FreeFallFiend

Didnt get to watch any of it yet. What did the defense say specifically that they were lying about? Here is a link to a slightly edited version of what happened this morning: http://landing.newsinc.com/shared/video.html?freewheel=90022&sitesection=dash&VID=24941408 Basically West is claiming that in hindsight its obvious now the state had intended to do this the entire time. It's not only unethical but in my opinion guilty of lying by omission since this wasnt presented to the defense when the state decided they were going to pursue it. No one believes that the state decided to pursue this at 7:30AM this morning because of the amount of research and prep that went into obtaining all the relevant case law. It's irrelevant now as the judge says she wont allow it. I didnt see that particular ruling though so I dont know if it was thrown out because she doesnt agree, because of the way it was introduced, or both. Fiend I am about to take my last voyage, a great leap in the dark. - Thomas Hobbes.

Lesser charges are often included at the end in FL. Its just the way it works down here. The defense probably was prepping for it from day 1. They were prepping for the lesser charge of manslaughter because that's what they were told to expect the entire time and was confirmed again last night. At 730AM this morning the prosecution gave notice they were going to include a lesser charge of 3rd degree murder hinging on child abuse. They then had pages and pages of very detailed case law precedent. The defense was enraged (and rightfully so) because it was obvious that the state had been planning to make this move for quite some time and didnt properly let the defense know. This is a trick because it doesnt allow the defense time to properly defend itself. The bottom line is the state knows they dont stand a chance at convicting GZ for what he was charged and being tried with so they are scrambling like hell now to include lesser charges and ridiculous jury instructions in a hail mary catch all play. Fiend I am about to take my last voyage, a great leap in the dark. - Thomas Hobbes.

I really dont know what to say after watching this mornings proceedings. As the defense is claiming the state was VERY obviously lying and indeed pulling a "trick" with what they did this morning. It didnt get any better as the attorneys for both sides began snidely insulting each other in front of everyone. This really worries me about the legal system. These sneaky moves are something I would expect of a defense, not a state prosecuting legal team. Fiend I am about to take my last voyage, a great leap in the dark. - Thomas Hobbes.

I like the intent but not the practice. Please dont ever put your hands on me or my gear without permission. After the FL incident where the WSer came out of his harness skydivers suddenly thought it was ok to constantly rub and pat my thighs to make sure my leg straps were on. I appreciate the intent, but it doesn't justify that particular execution. Fiend I am about to take my last voyage, a great leap in the dark. - Thomas Hobbes.

To be honest I am shocked the defense even has to make an argument. When the state rested its case there clearly wasnt enough evidence for the jury to be able to convict beyond a reasonable doubt. The judge should have saved the tax payer money and dismissed the case. The states BEST witnesses were uncooperative at best and combative at worst and 2 have perjured themselves. Fiend I am about to take my last voyage, a great leap in the dark. - Thomas Hobbes.

I agree, i think it all boils down to he doesnt understand as an expert witness his opinion is valued as testimony on the stand. He seems to want to only state things he feel can be verified as scientific facts. Very reminiscent of trying to get my engineers to sign off on my marketing collateral Fiend I am about to take my last voyage, a great leap in the dark. - Thomas Hobbes.

Although I run across it every day I never cease to be amazed by the Online Disinhibition Effect. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Online_disinhibition_effect Also known as the "Greater Internet Fuckwad Theory" Fiend I am about to take my last voyage, a great leap in the dark. - Thomas Hobbes.

Video of a fun jump last week in Benidorm, Spain. Be sure to click to gear on the right side of the playbar and change to quality settings to 720p. http://youtu.be/K-niw8BuqLM Also "RightThisMinute" did an amusing segment on it as well that's airing in about 30 cities all over the country today. http://www.rightthisminute.com/video/important-rules-base-jumping Please feel free to offer feedback for future videos. I have tons of footage like this that i havent really done anything with because I am lazy Fiend I am about to take my last voyage, a great leap in the dark. - Thomas Hobbes.

