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Maybe I'm being a bit of a conspiracy theorist here, but it occurs to me that authoritarians need someone to use to scare the citizenry. Hitler had the Jews, Trump has brown people from shithole countries. If Netanyahu didn't have Hamas he would have had to invent something like them. Maybe he tolerated Hamas to a degree because they were useful, until they weren't. For the extreme right wing in Israel, and really anywhere, the worst thing that could happen would be peace. No-one to use as a bogey man.

The way the Republicans are obsessed with any of Biden's family dealing with any foreign entities when Trump's kids foreign dealings while officially part of the government were all done out in the open for all to see reminds me of this Frankie Boyle skit about the financial crash. "No Grannie, it was him - they showed you him doing it!"

I can't explain why I came (back) at this point in my life but driving from Sierra Vista to Bullhead City I stopped at Eloy (Oct22nd 2023) and made a Tandem jump with Roberto. My last jump was 48 years ago. Maybe a plethora of memories were a factor. Allen Shepard signed my 100th jump but today who would even know the man. So now I want to fly the new Canopies. I know it could be hazardous at my age. So I am educating myself in this new Skydiving World. Equipment was simpler back then. Woody SCR260

But you didn't say that. You didn't say "they should have subsidies proportional to the amount of energy they produce". You just said, and I quote: When I pointed out fossil fuels have MORE dollars being wasted on them, you moved the goalpost. You also don't get that renewable subsidies are investments in increasing generation capacity rather than just reducing the per-MWh cost like how fossil fuels get. No, you didn't do any analysis at all. Not that you can...

Somehow she didn't have this issue when travelling with Trump to grift from various countries. The stay was quickly denied by the way.

5 second search... https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1988-08-16-mn-742-story.html

I hope Mary Trump isn't just giving us false hope: The Hill: Mary Trump says Ivanka Trump will throw her father ‘under the bus’ in fraud trial testimony

Once again the House GOP demonstrates that it wants the tax cheats' votes by tying aid to Israel to a cut in the IRS enforcement budget. No doubt this will also appeal to the poorly educated, who think this helps them and haven't figured out that tax cheating is overwhelmingly the province of the wealthy.

Oh, come on. The Guardian was talking about UK subsidies. Those people are not even part of this world. Don't you know that the earth ends at the borders of the continental US? Just remember his argument about F150 sales and only willing to look at US sales and not world-wide sales of vehicles.

Only businesses that support his political agenda should get any subsidies at all, of course! I mean, that's Troll 101.

Lots on Ebay... both a L and R.. People probably took them home, maybe for camping.. they don't fall from a plane.

My first reaction is to ask why you would want to do this? It's a small industry with a limited market. I would not pick this as a high ROI opportunity. Most people that persue this are all ready involved and do it out of passion. That is why they tend to fail. They are skydivers not business men. Getting your rigging certificate is not the answer. I'm not saying that it's a bad idea just as general background and in theory could help you legally with the FAA. It's a weird gray area where all you have to do is say you are a manufacturer and you are. But in theory you need to be a rigger to do any kind of repair. But manufacturer trumps rigger... The logic gets convoluted and weird. Can you build it but then not fix it? In the end it doesn't matter. Half of your employees will be riggers. A rigging course has very little to do with what you will need to learn. Here is the real truth. There are lots of different types of riggers. And this isn't a senior vs master thing. Master means they can sign more paperwork. In theory they are more experienced and can do alterations, etc. In reality it just means they can sign things. But manufacturer tops master. A master can perform alterations approved by the manufacturer or can apply for an approval through the FAA. This gets into whether it's a TSO'd component. Non TSO'd, people just go to town on them although in theory some of these rules still apply. There are some very good master rigger manufacturers on here that will be happy to delve deep into that rabbit hole. Here is the honest truth as to what you need. You need a business degree. Or a degree in accounting. Running a business is a business in it self. Taxes payroll book keeping accounts receivable accounts payable suppliers PO's tracking records marketing finance. These are the actual skills that you need. You are going to hire someone to run production. That's a completely separate issue and the small of the two issues. Who do you need to hire. Remember I said there are different types of riggers. There are riggers that pack, there are riggers that sew, there are riggers that build, and there are riggers that design. There are ones that work in the sport industry. They pilot rigs are almost their own separate industry with limited crossover. Military is it's own thing. These groups have been cross pollinating but they are still very different from each other. Most riggers are glorified packers, and that's fine. A lot of them really are not comfortable doing even basic repairs or sewing. This is what all the classes turn out. You don't really learn to see and prepare things till you work in at least a medium size loft under the supervision of a master rigger. Some people get really into that and just live at a sewing machine. Note that they are probably not master riggers. You just need a master rigger around to theoretically be "supervising" and maybe sign something now and again. There are people that get into building things from scratch. Batches of risers jumpsuits sliders toggles pilot chutes etc. This is a different skill set. You mostly develop it from working for a manufacturer or in a larger loft. You don't learn all the secrets and esoteric knowledge from any course. There is a smaller group that delves deeper into the why rather then just the how. Designers are mad scientist with a sewing machine. You'll know them by the kackle in their laugh. All of these people have way over inflated egos for what they are. We are all a pain in the ass. There is another related category. Let's be polite and call them workers. The more common name that we often use is slaves. These are non skydiver non rigger 9-5 workers that set at machines doing repetitive tasks all day long. They are actually very valuable. If you get good ones treasure them. They come in diffrent varieties. I think Koreans are the best but any one (xxx) will do. LOL's (little old ladies) are very good if you can get them. The problem is that they are by definition old and tend to die. They are almost extinct. Wet backs are I think the last option but they can serve with enough supervision. Sewing machines. It has gotten progressively harder over the years to source good used machines. And you will need some one to work on them. I don't know what your going to do but you will be surprised at how many machines you will wind up with. Her as a thought. Don't start a company. Buy one. None of these companies are big. You might be surprised at how low an honest evaluation of their value would be. Some of these guys are getting old. Sandy Reed as an example. Or the dolphin rig. Or some one in a financial bind because they don't know how to run a business. You could pick up not just a turn key operation but maybe a TSO. That's fucking gold. All the old shit is grand fathered in and it's only getting harder to meet the new standards. Again my real advise is to go open a McDonald's or some shit like that. Any thing but a loft. If your not already married to this industry why would you dive into this water? Lee

