rgoper

i have an AAD installed in my container. i do not depend on it, neither does it give me any higher comfort level knowing it's there. the only reason i have it is you just never know what can happen after exiting a jumpship. hypoxia, accidently being knocked unconcious, etc...i was on a raft dive last year out of hugh's casa, we did the count for zero g, before this jump i never even wore a helmet, i'm glad i had it on that day. the exit went badly, the raft exploded, the 3 guys inside were thrown out, 1 of them had his pilot chute puleed for him by the raft so he got a 13K+ ride out of the deal. but i remember colliding with someone else's helmet, i don't know which one of the others it was, but a collision none the less, after observing the helmet once on the ground, it was obvious that this contact would have rendered me unconcious had i not been wearing a helmet. in any event AAD's when utilized should not be relied upon, they fail as well. i act as if mine is not there, and yes, i've forgotten to turn it on, and have intentionally not turned it on a couple of jumps. --Richard-- "We Will Not Be Shaken By Thugs, And Terroist"

iraquis are taking american lives right now, british lives as well. this is happening right now as well, and it is the case. we are just as bad as anyone else when it comes to "extracting information" don't think we're not. we're talking about a country who not only conspired but covered up the assination of one of our own president's in 1963, never mind this guy had a "contract" on the cuban leader, yeah, we're just as cruel as everybody else. i know a man who i shall not reveal for obvious reasons, he was in a "special ops" outfit in the 50's. he told me the commander would give them photographs of certain individuals who needed to "be removed" they went and acheived every mission objective. i won't elaborate, the details are fugly. --Richard-- "We Will Not Be Shaken By Thugs, And Terroist"

"we" as americans knew before going in that "anything, and everything was game" after all, that's what war is. nothing i've seen yet surprises me, i hate to say it but a lot of the things that are now current events were forecasted in these very forums. i fully expected to see a few come back after screaming "kill em' all, let god sort em out" to, man, this suks! let this be your measuring stick as it were if in the future you consider backing any actions of this sort. don't be surprised to see many, many more obscene and cruel pranks in the very near future, their actions have no shock value to me, some of these people, of all nations, and creeds are beneath contempt. after all, war is a very dirty business, and it has no friends and no face, no heart, no soul, that's why they call it war. --Richard-- "We Will Not Be Shaken By Thugs, And Terroist"

you'll be flying this Hornet at a 0:94:1 wing, and that is a conservative wing for this canopy. you'll absolutely love it. i had a Hornet 170, one of the best canopies i've ever owned. they turn sharp, have great response to toggle input and have a pretty good bottom end lift. nice choice of canopies. i found that split rolling the nose tamed the openings, they will whack that ass once in a while if ya don't watch it. --Richard-- "We Will Not Be Shaken By Thugs, And Terroist"

FK' him...."get the rope!" stinking theives. --Richard-- "We Will Not Be Shaken By Thugs, And Terroist"

here it does. the first thing i experienced when i came here was "cultural shock" even though most of these gentlemen are of the same creed, there is a difference on "where" you originate from, not where you live. and there are, as you know different sects of the muslim religion, and some of them absolutely don't care for each other, thus the "ethnic cleansing" we've observed in the past. i think we need to start something like this in the states, yeah, let's get rid of the southern baptists and mormons, J/K...J/K.

the iraqis potrayed were sheite muslim kurds. of course they were cheering our arrival. there is much more footage from a kuwaiti television station being aired here, than there. no one sees the same news at the same time unless it's real time, at least this is cnn's claim, not mine. i just know when i'm home from my observation, i see a lot less of what's actually happening over here. there were riots in Cairo, Bahrain and Yemen in the last hours as well, phone service has been out for some of our guys, today was they're "mother's day" and none of them could call. --Richard-- "We Will Not Be Shaken By Thugs, And Terroist"

i find it interesting that everyone is referring to "Dixie Chics" in a plural manner. when in fact, it had nothing to do with the 2 sisters, but only the lead singer Natalie Maines. bad thing is, she's making the other 2 pay for her voicing her opinions. by the way, they were on a world tour, Natalie expressed her opinion about a certain matter she dissagreed with...what's all the fuss? Natalie's no traitor, she "spoke her mind" my 23 year old son and myself go round and round about this very thing, sometimes in heated debates, he hates me calling bushjr "Wyatt Earp" i think it fits. that's the reason they make fords and chevys. --Richard-- "We Will Not Be Shaken By Thugs, And Terroist"

very nicely done. and i don't think your wierd for doing it. --Richard-- "We Will Not Be Shaken By Thugs, And Terroist"

your right. my apologies. no excuses. although i could think of a dozen. --Richard-- "We Will Not Be Shaken By Thugs, And Terroist"

*bump* waiting... this is evident in your expressed views.

