Tonto

I've never killed anyone for doing something I didn't like in speakers corner. Can't say the same in real life. t It's the year of the Pig.

My Birdman Pantz go "Swish swish swish" t It's the year of the Pig.

That's not a game! That's LIFE! t It's the year of the Pig.

Both excellent intermediate canopies. I think the Pilot's openings are too slow for me. As an AFF I I may be called down to a 2k pull with some students. 1000 ft openings are too slow to accomodate my 1500 ft hard deck for reserve use. I never said it had more power. I said the power was lower down on the control stroke. They are aimed at the same segment of the market. Best is to demo both and choose which you prefer. I don't like the pilot's openings, particularly for wingsuits and AFF. Just too slow, and slow deployments on wingsuits have the potential to create variables beyond our control. Demo. Choose. My opinion means nothing at all. Yours is the one that matters. t It's the year of the Pig.

Have you looked at a map lately? Who's doing the defending and who's doing the overunning? t It's the year of the Pig.

They might. My visa doesn't expire for another 5 years, and I've been several times in the past and caused no trouble. If they don't - well then I guess it's the Margate boogie rather than the Eloy boogie, and the heat of Africa rather than the cold of Boston to contend with! t It's the year of the Pig.

Hi Nac. Complicated, eh? Mark isn't being detained. He's out on bail of 2 bar, and has to say hello to the police every day. I'm glad I'm where I am. I'm looking forward to my month long holiday in the US at the end of the year, and hope not to get too bogged down on the politics issue. I'm prepaired to discuss US politics with anyone in the US, as long as the conversations take place in my mothers native tongue. I'm there to skydive and meet some people in Boston for the very 1st time. Life in SA is simple. Only 2 kinds of South Africans. The quick and the dead. t It's the year of the Pig.

Ooo. I don't know! If I'd known he wasn't standing, I wouldn't have asked the question. Time (or Nac) will tell, I guess! t It's the year of the Pig.

Speaking of which... what does this mean to Tony? George is spectacularly unpopular in the UK, and he and Tony are seen as good mates. Do you think Tony will get sunken? If he does, do you think the next PM will pull the UK troops out of Iraq? Your thoughts? t It's the year of the Pig.

Well I think this election will certainly lay the 2000 demons to rest. I'm only an observer, and a foreign on at that, but it seems statistically unlikely that Kerry will get Ohio, and both IA and NM look closer to Bush anyway. CNN show Bush 254 - Kerry 252 but I think it's all over bar the shouting. t It's the year of the Pig.

And so it should. It was a low profile war nearly 30 years ago, and the US had been out of Vietnam about a year. It was a different world, a different time. It certainly doesn't matter now. Some insight here. http://www.flashpoints.info/countries-conflicts/Angola-web/angola_briefing.html

I don't think that was a betrayal. There was a clear policy shift for the US at that time and they decieded to withdraw support because the Angolan government controlled the oil rich North of the country. Dispite the fact that 15000 Cuban troops were stationed in Angola, the US still traded with them for oil. SA withdrew to the south and supported Unita in a 25 year civil war, while they watched our backs against SWAPO. Unita lasted till Savimbi got slotted, and Swapo got Namibia when it went independant in 1990. (I think) When you're the guy out hiking in the sun, the politics mean little. I just think that few of those guys would trust an American who said "I got your back" again. t It's the year of the Pig.

Well the US was helping SA to stay on top too. I know guys who were 1000km into Angola when that support just vaporised and the guys had a long hard slog to make it back to Nam. Not many Pro US guys among them these days. The US is really good at dropping people when it suits them. t It's the year of the Pig.

Well... I don't have the tape. I just posted what was on the CNN website. The ANC did the same thing with the Apartheid Government. The Military was spending millions of Rands a day to shoot an 18 year old in the bush with a $40 AK-74 every second day. The army was made up largely of conscripts who were constantly drawn away to this war on "camps" lasting anything from a month to three months. Kinda tricky starting a business or keeping a job with that going on. I don't think the National party and F W De Klerk suddenly had a moral epiphany and decieded to change their ways. It just became clear that it costs too much not letting 80% of the population have what they want. t It's the year of the Pig.

Ahh. I do like the way you think. I carry a Mod 71 Beretta, usually on the ankle. (It's hot in Africa) And a Spyderco, often something very tiny like a dragonfly. I like little weapons. t It's the year of the Pig.

