wolfriverjoe

Yeah, how's that whole 'Empire' thing going for you guys?

Hi Jerry, My thoughts: The judge is a piece of garbage. His defense of the accused and his definition of what 'rape' is disgusts me. But (and it's an important 'but') the story is making headlines because the prosecutor appealed the judges ruling. The prosecutor wanted to try the accused as an adult. The judge made his atrocious comments when he ruled that the case should stay in 'Family Court' (presumably juvenile court). The appelate courts over ruled the judge and agreed with the prosecutor. This case will be tried in adult court. The 16 year old will face a real trial. Buzzfeed article (a search will find a lot more, but they are all saying pretty much the same thing): https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/tasneemnashrulla/new-jersey-judge-teen-accused-rape-good-family

Well, first off, Parachutist lists 10 DZs in Italy as 'foreign affiliates'. No clue how many total are in Italy, but it seems like you have USPA options. Second off, log your jumps (I shouldn't have to tell you this). Logged jumps with a verifiable signature count. It may take a phone call or e-mail from your 'future' DZ back to the one in Italy to double check & verify the jumps, but I can't see them not counting. That 'future' DZ may well require you to repeat a few jumps, to demonstrate that you know what they want you to know. The 'standardized' AFF program is supposed to address that and it does to a certain extent, but to come from a DZ on a different continent and just 'keep going' is not a realistic expectation.

But... But... But... His idiot supporters believe that vaccines cause autism. And cancer. And that the microscopic quantities of a few things (mercury & formaldehyde) are dangerous. And he has to kowtow to his supporters idiocy, doesn't he? And, of course, it should be every parent's right to refuse to use the simplest and most effective way to prevent disease, shouldn't it? We make kids ride in the back seat. In car seats until they are adolescents. Any hint of abuse is required to be reported by certain folks (teachers, medical personnel, ect) and usually brings down the full weight of the 'justice system' on any adult who is even remotely suspected. Yet parents can refuse vaccines because they believe the garbage spouted by the anti-vaxers. I've heard it said: I can't send my kid to school with peanut treats, yet you can send your kid with infectious diseases?

There's a huge difference between someone who voices (types) an unclear position and later clarifies it, or someone who reconsiders and subsequently changes their mind and someone who posts deliberately obtuse, conflicting and completely unrealistic garbage. And then backpedals to try to cover it up. The first is 'discussion'. The second is 'trolling'.

Don't forget people like the Westboros, who have explicitly stated they want to see 'being gay' subject to the death penalty. There's a LOT of people who claim to be "Christian", yet don't seem to follow any of the teachings of Jesus. There's even a couple on here.

And a lot of other stuff. His 'Business model' seems to be: Run up huge amounts of debt. Line his own pockets. Declare bankruptcy Leave all the investors, banks, employees, vendors and contractors shit out of luck. So far, as President, he's done the first two. And, as I noted above, has indicated he doesn't care what the future brings because he won't be in charge then. https://www.businessinsider.com/trump-debt-crisis-fine-wont-be-here-report-2018-12 Everyone who seems to think he is a 'successful businessman' ignores the fact that he screws over just about everyone who invests with him or does business with him.

Well, how about: Huge deficits + Trade war = Trouble coming soon But it won't be until Trump is out of office, so it won't be his problem (he has said so).

I'm guessing that you are jumping a U206. I've never jumped or flown one of those. But launching a 4 way chunk from a 182 is simple. One hanging from the strut, toe on the step. One 'in the crotch', sitting on the strut facing backwards. One on the step, hands on the strut, one in the door. Flying a 182 with those three on the outside is also not difficult. I gave a cut, so power was back some. I would have to drop the nose just a touch to keep speed up. The drag on one side was a bit odd, but not a big problem.

