toolbox

I was not there,but the thing is that it should never have even become an issue.
This is the USA and you have the right to express yourself,and the business owner has the right to refuse service as well,but this tat is no different than someone wearing a star of david or a crucifix in wich case the business owner would be labeled as discriminate for even bringing it up.
We are in the US where we have the right to express religious views or lack of, and we have the freedom of speech.
If someone does not like our freedom of expression then they do not have to be here.
In some countries individuals do not have protected rights as we here in the US enjoy,and if I were in one of those places I would either comply with their ways or leave.
As they say"when in rome do as the romans do,or don't go to rome" or something like that.

So athiest should be discriminated against because they refuse to drink the koolaid?
Sounds like the inquisitions.

Mmmmmmmm bikinis mmmmmmm bacon

Point is that he was asked to either cover the tat or leave.
Do you think it would be OK to ask a jewish person to cover or remove a star of david or leave?

Big brotha and the nanny state.

Could a infidel lesbian trapped in a mans body be considered gay?
Would the muslims dislike that as much as most christians do?
If the muslims were offended by infidel gayness would they have the gay infidel kicked out?

You should not make me angry.
You wouldn't like me when I'm angry. I'm an infidel you know.
You looking at me!

great,now the infidels are getting the same treatment as the christians.
Whatever happened to tolerance?
Oh! I forgot most religions and tolerance do not go together.

I'm not talking to you.
I'm supporting the infidel who was denied his rights to freedom of religion (or lack of religious beliefs) and expression.

It's funny how it is open season on christians when it comes to offensive symbols and words(t-shirts and tats with an inverted cross,the word satan,ect...)being proudly displayed,and the liberals call it freedom of expression,and I have never seen anyone get kicked out of anywhere in the last 20 years for that kind of expression.
I thought we had this thing called freedom of religion,and this other thing called freedom of expression here in the USA? I guess it's only allowed if it's PC.
Now I know the liberals will say that freedom of speech and expression should not allow you to scream "FIRE"in a crowded public area,and I agree,but having a tat that says infidel is not likely to start a stampede.
If you do not like it, then do not look at it.
I am not religious at all so you could call me an infidel as well.
Bottom line is that we have freedom of religion and expression here in the USA and if you do not like it then do not come here.
They say it is the business owners right to refuse service to anyone for any reason,but we know that is BS.
What do you think would happen if a business refused service to someone of asian descent,or black people,or jews,or muslims,ect....?
So why is it ok to refuse service to someone expressing their non believer status?
I would like to thank you for serving our country and for exercising our rights of freedom of religion, freedom of speech, and expression.

Live free or die!
Last time I was there it was on the license plates.
I like NH and I loved the steak bomb pizza from RHOP(Rochester house of pizza)and I really liked it when the delivery guys would pick you up a couple cases of beer and a few packs of smokes if you asked them when they delivered your pie to the DZ.
I have never been anywhere else where pizza guys would deliver beer and smokes with your pizza.
We did give them fat tips for this,as they deserved it.
I thought you could have open containers in the car as long as the driver was not drinking as well,is this correct?

I agree that a 3 second delay should'nt blow up a drogue.
But it did.
If you ask anyone who has worked with me they will tell you that I am a gear check fanatic,and try my best to adhere to procedure.
I pride myself in being noncomplacent.
You are right that most likely there was something wrong with the blown drogue that slipped by,but packers,TI's,everyone is human,and we can,and will miss things and make mistakes.
This is why we follow procedures and try our best to keep it tame when it comes to taking care of business.
The business of tandem is safety above all else.

Lets see,the palestinians blow themselves up in heavily populated areas in israel and launch a few rockets.
Then israel blows the crap out of populated areas of palestinian turf.
Christians in iran are imprisoned for preaching.
Fundamenalist muslims with the taliban shoot little girls in the face for going to school.
There are instances of honor killings by muslims not just in the US, but all around the world,and these are just a few examples of religious intolerance.
The christians have their checkered past with the crusades and witch hunts and what not,but are now relatively non violent when compared to islamist,and jews.
I can understand how the persecution of the jews in recent history would make them very defensive and they are surounded by intolerant muslim populations as well.
But if you look at the history of the israelites,prior to there stint in egypt,they killed alot of people in the name of god as well.
I am not religious and do not practice any faith,and actually have a bad taste in my mouth from all the christianity that was forced down my throat as a kid.
I think people should be able to practice whatever religion they want as long as they do not hurt anyone in the process.
I believe in tolerence,but it seems that there are alot of instances of muslims using violence and calling it gods will now days,which doesn't seem very tolerant to me at all.
So why are these simple observations BS to you?

