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  1. 4 points
    New episode out now! DB Cooper isn't Clara with Chris Cunningham. https://thecoopervortex.podbean.com/e/db-cooper-isnt-clara-chris-cunningham/ Enjoy!
  2. 3 points
    How often you gotta replace them regenerative 'break' pads?
  3. 3 points
    Full disclosure, I have no background in the discipline of Stylometry. But my immediate take on this topic is that the sample size is too small. Could comparing one small letter be enough to draw the conclusions that were being made? Questions popping into my head like if you took 100 or 1000 other comparable sized control letters and compared them to the same group of Barb's letters, would you get any other similar results i.e. 97% certainty. Other questions I have are more generic to Stylometry and false positive statistics? How does it compare to a DNA match which is typically 99% accurate ? What are the odds of two people writing in a similar way both structurally and using a similar vocabulary catalog ? I think more work needs to be done to validate the initial test. One of the things I missed in the Youtube video, was how or why Barb Dayton became the target of the Stylometry exercise in the first place. I am going to go back and watch it again.
  4. 2 points
    There IS a valid fear that he could win again. I'm less and less worried about it as time goes by. The polls showing him leading Biden are somewhat suspect. There's a lot of reasons to question their validity. The biggest reason is how they've done for the primaries. While Trump won all the primaries but one, he didn't even come close to the margin of victory the polls predicted. Some polls had him winning by double what he actually won by. So polls that show him a few percent above Biden don't bother me much. The idea that the RNC is now being run by Trump's minions is fucking hilarious. It's abundantly clear that Trump is going to loot the bank accounts to pay for all his 'troubles'. As a result, the ability of the RNC to support any other candidates is going to be highly compromised. So Republicans everywhere are going to get shortchanged. And screwed over. And will lose. I'm sure there are some Rs that have enough on their own to win. And there are quite a few that are in districts so solid that the winner is going to be an "R". A lot of the big donors won't want the money they donate to go into Trump's pocket. So donations will drop. They already are. Trump is likely going to do more damage to the Republican party than anyone thought possible back in 2015. It's tempting to call this a 'nail in the coffin', or a 'death knell', and it may well be. But that's not certain.
  5. 2 points
    Up next - Conservatives realize that EVs can go up to 100mph - and if you crash at 100mph you will DIE! EV's are DEATH TRAPS that can travel at UNSAFE SPEEDS and KILL YOUR KIDS!! Stick with gas cars!
  6. 2 points
    Here's what I have, data from about 30 years back when I was new to the sport and a bit obsessed with collecting data and understanding the sport. 1. Two pages from I guess the Italian skydiving magazine in 1992 listing the early tandem fatalities in order. (Apparently there was also one on a European Galaxy rig sometime in that era, that isn't in those stats.) First tandem fatality is shown as the one with one snap not done up, TI spent entire jump trying to hook it up, without deploying anything (even the drogue). 2. An html file from UPT listing tandem fatalities and causes in order (but with no dates). From 2008, back when they listed that on their web site. 3. Scribbled pencil notes of mine from the early 1990s, where I listed a bit of the evolution of tandems (eg the date when Strong & Booth got their FAA exemptions to allow tandems), plus all the early fatalities and dates. I think most of the data on dates comes from an article in Parachutist,July 1989. (Which I can't find at the moment.) That list puts that first tandem fatality -- with the snap not done up -- as Oct 19, 1986. Back in those days people were wondering what the heck was going on with Vector tandems, as in the first dozen fatal accidents, there were 10 on Vectors, and 1 on a Galaxy, before there was 1 was a Strong Dual Hawk. There sure were a lot of different causes of accidents -- Stupid stuff we're not allowed to do with tandems now, main bags that much more easily came out of the container early, plus a lot more casual training and attitudes towards tandems. Which brought in the idea that 'it isn't just another skydive'. It also took a while to come up with the first tandem CYPRES, and eventually the idea of making one mandatory for tandems. (Wish I had the dates for those.) RWS tandem fatality list as of Feb08.htm
