jdhill

We gave Iraq intel before being on the bad guy list... may not have been the best move, but we did. Iraq got their reactor from the... wana guess?... the French. We told NK we would sell them a reactor (that is not capable of creating weapons grade materials) if the abandon their weapons program... they never gave up their program, we never delivered the reactor... I think all these things are called "diplomatic measures" which were concidered to be better than getting into a shooting war with them at the time. Maybe you are right, we should have taken a differnt path then...but we didn't. Josh All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing. - Edmund Burke

The government of Yemen was aware and is supportive of anti-terror operations being conducted within their country. They have told their citizens to support the efforts of the security forces in routing out terrorists. They may not have specifically approved the missle firing, but they knew we were there. Josh All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing. - Edmund Burke

Iraq and N. Korea have been on the bad guy list a long time, not just since 9/11. All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing. - Edmund Burke

Another American's opinion.... that's a load of crap! The US already has a certain amount of military influance in many countries, as we train, equip, and advise a large number of them. We don't need to wage war to gain more. Has it allowed us into countries overtly that we would have otherwise needed to do things covertly, sure. But it isn't to control their oil. The war on terror is something that should have been embarqued on a long time ago, either covertly or overtly. We should not allow terrorist to rest, ever, not any of them. The threat of communism in the 50s was as real as the threat of terrorism is today. The war (police action) in Korea was under the flag of the UN, the US just had the majority role (not including the Korean people). The war in Vietnam, well, you can debate the root cause of that for a long time, but it was not started by the US. Yes the US has an interest in stablizing the price of oil, including middle eastern oil, but I don't think anyone is blind to the reason we are hunting terrorists. Just another American's opinion. Josh All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing. - Edmund Burke

who said I would wait for the oh shit one to go off before exercising my emergency procedures... it is really for "oh shit I am getting alot of speed out of my hook turns" when it goes off right as I plane out. All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing. - Edmund Burke

I generally only use two as well, only mine are break off and oh shit... I don't need one to tell me when to pull... Josh All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing. - Edmund Burke

When I lived in Maryland they had a 7 day waiting period, one of the longest in the country... their meaningful background check took 2 days to mail the paperwork to the state, 15 minutes to do the check, and 2 days to mail it back to the dealer, then a few days of BS time... When I lived in Arizona, the check was instant (well, the same 15 minutes, but it was while you waited in the store), then you could leave with the gun (if you passed the check). Who do you think has a higher murder rate (per capita)? Maryland. All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing. - Edmund Burke

Are these true digital photos or video frame grabs? Josh All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing. - Edmund Burke

I got a picture in there... the "sunset" FF exit with the blurb about the Texas 12-ways... Josh All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing. - Edmund Burke

the cuase and effect of guns & murder and CCW & reduced crime are not related to each other... Is it easier to kill someone with a gun, yes... but there are no guns in prison, murders still happen... if someone wants to cause harm to someone else, they will do it with whatever tool is available... if someone wants to do harm to someone that has a gun, they may think twice and either not do it or risk being defeated in their attempt... taking guns out of the hands of law abidding people, leaves them only in the hands of outlaws... not a place I would want to be... try to take the guns away from law abidding people... I think you don't want to see the cause and effect there... The government and anti-gun groups should spend their time and money trying to take the guns away from criminals, using the laws already on the books, not trying to enact new ones. Josh All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing. - Edmund Burke

Military training does not equal knowing how to handle a gun... I know lots of military folks that can't shoot worth a lick... I learned to shoot long before I joined the Army... All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing. - Edmund Burke

Are those homicides gun related or done with swiss army knives? All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing. - Edmund Burke

How about countries where guns are in just about every home, Switzerland and Israel? In Israel's case you would need to adjust for murder by bombings... Oh yeah, those aren't just handguns either, they are the evil "Assault Rifles" that everyone has. Josh All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing. - Edmund Burke

