Ron

John. I am not turning a thread about a Landmine Treaty into a venue for you to bring up your Bush bashing. He did not sign it...And I don't think he should have. You want to disscuss THIS event feel free. Otherwise start a new Bush Bashing thread, or hijack on your own. (Ya know like you did with the "Those that served with Kerry" thread) "No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334

And you have a problem with the definiton of a LIE. I could explain it again...But Im tired or explaining things to a guy who should be smart enough to know the difference between a lie, and being wrong. But saying "He was wrong" is not as much fun as saying "He is a liar" I guess. Durring my short stint in the Army...Every opposition we were trained for...NONE of them followed the "rules of war". You have no idea how some of these weapons are VERY important to our forces...Have you ever SEEN a Claymore? They are very cool, and very effective....And they would have been outlawed by this piece of tripe treaty. "No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334

Well I see it this way...More skydivers die from bad moves under canopies than get knocked out. More jumpers die from high wingloads than no pulls. So I find it funny that a guy will say he will not jump without an AAD, but will load up a canopy. He is more likley to die from the canopy. So I find it funny...You don't have to agree...Its called humor. Not everyone likes Knock-knock jokes. I like irony. And the folks that jump a high wingload but scream that jumping without an AAD is dangerous..Well that is ironic. "No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334

Maybe not them, but how about you list all the other nations that have landmies as well.. You think Iraq, the pakis, N. Korea....Ect would? Cool thing about the Geniva Convention...Few follow it...And if you listen to some not even the US. This is one area you don't know about John. I'll side with the folks that have carried weapons in battle, not just designed them. "No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334

Like someone already said..It was a little less toggle responsive than a Stiletto, but much more than a Sabre. It was one of the first really HP canopies. It was the first HP canopy I ever jumped. "No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334

Name: Lightning Cat Secret Identity: Ron Special Power: Flight Transportation: Alien Umbrella Weapon: Photon Bolt Costume: Lead Skin Sidekick: Caruthers Nemesis: Tim the Hideous Tragic Flaw: Addicted to garlic Favorite Food: Raspberries I really do like Garlic. Not fond of cats though But I CAN FLY!!!! "No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334

Sorry to hear about your cat. However it would be wiser to just put 20.00 a mth into a savings account that you never touch except for emergencies. I understand that the insurance looks good, but there are benefits to the "do it yourself" route. #1, you are building into your personal worth...Instead of someone elses. Your net worth will increase. #2 And the biggest reason. This "Emergency fund" can be used for ANYTHING, not just sick pets. Lets say you need engine work on your car...You have the emergency funds to handle it. So instead of just giving 22.25 ($11.25 X 2) for both your cats to someone and betting that they will get sick....Put 20.00 a mth into a savings account. And your number are right about how the insurance would have saved you 300.00 in this case, but you are still paying for the insurance..And in 1.5 years it would be break even. So you have to ask this question. How many times has my cat been so sick I need to take him to the vet? And what was the average cost per year? I think you will find that the insurance is not needed...And that 20.00 a month could go to a general emergency fund that would be better. But right now you have a sick cat, a large bill and your emotions are high. Its better to have the general slush fund. "No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334

Diabetic with 3,000 jumps If its under control it's not an issue. I have been told that the FAA has eased up on the Class 3 medical as well, so I may start flying again. "No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334

Perfect speed is being there. When you break up with your ex at the DZ...You didn't lose your girl, you just lost your turn. At night trees and water look nice and smooth, kinda like a good place to land. "No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334

while its not likley to happen...It CAN. You would be much safer jumping without an AAD, but jumping a big canopy. We all make stupid mistakes. Even the worlds best Patrick (not that an AAD would have helped), Tommy, Loftis, Harris, Sandy....ect. Oh you are gonna one day. Just don't freak when you do. Yep, but again you would be safer without an AAD and jumping a big canopy. Than jumping a high wingload with an AAD. All these folks that say they would never jump without an AAD, but have high wingloads...Man that is funny. "No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334

