Newbie

I'm thinking about changing to one - so far i can't work out really what the major disadvantage of using one is, other than a slightly different packing procedure, which isn't actually much of an issue. I'm thinking i would like to change just to not have the possibility of a PC in tow to potentially deal with at some point. Thanks for your help. "Skydiving is a door" Happythoughts

It means he was cooking with a cocked hammer, a round in the chamber and the safety off. If that isn't enough to make you paws for thought and wonder if this was a cover up, you're probably smelling too much cat nip. "Skydiving is a door" Happythoughts

Who has the inside scoop? They are keeping this pretty close to their hearts, but someone must be able to give us a rough estimation? "Skydiving is a door" Happythoughts

ah fair enough, and yeah you're right, based on what you quoted, it looks like i might have been slightly off kilter, sorry.

Nice. Since when did the special Olympics have anything to do with mental development? I know it's a joke but MAN is it a bad one (for all sorts of reasons) "Skydiving is a door" Happythoughts

I'm pretty sure you will end up seeing games with varying degrees of physics capability dependent on what your system/card could handle, just as they do now for textures, bump mapping, reflections, shadowing etc etc. "Skydiving is a door" Happythoughts

I saw a post by a Norwegian guy on a website that complained they pick up the bill (as in it's their tax money going for mountain rescue etc) for people jumping Kjerag etc. Is this true? I was just curious so i thought i would ask you guys to see if this was the case. PS he isn't a jumper. "Skydiving is a door" Happythoughts

Well thats what will - hopefully - come out with a thorough investigation i.e. placement of officers/bystanders etc "Skydiving is a door" Happythoughts

Yeah thats true, but in the painful and exacting recreation of events that took place, together with positioning etc, i think the FBI will probably be able to put a pretty accurate reconstruction together. The kids autopsy will be able to see if this matches along with forensic evidence of bullet paths collected at the scene, as well as the tyre marks/accident damage that must have been extensively catalogued. It won't show the childs state of mind, but it will show where the officers were when he was shot. If it proves an officer was firing through the back window as the car was heading straight towards him, well thats pretty conclusive i would say. Likewise, if he was shot 10 times at close range from the drivers side window, perpendicular to the path of the car, that will prove equally conclusive. Damage done to the cars will also give an idea of speed of movement. "Skydiving is a door" Happythoughts

LOL Ok a few things that step out from this report: 1 - Conroy said he wanted to question the man so he drew his gun Is this how you normally begin a line of questioning? 2- The first time, Conroy testified, the man walked 35 feet toward him, tried to grab the gun, and then turned and ran. The second time, Conroy said, the man, after running from him, charged him and wrestled with him until the officer fired twice, hitting him. This makes no sense....why WALK over to someone, grab their gun (or attempt to do something so stupid as that) and then run away and THEN RUN BACK AND CHARGE HIM?? 3 - "I got hit in the nose with his upper right shoulder," Conroy said. "We wrestled around. I'm trying to get this man off me because it's clear to me that this man wants my firearm." Why did he draw the gun in the first place, if he wanted to question someone? 4 - After hitting Zongo with the first two shots, Conroy said, the wounded man backed off. The officer said he fired two more shots and Zongo fell. Why shoot twice more if someone is backing off? 5 - After the shooting, Conroy said, "I couldn't believe what just happened. The last thing I wanted to do was shoot someone, much less kill anyone." Never point a gun at anything you are not willing to destroy. 6 - On Thursday, Dr. Nancy S. Kwon, who examined Conroy in Bellevue Hospital's emergency room after the encounter with Zongo, testified that she did not see any injuries on Conroy and that he told her he was not hurt. But i thought he sustained injuries? 8 - Conroy's lawyer, Stuart London, says Conroy had a red mark on his nose after the "life and death struggle" with Zongo over the officer's gun. Where was this redmark according to the medical examination? Why was it not documented? The facts just don;t add up here.... "Skydiving is a door" Happythoughts

Well for starters this is a post.....Sheesh. LOL. Anyway, i think to avoid going around in the usual SC circles, maybe we should hold off until the investigation outs whether he was indeed trying to run someone over, or rather was just reversing to get out of there. Yes, he was a criminal, no denying that, but the investigation i guess will attempt to determine if he deserved to die that da (which is i think more the point in question, not that he did something wrong) "Skydiving is a door" Happythoughts

