Douva

News reports from about a year ago claimed that North Korea has missiles capable of reaching the California coast. http://www.cnn.com/2003/WORLD/asiapcf/east/02/12/us.nkorea/ I don't have an M.D. or a law degree. I have bachelor's in kicking ass and taking names.

I just saw the movie myself. The Colonel who made this statement may have believed it, but it wasn't true. The Alamo was not particularly strategic to the defense of Texas, and the only thing accomplished by attempting to defend it was the motivating factor "remembering the alamo" had on the rest of the Texicans. I'm sure the Mexicans would have fired on the Alamo with or without the band. I don't have an M.D. or a law degree. I have bachelor's in kicking ass and taking names.

Quoteyup and the song, mad world, from the sound track has been getting a lot of raidio play as of late here in utah, even though the movie is from like 93'.... reply] Do you mean the song is from '93? The movie came out in 2001. I don't have an M.D. or a law degree. I have bachelor's in kicking ass and taking names.

Have you considered putting a little Loctite on the threads? I don't have an M.D. or a law degree. I have bachelor's in kicking ass and taking names.

Yes, the tights are the secret origin of all evil in the world. Someday the tights will rise to power and control a one world government under the mark of the beast. You are either with the tights or you are against them. All hail the tights. --"The False Prophet of the Tights" Douva I don't have an M.D. or a law degree. I have bachelor's in kicking ass and taking names.

But why always on the weekend? Did you see that ten day forecast--eight days of sunshine broken up by a weekend full of rain? WTF? The one consolation is the knowledge that the meteorologists have been batting about .200 over the last few weekends. We can only hope they're wrong about this one, too. I don't have an M.D. or a law degree. I have bachelor's in kicking ass and taking names.

This is getting really old.....(see attachment).... I don't have an M.D. or a law degree. I have bachelor's in kicking ass and taking names.

Carrying a gun is not about "punishment," it is about defense. You don't carry a gun so you can blind the other guy after he blinds you, you carry a gun so the other guy won't blind you. The last thing we need is a bunch of vigilantes running round trying to dish out "punishment." I don't have an M.D. or a law degree. I have bachelor's in kicking ass and taking names.

will there be some thing to replace them? What I'm getting at is, what are the plans for a user credibility rating system like has been talked about. I do have to say that I will miss the titles. Even though they seemed trivial, it did help to weed out the newbies ( in my mind at least). That and I'll miss the honorary titles for Clay n Dave What does the number of posts somebody has made to DZ.com have to do with their credibility in talking about skydiving or anything else? I don't have an M.D. or a law degree. I have bachelor's in kicking ass and taking names.

My first real exposure to skydiving was when a drop zone opened next to my cousins' farm, when I was about ten. My cousins and I kept seeing canopies in the air, so one day we got curious and took off running across soybean fields, following a group of canopies down. We followed them to a small airport next to the farm. The skydivers showed us their gear and how it worked. They explained the training process. Over the next few years, we'd occasionally come by to watch them jump, and the DZ staff would show us skydiving videos, etc. Eight years after following those first canopies down, I came back to that little drop zone to do my AFF. For the ten years that drop zone was open, my cousins, great uncle, and everyone else on the farm were more than happy to give any skydivers who landed on their property a ride back to the drop zone. I think in the end, how you respond to something like a skydiver landing on your property just comes down to what's really in your heart. Most people with farm or ranch land are really good people, but a few have a strange, misguided belief that they have the God given right to operate completely outside of society--to live as hermit. They see anybody who comes near their property as a threat to that lifestyle. They skydivers who land on their property probably threaten them more psychologically than physically. The skydivers threaten their belief that they can live lives unaffected by the rest of society. --Douva I don't have an M.D. or a law degree. I have bachelor's in kicking ass and taking names.

No, the McNasty load was the previous day's sunset load. I don't have an M.D. or a law degree. I have bachelor's in kicking ass and taking names.

