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It's about sacrifice, a concept a large number of Americans have a hard time with. It's too bad the terrorists aren't having a hard time with it. I'll sacrifice a lot of things but my constitutional freedoms are not on the list. It sucks that it takes longer to get through the airport but I'm willing to bet the regularly traveling business man has a harder time with this sacrifice than I do. If he wants to subject himself to a background check and pay a fee to get through the line quicker more power to him. However I don't think either of us want our e-mails screened or someone tracking them down because of what they posted on a board like this. Hell my 12 year old son mentioned in school once that the planet would be better off without people and he now has a file at the police department indicating he made terroristic statements. Sorry it is not up to me to prove myself innocent. It is up to authorties to prove me guilty and they have to have cause before they can start snooping around. Edit to fix a typo "Truth is tough. It will not break, like a bubble, at a touch; nay, you may kick it about all day like a football, and it will be round and full at evening." -- Oliver Wendell Holmes

From dictionary.com Scientists use definition one when speaking of theory, laymen use definition six. "Truth is tough. It will not break, like a bubble, at a touch; nay, you may kick it about all day like a football, and it will be round and full at evening." -- Oliver Wendell Holmes

Nearly everything else you purchase in life has the same subsidy. We also subsidize the cost of shoplifting, breakage, employee theft, etc., etc., etc. Insurance rates are not based solely on your performance but everyone in your group. And if they have big losses in a year because of a natural disaster we all get to pay more. "Truth is tough. It will not break, like a bubble, at a touch; nay, you may kick it about all day like a football, and it will be round and full at evening." -- Oliver Wendell Holmes

Definately a MC/Visa thing and in many, maybe all, states a state law as well. The CC companies see it as discouraging the use of the card and the states see it as an abuse of the customer. Credit cards are part of the cost of doing business and the DZ needs to figure it into the pricing. Worst case (5% + 25 cents) it adds about a $1.00 to the cost of jump at the prices I pay. If half the people pay cash and half credit cards then it would be fifty cents to every ticket. "Truth is tough. It will not break, like a bubble, at a touch; nay, you may kick it about all day like a football, and it will be round and full at evening." -- Oliver Wendell Holmes

Best scene in the movie is when Jamie is stripping and misses the post. "Truth is tough. It will not break, like a bubble, at a touch; nay, you may kick it about all day like a football, and it will be round and full at evening." -- Oliver Wendell Holmes

None of them deserve the kind of money they got. Something to make up for the loss of income provided by an SO, if that loss is going to hurt you, is what they deserve, not millions of dollars. People should also check out the deal that the NYPD and FDNY spouses get when the loose someone in the line of duty. Continued pay, medical benefits, etc. But they also bitched to get millions in additional compenstation. All about greed. "Truth is tough. It will not break, like a bubble, at a touch; nay, you may kick it about all day like a football, and it will be round and full at evening." -- Oliver Wendell Holmes

Let's see here, last time I checked the coalition was supposed to be the "good guys." To me that means being morally better than the "bad guys." We are supposed to take the high ground and do things the "right way." Once a person is caputured/subdued I would think that shooting him was probably not the "right thing to do." "Truth is tough. It will not break, like a bubble, at a touch; nay, you may kick it about all day like a football, and it will be round and full at evening." -- Oliver Wendell Holmes

First off I do not agree with the means these people are taking to get their point across. Second point. History is written by the victors. What would we have called the founding fathers if they had lost and we were still British subjects? Thirdly all of these wonderful new legal powers and we have seven AQ associated terrorists inside the country. How the hell did they get in? "Truth is tough. It will not break, like a bubble, at a touch; nay, you may kick it about all day like a football, and it will be round and full at evening." -- Oliver Wendell Holmes

Not if it puts money in your pocket. "Truth is tough. It will not break, like a bubble, at a touch; nay, you may kick it about all day like a football, and it will be round and full at evening." -- Oliver Wendell Holmes

Heard a good one yesterday. After the camera man did the standard "have you taken your Prozac" question of the TM he asked if he had taken his Viagra. When the TM said yes the camera man suggested that it was going to be a "packed jump." "Truth is tough. It will not break, like a bubble, at a touch; nay, you may kick it about all day like a football, and it will be round and full at evening." -- Oliver Wendell Holmes

You should have come out this evening. After 5:00 is was just us kids. "Truth is tough. It will not break, like a bubble, at a touch; nay, you may kick it about all day like a football, and it will be round and full at evening." -- Oliver Wendell Holmes

Go with your plan. Keep the cart at your house and after each report card decide who gets to use it. "Truth is tough. It will not break, like a bubble, at a touch; nay, you may kick it about all day like a football, and it will be round and full at evening." -- Oliver Wendell Holmes

Our foriegn policy did create a large part of the problem That and the arrogance of the average American traveling overseas. You are right that "making nice" is not going to make the current problem go away but we have to begin making fundamental changes in how we do business. As to troops in Europe, I was one. the official line is that we are not there to protect them but to offer joint defense capabilities. I would have no problem with bringing the troops home from Europe and the rest of the world but I doubt you would find any support in any US administration. Without our large and obvious presence those guys might get even crazier ideas about running their parts of the world the way they want to and we would have a real hard time stopping them. In addition to being about oil the invasion of Iraq is about having a place to stage US troops to keep an eye on the middle east. Bush and Powell have made some interesting commitments lately about sticking to the schedule of turning over power and about leaving Iraq if they ask us to. It will be interesting to see how this plays out. "Truth is tough. It will not break, like a bubble, at a touch; nay, you may kick it about all day like a football, and it will be round and full at evening." -- Oliver Wendell Holmes