Your situation is not the norm. And this is the problem with people giving advice.. They don't know, and you don't have all the filters needed to tell. This was a good call on your part...but how many other bad pieces of advice did they give you that you didn't catch? "No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334

Was she knocked out? I think the CYPRES is a good tool. But to many newer jumpers treat them like a "save all" device. And that is bad. Simple fact is most "saves" are simple loss of altitude and very few saves are people getting knocked out. But eveyone gets one saying "I have it incase I get knocked out".. A more realistic way of justifing it is "I have one incase I screw up...I don't want to die for a stupid mistake". But thats not cool, so almost everyone uses the "Knocked out" line..Cause see thats cool. As for DZO's or pilots that require them...ITs cool with me. Its a buisness, and they have the right to ask for what they want. If I had a DZ I might make AAD's manditory...But I would save more people with my wingloading charts, and education. "No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334

Your Mama's so fat: Smaller women walk around her for exercise. When she moves she effects the tides. NASA is planning a trip to the dark side of her ass. The humpback whale at the zoo saw her and went "Damn!!!! Thats a big bitch" Your Mama is so ugly, that if bricks were made of ugly..Your Mama would have her own projects.

Overconfidence kills. Respect for the dangers is good. You miss it in this way...Maybe I didn't expalin it right...Its an old joke. OK...He either lives or he dies. Thats 50/50. It either happens or it does not...Think Binary...It is on or it is off...Thats 0 or 1....The chances of one of them happening is 100% He will either live, or he will die. The chances of either happening is 50/50...Thats not his chances of dying. Its my way of saying "Fuck it he is not going to listen...Why bother wasting my time and air on it". I have seen this same type of guy over and over...some do fine...Others get dead/broken. All the experience in the world does not carry over into skydiving. I know two commercial pilots that are dead due to low turns. They know more than me in every way about stuff that flies...But they both died. I know many more that are broken. Its about physics and potental energy. A higher wingload will put more energy into the same type of fuck up...that means more and worse injuries...And the bonus is that a higher wingload will also be harder to fly and that your choices need to be better and faster. And there is less room for error. So lower wingloads ARE safer....I tell you what call a flight school. Tell them you want to learn to fly in a Pitts special...See what they say. Get 100 hours and tell them you want to solo a Pitts special...Again they are going to laugh at you. Yes but they will get hurt less...And they will have more time to react under the canopy. You have made mistakes under canopy right? Why? Things happen fast at high wingloads....You have to be better, and faster than on lower wingloads... Im sorry to say but this is FACT. It has nothing to do with any amount of jumps...Ratings...Blah blah bblah as you like to say...It is simple physics.... Potental energy is a mother fucker...And it hurts. But I just don't see how that is hard to understand? Oh well like I said 50/50 "No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334

Im reading John....so far I found this. And this was good. Of course you can't PROVE any of this either. This was REALLY good: This is good since you were asked this and still have not produced any facts to back up your claims: Well? Where are they? I read some good stuff about Kerry being a hypocrite about claiming to care about the environment and the driving a big SUV...That was kind of funny... Waybe you should just tell me what I was supposed to read? I must have missed it. I did get the usual Kallend banter about how bad the US is...And there was the one guy that pressed you about your service. I still see you saying things like this guy lied...But you still didn't prove anything you said. Just for you Doc... Lie (n). A false statement deliberately presented as being true; a falsehood. The problem is you have not PROVEN he knew one thing and said another....And like I told Bill....If you can prove it..I will help you impeach him. Now, do you understand the definition of a LIE? If you do I woudl ask that you stop saying things you can prove.... You see if I take the same definition of lie as you do...Then you are lying every time you say Bush lied. If he didn't KNOW then he was not lying...If he thought there were WMD's in Iraq...And made a bad choice...Then I would understand if you wanted to call him stupid...I would even accept that from you (You are a professor and all). But you have yet to prove he lied...At best all you have shown is that he was wrong....That friend is a BIG difference. "No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334