what is your definition of bloodthirsty then? go figure. yeah, i heard one of them cruise missles had the name "liberator" stamped on the side of it. get in touch with reality. that was a "selective" length of film. what it didn't show was the bediwens shaking their heads in shock at what they saw when the 7th cal. rolling by at 40 mph. with choppers flying at 50' agl just ahead of them. --Richard-- "We Will Not Be Shaken By Thugs, And Terroist"

yeah, why don't i just give his coridinates out? like i know them. he knows of you guys, and should he want to be contacted by you, he will let you know. what he does tell me is very limited, after all, i'm a civilian, never mind i'm his father. and generally just a short e-mail message sent from his cell phone. he sent me a short e-mail right before the tanks rolled accross the border this morning. (my time is 9 hours ahead of CST US) i'll be sure and tell him you appreciate his efforts, although you and i have very different perspectives on this issue. yeah, i've seen some very careful bombing. you have children, any in the armed forces? the 101st airborne division just landed, although the reporter can't divulge their location, dammit! i bet you'd have a different attitude if you were here, instead of there. "armchiar quaterbacking" is real easy. --Richard-- "We Will Not Be Shaken By Thugs, And Terroist"

~~~~~~POSITIVE VIBES~~~~~~ good luck in whatever your future endeavours.

Evidently iraq is not the only country in possession of "weapons of mass destruction" watching this unfold is definitely "shocking, and aweFUL" 5 million humans live in Baghdad, how many will die? it is my hope, that when this is over, our thirst for blood is quenched. i don't have the stomach for this. my own son crossed the border just this morning headed to the city. god bless our troops, and innocent civilians, and protect them from harm. --Richard-- "We Will Not Be Shaken By Thugs, And Terroist"

i'm just assuming your literate. i refuse to "judge" someone based solely on their actions, especially someone i never knew. --Richard-- "We Will Not Be Shaken By Thugs, And Terroist"

well, now that we've established what she is, we're just haggling over the price! --Richard-- "We Will Not Be Shaken By Thugs, And Terroist"

don't get me wrong, i'm neither for, or against any of her actions, i'm not even aware of her past activities. just trying to get other's to bear in mind that others who have passed on, no matter what their legacy leave family members behind. it is generally considered common respect to not publicly slam someone who has passed on considering they have family members who had nothing to do with their activities. i respect what you consider "irking" but i'm referring to respect, plain and simple, nothing else. --Richard-- "We Will Not Be Shaken By Thugs, And Terroist"

i was merely relating that 2 different women risked their lives and died for a cause they were willing to "make a stand for" "shame on you" for calling the young lady that died in the west bank "stupid" she has family you know. what about the BASE jumper who recently lost their life apparently because this jumper was packing, and forgot to attach the bridle line/pc to the top of the canopy? i doubt you'd call this jumper "stupid" in these forums and get away with it. i've noticed your becoming more and more insensitive (just an observation) reminding me of pre-ban rhino....amember? lighten up a tad bro! no need to attack or dishonor a deceased person because of their beliefs, or actions, they ALL leave family behind. take care, your a better person than that. be safe, and remember, "the life you save, may be your own"

i'm sure you see this before you click, and enter, right? --Richard-- "We Will Not Be Shaken By Thugs, And Terroist"

i've purposely left this one, and all of the other posts alone today, until now. rob, bad enough you call the deceased names, she has a family, regardles of how she left this world, respect her family, even if you think she's ignorant. in summation of all of the responses, i recall a well known well respected and thought of female sky diver & BASE jumper. i'm not going to mention her name because i'm sure everyone remembers the incident and out of respect for her memory. she was doing a peaceful BASE jump and went in, NP was the cause of her death. she was jumping borrowed gear. would you say she was stupid as well? and if so, why? and if not, why not? observation: people tend to "label" people they are not acclaimated with. this young lady died, she gave her life for a cause she believed in, just as the well known jumper referred to in this post. THINK before you make such derragatory remarks, words are hard to "take back" --Richard-- "We Will Not Be Shaken By Thugs, And Terroist"

not only did you "hit the nail on the head" with your response, you saved me the trouble"

i echo your sentiments. anyone who thinks it's fun, funny, or victorious should have came over by now. i can tell you, firsthand, it's not funny and it's not pretty. and it's highly unlikely that the rest of the guys and myself will be able to leave the country when we are supposed to. --Richard-- "We Will Not Be Shaken By Thugs, And Terroist"

i'm shocked, this coming from you? you're a better person than that. c'mon rob. a joke's a joke...but hey. --Richard-- "We Will Not Be Shaken By Thugs, And Terroist"

c'mon dude. have some respect for her family. i've been sitting on that for days. in her honor, delete that url. my 0.02 USD. --Richard-- "We Will Not Be Shaken By Thugs, And Terroist"