penniless

There are 106 votes - out of 35,000+ registered users. A lot of those users never even click on Speaker's Corner, so this poll is hardly representative of how all dropzone.com users feel. A lot of those users never log in at all. A poll is about sampling. I think this is a fair sample of SC users. We have just selected USPA BOD. I'll bet no-one got 17,000 votes, or even remotely close. Does that invalidate the election? What % of eligible citizens voted for Bush last Nov?

It seems to me that its more about your hatred of him more than anything else. Did you give more than 3% of your yearly income? I did not. Don't compare apples with shoes. Bush's $300k is supplemented by free housing in a mansion, free security, free housekeeping, free transport anywhere he wants to go, etc. and significant investment income. If I take out my costs for housing, transport, personal security etc, then the answer is YES. I also contributed more than 0.05% of my net worth (which isn't much in my case) and I expect you did too.

The best data available are those collected by USPA, but I don't think they have the level of detail you are looking for. USPA is also reluctant to let others have access for what is probably a good reason. I think kallend and Billvon once wrote that they had gotten them during the discussion on wing load limits (could be mistaken on that). Given the small number of fatalities due to any given cause, and the variables involved (age, sex, total experience, currency, time on equipment, WL, canopy size, type of jump, ground conditions, winds, AAD, RSL, ect.) I doubt you'd get a very reliable multivariate analysis anyway.

Then Kerry should send the rather large amount of funds he got also...It did not do him any good... BTW what did Sorros send in aid? How about Moore? It's not about Kerry or Sorros or Moore. It's about Bush, the President, the Bully Pulpit, the leader of our nation and the example he sets for the country, the "values" guy, the self-proclaimed Christian.

PK, I'm very sorry to hear that. Smart people are in short supply, I expect you will not be unemployed long. Good luck. Edited to add: I see you have removed all identifying information from your profile. That seems like a smart thing to do in retrospect.

Mark 12: 41Jesus sat down opposite the place where the offerings were put and watched the crowd putting their money into the temple treasury. Many rich people threw in large amounts. 42But a poor widow came and put in two very small copper coins,[a]worth only a fraction of a penny. 43Calling his disciples to him, Jesus said, “I tell you the truth, this poor widow has put more into the treasury than all the others. 44They all gave out of their wealth; but she, out of her poverty, put in everything–all she had to live on.”

Then leave. DZ.com is what it is. Don't like it? Leave. Feel the Moderators are unfair? Leave. Don't like that DZ.com ain't no damned democracy? Leave. Wan't a democratic DZ.com style web page? Leave and go build it. Try using Rec.Skydiving as a model for your anarchy-governed site. DZ.com not good enough for you? Leave. There always has to be a boogeyman to justify authoritarianism. Jews, terrorists, commies, rec.skydiving The soup isn't free, it's provided by the participants. People don't come here to look at the template, as nice as it is, any more than they go to the library to look at the ceiling. This is a VERY NICE SITE but its value comes from the content, which the participants provide. I sometimes think the administrators forget that we are not parasites, we are symbiotes. Just IMO.

Annual income from the Feds is irrelevant for the heir to a fortune. How would Jesus evaluate it? He was pretty down on rich folks who gave but a small fraction of their wealth.

In a democracy (OK, democratic republic) you get what the people want, even if its absurd. Look at presidential elections, for goodness sakes.

Derek, The opening sentence in this thread reads: "Please don't ban me for this; " Now, does that indicate anything to you? Do you not think there's the slightest suggestion in that sentence that something is amiss with the banning policy here? Or is Mardigrasbob deluded?

Maybe we are the alien attackers.

How else do armies get troops to advance into machine gun fire?

I find it hard to disagree with this guy even though I oppose capital punishment: " hope that this is true. should we b uirn him, beeheaad him, rip his body to pieces, spiit on him, throw him to a pack of lions, rip his body into shreds using a knife, throw him into the ocean, cuut him into little tiny pieces? "

People like JC. Why look at all? Give what you can reasonably afford to give to causes that you believe in. Who cares who or how much is being given by others? Jesus did. Rich man and camel, widow's mite, etc. The rich ARE held to a higher standard, and rightly so.

