dorbie

Ohhh, it sounds like you have some stories to share. Do tell us! Traffic cops in the UK are the worst, they're real sanctimonious sticklers, they'd ticket their own mothers. They've been known to ticket other cops, they're infamous. Lots of cops still try to get on traffic though, it's seen as glamorous because they get to drive the flashy cars and do pursuit training. It should give you an idea of how exciting policing is in the UK.

There's a difference between legalizing and regulating prostitution and forcing someone into it. This makes a good headline but obviously it ain't gonna stand, it's the kind of thing that happens when you apply any regulations mindlessly.

I would have loved to have seen Dean run, I think it would have been a bigger disaster for the Dems but we'll never know. I heard a Kerry soundbite on the radio yesterday, he was attacking the validity of the Iraqi election and in the same sentence said he supported the need to hold the election. It was classic Kerry, not merely nuanced, almost schizophrenic. It's too easy to blame the candidate like this, the Dems needed a big tent to keep everyone on board and Kerry provided that by presenting all sides of every issue. The bottom line is he was chosen by the party because they thought he had the best chance of winning, and other frontrunners had even bigger questionmarks w.r.t. victory. When the selection began it wasn't at all clear that any Dem had a snowball's chance.

Never. It ain't generational. I see a video like the double mal posted recently and my first thought is holy frikin shit, some guy manually grabbing his reserve out of his freebag and spooling it out past his main is bloody heroic, reguardless of what else anyone thinks happened. I worry about whether I'll have the presence of mind to do the right thing in any malfunction scenario. I practice and visualize but when you're in the shit that only helps so much and talk is cheap. It doesn't count for shit until you've been through it. Triangulating over exactly whether you do one thing vs another based on anticipated outcome is a lot of wishfull thinking but everyone's different. I can rehearse and visualise scenarios but I'm still worried about handling even a basic malfunction, especially low. Look down at 1000ft and reach for your handles and just imagine what you'd do with a mal at that height, I doubt it would be trying to figure out the final outcome, if you think you can even guess that you're probably mistaken anyway. P.S. it still won't stop me playing fantasy skydive

I think that's been photoshopped, I saw the original story and the equipment wasn't as obvious or well illuminated. The image did make the front page of the Sun though (a national tabloid in the UK).

Maybe someone can prosecute the fascist for violating the civil rights of employees?

What would be the benefit of turning a possible, future consequence into a definite, immediate consequence? Blues, Dave The benefit is forcing these "animal lovers" to consider whether the circumstances actually merit killing the animal.

There are plenty of animals for adoption. Save one kill another, it's just juggling numbers. If they kill the animal they'll focus on the consequences of removing it and consider if the circumstances are actually worth killing the animal for.

Yep they happen. Best to take off and nuke the pet from orbit. That's the only way to be sure. For the good of the animal! P.S. I favor honesty, instead of pretending the animal is going to a shelter the animal control person should have to administer a lethal injection there and then. That way they get to focus on the consequences of their actions.

Fun stuff. Bonus points for figuring out how it works (don't post answer). http://www.dslextreme.com/users/exstatica/psychic.swf

Especially in consideration of the fact that euthanasia is usually kinder than leaving them there. Blues, Dave Oh usually? Well that's OK then. Dude you leave a dog tied in the yard in some places these people will come, take it away "to a good home" & kill it within a week. (no it's never happened to me before you ask).

One of my favourite DZs, great vibe. Usually a bonfire after dark when I was there and you can buy your cases of beer on the DZ (they have it down to a fine art

Remember this when you see these people remove animals from people's care for the animal's own good.

I guess Bush is a racist now for making the same observation, that blacks get short changed due to lower life expectancy. http://www.buffalonews.com/editorial/20050126/1063516.asp It now looks like this was just a stalking horse for some kind of policy change based on life expectancy to get minority support for social security reform.

Nobody is sticking their head in the sand. The need for additional training does not justify all and any measures.

