Erroll

Love 'em! I am about 5500 ft ASL and we have very fierce electrical storms here. Often during a storm one can feel an impending lightning bolt building up - your skin tingles, your arm-hairs bristle, there is a faint 'crackle' in the air..... and then - KAZOOOOOM!!!! It is quite funny to see visitors from Cape Town react - they are not used to this and it can be quite scary.

I have the dubious honour of having done the first official jump from the AN-2 in South Africa. (An old hand called Snowy jumped from it on the ferry trip as they went over the DZ.) The aircraft's take-off was the most amazing thing to experience. With all that wing surface it seemed to just float up from the runway. It took forever to reach altitude and if I remember correctly it was Graham Field who would tuck a novel into his jump suit at boarding time so that he could have something to read during the long climb.

I suspect he is not losing too much sleep about not having your respect.

Sometimes the creatures have their own connections and put contracts out on the hunters. From The Cape Times :- SOUTH AFRICA 'Shark killed poacher' June 7, 2004 By Jo-Anne Smetherham and Babalo Ndenze Self-confessed poachers yesterday described swimming frantically from a colleague, who was calling for help after a shark bit off his leg, in fear of being attacked themselves. The body of the man has not yet been recovered. Eight men - survivors admit to being perlemoen poachers - were diving near Dyer Island on Wednesday afternoon in an area that shark tour operators have dubbed "Shark Alley", when the attack occurred. Ps. Perlemoen is the local vernacular for abalone

Spot on, Dave. I can confirm that that was exactly what happened! Thanks.

Cheers!

My text in the forums is being displayed in an extra large font. This includes all headings, forum descriptions, mini profiles and posts, while the text in the task bars, on buttons etc is still normal. It changed from normal to large while I was busy changing from one forum to another. How can I fix this??? Yes, I have deleted all cookies!

The majority of terrorists involved with 9/11 were Saudi. I count a large number of Moslems amongst my friends and colleagues. Not a single one of them will shed a tear should the 'House of Saud' fall. The scenario you paint is not unlike the one that was painted during the run-up to the end of the Sha's reign in Iran. It did not materialise and the conflicts remained, in the main, localised. I am not informed enough to make a call about what the US's role should be. However, in my (uninformed) opinion, the US should not support the House of Saud in the event of it's demise. Instead, it should maintain strong diplomatic contact with any new government, in the interests of balance of power.

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Totally off topic but Benazir was the single most glamorous and attractive female PM the world has seen!

As one of our best political satirists sees it......

Screaming monkeys with batteries..... followed by a standing O?????? But seriously, I have not had the pleasure of meeting Jeanne, but from what I see on the forums, she is totally cool, with a lovely sense of humour and very sharp wit.

I think most people would agree. However, if Nelson Mandela had that attitude (hate & bitterness) after having been incarcerated for 27 years, South Africa would have turned into a bloodbath when he was released. Instead, through his humility and wisdom we had probably the most peaceful transition of power ever seen anywhere in Africa.

My favourite actor of all time, Charles Bronson (Buchinsky), was a tail gunner. So was Roy Born. Tyrone Power was a pilot but I don't think he flew bombers. Some more trivia:- Donald Pleasance, who (together with Bronson) played a POW in The Great Escape, really was a pilot (RAF) and was shot down and held as a POW by the Germans.

In an attempt to answer, I'll give the US structures the benefit of the doubt in that the troops in question were 'softening up' the Iraqi prisoners for interrogation. Being lead around naked on a leash by a woman must be one of the most humiliating things a Muslim man could experience. Similarly having a woman make fun of his exposed genitals. Rape, same-sex interaction (even simulation), sodomy - these are all very strictly forbidden, and as a result, extremely humiliating to a Muslim. Very effective as a 'softening up' tactic, in my opinion. OK - So if that's true, then these are not a few people out of control. They're following a doctrine given to them by someone. The only question remaining, is why were the prisoners NEVER interogated? (Read the latest Time magazine Special report - they were never asked a single question.) t I agree. That is why I said that in order to try and explain the 'sex thing', I would give them the benefit of the doubt. I have personally not expressed an opinion on the issue, simply because I don't know enough. However, if pushed I would have to say I think this was a case of a small group of rogue elements messing up big time. If that is the case I believe that ultimately GWB and Rumsfeld must take responsibility, but the rogue elements and their immediate superiors should be held culpable and punished to the fullest extent of US military law.

Hmmmmm. The US folk must be sleeping now. How about the locals and Europeans then? Shameless bump

In an attempt to answer, I'll give the US structures the benefit of the doubt in that the troops in question were 'softening up' the Iraqi prisoners for interrogation. Being lead around naked on a leash by a woman must be one of the most humiliating things a Muslim man could experience. Similarly having a woman make fun of his exposed genitals. Rape, same-sex interaction (even simulation), sodomy - these are all very strictly forbidden, and as a result, extremely humiliating to a Muslim. Very effective as a 'softening up' tactic, in my opinion.

The South African delegation to Zurich includes three Nobel Peace Prize winners, as well as the State President and two former State Presidents, to name but a few. Can they convince the Fifa executive to vote for South Africa tomorrow? South Africa missed out on staging the 2006 World Cup to Germany by one vote when Oceania delegate Charles Dempsey abstained. I realise that most dotCommers are from the US and soccer is not exactly the most followed sport over there, but just out of interest:- Do you think we have a chance?

From Tonto's link: Only one American was injured - a GI who had shot himself in the foot while clearing his pistol. How symbolic was that?

Is this what the Freud called 'King Air envy'?

It has been addressed several times. My own list of pet hates was posted here.

As an experienced competitive shottist as well as a military vet who has been shot at by Ak-47s, I can assure you that while the AK-47 is indeed one of the most prolific assualt rifles ever manufactured, it is certainly not accurate. It was not designed to be accurate. It was designed to operate reliably under extremely adverse conditions, cheap to manufacture and with easy maintenance. At that it succeded brilliantly. Accurate? Nope. The extracts below are from this link . "Actually hitting anything with one much past 100 yards is problematical. " "Cons Very loud noise Is heavy, Not accurate"

One thing you can not accuse Pajarito of is shoving anything down anyone's throat! He has been nothing but patient and civil, as well as eloquent, without the need to resort to crude language.