metalslug

As some folks have already mentioned, you need to avoid contact with the body as much as possible. All of the "chop up the body and then..." ideas leave a trail of waaay to much fiber and DNA evidence. Keep the body intact, wrap it up well, and either bury it cleverly or incinerate it completely. I do have an exact plan in mind but I'm not gonna share it here. I wouldn't want my own forum comments used against me later if I need to use the plan one day.

Does the paper necessarily need to be "skydive high" and exposed to the air ? Could a pilot take your paper up to 35000ft+ in the cabin of a commercial or military jet aircraft, or would that not count ?

Anything that can be helped ?

I've heard from a resident of the area that police are looking for an accomplice. It is believed that he (Mr. Heemeyer) had help in welding the "main hatch" closed from the outside. A person might wonder what motivated the accomplice to "help" in this incident.

I have fantastic success using Tiny Personal Firewall. Disadvantages: (1) It cannot cure a PC that is already infected. TPF has to be installed directly after a new Windows installation. (2) It takes a bit of practise and reading to learn how to use it properly. Not suitable for grandma. (3) It's not freeware, you gotta buy it after the evaluation period runs out ($50). Advantages: (1) A single, small program, takes up about 10MB drive space and just a few MB of system resources. (2) Monitors network traffic going in and out aswell as the execution of files and programs, allowing the user to deny, grant, or set a custom permission profile on any and all file execution and network traffic. New files on your PC are automaticaly detected and brought to your attention until you grant/deny them permission to execute and/or permission to connect to the internet. (3) Using the above principles, it can protect you from pretty much any virus, trojan, spyware, unwelcome popup message, or combination of the above. (4) If $50 is not what you had in mind, send me a PM and I can perhaps arrange something cheaper.

Hmm.. surely it's not exactly the same as hitting concrete, is it ? I mean.. if you hit concrete you'll literaly bounce. A body would not bounce off water from a vertical impact at terminal.. or would it ? The water does yield to some extent at least, albeit not enough to make the impact survivable. As for movies, as 'educational' as they are, in 'Saving Private Ryan' we all saw German MG bullets penetrate easily through 6ft of surf and 1ft of soldier before hitting beach sand, apparently not significantly affected by the water impact.

Zero! South African 'highveld' weather, yeah baby! In winter its mostly clear skies and light wind. In summer it's mostly scattered thunderstorms that blow over in an hour or two. High winds have grounded students several times at my DZ but the wind has never persisted more than an hour or so. Of course, I do make a point of checking the weather forecast before driving out to the DZ. That usualy helps a lot in improving my chances of jumping when I get there.

Lt. General Robert Gard expressed an opinion on the videos, in his capacity as a military consultant and a man who has seen action in almost every US campaign since Korea and Vietnam. Quade was quick to suggest here that, despite the general's obviously superior knowledge and experience, he may be a "pandering asshat". Could the same be true of experienced skydivers when expressing opinions in their field of expertise ?

Apparently, Lt. General Robert Gard (US Army, retired) feels he has enough information to comment to a German news channel: "I consider this inexcusable. This didn’t happened in the center of wild combat. This was the cold-blooded murder of a severely wounded person." Either the general knows something more than the video shows, or he is giving an opinion at face value in his capacity as a military consultant. No 'mericans were harmed during the making of this post.

I acknowledge that it's perhaps off topic and may deserve it's own thread, but not much has yet been said about the second video in my earlier post. Were there more options available to this ground unit than the Apache pilots had ? Just to clarify my stance; I agree that the Iraqis themselves fight dirty, that street battles are seldom cordial, and that emotions run high resulting in these kinds of incidents. I would, however, prefer that more people just acknowledge that it was improper, even if they add "Yeah, so what ?" to that acknowledgement. Just dont deny that it was improper.