So you think well maintained or new gear can't fail?
I have also had a main canopy with less than 50 deployments,and packed by a very competent individual, rip in half, deployed at a slower than average fall rate, with a tall skinny student who was about 145lbs strapped to my chest.
Gear can fail,even if it is well maintained and used properly.
Thats why you do not push the limits on tandem gear.

>increases the risk of a student jump.

I agree.
I have actually thrown a drogue after about a three second delay and it failed,complete self destruct,nothing left.
It was a very intense experience to say the least.
Now imagine throwing the drogue after being head down for twenty seconds and having it fail.
Doesn't sound fun at all to me.
It seems there are alot of people out there who do not give the tandem skydive the proper level of caution that it deserves.
Sounds like we both share the philosophy that a tandem is not just another skydive.
I have more respect and caution for tandems now at over 13,000 of them, than I did when I was new,and I've had a cautious approach to them from the beginning.

I know as well as anyone how in your face some christians can be,since my father was a former honky tonk redneck alcoholic born again christian who went seventh day adventist on us.
The worst intolerance from any religion that I have witnessed though was from muslims.
I watched a iranian college student get more disrespectful,insulting,aggressive,and demeaning than I have ever seen toward not just the manifest girl where I was working at the time,but a female TI as well.
I witnessed this from muslims when I was working in vegas as well.
I have also seen a group of jews accuse all the staff and the dzo of being anti-semetic while in vegas because we refused to give them a discount on tandems and handcam.
I have seen people of other faiths get nasty as well,but nothing close to the level of disrespect I've seen from muslims and jews.
The muslims like to go to other countries and enforce sharia law and commit honor killings and they are also more likely to blow themselves up on a bus packed full of other people.
Not saying there are not religious nuts in all faiths,but the muslim seem to take the cake.

Anyone who gives you candy coated chocolate must have an ulterior motive and should not be trusted.
Man I love M&M's,I wish some sneaky christians would force their candy on me.

First off,I am not religious,but I have no problem saying happy easter to someone I know to be a christian.
I do not try to tell anyone(christians,muslims,jews,hindu's ect...) things about their religious beliefs that may offend them unless they try to engage me in religious debate(preaching to me).
I find it very interesting how so many people take shots at christians but very seldom take shots at jews, and especially muslims.
I know there are militant christian groups,but there are just as many militant jewish groups,and even more militant muslim groups out there.
In fact most of the violent religious groups seem to be muslim,yet it is not very popular with the liberals to speake ill of islam.
The early jews,muslims,and christians originated from the same religious beliefs if I'm not mistaken.
If someone wants to celebrate a pagan day as a christian day,I say let them celebrate and be happy.
If someone wants to observe hanukkah,or ramadan then so be it,but when religious teachings promote violence against non believers then I have a problem with it.
So since you are so impartial and brave,I expect you will take shots at all religions and their holy days.

>yep your more likely to be shot by a family member or friend.......

Maybe if you have muslim family members and friends and especially if you are a woman with muslim family members or friends.

I have flown 330's alot,and some sigma 340's as well,both at close to sea level field elevations.
I had very nice soft openings and sweet stand up landings even with no wind on both the 330 and the 340.
I would not recommend a 330 or 340 at a hot and high elevation DZ.
In colorado at 5864 MSL I used 365's,400's,and my favorite the sigma 370, and they were all fast in that air.
I can see wanting a smaller canopy with excellent performance at windy sea level DZ's with small customers.
The potential force that one of these small mains could generate in a spinning mal scenario is what makes me nervous.
I've had a few tandem mals that spun us on our backs pretty hard and they were on 365's or bigger.

>what about an incident during the opening?
Thats what worries me.
They sound great as long as everything is going well,but what if you have a hard spinning mal?
There are now many cases of very experienced people under spinning,heavily loaded x-braced canopies having difficulty by themselves,let alone with a student strapped to their chest.

We only see the tip of the iceberg when it comes to what both Monsanto,the feds,and other governments are up to.
I remember hearing about several patents that were granted to Monsanto for plants that are resistant to extreme chemical alterations of the worlds soil.
I've also heard rumors of Monsanto participating in high altitude dispersion of chemicals for the purpose of altering the climate and the chemistry of the environment.
This makes you wonder about the jet contrails that last all day and spread for hundreds of miles after they have been spewed out.
Growing up in the sixties and seventies,I remember jet contrails were gone in minutes or an hour or two at most,and I can't see simple water vapor not dispersing very rapidly in the high cold dry air where contrails are created.
Not making claims,but kinda makes you go Hmmmm.....

Not the father of the lutheran church.
I should have been more specific in who I meant.
Charlton Heston marched with Martin Luther King in support of civil rights for everyone.
Is that better?