rasmack

A lot of accusations and very little in the way of documentation. I realize that by now you probably feel like you are trying to convince me that the sky is blue...

The US has a slightly higher infant mortality rate than Cuba. On the other hand this is also true for the life-expectancy. HF #682, Team Dirty Sanchez #227 “I simply hate, detest, loathe, despise, and abhor redundancy.” - Not quite Oscar Wilde...

Well, there was a surge of refugees when the economic aid from the USSR stopped... You might consider it insulting but absurd it is not. If my ignorance is insulting you then I do apologize. What you are telling me here is disturbing and all new to me. I hope you do not take offence by me being cautious about taking your word on this. HF #682, Team Dirty Sanchez #227 “I simply hate, detest, loathe, despise, and abhor redundancy.” - Not quite Oscar Wilde...

And today many of them say that they want the DDR back. I don't think that is really true, but it does show that it wasn't all evil. People actually lived there. Does Cuba conform with our standards of political freedom? No. Would I want to live there? No. Are most people able to have a good life? Maybe. The standard of education as well as the average life-expectancy are both high (at least according to wikipedia) HF #682, Team Dirty Sanchez #227 “I simply hate, detest, loathe, despise, and abhor redundancy.” - Not quite Oscar Wilde...

I am not saying one way or the other. I am just tired of seeing people use words like "tyranny" as if they were a given truth without backing them up. I don't know what it is like in Cuba. I have never been there. I realize that many people have tried to escape Cuba over the years, but is that because of political persecution or is it because there is money to be made on the main land? HF #682, Team Dirty Sanchez #227 “I simply hate, detest, loathe, despise, and abhor redundancy.” - Not quite Oscar Wilde...

A little cherry picking... You assume a lot here. It just might be so that the majority of the Cuban population wants Castro as their leader. It is not a given that they are "wanting to be free of tyranny" or that they have "wanted freedom for 47 years". I know that the Cubans in Miami would have you think this but is it really true? HF #682, Team Dirty Sanchez #227 “I simply hate, detest, loathe, despise, and abhor redundancy.” - Not quite Oscar Wilde...

Money is no argument. It is cheaper to lock people away than to run the capital punishment circus of the US. HF #682, Team Dirty Sanchez #227 “I simply hate, detest, loathe, despise, and abhor redundancy.” - Not quite Oscar Wilde...

Poland death penalty plan condemned At least it is not going to be easy for them: Well said. HF #682, Team Dirty Sanchez #227 “I simply hate, detest, loathe, despise, and abhor redundancy.” - Not quite Oscar Wilde...

You're in charge when you're up there, so you get to make the decision and live (or worse) with it. I will not second-guess your decision. I would only point out to you that I hope you didn't make it "because you didn't want another cutaway". Sounds to me like you've got a cool thinking head on those shoulders.

Both Medici's and Edwardo's on E 57th make reeeally good pizza. Edwardo's small stuffed pizza nearly won over me. Wouldn't want to see the big one. HF #682, Team Dirty Sanchez #227 “I simply hate, detest, loathe, despise, and abhor redundancy.” - Not quite Oscar Wilde...

I think the two go together. If you only ever practice Boeing 747 finals then you are not prepared for the eventuality of something going wrong, because then you don't know how your canopy is going to react when you pull on that toggle to avoid the power lines you miraculously overlooked before. I merely reacted to you indicating that only flying slow and abstaining from low turns could not kill people. IMHO it can and it has. Therefore it was a point worth making. HF #682, Team Dirty Sanchez #227 “I simply hate, detest, loathe, despise, and abhor redundancy.” - Not quite Oscar Wilde...

Dude. Ever heard of landing out? Ever heard of things not going according to plan? Take a look at some of the fatalities in the incident forum. Edit: Are you seriously saying that I shouldn't learn to turn low because I shouldn't need it? Because it certainly sounds that way. HF #682, Team Dirty Sanchez #227 “I simply hate, detest, loathe, despise, and abhor redundancy.” - Not quite Oscar Wilde...

On the other hand not knowing how to correctly execute a low turn has killed people. We should try to learn all the flight characteristics of our canopies. The knowledge gained might save our bacon some day. HF #682, Team Dirty Sanchez #227 “I simply hate, detest, loathe, despise, and abhor redundancy.” - Not quite Oscar Wilde...

