wolfriverjoe

Hi Jerry, Very, very true. Supply and demand is still the primary driver for commodities. If supply stays tight and demand stays high, prices will too. Those high prices will mean that more expensive extraction will become more viable. Which will expand supply. Which will lower prices. Which will make those expensive extraction processes less viable. The shale oil boom in the late "zeroes" is as classic an example as it gets. When oil spiked well above $100/barrel, lots of people made lots and lots of money extracting oil from the Dakotas. I remember during those times that there were 'more than a few' news stories talking about the 'boom and bust' nature of the oil business. One that I remember the most was a 'crusty old guy' oil fella who said something to the effect of 'all this new technology is great. It really is. But if you are depending on a method that costs more than $75/barrel to get it out of the ground, you won't be around for very long. This industry goes up and down. It always has and it always will.' His point was proved rather convincingly because when the price of oil dropped back down, all the 'boom towns' in the Dakotas went away. The high paying jobs went away. All the oil money went away. I know a couple guys who made a lot of money working those oil fields. They were smart enough to limit expenses, bank the cash and when the jobs disappeared, they were good. But they were far more the exception than the rule in that.

Yup. Get used to it. The old joke that, as a student, I spent more time sitting on the picnic bench bitching about the weather than actually jumping contains 'more than just a bit' of truth. Depending on the culture of the DZ, wind & weather holds can be very educational. At the bigger DZ I jump at (lots of students) the instructors will gather up a group of students when jumping isn't happening, and sit and discuss/quiz all sorts of stuff. It's also a good time to get to know the rest of the community. The DZO there is a BIG promoter of the fun jumper community (cookouts, movie nights, competition events - The Hamm's Rigging Relays are hilarious - all that sort of stuff). Getting to know who folks are is a big step up for when you get your license. To echo and expand on what Wendy said (for when you get your license) - If the 'young hotshots' are still jumping and the 'crusty old guys' are sitting down, thing about it. Think hard about it. If the 'crusty old guys' are grabbing lawn chairs and cameras and heading out to the landing area, REALLY think about it. "Where are you guys going?" "We're gonna go watch the young'uns get some experience" If you sit it out today, you can always jump tomorrow. If you have to jump today, you may not jump again for a while. If ever. Last, but not least, BEWARE THE WEATHER HOLD!!! There are few things in this life more dangerous than a bored skydiver. A few years ago at SDC Summerfest, weather hold games included 'creeper bowling'. 2 person teams. One pushed, one rode the creeper at inflatable bowling pins. Standard bowling scoring. 5 frames for a game. Silly but fun. After it was all done, I heard Donavan (TI & airplane manager) remark: "Wow. Weather hold shenanigans and we didn't need an ambulance. I'm impressed".

Interesting set of questions. I get that 'risk' in different areas is perceived differently and some people accept certain types of risk over others. I found the 'honesty' questions kind of funny. Personally, I have to maintain a fairly high level of honesty in my life for a few different reasons (primary one is that once I start lying to other people, I start lying to myself. If I start believing the lies I tell myself, then I'm in trouble. So all the 'honesty' questions were a 'strongly disagree.' Please publish your findings when you can.

Ummmm... Aren't batteries storage devices for... Electricity? My dad was a proponent of electric mowers for a long time (like back in the 70s). The ones he had when I was a kid were the plug in kind. You had to be careful when using them because running over the cord was a problem. He got a fairly expensive (at the time) Ryobi that used a pair of lead acid batteries (think lawn tractor or motorcycle sized). It was pretty heavy, but it could cut a decent sized lawn on one charge. The weight (75lbs) became an issue for him as he got older, so when I bought my house, I got him a light weight plug in one and 'inherited' the Ryobi. It was pretty cool. When it finally crapped out, I got a different battery powered one. It's nice. No oil changes, no hassles starting it, no problems. I've used plug in weed whackers for a long time. The convenience of not having a cord doesn't outweigh the cost of getting a new one (especially when the old ones are working just fine).

Fish Heads

Well, when the new layout was brought on, everyone's ban was lifted. Even BillyV was allowed back in SC. Really. He lasted a few weeks before he went 'full toddler', posted a 'shopped pic of AOC sucking on Trump and went away.

One thing I love about this place is when people ask a question that makes me go: "Hmmm... That's a good question. I wonder what the answer is." FAA site: https://www.faa.gov/about/office_org/headquarters_offices/agc/practice_areas/enforcement/enforcement_actions Not surprisingly, there's a process similar to a court proceeding. I know Bill Dause & his lawyers are pretty good at this one. But I never knew the exact process.

My god. Most five year olds aren't that immature.