I had to pick a person to reply to so I choose the person who opened the thread. This post is not aimed at a particular person but a thought process. To every American here who posts a one liner slam or a thoughtless diatribe at non-Americans who don't agree with you, maybe you should see the trend. A large chunk of the rest of the world is pissed off at us, not just Muslim fundamentalists. Everything American is not perfect. Plenty of things from other political and religious systems make sense. Three years in Germany taught me that they care far more for their neighborhoods and cities than we do. Austrians are some of the most fun people I have met. My parents tell me of wonderful times in Chile when I was too young to remember. England and Wales are also great places. Do you remember that kid in school who said eveyone else was a jerk because he/she was unliked? Hard to believe wasn't it? The US has become that child. "Truth is tough. It will not break, like a bubble, at a touch; nay, you may kick it about all day like a football, and it will be round and full at evening." -- Oliver Wendell Holmes

I don't agree with what is going on IF it is a speed trap but this streatch of road is not "a desolate road." "Truth is tough. It will not break, like a bubble, at a touch; nay, you may kick it about all day like a football, and it will be round and full at evening." -- Oliver Wendell Holmes

You are thinking of Texas Skydiving at http://www.austinskydiving.com/ "Truth is tough. It will not break, like a bubble, at a touch; nay, you may kick it about all day like a football, and it will be round and full at evening." -- Oliver Wendell Holmes

Actually, I believe they are rings. We already have one person at the DZ who now sports a 'gimple', we don't need any more; I'm pretty sure she'll be taking them out or taping them. If it is Kim from the YR the last time I saw it was barbells. Beautiful young lady BTW. "Truth is tough. It will not break, like a bubble, at a touch; nay, you may kick it about all day like a football, and it will be round and full at evening." -- Oliver Wendell Holmes

Ahh, is it Kim? "Truth is tough. It will not break, like a bubble, at a touch; nay, you may kick it about all day like a football, and it will be round and full at evening." -- Oliver Wendell Holmes

Please not on Sunday, this I don't want to see. Well, wait a minute who is she? "Truth is tough. It will not break, like a bubble, at a touch; nay, you may kick it about all day like a football, and it will be round and full at evening." -- Oliver Wendell Holmes

Leaving basic physical shape out of it for now and just talking about mental rediness I think you would be surprised what a little stress can do to straighten a person out. Some of those dudes that date your sister might just surprise you if their lives were on the line. "Truth is tough. It will not break, like a bubble, at a touch; nay, you may kick it about all day like a football, and it will be round and full at evening." -- Oliver Wendell Holmes

So given that lots of people probably don't store their gear in optimal conditions 180 days is probably not a bad compromise. This is life saving equipment after all and if you can balance the damage done by the repack against the damage done by less than optimal storeage you can probably find a "reasonable" time period for the re-pack cycle. "Truth is tough. It will not break, like a bubble, at a touch; nay, you may kick it about all day like a football, and it will be round and full at evening." -- Oliver Wendell Holmes

Outside of some rare specialties if we reach the point were we have to call up these folks, I was one once too, we are in deep trouble. As I allueded to in my initial post if we can't get enough volunteers maybe the populice doesn't support the war. On the other hand I have read that most people who served in WWII were draftees which kind of blunts the "I don't want a draftee covering my back" argument. "Truth is tough. It will not break, like a bubble, at a touch; nay, you may kick it about all day like a football, and it will be round and full at evening." -- Oliver Wendell Holmes

Because in the cases you described there was no choice but to pack the reserve before using it again. The thread, at least as I read it, is about opening up a packed reserve, inspecting it, and repacking. At what point are we doing more harm than good? Your experience with the degradation of the canopy after several re-packs helps to bolster the argument that it is possible to do it too oftern. On the other hand if a person is not storing the rig properly a frequent re-pack cycle might save their life even if it shortens the useful life of the canopy. I don't have enough experience in this area to have an opinion, only questions. It would seem to me that a properly packed and stored reserve should be good for a fairly long period of time. However if it gets dumped in saltwater, thrown in the trunk and left to mold for a week or two it is probably not much use to anyone. "Truth is tough. It will not break, like a bubble, at a touch; nay, you may kick it about all day like a football, and it will be round and full at evening." -- Oliver Wendell Holmes

OK so the research is already done. How often does PD think a reserve should be re-packed? Following their recommendations makes a lot more sense that what appears to be an abitrary amount of time selected by the government. Did you notice the smiley face? I was making a joke about the re-pack of a reserve that had been used. "Truth is tough. It will not break, like a bubble, at a touch; nay, you may kick it about all day like a football, and it will be round and full at evening." -- Oliver Wendell Holmes

There are a lot of posts here that touch on this topic but none are explicitly about it, or no recent ones anyway. The US government is considering a draft and naturally there are a lot of opinions. One side is the that all volunteer force better represents the country. The other is that drafting can be made equal. I am able to agree with both. By making the rules pretty simple, as the current administration seems to have done, it probably guarantees an equal representation of the population. However what to me seems more important is that if you can't get enough volunteers then maybe the populace doesn't really believe in the war. "Truth is tough. It will not break, like a bubble, at a touch; nay, you may kick it about all day like a football, and it will be round and full at evening." -- Oliver Wendell Holmes