I saw the film at the South by Southwest Film Festival. His rules were that he must eat everything on the menu (including salads and water), and he could only "Super Size It" if he was asked to by the McDonald's staff (he was asked nine times in the course of the experiment). His research showed that there were more calories in the McDonald's salad with dressing than in the McDonald's Big Mac. The McDonald's yogurt actually had more calories than the McDonald's sundae because the yogurt comes with toppings. It was a really interesting documentary, and I didn't find it to be nearly as manipulative as I had expected. I can't say the same for Bush's Brain (I saw the two films back-to-back), which started out strong but went off track about halfway into the film. --Douva I don't have an M.D. or a law degree. I have bachelor's in kicking ass and taking names.

I had the most gorgeous sunset load of my life on Sunday. A friend and I exited at 14k and pulled right out the door. We just enjoyed the view of the thunderheads moving in from the North and played Star Wars in the valleys between the clouds beneath us. These pictures don't come close to doing the jump justice, but I thought some of you might like to see them. Blue skies, Douva I don't have an M.D. or a law degree. I have bachelor's in kicking ass and taking names.

I guess this is where I need to jump in before everyone starts theorizing about "what really happened." Those of us who were on the load made a group decision not to post this incident online, but since it has already been posted, I doubt if any of the other jumpers will object to my setting the facts straight. I was one of the jumpers who landed off on this jump, but I was on the road outside "Farmer McNasty's" field when the incident occurred, so I did not witness the assault. Before I lay out the sequence of events, there are a couple of bits of information that may clarify a few of your questions. First, because this was a sunset load, most of this happened in the twilight, and by the time we got back to the drop zone, there was only a hint of light left in the sky. Second, "Farmer McNasty" is not really a farmer at all, but rather a rancher, so there was no destruction of a crop, and to the best of my knowledge, none of the jumpers who landed off encountered any of his livestock. I'll tell the story from my point of view so that it is clear what I witnessed and what I didn't. It was the sunset load on Saturday, March 27. Half the load was a tracking dive, and the rest were tandems. I was on the tracking dive. We took an early spot northwest of the drop zone, so as to stay out of the airspace of the tandems and their cameramen. The dive went great, but on opening I noticed a free-bag falling below me and somebody under a red reserve canopy following it down. I followed the red reserve and the free bag into a field (actually a pasture) northwest of the DZ. A third jumper also landed in this field with us. I am not sure if this particular field is owned by Farmer McNasty, but it is across a dirt road from the field (McNasty's field) where the incident occurred. The three of us gathered our gear and crossed the fence onto the dirt road and dropped our gear in the bar ditch. One of the other jumpers said he had seen a fourth jumper (the jumper who was eventually hit by the truck) follow the main canopy onto McNasty's land. I waited by the road to flag down whoever was coming to pick us up while the other two skydivers crossed through McNasty's gate to look for the free-bag, which they found about ten yards inside his property line. They then returned to the dirt road. The fourth skydiver still hadn't returned with the main, so we decided somebody had better go help him look for it. One of the other jumpers volunteered to go knock on McNasty's door and inform whoever was home that there is a skydiver down on his property and ask permission to look for the canopy. He walked through the gate and up the dirt road toward the ranch house. The skydiver who'd had the cutaway waited with me by the dirt road. About this time, two vehicles showed up from the drop zone. The people from drop zone and I went back over to the field where we landed to make sure the canopy didn't land over there, while the jumper who'd had the cutaway waited by the vehicles. From just across the street, we saw a pickup truck pull up beside our two vehicles. The jumper with the malfunction walked over and talked to the driver of the pickup for a couple of minutes, so we assumed it was somebody else from the drop zone, but just as we got back to the road, the electric gate opened, and the pickup drove up the road to McNasty's house. The jumper who had talked to him came over and informed us that McNasty (the driver of the pickup) was "pissed." He said he told McNasty that there was one jumper on his field looking for a parachute and a second jumper walking up to the house to tell him we were there. He said McNasty's reply was, "Why can't you people just leave me alone?" We continued to wait by the road for our friends to return from McNasty's field. A few minutes later, we spotted our friends in the distance, running down McNasty's road. They were obviously in an unusual hurry, so I turned to my friend and half-jokingly asked, "Do you think he gave them a time limit to get off his land?" As they got closer, we realized that the jumper who had walked up to the farm house was carrying both of their rigs and the cutaway main. The jumper who landed in McNasty's field was holding his arm and struggling to stay on his feet. As they got near the gate, it was immediately obvious that something was wrong. I can't remember ever seeing anything exactly like the look of fear on their faces, but it was disturbing. As soon as they passed through the gate onto the dirt road, the skydiver who had landed off collapsed onto the ground and begin screaming, "He hit me! He hit me with his car!" We jumped in the vehicles and got out of there as quickly as we could. Back at the DZ, paramedics and the sheriff's office were called. According to the two jumpers who were there (the one who was hit and the one who witnessed it), this is what happened: They were carrying the main canopy and walking back through the field, toward the private road that leads to the front gate, when McNasty came driving up in his pickup. Spotting them, McNasty swerved off the road, ran over one of their rigs, which was laying on the ground, and hit the jumper who had landed on his field. He then got out of his pickup truck, and the injured jumper screamed at him "You hit me!" His reply was something to the effect of, "You're damned right I hit you! If you ever come back on my property, I'll kill you!" The uninjured skydiver gathered up both of their rigs and the cutaway canopy, and they hightailed it back to the public road, where we were waiting. The injured jumper was taken away from the drop zone in an ambulance and later diagnosed with bruises and a fractured arm. The police took statements and drove to McNasty's house (which we could see from the DZ) and supposedly arrested him. As of now, I believe that's all anybody really knows. The skydiver who witnessed the assault is a regular poster to DZ.com, and I'm sure he is following this thread and will post if he has anything he wishes to contribute. Blue skies, Douva I don't have an M.D. or a law degree. I have bachelor's in kicking ass and taking names.

