mikkey

Again you and your friend Juan can not get single fact right. Please stop demonstrating your total lack of knowledge about the World. Australia is actually well known for its higher education system and has one of the highest % of fee paying students from overseas in the world: Newspaper article 20 August: "ITERNATIONAL fee-paying students at Australian universities now make up more than 20 per cent of total enrolments as numbers continue to soar despite overseas events." --------------------------------------------------------- When people look like ants - pull. When ants look like people - pray.

No the argument is that you are making statements that have no basis in reality. It was you that made the statement the US was "sharing" its wealth, when the reality is that it is the OECD country that "shares" the least... This was not about aid, this was about writing things that do not hold up in the cold light of facts.. --------------------------------------------------------- When people look like ants - pull. When ants look like people - pray.

The US is one of the "rich" (OECD) countries that gives the least in aid to developing countries as in % of GDP...... I found this: "The DAC report shows that only five countries meet the United Nations (U.N.) target of giving at least 0.7 per cent of their gross national income (GNI) to development assistance. These countries are Denmark, Norway, the Netherlands, Luxembourg and Sweden. All other OECD countries remain far below the U.N. target as established by the General Assembly 30 years ago and reaffirmed at the Earth Summit in June 1992 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, and by the Millennium Summit in New York two years ago. The U.S. gives only 0.11 per cent of its GNI for ODA, Japan 0.23 per cent, Germany 0.27 per cent and France 0.34 per cent. " You like others in US take things to be "fact" that have nothing to do with reality. Try less patriotic flag waving and more fact finding. --------------------------------------------------------- When people look like ants - pull. When ants look like people - pray.

Just shows how ignorant you are... I do not hate the US, I like the place. I am not a fan of the current administrations foreign police - but that goes for many other people including many in the US. But I do dislike people like you if what you write in your posts is your honest opinion. Just because you dislike the KKK does not mean you dislike the US.... --------------------------------------------------------- When people look like ants - pull. When ants look like people - pray.

The vast majority of Brazilians, and (according to my cousins and friends in those countries) Argentinians and Australians, too. But hey, we're the US; we're the richest country in the world, we have cheap gas, and that's because we deserve it. Right? All in jest, of course.[:-|] Wendy W. Interesting enough there have been some polls here in Australia leading up to GWB visit next week. Whilst most Australians (70+%) find the alliance with the US as of great value and importance, most people do not like the current administration. Seems people are able to differentiate between the administration and Americans as such. --------------------------------------------------------- When people look like ants - pull. When ants look like people - pray.

I do not treat extremist radical muslims with respect and in the same way I do not treat people like you with respect. Your bigot, racist and uninformed views are exactly as dangerous as those extremist muslims. --------------------------------------------------------- When people look like ants - pull. When ants look like people - pray.

No. No. No Michele, this isn't being underreported, it's being over reported. Sheesh, I thought you would have known this by now! - Jim Just checked on the Internet - the resolution is headline on every news service, CNN, BBC etc. So what are you guys on about? --------------------------------------------------------- When people look like ants - pull. When ants look like people - pray.

Do you have any idea what this resolution is about? It sets out the principle that the administration of Iraq is returned to the prople of Iraq as soon as possible and makes it possible for countries (as a legal basis) to give aid so that Iraq can rebuid the infrastructure that was destroyed during the war. What an amazing triumph fro the Bush administration . Just shows in what deep shit the US is in in Iraq after the war when something like this need to be celebrated as a "triumph". --------------------------------------------------------- When people look like ants - pull. When ants look like people - pray.

Well, it took 3 month or so to get this through and there is still a lot of animosity between the US and a number of countries (who are supposed to be allies). The reason these countries voted for this is that Iraq needs a "legal" base to re-establish a government and the resolution is the first step. The resolution does however not result in those larger countries contributing troops or money. Whilst this is a positive thing, I would not see it as a "coup" for the US. It does not give them much "relieve" in the short term and the reason the US critics voted for it was to help the Iraq people not the US, e.g. even Syria voted for the resolution. The matter of fact is still that the US made some major diplomatic blunders leading up to the war and they are paying for it now and will in political terms pay for it in the future. --------------------------------------------------------- When people look like ants - pull. When ants look like people - pray.