This site is still free. I wouldn't call it a business. The business side has no effect on me. If I do something the Moderators don't like, they will kick me off the site. Simple. I din't pay to be here, it is a priviledge. I can be banned for absolutely no reason at all. Moderators don't do that. They do their uptmost to be fair and keep the site an joyable place for all. In doing so, they are going to piss some people off, there is no way around that. You cannot make everyone happy. Just like a court verdict, the loser is going to think the judge was unfair and the winner will think the judge was fair. The judge's job is to be as fair as possible, following the rules, not keep everyone happy. I think there is a perception that HH owes us something. He doesn't. Nothing. Don't like the site? Don't click on it. Don't want to contribute? Bye bye. Derek This isn't a court, it's a forum. A forum is useless without a venue (which part HH generously provides) and its equally useless without participants. You are saying that the views of the participants count for nothing. I think you are wrong.

Hey, take whatever you need, I've got lots more.

OK, so its purpose is not to make money for HH, but to provide charity to the users in a non-measurable way such that their perceptions don't matter because they're lucky to get it anyway. Did I get it right? And I thought you opposed faith-based intiatives!

Benevolence. Benevolence is assessed by seeing how much the recipients benefit.

If your goal is to make money. But as in all things skydiving related, if he's trying to make money from this site, it ain't gonna happen. To be a customer, don't you have to pay something? Who said "customer"? I said USER. Viewers don't pay to watch FOX, MTV or NBC, but FOX, MTV and NBC pay close attention to their viewers.

Quite correct - so why is SC here at all? For whose benefit is it here? Is it for the users? In that case their perceptions and opinions should count for something. Is it to bring people to the site? Not very cost effective, according to you, so prolly not for that. Very hard to assess something unless you know what its purpose is.

People's opinion of the Moderators fairness doesn't mean they are or aren't fair. It is a lot dofferent on the other side of the fence. Take any court case and ask the loser and the winner if the verdict was fair. Too bad you can't bet on those results in Vegas. Derek It all depends on whether you think SC is here for the benefit of the users or of the moderators or HH. If the user's perceptions don't count for anything, you are quite right. Generally speaking, ignoring your user base is not a smart way of conducting your business.

NNNOOOOOOO!!!!! The Moderators don't play favorites and go to great lengths to be fair. You (not anyone in particular, just a general 'you') have no idea. Thinking otherwise simply isn't fair to the them and the job they do. Derek Perception is reality. Take a look at the poll. These are the people who use the forum and for whose benefit (supposedly) it is kindly operated by Sangiro.

Horrible analogy. Let me make it closer. You're in a fine restaurant getting a free meal and several people also getting free meals say they don't like the service. (1) Deny that the service is poor (2) Say, yeah the service is poor, but it's free food so who cares (3) Ask the waiter to provide better service (4) Tell the complainers to not look a gift horse in the mouth, no one is forcing them to be there and they can go to another restaurant or go home and cook their own meal. It's not free food, it's a pot-luck dinner, we all bring our own and share it around. The room is what's free, along with the services of a bouncer who evaluates the food you bring. We come here for the food we share, not on account of the room or the bouncer. Judging by the poll results it seems that 50%+ of the diners think the bouncer plays favorites in some way.

Like the Constitution? Of course, it's not the least subject to interpretation, is it? Wendy W. The SC does not have the authority to declare the Constitution unconstitutional. Where it has the authority, it declares vague laws unconstitutional. I always find it funny when people say that US law, constitutions and court rulings should be used for a site ran by an WhenWe (or is it Mozambique.. sorry Willem) living in SA and hosted in Canada! lmao He didn't say that at all. He said it's rulings on vague laws are a good model to follow. BTW the US does just happen to have the world's longest serving written constitution, so presumably there's not too much wrong with it or its implementation. Do Canada and SA allow vague laws?

Since he was hit in the chest and heart, this would not have been a freefalling bullet, but rather, one that was fired at some more horizontal degree, and thus retained much more velocity. As soon as any bullet leaves the barrel it is technically freefalling. It may take a while to reach terminal velocity.