dogyks

"There's a sucker born again every minute." Jerry Falwell

I agree Reagan was arithmetically illiterate, and the track record of both sides is poor. Trump's previous tenure left much to be desired as well. The fact that this time he has people making decisions who are following a pseudo viable playbook gives hope for the first 100 days at least. How much are you asking for the bridge?

Trump is one-dimensional enough that the only question to be addressed is "what's in it for me?" Thus, when he blurts out nonsense like Ukraine starting the whole thing, one needs to figure out what benefit he imagines he will gain from that stance.

If the only things that are are accomplished by this administration are balancing the budget and removing woke nonsense from government and government funded entities, picking Trump over Harris is a no brainer. Failing to address the staggering debt amassed by the US is not an option. It may be possible to avoid catastrophe by a complete paradigm shift, but it is going to be painful either way. We've been whistling past the graveyard for too long. Gender change can wait until one reaches majority, at which point who cares? On children it amounts to child abuse and deserves treatment as a felony. The discrimination in DEI is both unconstitutional and immoral. Having said all that, Trump is a truly awful human being, and such things as his take on Ukraine are simply jaw dropping. If we can balance the budget, put woke to bed without supper, and keep Trump from fucking up anything else too badly, perhaps having the nauseating sonofabitch around for this term will be worth it. At least he's an improvement over Harris, but that's not saying much.

Pharmacia (Upjohn) had two warning letters from the FDA when Pfizer bought the company. On the day the sign out front changed, all of the employees were moved offsite and out processed (with exception of maintenance and power plant personnel). It was drastic, but having consulted at Schering-Plough and Wyeth Ayerst after they were hit with consent decrees (the next step), I can't say it wasn't warranted. The US Government is in debt to the tune of $1/3 Million per taxpayer, so continuing on the same path isn't an option. Neither is a patient approach. Trump reminds me of a cartoon in which a guy with a cheery look - and a bolo bat in his back pocket - is ripping wires out of a bomb while the authorities are peeking around the corner. If the people he has making the changes understand numbers and history, we have a chance. If not, well, we were fucked anyway.

Wholeheartedly agreed. I wish I had any reason to think that this was Trump's goal all along.

We desperately need someone to aggressively address the disaster that is our government's finances, and Trump is doing so. Unfortunately, he's batshit crazy.

Too many getting certified saw the fundamentals for the first time and didn't have perspective into which to put them. I'd been well versed in all of it before LSSBB certification, so taking it with a grain of salt wasn't difficult.

I've seen it work - sort of. Unfortunately, a counterproductive culture was surgically removed and replaced with personnel who understood the new paradigm. When you have a workforce indoctrinated in ideology that would make Lewis Carroll groan, you can't just tell them "you're not allowed to be stupid anymore" and expect them to snap out of it.

It's an unfortunate reality that the $36 some odd Trillion for which we're in the hole will be a challenge to pay off. The first thing is to balance the budget - you know, quit digging the hole deeper. I hear a lot of bitching about the particulars, but I'm impressed that the approach being taken is not at all superficial. There is no painless way to deal with the economic disaster we face. The worst thing is to do nothing and let it all go to hell. The best thing is to quit spending money we don't have for things we don't need, just for starts. Do I like Trump? Not even slightly. I'm impressed that Musk isn't intimidated by the task he's been given, and doesn't view patience as a virtue. Like in skydiving, there's a certain immediacy involved. Any part of the government that expects to conduct business as usual should be in for a rude awakening, if it is to survive at all. Hell, I'm amazed that we've made it this far.

Ditto.

Is your goal to be a wellspring of bad ideas? If so, you're on a roll.

Hadn't heard. Would be nice if they had somewhere to go where they could flourish, they've been toxic wherever they've landed so far.

So, a racist screed is okay so long as it's "good racism?" Got it. I hate to break it to Amnesty, but focusing on race is racist while refusing to consider it is anything but. Deal with it.

Traditionally peoples who engage in unprovoked attacks on their neighbors become refugees when they are trounced militarily. I've lived in places that had one ethnicity before a war that was surgically removed thereafter. Leaving the population of Gaza in place after their military defeat constitutes doing the same thing and expecting different results. Unfortunately, none of the countries that appear likely at first blush want anything to do with Palestinians. Egypt? No way. Lebanon? Forget it. Syria? Not a chance. Jordan? They've been down that road before. Turkey? Are you kidding? The only country that tolerates them at all is, ironically enough, Israel. If they want sympathy, they are welcome to earn it.

Sorry, can't get past the fact that I despise rap. Thus, I'm not sure what is the point.

To which side of the aisle are you referring? It isn't obvious.

I understood there would be no math.

Not sure what gives, killfiling moderators still doesn't work.

