bmcd308

>>Funny, in over 10,000rds shot through my Glock 17, I've had one, only one malfunction.

>>All I want to do is fly through the air, I don't really have any interest in working together with a whole bunch of people in freefall.

>>Until a week ago, I hadn't wrote a term paper

>>Someone said the Elan has higher shutter speeds? The Rebel TI goes up to 1/2000th of a second. How fast does the Elan go?

>>But I think there is a difference your lecturer left out....they wear explosives for belts and run into crowds of students and into stores and restaurants, and blow themselves and those around them into bits.

What do you do? ---------------------------------- www.jumpelvis.com

I'll agree with Jose almost completely. The AF performance (for EOS cameras) is primarily determined by the lens, not the camera. You can put a fast-focusing USM lens on a Rebel, and it will focus almost as fast as it would on an Elan. I don't say "just as fast" because I don't really know if an Elan is faster. It is possible that the Elan is faster, because the camera does have a sensor that tells the lens that it is in focus. But most of the time is spent by the lens motor moving the lens, and in the EOS system, the motor is part of the lens, not part of the camera. In low light, the older Elans (Elan II) will blow away the performance of either any Rebel or an Elan 7. This is because they projected an IR grid onto the subject and used that to focus. This was a more expensive focusing aid than using a few flashes from the built-in flash to illuminate the subject, but it worked TONS better. This feature is reserved for the high-end bodies now. I think that low-light AF on most Canons (unless you buy a Speedlight) sucks. The Nikon and Minolta folks here will probably chime in and agree. With regard to your other points, the Elan is defintely both cooler and tougher than the Rebel. In freefall, you can't really use the cool part, though, and the tough part means more weight. I think that Jose and I agree that the Elan is the better camera body. I think we also agree that it is worth the extra money if you are buying it as your primary camera and you will use it on the ground, too. I don't think it is worth the extra $ as an exclusively freefall camera, though. Jose might. BMcD... ---------------------------------- www.jumpelvis.com

touche ---------------------------------- www.jumpelvis.com

Yet another shameless PW thread. I guess I'll get one in while the getting is good. ---------------------------------- www.jumpelvis.com

Obviously, this whole situation was the really big guy's fault. Perhaps if he had offered to build new houses for the obnoxious guy and his friends, this could have been avoided. In any case, the really big guy could have just kept talking to the obnoxious guy, saying the same thing over and over, until one of the obnoxious guy's friends pulled a knife and stabbed the really big guy. Once he had been stabbed, the really big guy should have gone back to everyone else in the bar and asked them to vote on whether he could defend himself. They might have said no, in which case the really big guy should have talked to the obnoxious guy some more and perhaps gotten stabbed again. But if the obnoxious guy had actually done anything to any of the smaller patrons other than pushing them around a little, you can bet they would have begun en masse loudly bleating for the really big guy to kick the obnoxious guy's ass for them. Then they would have all celebrated their victory, while becoming just a little bit more bitter that the really big guy had to step in to defend them. But that's just how it might have happened. BMcD... ---------------------------------- www.jumpelvis.com

I went there a LONG time ago, before I was a skydiver. I have been to SkyVenture in Orlando since becoming a skydiver. While my perspective was very different at SkyVenture, as I look back at PF, there were some differences worth mentioning. First, I really don't think you get the wind speed at PF that you get at SkyVenture. Second, the wind speed at PF is a lot lower as you move away from the center of the column of air. You get a little of this effect at SkyVenture, but at PF you will really notice that you fall off the air if you get out of the center of the tunnel. All in all, I thought SV was better, but I did not feel like I got as much out of my coached tunnel time as some people here say. Part of the problem was that I did not take my own jumpsuit, so I had to learn to fly in their big baggy jumpsuit with the crotch down at my knees. This put tons of drag on the back end, so I had to backslide hard to stay still. If you go, definitely take your own jumpsuit. BMcD... ---------------------------------- www.jumpelvis.com

I think it's a Rem 700 in the new MacMillan stock. I believe USMV snipers have gone to 300 Win Mag. BMcD... ---------------------------------- www.jumpelvis.com

>>Does it seem like a good trade off to give up 1.5 FPS for a camera that is a bit smaller and weighs 7.6 oz less?

>>Wings are fine rigs, not very atractive IMO

>>No...actually slavery was declared illegal by the federal government. That's what ended slavery. War wasn't necessary to pass that federal law. The South then fought against the authority of the federal government for that reason as well as many others.

>>That is exactly right. Our constitution protects our freedom of speech in the strongest possible terms; it does not protect our daily lives from disruption. There is a big difference there.

>>should be seeking approval, and most likely a permit, from local authorities in order to conduct your demonstration within the law. >I did not participate in the poll because, as usual in polls, the choices were totally skewed.

>>Once again, I hear the distant jingle of love beads, >and smell a faint aroma of incense.

