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I don't think that the location of manufacture creates quality issues. I know lots of Americans who think that 'Slovenia' is some kind of third world sweatshop (it's not--I've been there) and yet some of the world's best canopies are made there. Parapex is a huge operation, and is very good at following instructions. I think that 'check that the trunk line isn't twisted before sewing in the branch lines' just wasn't on the instruction sheet when that canopy was made. I'm not sure if it is now or not. The major issues with Asian manufacturing are about communication, not quality. You have to be incredibly explicit about every single step in the process, to make sure they follow your exact procedures. I've spent many hours writing up spec sheets and then had products made that found every single possible way to screw something up that I hadn't explicitly specified. We tend to have this weird view that you can just send things off to Asia and get them made for nothing. But there is actually quite a lot of work involved with setting up that supply chain and maintaining it. The back and forth prototyping on a new product, especially if you aren't physically flying to the factory, is insanely tedious.

Over the edge - BASE Magazine I've tried putting together a new base magazine, with the intent of making it a more regular thing with news, tips and educational articles. Big thanks to all that helped with issue #1. Feedback and help with future issues is more than welcome :)

Be it an Ecclesiastical Court or the United States Supreme Court there is ample precedent for religious fanatics taking the law into their own hands. What's new?

Republicans are the priests of politics in every domain. The important bit to note is that nothing will come of that transgression or any others committed by any of the other innumerable Republican others. Unless we can get all of the voters who didn't think that preventing the promised overturning of Roe was worth a trip to the polls in 2016 to the polls in 2022 the party is officially over.

An excellent example. By reframing the Civil War as a "war of northen aggression" having nothing to do with slavery, whites in the south could avoid any residual feelings of shame associated with the position they took on slavery. They could instead take pride in their ancestors who stood up to an evil north, rather than trying to reconcile their heritage of slavery with a more modern view of civil rights. We are seeing the same thing happen today with the attempted cancellation of both CRT and the 1619 project. These studies of history make many white people feel bad, because it reminds them that a significant part of this country came from the labor of slaves. This make them feel - not bad, exactly, but like they cannot be as proud of their history as they otherwise could be. "Make America Great Again" doesn't work if those halcyon days included slavery (or enforced segregation, or redlining, or any of the other structural racisms that the early and mid US incorporated.) So they try to ban it. They realize that banning history is something of a bad look, so they dress up the ban in flowery language and mix in a few "won't someone please think of the children" memes. We've seen these a lot lately - "why are teachers teaching our children to hate themselves?" CRT teaches kids "to be ashamed that they are white." One theoretically real child tearfully asked her far-right mother "Why am I hated so much?" - and then supposedly needed therapy to overcome all the damage that CRT did. (How fortunate that that child did it just in time for Marsha Blackburn's political campaign.) Others spend thousands of words trying to define CRT to mean something other than CRT. It's an "unremitting attack on Western institutions." It teaches that "America is systemically racist and must be dismantled." It was created by Karl Marx to destroy democracy. It is a "monstrous evil" that gives black people "the whip handle" over white people. (That last was from Pat Robertson; what a fascinating metaphor to use when one is advocating ignoring what slavery did to the country.) Underlying all this blather is a simple belief common amongst the right - that education can and should be curtailed because it makes some people feel uncomfortable or threatened. We have seen several examples right here on this forum. George Orwell once said that "he who controls the past controls the future." Conservatives are trying to take control of the past and alter it to something that works better for them. The question is - will we let them?

Well, it's not like England was sending us their best... Wendy P.

That happens in plenty of other countries. We were founded by religious people. Wendy P.

A former co-workers thoughts on this in a discusssion years go: The government made a mistake when it recognized "marriage", (a religious construct), when it should have recognized "civil union", since the govts only concern is that 2 unrelated people are effectively becoming a family with merged property, contract obligations, and the ability to make medical decisions for each other. His solution: The govt would simply recognize civil unions. Anyone getting married would only need enter into a civil union. If they wanted to get the blessings of a religion as well, they could also choose a church to get married in, but the marriage performed by the church would have no legal meaning.

Hi Don, Re: Unfortunately in the US people seem to be mostly unable to see the distinction Once they go thru a divorce, they will see the distinction. Jerry Baumchen

A large percentage of Senators and Congressmen are men, and old. How would they like it if there was a law prohibiting the removal of their prostate if they got cancer.

I agree with all this. I remember years ago when same sex marriage was being discussed here in speakers corner, someone pointed out that the Scandanavian countries include marriage under contract law. That seemed like a great approach that highlights the distinction between the legal and the religious aspects of marriage. Unfortunately in the US people seem to be mostly unable to see the distinction, so they interpret same sex marriage as an attack on their religious beliefs.

Day 1 in the sport and you're already beating yourself up eh?