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McConnell is an evil turd, but he is not stupid. He is trying to force the Democrats to use the reconciliation process to pass the debt limit bill, which will burn a lot of clock and prevent the Democrats from passing their human infrastructure bill and also any voting protection legislation. Just as he did with Obama he doesn't want Biden to have any "wins", so Republicans will be able to portray Democrats as incompetent losers in the next election. Also Republicans are desperate to stymie any voting protection as they are very aware that voting suppression is their only path to power. It's just gravy that he can stick the Democrats with the bill for four years of fiscal irresponsibility under Trump. In the end McConnell and the Republican party only care about winning and power. They do not care at all about the damage they would do to the country, people, and the world. For them the end always justifies the means if the end is they win. Don

When you trust modern medicine to replace an organ, but not to give a simple vaccination: UCHealth Denies Kidney Transplant To Unvaccinated Woman & Donor

We are not talking about biological gender. We are talking about gender IDENTITY. Claiming that is a medical decision is absurd. The medical procedures for transitioning are well known, and the medical community accepts that the patient, not a doctor, makes the decision on whether or not to transition. So yes, medical ethics recognizes self-determination as the accepted standard for what surgery to perform, and what result to aim for. The patient, not any medical body, makes that determination. Right. And misdemeanors (and felonies) have zero to do with what people feel about the issue - they have to do purely with whether someone violates the law. There is no doubt that in North Carolina, you could throw someone in jail who used the wrong bathroom - just as at one time, you could throw a black person in jail if they used a white bathroom. The law stated both of those things were illegal. And there is no doubt that an angry cop could charge you with a dozen crimes if you were to do such a thing (or were black, or Muslim, or whatever other factor made him dislike you.) Further, I have no doubt that you could find a great many people today who would be uncomfortable if a transgender (or a gay, or even a black) person walked into the bathroom they were in. However, as I mentioned before, that does them no actual harm. A man who goes into women's room claiming that he is really a woman for the purpose of raping them - that is clearly harm, and if that were frequently the case, I would support more stringent laws on bathroom gender identity policing. Until that is shown to be the case, though, it is simply a non-issue.

It is October 6 and I haven't received my October Parachutist. Is it just me or have others not received their October issue.

I guess I will have go to the post office and see what's up.

Got mine, maybe a week ago, and I'm even across a border in Canada.

I have mine. It's the election issue, so yours probably went to an ally of one of the board members. (I kid of course).

Anti-vaxxer versus Homeless Person

MRI with contrast detected that I had an anterior labral tear and SLAP. I underwent surgery (shoulder arthroscopy) on August 25th this year and currently am 3 weeks post-op. However, during the surgery, my surgeon found out that my "SLAP" tear wasn't serious enough to be fixed - in his own words, he said it wasn't even a tear and that part of labrum does not contribute to the stability of the shoulder. So he only fixed the anterior labral tear which caused my anterior shoulder dislocation last year. I'm required to wear a sling for 6 weeks (3 more weeks to go) And I started PT after the first week. Currently working on Passive Range of Motion (PROM). The risk of dislocating my shoulder again after surgery is 10%. My shoulder is expected to be fully healed and ready (to the level of jumping again) in 5-6 months. You might need to sleep in a recliner at first. And then you can adjust how you sleep based on your own comfort & pain level. It's an individual thing and there are no strict rules. For me sleeping in a recliner totally sucked because I had no sleep quality at all. Right now I'm sleeping flat on my bed with no pain. Wear your sling when you sleep. Keep walking everyday. It helps speed up the blood flow and reduce constipation. Pain meds cause constipation. Follow your surgeon's instructions. PT is an important part of recovery. Do exactly what your PT says. Find a good PT who knows what he's doing. Think about it like this - fixing your labrum is like planting a seed, and doing PT is like helping the seed grow.

What you’re expressing is sort of like asking how to get more people interested in Style & Accuracy or 10-Way Speed Star or CRW. The culture and interest of drop zones change as new disciplines are introduced. The reason for this is people are always looking for new and fresh things to do as well as people look up to the top of the skill food chain and take cues from them. Whatever they are doing is often what people strive to do. People get interested in skydiving for myriad reasons. Often it is for friendship and connection with like minded people. If the people they are drawn to are focused on a specific discipline, they will want to do that discipline to be a part of that group. What discipline a drop zone focuses on is an issue of drop zone culture. At most drop zones, the cool kids aren’t doing 4-Way. There are some that do have a large contingent of people focused on 4-Way, but, for the most part, the cool kids are “free-flying.” So, how do you get more experienced jumpers interested in 4-Way? Well, that depends on how much energy you want to spend pushing a large rock up a hill. What you could ask is, “what am I trying to accomplish by participating in this hobby?” If you enjoy 4-Way and want to improve in RW, convincing experienced skydivers to get on your 4-way train is probably the most difficult way to accomplish your goal. The good news is there is a way for you to accomplish your goal and that’s to work with new skydivers as they progress to whatever is their ultimate goal. Belly Skydiving skills are a pre-requisite for all other disciplines. I suggest you embrace working with new skydivers and coach them through this Basic Belly Flying Progression. If they spend 30-minutes in the tunnel and go through the Kinesthesia Dive Program in the air with you, they will be very competent skydivers by the time they hit 100 jumps. This will give you the ability to improve your skills, make new friends and give you a new found purpose at the DZ. The other option, if it’s available, is to choose a DZ where the culture embraces 4-Way and FS. Lastly, instead of having a home DZ, you can find other like minded belly flyers and travel and do mini-camps with them. I hope this helps. Good luck!