This may be an interesting read for some. It includes, amongst other things, a statement from Lt. General Robert Gard (US Army, retired): "According to the pilot the Iraqi resistance fighter is wounded. Nevertheless, the instruction is to kill him. I think it would have made more sense much to arrest the wounded one, and interrogate him. But completely apart from that: the killing of a disabled, wounded opponent is forbidden. According to the Geneva convention, that’s murder." In addition, Professor Stefan Oeter, a German expert in international law: "International law sets that opposing combatants may be only fired at, so long as, how should I put this, are militarily active, and if they refrain from combat are required to be spared. Thus to that extent, the suspicion is that an offence against international law is present here, and serious offences against international law, against humanitarian international law, are war crimes." And now, a new video perhaps, take a look at this. Alrighty, now before Ron and others take a bite at my head; it is not my personal view that the killings are any great travesty. The South African army and it's Koevoet ally did a lot worse to their enemies during the Angolan conflict. However, I am posting this support an opinion that has already been raised by others; that the US cannot present an image of righteousness to the world when incidents like these are recorded. The Iraqis have unconventional Rules of Engagement, no argument there, and many may feel that this justifies the occasional bending of rules by Allied forces. Maybe it does, maybe it doesn't, but folks shouldn't be making sanctimonious comments about it. The highlighted incidents are illegal killings in the opinion of at least two 'western' experts. Dont call a spade a shovel.

So long as you dont post pics of it's ass.. asking us if it's a boy or girl bunny.

Hmm.. thats an idea. Sleep over near a terminal, then you can gloat to HALO jumpers that you were "at terminal" for 12 hours straight.

I am going to assume the reluctance to be in Iraq is because most of the folks here fear being captured and killed as suggested above. But I have a question... who is more at risk and what is the probable order of risk ? (1)Americans (2)Citizens of any country that has a military presence in Iraq (3)Anyone who is not Islamic (4)...or simply anyone who doesn't look like a native of the region (race/ethnicity) ? As a South African, our goverment's official position is to oppose the Iraq occupation and South Africa had significant oil trade with Iraq before the occupation. Nelson Mandela is known to be sympathetic towards Fidel Castro, Muammar Gadhaffi and probably Saddam too. But.. I am a white South African, non-Islamic, with European ancestry and 'western' thinking.. and my personal views on Iraq are not necessarily those of my goverment. Is it safe for me to walk the streets with my passport and accent at the ready ? Anyone willing to place bets ?

Just for interest, you may want to read the available USPA documentation on the pre-course requirements for AFF-I. If they are similar to PASA guidelines, then the focus seems to be primarily on RW skills, including such pre-course requirements as "Minimum 50 RW jumps in the last 12 months" and "must have taught and jumped the complete ISP (RW coaching) twice in the last 6 months". I would imagine that, in the practical realities of AFF instruction, freefly skills can be very useful aswell on an 'eventful' skydive, but do not seem to be a prerequisite.

Maybe I haven't been reading enough, but most of the hybrid cars I've seen, prototypes and production models, seem to focus a lot on economic efficiency. In doing so, many motorists see hybrids as "wimp" cars. The cars often seem to have small engines generating only modest power and performance, and I think this perhaps discourages folks who prefer the (usualy) more substantial power output of traditional octane engines. To improve the appeal of "enviroment friendly" cars; someone should build a 'squeaky clean', but serious, sports car or pickup. Something similar to a Ram or Viper perhaps, a 8-liter V10 hydrogen engine or similar. It wont matter much (or will it?) if it burns an entire fuel cell each day, at least its a 100% clean burn.. and allows the car some 'muscle' appeal. I can understand that such designs will probably be quite expensive for general production and sales, but I think a few models will enhance the image of hybrids and 'green' cars. They should be good for more than just driving Miss Daisy

