Boomerdog

I'd like to jump from 18K one of these days, but I only have 95 jumps logged. I need a few more, in fact a lot more. This clown has 30 jumps and thought he was experinced enough to go up that high. So the main opens at 13k while this dufus is on his back, with a GoPro recording it all. So it appears that he went hypoxic with the slow descent. Hypoxic, judgement impaired etc etc thus the probable reasons why he didn't cutaway. So the independent rigger inspecting the rig after incident finds wear and tear that Flores was trained to look for...I know I was trained not too long ago to look for that stuff. Mr. Flores is in need of some serious remedial training and perhaps having his license pulled. If I'm a DZO and see him coming in the future, I'd tell him to turn around and go back from whence he came...he's not jumping at my DZ.

+10

Stick to the subject. If you want to ask that question, develop another thread.

I had this conversation years ago with a priest. He said it's perfectly OK to pray for a miracle to heal the toothache or sickness. But it's better if that prayer were made enroute to the dentist or the physician. Too often, we forget that the miracles we seek are staring us right in the face. Hmmmm...Catholics and Evangleical Fundamentalist have common beliefs about miracles with some differences. I won't speak for the latter but as for the former, encourage you and everyone else interested here to inquire on Catholic websites and read the specific position of the Catholic Chruch on the matter of miracles. As for "imposing" my Catholic views, not gonna happen...just curious to know whether opinions versus the factual positions of the Catholic Church are consistent.

The late historians Will and Ariel Durant put it this way; "What we have fought against, we have become."

Thank you for the explanation, it's been a long day and my one brain cell has been working overtime.

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There's been some reporting that Det Sowders may have gotten out front from the rest of the team and kicked in the door and entered the residence by himself. After the shots were fired and all parties realized what had just happened, perhaps cooler heads prevailed and things quickly deescalated. It's tough to speak ill of the dead and for one person who has posted on this subject, knew the deceased and spoke well of him. Det Sowders was well liked by many in the community and I'm sure he will be missed. Hindsight is 20/20 as they say but from the start, this was going to end bad and no one in the loop had the guts to come forward with a little more scrutiny and say "STOP! Is there a better way to do this!" Intelligence from the CI was not checked out. We have a saying in military operations, "First intelligence reports are usually mixed!"...which means a mixture of fact and bullshit, patience and cool heads must prevail. While the suspect had priors, they were of the non-violent nature. Spending a little bit of time in surveillance to understand the suspects habits and routine would have enabled the LEO's to effect an arrest with much less violence. Instead, Sowders and his back up chooses to act like a bunch of Spec Ops wannabes and it is glaringly apparent they were NOT properly trained. To the contrary, real Spec Ops would have NEVER considered this scenario with such tactics and timing. Finally, Sowders is dead due in part to attitude. The use of SWAT teams has exceeded the intended use for which they were designed. For the majority of cops who are very good and very professional, they have among them some real dirtbags who just love to use force to an excess and too many people (including cops) are getting killed. And I hear the bromides of "officer safety" and "you weren't there how could you know!", "we have to reduce risk to our officers," etc etc. I have two responses to that. 1) The police are public servants where both words are operative...they are NOT masters. Their salary comes form tax dollars the public pays and even the criminals they arrest pay taxes. 2) The job has its risks. I spent 22 years in the military. I was not drafted, I volunteered and so I accepted the risk of being deployed out to a war zone and possibly come home in a body bag. We don't draft police officers, they volunteer and I don't think anyone forced their hand in signing the contract defining the terms of their employment. If each individual police officer cannot accept the inherent risks of their job, perhaps they are in the wrong profession and need to find a new gig. Risk is reduced through training and instilling common sense. "To win without fighting is best" "Smarter is the commander who can win without fighting." Those are the words of Sun-Tzu, they are words of wisdom...wisdom that was woefully lacking in this case. I have no doubt Det Sowders was a nice guy, liked in his community and loved by his family but his foolishness and very poor judgement got him killed. The Grand Jury got it right and that is some very tough medicine going down the throat. Perhaps that police department will have the courage to take a few steps back and look at their training deficits. Perhaps...but the way things are going these days...I'm not holding my breath.

Hmmm...quite a visual...lawmakers marching up the hill to take the guns. Kinda provides a new slants on elections to fill vacancies.