  7. 2 points
    Well, I clicked on Brent's link and read the article. The FIRST thing was that there was a pop-up whining and crying that Google is 'attacking' them. Calling them liars for having articles full of... Lies. And trying to get them shut down... For lying. And I find the comparison rather disingenuous. The brake dust and tire particles are much higher than tailpipe emissions from ICE cars. But how do they compare to the ICE's brake dust and tire particles? A typical example of the Alt-right comparing apples to bunny rabbits. And they call the "Main Stream Media" fake. I also found the bitching about range estimates to be laughable. They claimed that EVs have about 60% of the promoted range, because it's 'best practice' to keep the battery between 20% and 80% state of charge (which is true). However, it's ALSO 'best practice' to keep your gas tank in an ICE car above 1/4 tank. Many modern cars have the fuel pump in the tank, the fuel surrounding the pump keeps it cool. Running the tank low on a regular basis will let the pump run hotter and it will fail sooner. While it's best for the battery of an EV to keep it in the 'safe area', there's no reason not to charge to 100%, or run it down close to zero, as long as you don't do it all the time. Edit to add: They also repeat the lie that the power generation for the electricity pollutes just as much as the tailpipe of an ICE car. While coal generated power isn't 'super clean', it still creates less pollutants than what comes out the back of an ICE car. By a huuuuuge margin. Also ignores the fact that coal makes up less than 20% of power generation. Personally, my local power utility generates from hydro. They have a natural gas 'peaker' that comes on when the demand is higher than the river can provide, but I charge off peak, so my car is damned near 'zero emissions'. For real.
  8. 2 points
    I don't think you meant "inferring".
  9. 2 points
    I don't anyone because of their worldview. I block people who are only here to troll. I don't block you, or RonD or Winsor.
  10. 2 points
    We're talking about unchecked aggregation here, Dude!
  11. 2 points
  12. 2 points
    No apology necessary, that's a great update and thanks for sharing !!! I think it is an important part of the suspect profile puzzle !
  13. 2 points
    A catalog of his recent lies. https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2024/03/14/trump-crazy-new-claims-fact-checked/ How any person with a shred of decency or intelligence can support Trump is a total mystery to me. I'll take a forgetul old man over a lying, cheating, predatory and ignorant old man any day (or 4 years).
  14. 2 points
    I think more work needs to be done to validate the initial test. I agree. Samples matter. I would compare the Clara letters to Forman letters. If a positive match is found to one of the Formans ... then there is a potential problem. Likewise who were Dayton's associates independent of the Formans? Maybe the whole circle of people around Dayton must be examined in addition to Dayton only. .. Keep in mind we are dealing with syntactical structures vs phonology. Phonology has far more data points that can be quantified vs syntactical strictures. If we could compare a Dayton voice recording with a Clara call, the analysis would be on much firmer ground. I am assuming recordings of those voices dont exist? If Kaczynsk's voice could have been compared to a sample of the Unabomber voice a phonological match could have been made very quickly, vs syntactical comparison. Its an issue of data and quantifiable data points in one method vs another. But, I think Andrade has done a marvelous piece of work with this.