I am sure you resisted bravely... HF #682, Team Dirty Sanchez #227 “I simply hate, detest, loathe, despise, and abhor redundancy.” - Not quite Oscar Wilde...

Btw is that Brendan sitting in a wingsuit? If so, I think I know why that storm hit. She said that she was cursed when it came to wingsuits and weather.

He he... great video. I'd love to hear some of the comments from the jumpers and the pilots, though. HF #682, Team Dirty Sanchez #227 “I simply hate, detest, loathe, despise, and abhor redundancy.” - Not quite Oscar Wilde...

The horror! HF #682, Team Dirty Sanchez #227 “I simply hate, detest, loathe, despise, and abhor redundancy.” - Not quite Oscar Wilde...

In all fairness, I asked at registration and the rigger at gear check promptly pulled out a photo of the place and told me about local rules. HF #682, Team Dirty Sanchez #227 “I simply hate, detest, loathe, despise, and abhor redundancy.” - Not quite Oscar Wilde...

That is interesting. Rumour on the ground at the WFFC had it that one Vigil didn't fire. Anyone know if there is any truth to this? HF #682, Team Dirty Sanchez #227 “I simply hate, detest, loathe, despise, and abhor redundancy.” - Not quite Oscar Wilde...

Might go into town for Red Hot Chili Peppers. HF #682, Team Dirty Sanchez #227 “I simply hate, detest, loathe, despise, and abhor redundancy.” - Not quite Oscar Wilde...

Hey Gareth I know you mean well by this but I thinkyou may be missing the ball a little here. When I first arrived at the WFFC I didn't like the winds, so I stayed on the ground. When the first thunderstorm started I sat my ass down at the first sound of thunder. These are easy decisions that everyone should have been raised to make by themselves. It is not the job of "the man" to tell you when to stand down. You shouldn't need an FAA hold to tell you when you probably shouldn't get on a plane. As for Mark hitting the truck I think it is sort of a low blow. It was parked next to a tent and he would have been dead even if it hadn't been there. Also I fail to see how it can be the responsibility of the organizers that a guy with two out thinks he can control the canopies only to find out that he is wrong. All that being said there is a certain amount of truth to the lack of briefings. There are no organized briefings only broad agreements that you sort of have to pick up. I never had any problems though, apart from having to fly in in half brakes sometimes to hold my place in the pattern. Sorry I didn't make it to the party tonight. HF #682, Team Dirty Sanchez #227 “I simply hate, detest, loathe, despise, and abhor redundancy.” - Not quite Oscar Wilde...

Vikings beat them both hands down. Vikings go totally amok when they see a pirate ship. It is an utter lack of respect to Odin and Thor to plunder like that without sacrificing to the gods, and pirates don't! As for the ninjas it would be fair to assume that in a fight of seven ninjas against a viking, the viking would kill approximately five of them before being killed and sent to Valhalla. A fair fight would thus be five ninjas against one viking. Glad we settled that matter. HF #682, Team Dirty Sanchez #227 “I simply hate, detest, loathe, despise, and abhor redundancy.” - Not quite Oscar Wilde...

I think the couch should decide for itself if it wants to be christened. Who are you to make that decision for it? HF #682, Team Dirty Sanchez #227 “I simply hate, detest, loathe, despise, and abhor redundancy.” - Not quite Oscar Wilde...

You are making one very very dangerous assumption here. You are assuming that your fellow jumpers will never do anything stupid enough. They will and they have. Take for example the idiots that got drunk last week and hit the Mullins King Air (right wing) with a trailer at night. They weren't going to tell anyone. Their friend found this out and called the cops on it. The FAA was on the ball immediately and Mullins was flying testflights from 5am. Now, I was doing a HALO jump at 6am that morning. These fellow jumpers put me personally at risk by damaging an airplane. Is that stupid enough for you? Personally I am very happy someone "ratted out their friends". HF #682, Team Dirty Sanchez #227 “I simply hate, detest, loathe, despise, and abhor redundancy.” - Not quite Oscar Wilde...

If that is your observation then what is your conclusion? HF #682, Team Dirty Sanchez #227 “I simply hate, detest, loathe, despise, and abhor redundancy.” - Not quite Oscar Wilde...