ChasingBlueSky

why? _________________________________________ you can burn the land and boil the sea, but you can't take the sky from me.... I WILL fly again.....

Have I been to Florida.... Does living in Palm Beach County count? Hmmm...maybe Ha, funny thing - as I was typing that response I thought about checking where you live before I posted that. _________________________________________ you can burn the land and boil the sea, but you can't take the sky from me.... I WILL fly again.....

I am relaxed. I don't not want to be blindly associated with that man and his misguided view of the world just because I am a natural US Citizen. Therefore, since I didn't vote for him, I do not want to be associated with him or his decisions. If this means that one day I need to help pay for a lobbyist to go to the Beltway and undo what this man has done, then I will do that. In the meantime, he is NOT my president. I am just stuck with a warmonger in office for a few more months. _________________________________________ you can burn the land and boil the sea, but you can't take the sky from me.... I WILL fly again.....

Why was it a sham? Gore lost Florida any way you slice it or however many chads you count. Get over it. Well, gee! I feel much better now! Thanks, that help resolved all those questions I have about the missing votes and miscounts in FL. Let it drop? Have you been in FL lately? They are still talking about it down there and there are lawsuits and investigations connected to it to this day. Tutle - a report came out saying that after the bomb in Spain there could be more around the world tied to elections. I don't make this stuff up, I'm just repeating what the "experts" said. And we will continue to get more of these possible terrorist attack warnings. If Ridge knew about them and something happened without his warning the people/press/gov't would be asking for his head on a platter. With the warnings he is covering his ass and letting the cells know that we are on to them in the hopes of stopping their plans. So far, the warnings have been wrong - or have they? I'm sure we do not know all the details but the previous alert changes may have caused us to catch someone trying to do harm to this country. I don't have a problem with the warnings, I think it shows that GW's focus is in the wrong place. _________________________________________ you can burn the land and boil the sea, but you can't take the sky from me.... I WILL fly again.....

I think this thread has gotten off topic. I don't think his point was the PC title of his ethnicity, but more along the lines of jobs, or lack of jobs. Ok, some people don't like the titles, others don't. Let's get back to this topic. The unemplyed demographic is the majority of who I work with on a daily basis, and there are a good amount of them out there that it keeps me employed. If there is a nationality in this country, I've talked to them over the last year about vocational development and career change. The problem is not the motivation, but money. You need money to go to school, but without a job, proof of income, or if you have bad credit it is often impossible to get the training you need to get the career you want. Yes, there is the vocational training unemployment services offers, but it is a joke and takes forever for any money to be approved for a training outside of the classes they offer. I talk to over 100 people a day about education, 97.8% of them cannot pursue most education due to funding. This is not just a black or white thing, it is every race and creed. I watch the excitement of a possible new future drain from their face as they realize they are stuck and will be for some time as they go back to a min wage job and try to improve their credit over the next few years and hope that their life will allow them to pursue the change at that time. _________________________________________ you can burn the land and boil the sea, but you can't take the sky from me.... I WILL fly again.....

So who is your president? you continue to go down the semantics line? geez. you can play that game all day, but my opinion is not changing. so nick pick this reply as well: Um, no one. I don't recognize him as the Pres, I feel the election was a sham, and the future election will be as well with the eVote devices (google to find out why, I think it has been discussed here as well). At the moment, I feel that this country would be better off with no one in the white house than GWB. How is that, I feel anarchy would be better than GWB. Also - I don't support Kerry either, I think he is just as big as a joke, but he will get my vote simply because he is not bush and there are no other options. Lesser of two evils. _________________________________________ you can burn the land and boil the sea, but you can't take the sky from me.... I WILL fly again.....

Sorry Bo, but they're in office now so they DO represent you. They may not be doing what you want but they DO represent you. Not by choice, and according to his approval rating he isn't doing what most of the country wants. I don't care what the semantics are, GW Bush does not represent me. In fact, I am embarrassed and disgusted at what he has done with this country. GWB is not "my" president, and never will be. _________________________________________ you can burn the land and boil the sea, but you can't take the sky from me.... I WILL fly again.....

I didn't vote for my leaders. I don't support them, nor do they represent me. _________________________________________ you can burn the land and boil the sea, but you can't take the sky from me.... I WILL fly again.....

