wolfriverjoe

Well, keep in mind that the Brit variant was almost certainly here well before it was found. The testing for specific variants in the US was pretty poor at that time. It's improved some, but not a whole lot.

See below. "Too close" is a lot further out than many people realize. ^This. A knife is a deadly weapon. As a slight aside, there have been 2 fatal stabbings in the past month or so local to me. In this case, the dead girl apparently went for another person (not the cop) with the knife. The cop responded to that threat of deadly force with deadly force of his own. The idea that karate or a Taser is an appropriate response to a knife wielding individual is not realistic. It is starting to come out that the dead girl may have been the one who called the cops. That she may have been defending herself against the others. If that's true, this is then perhaps a case of mistaken identity. That doesn't change the rules of engagement the cop was operating under. One thing that is emphasized very heavily in concealed carry classes is this idea. That the cops see a gun (or a knife) as a threat. They don't have time to sort out who's the good guy and who's the bad guy. They have to address the threat as they perceive it at the time. I'm one of the most vociferous critics of police misconduct on here. If the cop is wrong, I'm one of the first to call for accountability. But I don't see that here.

I guess the short answer is "How bad do you want it?" I'm not trying to be snarky or sarcastic. How bad do you want to go back to 'playing in the sky'? Is the risk for another accident worth it? Honestly, I ask myself that question every year. I don't jump in the winter, so I get a 4 month layoff. And I ask myself every spring if the risk I face is worth the joy I get. So far, the answer is 'yes'. But I know full well that there will come a time when the answer is 'no'. That's when I hang it up. I went through a tough patch early on. I did S/L training and had a hell of a time getting stable in freefall. After a couple really bad experiences, I ended up doing an AFF. Having the instructors hanging on to me as 'training wheels' allowed me to get past the mental block & fear and enjoy the freefall. After that, I progressed and improved. For you, I get the impression you are afraid of the canopy flight & landing. You understand full well that your downsizing choices were the root cause of your accident. So find ways to address that. Follow Squeak's excellent suggestion. Do a tandem (or two or more). Make sure the instructor knows where you are coming from and will make the effort to teach you proper canopy control, pattern procedures and flaring technique. If that helps, then get a 'big boat' student canopy. Depending on your size and the canopy, you can damned near land one of those 'no flare' with a decent PLF (DON'T actually try that - It's an illustrative analogy). As Wendy suggested, perfect your PLF. Get to the point where you can comfortably land a fall from 6 foot or so. Last - Don't be 'afraid to be afraid'. If you aren't at least a little bit afraid, you are either complacent or you don't understand the risks. Accept the fear and work through it. Good luck.

A friend is a nurse at a nearby, county run facility. She told me that they have had at least one employee in every department but one test positive this week. She had the opportunity to pick up extra shifts, but declined.

I think you answered your own question.

While it's true that there's a lot of criticism, lots and lots of people are saying we need to wait for the facts to come out. From the preliminary video that's been released, it sure looks like a situation where deadly force was appropriate. The officers on scene also attempted to render aid immediately. The thing is, there will be a complete investigation. A thorough & fair one. Given the overall mood of the country, it's imperative. I strongly suspect the officer will be found to have acted within the law & departmental policies. Sad and a tragedy, but lunging at someone with a knife when there's a cop with a gun right there is not a smart move.

Sorry Wendy, but this is one of those rare occasions where you are flat out wrong. Following that philosophy, many states in the south would still be segregated. I'd bet that South Carolina, Mississippi & maybe Alabama would still have slavery. The Rs have run a long and fairly effective campaign at the state level to take power. Gerrymandering, rules changes, voter ID laws, all of those have led us to where we are. Now they are using that power to limit voting. The new Georgia law is the most blatant example of that. But there have been a fair amount of other ones. Again, the Voter ID rules are pretty clearly designed to limit voting by minorities & the poor. Who'd benefit from that? We need federal protection of voting rights for everyone, just like we needed federal protection of civil rights for minorities back in the 60s. For the exact same reasons, although the players have switched around some.

Why? Because they won't be allowed to get away with murdering Black people anymore? Or to show "those people" what happens when they get uppity and insist on the cops following the law in addition to enforcing it?

I would say a combination of both.

Follow the rather convoluted logic chain. All DZOs are assholes. The Army has a really big DZ. The Army is 'owned' by the public. Therefore, the entire public is a DZO. Therefore, the entire public is an...

Investigations of it are.

The REALLY funny (and stupid) part of this is that a week or so ago, that fool posted a video criticizing the production companies that are refusing to put on large shows. The main reason is because the insurance companies won't cover them right now. During the video, Nugent asked "Why didn't we lock down for Covid 1 through 18?" Really. He's THAT ignorant. https://www.marketwatch.com/story/hey-ted-nugent-this-is-what-covid-19-means-and-no-its-not-the-19th-coronavirus-11618259374 He's also 72, so he's at serious risk with Covid symptoms. But he'll be fine. I'm sure. He claims Covid is all a scam and a fraud, so he's just imagining his symptoms.

