chuckakers

If the DZO you are referring to is the poster that suggested the OP make SL's, then hop n pops, then AFF, he obviously offers both disciplines. If that's the case, the OP would be going with the "program offered" either way. Not sure what you mean that AFF is strong in some areas and weaker in others. If you mean geographically there are areas that have more AFF DZ's, that is true. However, if you mean there are DZ's that have "weak" AFF programs, that should be addressed. My point was really more about switching disciplnes. There's no need for it and it does have hazards. If a DZ offers AFF, what sense would it make to start on SL and then switch to AFF? You could just start on AFF to begin with. And by the way, even when instructors DON'T do their jobs right, students still end up with an A license and 25 jumps most of the time. There are, after all, a lot of crap instructors out there, and crap student programs too. Chuck Akers D-10855 Houston, TX

You are entitled to that opinion. You're just wrong. Chuck Akers D-10855 Houston, TX

The "lie" had to do with who said it , not with what was said. In case you didn't catch it, snopes declared the text an incorrect attribution but made no comment on the validity of the statements themselves. If it makes things easier for you, I'll try it this way: Let's say I wrote those words. Now refute them. Chuck Akers D-10855 Houston, TX

Not to drag the conversation in a different direction, but the original poster will likely learn from this exchange. Why would you recommend starting on SL (or its equivalent IAD) and then move to AFF? Chuck Akers D-10855 Houston, TX

You have over 100 jumps. You love the sport. Butch up. If you have legitimate concerns, use your knowledge and the resources around you to deal with them. Otherwise trust in yourself and understand that this is a sport with a certain amount of risk. You must either do everything reasonable to minimize that risk and move forward, or you must decide that the risk is not worth the reward. Your call. Chuck Akers D-10855 Houston, TX

Switch to AFF. Chuck Akers D-10855 Houston, TX

I stand corrected - copy and paste strikes. It would be interesting to see the actual content refuted, though. Anyone? Chuck Akers D-10855 Houston, TX

