AndyMan

Nutshell: In covering the Iraq war last year, 73 percent of the stories on Fox News included the opinions of the anchors and journalists reporting them, a new study says. By contrast, 29 percent of the war reports on MSNBC and 2 percent of those on CNN included the journalists' own views. Originally published in the Washington Post, here's a reprint in the Twin Cities Pioneer Press. http://www.twincities.com/mld/twincities/entertainment/11173216.htm _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

You hit the nail on the head. There are better systems. The biggest objection I have, is that I have no intention of jumping such a big video camera, there's no point to such a big mount. That's an awefull lot of wasted real-estate. I'd much rather have a system like the Flat-Top-Pro, that gives me endless mounting options with a plethora of different sized tools. Other downsides I see, is that it's based on a Pro-tec, which is a very loud helmet - no sound insulation near the ears. I've never liked the fit of pro-tecs. The chin cup looks weak. I haven't used one, but I'm sceptical. The ringsite is the orange lolipop style, which are OK. Clearly a concentric ringsite is much better. On the other hand, the whole system is incredibly cheap. Myself, I'd rather buy something that will work better. _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

Standing up a PC is a finesse manuever, which is entirely optional. Not standing up a PC is perfectly respectable for your first jump. My one and only PC jump, I landed in corn, so there's no video. http://www.dropzone.com/cgi-bin/forum/gforum.cgi?do=post_attachment;postatt_id=17726; _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

Your comment surprised me, so I went to the source. Here was the response I got to my enquiry at www.westjet.com. This policy is consistent with other airlines I've found... _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

Pretty much all the airlines south of the border allow them, and Air Canada does too. Do you have a reference for WestJet? Parachutes are not listed on their list of prohibited items: http://www.channelgroup.org/wjpassengers/main_search.htm _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

Details of the Chicago one here: http://www.dropzone.com/cgi-bin/forum/gforum.cgi?post=1185707#1185707 _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

There will likely be a "Second Annual" Good Vibes boogie in Chicago this year. _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

Bump! In other news, aparently they're looking for Buddhist families too. Somehow I think that's appropriate. From Salon.com: Not long after we published Michelle Orange's essay about how "Wife Swap" (ABC) and "Trading Spouses" (Fox) exploited the basest, trashiest cultural stereotypes, we were contacted by Rachel Kahn from the San Francisco Buddhist Center: We received the following at the San Francisco Buddhist Center in January. Although we didn't reply (no one around here seems to qualify for a "family show"), I must confess a perverse interest in seeing what they dream up for the hapless heathens who decide to participate. Date: Mon, 3 Jan 2005 From: Kenny Scott (kscott@rocketsciencelabs.com) Subject: Buddhist family wanted for Fox TV show Hello, My name is Kenny and I am a casting director for the show "Trading Spouses" on Fox. We are a family show. We are currently casting for a new season and are looking for a Buddhist family. The parents must be legally married and have children. The children must be over the age of 6 and live in the household. This is not a joke. If you know anyone that fits this description, please contact me ASAP. For more information, go to www.fox.com and click on Trading Spouses under shows. Thank you. Kenny Scott Rocket Science Labs/Trading Spouses Casting Assistant Kenny didn't return our call by press time to confirm that he really sent this -- but we have a pretty good idea that he did. Dozens of letters similar to the one above, written by Kenny -- and his colleagues Melissa Mills, Chris Godwin, Katie Lindsay and Cat Wegner -- exist all over the Web. They enthusiastically encourage all kinds of families to try out for "Trading Spouses," because, they say: "The purpose of our show is to compare and contrast various families across the country while highlighting their unique interests and cultures!" Oh, and they get $50,000. But be warned: The show is only looking for true representatives of our richly diverse, fair land. Like, for example, "families who are rappers." Do you think, maybe, they will be lucky enough to be paired up with the "families who reenact Civil War Battles"? They would also "love to meet families who are against the use of nuclear weapons." How would they get along with, say, "a tattooed couple who own a tattoo shop"? How do you think a mom who happens to be a female bodybuilder, or maybe a construction worker active "in feminist organizations" will blend with a family that's really into "bird watching"? Or salsa dancing? Will the "WILDERNESS Types (Surfing)" mom enjoy her visit with one of the "families who love TV"? How will one of our upstanding "wealthy families," (which may or may not be really into polo or "speech and/or debate") deal with the new mom who is really, extremely "into 'Star Trek' and/or 'Star Wars'" or heads one of the many "Ocean Beach hippie families!" or who maybe belongs to a family of "active Jehovah's Witnesses"? Or really digs "scrapbooks"? And how ever will the evangelist families "who believe in the power of faith healing" get along with the Jewish vegetarian "in favor of animal rights"? Oh, I think we know. end quote. _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

