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Went to a talk last night with George Takei and John Cho (both Sulus from the Star Trek films) at UCSD. George was very eloquent. They both talked about the role a bit. Then the moderator asked them about their childhoods, and George talked about growing up in an internment camp. Then they went over to John who didn't say anything for a second. "I have no idea how I follow _that_" he finally said. George Takei was taken from his home in LA to a Japanese internment camp when he was 5, because he was Japanese and the Japanese had just attacked Pearl Harbor. All his family's money was taken. Their house was sold. All their possessions were taken. They were stripped naked. They were first imprisoned in a horse stall; their family of four was in one stall. They all got sick from sleeping on dung, but fortunately survived. They were then moved from camp to camp over the next five years, ending up in a mosquito infested camp on a bayou in Arkansas. And every morning they'd line everyone up in the mud and forced them to recite the Pledge of Allegiance. And every time he got to the "with liberty and justice for all" part he'd look around the prison camp they were in and think that perhaps that America was fibbing about that part. He also talked about growing up as a gay man, and how he had to hide who he was for decades from a Hollywood that would have fired him instantly if they had known. Finally he was able to come out in 2005 and admit to the relationship he'd had for the past 20 years. In 2008 they were married, and when they re-outlawed gay marriage in California later in 2008, they were both amused, thinking about what a fun court case it would be if republicans tried to forcibly divorce them. Then Prop 8 was overturned and it was a moot point. His unique perspective - a man who has had his rights taken away TWICE by America - has led him to be very politically active. When the US government finally paid him reparations for throwing him in jail for four years he donated it all to an Asian civil rights group. He's also very aware how tenuous people's rights are and how easily they can be taken away. He talked about FDR, a guy he otherwise respected, giving in to fear and starting up the internment camp program. And he cautioned that if you start with a guy that does NOT have the sort of morals that FDR had, then the damage he can do to civil rights will be that much greater. His words - “I consider it my responsibility as an American citizen to actively participate, particularly because I know my childhood imprisonment - the unjust imprisonment. If we don't participate, if we don't educate our fellow Americans to the vulnerability of our democracy, how fragile it can be, then we're not being responsible citizens.” Sometimes we forget how fragile our rights are.

I can't. Biden is boring and old, but has done well so far. He will get more boring and more old, and likely not survive his next term, or will be 25th'ed out. In which case the presidency will be in disarray and nothing much will get done. Which is not the worst outcome. Trump is an active danger to America. He has long campaigned on retribution and vengeance, and has stated he will be a "dictator" for a short time, and that he wants to "terminate" the "phony" Constitution. That's an active threat to America. One could claim "well, he won't be able to do that" - but ten years ago I am sure no one would have thought he could mount an insurrection, get abortion de-legalized or put Putin on a pedestal, either. If he accomplishes even 25% of what he sets out to do, he will have damaged the US significantly. Also, he is just plain evil. You can explain away greedy business decisions ("it's for the stockholders!") having a drug addict son, treating your kids poorly ("they're just not good kids") even working to take rights away from women ("the states should decide.") But you cannot pursue a stranger into a changing room and rape them without being inherently evil. And I don't want the US led by an evil man. The choice, for me, is very clear. The US is too important to me to ignore the threat.

As per SOP, you're coming here and telling a group largely made up of moderates what moderates believe, based on what you've been spoon-fed by your right-wind media diet. Does it take a lot of effort to remain so willfully ignorant that you post this in a thread where several people, including me, have detailed their support for Biden? There's zero doubt that he's increasingly looking like a horrible campaigner right now, but that doesn't negate what he has, and could continue to do as President.

For some reason, all of a sudden a bunch of folks who were fond of saying that we are a republic not a democracy have a problem with being a republic not a democracy.

Yes of course. You are just the guy who reposts the offensive meme and then says it has nothing to do with you, you are just passing on the message. Well.....let me tell you, that shit fools no one.