The thing that detects your car is like a giant metal detector where the metal moves over the detector rather than the detector moving over the metal. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metal_detector Some lights have a system for emergency responders and it gives rise to the whole flashing light myth. There are lights on fire trucks etc that will signal to lights to change. I think it's some simple infra-red thing (kinda like your TV remote) but I don't know the details. Some guy was caught breezing through green lights wherever he went because he sourced the transmitter from the original manufacturer. It wasn't illegal!

Yep what they all said, except consider adding wireless to your router along with the usual connections. There may be a small price premium but basically you're buying the same equipment with an extra doo-dad and a heck of a lot of them come with wireless now.

- egh - sorry no he didn't. Some people may have been convince but not all, not all by a very long shot. He bulldozed it through without asking the people. He made the case, whether he convinced everyone is another story. The population came and went on the issue. It was pretty popular after the initial success, but I never said he convinced everyone. That's your issue not mine.

Look, crime in Britain has never been discouraged with guns, it's just a non factor for criminals and always has been. When you take your American experience and apply it to an environment you don't know about it looks pretty weak to anyone who knows the place. Almost nobody has guns in Britain and almost nobody has ever walked around concealed carrying a gun or had one at home except on farms and that hasn't changed much. It's never been a factor in crime prevention. Criminals have never worriead about their victims having guns because it's so rare. Banning and confiscating other guns was a dumb move by the government but it's got nothing to do with crime prevention in the UK.

Not in this case

If Lindsey estimated 100-200B, and the actual cost is 300B, how was he right? He was fired for overestimating the cost. Well you've got break news like that gently. No wonder they fired him.

It is if: * Smokers spend less hours immersed in their work because they are haffing ciggy breaks. * Smokers smoke is breathed by other company employees. * Smokers stink of smoke around the office. * Smokers have more days off sick each year. * Smokers hang around outside the company offices smoking like a bunch of kids. Companies are entitled to restrict smoking on premises and almost always do. Don't confuse the issue. Smokers needn't affect other employees. w.r.t. health insurance if that's your issue you can make them pay an appropriate additional premium (if that's your position). Smokers hang outside the office smoking because they're banned from smoking in the building, in fact often they must maintain a significant separation from the premises. Great you managed to quit, what would have happened if you'd been fired before you did? You can blame the tobacco companies because you were dumb enough to start smoking because you thought you'd look cool, but it's really a different issue entirely. I don't smoke and never have, it's a bloody stupid thing to start, but people shouldn't be fired for being smokers. Someone running a company should focus on their business instead of inviting financial ruin by meddling in the lives of their employees. I hope the aforementioned ruin comes hard & fast.

That is exactly why he did it. There is not a chance in hell that he would do it again though. Having to stand 'shoulder to shoulder' with Bush throughout the last year or so has made him look like a prize-turd at home and in Europe and he is well aware of it. How easily people forget. This was unpopular when Blair sided with Bush but he stuck at it and made the case domestically at the time despite being called a poodle, this was all long before the Monday morning quarterbacking of today. As for looking like a turd in Europe there are quite a few European nations involved in Iraq. Looking liek a turd is in the eye of the beholder. Blair went into Iraq as a U.S. ally on principal and because of compatible strategic interests. That's also why I supported Tony Blair's position and gained respect for him.

Then introduce regulations targeted at that. This IS about 1.1 @ 100 because YOU made it about 1.1 @ 100. What you're proposing as a conservative wing loading table that while preventing the scenario mentioned would go far beyond that. That's up to you if you think it is justified but don't justify it with extreme examples. This is always going to be about safety vs degrees of restriction and when that's the central issue it's essential to be clear about where the proposed restrictions are set. It's going to be difficult to have a discussion over wing loading when extreme examples of idiots are intentionally used to confuse the debate over where the line is drawn like this.

I got your point and I appreciate the advice. I think about it on every jump I'm on. I could fuck up and die or even not fuck up and die. Thanks for the advice and I'd never say it couldn't happen to me but I see how you got that impression.