No, I don't get warm and fuzzy. I do see the US doing a lot more than destabilising it's neighbors though. Sure, SA built nukes, and SA publicly dismantled them too. When are you going to step back from the brink? t It's the year of the Pig.

And 100kg of steel shot in low orbit would destroy it in about 2 years... t It's the year of the Pig.

There's a history of cheap things sinking expensive things. A few examples. Cavalry - answer? Pike. Suit of armour - answer? Bodkin arrow Castle - answer? Cannon Tank - answer? RPG ect, ect, e-mail is cheap. Manpower to check every threat is not. t It's the year of the Pig.

I agree with you. On election day. It's not so much that people change - they just finally reveal who they really are. I walked out and left everything. Every stick of furniture, every appliance. It was worth it. When I pick up the kids and it (The ex) hugs me, I cringe inwardly. I pay my maintenance each month, speak to my kids daily, have them every second weekend - and am grateful for each day I spend away from that dreadful, immoral, dishonest woman I thought I knew. t It's the year of the Pig.

Al-Jazeera releases full transcript of al Qaeda leader's tape Tuesday, November 2, 2004 Posted: 0107 GMT (0907 HKT) Osama bin Laden delivers a videotaped message broadcast on Arabic-language network Al-Jazeera. (CNN) -- The Arabic-language network Al-Jazeera released a full transcript Monday of the most recent videotape from Osama bin Laden in which the head of al Qaeda said his group's goal is to force America into bankruptcy. Al-Jazeera aired portions of the videotape Friday but released the full transcript of the entire tape on its Web site Monday. "We are continuing this policy in bleeding America to the point of bankruptcy. Allah willing, and nothing is too great for Allah," bin Laden said in the transcript. He said the mujahedeen fighters did the same thing to the Soviet Union in Afghanistan in the 1980s, "using guerrilla warfare and the war of attrition to fight tyrannical superpowers." "We, alongside the mujahedeen, bled Russia for 10 years until it went bankrupt and was forced to withdraw in defeat," bin Laden said. He also said al Qaeda has found it "easy for us to provoke and bait this administration." "All that we have to do is to send two mujahedeen to the furthest point east to raise a piece of cloth on which is written al Qaeda, in order to make generals race there to cause America to suffer human, economic and political losses without their achieving anything of note other than some benefits for their private corporations," bin Laden said. Al-Jazeera executives said they decided to post the entire speech because rumors were circulating that the network omitted parts that "had direct threats toward specific states, which was totally untrue." "We chose the most newsworthy parts of the address and aired them. The rest was used in lower thirds in graphics format," said one official. U.S. intelligence officials Monday confirmed that the transcript made public Monday by Al-Jazeera was a complete one. As part of the "bleed-until-bankruptcy plan," bin Laden cited a British estimate that it cost al Qaeda about $500,000 to carry out the attacks of September 11, 2001, an amount that he said paled in comparison with the costs incurred by the United States. "Every dollar of al Qaeda defeated a million dollars, by the permission of Allah, besides the loss of a huge number of jobs," he said. "As for the economic deficit, it has reached record astronomical numbers estimated to total more than a trillion dollars. The total U.S. national debt is more than $7 trillion. The U.S. federal deficit was $413 billion in 2004, according to the Treasury Department. "It is true that this shows that al Qaeda has gained, but on the other hand it shows that the Bush administration has also gained, something that anyone who looks at the size of the contracts acquired by the shady Bush administration-linked mega-corporations, like Halliburton and its kind, will be convinced. "And it all shows that the real loser is you," he said. "It is the American people and their economy." As for President Bush's Iraq policy, Bin Laden said, "the darkness of black gold blurred his vision and insight, and he gave priority to private interests over the public interests of America. "So the war went ahead, the death toll rose, the American economy bled, and Bush became embroiled in the swamps of Iraq that threaten his future," bin Laden said. U.S. government officials said Friday that the tape appeared to be authentic and recently made. It was the first videotaped message from the al Qaeda leader in nearly three years. It's the year of the Pig.

Absolutely. Cheney's a profit hungry nutter! I think he'd sell Osama WMD's as long as he could turn a profit doing it! t It's the year of the Pig.

Um.. As opposed to detention without trial? I'll let Laser Tag take the knock on that one... t It's the year of the Pig.

I hope that tomorrow brings the people of the US the future they deserve. "There never was a good war, or a bad peace." t It's the year of the Pig.

You're not going to turn this into a "Which 7 summits" thread, are you? Don't have this moved to the climbing forum! t It's the year of the Pig.