I liked this one, too. I don't have an M.D. or a law degree. I have bachelor's in kicking ass and taking names.

TA-TA-TA-DAAAAAAAAAA...TA-DA...DAAAAAA...TA-DA-DA TA DA DAAAAAAAAA TAAAAAA...TA DA DA DA DAAAAAAAAAAAAAA AAAAAUUUUUUUGHHHHHH, DARN YOU IVAN!!! I just got that stupid song out of my head. In 1972, a crack commando unit was sent to prison by a military court, for a crime they didn’t commit. These men promptly escaped from a maximum-security stockade to the Los Angeles underground. Today, still wanted by the government, they survive as soldiers of fortune. If you have a problem, if no one else can help, and if you can find them, maybe you can hire…the A Team. I don't have an M.D. or a law degree. I have bachelor's in kicking ass and taking names.

I once had that theme stuck in my head for nearly two years after using it in a skydiving video; DON'T BRING IT BACK! I don't have an M.D. or a law degree. I have bachelor's in kicking ass and taking names.

Steven Segal? Harrison Ford? I remember hearing that line in an action movie, years ago. - Jim It was either the Sum of All Fears (Ben Afflack, Morgan Freeman) or The Peacemaker (George Clooney) I don't remember which In the Peacemakers Nicole Kidman said, "I don't fear the man that wants 10 nuclear warheads, but I'm terrified of the man that only wants one". From The Sum of All Fears (2002): Cabot: We've also gotta choose someone else to face off against besides the Russians all the time. President Fowler: Really? Let's see. Who else has 27,000 nukes for us to worry about? Cabot: It's the guy with one I'm worried about. I don't have an M.D. or a law degree. I have bachelor's in kicking ass and taking names.

I haven't seen the article. Can anyone tell me where tickets are available? It might be worth going if I could get him to sign my logbook with D-20000. --Douva PS. Did the article say what charity the money is going to? I don't have an M.D. or a law degree. I have bachelor's in kicking ass and taking names.