I think that sums it up pretty well. NPR story: https://www.npr.org/2021/04/16/988227908/liberty-university-sues-ex-president-jerry-falwell-jr-seeking-millions-in-damage If I read it correctly, they're suing because Falwell hid the fact that the pool boy was blackmailing him. And that his misconduct constituted a 'conspiracy to damage Liberty U'. So basically, Falwell conned Liberty into giving him lots and lots of money, and they want it back.

Well, we seem to be making some progress on that. The cop who didn't know the difference between her Taser and her firearm has been charged with 2nd Degree Manslaughter. This time, it took less than a week for the prosecutor to issue charges. In Chicago, it took the cops a bit over 2 weeks to release the footage of the 13 year old getting killed by the cops. It took over a year and a court order for them to release the video of the McDonald murder.

Yup. Missed the 'adults' distinction when I read the one I posted. Tired & reading it too fast. Funny part about the 'adults' distinction. Are they counting all the 16 & 17 year olds who are getting vaccinated? They're able to get it, yet are not yet 'adults'.

Given how the trial has gone, I can't see any verdict other than "guilty" coming back. Not sure which particular charge will stick, but I can't see an acquittal. And 'those people' certainly WANT to vote. It's just that the Rs are trying to make it harder, a lot harder in some cases to cast those votes. We need to see more protests about that. Maybe if the activists who want to see those changes took a page out of the White Supremacists book, and went to their marches armed to the teeth, like the ones around opening up last summer, they would get more results.

The article I linked said that CDC reported 130 million have gotten at least one. It also says that number is 50%. Which is incorrect. Makes me wonder who screwed up the percentage calculation.

The news. Came across this: https://www.wisn.com/article/half-of-us-adults-have-received-at-least-one-dose-of-vaccine/36156273?fbclid=IwAR1BowyUZGiU44OIuz910lLX92tVpCrax4cyp6BHV6IS8X8fzJR_YJBHS10#

Maybe. But not that low. When one of the girls tries to 'defend' Gaetz by assuring investigators that there weren't any underage prostitutes at the 'sex & drugs' parties, you have to wonder.

I fully understand what you mean. The problem I see with that line of thinking is that the thirst for vengance in those handful of cases shouldn't override the reality of wrongful convictions. And innocent people being put to death. Reminder (I've noted this before): The Innocence Project exonerated more death row inmates in Illinois than were put to death between the resumption of executions in the late 70s and the current ban on them.

Well, there's a "Safety & Training" forum. Also a "Freeflying" one. You are welcome to discuss those topics there. You don't have to participate in the discussion here if you find it not to your liking. However, the "political hate campaign" and 'campaigns of lies and deceit' have been well covered. There are several threads on the tactics & complete lack of actual 'platform' by the Trump campaign. If you think the Gaetz issue is hate driven, you are somewhat right. But if you think the accusations are unfounded, I suggest you pay some actual attention to what's going on. Even his own party, even Fox News have abandoned him. I don't think Gaetz or his cohorts qualify as the 'Deep State'. They are just a bunch of overgrow frat boys. They can't even conceal payments worth a crap.

The cars drive by on the public street. That's fine. If someone flies a drone above the street, that's fine too. If someone flies a drone low over my yard, that's a problem. I wouldn't be terribly pleased if someone drove a car across my lawn either. But there ain't no damned road signs on Mars. We've just been driving our cars anywhere and everywhere we damned well please. I kind of doubt that any of the Martians took offense, given that the cars didn't get damaged by angry Martians.

We've been driving cars over their holes for decades. I would think the idea of a drone flying overhead, instead of cars on the ground would be an improvement.

300# is going to be tough. Tandems are out at that weight. Solo (AFF) is going to mean special gear, along with instructors who can keep down with him. Even static line would require special gear. And a bigger plane. I can't see putting a 300# S/L student out of a 182. IIRC, Spaceland Houston did 'big boy' students a while back. You might start out by asking them if they still do or know who does. I don't know if the Anvil Brothers are still around and active, but you might try to find some of them. It is/was a group of big guys who jump(ed).

Well, this is back in the news, sort of. Liberty U is now suing Falwell for... TEN MILLION dollars (A good 'Dr Evil voice' would be perfect here). Short version: Falwell misled the board when he renegotiated his contract. Apparently, the actual text of the suit hasn't been made public yet. But it's been filed. https://friendlyatheist.patheos.com/2021/04/16/liberty-university-just-sued-jerry-falwell-jr-for-10-million/?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=facebook&fbclid=IwAR1q19Cax5uCT1_1QS9sMBeI6Hj3mjL8vjopEGApadQ72q2FRsPe5xBTqY0