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Personally? It guides my morality and worldview. I didn't know anything about how people in sub-Saharan Africa lived, and imagined they were all poor, ignorant people who lived in poverty and misery. Then I spent a month there and learned they were some of the happiest people around. When I told them I was a skydiver, one of the kids pantomined an entire RW skydive, including throwing a hand-deploy at the end and releasing the brakes. They all spoke three languages. I thought the US was a good influence there. And I discovered in the cities and larger towns that everyone hated Americans, because they'd come in and steamroller over local businesses, homesteads and farms (often literally) in the name of profit. "It never their fault" one guy told me, who explained that Americans always blamed their boss, or the shareholders, or the (Niger) government for whatever trouble they caused. But when you got to the smaller towns, the only Americans people had seen were Peace Corps volunteers. And they saw Peace Corps volunteers as sometimes misguided, sometimes clueless, but clearly there because they were trying to help. And thus I was welcomed with open arms. And that taught me that ultimately it's what you do, not what you say or what you profess to believe, that determines your morality and how you are seen by the world. I thought I was "woke" and really understood people. Then I managed a transgender woman and realized that I really didn't understand much of anything, and I never would, since I'm a straight cis middle aged white guy. But that that was OK as long as I could accept that her point of view was as valid as mine - even if it didn't make sense to me. I've known people who were great guys, would do anything for you, who turned out to be pedophiles. I've known miserable people who would curse you and never say a good word about anyone - but years after they were gone, I found out they'd been supporting several families and paying for their kid's college education for no reason other than he thought they deserved a chance. From that I learned to not judge people so quickly. True of Barack Obama, too. (Or as you preferred, Barack HUSSEIN Obama.) But I bet you don't think that the reaction to his name defines his significance.

From what I've read, pedophilia is, in fact, a sexual orientation. It's not acceptable because children cannot consent. And, like many other orientations, it's a spectrum, with the axes that matter most being the degree to which one is attracted to children ("only" to "mildly" to "no fucking way"), and the sex drive the individual has. Because is someone really isn't that strongly driven to sex, they can just ignore it, or be celibate. If, on the other hand, they have a strong sex drive, and they're really "only" attracted to children, then they're well and truly fucked. Because it's not acceptable. The scholar (note the singular here) made it clear that children are not to be involved with sex; it's unacceptable. But saying it's purely a decision out of evil is like saying that someone who has dylsexia and can't read is lazy or stupid. Understanding things is how you begin to address them. And maybe, for some people, complete isolation is the only answer. Wendy P.

We have been taught by our culture that fear is a bad thing and clearly you see it that way too. Fear will keep you alive. It is the voice in our heads that reminds us we are conducting a dangerous activity. Fear - up to but not exceeding the point where it inhibits your abilities - is ok. It comes with the territory. You can fight fear or you can accept it. The latter will make things a lot easier for you. Think less, fly more.

I know a show you could present your case on.

i'll keep you updated on the helmet. it will be done first anyway. the other idea is one that may never materialize, depending on what i find out in my research. it is a rather small subset of jumpers who would even consider using it, and it would greatly modify your deployment and emergency procedures, possibly to the point of introducing some element of danger that is unacceptable. that is how all great ideas come about though, they have to be thought of first. this may, or may not be, one of them. we shall see.

On a tandem, the drogue system introduces most of the tandem specific malfunction modes that need careful training and planning to prevent. And I can see no way that it could prevent hard openings. How on Earth did you come to this opinion?

I'm going to partially disagree here. While tunnel teaches all the skills necessary for a successful freefall, it does nothing to actually teach you what it is like to be out there; actually falling towards the planet. As instructors we need to be very careful to not fall into the trap of OK-ing experienced tunnel staff for too much, too soon. They're still students with individual and maybe unique needs. To the OP, as others have pointed out you do have an extensive toolkit for successfully making that first freefall. If you feel that this toolkit alone is not sufficient, there is no shame in quitting. The first jump (your tandem) merely happens to you. After that, you start experiencing the jumps more and more. With the knowledge and experience you have so far, you have to make a decision. Also consider this: In the tunnel, you da man. Every student looks to you what to do. You know how things work, teach people to fly their body and probably can do stuff that most other people, skydivers included, can only look at in admiration. Then you go to the DZ. Now you are the student. The feeling of control you have in the tunnel is gone. You have to accept this not only intellectually but subconsciously as well. Finally, I would submit that "I continued for no other reason than because I did not want to look afraid" is one of the worst reasons to continue jumping.

How many people are getting unemployment because they are choosing not to work?

Managing design teams for a large construction company. I've been doing it as a consultant for nearly 20 years on everything from jet engines to nuclear subs to cities.

Ron, you're not the President. There are things that are OK in friends that aren't as OK in people in power. Abuse thereof is very high on the list (and anyone with lots of money has power). Wendy P.

Hooray. Good news. I got a job offer today! It’s not quite what I was after, but with so many people unemployed right now and companies having a freeze on hiring just finding a job is a godsend.

Hi folks, https://rigginginnovations.com/content/rigging-innovations-merge-sun-path?fbclid=IwAR1eDDixSbDbSeiaMoo_gmIjelbscNyDQpY6zgEx4weA5p_isYlodPQ9VQc I first heard of this about two yrs ago; but was sworn to secrecy. Jerry Baumchen

Hi HPC, Re: makes me wonder why Sandy decided to sell He did not sell, it was a merger. Re: had he first tried to sell the company I had heard that it had been for sale for about 4 yrs; no takers. Re: the second largest manufacturer of H/Cs I do believe that Sunpath is the largest mfr of H/C's. Re: their decision to buy out RI Again, not a sale, a merger. The devil is in the details. Jerry Baumchen

Well, except for a couple key people it's unlikely many employees will be moving from AZ to NC. The Curv and the Javelin are as different from each other as modern H/Cs get these days. I can see Sunpath continuing to produce the Curv and updating it. They did not need to buy out RI. Sandy would have retired and shut it down eventually anyway.

I'm skeptical about the continued production of one of the products (hint coming up). Usually when one company takes over another, the products and/or service, and subsequently most of the employees, of the company being taken over are phased out over the course of several years. Not trying to start anything here, but this has been my observation and has been proven time and time again, and in many different industries.