Every time I see posts in Talk Back from these red necks with their bigoted, uninformed, simplified and racist views I always hope it is a minority in the US holding these views. Now I see that such a type is now deputy undersecretary of defence. Boy oh boy. Me worried…… --------------------------------------------------------- When people look like ants - pull. When ants look like people - pray.

If you mean RMW in Oz, yes they are very good and very popular "down under". --------------------------------------------------------- When people look like ants - pull. When ants look like people - pray.

Just want to make the point that Icarus canopies are not only produced in the US but also in Europe and in NZ. Don't know about the guys in Europe (Spain?), but in my dealings with the Kiwis I had no problems what so ever. --------------------------------------------------------- When people look like ants - pull. When ants look like people - pray.

I do not agree. I have lived in countries where it is difficult to suit and/or there were "no fault" schemes for certain areas like medical treatment, traffic accidents etc. Products were in general not more dangerous. Reason being that there are other laws and (technical) standards that can be applied in regard to making companies responsible for breach of safety. Both financially (fines) and by making managers personally responsible. The biggest difference I see is that you do not find these stupid "stickers" and warnings everywhere. Do you think putting large stickers on parachutes and containers telling you skydiving is dangerous makes the sport more safe? Do you think a sticker on a plastic bag stops a 3 year old from putting the plastic bag over its head? A lot of money spend on "product safety" in the US is not to make the product more safe, it is spend to stop lawsuits - big difference. I remember many years ago being involved in exporting products from Europe to the US - product cost were 10% higher for this market due to higher product liability insurance - the consumer pays in the end for this. The tax payer pays for the cost of the court system occupied by this. I live in Autralia now where things are moving towards the US mentality of suing for everything. Insurance costs for professional indemnity is going through the roof, but products and facilities are not safer because of this. I prefer the European system by far. In most countries you can suit for negligence -but the "bar" is higher (accidents do happen and we as individuals have to take some responsibility ourselves), the amount of money is capped and frivolous lawsuits can backfire easier. That is a far better and cheaper system for all. We had a case here in Australia a couple of years ago where a guy got himself drunk at the beach and jumped head first into the water from the shore line and broke his neck. He won a major payout from the city because there were not enough warning signs not to dive into the water from the shore line... There are too many cases where you can suit even if you act irresponsible and stupid. It is different if you e.g. buy an electronic product and its electrocutes you because it is build in a faulty manner. In this case you should (and can in most countries) be able to suit. It is a question of how you set up the system. A friend of mine worked for a company that produced medical equipment. They were sued in the US when a patient died in the ER. The company's product was present in the room where the person died, but had not been used on that person. In the end they had to pay compensation anyway..... --------------------------------------------------------- When people look like ants - pull. When ants look like people - pray.

I once read an article how much the liability lawsuit system in the US costs your economy compared to countries where it is much more difficult to suit and/or there are "no fault" compensation schemes. Can't remember the detail, but the numbers were staggering. An American once told me that most politicians know this system is no good, but most of the people on Capitol Hill are lawyers.... so no chance of any change.... --------------------------------------------------------- When people look like ants - pull. When ants look like people - pray.

In my first 2 jump careers I did "steal, beg and borrow" equipment due to lack of funds and found it very frustrating. When I came back this time (after 11 years), I decided to get my own stuff that fits me. Expensive but jumping is much more fun this time: Talon 3: A$ 2700 Safire2: A$ 2600 "Airforce" Reserve: A$1500 Cypres: A$ 1600 Total: A$8400 ~ $5400 US Plus suit, dytter and helmet. Expensive, but if you look at re-sale value of complete set that "fits" together compared to some of the second hand "mixed" rigs on the market, it might be the best option. With todays low interest rates I would think the total cost of ownership can be lower this way (finance a new rig). But be sure only to do it if you are certain to stay in the sport for a while. --------------------------------------------------------- When people look like ants - pull. When ants look like people - pray.

