Andrewwhyte

What about simple possesion of anthrax or plutonium? Do they warrant lengthy prison terms?

ambivalent? indifferent?

Forget about getting a visa as a pilot. It is a job designation on their 'no chance' list. Canada is full of pilots with FAA AT ratings who cannot get visas for advertised jobs.

Umm, no. the home DZ of the Rodriguez Brothers is in Waterville Nova Scotia.

What about the bouncing yogis (Natural Law party). They actually polled enough to be listed apart from 'others' in 2000.

Oh I don't know, maybe the King of Saudi Arabia will be assassinated like he was the last time they had an embargo. The power structure in China are the ones getting rich off capitalism. They are unlikely to endanger their wealth and power in such a move (back to the McDonalds principle). I didn't say they were God, I said they were the preeminent players on the world stage. Are you talking about the international banker/communist/homosexual/freemason/Council for Foreign Relations conspiracy? The McDonald's principle doesn't work to protect the interests of the working shmucks. It exists to protect the powerful who enhance their power from commerce. This is as true in China as anywhere else. That sentence alone makes me happy I didn't go to school here and sad my children will have to..... One of the greatest things about Canada is that the first article of the Constitution Act of 1982 guarantees everyone the right to leave without asking permission. If you feel you can do better for your children by leaving,...see ya.

Skydekkar, Your post makes me embarrased to share a country with you. No, the US just makes the most noise. I think many people outside the US think Americans are ignorant, because statements like this keep surfacing. No, the US does play the pre-eminent role in global affairs. Your denial of this is just dumb. it is typical of te knee-jerk anti-Americanism which is becoming endemic in our society. The sourse of China's power over the US is the McDonalds principle (no countrys with Mcdonalds have ever gone to war); it is economic. The problem with this is that it is essentially MAD; economic allies cannot assail each other without doing themselves greivous harm (back to Bill's analogy about the apartment). Your jingoistic anti-Americanism is as dumb as jingoistic the pro-Americanism you are arguing against.

China will also be happy to import more oil from us. In fact we have had ministers over there recently to explore that very option. While most Canadians don't want NAFTA in the dumpster, there is a growing contingent that question it's use given the administration's illegal (US law) sanctions on softwood lumber. The most common retaliation being bandied about is an export tax on oil and gas to the US like we had twenty years ago. But that's OK. You can shake off the economic hiccup the disruption of your principle energy supplier can cause, you're not really vulnerable there, are you?

82% of Iraqis.

I started smoking when I was seven years old. By the time I was an adult I smoked twenty a day. I quit many times and started again. If I had one I was back to twenty a day within a week. When I quit the most recent time (about ten years ago) I had a jar on the refrigerator. Every day I put the price or a pack of twenty in the jar. Posted on the 'fridge was a list of stuff I wanted to spend the money on. I think tangible things like 'I-pod' are better than 'skydives' because you can look at it and smile. Of course 'plane ticket to eloy' is also tangible. The one thing that got me through is headspace. Whenever I got the craving for a cigarette I remembered that I was no longer a slave, that i was no longer one of those losers. If some people today consider me a bit strident about cigarettes, so be it. This is the attitude that lets me have a better life.

Hell no! It was only -5 celcius this morning and it's supposed to be even warmer tomorrow. SKYDIVE!

Quote....unstable reserve deployment...Rounds open every time...Quote Bullshit!

it won't see the light of day, given the Depression it would cause. It is irreversible. Ding! Ding! Ding!

Deducting home mortgages from personal income taxes is an economic policy disaster. This policy has succeeded in turning the population of the wealthiest country in the world into mortgage slaves who have little, if any home equity. The result has been a transfer of ownership from the people to the banking sector with the governmental share of the economy remaining constant. It has not resulted in increasing the volume of housing stock, rather it has just increased the price of the existing stock. Sadly it is a piece of public policy that is unreversable; to back out of it would cause carnage unthinkable.

I think you mean lattitude. Excelent Pinot Noir.

I could have, but we were talking about superior beverages. Saying Canadian beer is better than American swill is a pretty backhanded compliment. For superior drinking I defer to our European friends at places like St. James Gate, Ruttles etc.

Hello? All y'all never heard of Guinness?

Why hanging? Why not exposure to the beast? Now that will get ratings.

I just had this conversation with a couple of DZO's who were looking at buying some of our student gear. They are adamant they are going to stick with round reserves. At first I thought it was a money thing, but I am convinced now that they really believe it is a good idea. This is similar to the SOS idea. Some DZs have gear that only has one handle to do everything in an emergency. The idea is that it simplifies EPs for the student. If these people really think round reserves are superior then why don't they have them in their rig. My advice is to learn at a DZ that uses square reserves. After you have your own gear you should go back to this other place; they are likely nice people, just not the best place to be a student.

Yes, but you still have to answer for that Celine Dion thing. She's Quebecoise. Take it up with Remy

The article says we are the second worst for water consumption. Have these people ever seen a map of Canada; we do have a bit of water to consume.

This has to do with their California employees. I remember when Jaap Suter worked for them he got a couple of hours off on a Wednesday night to make a jump once. I don't think he had time to pack after or anything, but how much time do you want? So it's way better in Van.

Do you think the difference between this material will be that much more significant than the difference between F111 and ZeroP? I'm not even sure you could say ZP opens harder than F111 or causes more opening shock deaths due to the canopy fabric? Or does it? I don't know, just trying to put it into a perspective. I'm not sure there is a difference in the coefficient of elasticity of F-111 and ZP. As far as I know the problems with opening shock on most modern parachutes verses older ones tend to be thought to be related to the elastic differences between dacron and spectra lines. There are certainly others on these forums more knowledgeable than me on this subject.

I haven't seen the video (software issues) but if a commercial airliner is below you on jump run I'm guessing that you are in class C airspace. ATC should be giving you traffic if not positive separation if it is. I jumped for years over Pitt Meadows BC which is on the approach to Vancouver International. Seeing jets below is just not unusual. They are usually between 5000 and 6000 ft when they cross the Pitt Meadows VOR. Sometimes it unnerves visiting jumpers, but we have gotten used to putting our faith in the ATC system just like millions of air travelers do every day. If there is an airliner below 18 000' going through "your" airspace they must be being directed there by controllers; it sounds like there is a communication problem between the DZ and either ATC or the FAA.

There's no oil in Afghanistan.