sfzombie13

the spam is getting bad. you could also moderate the comments from new accounts, say less than a month or two old. that way, they can start any topic they want but only after approval. if you want a mod just to do that, i can help.

did you see the inroad china has made taking back territory in india? i read about 5000 chinese digging in preparing for defense.

the first thing i will point out that you got way wrong was that the military's annual target practice will make you any more comfortable shooting at people than regular folks. pro tip: it doesn't. and as for that statement about not needing boots on the ground, let me tell you a story about how well it worked out in the desert in '91. it didn't. we had to go in in large numbers after the air war went for a month. it is essentially the same everywhere else with any other enemy. and then there's the part about guerrilla forces not standing up to a professional military. i have a strong feeling that any veterans that fought against us in vietnam, iraq, or afghanistan would have a differing opinion on that. they may need some help from allies, but that's it. i think that history would also have a differing side to the story but am not much of a history buff when it comes to this. and for the point made in this comment, i have a lot of friends in the infosec industry, some of whom are into ics security and preventing attacks on critical infrastructure. most of them will gladly tell you how it isn't as easy as it is in the movies and that no, criminals cannot just take out our power grid like that. government agencies can do more damage, but still cannot perform the magic feats that you are picturing. close, but not there yet. it is people like me who are going to be fighting the people sitting in beijing, and the military has a lot of them now. i almost went back in as an officer in cybersecurity but decided that i had had enough of it. i am glad as hell now that i stayed out. not my game any longer.

i am no expert on military, but i do have one very important point to make: i am pretty sure that it should be supremacy and not primacy. while primacy means to be first, the term military supremacy is more often used and the correct term here.

which matters not one bit when you just give back what you've taken after a few years. i recall that we destroyed, not just beat, 40 out of 44 divisions of iraqi military in '91, then left. we went back in '03 (different unit this time, my unit went in '04) after going to afghanistan in '01. in '91, they didn't stand a chance as our tanks had a better range and better munitions, not to mention the air war that softened them up for a month and they were made up mostly of conscripts (that's what we were told). it doesn't matter much how much better your tech is when you just leave when it's all over. then there's the china thing. first of all, it doesn't much matter that your shit is much better if they have 100 times more than you have and your resupply is thousands of miles away. so, if we ever go up against the chinese, we may hold our own for a bit, but i doubt we would win anything except a negotiated peace. of course, most of my information is old since i got out in '04, but historically, we haven't changed that much in a decade or two.

wv skydivers, unfortunately i don't yet have a vr box setup. that is in the works for later in the year. i was more interested in sharing an idea and the work i have done so far integrating outside sensors into a fully immersive vr experience. think having the whole skydiving experience with a system of cables and sensors on a suit that lifts you up and even has fans that simulate air movement. i am working on the sensors, but am not the programmer i thought i was and would love to see someone get it working. the biggest thing i have achieved so far is the floor that allows you to simulate walking while standing still.

hey, i didn't come up with it, but i do believe that it is high time to do it again. this time, i suggest we try voting first, but that just seems to make things worse, and we end up with corporations in charge rather than anyone looking out for people. if gun duels were a thing, folks would be a lot nicer to one another. only the really good shots are pricks in this instance, and the rule for duels helped mitigate that somewhat.

i love telling these open carry idiots, hell yes i am a liberal, liberals are the patriots who founded the country while folks like them were sympathizers.

i have an idea i was working on with vr, if you'd like to talk about incorporating it into your program hit me up and we can talk offline. i was going to work on something like this, but yours is farther along than mine. i have a tendency to start lots of projects and they take a while.

you are correct, they are both in need during times like this, it just appeared you were minimizing the overhead of the smaller dz and not taking into account the lower income. as i think about it, it might be a good idea to compare the two somehow, like getting a sort of estimation of revenue for different size dz's. it would be a good thing to have for anyone considering starting one or for jumpers to look at to get an appreciation of the actual costs involved. one thing is for sure, it ain't gonna be the same, much like after 9/11.

that is one hell of a book, i love it. i was just looking for something to read. one small thing, a continuity issue. in part 2, buzz hadn't met joanne, but in part 3 she had known him for years. the only other thing i can think of is there isn't enough of them. great story.

try to avoid those bills for a few months and see what the creditors say. they aren't in the habit of forgiving loans and keeping the lights on if they don't get money for it. even after social distancing is over, how many tandems will decide it's worth the risk? and how many fun jumpers will avoid jumping for a while after it stops to see how it goes before jumping again? they may have fewer bills, but they also have less opportunity to collect the money. a 182 can get two tandems per load, one if they want outside video, maybe two (our dz takes four passengers, not five like i've heard some take). that being said, you are mostly correct, you just forgot that even though the bills are much less, being shut for a few months hurts pretty bad since there is nothing coming in and the bills are still there.

those are all valid points. i notice you didn't mention helmets. i don't have any problem with any safety equipment. what i have a problem with is folks telling me that i have to wear it or i can't jump. if it's a rule, then i'll do it, if not, i will make the choice for myself based on personal data and experience. i have hated the airplane ride since larry got killed in hawaii. ever since that, i have worn a nomex jumpsuit just in case (except for two jumps in cali when i had to pack light for the plane ride out). i don't know if it will do any good, but it makes me feel better. statistically, i am much more likely to get taken out with a hard opening than a plane crash though, since i am 50 now. i am not opposed to the idea of using an aad, i just don't like being told i have to have one to jump. it is either a rule or it isn't. if it's a rule, write it down and apply it to everyone. if not, leave me the hell alone when i choose to do something different (not you, just people in general). the point i have made is that it is currently a safety regulation in the uspa that requires currency for tandem masters and aff instructors. we should not waive that rule. if it is not a valid currency requirement, we should change it so that it is, and i am told that is being worked on. until it is changed, we should obey it. i would think that would be obvious after seeing how much flak i usually catch when i tell folks i don't use an aad or that i like to jump with no helmet. they think i am going to burn in every time, yet they are very vocal about waiving an actual written bsr because it is inconvenient or whatever the reason is now. safety is the one place where i can allow an all or nothing attitude. i hate zero tolerance as every rule has an exception, but safety always applies to us all equally. i have beat this horse way beyond what i should have and will not mention it again. sorry for taking up so much time on bullshit. not that it is a bullshit discussion, it is bullshit that i have repeated too many times. my bad.

