wolfriverjoe

Because you made it. I did not hold you to account for someone else's words they were your words. "guys with small penises - and low IQ's - can buy big trucks!" BillV You do realise how petty you're making yourself look here, don't you? Trying to play this stupid point-scoring game (and having to make such obvious contortions and intentional misunderstandings to do so) not only distracts from your main points which actually do have some merit, they destroy your overall credibility as a person worth continuing a conversation with. Ummmm... You do realize that that is his standard behavior on here, right? "There are NO situations which do not call for a French Maid outfit." Lucky McSwervy "~ya don't GET old by being weak & stupid!" - Airtwardo

While I agree the way it was handled was poor, IF he's going to do this lockdown thing it'll be general exceptions that make it completely unworkable. Either someone meets the specific critera for entrance or they don't - it can't be a 'except this type of guy, and that sort of guy, and those ages of people'. I'm already irritated that apparently UK citizens with dual nationality are exempt. That just passes the buck on background checks over to the UK. Generalized exceptions are bad news. If 5 year olds were written as exempt to checks you can bet your right testicle that terrorists would start grooming young children to deliver for them. The policy needs to be well thought out and then enforced properly. This current boondoggle is a joke. The whole thing is a joke. Except jokes are usually funnier than this. You do realize that: A - There is already a fairly thorough vetting process in place. B - There have been zero attacks committed by refugees that were allowed into the US. Trump tweeted something to the effect "If you gave them a weeks notice, there would be a flood of bad guys getting in." Well, other than the fact that the admissions process takes in the vicinity of 2 years. Apparently Trump doesn't realize that 2 years is a bit longer than a week. "There are NO situations which do not call for a French Maid outfit." Lucky McSwervy "~ya don't GET old by being weak & stupid!" - Airtwardo

I understand why Quade writes this sort of thing...I really do....(well actually I think I do) But I just can't dig up the moral superiority that some people can....the basic idea that the left is always correct the right is always wrong. Trump is doing what the people who elected him wanted. I think he's terrible BUT he is doing what these people expected. It's laughable that the left thinks they are reaching anyone with the wild emotions. If anything they are affirming what these people thought. (right or wrong) Right. Trump is doing what the people who voted for him wanted. He's discriminating against people because of their religion. Which is basically a majority in power "picking on" a minority who is powerless to do anything about it. Pretty much the classic definition of "bullying." "There are NO situations which do not call for a French Maid outfit." Lucky McSwervy "~ya don't GET old by being weak & stupid!" - Airtwardo

Well, toddlers with guns kill more Americans than Islamic Terrorists (both immigrant and natural born citizen Islamic Terrorists). So I think it might be reasonable to worry about 5 year olds. We really need a sarcasm font. "There are NO situations which do not call for a French Maid outfit." Lucky McSwervy "~ya don't GET old by being weak & stupid!" - Airtwardo

Actually, I think it is a 'feel good' term for his idiotic supporters. You know, the ones who don't think that much. Jerry Baumchen Idiotic: stupid, silly, foolish, witless, brainless, mindless, thoughtless, unintelligent....sums up the democratic party and those paid for Whack jobs protesting at the airports over the weekend. Same goes for the rest of the protesters and rioters all over the country. Don't those morons have jobs? Well, most people work jobs during the week and have weekends off. It's called a "workweek". I guess that they felt protesting against a bigoted, illegal order was more important than relaxing or having fun on their weekend. "There are NO situations which do not call for a French Maid outfit." Lucky McSwervy "~ya don't GET old by being weak & stupid!" - Airtwardo

Nothing to do with that. You've obviously missed several things that have gone on in Russia in the last couple of days; members of Kasperski Labs getting arrested, a member of the FSB being arrested, this FSB guy getting killed. Speculation is Putin will shortly say something to the effect of, "yes, something with 'rogue agents' happened, but it was unauthorized and has been taken care of." Is there something in that story related to Russian spying on the US and trump-showers, etc? Or is that just a Putin shakedown for bribes, payoffs and compliance with his kleptocracy? If you read the Telegraph story in Ryoder's post (#193), it seems to show that the dead guy has ties to the guy who leaked the Trump story. And, of course, the Russians are now saying he died of "natural causes". Lead poisoning, perhaps? "There are NO situations which do not call for a French Maid outfit." Lucky McSwervy "~ya don't GET old by being weak & stupid!" - Airtwardo

Close, but not quite. "GVW" is Gross Vehicle Weight. How much it weighs in total. Vehicle (tractor & trailer), cargo, fuel, driver, and equipment on board. Everything. Under normal conditions, max legal is 80,000 pounds. In general, an empty tractor trailer (dry van) goes 32k to 34k empty. Refrigerated trailers go 1000 to 1500 pounds more. So, even empty, a semi goes around 6 times more than a pickup. "There are NO situations which do not call for a French Maid outfit." Lucky McSwervy "~ya don't GET old by being weak & stupid!" - Airtwardo