No. You only need to do this if you're taking unusually long exposures. I use 500 when it's bright and sunny, 300 when it's a bit overcast or getting closer to sunset. There should be a "Tv" mode you can put the camera in, usually by twisting the knob on top. That will make the camera automatically pick the correct aperature given the specific film speed, shutter speed, and lighting conditions. For photography? Yes. Especially if you're getting paid. A paper circle on the goggles can work OK for free video. Personally, I don't use tape at all. If you do use tape, Gaffer's tape is best, but can be hard to find. Do not use Duct Tape. This question has started many flame-fests. Personally, I like Fuji but don't like Kodak. ISO 100 for bright and sunny, ISO 200 for overcast or closer to sun-set. _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

Do you have a reference? _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

Bump! Here's an example of someone eronously ending up on the list. It happened in Canada, but that list is shared with the US. From : http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20050317.wscoc0317/BNStory/National/ Student unfairly labelled child abuser gets day in court By JIM BROWN Thursday, March 17, 2005 Updated at 6:43 PM EST Canadian Press Ottawa — A Newfoundland woman suing Memorial University for $800,000 for wrongly labelling her a sexual abuser of children will get her day in the country's top court. The Supreme Court of Canada agreed Thursday to review the case of Wanda Young, who was forced to abandon her dream of becoming a social worker after the allegations were levelled in 1994. The incident has dogged Ms. Young ever since and put an “enormous strain” on her life, said her lawyer Gillian Butler, who expressed hope that the high court will finally remedy the situation. Ms. Young was a 23-year-old undergraduate at Memorial when she wrote a paper on sex abuse for one of her classes. She attached an appendix — taken from a textbook that was duly noted in her bibliography — in which an anonymous young woman gave a first-person account of how she had abused children in her care. Ms. Young's professor thought she might be describing herself and reported her to the provincial child protection service. The university later maintained the professor had acted in good faith and was only respecting provincial law, which requires anyone who suspects child sexual abuse to report it to authorities. Ms. Young's lawyer contended the report was reckless, negligent and made without just cause. “It was scandalous the way they treated her,” Ms. Butler said Thursday. “And all of this was going on behind the scenes, with her completely in the dark.” A spokesman for Memorial declined to comment, and lawyers representing the university could not be reached. After the 1994 incident Ms. Young was denied permission to continue her studies to become a social worker, but was never told why. She was informed only that faculty members at Memorial didn't think she “had what it takes” to be successful in the profession. No charges were ever laid after the case was turned over to child protection officials. But Ms. Young's name was passed on to the RCMP and was entered in a database of suspected sexual offenders. She later discovered she had been turned down for at least one job because she had been red-flagged as a potential sex abuser. Ms. Young won a damage award of $839,400 from a civil jury in 2003, but the award was overturned the next year in a split decision by the provincial appeal court. The key issue at the appeal level was not whether Memorial had been mistaken in its allegations against Ms. Young, but whether it was immune from legal liability under child welfare law. Following the appeal verdict the university's insurance company took action to try to recover the part of the jury award — about $300,000 — that had already been paid to Ms. Young. That effort was put on hold pending the further appeal to the Supreme Court. A date has yet to be set for a hearing there. end quote. _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

This is great news! Hopefully it'll put a dent in the over-treatment of bored kids. Now the doctors can say to the demanding parents: "Well, if you insist, I'll prescribe ritalin. Just so you know, it's linked to cancer". Hopefully that will make many parents reconsider. _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

