Synapse

I must have missed that too, because I don't see where the schools have a legal responsibility to provide special accommodations for anyone. See the Supreme court ruling on Brown v. The Board of Education: click An exert from the ruling: Notice the "on equal terms" part. That means they do have a legal responsibility to offer education to everyone and thereby could not deny entry to the students. However, that offer only has to be on equal terms, there is no mandate that they accommodate to anyone's special needs. They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety. - Benjamin Franklin

The school didn't seem to be just requesting, they may as well have said, don't bring peanuts or you're going to get sued for wrongful death, not us. Also, it didn't sound like he wanted the school to require the children to have an EpiPen to me. It sounded as if he wanted the parents to ensure the school had in-date EpiPens for their staff members and that teachers and nurses be trained in using them, which takes all of about 2 minutes. That isn't giving up any of their freedoms, it is requiring them to know how to deal with potentially dangerous situations. -syn They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety. - Benjamin Franklin

It is insignificant, but it sets the mood. It is this same type of "oh it doesn't really matter" attitude that has allowed the things you mentioned to come to fruition. And I don't want to set that mood in our society, in fact, I want to do everything I can to unset the degree to which that way of thinking has already set in. I'm pretty sure my signature sums up my feelings on liberties... -syn They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety. - Benjamin Franklin

You are absolutely correct. Society rarely takes a massive step in the wrong direction b/c the people will appose it. Rather, it is the culmination of many small steps in the wrong direction that ultimately lead to an unfortunate end. That is the big deal. See above. -syn They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety. - Benjamin Franklin

The school doesn't have to deny students with extreme allergies entry, just as Southwest didn't forbid those same people from flying on their airline. The school could simply notify the parents of those special cases that they cannot guarantee an environment free from the allergens that affect their children. Whether or not to send the child to that school is a decision left to the parents... as is the ultimate responsibility to protect that child in general. The threat of litigation should not hamper logic and reasoning. Additionally, taking actions like this sets the tone for these young individuals lives. It instills the mentality, which seems to be all to common place now, that "since I'm different everyone should change to suit my needs". This is -how- you end up in an environment where people feel the world somehow owes them something and that they should be filing lawsuits anytime it doesn't measure up. Should these same students expect to leave high school and have their college also ban these foods? How about every job they ever have... going to fight to have it banned there too? Sure why not, that's what mom & dad taught them to do right? While we're at it, lets ban it in any federally or state funded buildings and facilities. ...hope you didn't like eating nuts while you watch your son play baseball, the state funds that park. Oh and forget buying trail mix in any of the PX's or gas stations on DoD bases, obviously those are federally funded. ...wouldn't want to cause that .005% of the population to be exposed to any undue dangers, much easier for us to change right? No. -syn They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety. - Benjamin Franklin

Yes they are. They are free to attend the school, as it currently is. They are not entitled to change the school to fit themselves. There are children with allergies to cockroaches, mildew, perfume, sunlight, and even water. There are children with leukemia, renal failure, spina bifida, and many other debilitating diseases requiring constant access to complicated medical equipment. The list goes on and on; if we were to bend the system info a form that would accommodate each of these, it would become unsustainable. -syn They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety. - Benjamin Franklin

Throw my name in the hat for a class at SD Carolina as well. I'm sure I can talk a few others into it too. There are several jumpers with ~100 jumps around the DZ who would benefit from it. -lee They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety. - Benjamin Franklin

Dear god, someone with the DVD please rip that thing to a torrent! -syn They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety. - Benjamin Franklin

I'm no expert... just look at my jump number. I can only tell you what advice I got and what decision I made. Take it at face value. I was jumping a 190 when I started looking to purchase my own gear at roughly jump number 75 or 80. I was perfectly comfortable with moving to a 170, so I bought a used rig that would fit that size canopy. I purchased that rig with the intent of only owning it for a few months while a new Vector was being built for me, so then came the time to make a decision. Should I order a size that will fit a 170 or a 150? I talked to several instructors/friends at my DZ that are familiar with my abilities, goals, plans, and the rate at which I learn. I also spoke to Mike at ChutingStar, whom I ordered the rig from, and got some good advice from him as well. After talking with everyone, I decided on the container that would hold the 170 for a few reasons: - Reserve size: Downsizing the main also meant downsizing the reserve. I'm fine with flying my 170, I'm ok with the thought of flying a 150, but I'm not quite as happy about the thought of chopping and being on a 143. Going with the larger sized container means I can downsize to a 150 and have a -larger- reserve over my head when I need it. I want to remove as much stress from that innately stressful situation as possible. - Resale value: 170 seems to be the magic number for most new jumpers, so selling the rig down the road will hopefully be a bit easier if it can fit that size canopy - Cost: downsizing the container would mean I would be forced to buy a new main and reserve for the new rig instead of simply moving over my existing canopies (obviously this doesn't apply to you) - Learning potential: It seems that most of the people I asked about this and/or look up to in general spent a large amount of time jumping canopies with a 1.0 - 1.1WL. It seemed to work well for them and they are amazing canopy pilots now, so I'm doing the same. I want to learn how to squeeze every ounce of performance and control out of that 170 before I move to the 150... I don't want my gear forcing that downsizing decision. That should mean that I'll get plenty of use out of the container on both the 170 and the 150 before I need to get rid of it for something that can hold a 135 (assuming that it can't) - Ease of packing: This is less important to most, but I seriously hate packing. I mean that... I f'ing hate it. If I get the rig that holds a 170 I'll only have to wrestle it to get the canopy in there until I move to a 150, which should be a little easier. I hope this helps and I hope you don't let the lure of a tiny teardrop container sway your decision. -syn They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety. - Benjamin Franklin

