wolfriverjoe

Well, by definition, it is. It wasn't a suicide, it wasn't an accident. It was a deliberate shooting of the kid by the cop. That makes it a homicide. It will probably be found to be a "justifiable homicide" because the cop saw the kid reach for what appeared to be a gun. The fact that the cop could have (and should have IMO) handled it differently than just flying onto the scene and shooting the kid when he reacted badly doesn't change any of that. The cop could easily have stopped well out of range of a kid with a pistol (anything beyond about 50 yards is pretty safe) and started from there. Ordered the kid to the ground or to drop the gun. But he had to pull his car up really close, startle the hell out of the kid and then when the kid reacted, open fire. That's an ending to the situation that is both predictable and avoidable. There have been lawsuits filed. That shit will drag out for years. "There are NO situations which do not call for a French Maid outfit." Lucky McSwervy "~ya don't GET old by being weak & stupid!" - Airtwardo

We were very very angry and very very frightened. Neither of those are good states of mind for considered, rational actions. There were a number of attacks on people who "looked Arab," but weren't. IIRC, an Indian (dot, not feather) was murdered. Not Arab, not Muslim, but he "looked like it." I did a quick search but couldn't find what I was looking for. The level of hatred towards anyone who "looked like a 'mooslim'" showed how some people really felt. Kind of like the level of hatred towards Obama. "There are NO situations which do not call for a French Maid outfit." Lucky McSwervy "~ya don't GET old by being weak & stupid!" - Airtwardo

And how many of those detainees were ever proven to have committed actions against the US? Oh, yeah, they weren't given trials. So, according to some on here, they must be innocent. "There are NO situations which do not call for a French Maid outfit." Lucky McSwervy "~ya don't GET old by being weak & stupid!" - Airtwardo

The link in his post isn't working for some reason. I think it's this: http://news.yahoo.com/cia-mistakenly-tortured-own-informants-185002400.html "There are NO situations which do not call for a French Maid outfit." Lucky McSwervy "~ya don't GET old by being weak & stupid!" - Airtwardo

As a guess (pure speculation), a jealous ex boyfriend. The article says that she identified her attacker before she died, but says the police aren't releasing any details about it (actual name of someone she knew vs a description of a stranger). But the ex is a pretty solid guess. Search "Acid attacks" to see what a jealous former boyfriend will do to a woman in other parts of the world. Very much an "If I can't have you, no one will" attitude. Sick, disgusting, but unfortunately, not uncommon. "There are NO situations which do not call for a French Maid outfit." Lucky McSwervy "~ya don't GET old by being weak & stupid!" - Airtwardo

I'm in the US. As was noted, seatbelts are required to be worn by all occupants during taxi, takeoff & landing. There is no "up to certain altitude" legal requirement, but many DZs have everyone wear them up to 1k or 1500 so that they are on in case of a low altitude problem (you aren't getting out that low anyway). I'm also a pilot & if I'm flying the plane, your ass is going to wear a seatbelt. Period. As was noted, it isn't so much to protect the individual as it is to protect the rest of the people on the plane from squashing each other. The 92 Perris Otter crash & the Pitt Meadows King Air crash both were good demonstrations of that (secure your damned helmet too, that thing can be a missile in a crash). I mentioned in the incidents thread about a situation at SDC Summerfest this past summer: The organizer for the group I was with noted that a jumper on the plane wasn't wearing his seatbelt. When he pointed it out, the jumper said "It's ok, I'll be fine." The organizer said "No, it's not ok" and hollered up to the pilot to "Stop a minute! We have a seatbelt problem." The pilot stopped the plane (about to turn onto the runway) and we did the "Unhook & pass it down" shuffle. When we took off, everyone had a seatbelt on. I really liked it. Both the action and the overall attitude it displayed. "There are NO situations which do not call for a French Maid outfit." Lucky McSwervy "~ya don't GET old by being weak & stupid!" - Airtwardo

How does your DZ handle cutaways? Some places are more helpful/aggressive when it comes to finding them, others are more "you're on your own." I have seen it where the people on the ground all spread out and get bearings on where the canopy and freebag land. I've seen it where the ground guys hop in the ATV and go after them. I've seen it where they put up the plane to search from the air for the stuff. If you have good neighbors, they often will bring stuff back (always them a nice reward). "There are NO situations which do not call for a French Maid outfit." Lucky McSwervy "~ya don't GET old by being weak & stupid!" - Airtwardo

