yoink

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-26630062 Putin officially accepts Crimea as part of Russia - a move the UN and EU have said is illegal. But I' not sure we can, or even want to do anything about it... It's not like the UN is going to send in peacekeeper troops, and Putin will just laugh at typical soft sanctions. The questions is what does he do next, if he thinks he can get away with this?

it's situational. 'Hey, Asshole!' as a greeting is entirely different to 'Not that I believe any of you assholes give a shit', after asking for and then receiving help. that's just coming across as ungrateful.

Yeah, he was in the restroom shaving. I am beginning to think that perhaps the guys who are not big into shaving might just have flown this aircraft somewhere, the passengers unloaded and other goodies loaded back onto it. I have a feeling this aircraft might just turn up somewhere that we do not like. Interesting theory. The fact that the engines ran for 4 more hours... that the transponder and other electronics went off at disparate times... Not a fact at the moment. Hearsay. Rumor. Possibilty.

More weirdness http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-26559627 Jet sent engine data 4 hours after last contact - apparently not China had satellite pictures of the crash site - apparently not. So many conflicting stories that it becomes hard to see what is just crap journalism in a rush to get a 'fact' out, and what are possible excuses or real events from responsible, knowledgeable parties.

How do you know that? I just got a flight back from New York to San Diego that had to divert mid flight because they put the wrong amount of fuel in.... AND there was what I considered a near miss on that flight - less than half a mile, head on, same level. Not sure what the FAA considers 'close' to be, but it scared the shit out of me.

Yep, a number of possibilities and it's sort of pointless to speculate on anything right now without any evidence. What annoys me are the people who are already jumping into the conspiracy theories that "the government" is covering this all up. Really? Which "the government" would that be and exactly how would that even be possible given all the various countries involved in the search? They're all in it together. That's why it's a conspiracy! *puts on tin foil hat.

I've never seen one do it. We need a CRW dog.... The only straight down stalls I've seen on a small canopy result in a ball of washing above you. We used to do it to get down quicker...

It's unlikely the situation happened the way you describe here. I can't think of ANY situation which would result in a parachute that flys normally (straight and level), doesn't have broken lines but doesn't flare at all, but then fixes itself over time. If it didn't fix itself I could see an argument for a hugely detuned set of brake lines combined with someone with short arms resulting in an unavoidably short flare stroke. But the fixing itself thing? That suggests to me that the problem was with you rather than the canopy... The good news is that in that situation you did what you were supposed to, tried a couple more times and fixed whatever the issue was. My guess was that either your perception of how the canopy was behaving was off, or your initial technique was a bit off. You'd just made a freefall and kicked out of twists - chances are you've got adrenaline pumping through your body which can cause all sorts of distorted perception. As you work through the problem (and 'slow everything down' as Brian Germain would say) your sense of time and response probably got a little more normal which might have seemed like the problem 'fixing itself'. That, combined with a detuned student parachute and making a weak flare the first time (did you pull DOWN the line of your body, all the way to your knees, or were you pulling out sideways, for example?) could result in the situation you describe I think. Good job on not panicking and landing safely. Now get back up and have another awesome jump!

Better - Much, much better than are required in skydiving. Landing on a DZ is easy. It's usually a nice big open space with minimal shit on the ground and into the wind. In GL, chances are you'll be landing among rocks and stones and on uneven surfaces both into and cross wind. There's every chance that you misjudge your first flights and have to land early and with little warning when you start trying to stay close to the ground. Having a solid set of flying skills BEFORE entering that environment is a really good idea.

The US seems to have fallen into the trap of trying to be the police force of the world recently. Your government seem to expect that they need to intervene in every squabble - whether they have a good reason to or not... From what I've seen so far this is a good one to sit out. I haven't seen any legal reason anyone else should get involved yet. If Russia starts a coup or murdering Ukranian citizens, then fine - an international action should be taken. But for now the US needs to rally support of everyone else in case action is needed rather than making an attempt solo. That comment by Obama seemed like a rookie mistake to me. It was obvious that Putin would ignore it.

I don't get the 'why'... what's the problem that you're looking to solve? Routing a cheststrap isn't the most complex thing in the world, and for the tiny percentage that can't even do that you're introducing multiple failure points for the majority of skydivers... I love the current chest strap design - the absolute minimum of sewn attachments or joined hardware.

They've missed the tail exit door out of the sales brochure! Fun ride, but even the one time I jumped it it didn't make much sense as a dz investment. can't remember what I paid for a lift ticket - $70 maybe?

This is a free to sign-up, internet site.... If that all the checking people do is see if people seem legit on dz.com then I've limited sympathy when they get scammed. It's not difficult. Ask for the name of the DZ where someone jumps, then call the office and ask for a reference. Sending money before doing that is just stupid. dz.com isn't a dropzone. It's an internet site. People need to realize that.

I'm gonna need the recipe for that... I'll swap you for my bacon and cheese Yorkshire puddings or lamb moussaka.

Yup. But you can't fix stupid. And no amount of rational conversation will convince those who believe otherwise.

The other option is that the flight crew and pilots have been paid a shittonne of cash to say and do nothing more than they did.

Yeah. Stop treating the little punk like he's something special. By all means, be a celebratory, but don't expect special treatment. If anything they should be held to a higher moral standard.

Same here. To have the government dictate the religious beliefs of everyone, and via that force them to live according to some history I'd consider to be fictional would be the trigger for me. I don't really understand how not having access to guns via the 2nd ammendment would change someones life significantly enough to trigger a move. I get that people consider it a basic right, but if the government did take away all guns I'm not sure society or even a persons individual life would change that much - sure some would see it as symptomatic, but I'm not seeing an immediate effect. A 'you will believe this or else' religious mandate would have massive repercussions.

AFAIK, the TB vaccine has never been approved for use in the US. I know there was/is a vaccine that was used in other countries. It's actually an issue for immigrants, as they will give a positive TB scratch test if they were vaccinated, and then they have to go through a lot to demonstrate they are not infected before they can be cleared for the visa or green card. Don Hardly a lot - I just had it done for my green card. A small jab and then go back in 2 days to get it read. If positive then a chest x-ray to confirm it's a reaction to the vaccine rather than the live virus. Mine didn't even give that.

So I just got a call from San Diego public health. One of the girls we share our office space with has just been diagnosed with TB. Apparently she never got vaccinated. I got vaccinated as a kid, but everybody else in here who didn't is at now at risk and panicking. Good job guys. Bet you wish you'd got the vaccine now. Way to spread an entirely preventable illness. Idiots.

Microwave - one came with the apartment and the only thing I've ever used it for is for heating sake....

Compared to investing wisely. compared to not investing at all? Doesn't sound so bad....

Its the illusion of a good effort, and it was something he could say on tv that appears promising. I kept thinking he was talking about the IRA... pension plans for terrorists.

I'm getting married in 9 days, so, no... probably not!