I'm completely agree with you on the helmet issue... As for the incorrectly rigged reserve, that's got me stumped. Can you elaborate a bit? Was the reserve cable exposed near the reserve pin flap or am I completely off base with that? -syn They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety. - Benjamin Franklin

Saw these vids and thought they were worth sharing. I had no clue wingsuits could do that at high speeds! freefall collision http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tzntBF9v_-Q&NR=1 high speed wingsuit exit http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sAiR8afiIFE http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Am-Z-Dyrtkk -syn They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety. - Benjamin Franklin

Ack! My apologies... I hit an external link on the page that generated an apache error with that version info. Maybe I should have actually paid attention to the domain? -syn They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety. - Benjamin Franklin

Time for an upgrade... still on Apache 1.3.9. Whole truck load of fixes released since then: Apache 1.3 Vulverabilities Other than that, the site looks great! -syn They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety. - Benjamin Franklin

Aerodyne is working on incorporating the Skyhook system in their contains as well. However, to my knowledge, they do not have an expected release date announced yet. -syn They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety. - Benjamin Franklin

....donations are obviously still being accepted. -syn They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety. - Benjamin Franklin

Yep, credit card... Thankfully I just got that new job I've been after for a while, so now I can stop skydiving on credit. -syn They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety. - Benjamin Franklin

Try drinking a whole shit ton of alcohol... you'll need to get used to doing that anyway, so you may as well take out 2 birds with 1 stone. -syn They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety. - Benjamin Franklin

So I took a couple days off work and went down to the Farm on 7/17... I spent all day Fri, Sat, and Sun jumping. Managed to get in a total of 21 jumps, mostly RW, a couple FF, and even a few birdman rodeos. ...on a side note I am taking donations to help pay off my CC. Anyway, this video is of the 4way I did for my 99th jump... I'm wearing the yellow and red rig. It was the last load of the day and it turned out really well, made for some good pics too. This is the only video I've had done since I was in AFF, so it sure was nice for it to come out this well... hence my geeking it here. Hope you guys don't mind. Click Me! Oh and thanks to BigSteve for agreeing to shoot this last minute! -syn They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety. - Benjamin Franklin

Damn anxious skydivers messing up hotel beds.... clicky! -syn They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety. - Benjamin Franklin

The alternative to not having a parachute fails every time... the alternative to not using an RSL/AAD doesn't exactly produce the same results. It's this difference in the risk/benefit ratio that makes the RSL/AAD conversation what it is. If it was as black and white as parachute/no parachute, we'd never hear about it. -syn They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety. - Benjamin Franklin

damnit. Knew I should have gotten better at photoshop. They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety. - Benjamin Franklin

Can't a guy have two different girlfriends that both are hot and want to have sex with him simply b/c of his rig??? I see nothing wrong with that. -syn They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety. - Benjamin Franklin

Sweet, thanks for the info Phreezone. I guess by some form of magic I associated it being dirty with it being worn. -shrug- -syn They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety. - Benjamin Franklin

Dad? DAD?!?!@#&*% Oh my god I can't believe it's you!! Mom never told me your name, but she did say you loved burning through virgins... I never understood that until now. Wow, this is amazing... we have so many things to catch up on now. Since the last time you saw me I've learned how to walk and talk.. yay me! Oh and I met this absolutely wonderful girl, I really think this is the one. It's the oddest thing though, she doesn't want to date anyone who jumps anything but a vector. I sure do hope I can afford one of those soon... Anyway, I've attached a couple pics of her so you'll know what to expect when we come visit for Thanksgiving... that is of course if I can keep her around that long without having one of those Vectors she is always ranting about. Oh man, well I don't want to keep you too long, just had to say hi. Oh and if you can think of any way for me to get a vector a little bit cheaper, I'd certainly appreciate it! I've got to do my best to keep the girlfriend around and all. -syn They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety. - Benjamin Franklin

I'm familiar with the magnetic riser covers from UPT and have used them for a few jumps on a demo rig, but I'm curious about the longevity of the design as it relates to wear and tear. On the demo rig I was using, you could certainly tell where the magnets were from looking at the outside of the covers because there seemed to be exaggerated wear directly over them. That left two circles on the covers that, at least to me, appeared to show more wear than the rest of the area. This was probably made more apparent by the fabric being black, but that is the same color I'm looking to have on my riser covers, so I'm trying to decide if the magnets are the way to go or if the good ol' tuck tabs would be better. So, I guess the short version of this is: Does anyone have a Vector with magnetic riser covers that are showing excessive wear over the magnets or am I just crazy? -syn They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety. - Benjamin Franklin