Plus he is a rapist.

thanks for not answering my question..... I have come to expect that from you. Trump did in fact suggest suspending parts of the constitution. And he is in fact, 'Satan in human form'. He attempted to overthrow an election and still to this day denies the outcome of the election. He did in fact steal millions from his charity, his corporation did indeed get convicted of 13 felony counts of fraud, his associates and confidants are in fact convicted felons... I could go on with a dozen other factual examples or more, Of course you, like all the other trumpie supporting types cannot even bring yourselves to admit that these things happened, thus saving you the respectful civic duty of justifying your support for this human piece of fucking garbage seditious cunt.

I sincerely wish America was as concerned about school shootings as they are ear shootings.

That's your problem, not societies. If naught else some kids will have parents and, hopefully, a stable loving family. You know, as opposed to wasting away in an orphanage or bouncing from being unwanted in a succession of foster homes. Your particular brand of homophobia may get you through the day but it doesn't help kids with no family of any type.

That’s pretty fucking weak dude….both from the ‘hey, look over there’ angle when your hurricane prediction absolutely shit the bed and also for attempting to conflate a trip she took to help her sick father with Cruz’s vacation getaway (for which he subsequently tried to throw his family under the bus)….just fucking weak, even for you

As I watched the debate and saw Trump lie with impunity, I was reminded about why you don’t play chess with a pigeon. The pigeon just knocks all the pieces over, then shits all over the board, then struts around like it won.

I've been saying the same about you for some time and you don't listen either. <Had to do it.>

No I am not talking about BLM! MAGA are the ones pushing that agenda hard. No integrity and no backbone and they almost always hide behind their cult leaders approach of retweet or ‘some people are saying’ as they don’t have the balls to own their racism and bigotry. I get that you’re right wing, there’s some really good right wing people Liz Cheney for example. Politic leanings should be about policy and beliefs, not a cult of personality and reality tv. I watch what Biden, Harris, Jeffreys say and their actions and for the most part they are people of integrity who talk about policy and vision. I then compare that to Johnson, Trump, Vance, McConnel, Lindsey who spew hatred and fear, and have no recognisable policies. None of them have any backbone or spine just look at their record. Trump is quite literally a felon convicted in court by a jury, his own VP called him America’s hitler. I don’t know how deep into the MAGA cult you are, but as a proclaimed Christian I would hope that you would ‘see the light’ and put aside the idolatry of Donald. The right needs people with conviction who will stand up to him and MAGA and represent right wing policies and values - because that is good for the country.

While Jerry and I disagree on political matters. He is a man of integrity whom I respect greatly. I sometimes wish we could all schedule an evening firepit with a few beers and solve the world's problems.

I don't get the "I need to be energized" argument. The prospect of having that deranged moron in the Whitehouse again, energizes me to vote for ANYONE the Democrats put up against him.

Black and a Woman, got it. 55 Things You Need To Know About Kamala Harris Politico 2020 Black and a Woman, got it. As to compared to a racist, rapist, convicted felon, admitted fraudster, ex multiple bankrupt,....... oh well for some facts are irrelevant.

I'm no fan of Pence - but reaching out to someone with more experience than himself during a time of crisis is a point in his favor, not against him. Being able to ask for (and take) advice is something that's sorely lacking these days in politics.

I'll tell you my main reason that I cannot vote for Trump. When you pressure your VP to not certify the election - you've chosen to go against the most core democratic principles in our nation and tried to turn it into a dictatorship.

City Attorney & District Attorney of San Francisco. Attorney General of California (elected twice). But she has no 'experience or capability to problem solve or manage a complex task' Sure. Right.

I grow weary of your posting YT videos as source citations rather than using academic or more scholarly sources. This latest video would demonstrate that you know nothing of CRT. The video is about porn. Of which I tend to agree. Can you please stop throwing youtube videos and just add to the conversation. Nobody is going to view the videos you post. I will read thru something longer if given a source, rather than listen to a 30 second video from FB or YT. PS There is an (R) after my name also.