If you got close enough to Leela, wouldn't she have two eyes? Your brain would not be able to overlap the images from your left and right eyes, so you would see two. ---------------------------------- www.jumpelvis.com

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/nm/20030403/ts_nm/life_protests_dc_1 As "far rightie" I happen to like this little (and becoming smaller every day) document called the Constitution, which says that stuff like this is bullsh!t. Most "moderate" righties will disagree with me on this one, as will most "moderate" lefties. But we'll see how moderate dz.commers are when we read the responses from all political fronts to this little gem (BTW, the "conservative" that they quote is obviously not a "conservative", but a "fascist", at least on this single issue): PORTLAND, Oregon (Reuters) - An Oregon anti-terrorism bill would jail street-blocking protesters for at least 25 years in a thinly veiled effort to discourage anti-war demonstrations, critics say. The bill has met strong opposition but lawmakers still expect a debate on the definition of terrorism and the value of free speech before a vote by the state senate judiciary committee (news - web sites), whose Chairman, Republican Senator John Minnis, wrote the proposed legislation. Dubbed Senate Bill 742, it identifies a terrorist as a person who "plans or participates in an act that is intended, by at least one of its participants, to disrupt" business, transportation, schools, government, or free assembly. The bill's few public supporters say police need stronger laws to break up protests that have created havoc in cities like Portland, where thousands of people have marched and demonstrated against war in Iraq (news - web sites) since last fall. "We need some additional tools to control protests that shut down the city," said Lars Larson, a conservative radio talk show host who has aggressively stumped for the bill. Larson said protesters should be protected by free speech laws, but not given free reign to hold up ambulances or frighten people out of their daily routines, adding that police and the court system could be trusted to see the difference. "Right now a group of people can get together and go downtown and block a freeway," Larson said. "You need a tool to deal with that." The bill contains automatic sentences of 25 years to life for the crime of terrorism. Critics of the bill say its language is so vague it erodes basic freedoms in the name of fighting terrorism under an extremely broad definition. "Under the original version (terrorism) meant essentially a food fight," said Andrea Meyer of the American Civil Liberties Union (news - web sites) (ACLU), which opposes the bill. Police unions and minority groups also oppose the bill for fear it could have a chilling effect on relations between police and poor people, minorities, children and "vulnerable" populations. Legislators say the bill stands little chance of passage. "I just don't think this bill is ever going to get out of committee," said Democratic Senator Vicki Walker, one of four members on the six-person panel who have said they oppose the legislation. Edited for spelling in rant. ---------------------------------- www.jumpelvis.com

>>Would that be from a book about leading small units.

No disagreement here. While I would agree that their mysogynism probably made them quite surprised when they found out the soldier who had been killing them in large numbers weighed in at a buck and quarter and could not grow a beard, I guess the point I was trying to make is that the reporter's tone struck me as having a little mysogynism to it, as well. As if any women should be repulsed by a gun or something. For some strange reason (likely a mental defect), I am still surprised and disappointed when the hoplophobia of journalists shines through in their reporting of the news. BMcD... ---------------------------------- www.jumpelvis.com

If I am not mistaken, the Wings manual says stowed lines against the backpad (grommet to pin) or stowed lines against the bottom of the reserve container, the opposite of the direction most people rotate the bag. Mine looks better with the lines against the backpad, so I always pack it that way. Am I misreading the manual? ---------------------------------- www.jumpelvis.com

>>The troops did a good thing and lowered their guns and took a knee. They withdrew to get things settled. This is a good show of regard for the locals. It will get sorted out I hope and all will understand. Good command on the field to do what they did.

I think the funny part about this is the headline - "...Fought Captors with Gun" As if I'm supposed to be surprised that a SOLDIER shot at somebody when she thought she was going to get killed. Why is it that people continue to believe that a woman cannot stop or send a bullet just as well as a man? I don't know if any of you guys get Shotgun Sports magazine, but there is an article this month by a female world-class shooter who is basically completely fed up with guys who act like it is a big deal when she kicks their ass. It's kind of funny - she's like "I am a world class skeet shooter. I do this for a living. Of course I kicked your ass." Anyway, shooting sports are gender neutral at their core, even if there is a women's class, and I would expect nothing less of a femal soldier than to shoot back when the sh!t hit the fan. Please don't get me wrong, I am not taking anything away from her. In that situation, there were probably soldiers of both genders who did not keep a cool head and do what they were supposed to do. I read somewhere that even in the Marines (study was from Vietnam), that in Vietnam firefights only four out of ten actually aimed and fired their weapons, with another two to four firing at random, and the rest seeking cover. Trouble is, you never knew which guys were going to do which in a given firefight. Anyway, my point is not that she did not act with heroism and valor. My point is only that we should not be surprised by heroism and valor coming from a female, and reading the article, I got a little of that tone. Maybe I just need more coffee. If this makes no sense, please flame me. BMcD... ---------------------------------- www.jumpelvis.com