaller ones, it sucks. He'll never be the same, but at least he's alive. I know this falls on deaf ears, but I'm writing it for the benefit of others that aren't yet so jaded. -Josh If you have time to panic, you have time to do something more productive. -Me* *Ron has accused me of plagiarizing this quote. He attributes it to Douglas Adams.

Other teachers in the school can use their judgement without screening or restriction, and continue to be allowed to pass out materials that reference god. The restrictions have only been applied to this particular teacher. Therefore, the principal clearly believes that this particular teacher is using the documents to further his personal religious goals. I haven't been able to find any details yet, so I maintain a wait and see stance on this one. As of right now it seems awfully premature to write this off as revisionist liberalism or extremist secularism. I think it's interesting to note where the knee jerk reactions are coming from in this discussion. Hint: it's not the liberals or secularists. -Josh FYI: Here's a link to the only source I've found so far. It's got a photo copy of the lawsuit, but none of the supporting documents. http://www.thesmokinggun.com/archive/1124041declar1.html If you have time to panic, you have time to do something more productive. -Me* *Ron has accused me of plagiarizing this quote. He attributes it to Douglas Adams.

Jeez! I'm going to have to go get a job or something. That way I won't have time to read this shit! Last time I was at TF, it was still ok to jump the rail, and I did several times. Big deal. The fact is that the sheer volume of jumps there has increased dramatically, and one of the very few things they've asked is that we not jump from the rail. That's fair enough, I can live with that. Look on the bright side: Climbing over and being forced to lean out a bit before exit better simulates some of the "unauthorized" jumps that we like to do anyway. If the weather's good, I plan to huck a few things this weekend. Ray: You're welcome to join us for something midway between PDX and here if you want. Contact me or your local hacker if interested. If we do a bridge, I'm going to insist upon using the steel, though. -Josh If you have time to panic, you have time to do something more productive. -Me* *Ron has accused me of plagiarizing this quote. He attributes it to Douglas Adams.

With the obvious exception of the pledge of allegiance, in which case the revisionism is endorsed and defended by conservatives. So much for blanket statements. -Josh If you have time to panic, you have time to do something more productive. -Me* *Ron has accused me of plagiarizing this quote. He attributes it to Douglas Adams.