  15. 2 points
    Ryan, good discussion on Youtube the other day regarding whether or not Cooper was a pilot, Pat had some very insightful points in favor, Jersey girls brings it ! (couldn't really hear the lady from New Zealand very well). You guys touched on the fact that he seemed to not realize that flying dirty would limit the range of the air craft and make a non stop flight to Mexico impossible. This is what has always given me some pause as well, if he was a pilot with any substantial experience, you would think he should have known that. I am in the camp that he just wanted to get the plane flying south also, and may not have really cared about ever getting to Mexico. However, I am still not sure this dismisses him not anticipating that he might get called out on his request for a non stop flight to Mexico. Another less frequent item brought up by Pat I believe was the Benzedrine. I may have asked this before, but what is the origin of this ? Was it in the FBI files or did it come from Tosaw or Grey ? Unrelated to the pilot question, you guys also touched on one of his biggest blunders that could have done him in. That being where he seems to have allowed for an opportunity for everyone to bug out and leave him on the plane by himself at Seatac. As well as he seems to have planned out the "job", he wasn't perfect...but as they say, sometimes it's better to be lucky. When I think about this, I wonder would Braden have made that mistake ? BTW, here is the latest from Dr. Edwards in case folks haven't seen it yet: https://www.goodreads.com/author_blog_posts/24580716-d-b-cooper-and-flight-305-lou-rucker He seems to be trying to get some of the names and details for the people that were jumping out of the 727s for Air America/Southern Air Transport. There was a blurb in the last FBI doc which indicates that the FBI was looking into a tip for someone who fit the hijacker's description and was part of these jumps: [Redacted] has close associate known to [redacted] (LNU) [Last Name Unknown] of Ft. Hood, Texas, [redacted] at same time in nineteen sixty-four. [Redacted] made numerous sport jumps from rear of military equivalent to Norjak plane [Boeing 727-51]. Jumps were made from rear door in exactly same manner as unsub [unidentified subject] in instant matter. Also made numerous night jumps. [Redacted] described [redacted, four letters] (LNU) as being white male, olive complexion, five feet eleven inches, one seventy-five lbs., well educated, chain smoker, age [redacted], excellent sky diver from mid west. ... [Redacted] Portland, Oregon at telephone number [redacted] was shown composite of unsub [unidentified subject] and feels it would bear remarkable likeness to [redacted, four letters] (LNU) after having aged six or seven years.”
  16. 2 points
    Pence? HELL, YES!!! I would have been delighted to see the Orange Moron croak, and Pence take over.
  17. 1 point
    Now, Donald Trump is claiming that he can't make the 464 million dollar bond in his civil fraud case. Don't be fooled. It's not that Donald Trump doesn't have the money. He doesn't have enough OTHER PEOPLE'S MONEY!
  18. 1 point
    I have this fantasy of a blond-haired thug shoving his face into a toilet bowl: "Where's the money Donny? Alina said you're good for it! Where's the money, shithead???"
  19. 1 point
    So little Donny doesn't have the money? Trump Says He Doesn’t Have Means to Post Bond in NY Fraud Case ...Trump's team is asserting that there are no bond companies that are willing to take real estate as collateral for a judgment of this magnitude... Especially from a deadbeat grifter.
  20. 1 point
  21. 1 point
    The Fitz boogie just ended. Great few days catching up with many long time dz.commers some who still lurk, some active and some who haven't logged in for years.
  22. 1 point
    Now why didn't they choose to limit them to 88mph? ;-)
  23. 1 point
    I've got a lot of concerns about Trump pulling off a win in November....first and foremost is the concern that there's a sizable chunk of the population that's stoked about the prospect of giving that maniac another 4 years. The fact that Trump's MAGA-fying the RNC, installing the craziest of the crazies to run the show and almost certainly planning to use it as a piggy-bank for legal fees all work to providing a glimmer of hope.
  24. 1 point
    Leaving the Vortex. Might be back someday. I still believe WJS is Cooper. Need two mods for Reddit, neutral people. If you think you should be one, you probably shouldn’t. IM me. Good luck all.
  25. 1 point
  26. 1 point
    yup - try calling your senators. The best I have gotten in the past 3 years is an answering machine. I am willing to bet that Bezos (et al) have all the senators phone numbers and I bet they answer when he calls.
  27. 1 point
    Just because everyone is going to ask -- what size human is the container built for?
  28. 1 point
  29. 1 point
    Nothing like chasing your dreams...thank you for sharing your amazing journey!!! Happy landings, Rafael
  30. 1 point
    But Cooper wasn't wearing "aviators" and those glasses I posted aren't aviators. I wear aviators myself. They're the only sunglasses I've worn as an adult. These aren't aviators nor was Cooper wearing aviators. Aviators do not have thick plastic frames (Tina, Alice) nor do they have any hint of a horn rim (Alice, Gregory) I defy you to find a photograph from WWII of anyone wearing sunglasses like those I posted.
