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Jumper with madskillz thinks USPA sets the cloud regs. Jumper with incredible knowledge of skydiving points out it's an FAA reg. Mr. Madskillz goes full insult, Some people shouldn't get internet in their mom's basement.

I do see it, and sometimes I roll my eyes as I think often SkyDekker oversimplifies and over-demonizes certain things...but he's at least sharing an opinion that he's crafted himself and not just regurgitating what he saw on Fox last night.

It's like reading America First Committee statements. Been busy the past few days and couldn't agree more. I take the stand of being one of the interventionists. For me; this is no different than our being late to WWII and how many lives could we have saved, not to mention having changed the course of history. One cannot passively support this war. It's time for active support. We're late. “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” ~George Santayana Extra Credit: https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/article/the-united-states-isolation-intervention

Dear base jumping community! I'm a basejumper from Ukraine. We've probably met on some exits, or during some awesome jumping events all over the world. I'm calling out to you because basejumpers(well, most of them anyway) are those types that have their critical thinking tuned in and understand what shit is real and what is not. russian fascists are into a full scale invasion of Ukraine, and since their "brilliant" blitzkrieg has failed, they are now onto casual warfare, with air raids, shelling, ballistic and cruise missiles that target everything, including civilian population. It's fucking genocide. Lots of pics and video online. Problem is, russian population is drowned in propaganda, and is cut off from any reliable source of actual information. More than that, they just don't want to believe. So, only direct actions that affect them will brake the spell and force their brains to start critical thinking. So, I am asking you, the community, to deny all access to basejumping events, transport to exit points, and any and all assistance for basejumps to russians. The whole world is already denying everything to them, even FAI and the skydiving community is issuing a total ban for them. I'm not even mentioning casual sports which threw russians out of every international sport league and event there is. BD (no blue sky over Ukraine, only black death) Sincerely yours, on break (rotation) from the front line, base # 1506

This is, and always has been, an equal opportunity thread. If your memory were better you would know this. Political scumbaggery is equal opportunity with regard to party.

Chamberlain gets an unfair bad rap for 1938. (a) the UK was no more obliged to defend Czechoslovakia than the USA was. There was no defense treaty (unlike with Poland in 1939). France, however, did have a treaty with Czech (since 1925). (b) the Luftwaffe would have annihilated the RAF in 1938. It was well equipped with Bf109 fighters and He111s, etc. following the Spanish Civil War. At the time of Munich the RAF had only a single Spitfire squadron (#19) in service. The Hurricane had only just entered service, and the RAF was still largely reliant on Gloster Gladiator biplanes which were way outclassed by the Bf109.

In post #32 you ask "tell us what you would do". I rephrased that question for you, since you never answered it yourself. After asking the questions, all you did was hide behind "NATO wouldn't agree to it". If asking you to answer your own question is too abrasive for you, then you have likely been shielded a little too long. Not sure you understand how NATO works. But for NATO to take action (outside of an article 5 response) it would have to be approved through the North Atlantic Council, of which the US is a member. Part of that process is the NAC deciding, generally based on already agreed upon principles, how each country would contribute. Hence, all you have really said so far is that you believe the US should live up to their North Atlantic Treaty obligations.

https://mobile.twitter.com/trenttelenko/status/1499164245250002944?s=21 good thread here about the difficulties the Russian armored column is facing and why the time to strike it isn’t going to last forever.

I know what BIGUN referenced. Let me rephrase the question for you then. Should NATO forces come to an agreement to actively enter Ukraine and fight against Russia, you agree that is the right course of action? So far you have been hiding your opinion behind "NATO won't agree anyways".

You aren't arguing in good faith here. BIGUN (and myself) made comments around what we think should be done. You are arguing about what NATO might agree to doing. Those are two very different things. I certainly agree (and I think BIGUN as well) that there is no interest within NATO to get into direct conflict with Russia at this point.

