Andrewwhyte

If you are wearing an AAD opening your main at that altitude would be a bit hazardous.

No the GOP has unpledged RNC delegates in roughly the same proportion as the democratic superdelegates (~19% of the total # of delegates). The link explains it. I am not sure why the press uses the term 'superdelegates' exclusively for the dems. It may be because the larger raw number makes it seem more of a boondogle for party insiders. Sending the Senator as an unelected delegate is one thing, sending the campaign manager for the unsuccessful candidate in the 23rd district is another. The GOPs smaller number of total delegates allow less of this.

I just faxed or emailed copies of this letter to all candidates, including Bob Rae, running in the March 17 byelection in my last Canadian riding, as well as to Lawrence Cannon. Now I just need to work out in my own mind whether as an expat Canadian intending to become a US citizen, I can ethically vote in a Canadian election. Fact: The constitution guarantees your right to vote. It does not mention anything about some letter the bureaucrats have thought up for you to sign. Fact: They let penitentiary inmates vote because they might get parole during the tenure of the next government. If the probability of you coming back to Canada is greater than zero (ie you're wanted for war crimes) you should vote. JMHO

Yep!. In virtually the same proportion as the dems. http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/01/02/delegate.explainer/index.html

I expect they will be in exactly that position after the primaries are completed. The Clinton camp will then try to convince Obama that he has lost and that he should concede "for the good of the party." I fully expect Obama to stay in and try to convince the superdelegates to switch their votes "for the good of the party." If they do not, well, I think McCain will make a good president; probably not a great one, but at least an honourable one.

By and large they will vote for McCain against Clinton or stay home for McCain vs Obama.

Ya, most macites I know use firefox. There is do way in hell I would install IE on my machine.

This class of voters is not worth talking about; their votes are not up for grabs. Their turnout may be somewhat pliable, but to a lesser extent than most identifiable groups.

#3 'cause he has time to think about it.

Excuse us for living! And by the way, it's techno-peasants or tech challenged people if you must know.

Buh-bye

Nothing to indicate this guy was a nut job.

We don't know. The most likely effect for experienced jumpers is higher lift tickets and fewer dzs to jump at. If you jump at a single Cessna dz you have to worry about whether it will be around in the long run.

That referred exclusively to special operating certificates (demos).

In the US, it is possible to be a tandem passenger without being a tandem student. When that is that case, no passenger altimeter is required. Mark Using which manufacturer's gear?

As the case may be. I do not believe in putting them on IAD students. Some posters from other countries have voiced similar opinions in the incidents forum recently. The point is it is not a universally held opinion; someone saw that it was a rule somewhere (most likely in US) and decided that it should be law in Canada. While you may agree with that opinion that does not change the fact that that person has never made a jump and does not know more about student training than me. The BSR in US was a decision made by informed, experienced skydiving instructors.

Sharon has retired, Tim Grech is the new prez. I have no Idea whether he is talking to USPA or not. As for suing Jim, he was on record as favouring regulation. His attitude was that larger operators like himself would be much better positioned to comply with the bureaucratic shit than small operators. I noticed he never lost his OC, unlike his main competitor.

Yep. Most nonsensical ideas like that will not make it, but some will. The struggle will be ongoing. Dealing with the gov will probably become a full time position. We will have to pay for that. BPA costs about $300.00/yr. I can see CSPA costing a similar amount. More and more Canadians will end up doing all their jumping outside the country.

You are reading an out of date version of the proposal. The one which is due to be released in the Gazette any day apparently has removed any reference to CSPA, CAPS or USPA, it just says "an organization approved by Transport." If we are not an approved organization, at the moment so such organization exists, then we cannot conduct business. What is crazy about this is that we do not have a copy of the proposed amendment until it is published. Some people were allowed to see a draft several months ago, but not to take a copy away. The big danger is that once this passes Transport will have the power to impose new rules without consultation. The other big worry is that rather than approving CSPA they would form their own rules body. some of the rules that have been suggested by judges and/or juries after fatality inquiries are things like: The first two or three jumps must be tandem, all students must have an altimeter, all parachutes must be approved, the Canadian military shall write all training curricula. Skydiving in Canada is already about 40% more expensive than in the US, largely due to the need for a commercial operating certificate for our aircraft; several small DZs have closed in the wake of regulations designed for Air Canada being imposed upon Joe and his 182. The increased costs that will undoubtedly accompany more regulation will likely force more small operators out of business.

Actually Michael Jordan was a professional baseball player; he just wasn't good enough to make it past double A. Considering he was over 30 when he started it is a testament to his athletic prowess that he was better than almost everyone else. The overwhelming majority of professional baseball players never get past double A; most don't get past single A. I think it is safe to say that if he had pursued baseball with all his heart after high school he would have progressed further than he did by taking more than a decade off the sport to play basketball.

So is disenfranchisement of felons a state by state issue?

Give Lebron a pair of skates and he is in the NHL in 2 years.

Perfect!

In UK Bobby Sands was elected to Parliament while serving a 14 year prison sentence in 1981.

MLB struck a Faustian bargain with the federal government a long time ago. When MLB got protection from anti-combine legislation it was under the guise that baseball is a legitimate concern of the government. The existence of a multi-state prohibited drug racket is always a concern of government, and the possibility that officials of MLB are complicit either by act or by omission is also their concern.