  31. 1 point
    The answer has to be that it's not happening, that we really are in a software simulation of reality and the new coder is a truly sick individual.
  32. 1 point
    Chris Cunningham recently found these sunglasses on eBay. These appear to be the closest analog to Cooper's. They are called Solarama's and they were produced in the 60's. I believe he and I bought the only two pairs on eBay. The listing even said they have a green/brown tint to them, which is how several passengers described Cooper's shades as looking like. Bill called them a "honey brown" tint and said that the rims were "very dark." When you search for these types of glasses from that era you rarely see them. Most sunglasses for men back then were expensive Italian type sunglasses, aviators, or the ubiquitous "bluesman" sunglasses. So because there were so few of these "proto-Oakleys" around at the time, these may actually be Cooper's sunglasses.
  33. 1 point
    Thanks for the response Cola. The reason the Benzedrine anecdote is interesting to me: 1) I think it is part of the pilot/military/aviation discussion. Military personnel, particularly pilots were issued Benzedrine for long missions. By 1971 I understand that amphetamines were common knowledge and in use among the public, but I still think if he did indeed offer them that it has it's root in mission based preparedness from prior military/aviation experience. 2) From a strategic aspect, Cooper brought it up for one of two reasons: - To really be used as an aid to the long flight to Mexico. Or - As a way to make everyone think they were in it for the long haul while he planned to exit the plane as quickly as possible and give himself a better chance at getting away. I did a little bit of digging, just to kind of close the loop, found this article from Bruce back in 2013 where he says: " According to Tosaw and Gray, Cooper also brought several tablets of Benzedrine to keep the crew alert." https://themountainnewswa.net/2013/02/06/the-hunt-for-db-cooper-who-was-cooper-what-is-known/ In the Vortex, Gray has been a somewhat well respected source. I believe he had cooperation from the FBI for his book and access to the FBI files and evidence. So he must have got it from this access. Tosaw was FBI, so he had access to everything. But as you mentioned, other than a news article, it is nowhere in the FBI files that have been released yet. To your point, how could it not be ? If it was part of any of the stewardess testimony, it should be all over that portion of FBI files.
  34. 1 point
    I agree. The fact that she's not "caucasian" is just a lagniappe for those folks Wendy P.
  35. 1 point
    Boss, I think the minority thing you speak to is correct but I think most of the anti-Kamala bit is strictly misogyny. Too many of a certain brand of dude are used to pushing women around and getting them to submit and consequently will never believe women have backbones, can think, and will stand firm in an emergency. They also believe that any female with sexual agency is incapable of answering that 3 AM call that saves the western world because they are temporarily out of their minds. Yes, race inequality and injustice is critical, but the battle we need to fight now is sexual equality.
  36. 1 point
    In all of the 302's a reference to Benzedrine only occurs one time in the records from a Newspaper article in the Oregonian on November 30th - 71 quoting Rataczak. Rataczak is quoted making reference to a conversation Tina held with Cooper, where Coops made the request for food and indicated he had stimulants / Benzedrine for the crew. The Portland office clipped the article, but there no indication that the article was shared with other field offices. There is nothing in the 302's indicating that this detail was followed up on and if Tina, Rataczak or the Author were contacted to verity Coops indeed offered pills, stimulants or Benzedrine to the crew. Although, it is always a possibility that any sharing of the article was pulled from the 302's being a duplicate copy and that within the 302's a record indicating this was followed up on or verified has yet to be released. Maybe it was just jotted down in agent notes and not added to the interviews. Who knows. Rataczak does make mention of Cooper having "some pills" in his NWO historical interview but he is prompted by the audience on this detail and affirms without ident. of Benzedrine specifically. I try only to read 302's so I can't speak to this being referenced in either Tosaw's or Grey's book. Maybe someone else that has read these would care to chime in. My doubt on this is that, had Coops offered pills to Tina, you woudl think she would have relayed this to Bill or a crew member directly. Bill's Oregonian quote comes off as second hand as if he had not heard this directly from Tina during the event but that it had been relayed to him after the fact. Further doubt on this is that the flight transcripts, handwritten notes and none of the witness interviews make mention of pills - stimulants or Benzedrine being offered to the crew. part 54 pg. 23008
  37. 1 point
    Well, she's not unpopular with people who don't hate women with brown skin. She's quite qualified. US Senator, State Attorney General, prosecutor, a solid background of being effective in all those positions. (Note: The overall misogyny and racism in the US mean that her qualifications are WELL ABOVE what any white man would need to obtain those positions) Far better qualified than Quayle or Gore, who both had the main qualification of being born to rich and powerful daddies.