Well, it used to be that a signed & stamped progression card was a valid A license. You didn't need to send it (and the money) in and get an "official" license with a number and all that. So it was entirely possible (not to common though) to have your "first" license be a D. Get the A card, never process it, meet the requirements, get the D. "There are NO situations which do not call for a French Maid outfit." Lucky McSwervy "~ya don't GET old by being weak & stupid!" - Airtwardo

Wanna bet? AGW is long term enough that most people will find "more important" things to worry about. Short term survival will take precedence for a lot of the world. It does now. Look at Hati - Short term survival needs have pretty much deforested their half of the island. So when hurricanes roll through (which they do on a regular basis) the flooding and landslides have gotten worse and worse. So more and more people die. Besides, human nature is to ignore problems until it's too late. Our optimism is one of our greatest blessings and one of our greatest curses. "There are NO situations which do not call for a French Maid outfit." Lucky McSwervy "~ya don't GET old by being weak & stupid!" - Airtwardo

#1. It's all about embarrassing the current administration. They don't care about facts, they don't care about reality, they don't care about the process involved. And I don't doubt that the American people were misled to get the legislation passed. that's "business as usual." For both sides. "There are NO situations which do not call for a French Maid outfit." Lucky McSwervy "~ya don't GET old by being weak & stupid!" - Airtwardo

Try searching "Headphones instead of headset. "There are NO situations which do not call for a French Maid outfit." Lucky McSwervy "~ya don't GET old by being weak & stupid!" - Airtwardo

I don't think that there would be any difference between a "Club DZ" and a "for profit DZ." At least not for what you are looking to do. If you are just going to do a couple tandems (ignore the troll, they are great ways to do an 'easy' jump), you'd be an outsider at a club. Clubs only really offer benefits to people who want to be members, who are willing to put in the "sweat equity" and earn their jumps. For someone coming in to do a tandem, you'd be a paying customer at either type of DZ. Figure out what reputable DZ is closest to you, and you can ask about it on here. I say "reputable" because you can search for "skydiving in (insert city here)" and get a bunch of hits from a scam outfit that will sell you a gift certificate that may or may not be redeemable anywhere close to you. "There are NO situations which do not call for a French Maid outfit." Lucky McSwervy "~ya don't GET old by being weak & stupid!" - Airtwardo

I certainly didn't say you couldn't use "What Ifs." It's your thread, do with it as you wish. But the question of which war would have had the most influence if it had turned out differently is a very different question. One that my first answer (I could certainly be convinced otherwise) is the War of 1812. The Brits lost, we sort of tied, the Canucks won. If that had been different, it would be a very, very different world today. Edit to add: If the Cuban Missile Crisis had escalated, we would have probably had a nuclear exchange of some sort. Very possible that we would have had "Armageddon." "There are NO situations which do not call for a French Maid outfit." Lucky McSwervy "~ya don't GET old by being weak & stupid!" - Airtwardo

Ok, now you are starting with the "What If?" stuff. Which is a rather different discussion. So here's a hell of a good "What If?": What if the Japanese hadn't attacked Pearl Harbor? What if they had only attacked places in the Western Pacific? There's a very compelling argument that the Japanese could have won WWII if they hadn't given us the impetus to win by pissing us off. Short version: Much of the US was isolationist. They didn't want to get involved in another huge war. Also, the future of naval warfare wasn't big battleships, it was aircraft carriers. But the naval hierarchy didn't like that idea, they even prosecuted Billy Mitchell over it. If Japan had stayed in the Western Pacific, the US would have sent out the battleship fleet after the Japanese Navy. Who would have promptly sunk most of it. And instead of a "sneak attack" costing a couple thousand lives, it would have been a "fair fight" that would have easily cost tens of thousands of lives Battleships had about 2200 onboard. Sinking more than a couple of them in the open ocean would have had huge losses of life (The Prince of Wales and the Repulse were sank in the Battle of Malaya by air power). Would losing a huge portion of the navy to the Japanese meant that the US would have lost the will to win the war? Without the anger and resolve that the attack at Pearl gave us? It's entirely possible. "There are NO situations which do not call for a French Maid outfit." Lucky McSwervy "~ya don't GET old by being weak & stupid!" - Airtwardo