A friend sent this to me. I'm sure the libs will focus on any connection this guy may have or had with anyone or any cause that even breaths slightly to the right, but hopefully others will read with an open mind. I think what Kaiser says is hard to argue with. His facts are in line and hostorically accurate. How can you argue with facts? Chuck ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- David Kaiser is a respected historian whose published works have covered a broad range of topics, from European Warfare to American League Baseball. Born in 1947, the son of a diplomat, Kaiser spent his childhood in three capital cities: Washington D.C. , Albany , New York , and Dakar , Senegal .. He attended Harvard University , graduating there in 1969 with a B.A. in history. He then spent several years more at Harvard, gaining a PhD in history, which he obtained in 1976. He served in the Army Reserve from 1970 to 1976. He is a professor in the Strategy and Policy Department of the United States Naval War College. He has previously taught at Carnegie Mellon, Williams College and Harvard University . Kaiser's latest book, The Road to Dallas, about the Kennedy assassination, was just published by Harvard University Press. Dr. David Kaiser History Unfolding I am a student of history. Professionally, I have written 15 books on history that have been published in six languages, and I have studied history all my life. I have come to think there is something monumentally large afoot, and I do not believe it is simply a banking crisis, or a mortgage crisis, or a credit crisis. Yes these exist, but they are merely single facets on a very large gemstone that is only now coming into a sharper focus. Something of historic proportions is happening. I can sense it because I know how it feels, smells, what it looks like, and how people react to it. Yes, a perfect storm may be brewing, but there is something happening within our country that has been evolving for about ten to fifteen years. The pace has dramatically quickened in the past two. We demand and then codify into law the requirement that our banks make massive loans to people we know they can never pay back? Why? We learned just days ago that the Federal Reserve, which has little or no real oversight by anyone, has "loaned" two trillion dollars (that is $2,000,000,000,000) over the past few months, but will not tell us to whom or why or disclose the terms. That is our money. Yours and mine. And that is three times the $700 billion we all argued about so strenuously just this past September. Who has this money? Why do they have it? Why are the terms unavailable to us? Who asked for it? Who authorized it? I thought this was a government of "we the people," who loaned our powers to our elected leaders. Apparently not. We have spent two or more decades intentionally de-industrializing our economy.. Why? We have intentionally dumbed down our schools, ignored our history, and no longer teach our founding documents, why we are exceptional, and why we are worth preserving. Students by and large cannot write, think critically, read, or articulate. Parents are not revolting, teachers are not picketing, school boards continue to back mediocrity. Why? We have now established the precedent of protesting every close election (violently in California over a proposition that is so controversial that it simply wants marriage to remain defined as between one man and one woman. Did you ever think such a thing possible just a decade ago?) We have corrupted our sacred political process by allowing unelected judges to write laws that radically change our way of life, and then mainstream Marxist groups like ACORN and others to turn our voting system into a banana republic. To what purpose? Now our mortgage industry is collapsing, housing prices are in free fall, major industries are failing, our banking system is on the verge of collapse, social security is nearly bankrupt, as is Medicare and our entire government. Our education system is worse than a joke (I teach college and I know precisely what I am talking about) - the list is staggering in its length, breadth, and depth.. It is potentially 1929 x ten...And we are at war with an enemy we cannot even name for fear of offending people of the same religion, who, in turn, cannot wait to slit the throats of your children if they have the opportunity to do so. And finally, we have elected a man that no one really knows anything about, who has never run so much as a Dairy Queen, let alone a town as big as Wasilla , Alaska . All of his associations and alliances are with real radicals in their chosen fields of employment, and everything we learn about him, drip by drip, is unsettling i f not downright scary (Surely you have heard him speak about his idea to create and fund a mandatory civilian defense force stronger than our military for use inside our borders? No? Oh, of course. The media would never play that for you over and over and then demand he answer it. Sarah Palin's pregnant daughter and $150,000 wardrobe are more important.) Mr. Obama's winning platform can be boiled down to one word: Change. Why? I have never been so afraid for my country and for my children as I am now. This man campaigned on bringing people together, something he has never, ever done in his professional life. In my assessment, Obama will divide us along philosophical lines, push us apart, and then try to realign the pieces into a new and different power structure. Change is indeed coming. And when it comes, you will never see the same nation again. And that is only the beginning.. As a serious student of history, I thought I would never come to experience what the ordinary, moral German must have felt in the mid-1930s In those times, the "savior" was a former smooth-talking rabble-rouser from the streets, about whom the average German knew next to nothing. What they should have known was that he was associated with groups that shouted, shoved, and pushed around people with whom they disagreed; he edged his way onto the political stage through great oratory. Conservative "losers" read it right now. And there were the promises. Economic times were tough, people were losing jobs, and he was a great speaker. And he smiled and frowned and waved a lot. And people, even newspapers, were afraid to speak out for fear that his "brown shirts" would bully and beat them into submission. Which they did - regularly. And then, he was duly elected to office, while a full-throttled economic crisis bloomed at hand - the Great Depression. Slowly, but surely he seized the controls of government power, person by person, department by department, bureaucracy by bureaucracy. The children of German citizens were at first, encouraged to join a Youth Movement in his name where they were taught exactly what to think. Later, they were required to do so. No Jews of course, How did he get people on his side? He did it by promising jobs to the jobless, money to the money-less, and rewards for the military-industrial complex. He did it by indoctrinating the children, advocating gun control, health care for all, better wages, better jobs, and promising to re-instill pride once again in the country, across Europe , and across the world. He did it with a compliant media - did you know that? And he did this all in the name of justice and .... . .. change. And the people surely got what they voted for. If you think I am exaggerating, look it up. It's all there in the history books. So read your history books. Many people of conscience objected in 1933 and were shouted down, called names, laughed at, and ridiculed. When Winston Churchill pointed out the obvious in the late 1930s while seated in the House of Lor ds in England (he was not yet Prime Minister), he was booed into his seat and called a crazy troublemaker. He was right, though. And the world came to regret that he was not listened to. Do not forget that Germany was the most educated, the most cultured country in Europe. It was full of music, art, museums, hospitals, laboratories, and universities. And yet, in less than six years (a shorter time span than just two terms of the U. S. presidency) it was rounding up its own citizens, killing others, abrogating its laws, turning children against parents, and neighbors against neighbors.. All with the best of intentions, of course. The road to Hell is paved with them. As a practical thinker, one not overly prone to emotional decisions, I have a choice: I can either believe what the objective pieces of evidence tell me (even if they make me cringe with disgust); I can believe what history is shouting to me from across the chasm of seven decades; or I can hope I am wrong by closing my eyes, having another latte, and ignoring what is transpiring around me.. I choose to believe the evidence. No doubt some people will scoff at me, others laugh, or think I am foolish, naive, or both. To some degree, perhaps I am. But I have never been afraid to look people in the eye and tell them exactly what I believe-and why I believe it. I pray I am wrong. I do not think I am. Perhaps the only hope is our vote in the next elections. David Kaiser Jamestown , Rhode Island United States Chuck Akers D-10855 Houston, TX

Still waiting for you to converse about the DATA. Sshhh: grown ups are talking. Yes, they are - so why do you keep interjecting into the conversation? Clicky Well, I guess you can quit using Hansen as a source.... C'mon, that's just profit sharing. Capitalism at its dirty, slimey best! Chuck Akers D-10855 Houston, TX

QuoteSo his parents wanted to learn how to speak Russian, therefore he's a communist. reply] Leaping libs at it again. Chuck Akers D-10855 Houston, TX