Last I checked, I am not chasing the twins for their picture or asking for interviews. Therefore by default I am respecting that request. What I am doing is mocking the brilliant logic GW seems to have. By asking to have respect as they push further into the spotlight he has drawn more attention. _________________________________________ you can burn the land and boil the sea, but you can't take the sky from me.... I WILL fly again.....

Nope, my family isn't. But then again, my family isn't sitting for press interviews and photo shoots while asking to be left alone at the same time. My family is staying far away from the media. _________________________________________ you can burn the land and boil the sea, but you can't take the sky from me.... I WILL fly again.....

This makes sense...after all, its been proven that an attack in an election year can have an affect on who wins elesewhere in the world and there have been threats in other countries since that. Ridge Reveals Terror Threat Against U.S. By CURT ANDERSON, Associated Press Writer WASHINGTON - Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge said Wednesday that new information on a terrorist threat against the United States "talks about an attack" but said there is no need to raise the national alert level. "I can confirm that we have seen for the past several weeks a continuous stream of reporting that talks about the possibility of attacks on the United States," he said, "but not unlike what we've seen for the past several years." Appearing on morning television news shows in advance of a news conference scheduled later Wednesday by Attorney General John Ashcroft (news - web sites) and FBI (news - web sites) Director Robert Mueller, Ridge said of potential terrorists on U.S. soil: "It's our job, obviously, to try to identify who they are and apprehend them." U.S. counterterrorism and law enforcement officials had said Tuesday that new intelligence indicates that a group of terrorists already deployed inside the United States is preparing to launch a major attack this summer. This information was described by a senior counterterrorism official on condition of anonymity as extremely credible and backed by an unusually high level of corroboration. But Ridge, interviewed on NBC's "Today" show, said there are no current plans to lift the national alert status from Code Yellow, where it currently stands. That's the midlevel alert level on a five-step warning program, higher than green and blue but lower than orange and red. "First of all, every day we take a look at the overall threat reporting that we receive," Ridge said. "There's not a consensus within the administration that we need to raise the threat level. ... We do not need to raise the threat level to increase security. Right now, there's no need to put the entire country on a (elevated) national alert." "At some of the higher-profile events, you had better believe there will be additional security," Ridge said on CBS's "The Early Show." The intelligence does not include a time, place or method of attack but is among the most disturbing received by the government since the al-Qaida attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, the senior counterterrorism official said. "There is clearly a steady drumbeat of information that they are going to attack and hit us hard," the official said. Ashcroft and Mueller were to outline an intensive effort by law enforcement, intelligence and homeland security officials to detect and disrupt any potential plots. And the FBI was dispatching a bulletin to some 18,000 state and local law enforcement agencies warning of the threat. Beginning with Saturday's dedication of the new World War II Memorial in Washington, the summer presents a number of high-profile targets in the United States. They include the G-8 summit in Georgia next month that will attract top officials from some of America's closest allies, plus the Democratic National Convention in Boston in July and the Republican National Convention in August in New York City. The FBI and Homeland Security Department also are concerned about so-called soft targets such as shopping malls anywhere in the United States that offer a far less protected environment than a political convention hall. Of special concern, the counterterrorism official said, is the possibility that terrorists may possess and use a chemical, biological or radiological weapon that could cause much more damage and casualties than a conventional bomb. Los Angeles police held a news conference Tuesday to reassure the public. "We would be foolhardy to ignore those statements, but I think it would be irresponsible to panic," said John Miller, head of the LAPD (news - web sites) counterterrorism bureau. New York Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly said city officials had not been advised that terrorists were plotting an attack there. "We are receiving highly sensitive intelligence information on a regular basis, including today, and there is nothing in that reporting to indicate a specific threat or looming attack against New York City," Kelly said in a statement late Tuesday. The FBI already has created a special task force that is focused solely on dealing with this summer's threat. The task force, whose existence until recently was classified, is intended to ensure that no valuable bits of information or intelligence fall through the cracks, as happened before the Sept. 11 attacks. Other actions to be taken include new FBI interviews with people who may have provided valuable information in the past, distribution of photos of individuals sought for questioning and a fresh examination of older investigative leads to determine whether they might point to elements of the summer plot. U.S. authorities have said repeatedly that al-Qaida is determined to mount an attack on U.S. soil, in part to announce to the world that it remains capable of doing so despite the money and effort that has gone into homeland security since the Sept. 11 attacks. There also is concern terrorists might try to mount an attack to coincide with the November election. The political fallout from the March 11 train bombings in Spain taught al-Qaida that an attack timed to an election can have a major impact. Spain's former ruling party was ousted in the voting that followed the bombing, which killed 191 and injured more than 2,000. The official did not say how many suspected al-Qaida or other terrorist operatives are believed in the country, whether they made their way into the United States recently or have been here for some time. Special security attention already is being focused to the nation's rail, subway and bus lines. _________________________________________ you can burn the land and boil the sea, but you can't take the sky from me.... I WILL fly again.....