The DZ sets the requirements for the particular boogie, by establishing the dificulty involved in the specific location. Factors to consider are not only the landing area, but also the availability of alternate landing areas, for landing "out". Many beachfront communities have very dense land usage near the beach, so off-landings may be very dificult. Sometimes the requirements are limited by the USPA, "by proxy". The USPA establishes minimum sizes for the landing area for the difference licenses, and then the boogie operator will require the license required for the available landing area. Since this boogie is in Mexico, the USPA's landing area requirement don't apply, but the operator has chosen requirement which come close to the USPA's anyways. _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

Out of curiosity, who's the owner? _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

I haven't been in this sport for very long, only abot 5 years. In those 5 years, strangely - I haven't seen many malfunctions. Of the handfull that I've witnessed, or saw the gear afterwards, NONE of them were pilot-chute-in tow malfunctions. While the pilot-chute-in tow is certainly a concern of mine, the anecdotal evidence I've seen clearly indicates it's not a common malfunction. On the other hand, I've seen 3 people chop from floating puds. To me, that's amazing because there simply are not that many pull-outs out there. To me, the risk analysis clearly indicates throw-out to be the superior deployment technique. I simply can't comprehend how someone would come to the alternate conclusion. _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

You're lucky, at least you're probably going to get your package. USPS sucks. A few monthes ago, craichead and I got a note in our mailbox of an attempt to deliver a certified package. 1) Craichead took the note to the post office, tried to claim the package. They couldn't find it, told us they'd call us back. They never called back. 2) The next day, craichead calls the USPS trying to find the letter. They can't find it. They tell her they'll call us back, they never called back. 3) The following day, I calls the USPS trying to find the letter. They can't find it. They tell me they'll call me back, they never called back. 4) The next day, craichead calls the USPS trying to find the letter. They can't find it. They tell her they'll call us back, they never called back. 5) Then, I get frustrated, and call asking for the manager. She says she'll look into it, and cal me back. She called me back, but told me she couldnt' find it. 6) The next day, Craichead calls the manager. The manager says she still can't find it, and she'll continue to look into it and call her back. The manager called back, but told craichead she couldnt' find it. After a few more days of the same thing, the USPS left a note in our mailbox saying the package had been returned to sender, because we never claimed it. We never found out who sent the certified package. Tracking info on USPS.gov only had one line, saying "package returned due to occupant not home". Moral of this story, is do not EVER use USPS for sending anything important, even if you pay for upgraded services. Always use UPS or FED-EX. _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

I would not be giving advice like this unless you're sure of what you're talking about. Generally, that means a rigger's rating. Mr Clean Magic Eraser is a micro-abrasive. I most certainly would not want that used on my rig. In terms of rigger's I've discussed it with, answers I've gotten range from: "I know nothing about them, so I wouldn't use them" to "they're abrasive, so I wouldn't use them". More importantly though, if someone were to ask me how to clean a rig, the only answer I'd give was the one I copied from my owners manual. _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

I'm even lazier, I don't tape any of my lenses, either video or photo. They don't seeem to move. Lucky me, I guess. _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

Ooops. Sorry. You should be able to get some pretty good shots of her under canopy and landing, using an inexpensive 200mm or 300 mm lens. For anything in freefall, having a cameraman go with her for the jump is definately the way to go. _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

Why? _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

Not true. Craichead had major reconstructive work done to her labrum - a circular ligament that acts as a gasket, holding the humeral head into the socket. It was done orthoscopicaly, and took over 4 hours. Her labrum was tightened and reinforced using something very similar to Spectra. _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

Aren't service bulletins suposed to be noted on the packing card, or is that only when the SB requires it? _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

This one might work, along with a 2x teleconverter. No guarantees, though. http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller/home?O=productlist&A=details&Q=&sku=248293&is=GREY On exit, expect your wife to be 2.5 miles up, and probably offset another mile away from the dropzone. It does seem like a far wiser choice to simply pay for a photo and video guy on your wife's tandem. _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

It's the classic example of a leading question. To clarify, the example is usually asked as "Have you stopped abusing your spouce, yet?", but I tweaked it for effect. _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.