  38. 1 point
    The law of averages says that someone who had made it to 81 and is still in good health will most likely live another 5 years. But of course nothing is guaranteed in life.
  39. 1 point

    Time Left: 23 days and 11 hours

    • FOR SALE
    • NEW

    Brand new Aerodyne Smart reserve canopies are in stock both standard and LPV versions. Plz enquiry re: available sizes.

    $1,498.00

    - US

  40. 1 point
    Kamala Harris is for sure one of the R party's favourite scare tactic boogeymen. (is boogeywoman a thing?) The reality is she would be far better than the recycled dotard they are offering up.
  41. 1 point
    I'm conservative and I don't care. I only care when children are medically encouraged to change genders. I think it;s wrong.
  42. 1 point
    His obvious decline aside, it is his is policies with which I take issue. That said actuarial tables say he will not serve out his term and that will leave us with this…
  43. 1 point
    Aw, come on. You'll enjoy it.
  44. 1 point
  45. 1 point
    Divorce tends to be ugly. When someone is in denial about the split and reestablishes 'spousal rights' by force of arms, that is generally considered felonious and frowned upon. It is ironic that many of the people who laud the virtues of reabsorbing the Confederacy at bayonet point are all in favor of backing breakaway republics hither and yon (Kosovo et al.). Suffice it to say that I find slavery of any type to be repellent, and have a much better track record in working with people of any description than, say, Abraham Lincoln (read his actual writings on the subject). What is 'good' or 'bad' rather depends upon who you ask, so I make no such claims either way. I have found, however, that the study of history often provides a vastly different picture than is widely accepted. As Asimov pointed out, the sound of scientific discovery isn't 'Eureka!,' it's 'that's funny...' The same is often true with historical records. BSBD, Winsor
  46. 1 point
    Not to failed state yet, but I think the thin blue line is strong here; it's just that the non-MAGA-heads are seen as being outside that line by too many people here. All this deliberate division of people is so damaging. Wendy P.
  47. 1 point
    Hi Joe, Re: I'm not sure if I agree with vax mandates or not I am firmly in the NOT category. That is the first step down a slippery slope that I want nothing to do with. I want ANY situation/discussion/treatment to be between my doctor & I. Re: I AM in favor of not allowing unvaxxed people in certain places, to do certain activities and putting them at the 'back of the line' for medical care. I agree totally. I also feel that if a person is not on an organ donor list, they should not receive an organ donation. Jerry Baumchen
  48. 1 point
    Hi Jerry, An embryo can be frozen for a very long time, then used to create a living baby. The current record is 27 years, with the baby being born in Oct 2020. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-55164607 Can't do that with a baby. OTOH, as far as vaccines go, a pregnant woman won't make other women around her pregnant. I'm not sure if I agree with vax mandates or not (none exist at the moment). I AM in favor of not allowing unvaxxed people in certain places, to do certain activities and putting them at the 'back of the line' for medical care.
  49. 1 point
    I don't think anyone should be forced to get a vaccine. MOST (not all) people on the left agree there. I do think that if you don't get vaccinated, or you don't want to wear a mask, there are things you won't be able to do. Go into a NICU or a hospital room, for example.
  50. 1 point
    Your membership # will remain the same but your licence # will change as you progress to diff ones
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