NWFlyer

A Bonehead Guner (was my and only helmet for about 400 jumps) A Paratec FreeZR2 (had been wanting a full-face for a while and finally found a full-face that I liked and that fit my freakishly large head) A Cookie G2 (I had absolutely no need for a new full-face, I just think it's sexy as hell... and I like the visor better than the FreeZR2) That's also about (or maybe just over) $1000 bucks in headgear. "There is only one basic human right, the right to do as you damn well please. And with it comes the only basic human duty, the duty to take the consequences." -P.J. O'Rourke

It's a vast conspiracy by the man to keep skydivers (and especially you) down. The USPA, PIA, IMF, CIA, NSA, OPEC, and the EPA have all banded together to ensure that the massive international skydiving helmet market is controlled by only a few companies, so they can keep prices artificially high. Strap on your tinfoil hats, man, because this is really, really big stuff and it goes way deeper than you could possibly think. In fact, I'm probably going to regret even posting this much. "There is only one basic human right, the right to do as you damn well please. And with it comes the only basic human duty, the duty to take the consequences." -P.J. O'Rourke

I'm keeping the cat with me because I figure if he's usually aware of earthquakes before I am, maybe he'll also be aware of the rapture before me and be an early warning system. Even though it's scheduled and all. "There is only one basic human right, the right to do as you damn well please. And with it comes the only basic human duty, the duty to take the consequences." -P.J. O'Rourke

Your best bet would probably be to give the folks at Skydive Perris (or Skydive Elsinore, not far down the road) a call and talk through your specific limitations and how they might be able to work with them. Tandem students have been taken with more profound limitations than yours so there's a very good chance they'll be able to work with you to get you up in the air. "There is only one basic human right, the right to do as you damn well please. And with it comes the only basic human duty, the duty to take the consequences." -P.J. O'Rourke

None of those are even close to the best that Americans can produce (Sam Adams isn't bad, but the rest is mass-produced crap, and isn't Heineken Dutch, anyway?). If that's your idea of American beer, I can understand why you wouldn't like it. The fortunate thing is that micro-brewing and craft brewing has really taken off in the last couple decades to the point where there are lots and lots of strong local and regional breweries, and even a few that have national distribution that are excellent. I don't know how much of it gets exported, though, so trying to have some of the best American beers outside of the U.S. might be difficult. Of course, my theory is that if you live somewhere that is known for good beer (as of course you do in Germany), drink the local/regional stuff. Why pay to import something when you can both support a local business and buy something fantastic that your area of the world produces? The only place I've regularly seen plastic bottles in the U.S. is at stadiums and I can understand why they'd serve beer out of plastic bottles (or cups) there - it means the drunken idiots aren't holding a head-bashing weapon in their hands. "There is only one basic human right, the right to do as you damn well please. And with it comes the only basic human duty, the duty to take the consequences." -P.J. O'Rourke

Fair enough - I can see your point there. Actual rebuttals are less asinine if you're trying to get someone to appreciate a different angle. But maybe that's just me. "There is only one basic human right, the right to do as you damn well please. And with it comes the only basic human duty, the duty to take the consequences." -P.J. O'Rourke

What an incredibly asinine thing to say. But thanks for you thoughts on it anyway. You're welcome? Care to share why you think that not wearing a seat belt is not stupid? "There is only one basic human right, the right to do as you damn well please. And with it comes the only basic human duty, the duty to take the consequences." -P.J. O'Rourke

Keith is a great source, but if he's busy there are lots of folks I can recommend that you sit down and chat with. Good for you for taking the initiative - if you're planning to jump at the boogie, it'd be a great topic to review before then. "There is only one basic human right, the right to do as you damn well please. And with it comes the only basic human duty, the duty to take the consequences." -P.J. O'Rourke

I was chatting about this with a friend of mine a while ago. He's a pretty levelheaded guy who generally makes smart decisions and is not what I'd call a risk-taker, but he didn't always wear his seatbelt. He said "Sometimes I just forget or get distracted." We talked about how we were raised and his parents didn't put a huge emphasis on it. Mine, on the other hand, didn't start the car till everyone in it was belted up. Every time, no exceptions. Because of that, putting on a seatbelt is just kind of second nature to me - I honestly don't even think about it most of the time. It's kind of an automatic reflex - butt in seat, belt goes on. So some people just never ingrained it. Some people are just stupid. "There is only one basic human right, the right to do as you damn well please. And with it comes the only basic human duty, the duty to take the consequences." -P.J. O'Rourke

Talk to Keith Wyatt at Skydance. He and Lisa regularly hold canopy courses there. You'll pay for the cost of your jumps and a bit more ($25ish) for the instruction. I've taken both their class and Brian's, and I think you'll get plenty out of the local course at a fraction of the cost. You can buy Brian's books and read them as an accompaniment if you really want the technical details and what others have called "psychobabble" on top of it. "There is only one basic human right, the right to do as you damn well please. And with it comes the only basic human duty, the duty to take the consequences." -P.J. O'Rourke

I blame you for encouraging the "woe is me and it's all beyond my control" folks around here. "There is only one basic human right, the right to do as you damn well please. And with it comes the only basic human duty, the duty to take the consequences." -P.J. O'Rourke