I don't doubt that you see Santa. I see him too, although I was told that those are really "Santa's Helpers" when I was a kid. I never saw a real Santa come down the chimney and leave stuff behind under the tree. And even if you do preach "Santology" to your kids, I'll bet you are the one who goes out and buys the presents for them (and wraps them and puts them under the tree). I know lots of people who see God's work in their lives. They can cite numerous examples of God "doing for them what they couldn't do for themselves." I won't denigrate or disrespect someone's belief in any deity (including Santa), but when people expect a dead body to be resurrected, especially one that's rotting to the point that they can't stand the smell, that's, well... Unbelievably stupid. "There are NO situations which do not call for a French Maid outfit." Lucky McSwervy "~ya don't GET old by being weak & stupid!" - Airtwardo

Highly subjective question is highly subjective, but . . . I'm going with Civil. I think it's maybe arguable the US would essentially still be the same country in 2014 if it had continued under British rule. Look at Canada or Australia, the citizens' lifestyles of both could be easily mistaken US. However, ditching slavery was pretty damn major. Interesting. I voted for the Civil War too, and when I voted, the page refreshed and Quade's comment popped up. The thing is, the Civil War was about more than slavery. Slavery was the primary cause. And many of the subsidiary causes had direct links to slavery. And it had a lot of results other than the end of slavery, although the end of slavery was the most significant. State's Rights and the serious diminishing of the 10th amendment is probably top of the "other than slavery" cause and result. (although the primary "state's right" at issue was slavery). And the Civil War had some of the most significant advances in military technology. All wars end up accelerating that, but the Civil War saw the change from muzzle-loaders to self-contained cartridge arms, the introduction of repeating arms (Henry & Spencer rifles) large scale use of repeating handguns (Colt & Remington revolvers), and the introduction of full automatic (technically, the Gatling gun wasn't "full auto", but it's most definitely "rapid fire"). It also saw the first use (in the US) of "electronic communication" (telegraph), aerial surveillance (observer balloons, often equipped with telegraph), and mechanized transport (trains). "There are NO situations which do not call for a French Maid outfit." Lucky McSwervy "~ya don't GET old by being weak & stupid!" - Airtwardo

Well, the word "ton" is used hyperbolically. Besides, if I was being literal, it wouldn't be 2000 examples, it would be 2000 pounds of examples. There's a lot of examples out there. The LA cops shooting up the two ladies delivering newspapers because their truck was blue (not the same color blue, not the same make and model truck) is another good one. They sued and either won or settled. And botched "no knock" search warrants happen way too often. http://www.cato.org/raidmap And a quick search found Innocent Down, a site dedicated to people wrongly shot by cops. Not all are complete misunderstandings. Some are understandable mistakes. Some are simply the "heat of the moment." My point (without the hyperbole) is that the chances of the cops shooting and killing innocent people who are just minding their own business is a lot greater than "next to zero." "There are NO situations which do not call for a French Maid outfit." Lucky McSwervy "~ya don't GET old by being weak & stupid!" - Airtwardo

Do any of them refuse medical treatment because they believe that "God will heal them" if they pray hard enough? Do any of them leave corpses lay for rats to eat because they believe that their prayers will result in resurrection? I find it interesting that they sealed off the door and vents to keep the smell of the rotting body away from them. They didn't believe in God, they wanted a genie in a bottle. Or Santa. They aren't the first, probably won't be the last. Somewhat local to me (100 miles or so) a mom and dad let their daughter die from diabetes because they thought that their prayers would result in her being healed. Fortunately, they were convicted of reckless homicide. But at least they called for help as soon as she stopped breathing. "There are NO situations which do not call for a French Maid outfit." Lucky McSwervy "~ya don't GET old by being weak & stupid!" - Airtwardo

