yobnoc

My point is that his removal from the embassy and arrest in recent days was due to a conspiracy to hack charge, not the rape charge.

I'm on the fence about this. On one hand, I f***ing hate Julian Assange for his pompous bullshit savior complex. He has an agenda and only releases secrets if it's in line with Julian Assange's personal interest. ON THE OTHER HAND...as far as I'm aware, there is zero substance to the computer charge brought against him. He did nothing that any other investigative journalist hasn't done. I offer no opinion on the assault charge, because that has nothing to do with why he was arrested. I think this is a dark day for journalists, even if I can't stand what Assange has become. I'm leaning toward the side of "this is a bad thing," but I'm open to change my opinion based on evidence the other way.

This is unsubstantiated whataboutism. You can state your unqualifiable opinion on the matter, but it doesn't have anything to do with what we see happening right in front of us. Forgive me for not having any faith in your ability to see alternate universes.

He's just suborning crime right out in the open now. I really think it's true, what he said about shooting someone on 5th Ave. It's a dark time in this country these days.

There are reports that some of Mueller's team are dismayed at how Barr hid how bad the report is for Trump. Only way to know: release the report. Not so much "fibbing" as much as it is "malicious withholding"

Literally the first time I've ever heard that phrase. Generally, the more educated someone is about nuclear physics and nuclear power, the less opposed they are. The less educated, the more they throw around buzzwords like Chernobyl, TMI, or Fukushima without adding any context beyond what was dumbed down and pumped out on cable news channels to entertain the masses (by frightening them with no context).

So much hypocrisy! Spot on.

I have a different view. He's more dangerous than that. He's a conman; he's a carnival barker with 40% of Americans falling for his TV persona. These followers, many of them, are heavily armed with lethal weapons, and not so much with logic, reason, or general intellect. He is the leader of a cult of personality the likes of which we haven't seen in my lifetime, and I don't think it's hyperbolic to say since WWII.

The difference being the poor and destitute immigrants have zero power or influence. The 1% throw their money around to solve all their first-world problems. If you think there's an equivalence between parents who risk their lives to try to deliver their kids from places where they are likely to be faced with the decision to either join a gang or be killed for refusing, and trust-fund babies whose parents flout the system by bribing them into Ivy-League University, then I think I don't have anything else to say to you on the subject. I sincerely hope you weren't drawing that false equivalence, and that I just missed the...joke? If you really do believe it all equals out, though, because both are breaking the law; do you think there is a difference between jaywalking and murder?

But the damn immigrants are the problem in this country! Not the rich! Stop persecuting them for having money and resources to cheat! You'll just incentivize them to take their money somewhere outside the US and then we won't have our precious peasant jobs and living paycheck to paycheck! (Heavy dose of sarcasm)

I especially love the hypocrisy when you think back to the HUGE scandals parroted on FoxNews during the Obama years. Remember the Tan Suit? Or mustard on a burger? Or...gasp...wearing a BIKE HELMET (while riding a fucking bike)! But now in the face of actual criminal activity (defrauding the American electorate via felony campaign contribution a la Stormy Daniels, Karen MacDougal and being named as an unindicted co-conspirator in the case)...fucking crickets. Edit: Not to mention the ludicrous position that "Hillary is guilty of (insert fictional crime here)" even after being investigated over and over for YEARS with no indictments. Meanwhile, a Trump lackey known for deep-sixing Iran-Contra writes a little note that says exactly the same thing that his year-old memo/job application says and all his supporters are like "This investigation went on too long and now he's COMPLETELY EXONERATED, because his handpicked biased AG said so!"

I'd steer you toward a tandem first. And don't worry about those other losers (kidding). But on a serious note: whether or not you have friends go with you, the experience will be no different. You won't see them after you exit the plane until you all arrive back at the DZ. Besides, you'll make new friends if it's a half-decent DZ. The reason I'd say do a tandem first is that there's a lot of nerves involved that you can't quite understand until you are sitting at the edge of the door getting ready to take the plunge. And if you think you're going to be just fine and it won't affect you...trust me, you're wrong. A tandem is an important first step to mitigating those nerves, because then when you go up again ready to do your first solo AFF, you're going to experience an even more overwhelming batch of "what the f*%$ am I doing?" Do the tandem. The licensing is going to cost you roughly $2000, and the extra $220 for a tandem is well worth the extra investment. Talk to your instructor and see if they'll let you do a little canopy steering once they pitch. I know some TI's are cool with that.

