nigel99

I grew up in a war zone - sticks was military speak for groups going out on patrol together. Experienced jumper - someone who has made mistakes more often than I have and lived.

Too late. I am not sure I agree, I don't think we are there yet but we are getting very close. Yes have relatively young kids (11) and now that we have had a holiday in the USA we would probably drive/train into Europe for our next vacation. When I go to France and Brussels for business I take the train as it is easier and quicker than flying. For business there is some way to go before I reconsider flying as an option and in fact we are currently looking to start offering our services in the US. Experienced jumper - someone who has made mistakes more often than I have and lived.

Jo, I know that you are sincere but be very careful trying to extend known facts where Duane told the truth to cover area's where he might have lied. Very often tall tales are based on half truths and over time people forget details and people who can validate stories move on. Experienced jumper - someone who has made mistakes more often than I have and lived.

You need to teach your wife how to do the laundry. To much starch and crap ironing Experienced jumper - someone who has made mistakes more often than I have and lived.

It depends on what you want to do with it. If you don't like touch screens stay away from the iPhone and then Blackberries seems to be ok (wife has one). I live the Nokia's and have an N97 which is feature rich - but has software hangups and sucks batteries. My daughter has a Samsung ripoff of the iPhone and it seems to work fine. Experienced jumper - someone who has made mistakes more often than I have and lived.

Ok my bad for some reason I thought our attacks happened after the event. So perhaps the police should have treated it more seriously based on current events. My main point still stands though - there are "other" victims in this that don't get to make the news. This guys own family notified the police to try and get help - that takes more guts than alot of people have. Experienced jumper - someone who has made mistakes more often than I have and lived.

Well, seperation of church and state seem to be working quite well...maybe segregation is actually a good thing. Ya right...I'll take a hand up the crotch and pose nude before I give up my freedoms! Separation good? Well when you are paying 4 or 5 times the current amount for goods as they are made at home rather than China that is your choice. Similarly when travel restrictions between other parts of the world are less onerous than the US it could simply fade away from the world stage although this is unlikely to happen as we in Europe tend to lead the way in piling on restrictions. In the UK people taking holidays at home is on the increase. I believe the main driver is economic though rather than the hassles of flying as we are lucky enough to be able to use alternatives. Experienced jumper - someone who has made mistakes more often than I have and lived.

And so the next attack is done by a person impersonating a pilot. The system is broken and it needs to be fixed or slowly the world will return to a state where countries are isolated and the barriers go up again. A tipping point will be reached where airport security will make the average person question whether that vacation or business trip is really worth the hassle. Experienced jumper - someone who has made mistakes more often than I have and lived.

? I thought he said that total inconvenience was about 4 minutes and everyone felt safer as a result? It didn't come across as a gripe to me. Experienced jumper - someone who has made mistakes more often than I have and lived.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/newsnight/9217604.stm I know that many of us like to go on about Islamic extremists and the current terrorist threats, but this story really highlights the effects on the nearest and dearest. I know the media rarely pick these stories up as it goes against the popular theme of every Muslim is out to get us. Finally remember the context for the UK police before attacking their behaviour. This was before July the 7th and some 5 or 6 years after 9/11. Sure it was a cock-up to let the guy leave the country but I am guessing that the threat posed by him was pretty small. Experienced jumper - someone who has made mistakes more often than I have and lived.

The issue boils down to security vs. privacy/liberty. The issue boils down to the illusion of security and more budget/money for certain government agencies/private companies vs. privacy/liberty. Terrorists willing to die for their cause should not care too much about working for a while as baggage people or airline janitors until they strike. Terrorists planning to die for their cause should not care too much about smuggling explosives in body cavities or having them surgically implanted where they won't be picked up by the scanners. Or they could just skip the whole plane thing and detonate their explosives in the security lines (which the Israelis don't allow to form for that reason). I agree a terrorist hitting any major international airport prior to the security lines would cause as much disruption and attention as they would on a plane. They can even create a high density environment by having "innocent" accomplices going slowly through security and backing the lines up. Experienced jumper - someone who has made mistakes more often than I have and lived.

I can see the body scanner gaining more support if it's actually used in a way that can speed things up and provide passengers with more convenience. Taking your jacket, belt, and shoes off and emptying your pockets is slow and annoying but when you're just going through a metal detector it makes sense due to the limitations of that machine's ability to resolve threats. And if you do set off a metal detector, getting patted down seems reasonable because everyone involved understands the limited information a metal detector provides. The TSA is using backscatter machines like they are fancy metal detectors rather than being a whole new tool. Let me leave my jacket and shoes on and let me leave my things in my pockets. Use that big fancy machine you're making me walk through to resolve the difference between a cell phone and a weapon rather than patting me down just because you see "something." Actually the full body scanners make it worse. They warn you not to even have gum wrappers in your pockets. Even if you go through the scanner you can end up getting patted down for some silly reason. That said I still believe that the polite friendly approach to the TSA helps substantially. Occasionally being friendly to the TSA agent makes you a convenient pick for their quota of searches but I have still found that it goes quickly and is pretty cursory. I just wish they would classify screaming kids as dangerous weapons and provide a disposal point for them on the way onto the plane Experienced jumper - someone who has made mistakes more often than I have and lived.

