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I don't think there is anything about her to fight over on a personal level. She seems to be qualified academically. She has religious beliefs and associated lifestyle decisions that will seem extreme to many, but I think those are her choices to make for herself. My issue is that she seems willing to impose those beliefs and choices on others, at least indirectly. Yesterday I saw an interview with two legal scholars, one pretty conservative and the other liberal. They were asked where she fit in with the current slate of 8 justices. They both agreed that she does not "fit in", she would actually be significantly to the right of Justice Thomas, who everyone agrees is currently the most conservative justice by some distance. She clerked for Justice Scalia, who once said of himself "I am an originalist, but not a nut", and who on rare occasions could be convinced to see things from a "liberal" point of view (for example, considering flag burning as political speech). People who are familiar with Amy Barrett say that no-one should expect any agreement with the liberal wing of the court, ever. She will, of course, be polite and even charming as she guts voting rights, LGBTQ rights, reproductive rights, the ability of the government to protect citizens against pollution and disease, etc. She "praised" Ginsberg for "breaking glass ceilings", but recall that Scalia disagreed with Ginsberg on every important civil rights case, and Barrett is apparently more right wing that Scalia. Of course she cannot do those things completely on her own. She will need other justices to agree. The problem is, with this nominee, the court is the most conservative it has been since the 1930s, when the court was focused on undoing as much as it could of the New Deal legislation. I think we will have a big problem when the court is running almost a century behind much of the rest of the country. MAGA notwithstanding, America was not so great for a lot of people in the 1930s/1940/1950s. If the court strips millions of people of their health insurance, their ability to make decisions for themselves about reproduction, their ability to vote, breath clean air, etc it will, I think, destroy the public's confidence in the judicial system. I think a more balanced court, where no one side is able to impose it's will on the other in every case, is more in the best interest of the country. Don

Yeah, the level of technical illiteracy that I have witnessed with some skydivers is beyond anything that I have seen in any other hobby. It is like people don't have the slightest idea how their equipment works, that certain parts (lines and closing loops) wear over time, and that it might be a good idea to replace them before they break. Cypress is apparently used as a generic name for any AAD, regardless if it is mechanical or digital (as if you ask some people, they are all the same), and peoples knowledge of RSL begins and ends on the question on their A license exam, where it is basically described as "something that opens your reserve automatically if you cutaway". A further aggravating factor is that students are actively taught against using internet or finding information by themselves at some places, because god forbid that a student asks a meaningful question that will challenge the schools program which was last edited some time in the last millennia. Rant over.

I Just went through ground school this past weekend again after almost a decade away from the sport and happened to have someone else going through it at the same time (didn’t know him beforehand). For some reason, this guy didn’t seem to really care about learning anything and just thought that he had to go through the AFF jumps (didn’t know it was pass/fail) and then jump anywhere he wanted. He never really asked any questions except asking me a bunch of stuff during our breaks about when he could do things like wing suit jumps, etc... I could tell he really hadn’t done any research at all before signing up for AFF and throughout the class I could see our instructor getting visibly angry and worried. We made it through the class and got on a load for our first jump and even on the way up, other jumpers had to tell him to stop playing with his harness, he still had issues remembering emergency procedures (throughout the class and on the plane, he practiced by pulling his cutaway and reserve handles at the same time). I was out before him and had a fairly ok jump and when we landed he told me that they made him pull almost immediately because he couldn’t get stable. After his debrief (which I overheard, they recommended 20-30 minutes of tunnel time) he told me that they told him not to come back. That’s not exactly what happened, but I wouldn’t be surprised if I had heard them say that. is that typical of some people starting AFF? It blows my mind that someone would be so carefree when entering a sport like this and makes me a little nervous both for them, and everyone else sharing a load with them.

CSIS June 2020: "The United States faces a growing terrorism problem that will likely worsen over the next year. Based on a CSIS data set of terrorist incidents, the most significant threat likely comes from white supremacists" Department of Homeland Security, Sept 2020: “Lone offenders and small cells of individuals motivated by a diverse array of social, ideological, and personal factors will pose the primary terrorist threat to the United States,. Among these groups, we assess that white supremacist extremists – who increasingly are networking with likeminded persons abroad – will pose the most persistent and lethal threat.” FBI, June 2019: Qanon is a “domestic terror threat” because of "its potential to incite extremist violence." . . ."The FBI assesses these conspiracy theories very likely will emerge, spread, and evolve in the modern information marketplace, occasionally driving both groups and individual extremists to carry out criminal or violent acts." So look in the mirror if you want to see where the threat to America is coming from.