Ron if you are right about #3, i will put my hands up and agree with you 100%. As i said, if that kid were 7 years old, saw the cop and thought "I know - i will ram him out the way and knock him over so i can escape", what the hell else are they meant to do other than stop him? If that means shooting him, well there is little other option at that point. What i have a problem with is the fact i think this kid was not on some murderous killing spree, as is being suggested, and was probably running scared. It might seem odd to you and i but to a 13 year old who doesn't get into trouble usually, being handed back to his parents by the cops is probably a big deal to him. Yeah thats fools logic (because he shouldn't have been out involved with the stealing of a car, in the first place!) but at 13 you can do some pretty stupid things - some of us get away with them, others don't, you most guys know that around that age, you tend to act first, think later, especially if peers and girls are around. A 13 year old's inability to drive properly, also assisted with him knocking into a cruiser - a mistake that should not cost him his life if it is proven that the police were not in direct danger (and by all accounts it sounds like they had time to get out, and move away from the car). As i said to Kennedy, this is going around in circles - let's bring this one back up again when we get some more insight into what happened from the FBI. "Skydiving is a door" Happythoughts

thanks Kennedy "Skydiving is a door" Happythoughts

Actually i run a project in London, working with inner city kids in central London schools, in one of the country's most deprived areas, and have spent about 5 years working with teenagers who have been excluded from education on part time basis outside of that. I know what goes on with these kids and how they work, i see it everyday. Well you and I are lucky - we both had 2 parents looking out for us, as well as most likely other family members. When you are young and growing up, and you might come from a one parent family, where that parent works 2 jobs to pay the bills and you are generally a good kid (Devin Brown was not in a gang) and where you can't keep a leash on your child 24/7, especially when they get older and start to want to hang out with friends outside the house. I see it everyday with kids i work with. You must have had a pretty straight laced child hood, but most people, especially those in big cities tend to grow up quicker, and want to impress their peer group, especially young males. Now of course that doesnt mean they will all go around being involved in stealing a car, but some will. This kid made a childish mistake many of us have or could have made when we were growing up, and until someone can prove to me (and i hope to hell the FBI can do so in this investiagtion) that he deserved to be shot to pieces because he was attempting to run over one of the cops on scene, i will hold my view that this shooting was one that i cast my doubts on as being justified. Perhaps we should pick the conversation up then, as right now, we are both just speculating over what happened (and believe me, i would LOVE nothing more than to be proven wrong beyond a shadow of a doubt by this investigation). "Skydiving is a door" Happythoughts

What does this mean? Just curious. "Skydiving is a door" Happythoughts

Comparing a kid shooting people in school to a kid who did something wrong and was running scared is bizarre. Would you be saying exactly what you have just said in this post if - and god forbid - this was your, or your brothers/sisters child that got shot? Would you then have the guts to say "well sis, i mean, i know nephew Jonny got riddled with bullets, but hey, he really shouldn't have stolen that car?" Would you go up to the officer who shot your own son, look him in the eye and say "Don't worry, i don't hold it against you - you were doing your job, even though my son was just reversing, didnt hit your car dead on, scraped down the side of it, and even though you and your partner were able to get out of the car, and move away in good time, and therefore one presumes, were not in any direct danger of my son, who, was generally a good kid, but hey, when we are 13 we all do stuff we regret later, and who was in a situation which escalated in the space of 3 short minutes and who probably was scared and running so that he wouldnt get in trouble with his mom and me, when you shot and killed him, but he was a threat so its ok"? Would you really be able to say that? I'm not trying to be antagonistic, and god forbig ANYONE should have to deal with a situation like this, but i'm just wondering if you would have the same view if this was something closer to home. "Skydiving is a door" Happythoughts

I'm not sure, but i think the question to be asked is "how many innocent people get crashed into/knocked over in a car pursuit compared to a helicopter pursuit?" as that was the issue you were commenting on right? (stop car pursuits altogether?) You are right - a cop has to be in pursuit until a helicopter is available and in the area - that doesnt always happen. However, once a helicopter has you, i can'treally see how cars pursuing someone would help. It would just make the suspect push that much harder, and take that many more risks. "Skydiving is a door" Happythoughts

