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Well, I finally got my hands on a copy of the elusive Gunther book (many thanks to who hooked me up with a copy - you know who you are). I've been fascinated by the connections between the Gunther book and the crime since I probably first started getting into this case. I know that it's been a fairly popular topic of choice in the case for a pretty long time now, so I'll try to keep this short... As others have mentioned before, it is a pretty brief read, and it wraps itself up fast (I was actually somewhat caught off guard by the abruptness of the ending). But sure enough, the connections to the case I was curious about were there. Despite finally reading the text for myself, I actually felt more conflicted about the book's contents and its overall accuracy than before. Some of the connections that others (and admittedly myself) have made seemed more strenuous or coincidental in context. But my overall feeling is still that there's something more to this book. I didn't get the impression once that Gunther was lying, not on purpose at least. What he writes come across as a story that has been passed on to him instead of something he made up on his own. But it's riddled with little details and mistakes that can be explained equally well by fabrications, fading memories, and changes to protect identities, which is I'd guess why it's such a hard book to analyze in the first place. Some things do, though, fall eerily well into place. The description of "Dan Leclair/Paul Cotton" ticks a lot of popular suspect boxes (working for multiple chemical companies being probably the hardest detail to ignore, and there's also a passage about him "loving" a potential job where he can work with his hands and wear a tie at the same time - a nearly perfect description of the type of career the wearer of Cooper's tie probably had?). There's also the short bit that seems to reference the infamous Elsinore Paracenter visits, which I actually missed at first, because the name Elsinore is not actually used - in fact, the skydiving center is not named in the text, but I would bet safely that someone else has already figured this bit out better than me - there can't have been too many other skydiving centers fitting the criteria of being "not too far from Los Angeles" at the time, anyways (if any). Without going into too much more detail, though, I thought it was a good read, if not a bit surreal. The possibility that I was reading the true story of what really happened to D. B. Cooper nagged at me the whole time. Was this part true? Was that part? Impossible to know now, probably, with Gunther (and most likely Cooper too) long gone. I've heard there's been some effort to get access to Gunther's notes through his heirs without success, which is a shame. It's their right to refuse to do so, of course, but I doubt we will ever learn more about the truthfulness of the book without those notes. That book is, in my eyes, just as big of a mystery as the Cooper caper itself.

I agree that Gunther was mostly telling the truth. He had way too much at stake to lie about this. Now, whether or not the man who called was DB Cooper is still up for debate. I believe he was or at least was close to him. The Elsinore visit outlined in the book is quite a coincidence. I do believe it is possible that Gunther went to Los Angeles and got that info himself, but wow, that was some good journalism.

Yes, we’ve all read your posts here

The 'funny' thing about that is that Fauci said the exact same thing back early in the pandemic. https://www.factcheck.org/2020/05/outdated-fauci-video-on-face-masks-shared-out-of-context/ The 'anti mask' crowd took it out of context and ran with it, pretending that masks don't work at all. Masks aren't perfect. Keeping distances isn't perfect. The vax isn't perfect. The only 'perfect' solution is to not have ANY contact with ANYBODY. Which is impossible. So many (most?) folks take what precautions they can, understanding that they are reducing the risk, not eliminating it. Unfortunately, there are some seriously binary idiots who seem to believe that if a solution isn't perfect, then it's completely useless. I know a few of those. They are insanely frustrating to talk to. And the 'citation thing' is general practice. Make sure to put some common sense with it. If you claim the sun is going to come up tomorrow, you don't need to provide links to NOAA with sunrise times. If you're going to claim that its the vaxed, not the unvaxed that are overloading the hospitals, then you probably should. And be prepared to be challenged on them.

Shhhhh. The first rule of White Privilege is that we don't admit White Privilege exists.

