Jasmin

Hmmmm I'm guessing you never studied Russian history....Trotsky....Ice Pick....Mexico....anyone? Don't think Putin or the FSB are that idiotic or incompetent. But if you disliked either the current govt or FSB, the deaths of Alexander Litvinenko and Anna Politkovskaya would be a fantastic way to frame them. Hit the critics and the subject of their criticism becomes the main suspect and potentially pays the price….convoluted simplicity xj "I wouldn't recommend picking a fight with the earth...but then I wouldn't recommend picking a fight with a car either, and that's having tried both."

I'm not going to dispute that I'd be mad as hell, but there is a big difference between being distressed at the death of your child and holding someone wholly responsible for it. I believe that the parents have a duty of care that they’ve also neg'd on. That duty of care was primarily to their son, but I also think that it can easily be extended to the other road users who could have been killed by their drunk and unlicensed son, who has clearly displayed scant regard for his own survival and the safety of those around him. On the lawsuit issue, for me it is a case of put-up or shut-up. I have had the opportunity to sue the pants off someone for negligence resulting in serious harm and for which they were entirely at fault. But I continue to feel that it is quite sufficient penance that this person will have to live with the knowledge and memories of what happened and that a lawsuit would not make me feel any better or have made my injuries any less. People make mistakes, shit happens. It is indeed an unfortunate chain of events and my comments are essentially to say that the appointment of blame being decided by society/judiciary is becoming increasingly skewed and illogical. On paper, yes the cop is to blame, but that does not make his being held to account for it, just or right. xj "I wouldn't recommend picking a fight with the earth...but then I wouldn't recommend picking a fight with a car either, and that's having tried both."

Yes, its a nice idea in theory, (much like communism....lol) that a cop be held solely responsible for the actions and care of someone in custody. However, in reality there is only so much one person can do. I find it truly disheartening that a cop, who was trying to save other road users from a drunk unlicensed 16yr-old Darwin-nominee Houdini (not to mention, trying to save the brat from himself) and who will no doubt be greatly upset that a boy died on his watch, will now be reprimanded and scorned for trying to protect others and doing everything by the book in his attempt to do so. [BEGIN MINDLESS RANT] I HATE that as a society we are promoting a world where everyone is responsible for the misfortune and idiocy of a person, everyone that is except the person in question. We reward stupidity and brutality with multi-million dollar payouts, berate parents for disciplining their children and condemn religious leaders for forcing their views on others (How can "thou shall not murder"-10 commandments or "let compassion arise"-Dalai Lama, etc etc be seen as anything but good ideals to live by????). And then we bemoan that our young adults and kids (ie my generation) are turning out to be selfish, apathetic and irresponsible!????! Talk about doing future generations a disservice! [/END RANT] xj "I wouldn't recommend picking a fight with the earth...but then I wouldn't recommend picking a fight with a car either, and that's having tried both."

We lost Rob (or extreme ironing fame) to skateboarding. Considering the sh*t he used to pull, it came as a hell of a surprise. xj "I wouldn't recommend picking a fight with the earth...but then I wouldn't recommend picking a fight with a car either, and that's having tried both."

If you calculate total life-cycle (eg POST, OECD numbers etc), solar actually contributes to more CO2 than wind, hydro and nuclear. Until we find a way to extract Si for PV's at a lower temp or the emerging thin-film or semi-conductor technology progresses, I just don't see this changing. Don't get me wrong, I truly like Solar's potential, but it just isn't there...yet! xj "I wouldn't recommend picking a fight with the earth...but then I wouldn't recommend picking a fight with a car either, and that's having tried both."

If you trend average availability, nuclear actually competes very nicely. Edited to add: From NEI- The median number of unplanned automatic scrams was zero per 7,000 critical hours for 2005. xj "I wouldn't recommend picking a fight with the earth...but then I wouldn't recommend picking a fight with a car either, and that's having tried both."

LOL Well put! xj "I wouldn't recommend picking a fight with the earth...but then I wouldn't recommend picking a fight with a car either, and that's having tried both."

If I'm not working, I'll be happy to help out! xj "I wouldn't recommend picking a fight with the earth...but then I wouldn't recommend picking a fight with a car either, and that's having tried both."

Don't knock it 'til you've tried it....the Vegemite that is, not the baby shit! xj "I wouldn't recommend picking a fight with the earth...but then I wouldn't recommend picking a fight with a car either, and that's having tried both."

No one! Didn't you hear, I'm a single girl these days??! edited to add:Still friends with the lanky one....which is just as well, considering he has both my rig and my cypress at the moment! LOL Despite Rod's e-mails, Emoo doubts he'll be turning up to the xmas boogie. xj "I wouldn't recommend picking a fight with the earth...but then I wouldn't recommend picking a fight with a car either, and that's having tried both."