I have already said, if a cop is in genuine fear of his/her life, or that of a civilian, be that from a guy at the wheelf of a car or weilding a ski, take them out. Restricting the use of a gun until someone shoots at you out of a car window as they try to mow you and innocents down, is ridiculous. However, deadly force is a last resort. It's not meant to be a deterrent. Pepper spray and a nightstick are deterrents. A bullet coming at you is not going to deter you from anything, it is going to kill you. Someone should know they have done something seriously wrong before they are shot. I don't think a 13 year old kid, out on a joyride, reversing, probably unable to see the rear view mirror or behind him should expect to be taken out, especially when he was not, in that moment, putting anyones life in danger. Sure the kid did something wrong. Sure he deserved to be punished. No one is doubting that. Had the officers been in genuine threat for their lives, i don't think there would be an issue here, whether this kid was 13 or 7. At the end of the day, as has been reported, they were out of harms way and should have looked to contain the situation, not act as judge, jury and executioner in a situation that i don; think (and i could well be wrong, the investigation will soon tell) was the definition of "life threatening". "Skydiving is a door" Happythoughts

You may laugh, but this is now common practice in some UK police forces. The only reason someone flees like a maniac for the most part (unless they are seriously strung out on drugs) is to escape the police. Here, where police pusuits have ended in numerous fatalities invovling civilians who "get in the way", officers now routinely get a helicopter to monitor the suspects movement, while the patrol cars take themselves out the equation. Coordination relayed via the helicopter means that the police are on standby, able to be close to the suspects when needed to apprehend them. It's amazing how quickly most suspects i have seen, suddently start to drive normally once they think they have given the cops the slip. "Skydiving is a door" Happythoughts

Really? I thought he had hit a telephone pole and was probably backing his car up to try to get away. Driving recklessly, and/or stealing a car is no justification for being riddled with bullets, im sorry. If it were, you would see hundreds of drunk and reckless drivers being executed on the streets of the US day in day out. Deadly force is a last resort option (apparently). I'm sorry, but getting out of your car, moving away from it, and being directly out of the line of this moving car does not equate to you being in direct threat of your life. And if you tell me a cop is acting on adrenaline, well that's precisely what their training is supposed to be preventing. Someone with a gun, of all people, should be operating with more clarity than an untrained professional on the streets, and that would amount to being cool calm and collected even in moments of stress. "Skydiving is a door" Happythoughts

My wish would be this didn't happen in the first place. If you honestly think the life of a young white male and young black male equate to the same thing on the streets of LA, then i think thats quite naive in my opinion, especially when talking about LA and the police - black relations in that city. There are decades of race crimes by police against the black community in LA. Just to make it clear - i have no problem with a cop shooting someone if it's in defense of their own, or someone elses life. However, can you explain this: "Even though the police officers immediately got out of their squad car, moved out of the path of Brown's car and were not in danger of being hit, Garcia fired off 10 rounds, killing the boy." This is taken from the LA times http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/commentary/la-oe-mack13feb13,0,2499856.story?coll=la-news-comment-opinions If this were the case, that they had time to get out, move away from their vehicle and be safe from him backing towards them, how is that justified self defence when they were already safe? "Skydiving is a door" Happythoughts

The thing is, when did a bunch of black cops last unload 10 rounds into a white kid? Edited to add: in the UK, armed police cannot fire at the occupant of a moving vehicle, i believe, nor out the side of one they are in while in pursuit. I do know their have been instances where they have attempted to shoot the engine block out or tires, however. "Skydiving is a door" Happythoughts

Actually i don't know quite how i did this, i think it was a bug. I put in the flying car/floating car cheats, and zoomed a couple of miles up and then jumped. While i was falling, i experimented with openings and then spawning more things - rigs, jetpacks etc. Somehow i spawned a jetpack while i was falling but it didn't appear on me, but it put CJ into the "jetpack position" which makes him look like he was sitting, but i was still in freefall. Needless to say, it didn't let me open my chute but it was sure fun while it lasted. "Skydiving is a door" Happythoughts

Happily married for all of 4 months and loving it. "Skydiving is a door" Happythoughts

David Elsewhere get's around these days! Check this out, one of the best ad's i've seen in a lonnnnnnnnnnngggggggg time! Gene Kelley as you've never seen him before... "Skydiving is a door" Happythoughts