Newbie

Hi and thanks. Yeah this happened over London today i believe, and there was contention about just how close the planes actually were (it was being touted as a near miss by the photographer) "Skydiving is a door" Happythoughts

http://news.bbc.co.uk/nol/shared/spl/hi/pop_ups/06/uk_enl_1138567284/img/1.jpg Can anyone actually tell? "Skydiving is a door" Happythoughts

They will not go against the policy which got them into power in the first instance. The way i see it is, if they don't shape up, and they decide to continue with their extremeist ideology, we are looking at open war with the US, and potentially a West VS East (non Islam VS Islam) conflict at worst (and then Osama will have got his wish), and at best, we will see further disentregration of the delicate balance between Israel and Palestine. It bodes terribly if you ask me. "Skydiving is a door" Happythoughts

I wholeheartedly agree - and i'm saying is that good publicity is great, but publicity can also be not so great and have a negative impact. I do NOT think all publicity is good publicity. I have not flown at Airkix, only at Bedford, and my wife has expressed an interest in going into the tunnel, but she just thought (as did i) it was probably not giving a great message out having the child go into the tunnel when it seemingly didn't want to do so. "Skydiving is a door" Happythoughts

Yesterday, the child was taken from her mothers arms while comfortable and half asleep, had a helmet and goggles hurridly put on her, put in the tunnel for tv for 5 seconds, taken out, and began crying. At that time, she did not want to fly. Is this the image you want to portray? I don't think it's a positive one - for skydivers, mainly. Although we know the child was just tired at that moment, and enjoys going in the tunnel, it would not have come across this way to the average whuffo or the millions of viewers watching. I know this because my wife, who doesn't jump or fly, was watching and was appalled. I tried to explain that she had most likely been in before and loved it, and was probbaly just tired, but you think that mattered? No. It was a publicity stunt that had a negative impact for the unknowning general member of the public, end of story. At a time with declining USPA and BPA membership rates, we need to do everything we can to promote good, well thought through publicity for the sport and it's participants. Just my opinion. "Skydiving is a door" Happythoughts

Sorry, you missed the entire point of my post. I don't know Andrew, but he came across as a great guy and father, i'm not knocking him. I also don't think there is anything wrong with properly supervising a young child in the tunnel at all. I just think that it *may* have given a negative impression to the whuffo populationof skydivers and/or tunnels, because they wouldn't have understood that, although the child was just kicking up a bit of fuss because she was tired - to them it would have appeared she was scared (it didn't help the presenter of the show said exactly that - "Oh no, she seem's scared" or something to that effect) and appeared to not want to do something, and was being forced into a weird and - to their eyes - dangerous, loud, hostile environment. As Andrew said, she was just tired and kicking up a tantrum, i can appreciate that, and again, i am not knocking his parenting skills - he knows his own child, i'm sure. I've never been in front of a live tv camera so i can't imagine the pressure, so take what i say with a grain of salt, but i think it just potentially could have cast a bad light on skydivers as "unnecessary risk takers". I think that sometimes we are too concentrated on "publicity for publicity's sake" and not on the adverse effect it might have if what we do to garner the publicity goes wrong. You can draw a comparison with a demo where someone swoops, misjudges and ends up colliding with a spectator or hooking in. I know putting a kid in a tunnel isn't something terrible. Putting them unsupervised in a bumper car is properly worse. The general Joe Public sat at home watching it, seeing tunnels, and perhaps a skydiver for the first time, has nothing to guage this against however and that was the audience for this show. "Skydiving is a door" Happythoughts

Although they are somewhat down the scale from Islamic fundamentalists, i also look at the US militia and they way they "prep" their children and families for a so called inevitavle standoff with the US government with an air deep suspicion. Militia are less likely to be fundamentalistic, but look at Tim McVeigh. Anyone, from any walk of life, imbiding within their children a sense of disregard for not only their own lives, but the lives of innocent civilians around them, and celebrating suicidal attacks on those innocents, deserves nothing from life. You are right - they do kind of look like the pictures i put up, and that's worrying. "Skydiving is a door" Happythoughts

That's the problem with religion in general, and religious fundamentalism in particular - once you have arrived at your beliefs, it doesn't matter what others, or the majority, say to you. You are firm in where you stand and what you believe. This is not just a problem associated to religion but in this context, it is. "Skydiving is a door" Happythoughts

It does not make me feel better to call you naive, it's just my opinion on your view, nothing more or less. I am quite capable of seeing things through the eyes of others. I wish the situation in the middle east were resolved amicably for BOTH sides. Can you say you wish for the same? I don't want to speak for you, but your posting is too one sided to suggest you do. The Israeli's absolutely must be criticised too, there is no doubt about that, but would you ever criticise the Palestinian militant movement? I could be wrong again, but i doubt it, for it is you who is unable i think to see the views through the eyes of another, not me. At least the Israeli's pulled their own people out of settlements in the Gaza strip, as in actually made positive inroads to achieving some kind of balance. Do you think Hamas will even care about this? They want the eradication of Jews and Israel - how is that going to be a recipe for a successful settlement and peace process? And why is blowing yourself up a last resort? Why not just carry a gun to a checkpoint and start shooting soldiers? Why walk onto a bus of civilians - children and old people - and destroy and main them, when they have no chance to defend themselves? It is not the work of a person who has no resort to do anything about their situation, it is the work of someone too cowardly to go up to those who have the ability to kill them in a fair fight, and target the eminently more vulnerable and unsuspecting. It is cowardice encapsulated. You say they "choose to die for something they believe in, they do not see it as work". This contradicts everything every prerecorded message of every suicide attacker i have ever heard goes against. They are doing this PRECISELY because they are - supposedly - carrying out the work of Allah, are they not? Think about what you are saying and go back and try to understand the nature of the problems in an unbiased light, if you can, before you comment on them; or else you will simply be led by what you hear and not what you understand. "Skydiving is a door" Happythoughts