More like 18, if you include the ParaCommanders. >I'm just sick of putting people on backboards and helping get them into life flights. I've watched far too many botched attempts at high performance landings, and have seen the best in the business come to grief. The last two pond-swooping events where I was in attendance had something less than a 100% safety record - one guy femured and another was DOA. If you want to swoop, cool. Just don't kid yourself about the ramifications of your actions. No, I carve, but I don't hook For the performance. The Raven IV is fun, too. Yes. So's the Lazer. Welcome to skydiving. It isn't the equipment, it's the operator and his attitude. Not quite. I'm a Certified Rifle, Pistol and Shotgun Instructor, whose focus is, indeed, safety. I also have an arsenal that would amaze you. Partly, but not entirely. Again, my complaint isn't the equipment, it's the operator. Just because I think most people asking about the Bob Bondurant School of High Performance Driving would be better served by learning the fundamentals of highway safety does not mean that I haven't spent many, many hours well above 120 km/hr myself - quite the contrary. Stick around - if you survive long enough, you'll figure it out. Blue skies, Winsor

Y'all is singular. All y'all is plural.

If I correctly understand the term, an ideal flat track is one that achieves a maximum horizontal distance without increased descent. The body position to achieve this is not static; as horizontal speed increases, transitioning into as much of a lifting-body configuration as possible serves to keep on level with a formation while getting away from it most rapidly. Blue skies, Winsor

Who says the sport is inclusive? The process of natural selection itself makes this an activity with a built-in weeding-out process. I read works published on various continents and over some centuries, and am fond of a turn of phrase that defies NewSpeak. I will not burn my works of Mark Twain in a knee-jerk response to those marginally literate elements that seek to serve as my conscience, nor will I limit my lexicon for fear of confusing those of limited conceptual capacity. IIRC, there was some less than friendly interaction between D. James Nahikian and me, and I don't blame him for choosing not to vote for me. My impression is that neither of us is particularly impressed with the other. To question whether my representation is likely to be evenhanded is valid, and I don't have a simple response to the issue. I don't pretend to think everyone is the same - they're not. The distribution of characteristics between groups of people is decidedly uneven, and to pretend otherwise is an act of denial. For example, I am a man, but I can give you a variety of responses regarding emergency procedures by women with breasts large enough to make locating handles a problem. How do I know this? Because I asked rather a few women about it. Were they offended? Not so far as I could tell; I think it was apparent that it was a straight question and I got straight answers. Why do I care? Because it is a safety issue that affects the people with whom I jump. I try not to mix my feelings with business. There are people that I like very much that I wouldn't hire. There are others that I don't like personally, but consider to be superb professionals, and would hire in a heartbeat. As far as representation goes, I will not push for an issue I oppose. If someone I represent asks me to back regulation that I think will do more damage than good, I will decline to do so. I've seen a jumper get an opened main repacked on the way to altitude (lying belly down in a Caribou) - by people with whom he might argue around the campfire - and he jumped without a second thought about their commitment to his safety. If you think skydiving is a community activity where we look out for each other REGARDLESS of our stance on other issues, then you will likely understand where I'm coming from. If you think skydiving should be a professionally run business, where customers are guaranteed a particular level of service and safety by virtue of strong regulation, you should vote for someone else. The closest I've come to a personal attack related to skydiving is when delegated to give someone "the talk" when they've indicated they're a crater seeking grid coordinates. Even then, the point is that I've lost way too many friends for my liking, and that the penalty for the actions in question is all too often death. It may be harsh, but since I'm trying to figure out how to make it to another funeral on Wednesday, I don't think the message deserves dilution. Blue skies, Winsor

Oh, I forgot, professional skydivers are evil minions of Satan. That totally slipped my mind. I obviously can't trust someone who loves skydiving a lot more than me, enough to sacrifice a high income and normal life, to do what's best for the sport. No really. Sorry to be so evil, but I'm still waiting for someone to explain this to me. I have nothing against the people who make a living in the sport, and am grateful to those who make my participation possible by their efforts. Having said that, I think the point that you're missing here is that people whose livelihood is skydiving have an entirely different perspective than do those of us who live to skydive. I understand how hard it is to make payroll and keep a million dollar airplane operating, and tandem mills and Level 401-k AFF programs can be the result. More than a few people have had their love of the sport turn into just another job, and that perspective has little to do with mine. I don't begrudge someone who has put their economic well-being on the line the right to make a good living for their efforts. I do, however, wish to have some voice on the board to remind everyone that this is, in fact, a club. Blue skies, Winsor

Why do you think Treetop's offensive behavior is negative, while Winsor's hideous political incorrectness is ok? I'm not sure precisely to what it is that you are referring, but I'm somewhat flattered by the idea of being hideously politically correct. The objection I have to Don's online demeanor is that his stated intent is to offend. If that is the goal, I'd rather have him arguing for the opposition. I don't claim to represent all recreational jumpers. Some people like regulation, and feel that an authority is being lax if the masses are given the benefit of the doubt. I don't think skydiving is for everybody, and think that modifying the sport to be "inclusive" serves the detriment of the sport more than the benefit of those included thereby. I want to see lifesaving skills passed around freely and with enthusiasm. If the choice is between the free access to a safety skillset or the livelihood of safety professionals, I prefer freedom. For me, skydiving is a way of life, not a livelihood. I haven't sent in my ballot yet, but I expect to vote for Don Jardine. He gets a lot more worked up about various issues than do I, but that may be a good thing. Donald Rumsfeld made some comment about employing paranoids to the effect that they are given to more false alarms, but they don't miss much. I hope I can bring a little hideous political incorrectness to the table to balance out all the sweetness and light. Blue skies, Winsor