That seems to represent your argument fairly well. You want the support for the firefighters and cops. That is socialism. You don't support Jon Stewart because he's a socialist. The Scandanavian countries have long been held up as examples of democratic socialism. Both by supporters and detractors of socialism* You claim to want capitalism, and not have socialism make inroads into this country. Yet we have programs that are pretty strongly socialist in their nature. Do you want 'fully capitalistic' medical care? Things like Epi-pens at $600. Drug companies colluding to increase prices (and profits). Insurance based purely on how much the company has to pay out (which would make disability coverage for those firefighters & cops in New York cost more than any of them could ever afford). Is that what you want? I really don't think so (yes, it's somewhat of a 'gotcha' question). I certainly don't want that. There are some things that work better with government control. There are some things that work better in the free market. Look how messed up health care and health insurance is here in the US. Just about every other democratic country in the entire world has adopted 'socialized medicine'. To a large degree, it's government run, single payer. Very similar in many respects to Medicare here in the US, but for everyone not just old people. We came pretty close during the Carter administration (yes, 40 years ago) to having something like that implemented, but Ted Kennedy had a bug up his ass about Carter beating him for the nomination and tanked it. Most of the other countries have had it for decades. NONE OF THEM have chosen to abandon it and go back to the 'old ways'. One of the problems is the word itself. It has been taken to mean total government control. That misunderstanding has been perpetuated by those who want free and unfettered capitalism. And their idiotic followers buy into the 'if it's called 'socialism', it's BAD!!!!!' lie that the conservatives keep spreading.

Got a link? I hadn't heard about it, but I could easily have missed it.

Of course. Bigun says (in the other thread, I think) that he's 'been to socialist countries' and then names China, Cuba & Viet Nam. Those aren't socialist, they are communist. Actually, they're totalitarian dictatorships. He also refuses to acknowledge that most of Scandanavia is socialist. Very high taxes, very comprehensive government social programs. As I pointed out somewhere, there's a lot of 'socialist' stuff going on in the US. One more example is public schools. Everyone pays taxes so that the kids can get educated. Since I don't have any kids, why should I have to pay? Well, because uneducated masses tend to cause problems. But do you want to know what 'socialism' really means? This actually popped up on my FB feed today. It's attributed to Harry Truman. And that seems to be correct: https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/truman-socialism-scare-word/

I always heard take off one shoe and shove it down the front of your jumpsuit. It won't change the outcome, but the investigators will go nuts trying to figure out how it got there. As noted above, I will likely be too busy trying to fight the situation to pick a target (or take off my shoe, for that matter). If I can choose, I'm going for the swoop pond. It won't change the outcome (both because it's too shallow and because hitting water at terminal would be fatal). I'd just be going for the biggest cannonball ever.

Hi Jerry, I think the Mango Mussolini has confused the office of the President with the "country". One can treat the President with disdain while still treating the country with respect. After all, who was it that tried to undermine Obama by claiming that he had a private detective uncover 'shocking evidence' that Obama was not a US citizen? Hmmm.. Who might that have been? And if pretending that the President is not a citizen isn't 'disrespecting' him, what is it?.

Not exactly. It's more like a 'felony murder' charge. That's where anyone participating in a crime is criminally liable for any death that may occur during the commission of the crime. These sorts of laws were put in place to hold the 'fringe' actors (lookouts, getaway drivers, ect) responsible for any death, even if they weren't in the room when the death occurred. Similarly, if someone starts a fight, and someone dies during the fight, the person who instigated it is often arrested & charged, even if it wasn't their actions that caused the death. I'd like to hear why the Grand Jury declined to indict the accused shooter. I haven't found any specific reason, but some of the stories mention the fact that the pregnant woman attacked the shooter, and that the shooter's actions were self defense. If so, the shooter shouldn't be off the hook for the fetus. Self defense doesn't work that way. If someone shoots in (legitimate) self defense, but accidentally strikes a bystander, the normal result is the 'self defense' shooter being charged (negligent homicide or negligent use of a weapon).

This is, of course, the same crowd that claimed "elections have consequences" when anyone complained about what the Republicans were doing.

Nope, not talking out of your ass at all. Reserve fuel requirements are in the FARs. 30 min for Day VFR.

