mr2mk1g

Show us where in this thread Kallend has said that mentioning God is equivalent to "making a law concerning establishment of religion". Go back and read post 35 ish onwards – you will see that there are a series of posts stating that no one is suggesting Bush’s speech violates the First Amendment – people are allowed to have problems with it outside of it’s constitutional correctness. There are half a dozen posts saying things like “just because something’s allowed doesn’t mean it’s a good thing”. The only person you've had that argument with is EBSB52. Kallend's point is merely that notwithstanding the fact that the constitution does not mention the point - it's a shitty idea.

Oh yeah - there's a way you can get a jet pack for those difficult to reach objects...

Not sure what the problem is with bringing visa photo's in line with the requirements of just about every single passport agancy in the world. Whether or not you have photo visa's or biometric passports etc is perhaps a valid argument... but really... crying about being asked not to smile on them? Saying that's proof OBL "won" because it makes sense to have all passport and visa photos look alike? Sheesh. And Trent... please, please tell me you're joking

A high profile miscarriage of justice in the UK was based on the fact that the convicted individuals had trace elements of explosives on their hands. It turned out that those trace elements could have come from the coating on the playing cards they used on the train that evening. Trace chemicals are tricky things to deal with - you get a lot of false positives. Not saying wiping down the rig isn't a good idea - just that the whole thing's a bit of a crap shoot no matter what you do. Good ideas help us load the dice a little. A couple of years ago I gave some friends a flea in the ear when they wanted to carry empty shell cases through US customs with them as momentoes of their day at the gun range... I think having those kinds of chemicals round your gear when a customs guy is about is just asking for trouble.

my ass

He really was a great guy. I met him earlier this year at Perris. He spent a few weeks with my friends and I, joining in with the laughs and teaching us loads. Not an instructor who jumps with you and dissapears after a debrief - Pete was there all day, packing next to you, shooting shit, yanking your boxers down for a laugh when you weren't looking. He was one of the guys. He put half our club through their CAT10 and was genuinly looking forward to comming out to the states with us next year as our WARP coach. I know he had a profound affect on a number of the guys in the club - a really great teacher. I think some of the guys took far more than just skydiving lessons away from that trip too, and that was mainly down to Pete. It's a pity he won't be joining us again next year. We'll miss him randomly popping onto our club forums to take the piss a little and keep us updated on where in the world he was jumping. Clap your hands together and yell "whooo" once under canopy - he'd get the message.

By the way - I wouldn't consider having "In God we trust" on bank notes to be “Religious fundamentalism.” I'm not sure that anyone would. Religion is one thing... and not necessarily a bad thing at that... but fundamentalism (of any kind) is very scary indeed. I don't think the US govt. has reached the point of religious fundamentalism just yet. I do believe it is leaning towards it though and that if current trends continue it is in danger of actually swinging into the realms of fundamentalism... but not just yet. Should it do so - that’s when I would start to worry.

Just remember - when the Frogs step of the Eurostar channel tunnel train, they arrive in WATERLOO station! Nelson's column is just down the road! Now you know that's gotta suck for them. (edited as I felt more grinning faces were in order...)

And my half-arsed memory of it really doesn't do it tribute. Sadly there doesn't appear to be a full account of it on the net. The Lieutenant’s sister gave a far better explanation of events on the radio than I can remember now... but as I said I can’t find it retold in text anywhere.

Actually a lot of my British money has pictures of Darwin on it - the father of the theory of Evolution: something the American religious right would kinda like to outlaw.

Christ, I can't believe we're getting into this yet again. You realize that if the UK had just one cent for every time some nutter started this argument on the internet, the US would be paying half it’s GDP to the UK anually. The US didn't commit to the war till Dec 41 - that's more than two and a third years after it started! On top of that the US only committed after it was actually attacked by the Japs on it's own soil. I can't believe you actually want to go down this road - yet again. And just to put your point into perspective; if you insist on bringing up the 600,000 killed and wounded American's - the Russians gave roughly 60 million people to keep the world free. That's 100 Russians for every one American!