The promenade is the likely building. 191 peachtree was another but i that i think was completed by then. We jumped a lot of buildings back then and in the late 80s-early 90s Atlanta had a shit ton of construction: Gardner and I got arrested, jumping off of the Peachtree Plaza by…get this…Macy’s security. That was fucking embarrassing. But then I followed that up with jumping off of it again into the Braves Parade. Well almost into the Braves parade. I was going to land in the middle of the street in front of the motorcade and I had such an old mushy seven cell parachute that I didn’t even make it to the street. I came up about 15 feet short and landed in a small tree between the sidewalk of Peachtree Street and a parking lot. I had to land in a tree or I was gonna hurt somebody. But I fell down on the roof of a car like an SUV or something, and probably caved the entire roof in. I lost the parachute but managed to get away on my motorcycle that I had stashed in one of the parking garages. That was like 600,000 people that I did a fucking disappearing act on. Anyway, that was my one glory jump, I guess.

Ohh so you are fine supporting somebody who forcibly fingered a woman against her will. That makes it sooo much better.

Yeah Wendy! Let Rich here explain what it's like to be a woman in today's society to you.

Hi Mark, Best PR thing that could happen for Trump. Think about the photos of Trump with his fist in the air, blood on his face, compared to Biden who feebly says, 'We beat MediCare.' Jerry Baumchen PS) Largest 2 inches in modern American political history.

That's a 1970's perspective. Welcome to the 21st Century. What Bill said above is the key - "Intentional Families." Years of research by Dr. Manning would indicate that, "Beliefs that gay and lesbian adults are not fit parents, or that the psychosocial development of the children of gay and lesbian parents is compromised, have no basis in science. Our position is based on a review representing approximately 50 empirical studies and at least another 50 articles and book chapters and does not rest on the results of any one study. These articles appear in such journals as Developmental Psychology, the Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, the American Psychologist, the Marriage and Family Review, the American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, and the journals of Family Relations, Sex Roles, and Social Work. An annotated bibliography on the topic can be found on the website of the American Psychological Association." You can read more about it if you're interested. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4091994/

Yesterday I became one of only 33 non licensed skydivers in the world to have jumped a passenger jet. Blue skies! https://skydive.shredvideo.com/f/77ZJE6xB40

Have you ever been a woman in a workplace where the management is all male, and handsy? Have you ever heard "the law says I have to interview them, but it sure don't say I have to hire them." Have you ever heard "you can come in, gorgeous, but your husband can't." Have you ever heard, yet again, "you must be on the rag." Or maybe "you can't be so blunt," when you're not as blunt as some of the men in the group. Being on the delivering side of all those is privilege, because no one else in management (or the power structure) can be told any of those things, because of who they are. Wendy P.

Well, except for all that silly coral dying Wendy P.

I will vote for Biden if he remains the nominee and has a heartbeat.

Really have to hand it to her, she beat off the competition rather handily.

Republicans and democrats can nominate people by any process they want. The nomination process is not democratic; you don't get to vote for any candidate you want. Parties decide that. If you just now decided that this is NOT DEMOCRATIC!!!!!@@!@!! but all previous nominations were, you're being a bit of a drama queen.

Well, we also had his former wife who said he raped her. But I figured I'd stick to rapes proven in court.

Let's take a moment to think about the real victim here: Poor old James Comer spent all that time trying to find dirt on the "Biden Crime Family", and is now left with nothing to show for it. :-(

It is for me, when I bought my first home rate were double digits. My stock portfolio is up, bonds are down a bit, private credit is up, private equity is up and real estate holdings privately and business are up....all in all I am much better off than 4 years ago. Housing affordability is definitely an issue. But if you think that is due to Biden, then you simply have absolutely no clue what you are talking about.

Rapist, multiple victims, some under 13. Fraud. Convicted felon. Liar. Cheat. Insurrectionist. Treason. Espionage. Business failure. Twice impeached. Legally prevented from operating a business in NY. There are plenty of other titles he's earned, anyone one of which should be sufficient reason to not support him. He's just a broken piece of shit human and everything he touches dies. Fuck traitor Trump and the idiots who support him.

