Lawndarter

Whatever drugs this guy's on, I hope he's not going them at the DZ.

Rode past it last summer on Nevada SR-375, with a stop for lunch at the Little A'Le'Inn - good burgers. You obviously can't see any of the base, but I rode up the access road as far as you can just to see it - where the blacktop starts, you're trespassing. Someone mentioned Mono Lake and also Bodie - both excellent. Latte Da Coffee in Lee Vining has some of the best coffee I've ever had, and really good breakfast sandwiches. It's attached to a kitschy neat motel as well. I wish I had known about it instead of staying in Bridgeport at the Bridgeport Inn, which was nice, but super pricey.

This, of course, is total nonsense. Snopes has no "liberal bias", indeed, most of its content has nothing to do with politics. However, when it became a common source for torpedoing those stupid chain emails from your racist uncle (or weirdos on dropzone.com), it's only natural that conservatives had to start spreading rumours about it. Snopes, like all fact checking cites, works by showing its work. It doesn't just debunk something, it provides you all of the information in supporting the debunk (and usually, with fake news, that isn't a lot of work). Likewise with wikipedia, it's a great aggregator, but if you want to use it, better to go to the actual sources than it. Conservapedia is so comical it reads like a parody site. Intelligent people don't take that kind of nonsense seriously. Someone already quoted Stephen Colbert though - facts do have a liberal bias. So, apparently, does reality.

It's a little awkward when a literal fascist tosses out "fascist" as a pejorative. And, no I'm not being hyperbolic. She tweeted out a neo-Nazi dog whistle not too long ago.

This is an excellent summation of why churches and pastors need to start paying tax.

I have a hard time coming up with a precedent for the sheer volume of lies, or the unbridled and pointless stupidity of so many of those lies.

Look at the idiots in his cabinet! Rick Perry at the Department of Energy - a position previously held by a nuclear physicist run by an idiot who thinks glasses make him look smarter. Betsy DeVos at the Department of Education - a woman with no education and no experience with public schools, as she's a billionaire who homeschooled her kids. Jared Kushner? What qualifications does he have to do anything? Etc etc etc

Nope, don't think so either. Nor will it do anything to make Tabitha Speer feel any better. He long ago did so, and isn't described in any of the reporting or assessments that came from Guantanamo or anywhere else as being particularly fanatical. Dalhousie University in Halifax is doing a lot of work in studying demobilization and reintegration, particularly for child soldiers, but I suspect a lot of it will be more broadly applicable. Indeed one of the things that we're grappling with her is what to do with soldiers when they're no longer fit to be soldiers, and we're a professional army in a well educated Western democracy.

There's no evidence that he did what he was accused of beyond that he was there. And there is no substance to the suggestion that "Trudeau specifically orchestrated" anything. The Government's lawyers negotiated a settlement of a lawsuit, that's not particularly unusual. What "interference" would there be? Such negotiations (and settlements) are customarily confidential.

They had to ask for him, it seems like. The best parallel case I can find is David Hicks, an Australian who pleaded guilty to a charge, got a suspended sentence, and went back to Australia. His conviction was later overturned (which will likely be what happens with Khadr once his appeal proceeds in the United States). You can read about it here. https://scc-csc.lexum.com/scc-csc/scc-csc/en/item/7842/index.do He got a similar settlement to Maher Arar, a Canadian citizen incorrectly connected to Khadr's father, whom the Canadian government sent to Syria knowing he would be tortured. The main issue was that Guantanamo was specifically created to avoid US law and the formalities of things like due process of law. Canada knowingly participated in that.

