Newbie

skyrad stop reading the Sun, it's not all that bad Seriously, Wimbledon is a nice part of London. Our streets are not controlled by drunk youths, they are a small problem. We do not live in danger of gangs. I work in Peckham. There are no drive by shootings. There are no open deals made on streets. Violence only very RARELY spills out to the public arena. It's the US that has a culture of fear, not us remember I'm not enamoured with this country either, but that;s mainly to do with the weather and not having enough "outdoor" time. Portraying it as a wasteland is tabloidistic and just wrong if you ask me, and i'm by NO means patriotic whatsoever. "Skydiving is a door" Happythoughts

the term hoplophobe seems to be oxymoronic - who in their right mind wouldn't (or shouldn't) have an irrational fear of something that they have no knowledge or understaning of, of something that can kill you and everyone around you in mere seconds, particularly if you pick it up and hold it incorrectly (i.e. putting a finger on the trigger and pulling). How is that fear deemed "irrational"? To me, it's irrational people wouldn't have an inbuilt fear of guns if they know nothing about them. Nac not directing this at you BTW, just tagged it onto your post, as i found the definition of the word to be stupid. "Skydiving is a door" Happythoughts

without taking this TOO far off topic, i was just wondering - why is it so curious to people that anti gun "celebrities" like Rosie and anti gun campaigners have armed guards? Sure, you can shout "hypocrisy!" and i agree, it can be seen as hypocritical to a degree, but i think these cases need to be looked at on an individualistic basis - these "protestors" or advocates of gun control will, by default, increase the likelihood of being targeted by some nut, either because of their celebrity status which you or i don't have to worry about and/or their views on gun control. I think it's reasonable that you can protest that the average citizen on the street should not have a gun on their hip/under their coat/in their handbag, but someone who is involved in either law enforcement or close protection security work should. It's the tools of THEIR trade, not your average Joe Bloggs. Anyway my view is that, sure in an ideal world, everyone would be allowed to protect themselves in whatever way they see fit, but with that goes a heigtened sense of responsibility and adequate training. I think a lot of people with guns equate ownership to neither of those, hence problems arise. "Skydiving is a door" Happythoughts

i think if asked for a pin check in the plane, best to confirm with the jumper you are checking that they want you to check their reserve pin. Some might only want a main pin check. As bigway mentioned, best to say to the jumper while on the ground. If you are unsure, ask the CCI or DZ control or any other Instructor on the ground to confirm. "Skydiving is a door" Happythoughts

so i watch F 9/11. And yes, it's biased and skewed, it's certainly got his own agenda there, obviously. This has all been discussed to the Nth degree. But we all knew this before it even came out. It doesn't matter whether you are the most vehement Moore supporter, or hater - what he's trying to do is get people to think about what is going on. To question things. Here is Britney saying "i think we should just trust in our president and not question anything no matter what". That's not skillful, biased editing, that's what she said. To me, the people that so vehemently hate Moore, represent Britney in that segment. They either don't want, or don't care, to question anything. They are happy in their lot and believe they are right in their beliefs and either don't care about what's going on outside their sphere, or are not open to the idea of questioning things. Is this why people hate Moore so much, because he makes you think about things that maybe just aren't all rosy and fine? Moore obviously DETESTS the current administration - but if you ask yourself why, it's because he cares about the consequences of the actions these people make as it affects the entire country. How does that make you unpatriotic, i don't get it, i would have thought it were the opposite? Someone who cares so much about how their country is perceived outside of it's cosy boundaries is more patriotic than someone waving a flag but who has no idea where Iraq even is, aren't they? Does blind, blinkered following equal patriotism? Maybe it does, but to me that's weird. Lastly, why is it everytime i read a criticism of Moore's work, whichever we might be talking about, book or film, people seem to mention his size? Yes, he's fat but since when does that have anything to do with anything? It's almost like school ground vindictivness, rather than substantiated arguement. I'm not a Moore lover, nor a hater, and i take him with a big grain of salt. I like the fact he makes me think though, pure and simple. Anyone that takes anything in a documentary of any kind to be gospel truth is perhaps kidding themselves i think - after all, doesn't everyone have an agenda? Perhaps it's those reasons why people dislike him so much, they take what he is saying as gospel, and don't look past that fact, I really don't know, but i hope someone will help answer this question with a little more detail than the usual "because he's a fat piece of lying sh*t" type answer. Thanks. "Skydiving is a door" Happythoughts

i'm curious to know what Bush and his presidency has done in his term to address the escalating gang problem in the US? I'm genuinely curious to know as it appears he hasn't done anything from what i can gather - please correct me if i'm wrong. I would have liked to have heard something more substantial than Kerry's propostion of "sending a clear message that there is another path", but i guess it's a starting point. However, quite how he intends to send that message, and make sure it's taken on board by insular and disaffected 3rd generation gangbangers making decent money selling crack is something i would be interested in hearing about in greater detail. "Skydiving is a door" Happythoughts

sometimes i wonder if the con's outweight the pro's in this whole "freedom of speech" belief. Oh and Jeffrey, just so you know ->