I'm not entirely sure I'd classify it as "news". More of an opinion/background piece. However, I'd also not classify it as "Fake". I'm not familiar with the site, but the links in the piece go to legit sites. The story is largely a repeat of a US News & World Report piece (Original is linked) The source quoted in the piece has a name and seems to be a real person. I mentioned Critical Thinking and how it works in the "There are No Facts" thread. While I don't know of any comparable stories out there on this (unlike real "news" stories that are easily found at a number of sources) USN&WR is a reasonably credible source. There's also the very simple fact that Trump's behavior certainly fits the bill. "Malignant Narcissism isn't an actual classification, but he fits the description (in one of the embedded links). "There are NO situations which do not call for a French Maid outfit." Lucky McSwervy "~ya don't GET old by being weak & stupid!" - Airtwardo

To directly answer your question, 460 and zero. But I choose to jump a reasonably docile canopy at a reasonably low wingloading. I also usually pack for myself and am careful and thorough. A friend has 600ish jumps and 4 or 5 cutaways. One was a lineover on a tandem (probably a packing issue) the others were on more aggressive canopies at higher wingloads. A couple were on a Diablo loaded around 1.4 or so. The Diablo is known for being unstable on opening, and once it goes into line twists, it starts spinning fast and points straight at the ground. There are choices you can make that will affect your chances of having a cutaway. To answer a couple things you didn't ask: It has risks, but I wouldn't call it "dangerous." Tens of thousands of people make millions of jumps each year. The vast majority are uneventful. This conversation comes up on a fairly regular basis. Generally, its about as risky as riding a motorcycle. And, like riding, you can make choices with regard to your equipment and behaviors which can increase or reduce the risk. The "mom is concerned" issue is also common. If she is at all willing to listen to reason (and not all moms are), you can often address those concerns. The most effective way I know of (and the one I used) is to bring her out to watch on a day when you aren't jumping. That way you can be a "tour guide". You can show the care and concern with the equipment, the planning that goes into the jumps, the seriousness that emergency procedures are treated with, and the sheer joy that we have when we do it. So many who don't know a thing about it consider it a "death sport", where simply surviving each jump is the main goal. But it's a lot, lot more than that. And if you mom is open minded enough to see that, she may well reduce her objections and concerns (hey, she's your mom, she will never stop worrying about you). "There are NO situations which do not call for a French Maid outfit." Lucky McSwervy "~ya don't GET old by being weak & stupid!" - Airtwardo

I agree, it was just an interesting outlook from a kid. Have you taught him how to think critically? Critical thinking isn't always intuitive or natural. It's a skill that has to be learned and refined and honed. Same thing with objectivity. Evaluating sources, comparing differing views, looking at situations without allowing your own prejudices too much influence (that's the hard one). There are sources out there that are reasonably objective and trustworthy. Many agree that NPR (US) BBC (Britain) and Al Jazeera (UAE) are at or near the top of that list. Yet when you read the same story on each of them, there's a slightly different spin. So they aren't perfect, and I don't know anyone who claims they are. Yet many of the detractors claim that their follower claim that. The problem is that there are people out there who don't want the truth to be told. So they spread plausible lies. Partly to get their version of the story out there, but largely to make it harder and harder to ascertain the actual truth. "There are NO situations which do not call for a French Maid outfit." Lucky McSwervy "~ya don't GET old by being weak & stupid!" - Airtwardo

Where did you prove it? Give a post number. You rarely cite sources or post links to the crap you assert. Even Marc posts links to his sources. They're total garbage, but he does cite sources. OTOH, Bill quoted news articles and cited sources. Not as "quick and easy" as a link, but "There are NO situations which do not call for a French Maid outfit." Lucky McSwervy "~ya don't GET old by being weak & stupid!" - Airtwardo

What is the "220#" weight? Stepping out of the shower? Fully dressed (including shoes and pocket junk)? If it's stepping out of the shower, then you are likely to go somewhere around 250# fully geared up. Wingloading is based on that weight. While bigger folks can get by with a higher wingload than smaller, you would still be somewhere around 1.2:1 on a 210. That's a bit high. I would suggest thinking about a 230 instead. But, as noted above, you are getting a bit ahead of yourself on this. "There are NO situations which do not call for a French Maid outfit." Lucky McSwervy "~ya don't GET old by being weak & stupid!" - Airtwardo