YOU posted a link to a right-wing propaganda page. That link made reference to an opinion piece in the WSG...I'm not gonna waste any more of my time with this; it's funner to just laugh at the crap that you post rather than engage with you playing a never-ending game of "oh yeah, but if you look at it through this angle I'm kinda right, which makes you wrong"

I really like your post, and I am happy to see that you have balanced views on modern skydiving disciplines. One thing I want to mention: every time I hear 'statistics' that really indicate that we look at things in general. So statement like swooping is dangerous is no different then skydiving is dangerous. Dangerous for whom? Anyone who is trying anything above their skill level in skydiving is at risk to themself and sometimes to others. Try to jump on large formation without proper training - you endangering yourself everyone on it, try to fly angle without proper training and skills - you are the danger to everyone on a load, list can be continued. I don't want to say obvious things. So same deal with swooping... Somehow everyone thinks they are great pilots with above average skills. That is the only explanation I have. Take small wing, add higher degree turn, add competition or demo environment and you increasing risk. That is also obvious. So when we say swooping is dangerous we really not saying anything... We ignore all those tiny little details like how many years in sport, how many swoops, on what wings, previous competition experience and etc and so on. I do believe that swooping is safe but you have to be honest and do things adequate to your experience and skills. Like do you need canopy loaded above 2? Do you have to do high degree turn? Swoop in traffic? Swoop thru the course? Participate in competition? It is amazing what kind of answers you get from people who got in accident... Like I am asking a person did you have any formal training? And answer is YES, many courses from top level pilots... And then I ask how long have you been swooping - answer was about a year.. WTF??? I don't want to go in more details not to embarrass the person. But that is perfect example of how swooping can be dangerous for someone like that. Another misconception is that you can be all you want to be and you just need to try harder and you will be on top level. Try to do the same with RW... Turn 20+ average on 4 way? I am sorry but just jump numbers is simply not enough for that, some people simply can't achieve that level of performance no matter how much they spend money and time and that is ok! Not everyone can be champions. But with canopy piloting everyone thinks they are next big thing:) and all you have to do is downsize and pay for some coaching.

On June 6, 1942, Adeline Gray made the first jump by a human with a nylon parachute at Brainard Field in Hartford. Her jump, performed before a group of Army officials, put the world’s first nylon parachute to the test. The Pioneer Parachute Company of Manchester fabricated the new nylon material, which was developed as an alternative to silk. Working in concert with the Cheney Brothers Company of Manchester and the DuPont Company, Pioneer Parachute developed a material that combined “compactness with lightness, resiliency and strength.” Gray, who was 24 years old at the time of the jump, was from Oxford and worked as a licensed parachute rigger and packer at the Pioneer Parachute Company. She began jumping at age 19 and at the time of the nylon “jump test” had completed 32 jumps and was the only licensed female parachute jumper in Connecticut. https://connecticuthistory.org/first-human-test-of-a-nylon-parachute/#:~:text=On June 6%2C 1942%2C Adeline,nylon parachute to the test. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adeline_Gray_(parachutist)