If you think ANY news source is 100% credible, think again. They all have their own agendas, and Murdoch does nothing to hide which side of the fence he sits on. But in answer to your question, i would say Fox rates near the lower end of the credibility stakes, so yes, i agree, this is straw clutching, although im standing by with my hat in hands to eat it, should it turn out to be anything but. "Skydiving is a door" Happythoughts

i think the answer to this question is contained within the answer to the following question: "Why should people be immoral?" edited for tipoz "Skydiving is a door" Happythoughts

The only way of doing that (short of winning the lottery, or having a better paying job...or perhaps your sweetheart is rich? ) is to make your hobby pay -you-. Looking at your profile, might I suggest that you connect with the school and hire on as a packer. Packers make some serious dough on a good weekend where I jump. Then you can skydive during the slow times (or days taken off from packing), and live the best of both worlds. Just a suggestion. ltdiver thanks, i do appreciate you wanting to help me out. I work full time (well mon-fri) as a project manager on an education project and come the weekend, if the weather is good and im at the dz, i only want to fun jump. I also have a p/t job as a dj tutor to young kids and occasionally do gigs, but that certainly won't pay the bills, although it's my main hobby outside of jumping, so it's nice to earn something from it. The plan in maybe several hundred more jumps is to get camera work and try to make it pay that way, but who doesn't want to try that on the dz these days? PS if anyone's going to be making the big money it will be my sweetheart. Public sector work just doesn't pay like the private sector "Skydiving is a door" Happythoughts

If you are so scared you should quit jumping and save for retirement. To do anything else is to sell your future to live it up in the present. much as i don't want that, if it comes down to the wire it won't be my kids college education (if they so choose) or providing for my family and myself in the future that will suffer, it will be the money going on jumping. Obviously this is plan b and i plan to somehow work out how i can do everything "Skydiving is a door" Happythoughts

Better get going on that retirement! Soon you'll be 40 and be singing the same song....only then it will be ALOT more scary. ltdiver tell me about it. I started worrying years ago. I don't have a lavicious lifestyle but i just cant seem to save money for my retirement. I even went to spoke to my bank manager about how i could do it and he was concerned i hadn't already started saving. That was 1.5 years ago! I guess i can say that i don't have a lavicious lifestyle, but if i took the money i spend jumping, and the cost of skydiving each month and put it towards retirement, i could have a lovely lifestyle to retire into at this rate (and i don't jump anywhere near as much as i should/want to). Couple that with an engagement and I guess right now priorities are elsewhere. "Skydiving is a door" Happythoughts

Better get going on that retirement! Soon you'll be 40 and be singing the same song....only then it will be ALOT more scary. ltdiver Don't you love it when someone tries to dispute what you say and ends up proving your point ? eh? You said liberals think its ok not to save because they can rely on welfare. I might not have anything saved for my pension, as i stated, but where do i say "its ok, i dont care, someone else will cover my hide when i get old"? I'm SCARED by the fact i have nothing, but right now i'm too concerned about paying for my bills and the occasional bit of dz action to think "oh sure, let me just take this $300/month i don't have and put it towards my retirement fund". I distinctly said, social security and welfare amounts to a limited existence at the best of times from what i can gather (i have never claimed anything so this isn't experience talking), and "I'm all about welfare for those UNABLE to take care of themselves - everyone else should be trying to work and contribute". How does that amount to me proving your point? "Skydiving is a door" Happythoughts

We both have a good healthy appreciation for the bizarre, ridiculous, as well as, i guess some protaganists could say, the completely fu**ing idiotic? Dog Yoga ummm.....ok Hair brained money making scheme for pooch loving gullibles, or genuinely tantric higher consciousness experience for your mutt? I'm probably siding with the former.... "Skydiving is a door" Happythoughts

um what? I consider myself liberal. I don't save a penny for my retirement and have no pension. I'm nearly 30. If you think liberals are all about telling people they can rely on social security, you're way off point. Social secutiry here, buys you next to no existence. In the States, welfare buys you less. I'm all about welfare for those UNABLE to take care of themselves - everyone else should be trying to work and contribute. I'm still a liberal. How is Cosby reflecting a conservative approach?? He is reflecting a COMMON SENSE approach - as he states, how can someone who can't communicate well become a doctor? That's not conservative, it's just fact. It's not radical what he is saying, it's just politically incorrect and has caused a storm in the media as a result. Lumping people or ideologies into groups like that is just lazy, besides which, it's inaccurate and wrong. "Skydiving is a door" Happythoughts