It could be lazy, or it could that due to the amount of notes that come out of the war machine on a daily basis, it was easy to miss. Somehow I think we would have gotten the truth a lot quicker if it wasn't an election year. _________________________________________ you can burn the land and boil the sea, but you can't take the sky from me.... I WILL fly again.....

Don't drag them?!? 'Cuse me, but aren't they dragging themselves into the political arena by stumping for pops? Quade, I think you are pushing this issue too much. You are asking for someone in the Bush family to think out what they say and try to have it be logical. Honestly, you are out of control. Please, have respect. _________________________________________ you can burn the land and boil the sea, but you can't take the sky from me.... I WILL fly again.....

Well, you could put $500 down and get $17 jumps, Wed jumps are $14, jumps before 9:30am are $14 as well (yes, the plane does go up before that in good weather). The $20 normal ticket (same cost as the WFFC jump ticket) is still the cheapest jump ticket in Chicago. The amount of money someone from Chicago would "save" by making the 12 hour round trip drive to Mullins would be wasted on driving time and fuel costs. Hans & Kris - PM me, I have spent the last 31 years here and I'm not going anywhere...I know Chicago, the cheapest parking places (I only pay $150/month to park downtown), the best places to eat (I work for a Culinary School), and some of the best places to party...among other things. _________________________________________ you can burn the land and boil the sea, but you can't take the sky from me.... I WILL fly again.....

Save the beer and buy some raffle tickets to help Crystal!

Talk about thoughtful! I forgot one of the sponsors: FreeFall Accessories!!! They are donating two altimeters to our cause, and they will be custom made with a TF logo on them. How cool is that???? Check out the design: www.freefallaccessories.com/tf _________________________________________ you can burn the land and boil the sea, but you can't take the sky from me.... I WILL fly again.....

wow, I don't even get a mention from Mar _________________________________________ you can burn the land and boil the sea, but you can't take the sky from me.... I WILL fly again.....

Wow, I don't know what I was getting upset about - that's great logic, never mind. [/sarcasm] Is that really how military type think? Ok, then swap places: we have a foreign army on our shores, your family wants to hold a wedding away from where suicide bombings are happening on a daily basis, you have to be armed to protect yourself and your family still gets killed and you have to hear propaganda like this to justify their unnessary death. Why do I think you wouldn't have the same reaction? Just because someone has a gun in Iraq doesn't mean they are anti-american...maybe they are just gun proponents over there that are trying to get some american civil rights for themself??? How many people build an airport with a full infrastructure 75 miles from the nearest large city and have a fleet of airplanes that could deposit people, cargo or weapons in the nearby city? Yup, a foreign army could mistake a dropzone as a military target - on top of that, they could think all those tents are the military people in training. Also, most DZs I know would have people that have a small amount of weapons in their car. _________________________________________ you can burn the land and boil the sea, but you can't take the sky from me.... I WILL fly again.....