I'm not sure that's accurate. #1 - The plane can deadstick back to the airport after dropping the jumpers. I know the Otter pilot at my current DZ says he pulls the throttles back to idle and glides all the way in. #2 - Current electric/hybrid cars use regenerative braking. Applying the brakes results in converting that power back to electricity that is added to the battery. No clue at all if this is going to be part of the electric plane, but I would strongly suspect it to be. Put the motor in 'windmill charge' mode (or what ever the real name is) and use the forward speed of the airplane descending to spin the prop and charge up the battery. I know that the hybrid cars are very efficient in recapturing energy when driven in stop and go traffic. I can see the plane doing something similar. I don't have any idea how much charge they would be able to recapture on a descent, but if it's half of what they used on the climb (again, pure guess), that would result in a 'cycle use' of 13 - 15 miles. With a 105 mile range, that is up to 7 loads without charging. Although smart operators wouldn't let the charge go super low.

You actually believe that garbage, don't you? You are aware, of course, that Trump has a long history of hiring and exploiting illegals. Both for his resorts and his construction projects.

Consider stuff? Things like overall "cost" (not just monetary), consequences (both short & long term), end game, all of that. I can't believe Trump thought ANY of that through. He hasn't shown any tendencies to think anything through. He sure as hell didn't think through the act of withdrawing from the agreement with Iran. He's also a coward. He talks tough when he's not facing anyone, yet caves and runs away when facing any actual strength. Look at how he behaved in Putin's presence. Look at how 'tough' he was towards KJU, yet he ran away when he had to actually face him. Trump's statement that the shoot down was a 'mistake', that it was someone 'loose and stupid' is simply letting Iran off the hook because he's too afraid to call them out. I'm not super thrilled about any escalation of the situation, but Trump is clearly in over his head. I don't think he even realizes it. And, if he holds true to form, he won't allow anyone who actually knows what they are doing to handle it for him.

A lot. I always figured that it was a good idea to know as much as possible about the thing on my back that my life depended on. I also do most of my own work on my cars, so learning how stuff comes apart, goes together and works is not new to me. Asking questions (learn who to ask and who not to ask - not everyone knows what they are talking about), watching stuff being done, even just looking at the gear. I also got my rigger ticket by taking the Para Concepts course a few years back. There was an incredible amount of information shoved at me in a fairly short time (classic 'drinking from a firehose' scenario). Yet that was just a beginning. There was (and still is) an incredible amount of stuff that I don't know. I would think that the 'average' jumper should know how to: Change & adjust a closing loop. Do a basic line check. Unhook & reattach 3 rings (change over a canopy that is already on risers). Probably a few other things that aren't at the top of my mind at the moment. Others may have different opinions. That's fine. I'm usually willing to help out folks with simple stuff. And to show them how things work.

FIFY

Not speaking or interpreting for you at all. Simply pointing out the inconsistency in your position. Bismark's Germany adopted a moderate socialist program in order to keep the radicals at bay. For the US government to offer disability insurance to any group at rates that are lower than the commercially available rates is socialism. The government is stepping in and providing a subsidized service that isn't available in the open market. How is that not socialism? I'm not saying that it's a bad thing. I'm just pointing out that you are in favor of some kinds of socialism, while saying you can't support Jon Stewart because he's a 'socialist.'

Yup. You've used that quote a number of times. It's exactly what I meant. The hypocrisy of some folks is pretty ridiculous.

Yes and no. The conservative side uses it at their convenience. Health care? Welfare? Education (especially advanced education at public expense)? That's all socialism. It's EVIL!!!! It leads to things like communism, liberalism, and dirty hippies. But stuff like Social Security (welfare for old people)? Medicare (socialized medicine for old people)? Federally funded highways and Air Traffic Control (socialization of transportation*)? Nooooooooo. THOSE aren't socialism. Mainly because the conservatives don't want to admit that they are. * - The US transportation system is probably the most successful 'socialist' program in the world. Everyone's taxes are used. Some of it is paid for by fuel taxes, registration fees or similar 'user' fees. Much of it isn't. It's free to use (for the most part) and available to everyone. It doesn't matter if you are driving a fully loaded semi truck or a motorcycle. It doesn't matter if you are driving a brand new Rolls or a beat up Chevy pickup. And when it's suggested that actual 'user fees' (toll roads) be implemented, it's usually the conservatives who scream the loudest. Same thing goes for air travel. ATC is available to all. Doesn't matter if you are an airliner or a Piper Cub. The US has the biggest and most active General Aviation community in the world. Due in large part to the 'free' ATC.