Watching the US over the past 8 or so years it looks and feels like the rich and powerful exert undue and excessive influence on the US. Social groups form strong bonds, even if they have internal disagreements. Take skydiving as an example, we all socialise and will get together even with vastly different political opinions. It is natural and normal that the rich and powerful form a social group as they have something in common. For the most part the very wealthy tend to be narcissistic and forceful (bullies). It doesn’t matter if it’s Murdoch, Gates, Musk etc. It’s not even necessarily a bad thing that they scratch each other’s backs and exchange favours. The problem is the that within the US system it has become blurred and there is no firewall between politics and the public rich and powerful. It’s something you see in Russia and many other despotic states and the foundations have been laid over decades in the US. The end result for the US is Emperor god Trump. Democracy was and is intended to counter those forces. What we are seeing is that without strong protections in place democracy slips into a corrupt puppeteer class for the powerful. It’s insidious and creeps up on us all. I wish there was an obvious and easy answer to put power back in the hands of the people. The problem is that it is so ingrained already that it’s not going to come from within. Social media provides a voice to the masses, but it is unregulated and run by the rich. So by its very nature is open to manipulation and misinformation. My Damascus moment on the news and government was the WMD saga and the gulf war, where in the UK the government encouraged or allowed the media to spin the WMD narrative and yet the actual reports that were available contradicted it. I’ll be honest I feel a bit sad and defeated by it all. I’ve just turned 50 and I suspect it will deteriorate substantially during my lifetime, although probably not in a way that directly impacts my personal quality of life. I worry for my children though and what their future holds.

I disagree with that. If he gets the majority of house and senate (unlikely), he will never leave office, ever, not under any circumstances and the GOP will let that happen. Even if he loses, they already have plans in place to disrupt the election again, possibly sending it to the states for adjudication. All the checks and balances will be re-appointed with Trump loyalists who are also equally a threat to America, democracy and the world. Threats are already regularly pursued by law enforcement, but apparently the Supreme Court is on Trumps side and shoots all those efforts to hell. yet another example of the end of America.

yes, especially when they drive their cars through crowds of people and murder them.

The American people are the most divided we've seen in this lifetime. Most of the left-leaning on here have made comments about Biden's lack of fitness for varying reasons, Trump fitness is more than questionable. I haven't sat out since 1980. What in the hell are my choices? What the hell are anybody's choices? We're not voting for anymore - we're voting against. You have been vocal about your lack of confidence in Biden - you're not really voting for him, you're voting against Trump. I bring up a D that I would vote for, young, military experience, Rhodes Scholar, socially responsible, fiscally conservative, gun laws in Maryland that have yet to be challenged, etc. and yet, he gets a dismissive wave of the hand cause America is "not ready" for another Black on the ticket. The truth is - I will sit out this one if no one brings us the type of leadership this country needs. Abstention is active politics. It's being able to stand up and say, I don't agree with either position because it's not in the interest of the greater good. If enough people abstain, then sometimes people will reflect on doing something different - or they'll just dig in their heels and drive their point harder - even if it's not for the benefit of everyone - that's the real self-chicanery. You want me to vote your way. Not the best way.

From TK: Stub UPDATE! I am happy to report that stub 675 which is from the tie knot will be delivered to McCrone this week. 675 should have lots of particles that came from his finger tips and holds the most unusual particles like the titanium antimony. I decided that we should go full bore on the best possible stub and told McCrone we want longer dwell times on each particle and go to the max on the number of particles to analyze. McCrone has assured us that the techniques they are using today are far more advanced than what we used back in 2017. We are expecting to get better analysis of particles we know to be on the stub as well as many never before seen particles. McCone said they have a "window" right now and should be able to get it scanned sooner than later. Myself and the rest of the particle team are anxiously awaiting the results and we will keep you posted as new things emerge. Unfortunately we will not be able to confirm the new particles until I get back to my lab beginning of October so lets keep our heads until final confirmation happens. New data! Exciting times! Tom Kaye

?? No, I was very specifically comparing MAGA to Nazi. Didn't say anything about republicans or conservatives. It is become more and more clear that MAGA has almost no connection with what the republican party once stood for.