I meant Safire2, i.e. current model. Typo... --------------------------------------------------------- When people look like ants - pull. When ants look like people - pray.

Safire 169 is very similar --------------------------------------------------------- When people look like ants - pull. When ants look like people - pray.

Why? Proposing to take Gaza and probably killing a huge amount of people is irresponsible and stupid. I am quite fed up with these type of ignorant and gun slinging posts. You guys were upset about planes crashing into buildings killing lots of innocent people. It would be nice if you started also valuing innocent non-american lives for a change! --------------------------------------------------------- When people look like ants - pull. When ants look like people - pray.

Well, If you check other news sites today you wont find much about this either. The main reason is probably that there is nothing new in the story. Hamas has been saying these things for a long time. If you do some search on CNN, BBC and others you will find that the Hamas' position has been widely reported. These things were especially reported when Hamas pledged revenge after Israel started the targeted killings. The Sheik quoted in the article was actually targeted a couple of weeks ago but survived. His son and others were killed in the attack. I also think it was also reported last time suicide bombings occurred. Why does Fox run with it today? No idea - but how you guys think that this has any significance either in regard to the situation i the Middle East or says anything about "bias" is beyond me. I really don't understand you followers of the "Fox gospel". No matter how many facts you are confronted with you keep on carrying on about the "left wing this and the left wing that". You only use Fox as a source and you do very little research. I myself vote conservative where I live and luckily there are a few who are conservative but can think independently, do not like to be lied to by any government and who will try to keep an open mind (which means I like the media to be challenging my government so it is kept accountable). Sheeesh you guys just don't get it. (Should not post today - tired and annoyed due to issues a work... my sense of humor is out of the window) --------------------------------------------------------- When people look like ants - pull. When ants look like people - pray.

Your lack of knowledge in regard to the complexity of issues in the Middle East is quite comparable with the understanding of issues your Government demonstrated when it planned for a post war Iraq........ BTW - I assume that when Israel "takes in Gaza" you propose "ethnic cleansing " of the million palestinians living there - Bosnia style? --------------------------------------------------------- When people look like ants - pull. When ants look like people - pray.

The issue at hand is - and it is a very serious issue - that it looks more and more likely that either the US and UK intelligence agencies are totally incompetent or that the US government (with UK assistance) lied and deceived its own population and it's allies in order to go to war. This is a problem that is not going to go away. See the following article from the BBC in regard to WMDsearch: No WMD in Iraq, source claims Number 10 will not comment on the report No weapons of mass destruction have been found in Iraq by the group looking for them, according to a Bush administration source who has spoken to the BBC. This will be the conclusion of the Iraq Survey Group's interim report, the source told the presenter of BBC television's Daily Politics show, Andrew Neil. Downing Street branded the story "speculation about an unfinished draft of an interim report". Mr Neil said the draft report - which the source said is due to be published next month - concludes that it is highly unlikely that weapons of mass destruction were shipped out of the country to places like Syria before the US-led war on Iraq. Analysis: High stakes for Blair It will also say that Saddam Hussein mounted a huge programme to deceive and hinder the work of United Nations weapons inspectors, he said. Mr Neil said that according to the source, the report will say its inspectors have not even unearthed "minute amounts of nuclear, chemical or biological weapons material". They have also not uncovered any laboratories involved in deploying weapons of mass destruction and no delivery systems for the weapons. CIA spokesman Bill Harlow told the Reuters news agency he expected the report would "reach no firm conclusions, nor will it rule anything in or out". Reuters also quoted a senior US official as saying the Iraq Survey Group (ISG) was expected to report finding "documentary evidence" that Iraq had chemical and biological weapons programmes. "Whether they will find or disclose anything on the weapons themselves, I doubt," said the official. 'Savage blow' UK Foreign Secretary Jack Straw said: "This is speculation on an as yet unpublished report. "I await the report eagerly from Mr Kay (head of the survey group), as does the international community." Mr Straw argued that the whole international community had agreed Iraq's weapons programmes had posed - the issue had been what to do about it. Mr Neil said the report is being finalised and could undergo changes People did not need the ISG report for evidence of that threat, he said. It was already shown in volumes of reports from UN inspectors. A Number 10 spokesman said "we don't have this text", but asked if the prime minister had seem the report, remarked: "We are not going into details of process." Mr Neil, a former editor of the Sunday Times, stressed he had not seen the draft report, and was reporting what a single source had said its findings were likely to be. He said the report was still to be finalised and could undergo some changes, but the source had been told the content of some key passages which were not expected to be substantively altered. Former Conservative cabinet minister Michael Portillo said if these details of the report were true, it would be a "savage blow" to the prime minister. 'Fake facilities' The inspectors have uncovered no evidence that any weapons were actually built in the immediate years before the war, the leak of the report suggests. It is alleged that Saddam Hussein's programme of deception involved fake facilities and infrastructure to deceive and hinder the work of UN weapons inspectors. Documents have been uncovered showing weapons facilities were concealed as commercial buildings, the report is likely to say. The ISG took over the job of finding WMD from the US military in June. The survey group, led by David Kay, a former UN weapons inspector and now a special adviser to the CIA, is a largely US operation, although it includes some British and Australian staff. Its 1,400 personnel are made up of scientists, military and intelligence experts, and its work is shrouded in secrecy. Its focus is intelligence, using documents and interviews with Iraqi scientists to build up a picture of the secret world of Iraq's weapons programmes. The survey group has been under pressure to prove the Bush administration's case that Iraq's weapons posed a significant threat. Gary Samor, of the International Institute for Strategic Studies in London, recently told the BBC that UN inspection teams should have been sent back into Iraq as there would be much scepticism about the ISG's findings. --------------------------------------------------------- When people look like ants - pull. When ants look like people - pray.