Of course its possible...but if you have to ask you prob shouldnt try ;) This has happened a few times on sit train exits when the first person arches instead of sitflying the exit. Fiend I am about to take my last voyage, a great leap in the dark. - Thomas Hobbes.

She is. For the number of times she hit is she walked away remarkably unscathed. Fiend I am about to take my last voyage, a great leap in the dark. - Thomas Hobbes.

I dont know what could be said beyond this. Gear Check. Pull Priorities. Landing Priorities. 3 Basics, 3 ultimates, 3 points each. Something we learn in the first few hours of skydiving and are never ever supposed to sacrifice. He somehow managed to skip/fail every point of every check/priority. Personally I am not a big fan of always blaming small format cameras. In this case however it is the only explanation to such a compounding series of mistakes. Maybe if he hadnt almost died this way we would have been discussing his hovering directly over an incredible unstable "freefly formation." Fiend I am about to take my last voyage, a great leap in the dark. - Thomas Hobbes.

Totally understand, and I know you werent trying to put him down. I recently had a chat with some great friends of mine that i skydive with. We were talking about how we kind of grew apart because I start doing more and more base and they started doing more and more FFing and tunnel trips. One of them said "I miss you but I understand flying down mountains is better and more important than flying in a tunnel." I stopped her and said "No, it is one thing to me and another to you. They are equally important to each individual." That's when it hit me. As I mentioned earlier I do stand at these exit points and think "How can people live without this?" Skydivers frequently say the same thing. The truth is it doesnt even matter what the activity is, people from all walk of life share this thought when they are really into a particular activity. I see the same thing happen in hashing and crossfit. It's am amazing sensation and its natural to want to share it with everyone. We just need to remember it's different strokes for different folks and it's quite possible and in fact even likely two people doing two completely different activities are havign the same sensations and the same thoughts. Fiend I am about to take my last voyage, a great leap in the dark. - Thomas Hobbes.

Also, just to add, i can also understand what you mean when you say you are tired of the elitism. Sometimes though people are unfairly labeled either due to the media or the mere fact that its hard to detect intent and emotions in writing. Douggs is a great example of this as he is one of the most humble people I have ever jumped with. Alexander Polli is another example. Amazing athletes who's videos and adventures have been seen by millions all over the world but they're some of the nicest and most humble guys you'll ever meet and would never turn you down for a chat or a beer. Fiend I am about to take my last voyage, a great leap in the dark. - Thomas Hobbes.

I understand what you are saying as I too hate sensationalism, however in this case I do think its more factual. Skydiving and BASE are very different from one another. Skydiving is about playing in the sky. BASE jumping is quite literally playing chicken with the ground. Each jump literally starts out with immanent death with a goal of saving our lives with the smallest margin each individual jumper is comfortable with. As for his second point I agree with him as well and again I think its different for base jumping. BASE jumpers go places very very very few people ever do and see things from an equally exclusive perspective. Its hard to go on these crazy trips and share exit points with your best friends and not think "How does the rest of the world live without this?" I know I am not doing a good job of explaining it but it's just not explainable with words. And yes, after sharing these experiences, when someone you shared it with goes in mere days or weeks afterwards it certainly feels like the blink of an eye. Fiend I am about to take my last voyage, a great leap in the dark. - Thomas Hobbes.

I remember hearing a lot of experts talking about this after the bridge collapse up north a few years back. (Minnesota?) It really shook people up in Cincinnati where we have a bridge that everyone knows is dangerous but nothing is being done about. The Brent Spence Bridge in Cincinnati is one of the nations heaviest traveled bridges since both I-75 and I-71 cross it. 12 years ago we were told it only had 8 years of life left. From Wiki: "The bridge was designed to carry 85,000 vehicles per day, but in 2007 it carried 155,000 vehicles per day.[1] It is expected to carry 200,000 vehicles per day by 2013.[1] On June 21, 2011, chunks of concrete from the upper deck of the bridge fell onto the lower deck. Construction crews closed lanes on both decks of the bridge, causing traffic delays of two hours or more. All lanes of the bridge were reportedly re-opened by June 22, 2011, but local commuters were encouraged to eliminate the Brent Spence Bridge from their daily drive until at least July 1, 2011. This incident lead to the belief that the Brent Spence Bridge is in immediate need of replacement and in danger of collapse. Residents often believe the bridge to be structurally deficient, but it is actually functionally obsolete." Estimates to replace it are at $150 million hence why to this day nothing has still been done. Fiend I am about to take my last voyage, a great leap in the dark. - Thomas Hobbes.