For what it's worth, I served in Afghanistan in 2012. A very good friend of mine was killed there. Two NCOs who had a very significant impact on my career development were too. I harbour no particular ill will toward Omar Khadr. Other members of his family are far shittier people, but this isn't about them. Ultimately it's not worth my time or effort to hate the guy. What little he's said and has been said about him publicly suggests he wants to get on with his life, and I think that's the best way he can ever make any amends - to live a decent life, to be a contributing member of society. He was taken to Afghanistan at 9 and sucked into their civil war even before 9/11. I have no doubt he was under a variety of terrible influences which shaped the course of his life up until his capture. Having been a 15 year old once, with some terrible ideas of my own from those around me, I understand that. At the core of it, whether he was a deemed a child soldier under conventional definitions at the time (which apparently changed from 14 to 18 at some point) is irrelevant. Whether he threw the grenade that killed SFC Speer and blinded Sgt Morris (and there's no evidence of that whatsoever) is irrelevant. What he was doing in Afghanistan at that time is irrelevant. Whether he was a committed true believer in Al Qaeda's ideas is irrelevant. Indeed, the only thing that matters is that in his interaction with Canadian officials from CSIS and DFAIT, his Charter Rights were violated. That's the finding of the Supreme Court of Canada in Prime Minister v Khadr 2008. That finding meant that there is no prospect whatsoever of the government defending the civil suit filed by him. Settling the case ends it being dragged on to the same conclusion at a much higher cost. It's time to move on. He got a perfunctory apology, which he deserved. The money will mostly go to his legal fees, I'm sure, but I don't really care about it to be honest. The amount is comparable to what Maher Arar got, and that's likely no coincidence. Sure, it'd be great if he donates the money or helps make some kind of peace with the families of his alleged victims, but I see no obligation for him to do so. The ramifications of trying to run from culpability and accountability are far worse to me. Three successive governments, representing two parties, decided to make the easy decision to ignore the rights of a citizen of this country, and that is truly odious. The idea that any government could decide to simply ignore the highest law of the land because it was politically expedient is a far more dangerous precedent than the settlement could ever be seen as.

This is exactly it - I was talking to Gordon Sellers, the CEO of Aerodyne this weekend at Springfest at GO Skydive, and asked him about the changes. That's exactly what he told me. They looked at their orders and what people actually choose, and basically created two "models" based on the options people choose to make it all a lot simpler. The Icon V comes with what freeflyers and swoopers) tend to order standard (extra magnet in the riser covers, belly band, etc), while the A is a more basic bellyflier rig. You can order an A and add most of the V options and get about the same price point. The whole idea was to try to go through all their orders and see what wound up being common to them to make ordering a whole lot easier.

I have to laugh. This is a skydiving website and I mostly read skydiving related stuff on it, but I comment more in Speakers Corner because it seems like I have more to say here than comments on more involved skygod conversations. But please, rushmc, never stop letting billvon make you look like a complete fool when you post nonsense and he slays it.

To be clear, Putin backed Trump not because he likes him, I suspect, but because he expected him to turn the Presidency into a farce, allowing Putin to look better at home. It seems to have worked far more perhaps than expected.

Thank you. Posting this instantly identifies you as having no idea what you are talking about. It's a very handy tell. What colour is the sky in your world? I mean, you're a guy who doesn't know that Julius Caesar is a Shakespeare play, with something of a message about political violence, nor that the play was staged previously with a bit of a skewer at President Obama. But I guess you thin-skinned snowflakes don't get it. The things, plural, he said about various politicians, are reprehensible, but not as strange as how a coward who shit himself to dodge being drafted, and who basically is a pedophile winds up being a public figure to the GOP. Nugent's 15 minutes were up a long time ago, and it baffles me that he is still getting press. It's not as though he's ever said anything insightful or worthwhile. Something something protest too much. I mean, why would people think everything from the right is racist? I mean, gerrymandering isn't racist, right? Attacking people's right to vote isn't racist. The school-to-prison pipeline isn't racist. Etc etc etc. Only in the delusional fantasies of right wing nuts.

My first few packs I was pretty nervous jumping. I remember asking the pilot if we could take a hop'n'pop a little higher even, and feeling pretty silly about it after. I found the PD video on packing large canopies helpful, especially the slider down technique, which made me understand how the line groups work a lot better. Everyone seems to struggle with getting the canopy into the d-bag most of all. The reverse S-fold I found really helped, and not making the the cocoon too narrow - it needs to be a little wider, that makes it easier to pack into the bag. It just takes practice against the frustration, but it gets easier. Don't be afraid to ask for help, or watch what other people do while packing - everyone has their own tips and tricks, some might help, some might not. And don't overthink it. If the lines are straight and grouped, and the slider is all the way up, it'll open without much incident, as you get better you'll get more consistent openings. I have the comical effect of sweating profusely while I pack - but I tell people at least it masks the tears.