Hi Keith, I, like you, want the US & NATO to help the Ukrainians. I do not want US boots on the ground. I want the US & NATO to control the skies over Ukraine. Inform Putin that after 'such time' any and all Russian military aircraft over Ukraine are subject to being shot down. We did this back in the 90's in Kosovo, not US boots on the ground. After we get total control of the skies, then begin taking out all Russian ground vehicles in Ukraine. The details I'll leave to the military. While I was not alive back then, Chamberlain's 'Piece at last,' was a total joke. Jerry Baumchen

Not you, Sky. You bring up points for discussion. We got stuck on the side of the road for a good hour while the police escorted them through. Not as a matter of legitimacy, but public safety. It was quite the Billy-Joe-Bob Lemming show.

Hi Keith, Very true. However, because the USA is the 400 lb gorilla in the corner of the room, OUR politics is a LOT of people's business. Jerry Baumchen

January 6th committee has claimed that Trump was part of a criminal conspiracy and the GOP is entirely silent. I remember a time where everything Clinton did needed multiple investigations. Now, nothing. Keep that in mind when somebody claims both sides are just the same....

"At the June 2021 Brussels Summit, NATO leaders reiterated the decision taken at the 2008 Bucharest Summit that Ukraine would become a member of the Alliance with the Membership Action Plan (MAP) as an integral part of the process and Ukraine's right to determine its own future and foreign policy course without outside interference" Plans for NATO membership were shelved by Ukraine following the 2010 presidential election in which Viktor Yanukovych(Putin Stooge), who preferred to keep the country non-aligned, was elected President. Amid the Euromaidan unrest, Yanukovych fled Ukraine in February 2014. Subsequently France and Germany have in the past opposed Ukraine’s inclusion, In the last week Finland had a petition submitted such that its government debate NATO membership. In the last two years polling went from 20% to 53% approving NATO membership. Sweden is at 63% polling approval of membership.

Of course Putins not bluffing. He exercised his authority as an autocrat. We don't have one of those, yet. All of post #37 was to position our troops to go in not our allies. And that's the problem, once again it would be a coalition of one and some stragglers. Without your plan there are already plenty of German, French, Dutch and British troops and planes ready to go. Let them threaten Putin first. We'll provide support in equal measures. Sorry man, we'll just need to agree to disagree.

Ken, I understand yours and Joe's points. And, it would be nice if we could go down that path alone, but we understand who's playing this game and his intentions. Russia (Putin) did not seek to "bring" the Ukraine back into the Russian empire; he is taking it. He's killing thousands of people to achieve his personal agenda. It would have been nice to have a three-pronged approach (from 2015), but he's not that kind of guy. By contrast, still others will want to short-circuit escalation, saying that Mr Putin must be stopped before it is too late. As images of suffering emerge from the ruins of Ukraine’s cities, calls are going up for nato to do something, such as to create a no-fly zone. However, enforcing one requires shooting down Russian aircraft and destroying Russian air-defences. Instead, nato needs to preserve a clear line between attacking Russia and backing Ukraine, while leaving no doubt that it will defend its members." https://www.economist.com/leaders/2022/03/05/when-vladimir-putin-escalates-his-war-the-world-must-meet-him?utm_medium=social-media.content.np&utm_source=twitter&utm_campaign=editorial-social&utm_content=discovery.content My view was and still is that a large presence on his doorstep is a balance of deterrence and compellence. I fear we are a week too late. What happens in the next week is particularly concerning to me. I do not wish to bury more soldiers, but I also don't wish for another genocide that we see playing out. We put on the pickle suit for a reason.

Petter Hörnfeldt is a Swede living in Spain, who is a training pilot for Ryanair. He operates the "Mentour Pilot" and "Mentour Now!" Youtube channels. This is his take on what the sanctions will do to Russian commercial aviation.

Yes, and not just in the US. All over the western world the ideas of the nazis had supporters. If Hitler wasn't such a poor strategist and tactician our world could be a very different place by now. I'm of the opinion that if Trump and Trumpism had got started when he was 15 or 20 years younger he would have succeeded in turning the world upside down.

Realistically the west led by the USA could go all in and push Russia out of Ukraine and secure eastern Europe in general. It would be very risky for the whole world on a nearly existential basis. Is it worth that risk? Keith is the only person I know of who seems to think it is. I certainly don't. What Russia is doing is pretty much the way the game has been played for centuries. What Keith is proposing is that we all join in because that's what history teaches. But the game is not the same as it ever was. The Manhattan project ended that. Like it or not we have to deal with the new reality, not the 1945 reality.