They weren't working in national security or international affairs, but they did want to know how to speak Russian. So now your smear tactic is to go after the man's dead parents over what they did before he was even born. You really have no shame. Smear tactics? Gimme a break. Facts are facts. You can make of them what you want, but they are facts. I do not use smear tactics. I don't need to. I have facts. G. W. Bush's grandfather was a Nazi supporter. Does that mean G.W. is a Nazi? You are just being more ridiculous than usual. The Bush Nazi support thing is complete crap. Check out Joe Kennedy and get back with me. Chuck Akers D-10855 Houston, TX

Google search of Dr Lindzen http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&as_q=Professor+Richard+Lindzen+&as_epq=&as_oq=&as_eq=&num=10&lr=&as_filetype=&ft=i&as_sitesearch=&as_qdr=all&as_rights=&as_occt=any&cr=&as_nlo=&as_nhi=&safe=images You forgot to mention the report was peer reviewed too. Chuck Akers D-10855 Houston, TX

Man, that's the pot calling the kettle black if I've ever heard it. Chuck Akers D-10855 Houston, TX

They weren't working in national security or international affairs, but they did want to know how to speak Russian. So now your smear tactic is to go after the man's dead parents over what they did before he was even born. You really have no shame. Smear tactics? Gimme a break. Facts are facts. You can make of them what you want, but they are facts. I do not use smear tactics. I don't need to. I have facts. Chuck Akers D-10855 Houston, TX

They weren't working in national security or international affairs, but they did want to know how to speak Russian. But while we're on the subject of communists, I'd love to hear your views on Van Jones. Chuck Akers D-10855 Houston, TX

Bill, your thread title is wrong. No one is saying Obama wants to kill vets. Your title should read "Obama wants to cut VA spending to have more money for HIS priorities, and is willing to let the "least productive among us" go to have it." It's getting tough to tell if it's 1984 in Washington or 1933. Chuck Akers D-10855 Houston, TX

US teens' attention span aren't long enough to get half way through that. Chuck Akers D-10855 Houston, TX

Thought this was only marginally funny (although true), until I realized how much it must piss off the libs. Call him a hater if you want, but folks are beginning to realize what - not who - is in the white house. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EB3rMOgSzuk Chuck Akers D-10855 Houston, TX

It was my understanding that two AFFI's bailed and left the students on board alone as per the Pilot's instructions. When a pilot in command says get out, the instructors obligation is to get the students out safely. The only time it would be proper for the instructor to exit before the student would be if doing so was necessary to expidite the exits in an extreme situatution (ie. low altitude bailout, catostrophic failure that leaves the aircraft out of control, etc.) If the instructors in question bailed out thinking they were in an emergency requiring an immediate every-man-for-himslef ass-hauling, then it's hard to criticize. If they pulled the hop n pop trigger out of panic after hearing an engine swallow itself and a pilot screaming bail-out, but actully had time to put their students out on instructor assisted bail-outs, then there's a problem. I don't know which it is in this case, but I can say in general, the quality of AFF instructors and instruction these days is sh*t compared to what it should be. But that's no secret. Chuck Akers D-10855 Houston, TX

Oh yeah, we spend all our time thinking about spotted dick and tea. Chuck Akers D-10855 Houston, TX

Tunnel time is extremely effective, regardless of your jump numbers, and especially helpful for newbs. It won't help you with certain things like diving and docking, trackinig, etc., but for learning to fly relative, belly or freefly, nothing else comes close. You will also find it most effective to get coaching from a tunnel rat. They can focus your time and money budget to your needs. Freefall time equals freefall skill development. You can get dozens of jumps worth of freefall time in a weekend. Chuck Akers D-10855 Houston, TX

Actually there is. No one is forced to buy insurance. You can pay for medical care yourself if you prefer. Pick the doctor you want and go. Hell, a lot of docs give discounts to people paying cash instead of using health care insurance. Saves 'em money and keeps 'em from having to wait for reimbursenment. Sounds like free market to me. you spend twice as much on healthcare as other western nations and get a poorer outcome so it's definitely not free

Actually there is. No one is forced to buy insurance. You can pay for medical care yourself if you prefer. Pick the doctor you want and go. Hell, a lot of docs give discounts to people paying cash instead of using health care insurance. Saves 'em money and keeps 'em from having to wait for reimbursenment. Sounds like free market to me. Chuck Akers D-10855 Houston, TX

My kid Justin finishing a swoop after a blind man. Chuck Akers D-10855 Houston, TX

That is an interesting stance to take. Observers on planes that do not have seats is clearly a FAR violation. You think it should be up to the DZO to decide if he should follow the FARs? Do you feel the same way about airplane maintenance issues? Ryan Slow down, Sparky. I made the mistake of assuming people following this thread knew my stance when I made that post. If you look back, I'm the one that (in the original thread on "incidents") first mentioned that the incident appeared to violate FAR's. Any opinion I issue is predicated on following FAR's and - if the DZ is USPA - BSR's. However, there are legal observer rides too, ya know. When I say the decision should be the DZO's, I mean within existing laws. Now drink. Chuck Akers D-10855 Houston, TX