#1 - How big? Even the places that take the bigger fellas have limits. #2 - What kind of shape? Big like football linebacker big is different than 'fat' big. #3 - What kind of jump? I seem to remember the places that do the big guys use modified tandem gear to do AFF. For bigger people to do tandems, they have to have a smaller TI to stay under the combined weight limit. My memory is saying that Skydive Dallas, or maybe one of the other Texas DZs was the place that did the bigger folks. I'd hit up Chuck Akers and ask him.

He doesn't bother to read the stuff he himself links. What makes you think he reads anything anyone else links?

The actual decision will be out later in the year. Much closer to the mid-terms. If this is what the actual decision will be, the outrage will be increased.

Yes, they want 'smaller government'. They ALSO claim that Jesus is their Lord and Savior, that by "accepting Jesus" they are "Saved". And then they proceed to basically shit all over every single one of the teachings of Christ. Isn't that testimony given under oath? Isn't lying under oath perjury? Isn't that a crime?

Hi Jerry, No. They mention in the story that the 'cop attacker' claimed that the cop tried to provoke him. That: Funny how the cameras caught all of his assault, but none of what this asshole claimed the real cop did. It doesn't say exactly how long the jury deliberated, but it wasn't very long. It didn't need to be. Again from the story:

Meh. Open carry is usually far more 'performance' than actual self defense. Bunch of idiots who want everyone to see them with a gun. I can't find it right now, but Florida was the first of the states that went with 'shall issue' carry law back in the 90s. It was a long time ago, but part of it included mostly unrestricted open carry (since changed). It got a lot of coverage in the press, and a lot of folks were going around with very large pistols on their belts. It got old fast (those big guns are heavy) and quietly went away. Same thing with the fools who feel a need to carry a large military style rifle to go to Target. It got a lot of coverage, and then went away.

Another insurrectionist convicted. Retired cop, tried to claim 'self defense'. Said he was 'showing his hands' to the cop, whose gas mask he ripped off. Riiiiiight. The jury didn't believe it. https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/justice-department/ex-nypd-officer-found-guilty-attacking-dc-cop-flag-pole-jan-6-rcna26710?fbclid=IwAR1NVq5AbXdPXA56M2lhqL-sj0ljUo6eBgbrLSeUF1OEvttGQUWiZTAy-oY

Those are rhetorical questions, right?

That's a very good question. I'd love to hear an answer from him. I have zero expectations of one, but I'd still love to hear it.

Given that the FAA has gone after people who post videos of jumpers going through clouds, I'd bet that Luke would have gotten some attention no matter the outcome.

The old Ryan 147 photo-recon drone was recovered in a similar way. It was an autonomous aircraft that flew a pre-programmed path. It would end the flight by deploying a parachute that would be snatched mid-air by a plane or helicopter. This was done back in the 50s & 60s. Lots of use over Viet Nam. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ryan_Model_147

Charlie Don't Surf. This whole sequence, up until Willard (Martin Sheen) the boat and the crew head up river, is amazing.

^This. Big time. Luke has done enough 'Hollywood stuff' that he knows what needs to happen, what needs to be approved, the people who approve this sort of thing, all that. He's done it before. Why he chose this one to simply 'go for it' after approval was denied is something I find appalling. Did he not start the approval process early enough to have 'wiggle room' for appeals if it was denied? Did he just expect the approval to be rubber stamped because of who he is and what he's done in the past? Was the 'investment' (both money and time) in the stunt so high that breaking the rules was considered worth it? The thing about it is there was virtually zero chance of the plane 'flying away'. It was in a vertical dive over uninhabited desert. It had a BRS for the 'emergency landing'. It didn't quite work properly, but it did work. Not sure if they had 'remote activation' capability, but I can see that being implemented without too much trouble. The risk to 'persons or property on the surface' (I agree that it's a good rule) was VERY low. I can see a good argument for getting the FAA to change their minds on this. Don't know if that could or would have happened, but I don't see it as impossible.

You say that like it's not being done on purpose.

Mike Godwin himself said that the rule was suspended when discussing Trump. The MAGA morons have done so much to destroy democracy in the US and usher in one-party rule that it's not funny. On the plus side, both France and Slovenia rejected far right nationalists. So there's some hope.

The military did a lot of R&D on solar during the Iraq & Afghanistan conflicts. Those environments had a lot of available sun, and small, portable solar power made a lot of sense. There was a story talking about it, and one of the more interesting points was that a gallon of gas or diesel cost somewhere in the neighborhood of $500 once it made it all the way to a forward base due to the transport costs. If they could use solar to recharge batteries for radios, GPS, NVG, etc instead of generators, they could save a lot of both money and lives

I have no kids of my own, but I strongly encourage the kids I interact with to ask questions. Friend's kids, neighbor kids, relative's kids, ect. One thing I learned a loooong time ago was to clarify what they are asking when an 'embarrassing' question arises. In the case of your son's question, I would have said something to the effect of 'the penis does a few different things. What part of it working are you asking about?"