[email] Is it really that different from the US electing Dubya? Well i could be wrong, and i know Republicans can get all frothy at the mouth and can be quite righteous and godly, but i can't recall when they last decided that the way to get him (re)elected was to conduct a spate of suicide bombings. "Skydiving is a door" Happythoughts

First of all, please do point out where you are playing games where you have to "kill all the Arabs". Battlefield 2, one of the best sellers of last year, featured 2 sides - US AND insurgent middle eastern sides. People play on BOTH sides against each other. You are also naive if you don't see a stark difference between a child playing a video game and another being shown by his parents how to hold a real, automatic assault rifle, being dressed in suicide bombers garb, complete with fundamentalist prayer bandana, and being not only shown, but told, to follow in the footsteps of the great "martyrs" that have paved the way before them. I don't care HOW you try and justify that, there is a difference in how those children will grow up and what they will grow in to. Finally, it is not a case of "if Hamas get in, maybe the Palestinians will have guns and can therefore fight without the need to blow themselves up". The suicide bomber is not resorting to this as a last resort - they do so because they see the compulsory military service in Israel for both men and women as equating to every member of Israel as being a sanctioned target in their "war", and, because their skewed view has them believing that they are undertaking the sanctioned word of a god who will then welcome them into a ficticious paradise. Hamas have plenty of guns. They choose to blow themselves up. There is a difference there that you look in to and try to understand. "Skydiving is a door" Happythoughts

Looks like they are on track for securing a "stunning" victory. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/4650788.stm For those of you unfamiliar with Hamas, here are some delightful shots i found on the web of them in their familiar green headdress, enjoying some quality family and recreational time with their impressionable young.... "Skydiving is a door" Happythoughts

I'm really surprised someone hasn't posted about this already in here. It looks like Hamas - the largest Palestinian Islamic militant organisation - will have won the elections. The UK is saying it will only talk with them is if they renounce terrorism. Well woopdidoo, that's sure to work then isn't it? Is no one else worried about what this is going to mean to the delicate middle eastern situation? This is potentially one of the most unsettling events in current affairs isn't it? Am i blowing this out of proportion. I know that the Fatah party were not perfect, but at least they said "let's go to the table to talk". All Hamas want to do is dress up children as suicide bombers and have them parade around the place holding AK 47's from what i can see. Edited for tipoz "Skydiving is a door" Happythoughts

I don't care how cool people think that looks, i think it's going to get you, tunnels and basically skydivers nothing but negative publicity to be perfectly honest. I'm sure she loves it, but she was half asleep! Why did you guys think this was a good idea? I think Dermott's reaction - as a whuffo - summarised what most people will have got out of that publicity stunt. I know i was cringing myself when i saw it, initially having been quite excited to see it when i saw a preview clip earlier this morning. Not all publicity is good publicity. "Skydiving is a door" Happythoughts

Cheers! "Skydiving is a door" Happythoughts

I think you cannot use Slinks in other reserves than PD. It's for my main - would that be ok? "Skydiving is a door" Happythoughts

Cheers! "Skydiving is a door" Happythoughts

Well not me, but my rigger i mean? I have a TSE Superfly and Hornet main - can PD Slinks be fitted to any canopy/riser combination? Thanks "Skydiving is a door" Happythoughts

Hi all - it's for the main. I have found a place selling the PD Slinks for £18 which is reasonable enough. My only concern is, can i have them fitted to my Hornet canopy? "Skydiving is a door" Happythoughts

I hope you mean £18 LOL yeah - woops! "Skydiving is a door" Happythoughts

Nah he doesn't have any. Kit Store has em for £187 according to their website (thanks vt1977) "Skydiving is a door" Happythoughts

Want to get some fitted when i get my reserve repacked. Cheers "Skydiving is a door" Happythoughts

How do you equate killing Bin Laden - publically or otherwise - to the end of the global terrorism we are seeing? Cutting off the head of the snake? Don't think so - more like killing one fly, 10 more come to the funeral. The guy is going to be a matyr as it is, the problem is far more deeprooted than one man. Killing him, in this fashion, publically and openly, will only increase the reign of terror, not subdue it. Killing him in his caves will stop his tapes, but sure as hell isn't going to stop his ideology anytime soon. "Skydiving is a door" Happythoughts

No one knows what the next GTA will be about other than Dan and Sam Houser and a few key people at Rock*. The guy who wrote the rumour can't even spell properly - you think he would be working on the next biggest game of the decade? Don't think so. Also NDA's are notoriously tight - if you break one, you are looking at financial ruin and the end of your development career - doubt some guy who claimed to work for Rockstar would risk all this, especially as it wouldn't take anyone who worked with him if he had worked there, more than 2 mins to figure out what is coming. Rumours like this have been flying around since before San Andreas. What has been confirmed is that GTA:Liberty Cities is coming to current gen consoles this year. "Skydiving is a door" Happythoughts

I gotta admit, i'm NOT the sharpest knife in the drawer, but HOW did i know THIS was coming?????????? STOP IT! Let these guys work out their own problems. "Jeez-Us-H" How am i not letting anyone work out their own problems? "Skydiving is a door" Happythoughts