What bothers me _most_ is seeing jumpers who have recommended to them gear that "just happens" to match what the local rigger/DZO happens to have on the shelf... As to looking on the Internet, I think some of that is the same caution instructors give over students listening to other (non-instructor) jumpers... often the most vocal/eager sources of information ARE the 50-200 jump wonders... you're right, there is some GREAT information on the Internet, but there is also some dangerous stuff out there. I would suggest to a newbie, go out and look/learn, then come back and talk through all what you think you learned. JW

I completely agree -- and those laws that are morally wrong or right are exactly the ones that I'm worried about. People who want to preserve what they feel they've earned (even if it's by being born into a wealthy family, or by having connections unavailable to most people), or who want society to look like they think it did in the 1950's when they felt safe at home in their small isolated towns, unaware of the mass of people who didn't, in fact, have anything remotely resembling equal rights. As long as viagra is covered by insurance and birth control pills aren't, don't go telling me that it's gender-neutral... I will add that there are people who feel just as strongly that abortion is morally wrong, just as discrimination (against white males too), etc. I think my real argument with strict originalists is that they rule in a vacuum, not the real world. Wendy P.

Indeed. It questions who will be the decision maker when she rules, her or her husband?

Frankly, my SHTF plans (such as they are) actually do include building community with my neighbors; it's the only way that things will get somewhat better, even if only in small pockets to begin with. We have some family within bike distance (which is the max I'd consider to be SHTF distance), so we can get together as a nucleus. Yeah, it's somewhat risky, but so are most good things. Wendy P.

I have 20 cases of fine Oregon Pinot, French Burgundies and a fuel bladder ready to load into a 200kt 850HP Caravan. I'll also bring some cash and my trusty Beretta 1301 Tactical. Add to that some nice chow in the cooler bags and a few piss bottles and it should be a pleasant trip. Good luck with your water filter and peanut butter.

I am looking for information and stories about the Osprey Sport Parachute Club. My goal is to revive the club. I am first looking to build a registry of members dating back as far as I can go. who the founding members were.... and get a history written down. I would appreciate any information or assistance. Joe

How badly broken is a tax system where Donald Trump can write off $70,000 for his hair, but a mechanic cannot write of the cost of tools and teachers cannot write off the cleaning supplies for extra COVID related cleaning requirements?

The Trump base will not think less of him for avoiding taxes. Heck, he probably paid $750 too much. A few will take note of his dismal business losses year after year, in the middle of the best economy of their lives, but most will pay that no mind either.

This is Trump’s biggest opportunity to show how the NYT is fake news. All he has to do is release his tax returns and show what they are reporting is false.

Yeah, he actually texted me and told me that they told him never to come back

I've learned a term to describe this type... "DiGIT" - Dead Guy In Training. Fortunately from what I've seen (on the outside of training), there aren't all that many and most get encouraged to go somewhere else. JW

Good to now it’s not normal. Based on what he said I think that guys calling it quits after his aff1. Shame, we have a tunnel like 20 minutes from where he lives too

That blase' atitude is rare among skydiving students. The vast majority listen carefully in class and try to perform well during their first jump. Have trained hundreds of static-line and IAD first jump students. I have also done hundreds of Progressive Freefall (harness hold) jumps with first time freefallers. I can only count on one hand my number of freefall jumps with first timers (AFF). Oh! ... and I have done more than 4,000 tandem jumps with first-timers. I definitely prefer starting students in a wind tunnel, a few IAD jumps (until they land decently) then take them up for their first freefall. No single method is perfect ... just "best" at one stage in the learning process.

I'm just a fun jumper, I don't teach but I usually try to interact with them after 10-20 jumps. From my experience, most are eager to learn. I would say that 5% got into the sport because of wingsuit BASE and are only interested in that topic because they saw it on Youtube and Skydiving is BASE jumping right. They usually don't last long or they change their mindset with wingsuit BASE as a goal for everything they do. We have a lot of BASE jumpers at my DZ and they are good at pushing skydiving first then, in time, they will open up about BASE. What scares me the most is the 60-100 jumps A-B license holder buying their first rig or 200+ jumper buying their second rig and relying completely on a rigger to choose the equipment that will save their lives. There's a lot of easily accessible information on the internet to help you understand what all the options are. From what I gathered, those jumpers are too lazy to put in the effort to research and READ about the equipment. They usually don't know what reserve they will be using in case of a cutaway. They have no clue what a RSL / MARD is. They all say they have a Cypres in their rig when it's a Vigil or M2. I usually don't bother asking them if they know their activation altitude at that point. I will gladly transfer knowledge to someone that is eager to learn. I do it even with someone that doesn't want to know anything except jumping to give me good conscience if they ever find themselves in a malfunction.

My team uses Bev suits and we like them, about to order a new set for next year. Recommend going for the Magik options on them. They have a nice spandex pocket on the grippers which is really nice for exits. Quality and customer service is always important. We've had good customer service from Bev. If you're in NA consider the inconvenience if you need to ship a suit back to Europe for adjustments.

>I'm thinking that going INTO the wind, it will make you land closer, > or shorter. Going WITH the wind (downwind), it will make you land > farther out. Correct? Usually, yes.

Ok, look who just got on board. (That would be me). Somebody please correct me if I'm wrong, but my powers of deductive reasoning seem to have kicked in, and I'm thinking that going INTO the wind, it will make you land closer, or shorter. Going WITH the wind (downwind), it will make you land farther out. Correct? Kelly