AndyMan

Oh, you're Canadian. Right. I guess you'd know these things... _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

. Trust me on this, Canada has same sex mariages. Well, specifically Ontario and British Columbia have had it for six monthes. It's implied in the rest of the country, and that won't be technically accurate until the federal government passes a bill that expressly enables it. That bill is expected in the spring, before the next election. In Ontario and Quebec gay marriages are allowed by a court ruling which ruled unconsitutional the previous rules. Back in August there was a flood of American gay couples heading to Toronto for weddings, a flood that only stopped when San Francisco started doing it south of the border. _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

No, Canada has had for about 6 six monthes now too. Strangely, its one of the core reasons my wife wants us to move there. _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

Whenever you take the thoughts and ideas of an individual and apply it to a group, it's called a stereotype. Stereotypes are the basis of racism. John, do the math, for gods sake just once think about what you post before you hit that magic button. _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

I too, am flabergasted that he went forward with this. If it does somehow become sub-zero in hades, and this actually goes through, allow me to make a prediction: It will be the shortest lived constitutional amendment, ever. It will last even shorter then the prohibition of alcohol, which only lasted 10 years, IIRC. _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

To a large degree, you should expect a lot of washed out colors with "one chip" consumer grade camcorders. This is the one reason that I've got a Sony VX2100 on my long term shopping list. The VX2100 is a "3-chip" camera, and the colors are absolutely stunning. What is all this 1-chip, 3-chip crap? All digital cameras and camcorders use a special type of chip to pick up the images they're presented with. These chips are either known as CMOS (Complimentary Metal Oxyde Semiconductor), or CCD (charged coupled device). All of the Sony camcorders use CCD chips. The consumer grade cameras use a single CCD that is specially designed to pick up 3 different colors: red, green, and blue. A 3-chip camera has 3 separate CCD's, each CCD specializing in one color. Why are 3-chip cameras better? Personally, I think its just a matter of size - the overall size of the 3 CCD's are bigger then the single CCD found in smaller cameras, but regardless - all cameras with 3 CCD's have will present a much improved picture with stronger colors than cameras with a single CCD. 3-chip cameras are also a hell of a lot bigger, and a hell of a lot more expensive then a single-chip camera. As someone mentioned, polarizing lenses do need to be physically adjusted so that a certain part of the lens is twisted towards the direction of the sun. I supose its possible that if you know the direction of jumprun to set this up on the ground prior to EVERY jump, but it sounds like a pain in the ass to me. You may find it useful on the ground, though. I'm not sure what kind of effect it would have on a one-chip camera. _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

Sounds like it should be called "Universal Soldier".... _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

No. A hard opening parachute falls into a pretty wide range of what constitutes "properly operating". BTW - the only time I've heard of people having long term neck issues are after long term jumping under consistently hard opening canopies. That's just stupid - if it opens consistently hard, jump something else. _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

I am madly in love with craichead. That's why I married her. _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

Of course not. Students put their trust in their instructors. Elements of the waiver disclaiming quality of gear are meaningless. _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

I see it the other way. Someone who displays gross or criminal negligence is not worthy of being a friend, nor do I have any sympathy for them. You need to understand what Gross Negligence means. It doesn't mean picking the wrong spot. It could mean somebody orders a rig from a gear retailer, and instead of installing that new PDR, the dealer chooses instead to install a 1927 silk round thats been half eaten by moths, meanwhile charging for the new PDR and telling the jumper he got the new one. The jumper would have no reason to question the rigger seal, nor is examining the gear customary. Clearly that case would be criminal negligence. When the jumper goes in, I'd be all for both a criminal and civil trial against the rigger. First lock him up, then take his house. It could mean the airplane owner is too cheap to buy LL100, and instead chooses to drive to the corner gas station and fill a few barrels of regular unleaded. The plane crashes shortly after takeoff and kills everyone. This would probably be simple case of gross negligence. Friends don't kill friends to save a few cent/gallon. Anyone would would treat their customers in such a crass manner is not a friend, and deserves no protection. _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

The Precision case is the worst possible example, ever. They didn't even bother to defend themselves, how could the jury do anything but award huge damages? No arguments were presented in opposition, so none were considered. The only arguments considered where the ones presented. How on earth could you expec the jury to decide anything different, nobody even suggested anything! _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

Am I correct in assuming that you've never quit a job? _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

Am I ok with it? Well, it certainly would suck. I'd be in a pretty good position because I presume I'd already have their (or their banks) money. I do acknowledge their right to do that though, and I would have protected myself by buying Title Insurance - as anyone involved in a real estate transaction should. Its said that verbal contracts are worth the paper their printed on, but its also true that a poorly written contract is equally worthless. Parts of the typical skydiving agreement are worthless. My favorite was one that said if anybody sued, they'd have to pay everyone named $10,000 for the privelege, then proceeded to list off 200 different people and entities. _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