I exactly responded to this statement by you: I said that fallout shelters are worthless because: You have to be where they are. Any disagreement? Not at the dz on weekends, not at work, not asleep if home. So they help you 15 hours a week? Maybe you have one on the back of your pickup. A mobile shelter. You must know of the blast. Any disagreement? You can find out about it your radio is on and the nuclear fallout doesn't affect your reception. Range. You have to be at a certain range for a shelter to have a value. Any disagreement? The blast has to be far enough away that you live through it, but near enough to where you need the shelter. All true comments? I stated my reasons. You state that my opinion is invalid because of my knowledge. Any disagreements with what I posted based on your job as nuclear weapons designer? Too bad I've never read books and stuff. So, if I understand correctly, your response is: You can't be one hundred percent safe all the time, so why worry about being safe at all? My reference to fallout shelters was to "expedient fallout shelters," meaning shelters that already exist (cellars, deep basements, culverts, etc.) and shelters that can be thrown together in as little as an hour. You also seem to have missed the point I made about having a minimum of one hour before fallout even starts to fall. I can get from the DZ to my home in one hour. (Yes, I know, traffic patterns might vary slightly in a post nuclear attack scenario.) Your argument about having to be in or near your fallout shelter at all times is based on your misinterpretation of what few facts you have encountered. I didn't say your "opinion was invalid;" I said your statement was dangerous. Telling people to just sit back and let whatever happens happen is dangerous. As to your repeated question, "Any disagreement," the answer is "Yes, I disagree with basically everything you said." I don't have an M.D. or a law degree. I have bachelor's in kicking ass and taking names.

I really don't believe the government is "waiting until one happens." What would be gained by that? Do you really believe our government is so evil that they don't care if a nuclear attack occurs? Tracking these types of transactions is extremely difficult. A nuclear attack on US soil would do every bit as much damage to our leaders' lives as it would to the public's. They'd loose friends, family, and assets just like the rest of us. They're doing what they can; there is just so little they can do. I don't have an M.D. or a law degree. I have bachelor's in kicking ass and taking names.

You showed no such thing. You gave several examples of preparedness practices (mostly older practices) and CLAIMED they are ineffective, but you gave no evidence to support this CLAIM. A whuffo can claim helmets are ineffective protection against a skydiving accident. They can even support that claim with evidence (something you failed to do) about how fast the human body falls. That doesn't mean their argument is valid. This school of thought is a little different, in that it is less a form of denial and more a sign of ignorance. Nobody knows everything about nuclear war because there has never been a nuclear war. Information about the effects of a nuclear war is mostly theory and conjecture. We may only have 18 minutes of warning before Russian missiles fired in a surprise attack reach us, but that doesn't mean everybody is dead in 18 minutes--It means the bombs go off in 18 minutes. Those who survive the initial blast (most of us) will still have a chance to survive the fallout. It should be noted that nuclear warfare tactics and theories about nuclear warfare have changed a lot since the '70s. The primary threat has also changed. The biggest danger is no longer an ICBM attack from the Soviet Union; the biggest danger is nuclear weapons snuck into the country by terrorists. That scenario completely changes the ball game and nullifies the whole 18 minute scenario. We might have 18 weeks of warning or no warning at all. The truth is that nobody knows what the scenario or the aftermath might (or will) be. You know a helmet will save your life because you understand the dangers of skydiving and the purpose of a helmet. You don't understand the dangers of nuclear war or the purpose of certain precautions. Therefore, your criticism is exactly like a whuffo's criticism of a skydiver for wearing a helmet. Will it protect you from a nuclear missile that lands next door? No, of course not--you'll be incinerated. Will it protect you from a nuclear missile that lands five miles away? Possibly. You won't be incinerated, but you will have to worry about falling debris. You didn't just express an opinion that differed from mine; you expressed a dangerously erroneous opinion based on whatever limited resources you have come into contact with in the course of your day-to-day life. You might as well be a gardener telling people to quit taking their heart medication. Show me where I told people they could do one thing to guarantee their safety? I told people there are things they can do to prepare. Your werewolf metaphor is not only childish, it's an inaccurate metaphor. Werewolves are nonexistent mythical characters, and nuclear war is a very real threat. In a nuclear war, a lot of people will die, and some will survive. Those who survive will be the ones who are lucky enough to survive the initial blasts and smart enough to plan for the aftermath. --Douva I don't have an M.D. or a law degree. I have bachelor's in kicking ass and taking names.