Maybe, maybe not. Not that he wouldn't. After all, he's Tweeted about "sending in the Feds" to Chicago. But that is in response to the level of violence there (more than last year, but not a record). But that Tweet may well be a response to the Mayor's criticism. I just doubt that he could do it. Find a general who wants to be #2 in the dictatorship. Find enough troops to carry it out. Find a way to incite an incident to justify it. Find a way to control the media (he's already failed that miserably). Find a way to control Congress (the Rs are already taking him to task on the "election fraud" claims) #1 & #3 maybe. #2 doubtful. #4 & #5 are already lost causes. Not to mention that he doesn't seem to have a long enough attention span to pull it off in the first place. And if he even tries, and screws up #1, then he's toast. If the general he selects to do this turns on him (say he is simply playing along to hang Trump and records the conversations), then impeachment is a real possibility. "There are NO situations which do not call for a French Maid outfit." Lucky McSwervy "~ya don't GET old by being weak & stupid!" - Airtwardo

I am of the opinion that most of us on here think that he is irrational at best. He might just give this a go. The question becomes, what would the military actually do if he tried to declare Marital Law? Jerry Baumchen My guess is the delay so far has been finding just the right general with people below him who have supported Trump and are willing to do so for future advancement. Once the unit is in place, they don't really have to do much. Even if they just roll into town it's going to be a nightmare and as soon as somebody throws the first rock . . . it's on. I think he's going to have a fairly hard time finding that. It wouldn't surprise me a whole lot (some, but not a whole lot) if he could find a general to do his bidding. But the actual troops? Say Colonel on down? Who would invade a town and declare martial law with no real reason? Go against just about everything this country stands for? Maybe I'm being overly optimistic, but I think many soldiers take that oath to "Protect and Defend the Constitution of the United States" seriously. That oath says something about following lawful orders, but it also would mean that they should oppose something like this. Even if Trump could find a division or so to do this, I have a funny feeling that there would be a whole lot of other troops (either active duty or reserve/guards) who would be moving in to counter it. I also doubt that Congress would go for it. Instant impeachment. "There are NO situations which do not call for a French Maid outfit." Lucky McSwervy "~ya don't GET old by being weak & stupid!" - Airtwardo

I think he's "Channeling his 'Inner Trump'". "There are NO situations which do not call for a French Maid outfit." Lucky McSwervy "~ya don't GET old by being weak & stupid!" - Airtwardo

I haven't seen this anywhere other than FB. It seems like there is an exodus from the top floor of the State Department. Long term FSO folks. People who have served under numerous presidents. Refuse to serve under Trump. Not terribly surprising, considering Trump's tendency to ignore the constitution, propose insane foreign policies, propose blatant violations of international law and generally acting like a wannabe despot (you know, like his leash-holder, Putin) There is an alternate report on CNN that they were fired. Which would actually be more disturbing. However, there's a resignation letter from TJ Lunardi on FB. Pretty clear that he sees Trump as a threat to the country. The chaos grows. Gotta wonder how Trump, Spicer and Conway will present this. "There are NO situations which do not call for a French Maid outfit." Lucky McSwervy "~ya don't GET old by being weak & stupid!" - Airtwardo

You mean "clean out the cesspool" like not bringing in cabinet members from Goldman Sachs? Or by not allowing his senior staff to use Private E-mail Accounts? You call him a "successful businessman" in an above post. That's a bit of an exaggeration. He couldn't even make a profit with a casino. He's a con man. Pure and simple. Fortunately, more and more people are realizing this. From the National Parks Service, who are now Tweeting on their free time, to Greenpeace, who hung a huge "Resist" banner in D.C. Even Fox is calling him out on his bullshit. "There are NO situations which do not call for a French Maid outfit." Lucky McSwervy "~ya don't GET old by being weak & stupid!" - Airtwardo

From Twitter via FB: "The thing the dystopian novels could never predict was the sudden rebellion of the National Parks social media managers." "There are NO situations which do not call for a French Maid outfit." Lucky McSwervy "~ya don't GET old by being weak & stupid!" - Airtwardo

Considering the US invaded a country based on mostly fabricated intelligence, I have no doubt voter fraud can be "clearly established" if that is required. Maybe, maybe not. It's a vastly different political landscape today. Back then, anyone who doubted the Bush admin's info was painted as "unpatriotic". It wasn't true, but it was done fairly well. Today, Trump is already know to be a liar. Much of the media is already calling him out on it (including Fox). Much of congress is questioning his claim of fraud, including a number of Rs. For this to go anywhere, those doubts would have to be addressed. And there don't appear to be any facts that would do so. "There are NO situations which do not call for a French Maid outfit." Lucky McSwervy "~ya don't GET old by being weak & stupid!" - Airtwardo