IMO, the FT should work just fine... I used to jump a VX1000, which is slightly smaller but heavier than the 2000. and it handled the weight and size just fine... I switched to a smaller video camera because I wanted to add a second still camera... the FT handles that fine too. No need to spend big $$$$ on a custom job. Josh All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing. - Edmund Burke

You can also look at these decisions by the court and you will see what the opinions have been recently... Perpich v. Dept. of Defense, 496 U.S. 334 (1990) - This is a 1990 Supreme Court case that pretty well extinguishes the argument that the 2nd amendment means states can have a National Guard w/o interference from the feds. Perpich was governor of Minn., who didn't want any of his National Guard troops being put on active duty for training in Central America. In 1987 the federal law that made state Guards part of the US Guard was amended to take away from governors the power to veto active duty missions, except for very limited circumstances; being a commie governor opposed to missions in Central America wasn't one of them. The court said that the feds could if they wanted make state Guards part of the US armed forces, as they had, and subject to being called to active duty as part of the Army, w/o the consent of that state's governor. The court identified the Guard as the "active militia" drawn from the general population of the state, which was the militia. While the court said it might violate the constitution for the feds to do such training with a truly state militia, (under the militia clause of the Constitution) the National Guard was just an extension of the US Guard, which was almost half of the manpower of the US Army, although not on active duty except when needed. Minnesota never made an argument that the 2nd amendment prohibited having the state militia be under the thumb of the feds. Even though that is precisely what HCI would have you believe it means. The National Guard is clearly a militia, but it can hardly be the one in the 2nd amendment, given the otherwise constitutional relationship it has to the federal government. And the opinion in this case was unanimous. Printz v. U.S., - U.S. - (1997) - In this case the Supreme Court reverses the 9th circuit's decision in Mack v. U.S., and decides that the burdens placed on local law enforcement by the Brady handgun control law are unconstitutional, under the 10th amendment, and general federalism principles. These cases and their descriptions are drawn from http://www-2.cs.cmu.edu/afs/cs/user/wbardwel/public/nfalist/supreme_cases.html Josh All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing. - Edmund Burke

And the last gun control measure they ruled on was...? The court has routinely avoided ruling on gun cases, as the congress has routinely buried the bills in committee... They (the court) have a hard time changing the definition of the words without taking away a lot of other "civil rights"... it is an inconsistent argument to say that the framers meant the word "people" to mean an individual right when it comes to free speech and a collective right when it comes to guns... they were written and adopted at the same time... if the 2nd amendment was adopted outside the bill of rights, say as the 11th amendment, then you might have an argument, but it wasn't... it's number 2 and is there to protect all the others from a government that would seek to take the others away. The SC's opinion only counts when they hear cases and make decisions, creating "case law" that cannot be overturned by anything but a Constitutional Amendment or subsequent SC ruling. Up to that point it is opinion of those that make laws, appoint judges, and elect local, state, and federal representatives (THE PEOPLE) who's opinions count. And the fact that we can still own guns shows the opinion that has been expressed by the majority (at least of those that vote). Josh All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing. - Edmund Burke

The intent of the framers has been argued all over the place... defending one's home and property, and providing for ones family was a given in those times... protecting the nation against foreign agressors was one part of the intent, protecting against the tyranny of the government was the other. Either way, the wording is clear... "the right of the people to keep and bare arms shall not be infringed". The militia part is not a prerequisite. "The people" means the same in the second ammendment as it does in the first, an individual right, not a collective one. Josh All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing. - Edmund Burke