Quit whining and go watch puppy cam or something. "There is only one basic human right, the right to do as you damn well please. And with it comes the only basic human duty, the duty to take the consequences." -P.J. O'Rourke

What he said. One of the more interesting interviews I had was when I was in the process of running for the USPA Board. The interviewer had googled me and found reference to that, and asked not only about skydiving but about my decision to seek a leadership role in the skydiving community. It helped him to understand who I was as a person, not just in the office, but outside. He was genuinely interested and his questions showed zero hostility towards skydiving/skydivers. I ultimately didn't move forward with the job, but it had nothing to do with my skydiving, more that it was pretty clear that my professional background wasn't quite what they were looking for. "There is only one basic human right, the right to do as you damn well please. And with it comes the only basic human duty, the duty to take the consequences." -P.J. O'Rourke

Yawn. Who's reading too much into things now? "There is only one basic human right, the right to do as you damn well please. And with it comes the only basic human duty, the duty to take the consequences." -P.J. O'Rourke

And therein lies the problem... A SLUTWALK is doing what to reduce the number of victims? It's attempting to convince men that dressing/looking/acting a certain way does not entitle you to a woman's body. No, this walk probably isn't going to change behaviors overnight, but these things are changed by gradually, consistently getting this message across. It's attempting to convince the criminal justice system that dressing/acting/looking a certain way does not change the fact that a woman was victimized and deserves a fair shot at justice. If women are made to feel like they "asked for it" and therefore don't deserve to seek justice for the crime that was committed, they may be less likely to report it. Less reporting = less ability to take the perps off the street. And it encourages more perps who figure that if no one stops them, they continue to be "entitled" to it if she's "asking for it." That's just off the top of my head. I'm sure there are other things as well. That's not to devalue some of the other ideas about self-defense, but that doesn't get at the root societal issue. This is attempting to do so. "There is only one basic human right, the right to do as you damn well please. And with it comes the only basic human duty, the duty to take the consequences." -P.J. O'Rourke

Wendy (and other old-schoolers) - do you think some of the increase is also due to the fact that in today's skydiving world, there are more dropzones that have bigger planes (and sometimes more than one larger plane) than 20-30 years ago? I'm curious how much the increase in average traffic in the pattern has influenced the likelihood of open canopy incidents. Seems it would definitely influence the likelihood of a canopy collision, but might also have a marginal influence on single-canopy incidents as you now add "navigating high traffic" to the contributing factors that could lead someone to wind up making a turn too close to the ground. "There is only one basic human right, the right to do as you damn well please. And with it comes the only basic human duty, the duty to take the consequences." -P.J. O'Rourke

You didn't get any that night, did you? "There is only one basic human right, the right to do as you damn well please. And with it comes the only basic human duty, the duty to take the consequences." -P.J. O'Rourke

Here's the schedule. First step would probably be to reach out to these folks and see if they're willing to let you organize. http://www.collingsfoundation.org/cf_schedule-wof.htm "There is only one basic human right, the right to do as you damn well please. And with it comes the only basic human duty, the duty to take the consequences." -P.J. O'Rourke

http://www.engineeringdegree.net/over-under/ Leave it to engineers to address this age old debate with precision. "There is only one basic human right, the right to do as you damn well please. And with it comes the only basic human duty, the duty to take the consequences." -P.J. O'Rourke

Not at all, and Jerry's being pretty conservative on NSFW ... only NS because of language. It's funny. "There is only one basic human right, the right to do as you damn well please. And with it comes the only basic human duty, the duty to take the consequences." -P.J. O'Rourke

I just tuned out after the PA. I figure if that's the opening salvo of his argument there's not much else worth reading. "There is only one basic human right, the right to do as you damn well please. And with it comes the only basic human duty, the duty to take the consequences." -P.J. O'Rourke

The replica is only $188 ... I agree, it's weak. But the article also says they're auctioning off the original that Jeff Bridges wore - that's what's going to set you back several grand. "There is only one basic human right, the right to do as you damn well please. And with it comes the only basic human duty, the duty to take the consequences." -P.J. O'Rourke

Got a few grand lying around? You could have his sweater! http://www.oregonlive.com/movies/index.ssf/2011/05/the_big_lebowski_cardigan_the.html "There is only one basic human right, the right to do as you damn well please. And with it comes the only basic human duty, the duty to take the consequences." -P.J. O'Rourke

FYI, it's a .org, not a .com. Pretty cool idea. Title's a bit deliberately provocative for my taste, but I guess that's part of the point. "There is only one basic human right, the right to do as you damn well please. And with it comes the only basic human duty, the duty to take the consequences." -P.J. O'Rourke

Good luck with that. For the people that put together that clip, I'd like to suggest they consider that there are societies that believe they have "solved" this "problem" by forcing women to dress a certain way in mixed company. Perhaps they should move there. Your friend's attitude makes me sad. Why a woman (or girl) chooses to dress "trashy" isn't the important part; the important part is the attitude inherent in this video that borders on the "she dressed slutty, she asked for it" attitude that is employed by those who assault and rape (and, sadly, often by those who prosecute them). "There is only one basic human right, the right to do as you damn well please. And with it comes the only basic human duty, the duty to take the consequences." -P.J. O'Rourke