In I got my SCUBA certification 42 years ago. No, I don't possess the hubris to classify myself as a "SCUBA" god but I've put a hell of a lot of water through my sinuses and I hold advanced skill ratings in this sport. I've also seen the industry grow. The equipment has improved, the quality of training I question (another argument for another time and another place). I'll refer you to an article written by Dr. Larry "Harris" Taylor form the Univ.of Michigan; "Why I Don't Teach Kids." I encourage you to read Taylor's argument. Comparison of SCUBA diving and Sky Diving has little if any in common. In the former, the depth of operating space is smaller and with a buddy, they are able to assist in an emergency. Skydiving of course has a much larger operating space, things happen "just a little faster" and no buddy...we're on our own in the event of a malfunction. The skydiving industry is smaller with a smaller customer/community base. Roughly put, USPA licenses against the national population as a whole put the rough statistics as one skydiver in a group of 10,000 people or 0.1%. It should not therefore be ruled out that a lawsuit on a DZ out of state and on the other side of the country could have disastrous effects on the sport/industry as a whole. The DZ I jump at is a great place. Jumping and spending time there with my new friends is the height of my week. The DZO has set the age limit down in bedrock...18 and I don't get the sense that he's going to change it any time soon. My home DZ is less than 5 years old; the DZO has his heart, love of the sport and a considerable sum of money at risk. One lawsuit against him and chances are, he'll be more than out of business. Occasionally, a young lady, 16 years of age comes over to pack. She's a hell of a packer; she's taught me a few things and she exercises better common sense and judgement than some adults I know. She'll make a very good skydiver in a couple years and she's frustrated because she can't jump now. Well...her mother won't permit it and the DZO has politely refused...she's not 18 yet. Case closed, end of discussion. You are free to train and introduce your daughter to all the high risk sports you wish. I'm a father and thoroughly respect parental rights and privileges. With respect to USPA issuing licensing 16 yr olds outside the U.S. and some of the other inconsistencies cited, I'll defer to the UPSA to answer those questions. Finally, I am admittedly very very new to the sport. What I enjoy is the ability of each of us to be responsible and safe for ourselves and others without outside interference. The sport is regulated by the FAA for obvious reasons but I believe that regulation is minimal. Others may disagree on this point, they can offer their argument. The USPA decision is not my preference. But remember this, we either take the steps to exercise and demonstrate good judgement and uncompromising safety habits ourselves or someone else will. Politicians and bureaucrats are an insidious species; two sides of the same coin exercising an aberrant behavior in constant possession of too many solutions looking for a problem...they consider it their job security. We can either take the steps to demonstrate that we can look after ourselves or they will. Of course, this may not stop politicians and bureaucrats but at least if the time comes, we can make a solid argument that we are responsible for ourselves.

I understand the intent of the humor. Yet your humor is striking way too close to the truth of some situations. SWAT teams are now being used for a variety of scenarios. About a year and a half ago, A SWAT team raided a house (no knock dynamic entry) in Stockton, California because a woman no longer married to the man living there and NOT living at the residence was behind in her federal student loan payments. The ex-husband and the kids she left behind got a very rude awakening that morning. Radley Balko has written a book, "The Rise of The Warrior Cop." in it he traces how American Law Enforcement has developed since the founding of the country and I think he makes an argument that should not be ignored. The sad thing in all of this is that a cop did not have to die but the cop who died "planned the op." Was there a better way in arresting the suspect? A principle from Sun-Tzu, "To win without fighting is best!" Or put another way, with sufficient thought and effort, the same objective can be achieved without violence. I guess we'll never know.

Yea...two different articles said the same thing...but no mention of toilet size...good catch!

There are a lot of reports on the net this subject. For sake of brevity and NOT cherry picking, here are some additional facts that might be important. 1. An informant claimed Magee had 12-14 plants, 6' tall. Texas Rangers found two plants no more than 6" tall with seedlings. Informant claimed Magee had a stolen weapon. Three weapons were found in a gun safe and one weapon was out; probably the one that killed Det. Sowders. 2. The suspect had no violent priors but was arrested twice for DUI and twice for minor drug offenses. 3. Det. Sowders requests a judge to issue a no knock no notice warrant for fear of suspect flushing evidence down the toilet. The raid is carried out a 0600. Suspect claims he did not hear the police announce in spite of police claims that they announced themselves. Det. Sowders initiates the dynamic entry, startles the suspect, the suspect hearing the loud noise and the shape of a human being in his residence, fires his weapon and subsequently kills Det. Sowders. 4. After three hours before the Grand Jury in Burelson County, Texas, the DA presents evidence and points of law on capital murder and self defense. The Grand Jury determined insufficient evidence to prove Magee knew the intruders were police. OBSERVATIONS Bad intelligence from an informant that may not have been checked out for validity. The suspect had a criminal record but no prior violence. Was a realistic risk assessment made? Were alternate scenarios considered to apprehend the suspect by other methods that would have de-escalated the violence?