I started jumping with a camera at about 400 jumps... USPA does not have a requirement or recommendation for when on can or can't jump camera... there are a few Tandem manufactures that have called out requirements for when a camera person is qualified to jump with one of their tandem instructors, but I have rarely seen thos guidlines followed... There are a lot of reasons people say wait until over x number of jumps... As you sighted, the training for someone with 100 jumps is likely the same as someone with 200 jumps. But someone with 200 has likely been around the sport longer, is more comfortable in the air, should have more awareness and flying skills, and may be less prone to freak out in the event of an emergency...it is important that one can remain calm and be very deliberate in their actions when dealing with and entangled helmet, and it is not likely that someone with 100 jumps can do that (or 200 jumps for that matter). Also, when flying in differnet camera locations, a flyer is very close to be in someone's burble or causing someone to be in theirs, you don't want to be the guy that drops on someone's head and knocks them out (or visa versa), so skills and awareness are key. Someone with 100 jumps just is not likely to be there. Noone should approach staping a camera to the side or top of their head lightly. UNfortunately, many people think it is just falling straign down and no big deal because they have never seen a camera entanglement. I've seen one, and it ain't pretty. Just my opinion. Josh All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing. - Edmund Burke

Do you have an tentative event schedule? Josh All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing. - Edmund Burke

This is not what I did, but if you get a few folks to buy them together it cuts the price down. Josh All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing. - Edmund Burke

Have you used them or just looked at them? I have used them for several differnent programs... Primeier, AE, Photoshop, Illustrator, and GoLive... While I am no expert at any of them, I am better than some professionals that I've had to show how to do things... these tapes will take you from the very basic to more advanced stuff... they do a good job (IMO) of explaining how each tool works and in general how to use it... but to call them extremely basic is selling them short. They start assuming you know nothing about the program and build from there. They are long winded and dry, but they show some tips and tricks that you would not figure out with hours of poking around (especially in AE). I also like the fact that they are video based and come with all the files to follow along with... I learn better seeing it vs. reading about it. JUst playing around with the programs is good... but, IMO, you'll be more effective at poking around after watching something like these programs. Just my opinion. Josh All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing. - Edmund Burke

Try www.TotalTraining.com. Josh All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing. - Edmund Burke

In my experience... when I shot film I used a 28mm and a 35mm. On my d-60, a 20mm is less like the 28mm more like the 35mm... my 15mm fisheye is like a 24mm with a little of the FE effect... You need to be close to use this lens, but I have had some nice shots with it. Josh All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing. - Edmund Burke

you might try e-bay, half.com, or ubud.com... may be able to find a used one. Josh All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing. - Edmund Burke

If you are going to jump it, your list is a good starting point... the only problem is that when you satisfy the requirements you end up with a $800-1500+ camera... If you are not going to jump it, you can do with a lot less. A true "entry level" digital is not going to give you any of the below... Cycle times - This is a factor of how the images are processed and the size of the buffer - I have seen 30+sec. for a full res. shot on the E-20... that is SLOW... you have to be very selective about what pictures you take... it gets better if you back off the res. or size. The D60 has an excellent cycle time. Connector for a remote - This is important, and hard to find on the lower end point and shot type cameras. Unless you want to crack it open, you are looking at an ~$800 minimum. MF - This again is hard to find in the entry level cameras. Some cameras will work OK on AF, others won't (the E20 worked great on AF). Shutter speed - You want something that lets you have a fast shutter speed (200+)... if it has a sports mode it should do ok. Other things you should think about... File size - how many shots can you get on your memory media. This ties in with the cycle times... if your card can't hold as many shots as your cycle time will allow you to take... memory cards are getting cheaper, but are still pricey Media type - There are Smart Media, Compact Flash, and Memory Stick models out there... IMO Compact Flash is the way to go (for compatibility, durability, capacity) Resolution - 3MP+ will allow you to print 8x10 that look like regular pictures Some lower end (and I use that term loosely - they can still cost over $800) models that I have seen people experimenting with are the Nikon Coolpix 5000 and Olympus E10. In the over $1000 category you have the Olympus E20 and Canon D30 (you'll need to buy a lens)... there are some others, but I don't know anything about them... It seems the D60 is the hot choice right now (retail $2200, street $2500) for those that are fairly serious about going digital. Hope this helps.... Josh All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing. - Edmund Burke