For years, children and adults lived in fear during the cold war. Practicing "duck and cover" so that you could identify the bodies by the seating chart. Digging fallout shelters in your back yard. For any shelter or "kit" to work, it has to be nearby, you have to be awake, you have to be listening some media... If you are not at home, the shelter doesn't work. If you are sleeping, nothing works. By time the media picks up of everything, the bomb has gone off - too late. I refuse to live in fear anymore. So I suppose you don't jump with a reserve parachute because that would be "living in fear?" There is a difference between fear and preparation, and sometimes it's a very fine line, but there is nothing wrong with being prepared. The two schools of thought that denounce preparedness--the "I'd rather just die" school of thought and the "if we change our lifestyles, the terrorists win" school of thought--are little more than camouflaged denial. Your comments suggest that you know very little about the effects of a nuclear explosion, but I can't fault you for that because our government made the decision years ago to quit keeping citizens informed about matters of civil defense. Your criticisms of civil defense practices are akin to people who mock skydivers for wearing helmets--"How is that helmet going to protect you if you hit the ground at a hundred and twenty miles an hour?" As all skydivers know, we don't wear helmets to protect us from a double total malfunction; contrary to popular belief, most skydivers who die don't die from double total malfunctions. Likewise, there are many factors besides the heat and blast force at ground zero to consider when preparing for a nuclear attack. I don't suggest people build fallout shelters in their backyards, but fallout takes a minimum of about one hour to start to fall, and that is enough time for most people outside of the initial blast radius to reach their home or a shelter or even to build some sort of expedient shelter. "Drop and cover" actually helps protect against the "popcorn effect"--a blistering effect caused by dust and light debris in the high winds caused by a nuclear blast. There are also numerous scenarios where the government and the media might know an attack is imminent, in which you wouldn't have time to start gathering supplies or looking for a shelter, but you would have time to grab your pre-packed supplies and get to a predetermined shelter. If you don't want to take any steps to prepare for this type of event, that's your business, but don't tell people it's useless. The only thing that will be truly useless following a nuclear attack are the people who were so afraid to change their comfortable ways of life that they did nothing. --Douva I don't have an M.D. or a law degree. I have bachelor's in kicking ass and taking names.

People need to be prepared. There is no question about that. We, as individuals, can't find or stop terrorist nukes, but we can be prepared in case they are detonated on US soil. Search the Internet for information on making "bug out bags" and expedient fallout shelters. There is a lot of really good, free preparedness information out there, if you look for it. There's also a lot of bad information, so double check your facts. THIS BOOK is a great place to start. If you don't want to pay $20 to order the book, you can legally download it for free HERE. I don't have an M.D. or a law degree. I have bachelor's in kicking ass and taking names.

I think you've pretty much summed it up. A Uranium bomb is much easier to build than a suitcase nuke because a suitcase nuke requires very pure plutonium, very precisely calculated explosive charges, and a very precisely timed detonator. If all of those factors don't come together, you're left with a very expensive dirty bomb. Terrorists are much more likely to buy weapons grade uranium from one of the second world countries with emerging nuclear power plants and build a gun-type bomb in the back of a large truck. Dirty bombs don't worry me too much because of their limited effective range. I'm worried about the weapons that can disintegrate me from half a mile away, then pepper my county with lethal doses of radioactive fallout. There is some interesting information on surviving nuclear attacks here. I don't have an M.D. or a law degree. I have bachelor's in kicking ass and taking names.