And once again you hold up the Fox News caricature of CRT and use that as evidence that CRT is comparable to the Klan. America was built around slavery Racist practices were built into the laws of the nation until ridiculously recently. The affects of those laws with respect to the ability of affected communities to build generational wealth are still highly evident today. Understanding that history might help kids put the things they observe into a better context. Contrary to what Tucker tells you, the point isn’t to make white people feel bad about themselves or place blame for the current situation, just add some context. Oh, the horrors that poor little Ethan might have to drive by the ghetto and do more than wonder why those people can’t just pull themselves up by their bootstraps.

Another example would be James Carville and Mary Matalin. Wendy P.

You still don't get it. Success is buying a box with potential and finding a LiFePO4 battery inside.

May I suggest installing different-colored risers to the two different canopies? Different-colored risers will give you a second reminder of which canopy you are landing.

I don't recall anyone saying that masks would be a 'magic bullet'. Except, that is, for the people who try to make that claim when they are trying to claim that masks don't work. From the beginning, it was made pretty clear that masks reduce the spread. They don't eliminate it. There are even links & pics on this very thread from a while back that clarify the reductions. They are most effective at helping prevent a sick person from 'spewing' virus out to infect others. Wearing one to prevent catching the virus is a lot less effective (not zero, but less). Kind of funny that 'taking care of others' is something that so many people are unwilling to do. Remember when Fauci said he didn't want to recommend them? It was because they were worried about the idiots going on a buying spree and hoarding them (remember the Great Toilet Paper Shortage?). And because he was worried that people would think they were a 'magic bullet' and stop taking other precautions. As with just about everything, masks are a part of the mitigation strategy. Interestingly, handwashing is probably the least effective part. Covid is airborne/droplet spread. All the surface cleaning and sanitizing did little to stop Covid (it was likely one of the reasons 'normal' colds & flu largely disappeared). Providing citations isn't a 'rule', but it is a 'best practice'. Has been for a long time. It's always been the 'responsibility' of the person making the claim, not the person challenging it.

Frankly, anyone who was “led to believe” that masks were a magic bullet either really wanted to believe that, or was paying attention to sources that used that language. Where I am (solidly blue), plenty of people considered masks to only be better than nothing — which they are. Witness the huge drop in flu and the common cold. Had those been as prevalent as usual, there would have been even more illness this last winter. Wendy P.

I'm not quite 80, but I don't consider getting vaccinated and boosted, and wearing a mask at the grocery store or in an airport, to have been a significant "upend" to my life.

Option 3 - He knows full well what he's doing, and is doing it specifically to generate responses.

I tried both twice. A Nitron 190 and a NITRO 150 and I agree with you, they are both great canopies. The NITRO is the original one made in Germany with the biggest size being 150. It has relatively thick HMA black (UV treated) lines and thicker reinforcing tapes. Nitro is made by HYPER company. THe Nitron is the American version of the Nitro. THe Nitron is made by Precision Aerodynamics of Dunlap Tennessee. The Nitron is equiped with light brown color HMA (or Vectran) lines. Both have the same design which is typical from Nitro or Nitron ie. 1) continuous lines (no cascades) 2) the outside lines have a direct attachment at the bottom of the stabilizers to kept them under tension (unlike other canopies). From these attachments points at the stabilizer there is no more line going to the canopy (to remember when packing) but from those attachments points there are 3 tapes spread and going on the top of the stabilizer and used to distribute the force on the canopy. 3) a 2 feet long fin on the top skin located at the ouside cell level (keeping a better canopy lift) 4) a semi rigid thick mesh covering the outside half cell (to keep the shape of the canopy when turning) A NITRO 150 (due to continuous lines) packs a bit thicker than a Sabre 2-170 The NItron 190 I tried has a trim angle of 15.19 degrees while the NITRO 150 has a trim angle of 13.25 degrees (the lowest trim angle I have ever measured). For comparison, my Katana has a trim angle of 18.03 degrees and makes it fly steep, it's a diver. The Nitro is flying very flat and is a glider. Both Canopy are fully elliptical or tapered. Both have 36 attachments points (excluding the upper steering lines). When packing: from the bottom and each side, #of lines per set are as it follows : 3, 5, 5, 5. Hope that helps. Learn from others mistakes, you will never live long enough to make them all.