Exactly. I consider parts of the waiver not that different then a Ford dealership asking for my first grandson when I go to buy a car. If I want the car, I'll sign the contract knowing full well its unenforcable. Generally though, I do understand and respect the waiver, and understand the risks that I take. My concerns are pretty much in line with what the waiver wouldn't cover anyways, such as criminal or truely gross negligence. I choose who I do business with in this sport to avoid the issue altogeather. My DZ has consistently made good choices, which is part of the reason they haven't had a serious accident involving jumpers in 10 years. The likelihood of them being involved in gross negligence is pretty slim, I think. To a large degree, this discussion is moot. Anyone with health insurance largely gave up the right NOT to sue when they bought the insurance. If you get busted up badly the insurance company will sue on your behalf, and there's very little you'll be able to do to stop them. Of course they'll be bound by the agreements you signed, but as discussed "waivers" are not bulletproof. _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

What I think it comes down to, is that there are very few jobs in this world where there is an obligation to inform anyone of HIV status. You are not the first person to find yourself in this situation, thankfully you are in a position to choose your own outcome. It really is up to you. What you should remember is that there are cops, doctors, nurses, and even firefighters in some jurisdictions who work while being HIV+. I'm sure a lot of people would object if they knew, but thankfully we live in a society where privacy is a right. I have absolutely no doubt that parents would be up in arms if they knew an HIV teacher was teaching their children gym class. The only reason parents aren't up in arms is that they don't know about it when it happens. It simply isn't any of their business, they don't have that right. Thankfully the courts have been pretty consistent in this area too. You are in a position to choose your outcome, and the're a long list of pioneers ahead of you that have given you the right to make these decisions for yourself. It really is your choice. That said, I think you owe to to yourself to really consider what alternatives exist. This really isn't a "tm or no tm" question. There's a great many people who get a lot of enjoyment from videoing tandems, for example. They still get a sense of that same excitement as the TM, but are just one step removed. _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

They have also been set asside. The waiver did little to protect Precision a few monthes back. The fact is that it depends on a lot of things, many of which I don't understand, some of which I do. The known-drunk pilot in alc-anon is a great example. No waiver would protect a DZ in this case, and I won't be loosing any sleep over this fact either. _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

For the same reason I park my car in a garage which claims they're not responsible for damage to my car. While I generally agree with most points in the waiver, I know that some of them will be completely disregarded by any court of law. _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

Not enough information. In the hypothetical question, am I a student? What kind of Serious Injuries? Am i now a parapalegic? Will the instructors decision affect my quality of life? We can talk all we want about "individual risks", and how we understand and accept these risks, but typically students do NOT understand the risks, and especially on first jumps are entirely dependent on their instructors to make good judgements for them. Students can not make good judgements on their own as they have no knowledge to guide their decisions. I'm a USPA coach, and I do hope to be an instructor. If I made a decision that directly resulted in a serious injury I would personally feel guilty about my decisions. If I feel personal responsibility, then legal responsibility can not be that far away. That said, the situation as described I don't think I would lose very much sleep. Students are taught how to land their parachutes, and they are expected to perform certain tasks. Landing their parachute weather on or off the dropzone is entirely the students responsibility, and they have been adequately trained to do it, and are expected to perform. Additionally, nobody ever got injured from "landing off". "Landing off" does not in-of iteself result in injuries. "Landing off" can contribute to a series of events that results in injuries though, but it is ultimately other actions - such as flying into objects, not flaring, or low turns that result in injuries. Students are always taught to avoid objects no matter where they are, they're taught to avoid low turns, and flare their landings even when landing "off". If they do these tasks as instructed they will land safely no matter if they're "off" or "on" the DZ. If a student does get injured while landing off, the direct cause is their inability to follow directions rather then the spot. Bad spots don't kill, poor piloting does. In the situation as described, I can't see any reason to sue. _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

I would keep that tidbit of information to yourself, and only reveal it if medically necesary. 99% of the time quite simply it is nobodys business but your own. I would keep jumping and instructing in the sport that you love. __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

In 90% of the cases, the customer has their video about 15 minutes after their jump. _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

The Gunner has two pockets on the inside of the helmet, you just put the audible in the pockets. helmet manufacturers have all converted to inside mounting posistions for audibles. Not only can you hear it better, but there's a lesser chance of snag points. _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

Premiere has some good basic editing tools for .mp3's. You can chop a file, do fades, even speaker balance - left/right and 5.1 There's no reason you need to convert to .wav, or any silliness like that. _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

I think the best thing to do with Haiti is absolutely nothing, and in hindsight, that would have been best 4 years ago. The problem was that Arristide put up a front of democracy, and 4 years ago American fell for it. American went into Haiti thinking they were helping a struggling democracy, when in reality they were propping up a dictator. Had America seen clearly, they would have avoided Haiti then, and they - and everyone else, should now. Jean Bertrand Aristide should be allowed to fall, and the world should help clean up the mess afterwards. _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

I'd put my vote on "Kids". _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.