you don't yet say them so i'm fine. not that i am opposed to any of them, as up until october i was required all of them (maybe not the rsl but our student rigs have them). i even jumped with them until my last two jumps when i jumped without a helmet twice and it was great. i like wearing a helmet on 182 jumps because the door has hit mine once. i would like to know your take on this. i think i can deduce that you are in favor of the ones i quoted. how do you feel about waiving the currency requirements referred to in this thread?

it was a little contrived, i was in a hurry to get to the dz yesterday, i am doing some work there next weekend in anticipation of sometime getting in the air again. i stopped paying attention when you went on repeat as if you were trying to explain something to me or convince me to change my mind. what it boils down to is that we have a safety rule. it should not be altered because some folks can't jump. that means it was just an inconvenience and not a safety rule. it sounds like it was not a very well thought out rule in the first place but that is irrelevant. i applaud your efforts to get the rules updated and wish you success. that in no way excuses anyone from waiving a safety rule, however. that is a slippery slope we do not want to start down. next thing you know, you're gonna say i have to wear a helmet and an aad when i jump. then you'll say i need an rsl, skyhook, or mard. then you'll say my reserve is too old to jump because it was made in '95, or my container is too old from '94.

Public comments must be submitted by email to Amy Schenk at amys@cityofmiddletown.org by 4:30 PM on Tuesday, May 5th.

the middletown city council (pdf of the details and proposal with maps) is trying to move the dz at start skydiving. the link to the post is here, and it basically says they evicted them from the hangar and want to move the dz due to safety. i have links to all the ntsb reports and asrs incidents (search mwo) and found there has been 1 fatality on the ground, not on the runway or taxiway, and two incidents of an aircraft not able to land because of jumpers in the air, one incident of jumpers 200' from an airplane at 4000', a conflict of ifr arrival of an aircraft and jump operations, and one near miss with an aircraft taxiing. the numerous crossings of the runway have not resulted in any injuries or deviations of aircraft except for those mentioned. since it has no tower, crossing the runway is legal as long as you have the attention of the pilots and watch for traffic. so, to answer their safety concerns, nothing they are proposing would have changed any of the incidents, so are irrelevant. then you have the point that was not mentioned at all, the proposed new locations for the dz are the outs. every single location is located next to a landing hazard. since the dz has lots of students and tandems, this is dangerous to every one of the jumpers, while the current location is not one bit dangerous to the airplanes. it makes no sense to jeopardize the lives of people in order to alleviate an inconvenience to machines. they are accepting comments until 3 may if i am not mistaken. john at start approved this thread. i just jump there sometimes and want to help. if you could review the data for yourself and make a comment, we would all appreciate it. blue skies.

i don't have to as i don't hold any. mine is 60 days, and i am good til tomorrow. b license is 90, and that is all i need until i get a c, then possibly a coach rating just to help others learn. i presume i will look them up as i need to know them. didn't you and i have a series of pms where you enlightened me? i didn't pay a lot of attention as you were trying to convince me that safety isn't necessarily safe since the standards don't really enforce safety. from what you said, they aren't that great, but as i said, that's what they are and we should change them to make them safe, not ignore the ones we have. i have seen people die when ignoring safety procedures. have you ever seen a man after a 15'x30' concrete form falls on him? it ain't pretty, but he insisted he had done the job 1000 times like that. 1001 was the one that got him. now, if you think the rules are no good, what is your suggestion to replace them? or are you just complaining? show me an actual alternative and if it makes sense, i will help get it adopted.

responsibility, blame, whatever you want to call it. the buck stops here and all that. it doesn't really take a degree to figure it out, i actually ended up with a 2.72 gpa without studying much due to all the leadership courses from the military and my experience in management. that is why hillary is not responsible and obama is, and also why trump is now, no matter how bad anyone else in the administration screws up. he should have taken the course, in fact, it should be a requirement, at least a six month course or equivalent experience for any politician above county level, not political science, which is more manipulation and voodoo.

i just finished my bachelors degree in leadership. one key principle was the leader is responsible for what happens under his watch. benghazi = obama covid19 = trump. end of discussion. any questions?

that's just whataboutism. just because one organization compromises their safety does not mean we have to do the same. when you start ignoring safety rules, people start dying. strange how that seems to work out. sometimes they get away with it, but it usually catches up.

i don't know how this works exactly but i recommended making a time limit on how old an account has to be before it can start a thread. like it could answer a comment in a day but couldn't post a new thread for a week or so. that may work, but it may not be possible on this platform.

depends on your perspective. one man's traitor is another man's freedom fighter. i think we are almost to that point with the way things are going.

just wondering about all the spam recently. as a way to possibly stop it you could make all new accounts wait a week or so before they are able to post any new threads. you could allow new accounts to answer or make a comment, but not start a new topic until certain age or posting limit is reached, like maybe answer 4 or 5 comments then you can make a new thread. something like that.

unless you're black, asian, hispanic, etc, etc...and on the outside of the cop car.