No argument. I do appreciate a couple of perspectives on here, but please don't tell them I said that - it only encourages 'em. :)

I see your point, but you gotta admit that there’s probably more about US politics in Canadian papers than the other way around… Wendy P.

The GOP has just officially labeled that "legitimate political discourse." Marjorie Taylor Greene will explain how anyone who disagrees with that hates freedom.

You aren't really known for your complex examples and reasoning.

Sure, whatever you like. I am happy for our nation to honor our treaty obligations but in the absence of a strike on a NATO ally I just don't think we should be sending troops to fight. I am no doubt a prisoner of my own ignorance and won't pretend to know more than those in charge. But for now I think the Europeans should be in charge, and leading the charge.

"When do we want it?" "NOW!" "Who's going to do it?" "SOMEONE ELSE!"

The man has a speech impediment. He's advanced to the pinnacle in a career that requires constant public and private speaking and, for him personally I dare say, a fair degree of humility. Neither you nor any others here can claim to know what mental work arounds Biden need must use constantly to keep from stuttering or running over his own words. Nor can you know the pressure of controlling your disability while giving a speech as impactful as the State of the Union Address. Now maybe it's just a little too woke for you to give him any benefit of doubt but if he were my dad or kid or friend I'd be damn proud of him. As my President I'm double damn proud of him. There is much to pick on him for, why not go there instead?

How about: secure border, energy independence, low taxes, low regulation, pro-police, pro- immigration (legal), focus on the individual vs identity/group, school choice. BTW he said Uranian.

Sigh.....Kids, does your mother know you treat people like that? I'm not sure what Jerry said to make you ask such a thing. He seems to be on the side of the righteous. And what have you got against golf anyway?

Now you're sounding like a skydiver!

At the State of the Union speech Biden will talk about: How he secured the southern border The reduction in violent crime How inflation has come down Energy independence The end of the opioid epidemic How he rallied world leaders from his basement in Delaware to achieve a diplomatic solution to the Ukrainian crisis How he has healed divisions within our country The successful and bloodless withdrawal from Afghanistan How he “shut down” COVID last year How the climate provisions in Build Back Better will reduce our CO2 emissions and save the planet His declaration of Juneteenth as a national holiday has ended racism Should be a long speech.

stay safe. rpg's and law's can take out a track more easily than destroy a tank. aim for the wheels and tracks with those type of weapons. insurgents are extremely hard to defend against. concertina wire and barbed wire make great obstacles. if you can get a copy of fm 5-34 it has all sorts of illustrations and formulas for how much explosives to use, what type, and where to put it on different things to blow them up. how to create obstacles and defensive positions as well. i found out i can't put a link to it since it has restricted distribution, but it is all over the internet. if i were 20 years younger i'd be over there helping on the ground. be careful. glory to ukraine.

Biden is so unpopular that his State of the Union speech is going to be rebutted by his own party https://wdet.org/2022/02/28/tlaib-to-give-progressive-response-to-state-of-the-union/

I don't think I've ever seen a Russia expert describing that dynamic. My understanding is that (while there's always some element of symbiosis) Putin is unquestionable the daddy bear of everything over there, and the oligarchs prosper via his patronage.

Can you get Growlers?

According to a recent CNN poll 60% of voters believe that he has done nothing since he got in office, not delivered on anything promised. If he had done nothing we would be better off. Since the Civil War there have only been 4 midterm elections where 5 or more seats were not flipped to the party not in power. Even the mainstream Democrats have stated that if Biden doesn't get inflation under control it will be a large Republician win. A Biden supporter stated that the rate of inflation has actually declined since October. Oct 0.9%, Nov .07%, and Dec and Jan 0.6%. Assuming that the facts are accurate, the description is correct and another demonstration of the Democrats creative thinking. I guess some are dumb enough to not realize that 0.6% on an annualized basis is 7.2%. That same person stated that the average family is spending an extra $276 per month on common living expenses with energy and food leading the way. We'll see how the next few months go. Keep your fingers crossed on Ukraine.