No. That was one of the excuses that either Spicer or Conway gave (you know, those 'alternative facts'), but the pics were both taken at the same time of day. "There are NO situations which do not call for a French Maid outfit." Lucky McSwervy "~ya don't GET old by being weak & stupid!" - Airtwardo

But that is not the point. It's the way the man is so unhinged over this that is so telling. Oh, absolutely. Pretty much everything the "elites" said about him is coming to pass. He's unfit to be President in a multitude of ways. The poll I did a few weeks ago about him finishing his term seemed to show that people thought he would last. Odds of that in various places seem to be dropping some. I am starting to doubt that he will last 6 months. Impeachment, lawsuit (that would have to lead to an impeachment), or he simply "loses it" and the 25th gets invoked. "There are NO situations which do not call for a French Maid outfit." Lucky McSwervy "~ya don't GET old by being weak & stupid!" - Airtwardo

After reading and following this story I am beginning to think that Trump's presidency is going to be far worse that I, or most of us imagined. It is becoming more and more clear that the "elites" were correct about the man. I had assumed that it was mostly an act. Because somehow he did actually build a business empire. And how could he have done that if he was crazy? His shortcomings are already obvious. The damage he will do is unknown, as is the end game. But it looks unlikely to go on for four years. Well, he didn't really "build" a business empire. At least not by himself. He inherited his wealth. He used his dad to get some really favorable terms early on. And he's destroyed a whole lot of companies. There are some of his tax returns from the 90s that have been leaked. He declared losses so big that the form didn't have enough spaces for all of the digits. He bankrupted casinos in Atlantic City. The list of his failures is long. None of this is secret or new. Its all been out there from the beginning. But the Trumpeters ignored it. Or chose to believe it was "fake news." Or decided that HRC's behavior was worse. Edit to add: I'm not too worried about what Trump's "investigation" will bring about. As I noted above, the CBS evening news called it "False" in the opening statement and in the story (I think they used the word 'fake' or 'false' a dozen times or so). Even the Rs in congress are saying "cut it out". Lindsay Graham is basically saying "put up or shut up." Any real investigation will need some actual facts. You know, real ones, not "alternative" ones. "There are NO situations which do not call for a French Maid outfit." Lucky McSwervy "~ya don't GET old by being weak & stupid!" - Airtwardo

Well there are two problems with that: 1 - He's so busy focusing on stupid stuff that he's totally unprepared when (not if) something big happens. 2 - He's so focused on stupid stuff that someone like Kim Fatty 3rd will provoke him into a confrontation. Maybe, but there's also "Civil Service" and all of it's rules. Trump can't simply fire someone. He also can't simply issue a proclamation and change policy. I'm going to guess that there are specific policies/rules for NPS use of social media written out somewhere. Rules that state all posts must be factual or something similar (and a lot more). Also going to guess that all of these "renegade" posts follow all of those rules. And, again, Trump can't issue an edict to change those policies. There's a procedure that has to be followed. So if Trump gets all annoyed and hops on AF1 and goes out to the Badlands to fire that particular ranger, the ranger could look at him and laugh. Or simply gather up his stuff, walk out the door, go to a lawyer and file a "wrongful termination" suit. Which he would almost certainly win. This sort of disobedience would be 'career killing' for someone who wishes to move up the ladder in government service, but it would be almost impossible to get fired over it (again, presuming the behavior follows existing written policy). "There are NO situations which do not call for a French Maid outfit." Lucky McSwervy "~ya don't GET old by being weak & stupid!" - Airtwardo

Well, like the Princess said: "The more you tighten your grip, the more systems will slip through your grasp." The whole administration is looking more and more foolish. They are focusing on minutiae. And wasting a lot of time, energy and credibility on them. Not that they had a whole lot of credibility to begin with. "There are NO situations which do not call for a French Maid outfit." Lucky McSwervy "~ya don't GET old by being weak & stupid!" - Airtwardo

I was thinking a pool or "over/under" on how long it takes the new president to be impeached. I mentioned in a post here a week or so ago in SC that it looked like he'd be the first person to ever take office while violating the US Constitution. Pretty amazing. There's a lawsuit being filed over that. Less than a week in office, and he's facing it. And on the "Alternative Facts" thing, Trump is still claiming that "massive voter fraud" is why HRC won the popular vote. Spicer claims there is "evidence" (but won't produce it), Rs in congress are basically telling Trump to cut it out. CBS news led the evening news with a statement to the effect of "Trump's False Claim of Voter Fraud" (watching it now). I don't think anybody is going to believe much of what Spicer says anymore. "There are NO situations which do not call for a French Maid outfit." Lucky McSwervy "~ya don't GET old by being weak & stupid!" - Airtwardo