Too bad. I call things like I see them. I GUARANTY I have seen more broken skydivers. And they all had the "I got it" attitude. They got it all right. As does your posts. The 50/50 as in you will live or you will die..Thats one or the other...thats 50/50. That right there tells me you don't have enough knowledge to jump it. Well you do have that right...Don't trust what is said here. I really do hope you do fine..But I have seen WAY to many people have the "I know what I am doing attitude" and I have seen many of them broken. I'll tell ya, hospitals suck. I had a nice hospital trip when I have 370 jumps on a 1.4 load stiletto. Luckly God favors idiots and children and I was both young AND stupid as hell. The profile was 300-500 jumps, 1.5 wingload and had been talked to before about canopy flight. And like I said..I really do hope you are fine...I hate broken skydivers, and dead ones are worse. "No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334

No, its called surviving my own stupidity, watching others dieing and learning from it. I would also save you the pain I have had or the things I have seen. Just like all the others that said the exact same thing and I helped hold together till the paramedics arrived or worse all the guys that killed themselves? Its clear you "know" better than everyone. Gee, I wish I was as knowledgeable as you when I had 50 jumps. I would be a world champ now...Or dead. I guess you know better than a guy with 3,000 jumps 10 years, that has been an instructor since 1995, has a pro rating, and has jumps on canopies as small as 69 at 2.6:1. Your right...It is your choice...But I think its a bad one...I really do hope you do fine. Its 50/50 Either you will die or you will not. "No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334

I'll see as soon as you show it John. You keep saying Bush lied about WMD's but for it to be a lie he needed to KNOW there were none. If he thought there were WMD's...Then guess what? He was wrong, but it not a LIE. You seem to avoid like hell the fact you have to KNOW it to be untrue and say it anyway for it to be a LIE...Otherwise you were just wrong. Now Bush might have been wrong about WMD's in Iraq. But Iraq had them, never showed that they got rid of them (and this is not like a pistol...This it is a big deal to get rid of these things), they SAID they still had them at certain times. And they did play hide the canoli with the UN inspectors. They also ignored 12 years of UN sanctions. I will not even get into how bad of a guy he was or how many folks he killed, and held in terror. So the intel might have been wrong...I'll even admit that now. And Bush made a call based off of that intel. Its like a computer Garbage in/Garbage out. But the cost of doing nothing if he did have them was higher. He could have used them against us...and remember he had said he hated us and wanted the US to fall. He could have sold them...And there are plenty of folks that would buy them...Even before Bush was in office. I still don't think it was a bad choice given what I know...And I'd bet he knows more than me...And he might even know more than you...Unless you have a Defense Department ID and a secret clearance we don't know about...And BTW I DID have a secret clearance and I would not be privy to that kind of intel....So how do you KNOW anything that he knew? So unless you can prove he lied...Which remember is saying one thing when he KNEW another...you can't say he LIED... You can say he was WRONG all day long and I will not say otherwise..Unless we find something. "No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334

Some act like the size of their canopy is inversely proportional to the size of their penis. "No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334

You will grow out of trying to get your friends to jump. You think its the best thing in the world and don't understand why people would not want to do it. Funny story...Just Wednesday I got a call from an ex teammate of mine (Frost 98-2002) and he has not made one jump in over six mths. He told me he didn't miss it one bit, that he missed hanging out with me, but not the sport. He said he has tons of time, and tons of money to do all kinds of things...He is travenling alot, learning to play the drums, souping up his car, spending more time with his fiance, went out and got ALL of his pilot ratings except ATP, basicly doing all kinds of stuff, he can afford to eat out more..ect. He told me he thought at one time how much those that don't jump were missing out..Now he thinks we that do jump are missing out. BTW he had 3,500 jumps and Won Advanced 4 way at the nationals 1999...so he was good, damn good. Just a thought. Some folks are happy without skydiving in their lives...Hooknswoop comes to my mind. And I don't jump like I used to either. "No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334