It's sad, but hard rules set in when people lose their sensibilities and transfer risk and responsibility to others when things either go bad or they screw up and hurt themselves. For now, it's a good rule to protect both the sport and the industry. Perhaps in the future, a cultural change might occur where people take responsibility for themselves. Until such time, keep the rule in place and I take no pleasure in taking such a position.

No, but there's a Hun in my house...me!

Well kallend...try to "outgeek" me eh?

Well..................................................................... Way back in my grad school days when I was taking Statistical Mechanics, the prof walks in on the first lecture of the first day of the new term and says, "Let's cut the bullshit and all the gee wiz math I'm going to lecture about in the next few months and I'll give it to you short and sweet, ANTHING is POSSIBLE but is it PROBABLE? That's Statistical Mechanics in a nutshell. Now that was easy! By the same token, the scenario you posit IS possible, we're just debating probability here and I haven't a clue. I'd like to think that the basic goodness of Americans (despite the fact that the passions of current political issues have us at each other's throats and in each other's faces) would come forth. Something Al Qeada has probably kept in mind is the same thing Admiral Yamamoto warned Tojo and the Emperor about when they considered invading the United States way back when, "Not a good idea, there's a gun behind every blade of grass." This of course is an exageration but it did drive home a point. Today it is estimated that 300 million firearms are in the possession of 80 million Americans, most of which would not "take too kindly" to Al Qaeda having another "hissy fit" on our soil. Taking a phrase from Karl von Clausewitz who wrote the famous treatise "On War," "Quantity has a quality all its own!" No communication? No fuel? No money? What do the Marines say? Improvise, Adapt and Overcome! In the meantime, Saturday is one day away, the weather in my area is going to be good enough to jump and this old guy, who's new to this sport has some ground to catch up with some of you other guys and gals...safely, prudently, and at a proper pace of course. The firearms are locked away and cleaned; the ammo is locked away and dry. Now if you'll excuse me, it's time for my prunes, jumping constipated is well...not fun.

Does 1861 - 1865 ring a bell?

Skydive Radio podcast #201 was talking a little about it. Check it out.

What's the bumper sticker say? "If You Don't Like Abortion Don't Have One!" Accordingly...If you don't want a gun in YOUR home then DON'T put a gun in YOUR home! Some of us just have a different opinion and take on this. We don't need each other's permission. Was it not Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes that said, "A Constitution is for people with differing opinions." ...or words to that effect. Come to my DZ sometime, I'll gladly buy you a jump but puhlleaze (on this issue at least) the "busybody act" just ain't gettin' it. Last post this subject (no matter what verbal bombs get tossed at me in reply). I'm outta here!

-1

Self defense considers many options, a fire arm being one of them. But please don't mix words. Let me say it again. Self defense IS the first human right. Now where did I put "gun" in that sentence?

Sad...

...and your point is? If you're trying to protect me from myself, thank you but no thank you. You don't need to waste your time as that job has been filled. We can agree on one point; murder and suicide are horrible. Sadly, both have been with us since Cain killed Abel thousands of years ago and for those who accept another view of how the world and people came about, well...murder and suicide through the millennia are in those narratives as well. The difference of course is the means and technology, affords us these days, the ability to collect and measure data and make some conclusions about the data. This does not mean to say the conclusions are right, it just means those who did the research have a talent for making their argument for the data presented. Here's some data...100 - 200 million people murdered in the 20th century. The dead were hanged, shot, electrocuted, beheaded, crushed, burned, starved etc. etc. by governments who considered them enemies and the dead had little to no access to defend themselves against the likes of Hitler, Stalin, Lenin, Mao, Pol Pot, Che and the rest of the usual suspects. Add to that the two bit dirtbag who just likes to do and take from people whatever they like by putting the lives of others at risk using a firearm illegally obtained. I could take all of the numbers of victims who died at the hands of governments and criminals and make the numbers that research paper you so nobly cite so small in proportional comparison, it would be tantamount to one person taking a piss in Lake Michigan in the misguided belief they'd make an environmental impact. Sorry, I too wish life were perfect and risk free; but that is a wish that I accept will not be realized. Self defense IS the first human right and many of us just aren't going to budge on that principle...no matter the risk. You are free to decide your course of action but please leave me the hell alone!!

I hate like hell bringing the feds into anything as they seem to have their nose stuck into most things these days. That stated, the history of how the video in question made its rounds and who saw what and when deserves to be investigated. There's some civil rights violations here. Obviously a lawsuit and sizable settlement is coming the victim's way. There is also criminal behavior at least on the part of the cops. DA's are charged with seeking justice and going where the truth leads based upon an entirety of the evidence. To with hold evidence that could support the defendant just to win a conviction is not only unethical, it's criminal.