find certainly helps, as do the really friendly and welcoming regulars. I came here to do a tandem jump to get it checked off the bucket list, and everything about the experience made me want to come back and learn to skydive. My initial progress was hampered by an injury, but the folks at Gan kept in touch as I recovered and helped me get back at it. As I’ve gotten in more jumps I’ve been offered loads of coaching and good advice, and to join in on jumps. Aircraft are a 182 and a King Air. The 182 usually flies on Friday evenings (currently, hop and pops on Friday nights are $15), the King Air will turn loads all weekend. The annual Boobies Boogie Labour Day Weekend has had a Skyvan the last couple of years at least, and they’re always interested in bringing in aircraft if there’s a demand. The landing area is huge and open (with one pesky treeline removed earlier this year), and there’s loads of places to land out if you need to. Looking out over the 1000 Islands as you climb, or maybe on a high pull, is incredible. There’s space to camp, showers, and a nice firepit to relax after a day of jumping. If you’re coming from the States (it’s 30 minutes from the Thousand Islands Bridge at the top of I-81), bring cheap American beer and make friends fast.

There's no crying in skydiving. I don't know, I've gotten pretty close, I just tell people it's sweat. Getting the GD canopy in the D-bag kills me. Getting down to the cocoon, too easy, stows and closing up the container no problem, but bagging the bastard....

I've never stopped enjoying the musings of amateur theologians. They're generally the people who help stoke the fires of idiocy that keep this sort of horrific shit from happening. Taqiya has nothing to do with just lying whenever it suits people. It has a very specific meaning - it's essentially an exemption from being considered an apostate by denying one's religion. It means that if someone's life is threatened if their religion was known, they can lie and say they're not of that religion without it being essentially the equivalent of a "sin". What taqiya actually is for is protecting one's self or others from persecution, that's what the root of the word is in Arabic. Shia Muslims, Druzes, and other groups frequently subject to persecution are the ones in whose discussions it shows up frequently. Frankly, the way average ordinary Muslims are treated by people who seem to think they're just terrorists in waiting, I don't blame them for not wanting to make their religion too obvious.

This video from PD really helped me. I don't cry but I sweat profusely.

In simple terms the slider slows down the opening of the canopy so that the opening shock transmitted to the jumper is lessened. It essentially delays the inflation of all the cells slightly by holding the lines together until it comes all the way down to the slider stops.

Once I figure out where everyone else is I tend to reconfirm my landing direction - I had a great experience following two - guys into downwind landing ONCE and will never do that again - I'll land off instead if that ever occurs! It happened because I was complacent and assumed the wind couldn't change and the landing direction wouldn't. I still tend to play around a lot with some of the drills I learned on canopy courses, stalls, braked and flat turns, seeing what I can do with my canopy while I have altitude, all while making sure I'm headed to where I want to enter the pattern. And the view at my home DZ is awesome, sometime I'll just hang out in brakes waiting for everyone else to land (since most of them fly far faster canopies than me anyhow) and enjoy the sky. The main thing that's a theme for everyone's responses is WATCH FOR TRAFFIC.

I've often heard the saying on Skydiving "Safety 3rd" and I find this misleading and dangerous. It should be "Matchey-matchey 3rd...saftey 4th...if there's time for it". Carry on. True. My progression has been impacted severely by my canopy not matching my rig. I finally got a jump suit that matches, but I have to do something about the canopy.

Interesting read. I've been wondering about this - I've got a PD Reserve 193, but I'm jumping a ZP.exe 215 right now (basically a Sabre 1 clone) - quite a difference I'm sure - I'm only just starting to learn the difference between F-111 type canopies and ZP - I was originally jumping a Silhouette 230 which I think is not fully ZP - it just needed a good fast single stage flare to land - when I went to the ZP.exe loads of really ugly landings and a canopy course enlightened me on two-stage flares. I'm thinking that the next boogie I'm at that PD brings demos to I might have the same canopy I have as my reserve hooked up as a main so I can open it high and get more of a feel for how it flies - I feel like I don't want to have to learn how it flares after a chop with not much room!

The camp I went to was on a really windy day, so didn't get a lot of jumps in (I think only 1 or 2), but we still spent the day together discussing lots of useful things, I definitely got a lot of benefit and I'm planning my next California trip around an EXCEL camp.