Yes it is possible for people to learn faster. But not everyone can do that...And lets face it all skydivers think they are better than average. So who is really above average? Where are all these *Average* skydivers that are not at any DZ I have ever been to....Are they all in Montana? I have never been to Montana. I have never seen anyone that calls themselves average..And I have been to over 50 DZ's in about 20 states. 100% of the people that are dead in this sport thought they could handle it. And I bet others thought the same when they told them they would be ok. But we see many jumpers killing themselves under canopies with high wingloads and few jumps. While it might not be right 100% of the time...I would bet a guy with 50 jumps on a 1.5 loaded Stiletto is a bad idea 95% of the time. Just like it is fairly easy to say that student will do better on a Navigator 220 for his first jump than a Stiletto 150. Or a student pilot will be safer in a Cessna 152 than a Bonanza. Or a guys first white water trip should be class 1,2,3 not 3,4,5. New SCUBA divers are safer at less than 60 feet deep in open water than at 300 feet in a cave on tri-mix with stage bottles. For MOST people there needs to be a progression. I advanced fast in Skydiving I have done over 300 jumps a year for 10 years. SCUBA I went from Open water to Master in less than 6 mths. But I dove almost EVERY day, sometimes two TRIPS a day (Thats 2-4 dives a DAY) for those 6 mths...And I did all kinds of CLASSES and dove with INSTRUCTORS on almost every dive. (they were the only one who were off durring the week). At the end of those six mths I was in a cave at 200 feet on mixed gas. But I had had almost 200 SCUBA dives by then, and a slew of ratings. I think there needs to be canopy ratings..I have no issue with folks pushing it as long as they take a step progression and PROVE they can handle it. With flying I was doing acro before I had a pilots license. But my Dad was a pilot, and I had been in planes since I was 3. I also built and flew all kinds of models, and I had already had 100 jumps before I started taking "official" lessons. In all of these people gave me shit, said I was going to fast...Guess what? If you are pushing it...Expect to get it. My friends got shit for pushing me...Again..If you are in that position expect to get shit for it...They expected alot of it, and If I havd gotten killed 500 feet back in a cave at 200 feet...They would have gotten a rash of shit for it. If this guy hooks in...He is gonna get shit for it...And you are also. But like I said everyone thinks they are *special* and *gifted*...Even the folks that killed themselves. "No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334

Who says you would? I said MY company pays 75% of the cost of dependents..MY company, not you. It would infringe on me as a buisness owner...I would have to shell out more to keep my same policy of paying for dependents health care coverage..Or I could drop the dependent health care coverage if I didn't feel I should have to provide it to same sex couples...And then if you were one of my employees and you were married...Me dropping it would effect you wouldn't it? Again any more questions PM. me...Im not staying here any more, but didn't want to be rude. As it stands I'm against gay "Marriage" since I see "Marriage as a religious issue. Im not OPPOSED to a gay "legal thing"...But right now its not there, and I honestly don't care enough to support it. And the more people I have jump my ass...Amazingly the more I care, but in the wrong way. "No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334

Just popping in for this... My company pays 100% of the medical insurance for the employee and 75% for the spouse and dependents of the employee. My Total Family plan costs about 80.00 a mth for me, a wife and as many kids as I can pop out. So in that case it would cost the company more. I'll be popping out again. Just wanted to clear that up. Have a gay old time here folks. "No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334

Right now the LAW says other wise. I support the right for people to BE gay if they want. I am not sure a gay couple should have the right to get married as the LAW says. Marriage is a religious issue. If the Churches want to allow it...then I would support the LAW being changed. Im done here folks.... I asked a few questions....Gave some thoughts, and got SLAMMED for doing it. When I started in here I was unsure...Now with all the people acting like jackasses...I would probley vote against it just out of spite. You catch more flies with sugar than vinegar.... I would have gladly engaged in civil debate...In fact I am in PM's with a guy right now. But to all those who felt like blasting me...You are doing more harm than good. You are pushing my opinions the opposite way you want. And it is all in your approach. Its your right to use whatever approach you want....But this one is not working with me. I asked questions...And got no answers... Like I said..Im done here... Gay away on your own. "No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334

I can hope...I hate to see dead people. "No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334