I got this in my mail today. I'd be interested to know which one's are real and which one's are probably 'urban legend'. Perhaps the commercial pilots on these forums can suggest if some of these sound far-fetched. ==================================== Here are some conversations that airline passengers normally will never hear. The following are accounts of actual exchanges between airline pilots and control towers around the world. O'Hare Approach Control to a 747: "United 329 heavy, your traffic is a Fokker, one o'clock, three miles, Eastbound." United 329: "Approach, I've always wanted to say this... I've got the Little Fokker in sight." ============================================================ A student became lost during a solo cross-country flight. While attempting to locate the aircraft on radar, ATC asked, "What was your last known position?" Student: "When I was number one for take-off." ============================================================ A DC-10 had come in a little hot and thus had an exceedingly long roll out after touching down. San Jose Tower Noted: "American 751, make a hard right turn at the end of the runway, if you are able. If you are not able, take the Guadalupe exit off Highway 101, make a right at the lights and return to the airport." ============================================================ There's a story about the military pilot calling for a priority landing because his single-engine jet fighter was running "a bit peaked." Air Traffic Control told the fighter jock that he was number two, behind a B-52 that had one engine shut down. "Ah," the fighter pilot remarked, "The dreaded seven-engine approach." ============================================================ Taxiing down the Tarmac, a DC-10 abruptly stopped, turned around and returned to the gate. After an hour-long wait, it finally took off. A concerned passenger asked the flight attendant, "What, exactly, was the problem?" "The pilot was bothered by a noise he heard in the engine," explained the flight attendant. "It took us a while to find a new pilot." ============================================================ A Pan Am 727 flight waiting for start clearance in Munich overheard the following: Lufthansa (in German): "Ground, what is our start clearance time?" Ground (in English): "If you want an answer you must speak in English." Lufthansa (in English): "I am a German, flying a German airplane, in Germany. Why must I speak English?" Unknown voice from another plane (in a beautiful British accent): "Because you lost the bloody war." ============================================================ Tower: "Eastern 702, cleared for take-off, contact Departure on frequency 124.7" Eastern 702: "Tower, Eastern 702 switching to Departure. By the way, after we lifted off we saw some kind of dead animal on the far end of the runway." Tower: "Continental 635, cleared for take-off behind Eastern 702, contact Departure on frequency 124.7. Did you copy that report from Eastern 702?" Continental 635: "Continental 635, cleared for take-off, roger; and yes, we copied Eastern... we've already notified our caterers." ========================================================= One day the pilot of a Cherokee 180 was told by the tower to hold short of the active runway ! while a DC-8 landed. The DC-8 landed, rolled out,turned around, and taxied back past the Cherokee. Some quick-witted comedian in the DC-8 crew got on the radio and said, "What a cute little plane. Did you make it all by yourself?" The Cherokee pilot, not about to let the insult go by, came back with a Real zinger: "I made it out of DC-8 parts. Another landing like yours and I'll have enough parts for another one." ============================================================ The German air controllers at Frankfurt Airport are renowned as a short-tempered lot. They not only expect one to know one's gate parking location, but how to get there without any assistance from them. So it was with some amusement that we (a Pan Am 747) listened to the following exchange between Frankfurt ground control and a British Airways 747, call sign Speedbird 206. Speedbird 206: "Frankfurt, Speedbird 206 clear of active runway." Ground: "Speedbird 206. Taxi to gate Alpha One-Seven." The BA 747 pulled onto the main taxiway and slowed to a stop. Ground: "Speedbird, do you not know where you are going?" Speedbird 206: "Stand by, Ground, I'm looking up our gate location now." Ground (with quite arrogant impatience): "Speedbird 206, have you not been to Frankfurt before?" Speedbird 206 (coolly): "Yes, twice in 1944, but it was dark, ........and I didn't land." ============================================================ While taxiing at London's Gatwick Airport, the crew of a US Air flight departing for Ft.Lauderdale made a wrong turn and came nose to nose with a United 727. An irate female ground controller lashed out at the US Air crew, screaming: "US Air 2771, where the hell are you going?! I told you to turn right onto Charlie taxiway! You turned right on Delta! Stop right there. I know it's difficult for you to tell the difference between C and D, but get it right!" Continuing her rage to the embarrassed crew, she was now shouting hysterically: "God! Now you've screwed everything up! It'll take forever to sort this out! You stay right there and don't move till I tell you to! You can expect progressive taxi instructions in about half an hour and I want you to go exactly where I tell you, when I tell you, and how I tell you! You got that, US Air 2771?" "Yes, ma'am," the humbled crew responded. Naturally, the ground control communications frequency fell terribly silent after the verbal bashing of US Air 2771. Nobody wanted to chance engaging the irate ground controller in her current state of mind. Tension in every cockpit out around Gatwick was definitely running high. Just then an unknown pilot broke the silence and keyed his microphone, asking: "Wasn't I married to you once?" ============================================================ Tower: "Delta 351, you have traffic at 10 o'clock, 6 miles!" Delta 351: "Give us another hint! We have digital watches!" ============================================================ "TWA 2341, for noise abatement turn right 45 Degrees." "Centre, we are at 35,000 feet. How much noise can we make up here?" "Sir, have you ever heard the noise a 747 makes when it hits a 727?" ============================================================ From an unknown aircraft waiting in a very long take-off queue: "I'm f...ing bored!" Ground Traffic Control: ! "Last aircraft transmitting, identify yourself immediately!" Unknown aircraft: "I said I was f...ing bored, not f...ing stupid!" ============================================================

