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National Post, 9/2/04 Article by Stewart Bell SRI LANKAN GANSTER GETS TO STAY Judge Fears 'Hardship' for son of man caught with AK-47 Totonto*A sri Lankan ganster caught in Toronto with an AK-47 assault rifle and sawed-off shotgun that police believe were meant for a murder has won the right to stay in Canada after a refugee judge ruled the man's family would suffer if he were sent home. Although the judge said Sanththijesvaran Lathiravelu, 31, was convicted of a serious crime and was a member of AK-Kannan, an ethnic Tamil gang responsible for killings, assaults, extortion and drug trafficking, he ruled he should not be deported for the time being. Immigration and Refugee Board (IRB) member Egya Sangmuah wrote in his decision that since his arrest, Kathiravely has married and fathered a son in Canada, and takes his family to the mall and cinema. Deporting him would cause undue hardship to the family, he ruled. After setting aside a deportation order, the judge told Kathiravely to stay away from gangs and guns, and instructed him to return to the refugee board on June 18, 2010, at which time his case will be looked at again. [Paragraphs skipped] The refugee judge ruled that Kathiravelu, whom he said had been "sucked into" gangs by friends, could remain in Canada because he had a steady job, had not been arrested since 1996 and that if deported, his wife and son, Sarin, would probably go with him to Sri Lanka. "If this were to occur, Sarin would losethe benefits of growing up in Canada and be exposed to the vicissitudes of adjusting to a foreign environment. It would be in the best interests of Sarin that his father is given the opportunity to proved he has been rehabilitated," he ruled. Note: On Aug 23, 1996 Kathiravelu was a passenger in a car that was pulled over by police. In the back seat was an AK-47 and two magazines of ammunition. In the trunk was a sawed off shotgun. All four men were convicted of weapons possession. Kathiravelu served an 18 month sentence after which immigration started deportation actions. According to a police informant, Kathiravelu's name was on a rival gangs hit list. Police suspect the occupants of the care were on their way to carry out a drive-by shooting against members of the rival gang. Blue skies, Jim

I am concerned about this comment. At your level of jumps you need to be thinking about learning to fly the canopy you are using. When you can stand-up all your landings on your target that is an improvement, but no reflection on your canopy skills. Learn to fly what you have first period. I have 4+ years on my current container and almost 1,000 jumps on a Sabre2 150 and I still have a lot to learn. I think you are enamored with the container because it is available. There are plenty of them out there and you will like a lot of them. Listen to you instructors and friends...some of them probably learned the hard way and you do not want to repeat their mistakes! Slow down! Blue skies, Jim

FYI: I am the National Adjutant of Counterparts/THDNA and we routinely get requests from the services to confirm what rank and awards applicants have stated on their membership applications. The services actively prosecute people who misrepresent themselves especially officers or people who said they were officers. Blue skies, Jim

Thanks Josh! May have to buy one... Blue skies, Jim

Congrats Chris & Best Wishes Wendy! Blue skies, Jim

No just up here on business. Looks like we are going to get weathered out this weekend. Still may go by the dz just to see it and meet a few peeps. Blue skies, Jim

Drew: As a vet, I have no problem with people my age who received legal deferments or were able to joing the reserve or national guard and I do not question their motives. Out of my high school class of 512 only about 50 of us served in the military and we were available during the worst years of the war. Serving was not necessarily seen as honorable at the time by our peers. In fact it was almost 20 years before I would discuss my service with anyone outside my immediate family. The country was in great turmoil at the time . If I was with a group of friends, half were always anti-war and the other half were more pro-US or pro-troops than pro-war. We avoided talking about the war because the issue was black and white, right or wrong; there was no middle ground or gray area; and you didn't want to lose all your old friends over it. This even applied within military units! I volunteered to serve, but do not think less of those who did not serve or those who served in units that were not participating in the war. Is a soldier serving in the Old Guard in Washington or the Golden Knights less of a soldier than one serving in Iraq? I think not. I do think less of someone who lies about or exxagerates their duty, abandons their post, and demeans those they served with for political gain. Isn't it interesting that the normal tour of duty was one year, but two men with political ambitions were both able to leave after four short months. I will never be able to prove it, but I think they were simply building their resumes'. Finally, it is my humble opinion that Mr Bush and his campaign have attacked political opponents not veterans. Some of his political opponents just happen to also be veterans. Enough ranting...take care & blues, Blue skies, Jim

Things were going pretty well until the rains came on both Sat and Sun. We got 11 of the formation jumps off and one-twenty way due to clouds. Highest exit point was 21k. On Sunday morning we had 129 or 130 docked out of 138, but that was it. Dallas has already announced a 2005 attempt. Blue skies, Jim