This comment made me think. A journalist I know well told me that the role of the media is not to be right or left. The media should critically examine any current government, no matter which side of politics. The media has an important role in "keeping the bastards honest" as we say in Australia. Somebody "probing" and challenging the actions of a government does not make them automatically right or left. It is in the interest of the population that the media plays this role. I think that some of regulars of these discussions here "label" any media that questions the action of the current government as being left. As far as I remember, some of these media outlets were quite critical towards Clinton as well. The problem many people have with Rupert Murdoch's media empire is that it has clear agendas: 1) Pure commercial focus - not a journalistic focus (i.e the tabloid style news) 2) Clear political agenda that leads to blind bashing of government if it is from one side and blind "following" when the other side is in power. --------------------------------------------------------- When people look like ants - pull. When ants look like people - pray.

Do a search - the "chute less" type jumps have been discussed recently in this forum. One of the contributors to the thread was "chute less" and guess what he used to do... --------------------------------------------------------- When people look like ants - pull. When ants look like people - pray.

What Masher said. However, the USPA credentials are well known and respected. Chances of getting permission to work as an instructor pending some evaluation should be good. If you plan to come down here you should contact the APF and have a chat about your plans. There is a "Pom" (Brit) with BPA ratings working at my DZ - I don't think he had major problems being allowed to work as an instructor. --------------------------------------------------------- When people look like ants - pull. When ants look like people - pray.

You are judging news by if you "like" them or not. You also forget that CNN is much more international then Fox, i.e. CNN is used many times more by international audiences then Fox. CNN is catering to that to a degree. Your statement that Reuters is a left wing communist news service discredit your post. Can you give any evidence based on fact? Again, CNN has a large international audience. This does influence their angle and I think they are better for that. The way you are discounting any international commentators is exactly the one-eyed American view point that got the current administration into trouble in Iraq and now has them standing cap in hand at the UN. CNN giving space to Annan and Chirac seems reasonable in this context. The fact that those crucial speeches (in regard to if the US will get help from the UN) combined get 100 words more coverage can hardly be called bias. Reading some other news services e.g. BBC it seems to me that CNN covered the issue better then Fox. See: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/3134326.stm --------------------------------------------------------- When people look like ants - pull. When ants look like people - pray.