Did anyone else find the testing method interesting? They are using reaction time as an indicator or intelligence. While I am sure there is some sort of a correlation I am shocked to see it was the main element in their testing. Fiend I am about to take my last voyage, a great leap in the dark. - Thomas Hobbes.

The very definition of a liberal. Thanks. Thank you for demonstrating my point. Not only did you take a single line out of context but you even chopped my sentence in half to change the meaning. My FULL sentence was: Shame on me for falling victim to the very type of behavior I was complaining about. Instead of discussing/debating my post you chose to instead take something out of context and then label my political views in one very broad stroke. (Which was incorrect since I am far closer to being right than left by the way.) Of course I did see your winky face so maybe it' safe to assume you ere joking or even being ironic. Some people however use those to tell people how they really feel but then leave a backdoor at the same time. Fiend I am about to take my last voyage, a great leap in the dark. - Thomas Hobbes.

Honestly I am embarrassed by most of the things I read in the SC. When I read things people post here I am embarrassed to be associated with skydiving, being an american, even a human being. Even when one occasionally stumbles over a nonbaiting thread that would otherwise have a decent chance of serious intellectual discussion/debate the constant deaf (sorry for the expression Billy) agenda driving and most of the time ignorant bleating of a few ruin all chances for civility. Fiend I am about to take my last voyage, a great leap in the dark. - Thomas Hobbes.

Nice vid. Those guys rock. No love for one of your earlier jumpers you got into the sport? Fiend I am about to take my last voyage, a great leap in the dark. - Thomas Hobbes.

This could be a very long list...fortunately I can sum up most answers with just one: the willfully ignorant. Fiend I am about to take my last voyage, a great leap in the dark. - Thomas Hobbes.

Copeland is very well known in the BASE community, not just local, but international as well. Maybe you havent been around enough. He has also helped no less than 5 people get into BASE most of whom are now pretty talented jumpers. I fully understand the jumping without health insurance argument and personally I am on the fence about it. I will however say that Andy has given A LOT back to the skydiving in BASE communities that can't be counted monetarily. If it wasnt for Andy I wouldnt be living the life I do today, and I have to say it's fucking awesome so i am very thankful. Andy has never shied away or even hesitated to help out another jumper when in need. In fact he is usually the first person to volunteer to help someone else. Fiend I am about to take my last voyage, a great leap in the dark. - Thomas Hobbes.

I love the top comment: "One dislike. Jeb's been here." I am still laughing Edit because I cant spell. Fiend I am about to take my last voyage, a great leap in the dark. - Thomas Hobbes.

I cracked a joke yesterday regarding my confusion on the incident and how this could happen since bombs are obviously illegal. As you can imagine it wasn't received very well. Fiend I am about to take my last voyage, a great leap in the dark. - Thomas Hobbes.

Is she? If you dont know what an FBO is then how are you making that assumption? http://www.lmgtfy.com/?q=FBO You left on your own, so the whole argument is invalid, but just for the sake of arguing if she had asked you to leave then she would have been asking you to leave a private business entity. Fiend I am about to take my last voyage, a great leap in the dark. - Thomas Hobbes.

Are you sure about that Eddie? Because on your blog you said she runs the FBO. An FBO is a commercial entity. So which is it? Do you have any idea at all what you're talking about or are you just trying to make an even bigger deal out of this? Besides all parties agree you were never asked to leave or denied service (you even said you left on your own) so your claim is invalid in addition to being ridiculous, vengeance seeking, and malicious. Maybe you should bitch and whine about not having proper dress codes posted instead as that way you would at least have a better argument but you still were not forced to leave or refused service so its a moot point. Fiend I am about to take my last voyage, a great leap in the dark. - Thomas Hobbes.