Hmmm. With the importance of beer, and the fanatacism skydivers have for "firsts", do you think maybe, just maybe this has come up before? Do you think maybe, just maybe we have discussed what the Beer Rules might be? Hint: Try the 2nd and 4th on the list. They both have the specific rules listed in a post on the first page. "There are NO situations which do not call for a French Maid outfit." Lucky McSwervy "~ya don't GET old by being weak & stupid!" - Airtwardo

In a lot of ways that's very true. But it's still better than many, many places in the world. "There are NO situations which do not call for a French Maid outfit." Lucky McSwervy "~ya don't GET old by being weak & stupid!" - Airtwardo

Not really. There's a ton of stories about people who weren't breaking any laws being shot by the cops. Aiello in New York, the old guy digging through his car in Florida, even the kid in Cleveland. Playing with a toy gun isn't illegal. Pointing it at people isn't necessarily illegal. He didn't point it at the cop, he just didn't put his hands up when the cop told him to. He may well have been trying to throw it away. We'll never know. The "Run toward the sound of the guns" mentality so prevalent among the cops these days is a big part of the problem. While it might* be necessary for "active shooter" situations, it is totally inappropriate for almost everything else. * I say might because I don't know of any "active shooter" situations that the cops have stopped, except maybe Ft hood, but that was MPs, not civilian cops. At Columbine, injured people ended up dying because nobody was willing to enter the school. Harris & Klebold had already committed suicide by the time the cops arrived. Cho (Virginia Tech) committed suicide before the cops arrived. Lanza (Sandy Hook) did too. Holmes (Colorado) had stopped shooting and was trying to sneak out in the confusion. Loughner was captured by bystanders when he stopped to reload (incidentally, an armed civilian was approaching the scene and would have engaged Loughner had the others not grabbed him). Hasan (Ft Hood) was captured by military police. But they were in the vicinity when the shooting started. And one was shot and seriously wounded in the exchange of gunfire. "There are NO situations which do not call for a French Maid outfit." Lucky McSwervy "~ya don't GET old by being weak & stupid!" - Airtwardo

This one? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IdT_G5qZggM "There are NO situations which do not call for a French Maid outfit." Lucky McSwervy "~ya don't GET old by being weak & stupid!" - Airtwardo

Paragear used to have a skydiver "Trophy Topper" in their catalog. I can't find it on their site (although I may be looking in the wrong place). It was just the little figure that goes on top of the trophy. The idea was that you could take it to your local trophy shop and get the rest of it (and the engraving) from them. For medals, google "Custom cast medals" and you'll get a ton of hits. Those are actually pretty easy. You come up with a design, they make the mold and cast a bunch. There's usually a "set up" fee, and often a minimum run. I looked into getting some made a few years back, but ended up buying the generic "First Place" ones because they were available locally for a fairly cheap price. "There are NO situations which do not call for a French Maid outfit." Lucky McSwervy "~ya don't GET old by being weak & stupid!" - Airtwardo

Ok, thanks. I know my unit can't be changed, other than the offset, which would have other consequences. I misunderstood what SSK could/would do. "There are NO situations which do not call for a French Maid outfit." Lucky McSwervy "~ya don't GET old by being weak & stupid!" - Airtwardo

I haven't, not yet. But I'm thinking about it. My pull altitude is 3k. I really don't plan on going any lower anytime in the future. I have a Sabre2 that opens reasonably quickly. Usually less than 500ft. I have no plans to change canopies in the future either. So I have no worries about "scaring" the AAD by accident. My reserve is sized nicely for my rig, so the "too tight in the tray causing hesitation" problem isn't one I worry about. I check the RPC launch each time I I&R it. Pull the sliver handle and see how far the thing flies (fairly far, so far) and I then reach back over my shoulder and pull the reserve bridle up to make sure it comes out easily (again, so far so good). BUT... There have been a few folks who ended up not under a fully inflated reserve. Not all of them have an identified cause. RPC hesitations are very possible, and at 750 or so, it wouldn't take more than a second for it to take too long. My CYPRES is going in for it's four-year this winter. I'm pondering having SSK bump the activation altitude up to 1000 (or whatever the exact altitude is). "There are NO situations which do not call for a French Maid outfit." Lucky McSwervy "~ya don't GET old by being weak & stupid!" - Airtwardo