No, I don't think that him praying for people - even publicly would be much of a problem for most. As you indicate there's nothing much to be offended by there. It's his first paragraph which I think will cause most upset: (emphasis own) He's the president - he's elected to speak for everyone. He says "we acknowledge" - "we" is all inclusive - in this instance he means "ALL Americans". Ok, he acknowledges everything stems from God…the vast majority of the population does also... but certainly not everyone in the US - not ALL American's. The US was set up to fight for the little man. The whole point of the Republic and its constitution was that it would never allow the majority to tread on the minority. Is it a big deal? No not really - least not IMO. Do I care - no it's got nothing to do with me. Would I care if I were a US citizen? Probably not - as I said I don't really think it's that big a deal. Do I acknowledge that it may well be a big deal to some people? Yes – and that's the key point - a lot of people will be very annoyed by this statement – this thread is an example of that. It implies that they are not really part of the US because they do not acknowledge God. It says that because they are American they do acknowledge God. At best it shows a degree of insensitivity on behalf of GWB's speech writer, at worst there’s something slightly more sinister going on at the top.

You claiming the car's a repost?

Did the world cup not count this time last year? Ok so a very different team now... they did well last weekend mind. edit:

I don't particularly. Why do you think I do? It's not at the moment. Why do you think it is? It's not right now. Why do you think it is? Him having religion? - nothing. Him expressing that religion on behalf of people who don't? That may be a bit of a problem to them now mightn't it?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/hometruths/20041009_vietnam_war.shtml http://icnewcastle.icnetwork.co.uk/1000expats/expatsfeatures/tm_objectid=14222285&method=full&siteid=50080&headline=glamour-of-war-name_page.html Lieutenant Harbord died a British citizen serving in the American Army. edited to add: There was quite a moving story about him the other week on the radio actually. His sister recently found his Stars and Stripes flag in some of her recently deceased mother's things. She called up a US Air force base in the UK and asked if they would fold it properly for her. They were of course honoured to do so but told her that her brother's flag must be flown first in order to accord him the proper honour. She was equally happy for this to happen. When it came to having the flag taken down they invited her to a complete ceremony where her brother’s flag was taken down in front of a full honour guard and the entire base was told the story of her brother’s service. She was then presented with her brother’s flag the proper fashion.

Citroen??? Never - that thing HAD to be designed and made by Japs. No question.

Only till they brought out “Smart Bullet 1.2” with new "unzip" algorithms and optional “press stud removal” settings.

I must say those are fine examples of the triumph of the free market over the old regime. ... and they're pretty work safe.

I'm disturbed by religious fundamentalism no matter what guise it takes.

He's referencing someone who isn't the creator of ALL Americans, but as the POTUS he speaks for ALL Americans.

Jesus everyone why are you trying to turn this into a US vs. EU thread? Why do the Yanks kick off by bashing the UK and whining about the US being "expected" to do things? That's not what this is about! All I have done here is try to start a conversation about the situation in the Ukraine. It's been going on for the best part of a week and is quite a big event. I had expected a thread here and was surprised that none had been started. US Holidays be damned this has been going on a week man - and still no one from that side of the Atlantic appears to have a clue what's happening. Even where some have posted info it smacks of a complete lack of knowledge on the subject. This is not an excuse to start a US/EU argument again. The Ukraine issue has NOTHING to do with either of them. We are not heads of state - we are not going to do anything about it by posting here – this is JUST an internet forum – ALL we do is talk. All I was looking to do was have a conversation about the matter. My post here is not an entreaty to the POTUS to come over and save anyone's bacon - where in the world do Americans get off trying to make it so?

Teacher: "And here children you will see a live example of Godwin's law at work". Children: "ooooooo"

Try this: http://www.uwesu.net/skydiveuwe/gearfaq.shtml? It's an overview/introduction to the gear out there and the things you should be thinking about. You'll notice there's not actually any specific advice though - just a lot of "ask us" or "talk to your instructors". That's cos that's the best thing you can do... this just gives you an idea about what you might want to ask them about.

there's a number of points where you can ride a motorcycle as fast as you can off a cliff and just as you leave the ground jump off the bike. You have just enough time to get some 'silk' out... but you can leave the breaks stowed. I've not found anywhere yet that you could do on foot but then I've not really looked too hard. Too buisy driving round shooting people.