i think you are generalising somewhat. It might seem like this around your neck of the woods, but people of all races fit the description you have just described above, and i see it daily here (i work in a poor area of London). I would say this is not something just endemic to black people, but rather poor people, with little to no opportunity (whether out of choice or their environment, i will leave that for another discussion). No one race is exempt from a bad social situation. "Skydiving is a door" Happythoughts

i wonder if there are any skydiving sikh's? If so, does anyone know if they wear something over their mouth so as not to, literally, catch flies? "Skydiving is a door" Happythoughts

3 years undergraduate degree. My folks helped me out a little with monthly food/rent contributions but most of it was made up through low interest loans taken out each year (finally paid those off, 10 years after i took the first one out, in March this year - extra £70/month for jumps!) savings from part time jobs before uni and 16 months of canvassing door to door every night for a guy who sold plastic fascias and sofits (see attached pic) which paid approx $40/night for 2 hours of work (althoug the work was pretty gruelling - cold calling door to door stuff, but a good insight into human nature and psychology, although the word fascia and sofit still now sends a shiver up my spine). Ahhh they were the best of times and the worst of times (well actually no, they really were the best of times!). I certainly won't force my kids (when i have them) to go to university but i believe it's worthwhile enough an experience to encourage them to strongly do so. "Skydiving is a door" Happythoughts

Guns part of "playground cool" "Skydiving is a door" Happythoughts

why not just wait? You're 18 soon enough. Alot of what jumping is about it learning patience (which you have to have a lot of if you jump in the UK) as well as disposable income. Don't know where you are but use this ground time to read as much as you can about it, save a LOT of your money and get into a wind tunnel if you can. Good luck! "Skydiving is a door" Happythoughts

what's your thoughts on this? Yes/no and why for either case. Personally i tend not to - i prefer to give a donation to people collecting on behalf of a charity like Shelter (the homeless charity) then give it to people directly on the streets. "Skydiving is a door" Happythoughts

I'm not able to comment fully on what happened as i haven't seen the video yet, but the above is to try and present the other side of the perspective. Sure we can focus on the guy being a criminal, but we can also focus on the fact he (apparently) had tried to surrender and still caught a beat down. I imagine if people are getting het up about this affair, it will be because the guy tried to give up. As someone who has had his car broken into 4 times in 7 months, there were times that i would DREAM of having the cops catch and beat the hell out of whoever is doing this to me.....but, then reality kicks in, and i calm down, and i would think "if the cops caught this guy would having them beat the hell out of him make me feel better before they took them off to jail?" I can honestly say not only would it not make me feel better, it would most likely leave me with a nasty taste in my mouth. "Skydiving is a door" Happythoughts

i agree, that's why i said what i did in my original post (what you quoted me on in the beginning of your post). Acceptance and understand comes as a result, IMO, of teaching our children to be tolerant, not by saying "we are all the same underneath" because - as you said through your example - by even age 9 or 10, children can see very real differences between themselves and others anyway. The key is getting them to acknowledge, understand and then celebrate in those differences, and this is only possible through being tolerant of others who are not like you are. If you don't have anytime for anyone other than people like you, how can we expect people from different background to get on together? "Skydiving is a door" Happythoughts

where in my post do i advocate "preferential treatment" of people based on "sterotypes", and advocate grouping people together because it's easier? This isn't a for/against affirmative action post. Grouping people is not based on laziness it is based on fact e.g. sickle cell is more prevalent among afro caribbeans than whites. Seeing us all as "one human race" does not take into account something as basic as this, let alone differences between culture, history, experience and charachteristcs across races. Nowhere do i suggest grouping people together and sterotyping anything, and you are absolutely right when you say we should take everyone as individuals. My post was about the fact that "colour blindness" with regard to race is a flawed concept because it is based on mass assimiliation which isn't possible because we are made up of different races, backgrounds, histories, traditions etc "Skydiving is a door" Happythoughts

social standing (i.e. wealth) and gender are different to race. A "colour blind" approach to race is inherently flawed. If you see everyone as the same and treat them so, how are you supposed to take differing needs, characteristics and experiences into account? We are all members of the "human race" and bleed the same colour sure, and i'm all for doing unto others as you would have done unto yourself etc but to group all races together is assimilationist. Recognising our racial and cultural differences, and having others understand, accept, appreciate and celebrate them with us is central to successful race relations, not trying to paint us all with the same brush. IMHO we should be teaching tolerance, rather than assimilation. "Skydiving is a door" Happythoughts