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Long time DZO of Lake Wales and Phoenix Z-Hills passed away this morning. She did a lot for our sport and she will be missed.

People have mostly moderated their views on gays because gays have come out and people have discovered that they are their friends and family. That horse is out of the barn. Reproductive rights on the other hand........ well, I'm not talking about convincing people. You can work on that if you want. but I'm not going to waste my time talking to the wall. It is a flat out fight and will only be won by fighting.

That’s also very true. But I don’t think preaching to the choir is as effective as getting someone who disagrees with me to acknowledge that they might be wrong. Because they might talk to their friends, and get some of them to at least moderate their views. Wendy P.

And maybe I’m just a liberal woman, but I’ve had more luck getting people to budge (even if not move ALL THE FUCKING WAY) by talking with them, not at them. And yes, I have gotten people to budge. I, too, have gay and non-gender-conforming friends and relatives. They’re lucky and provident in that mostly they live where their continued safety and freedom is likely. No, that’s not true of everyone out there. I value the opinions of many people on this forum. Doesn’t mean i agree, just that i don’t figure I know everything yet, and I love to question my assumptions. Not values, but definitely my assumptions. Wendy P.

The right wing push to appoint conservative judges is part of an attempt to turn back the clock. You are not wrong Joe. They are doing whatever they can to undo the basic human rights that have been gained in the past 60 years or so. I don't care if reactionaries are having a hard time adjusting. You and I and the real moral majority can not and will not let them succeed. Either in Canada or in the USA.

Maybe it's a liberal thing or an Oregon thing or maybe I'm just a whack job but I get seriously bothered knowing my Gay friends are getting hammered and now fear for their marriages. It's also plain as can be that giving women more rights, and not just over their own bodies which should be obvious to all, but in every area is the worlds best shot at peace and economic prosperity. Further, that the color of one Americans skin can cause him or her to have fewer rights and opportunities than another American is simply anathema to my world view. Sure it will piss people off hearing it said out loud but there is a strong religious component to our current march into the past. And, no, I don't like it, and no, I won't be silent. Like the Men in Black look to the tabloids for news about aliens, I look to Ron for news about our coming demise. He may not know his P's from his Q's but he can smell a coming theocracy like a hound dog. He say's "Patriots" but he means "Christians". He get's the import of Vice President Pence to the cause. He gets how important committed Christian crusaders like Secretary of State Pompeo and Attorney General Barr are to the end he desires: Patriots in Control. And what that portends I am definitely not jazzed about.

The fact that USPA is allowed to offer affiliation to Canadian DZs as a fig leaf cover is something that should be taken up with the FAI and the Canadian Aero Club in my opinion.

I have been questioning this in my mind as well. This is Baghdad, doesn't the US have the ability to apprehend pretty much anyone with the help of the Iraqi military at the Baghdad airport? Why was a drone strike and a Hellfire missile needed? Unless of course they knew that they had no grounds to just kidnap and hold him instead of a simple assassination.

A white American male, of course. Whatever they are is normal, everything else is for them to assign a value to. Ergo “Why can’t they assimilate (and be more like us)?” Wendy P.

There were no emoticons attached to this - so I don't know if this is a joke, or not. I assume not based on past postings and recent anger(admitted). It's Brent, and Kieth's fault for having a spine. Gotcha.

Speakers Corner sucks. I missed the dz.com boogies, but I met a number of posters when I was spending a lot of time in the USA and in fact Keith was the first person who showed me hospitality and took me out to dinner and showed me around town. I really wish that S.C. had more civilised discussion. It’s fine having different opinions, but shit sometimes this place feels like a fight to see who can be the biggest arse. The St Patrick’s boogie was amazing and I hope to go back sometime. Just reminiscing and thinking how different people can be in real life.

Pushing people into a corner doesn't generally make one's point. It shows a lack of respect for where the person is, and the fact that they probably actually have reasons for feeling the way they do about issues. Me, I'd rather just explain my point, rather than tell someone how wrong they are. Or just ignore them mostly (as happens with some here). If you divide the world into "with me" and "against right," and do it on a person-by-person basis, then you lose cooperation that could easily be achieved when you see that there are common goals on other issues. Bigun and I are not aligned on abortion; that doesn't mean that I don't respect his right to think that way, and it doesn't mean I will change my opinion (or quit contributing to birth-control-aligned causes). But he thinks, and reacts to the content of posts, rather than to the person -- that, to me, is a good way to be. Wendy P.

That can be lost wholly on some in this crowd.

He can't. They never can actually point to what your friend Barry did that might start a war. Obama droned a lot of assholes and I always supported it. I also supported President Bush using drones to kill assholes. I totally support using Seals, Delta, Rangers or any US or allied special forces to do nasty work against combatants in a war. But using drones to assassinate a foreign government official on an allies soil is just asking for big trouble. And let's be honest here, Trump is an unprepared moron who has denuded the government of capable advisors--not that he'd listen anyway--so this is especially freaky.

Who would’ve thought politics in the Middle East could be so complicated?

it depends. if you are commenting on your experiences that are still relevant, then no, don't stop spreading that knowledge around as it is still relevant. most of your knowledge will be like that, as 2012 is only 8 years ago, and you are married to a current instructor, so you have access to current training methods and can also pass that knowledge around. so to answer the original question, no, you shouldn't stfu, your knowledge is valuable and should be shared.

A good arch cures a lot of problems. The tunnel is always good. On the floor is also good. As well, stand a distance away from a wall and arch forward with your hips until your belly button only touches the wall. Too easy? Move back. In yoga, there is an exercise called the superman (attached). Using that and adapting it slightly (arms in, legs slight bent, yadda yadda yadda) can also work. Yoga pants not required.

Betty's face was one of the kind faces I always looked forward to seeing at Lake Wales when I went through my student progression there in the early 2000's...She will indeed be missed.

The two memories of Scotty that I have, one at Bill Booth's house in 1980 for a party. I see a Pitts Special fly over doing aerobatics at about 1000' then one last aileron roll and Scotty drops out when it was inverted. The other memory was summer of 1980 at about midnight hanging around Dupuis' hanger and Scotty comes up with beer in hand looking for anyone that wanted to climb some tower out in middle FL to make a BASE jump. Made the jump as the sun was coming up. Irony: "the History and Trivia section hijacked by the D.B. Cooper thread"

Took the liberty to colour correct the Barish Sailwing pic posted by 33zulu https://i62.servimg.com/u/f62/11/94/64/62/carbon11.jpg JUMP RUN 1979 movie is at www.callmetree.com