If this report is even half true, it just goes to show that the Bush War Machine didn't do any long term thinking on what these wars would do in the religous extreme/terrorist community. You have to wonder, did they consult any real experts in this field? By trying to make this country safer, GW's family dispute with Iraq has made this world even more unstable and unsafe for Americans or those that support western cultures. I'm sure the GW supporters will have some rousing anti-Kerry thing to say about this, and honestly, I could care less...this is not a political thing for me, and I don't think Kerry is a great candidate. This is more about where we are right now, and the leadership that has made mistake after mistake to get us to this point. Yes, GW had to do something to protect us...that is not the issue. It just appears he has f*cked everything up. Report: al-Qaida Ranks Swelling Worldwide By BARRY RENFREW, Associated Press Writer LONDON - Far from being crippled by the U.S.-led war on terror, al-Qaida has more than 18,000 potential terrorists scattered around the world and the war in Iraq (news - web sites) is swelling its ranks, a report said Tuesday. Al-Qaida is probably working on plans for major attacks on the United States and Europe, and it may be seeking weapons of mass destruction in its desire to inflict as many casualties as possible, the International Institute of Strategic Studies said in its annual survey of world affairs. Osama bin Laden (news - web sites)'s network appears to be operating in more than 60 nations, often in concert with local allies, the study by the independent think tank said. Although about half of al-Qaida's top 30 leaders have been killed or captured, it has an effective leadership, with bin Laden apparently still playing a key role, it said. "Al-Qaida must be expected to keep trying to develop more promising plans for terrorist operations in North America and Europe, potentially involving weapons of mass destruction," IISS director Dr. John Chipman told a press conference releasing "Strategic Survey 2003/4." At the same time it will likely continue attacking "soft targets encompassing Americans, Europeans and Israelis, and aiding the insurgency in Iraq," he added. The report suggested that the two military centerpieces of the U.S.-led war on terror the wars in Afghanistan (news - web sites) and Iraq may have boosted al-Qaida. Driving the terror network out of Afghanistan in late 2001 appears to have benefited the group, which dispersed to many countries, making it almost invisible and hard to combat, the story said. And the Iraq conflict "has arguably focused the energies and resources of al-Qaida and its followers while diluting those of the global counterterrorism coalition that appeared so formidable" after the Afghan intervention, the survey said. The U.S. occupation of Iraq brought al-Qaida recruits from across Islamic nations, the study said. Up to 1,000 foreign Islamic fighters have infiltrated Iraqi territory, where they are cooperating with Iraqi insurgents, the survey said. Efforts to defeat al-Qaida will take time and might accelerate only if there are political developments that now seem elusive, such as the democratization of Iraq and the resolution of conflict in Israel, it said. It could take up to 500,000 U.S. and allied troops to effectively police Iraq and restore political stability, IISS researcher Christopher Langton told the news conference. Such a figure appeared impossible to meet, given political disquiet in the United States and Britain and the unwillingness of other nations to send troops, he said. The United States is al-Qaida's prime target in a war it sees as a death struggle between civilizations, the report said. An al-Qaida leader has said 4 million Americans will have to be killed "as a prerequisite to any Islamic victory," the survey said. "Al-Qaida's complaints have been transformed into religious absolutes and cannot be satisfied through political compromise," the study said. The IISS said its estimate of 18,000 al-Qaida fighters was based on intelligence estimates that the group trained at least 20,000 fighters in its camps in Afghanistan before the United States and its allies ousted the Taliban regime. In the ensuing war on terror, some 2,000 al-Qaida fighters have been killed or captured, the survey said. Al-Qaida appears to have successfully reconstituted its operations by dispersing its forces into small groups and through working with local allies, such as the Great Eastern Islamic Raiders' Front in Turkey, the report said. "Al-Qaida is the common ideological and logistical hub for disparate local affiliates, and bin Laden's charisma, presumed survival and elusiveness enhance the organization's iconic drawing power," it said. _________________________________________ you can burn the land and boil the sea, but you can't take the sky from me.... I WILL fly again.....

So, for those who didn't think we were for real: http://www.dropzone.com/cgi-bin/safety/detail_page.cgi?ID=227 Once again, thanks to everyone that has helped so far! _________________________________________ you can burn the land and boil the sea, but you can't take the sky from me.... I WILL fly again.....

Happy bday! Hope you get into the air today! _________________________________________ you can burn the land and boil the sea, but you can't take the sky from me.... I WILL fly again.....

stop on by SDC - and look what will be happening this weekend: http://www.dropzone.com/cgi-bin/safety/detail_page.cgi?ID=227 _________________________________________ you can burn the land and boil the sea, but you can't take the sky from me.... I WILL fly again.....

US Credibilty takes another step down. _________________________________________ you can burn the land and boil the sea, but you can't take the sky from me.... I WILL fly again.....

Thanks for the clarification, It makes a big difference in my situation.

Yup - have seen it quite a few times. I would tend to bet we have less injuries and broken bones from traditional accuracy than we do from swooping/sport accuracy. It looks painful, but from what I have been told, it isn't. If you don't like it, don't do it! _________________________________________ you can burn the land and boil the sea, but you can't take the sky from me.... I WILL fly again.....