While many may argue that poverty is the primary motive in increased South African crime, the statistical evidence suggests this may not be true. I cant find an internet link to the report, but I am sure I overheard news of a recent United Nations study that the overall level of poverty in SA has improved slightly in the last 10 years. Unfortuntely though, the crime has increased aswell. It's a common belief that the justice system has become a lot less effective in the last 10 years. The death sentence and harsh police tactics are no more, and prison overcrowding is addressed by occasionaly releasing several thousand convicts on a type of 'very early parole' if they were serving time for minor crimes. In my opinion, it is mostly these factors that have increased the crime rate. As with many urban enviroments the world over, not all places are equaly 'dangerous'. I have heard that dark alleys in New York City are dangerous too. And so, people do take some care in areas to avoid at certain times of the day or night. I dont want to encourage tourist paranoia by sounding overly negative, but I would certainly want to brief visiting friends from overseas on a few things before suggesting that they drive around alone here.

>These kids need to STFU and learn. Worrying about "Free >Expression" while you're at school is a buncha crap. I completely disagree. Firstly, the teachers themselves should be educated enough to know that the correct spelling of the curse is "damn" and not "dam". The wording of the shirt could only have a misinterpreted context if it were spoken out loud, but not if it were read by literate individuals. Of course, I'm aware enough to notice the intended ambiguity in the wording, but it's really very tame stuff. I was educated in South Africa where the schools here had a designated uniformed dress code and hairstyle regulations. It once happened that the principal took it apon himself to cut my hair, without consent from myself or my parents. I was too young and too afraid to resist. My parents very nearly brought assault charges against the man. I sure as shit would have if it was my kid. My point is that I have resented authority figures every day since and still do.. and the attitude of authority figures to overstep their mark or even overstep the law, through ignorance or megalomania, is something that needs to be addressed wherever it occurs.

In the bottom center is a black 'area'. That's Toms black jumpsuit. He's wearing a white helmet and his legs are bent at the knees. The blue (and pehaps the yellow too) above the helmet appears to be a deploying canopy and the other grey structures look like buildings.

South Africa http://www.para.co.za/ The Membership section returns 558 records for the year 2003. Unfortunately I do not have enough experience in the sport to know the dynamics of membership totals and how accurately this figure represents the actual number of current skydivers.

Another interesting speedometer...

As with all skydive questions.. you should ask an instructor. I'm sure your instructor will tell you to rather go play golf.

We had 3 jumpers at our DZ doing their 100th jump on Sunday. There was no cream but two were nekkid. The non-nekkid jumper did his first CRW jump for his 100th. 2-way stack ending in a downplane. Of the two nekkid jumpers; one had his first mal & reserve ride on that jump. He was back in the air 15 minutes later doing his first 12-way for his 101st jump. Quite an interesting day.. and lots of free beer for all those firsts.

It does seem to give many 'programmed' responses. I am convinced its not a live webcam at all. I told it to "touch the television" and it touched its crotch instead, not going near the television. I told it to "lift your left leg", instead it interpreted this as "stand on your left leg" and lifted its right leg. I repeated this with "lift your left leg" and it complied again by doing the opposite. I told it to "touch your left leg with your left hand" to which it responded by lifting its right leg and not moving arms at all. Quite clever, but not a live act.