Hi Joe, That could be true. The other option was to sit still & wring my hands. No thanks. Jerry Baumchen

I know. But that's OK - I write my posts for most, not all, people to understand them.

Indeed. Unless our wishful thinkers get it in mind that there are no practical limits on Presidential power anymore the game is up. Trumps dynasty will continue until there is another coup. As I see it, only Biden can fix this but he'll need to get dirty hands and quit believing what is no longer true. If he won't step away from the nomination then, yes, he should resign. Maybe we'll get lucky and Kamala will do what is right. It isn't Sunday anymore, the facts have changed.

The only three GOP women in the SC Senate have lost their primaries to right wing males because they each opposed SC's total abortion ban. The SC Senate will now have only two female senators, both Dems. I just don't understand what this country is coming to.

I think what SCOTUS has done is elevated itself to the most important branch. With the legislative branch in absolute chaos and unable to legislate, the executive branch unable to set rules, the judicial branch just became supreme ruler of the land.

On Twatter: "Biden could shoot Trump on 5th Ave and I'd still vote for Biden."

I like a whole lot about him; the biggest problem organizationally is that he's not high enough profile. With Biden potentially dropping out, the standard succession would have Kamala Harris being the candidate; nearly everyone is pretty sure she'll be eviscerated, whether fairly or not is moot. I can see the appeal of running someone who will appeal to the more liberal end of the Democratic party, to energize them and get them to vote. It's part of why the Republicans tolerate Trump. Everyone wants the other party to run a centrist candidate; it's the NIMBY of politics, I guess. What a shame. And he may not be interested (of course, neither may the others who have been proposed by the movers and shakers of SC). But yea, if the Dems ran him against Kamala, I'd vote for him in a NY minute. And he might last until OAN or someone made up a "baby daddy" situation. Wendy P.

Well, the absolute simplest is probably a base rig on a high bridge jump. One canopy, enough time to get stable, pull. No obstacles if it’s an ideal world. That said, I’d go with a square 7-cell main and a square 7-cell reserve. Because part of the simplicity is the same thing you’re used to no matter what. While they’re more complex-seeming, squares seem to have a better track record on not malfunctioning than rounds. Wendy P.

The issue at Lodi was a complicated one - most people new to the sport don't get, and people who have been involved for a while argue over. I never had a problem over there when I was actively jumping more, but I would never send a new or newer jumper there unless they were under direct supervision from someone I trusted. The accident with Brett on Sept.17th (read above) is a microcosm of what was going on: Brett came to another local DZ a couple weeks before this accident. I was S&TA. I would not let him jump the wingsuit without an instructor. He wasn't very current and kind of had an attitude that was not really receptive to our constructive suggestions. He left and now we all know what happened next. Is that a Lodi issue, or a Brett issue? Some will say Brett was an adult and was licensed and chose to do that and it killed him. Some places do there best to help those who aren't keen on helping themselves. And that is probably the biggest difference between Lodi and some other places. Lodi will let you be an adult, largely make your own choices, and deal with the consequences. Except swooping..don't touch the front risers. Lodi supporters will point to things like no swooping, I've seen Bill kick people of the DZ for unsafe things, etc. etc. And that is all true. However, there was this "let adults be adults" attitude that got more than one person killed, because as we all know, adults sometimes don't know how to be adults - especially skydivers. The TI issue was criminal in my opinion. Anyone that thinks Bill didn't know what was going on doesn't know Lodi. Lodi is a fraction of what it used to be at this point. The TI thing did him in. Kill experienced skydivers all day - nobody will really care. Kill a tandem student with criminal shenanigans - the party is over. Adults being adults right?