Recently, my wife and I traveled for the first time on a commercial flight with our rigs (we're new to the sport). We were having a side conversation (not too loud, of course, for fear of getting sideways glances or more from TSA) about what would happen in a catastrophic event on the plane. This is not meant to be a super serious topic. With that said, what actions would you take to try to have the best chance at survival if the plane started to descend uncontrollably from cruising altitude? Would exiting the plane even be feasible?

Hey man, I started AFF last memorial day weekend, and I'm pretty new myself. I have 48 jumps, zero tunnel, took me 10 jumps to clear self supervised, and I got my license in 25. Every AFF instructor I had kept emphasizing "R-E-L-A-X" and it didn't make any damn sense to me. How the hell do you relax jumping out of a plane? I had door anxiety until my 20th jump. I don't have any magic words of advice, and I'm obviously a newbie so I don't have a ton of experience to draw from, but I do know the feelings you're having very well - I had them less than a year ago myself. It really is about relaxing. And relaxing comes with more jumps. Things will click in your head along the way, and once they do, they become effortless. The rush fades and becomes more of a challenge - to learn the next thing, to be able to not fuck up the next formation with dudes and dudettes who are infinitely better than you. Take it a step at a time. Review the videos from your instructors, and try to tackle one thing at a time. It'll all click eventually. I've been told tunnel is super helpful - I just haven't found the time to drive to chicago and actually do it yet. Best of luck, and I look forward to maybe bumping into you at a boogie someday!

We are both employed full-time-plus-overtime and have two small kids, and we live in Michigan, where our jump season is only 5-6 months long. So, we're limited in many ways and the course in June is just when Maxine will be rolling through at our home DZ. Update though: We went down to Start Skydiving in Middletown, OH on Saturday, and one of their coaches worked extensively with the wifey. After building up her confidence and teaching her a two-stage flare (Spectre 190), she nailed a stander upper.

I didn't know this was a thing. I didn't have any one instructor assigned to helping me, nor have I seen any student have any one instructor assigned to him/her either. I had several AFFI's and coaches throughout my licensing, but I had to go seek out someone - anyone - who could help me get through whatever difficulties I was experiencing.

Thank you for the kind replies. We are both signed up for Canopy 101 with Maxine Tate this June. For me, it will probably be the last thing I need to do for my B license. I'm really looking forward to it. I just feel so bad every time I see my lady pound in. She's resilient, but still...ouch!

I need suggestions on how I can give positive support to my wife with regard to her landings. She is at 26 or 27 jumps, and the only thing holding her back from her A license is her check dive (obviously), and accuracy landings. Hell, just a nice soft landing would be a step in the right direction. I don't know how to help her through the mental block. I'm no sky-god at only 44 jumps, but I'm pretty happy with my progression with most of my landings being run in. She's flaring too early or too late, and it's causing her to be more afraid of skydiving than excited for it. Has anyone else had a similar speed bump and is willing to share how they focused through it?

I did talk with Randy and Christina already, and they told me as much. I've got a some other options that I'm looking into thanks to Randy's connections. He's a good dude.

Thank you for the input. I looked around for used gear for some time, but being 6'4, 215 and a somewhat weird body shape, I couldn't find anything that would definitely fit me. I found one used rig out of Sweden, but ultimately could not afford it. I decided to take advantage of the deal for a new complete rig because it would be guaranteed to fit and it was cheaper than the used option i just mentioned by almost 1k. I'm not worried about resale value at this point. I should be able to downsize twice with this rig, and I expect I'll be holding onto it for some few years.

When you say "around" the same time, that's what worries me. This is my first rig, and it's supposed to arrive (disassembled, as you know) 3 days before I leave for Arecibo, PR for a week of (hopefully) skydiving. I hear great things about the company, but I don't know what comes with their "guarantee" of it being on time. I am, however, super excited to fly it! The only canopies I've flown are student rigs (Nav 260, 240, 220, 200), and a Safire 219 on one occasion. So I don't have the experience to compare it to much else.

I ordered a Vortex complete system (the deal that everyone seems to be talking about right now) on 11/28 and they guaranteed a delivery date of 2/5. Has anyone else ordered this system and if so, what was your experience with the delivery time; did it come early? Also, bonus points if you tell me what you think of the Vortex/Volt setup; I really want to hear from people who have flown them before.