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spending a coupla' weeks on business. Got my rig with me. Where is the best place to jump in the area? I've looked at SWOOP and Niagra since they are only 7 and 36 km from where I am working. Thanks. Blue skies, Jim

Last May I got a $69 internet special ticket from Southwest Airlines that was Hobby to Ontario with one stop. You usually have a stop in Phoenix or Las Vegas. I usually select Las Vegas and play the slots at the airport while I am there. Always win enough to pay for my lunch. Continental also has a new non-stop to Ontario, but I think it is out of Bush. Blue skies, Jim

Val I've been to 3 because they are so much fun! Plan on trying places in the formation where you are uncomfortable since you can't get "cut" if you mess up (as long as it is not a safety violation of course). It is amazing how much better you can fly when the only pressure is that which you put on yourself. First class coaching, first class dz, first class participants. Have fun and don't hurt Kate, Jim

You gona' bring a case of those good chocolate things you had at WFFC? Blue skies, Jim

As Wendy mentioned, we didn't get it although on the second to last attempt we only had 8-9 out. Only actually got 10 formation jumps due to weather. Made a lot of new friends with jumpers from Canada, Mexico, Uraguay, Russia, Netherlands and the US. Many thanks to organizers and team captains Jack Berke, Tom Jenkins, Rob Laidlaw, Harry Hopkins, Larry Henderson, Ryan Smith, Bill Legaurd and Jim Jenkins. Rob announced that Dallas is already planning for a 2005 attempt. Blue skies, Jim

Just this week though I was surprised when a jumper with 25 yrs in the sport said " hey, did you see on dropzone.com that ...." I don't think he has ever registered, but obviously reads the posts in several of the forums. Blue skies, Jim

We are very happy to be able to provide the Otter to you. This should be a great event and we are looking forward to flying in... Blue skies, Jim

Amen Bill. Blue skies, Jim

I'm going with Rich Delgado and Fred Clark from Spaceland. Be at Pops too! Blue skies, Jim

Not really a stupid stunt, but one of the funniest. Some jumpers approached the Golden Knights about doing a raft jump. Stevie (Spaceland Anomaly) was asked to shoot video. Problem was most had not done a raft jump and the pilot was, at that time, not familiar with it either. At altitude, the green light was given, people tugged up and out on the raft, zero G came, divers were running out and video followed. Exactly in that order! Result, raft was still on the deck when zero G came, but jumpers had quit pulling by then, divers running in zero G are seen on video moving their feet but not going anywhere since they are 8-12 inches off the deck. As positive G resumes, divers run out but video falls on tailgate and rolls out into the void. People in the raft never even made it out the door either! Communication anyone? Blue skies, Jim

Best: Sleeping in my own bed without the lights & commotion outside. Seeing all my friends at the DZ. Not having to eat fried food every day. Driving my own car. Worst: Losing my luggage with my rig in it. Coming back with the head cold from hell. Trying to catch up at work. Thousands of emails to read. Blue skies, Jim

Spaceland has also been shut down when the President flies into Ellington Field. The DZO has talked to FAA, Secret Service, USPA, ect. to no avail. The last time was during the 40-way weekend. DZO filed a flight plan to Beaumont and we were allowed to leave, jump into Beaumont, do two or three more jumps, and then fly back into Spaceland under another flight plan. The restriction is for VFR flights. Unfortunately, we skydivers are also VFR so even if the pilot is on instrument under a flight plan we cannot get out of the plane. Blue skies, Jim

A year or so ago during a freefly boogie, I was in the loading tent at Spaceland. Missy walked up and asked who I was jumping with. "Solo" I said. She said "No, you're jumping with me". "I only RW" I countered. "That's ok, how fast can you fall?" she replied. It was really a fun jump and amazing to watch what a freeflier can do around a belly flyer. I've since had the opportunity to jump with Missy on several hybrids and they were some of the best I've been on. I agree, if you get a chance to jump with a champion take it! See you Wednesday at SDC and the 6th in Rantoul. Blues, Blue skies, Jim

???? Blue skies, Jim

I knew someone was going to pick up on that! Blue skies, Jim

The first Rantoul we were second out of the balloon and were immediately picked up by the chase van and then had to rush to repack the balloon when a state wildlife officer told us the balloon was on a very, unfriendly guys land. His son drove up and was taking pics of all of us as we wrapped that big sucker and threw it on the trailer and hauled ass outa' there. Later that week we decided we would be the first out so we wouldn't have to pack the balloon. BAD CHOICE! We waited for over 2 hours and were finally picked up by a girl out hunting for her boyfriend. She was in only the third car we had seen in the 2 hours. Blue skies, Jim