Colin, I've been put in touch with a few jumpers in Argentina. PM me if you're headed that far south. xj "I wouldn't recommend picking a fight with the earth...but then I wouldn't recommend picking a fight with a car either, and that's having tried both."

Good riddance! edited to add:I'm anti-procreation...but I'm all for the practicing bit! LOL xj "I wouldn't recommend picking a fight with the earth...but then I wouldn't recommend picking a fight with a car either, and that's having tried both."

Yep, got a few days off from the 'atom mill'. eg Boxing day Be cool to catch up... xj "I wouldn't recommend picking a fight with the earth...but then I wouldn't recommend picking a fight with a car either, and that's having tried both."

I'll be there in feb-march too xj "I wouldn't recommend picking a fight with the earth...but then I wouldn't recommend picking a fight with a car either, and that's having tried both."

No its a sheep-shagger pretending to be a whinging Pom! ROFL Back on topic, byron isn't bad. If you make it to Picton, say hi. xj "I wouldn't recommend picking a fight with the earth...but then I wouldn't recommend picking a fight with a car either, and that's having tried both."

Frenchy68 ain't Australian But they were taught to BASE jump by Australian jumper Jimmy Freeman. Jimmy also organised the only BASE jumping event in China last year (the Beijing International BASE jumping Open), for the Aero Sports Federation of China and CCTV. Look through the old threads for the details, but if my menory serves me right, 27 jumpers from eleven countries did over 90 jumps from the Beijing CCTV tower. The Phoenix-fly boys put together a really nice clip of it on skydivingmovies. They might have a new coach though Edited to add: : Ronald, PM sent mate xj "I wouldn't recommend picking a fight with the earth...but then I wouldn't recommend picking a fight with a car either, and that's having tried both."

I should probably add (as I do every time we talk about the rules and the reason denis has a titanium back) that the general consensus (and Dwain's infamous rule) was that "It doesn't count unless you can walk away from it." xj "I wouldn't recommend picking a fight with the earth...but then I wouldn't recommend picking a fight with a car either, and that's having tried both."

True. Denis smacked in at Magland with little more than a pilot chute out. The ambulance crew purportedly refused to take him to hospital. xj "I wouldn't recommend picking a fight with the earth...but then I wouldn't recommend picking a fight with a car either, and that's having tried both."

What if...? Try: What if Dwain had lived? What if Patrick had lived? What if we were all born with wings? If you want to know the general gist, search through the thread and find the 1000 other times this has been discussed. Read about the jumpers wearing wingsuits who've hit with nothing out and survived. Read about Dwain's notorious last jump. Read about Jeb's cost estimate (last check it was several million, but we haven't caught up with Jeb since Swz). And then maybe you'll understand why most of us are truly keen to see it happen, we're just sick of hearing people talk about seeing it happen. xj "I wouldn't recommend picking a fight with the earth...but then I wouldn't recommend picking a fight with a car either, and that's having tried both."

He he he. When all else fails, try the embassy xj "I wouldn't recommend picking a fight with the earth...but then I wouldn't recommend picking a fight with a car either, and that's having tried both."

Umm what was the point you were trying to make? There are over 65 countries who have (or had) nuclear reactors, but there are only 8 declared weapons states (plus Israel). Having a reactor does not equal having weapons. xj "I wouldn't recommend picking a fight with the earth...but then I wouldn't recommend picking a fight with a car either, and that's having tried both."

There are countries where the normal/regular swimming suit for man is that you described before. yes and as I stated, Australia is not one of them! Heck, half the BASE boys still wear boardies to dive training lol xj "I wouldn't recommend picking a fight with the earth...but then I wouldn't recommend picking a fight with a car either, and that's having tried both."

Ummmm Try a 6ft8in Aussie jumper of Irish descent. He also organised the only BASE event to be held in China last year. But you were right about the athlete part. Heck, even their translater is 3x world (skydiving) accuracy champion edited to add: Hey Ronald, I've bought my ticket and get into Argentina first week of February. Yay! xj "I wouldn't recommend picking a fight with the earth...but then I wouldn't recommend picking a fight with a car either, and that's having tried both."

"Budgysmugglers" is a wonderful term commonly used to describe Speedos swimwear (or equivalent) worn by a man. In english: swimwear that makes the wearer look like they are trying to smuggle a parrot/bird in their tight swimmers. Budgiesmugglers are a very big fassion faux pas in this country xj "I wouldn't recommend picking a fight with the earth...but then I wouldn't recommend picking a fight with a car either, and that's having tried both."

False:http://www.snopes.com/food/warnings/vegemite.asp xj "I wouldn't recommend picking a fight with the earth...but then I wouldn't recommend picking a fight with a car either, and that's having tried both."