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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
    Driven by there; it's about 25 miles from my family's ancestral summer camp. Also, just a hop, skip, and a jump from the Franklin Pierce homestead. It's about as impressive as Franklin Pierce. Wendy P.
  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
    We need you. I think Chris used the metaphor of "we all stand on the shoulders of giants". Ultimately all of us will help bring this case to a conclusion. In this regard there is no question you are a contributor. No one doubts you are not invested or that you do not bring both unique insights and perspectives to the group. This DNA and Stylometry stuff is not for everyone, but you seem to have a very good grasp on the technicals. I speak for myself in saying that I think there will be a deficiency here in the groups understanding if you were to pull away completely. Take a few months off, but always know that whether your candidate is or is not Cooper ultimately your contributions will help in some measure to resolve this case.
  24. 1 point
    Both tyre wear particles and tailpipe emissions are bad, but if I had to choose between them, I'd choose tyre particles. Tailpipe emissions have more smaller particles - PM2.5 and below, while tyre wear causes larger particles. PM2.5 is linked more definitively to negative health impacts, and death. And you HAPPILY announce any increases in coal use - they're one of the biggest emitters of mercury in the air. It's also funny how you pretend you care about pollution when plastic bag waste increases, you're almost jumping for joy.
  25. 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.
  26. 1 point
    What are you doing posting here?!?!? You should be running out to sell your wife's SUV and buy a Civic, now that you're aware of the dangers of heavy vehicles!
  27. 1 point
  28. 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.
  29. 1 point
    You do things like this... Every station is a different course of fire. And some people don't see the point in jumping out of an airplane... If you heard someone say, "I mean all you do is fall and open a parachute before you die" would you consider them knowledgeable about skydiving?
  30. 1 point
  31. 1 point
    What "Right" are you talking about? Seriously, do you even know what the 1st Amendment SAYS? More important, do you know what it means? And who it applies to? When LouDiamond (Scott Campos) was moderating on here, he had a pretty good comeback for the concept you're trying to present.
  32. 1 point
    Nothing like chasing your dreams...thank you for sharing your amazing journey!!! Happy landings, Rafael
  33. 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.
  34. 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.
  35. 1 point
    I agree. The fact that she's not "caucasian" is just a lagniappe for those folks Wendy P.
  36. 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.
  37. 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
  38. 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.
  39. 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.
  40. 1 point
    It's hard to see how authoritarianism would not be the default in any large and well organized human society. We all live under some degree of it. The only thing that keeps it in some check in the western world is the thing we call democracy in all its various forms. It is the power to force a change of rulers on a regular basis every 4 years or so. No one or no group who holds power ever gives it up willingly. And we can all see that democracy is incredibly fragile.
  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
    I am so long away from that I hesitate to say anything! Back in the sixties Bill Gibson, Robt Howren, and I (at Wendel Johnson Speech & Hearing) tried to devise a sorting program looking for syntax indicative of the language acquisition period - in children. We examined a large amount of text taken from recordings of children etc. We had a number of people looking over our shoulders as we tried to develop this 'algorithm' - people in linguistics, neurology, education, ed-psych measurement etc. My wife was doing her student teaching at the Area Development Center in Davenport, Ia at the time so I went went with her and began recording the speech patterns of handicapped children. I was interested in comparing that population with samples from 'normal' non-institutionalized children. The fit was good. I decided to compare that data with a large sample of data from Downes clients, ages 2-25, and was surprised by the results. Our program suggested that the Downes clients were engaging in 'acquisition like' speech patterns skewed to ages 18-25! I consulted with the director of the center and she smiled and said: 'yes. its a syndrome we've seen for years...it usually stops by age 25'. A colleague Bob Wachal noted that he thought he had seen similar linguistic 'experimentation' in patients trying to recover from brain injuries... obviously there must be a neurological basis for anything like this regardless of the age and condition of people entering such a phase ? The whole thing became an interesting academic exercise. Bill Gibson and I were using PL1 ... about 1968. Work of this kind has advanced light years beyond where we were in those early years using PL1 ... I think Bob Wachal went further with his work on Aphasia. Its a neurological issue of importance for anyone who has a brain injury affecting language skills ...
  43. 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…
  44. 1 point
    Yeah, and the Mike Tyson joke about who's the 'husband' and who's the 'wife' applies.
  45. 1 point
  46. 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
  47. 1 point
    While I don't think it represents the majority, there are a LOT of cops who are Trumpettes, and authoritarian bullies. Don't forget that Kyle Rittenhouse, after killing 2 people and severely wounding another, walked up to the cops while holding a loaded rifle. They told him to go home. OTOH, the guy who shot & killed a Trumpette at a protest, in what could well have been legitimate self defense, was shot and killed 'resisting arrest while armed', yet a weapon wan't found. And don't forget about the Biden bus that the Trumpanzee assholes tried to run off the road in Texas. The people on the bus called the cops, but they 'couldn't be bothered' to respond.
  48. 1 point
    Not half of the country or even half of those who identify and Republican or conservative. More like a third of Republicans and 10-15% of America. It just seems more since they were given a social club and a uniform.
  49. 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.
  50. 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
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