He was trying to "doge" security. Better give him the full pat down. Experienced jumper - someone who has made mistakes more often than I have and lived.

Thankfully my in-laws are so shit that my wife hangs out with my parents. It is our own business so holidays are a time to catch up the paperwork but get to spend more time with the kids so that's good. Dude, your life is full of blessings!

Yup spent last week in an intensive care unit (work related not due to health) some people really have drawn the short straw. Met a diabetic woman who had stood on a thumb tack and ended up with her foot amputated. Experienced jumper - someone who has made mistakes more often than I have and lived.

Thankfully my in-laws are so shit that my wife hangs out with my parents. It is our own business so holidays are a time to catch up the paperwork but get to spend more time with the kids so that's good. Experienced jumper - someone who has made mistakes more often than I have and lived.

Be greatful you have a job, and hell, broken arms on a tramp, is just part fo Childhood, just hope she isn;t so young it screws up the growth plate.. Life is good... She's 14. It is just a patch at the moment with shitty ignorant customers. I'll get over it and if they don't shut the f up - I will take up our main clients offer to go and work for them. Experienced jumper - someone who has made mistakes more often than I have and lived.

Works sucks, customers suck I am generally pissed off. Now my wife phones to tell me that our daughters friend who we are looking after while her parents are on holiday has broken her arm jumping on the trampoline. Experienced jumper - someone who has made mistakes more often than I have and lived.

In all seriousness how much of a threat is a "known" terrorist. It is pretty likely that he will be monitored closely for the rest of his life. Any attempt for him to mingle with potential terrorists and plan operations is going to be very high risk. If he is stupid enough to rejoin the ranks he is handing intelligence over cheaply. Experienced jumper - someone who has made mistakes more often than I have and lived.

the problem with that cartoon is that they don't screen the fat guys. I went through Atlanta last night and only the "hot" people were being selected for full body scans. Seriously it was funny in the few minutes that I was at security reasonably fit 20-30's were pulled for scanning. In all seriousness they do seem to "pick a type" as I normally travel in casual clothing and don't get selected - yesterday at Atlanta it was business clothing selection day. Even after the scanner the guy did the old fashioned pat down (the explanation given was that I had my watch on my left wrist) Experienced jumper - someone who has made mistakes more often than I have and lived.

4 days. But it's not quite as straightforward as the "hypothetical" situation above. So you have fallen for a hot chick and are wondering how long to wait before you call? Please can I get video. Call her right away. Experienced jumper - someone who has made mistakes more often than I have and lived.

Not sure how accurate Wikipedia is but http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Backscatter_X-ray says that backscatter x-ray are used in some machines. As I say ALL the UK machines are Terahertz and I have no problem with non-ionizing radiation - I am less keen on constantly being x-rayed though. I have direct experience where a Russian expert predicted against Russian dosimetry rules an outcome from a back x-ray (predicted miscarriage based on dose) whereas the NRPB (National Radialogical Protection Board) felt that the dose was within safe limits. It was some years ago and I forget the levels but Russian limits are/were substantially lower than western or UN guidelines. Experienced jumper - someone who has made mistakes more often than I have and lived.

Are you saying that the media are wrong and that there are no x-ray based machines? I am quite happy with THz radiation because frankly there is so much non-ionising radiation in our lives that if there are side-effects that are yet to be discovered for low level exposure we are all pretty screwed Experienced jumper - someone who has made mistakes more often than I have and lived.

The problem with the modern approach to blame and litigation is that it seriously undermines the truth and the ability to learn from our mistakes. In your example the prudent business response from Airtec is to limit the scope of their instructions as far as possible and push the expert opinion back to the manufacturer. The approach that is best for the customer is to provide as much input and guidance as possible - but every "helpful" step opens the door for litigation and doesn't actually earn them any more business. As to the whole topic of negligence and mistakes. It is something that REALLY pisses me. In legal speak there is no room for human error and mistakes. The reality is that we all make mistakes and a bit of tolerance would make the world a better place. There is a huge difference between a simple mistake and incompetence which would be exhibited as a series of mistakes and never learning from them. Unfortunately some peoples jobs don't allow much room for mistakes and they can result in death, in these instances we should be looking at how to improve the checks and balances to reduce the likelihood of recurrence. Anybody that has made a simple mistake that has resulted in a death has my greatest sympathy, for example http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bashkirian_Airlines_Flight_2937 Experienced jumper - someone who has made mistakes more often than I have and lived.

I don't believe that this practice will last long in the USA with the suing culture. It is not going to be long before multiple lawsuits are brought alleging sexual harassment. I mean in reality what is the difference between a TSA agent playing with your balls and simply checking you over - probably nothing other than atmosphere and perceived intentions? Another thing I didn't realise that the full body scanners were using backscatter x-ray (ionising radiation) that adds a whole new dimension for frequent fliers as the West still hasn't caught up with Russia in terms of understanding dosimetry and our thresholds for "safe" are generally still to high. In the UK the scanners are THz based on non-ionising radiation and I thought that it was the media getting it wrong when talking about x-rays. Experienced jumper - someone who has made mistakes more often than I have and lived.