SivaGanesha

Seems to me that the real question with regard to Charles Manson is this: If it were necessary to grant Roman Polanski immunity from US prosecution so that he could enter the US to testify against Manson so as to keep Manson behind bars--would you do it? "It's hard to have fun at 4-way unless your whole team gets down to the ground safely to do it again!"--Northern California Skydiving League re USPA Safety Day, March 8, 2014

Just noticed brenthutch's post distinguishing the different varieties of Germany. My visit in infancy alleged by my parents was long before reunification so it would have been West Germany. And, of course, it was long after the Nazi days. "It's hard to have fun at 4-way unless your whole team gets down to the ground safely to do it again!"--Northern California Skydiving League re USPA Safety Day, March 8, 2014

I have four citizenships--USA, Canada, Australia, and Ireland--so I assume the only countries that would count as foreign would be others--and there aren't many of those: Jamaica Singapore South Korea Mexico United Kingdom Italy Vatican City (technically different from Italy) I'm excluding countries where I've only transited the airport or where my parents assure me I visited in infancy but I have no memory. The latter category includes Germany and the UK--as an adult I've visited only the British Overseas Territory of Bermuda, not the UK "mainland". "It's hard to have fun at 4-way unless your whole team gets down to the ground safely to do it again!"--Northern California Skydiving League re USPA Safety Day, March 8, 2014

Back in the day, at my first DZ in Canada, I was considered the coolest of dudes, and was known as the 'Iceman'. "It's hard to have fun at 4-way unless your whole team gets down to the ground safely to do it again!"--Northern California Skydiving League re USPA Safety Day, March 8, 2014

Actually you can run--you just can't be elected. There's a slight difference in theory although not really in practice. "It's hard to have fun at 4-way unless your whole team gets down to the ground safely to do it again!"--Northern California Skydiving League re USPA Safety Day, March 8, 2014

I like the comment near the top of the comments section about Hillary: "Her total leadership experience amounts to being married/cheated on repeatedly by a sitting president." A sitting president? Doesn't that provide more of a clue than we really needed as the specific sex act engaged in while he cheated ? "It's hard to have fun at 4-way unless your whole team gets down to the ground safely to do it again!"--Northern California Skydiving League re USPA Safety Day, March 8, 2014

It's not just a question of etiquette but more that each DZ is likely to have strict rules over when a student can and cannot get on the aircraft to make a jump and which instructors (AFFI's) may or may not jump with students. Waiving those rules will require the permission of the DZO unless you are the DZO. An unknown AFFI and an unknown student can't just hop on an aircraft together at any DZ in the country, no questions asked. On two instructor AFF jumps, waiving the standard DZ rules might require the cooperation of the other AFFI too in addition to the DZO. "It's hard to have fun at 4-way unless your whole team gets down to the ground safely to do it again!"--Northern California Skydiving League re USPA Safety Day, March 8, 2014

In recent years I've usually tried to file as early as I can. That's often not until late February as I usually don't get all the information forms I need until mid February. And last year TurboTax wasn't ready with all the forms needed until late February. However, this year I just realized that I may be able to claim an additional deduction for 2014 but to do so I'd first need to amend my 2013 taxes. If I do so I'd wait to see whether the IRS accepts my 2013 amendment before filing for 2014--possibly getting an extension until Oct 15. I'm weighing whether it is worth it to do so. The last time I filed an amended return, it triggered a major audit that took years to resolve. I came out ahead in the end but was left with the sense that the hassle may not have been worth it for the relatively small amount of money involved. I just learned something a bit disturbing about TurboTax: I can't access my prior year tax returns on TurboTax unless I first purchase the TurboTax Deluxe or higher product this year. Seems a little strange to me because I was a paying customer for the past years in question regardless of whether I use their services this year or not. Good thing I saved copies of my returns offline. "It's hard to have fun at 4-way unless your whole team gets down to the ground safely to do it again!"--Northern California Skydiving League re USPA Safety Day, March 8, 2014

I'd agree in general but there is one important exception. In the years since 9/11, in the US and to a lesser extent other Western countries, the role of and level of respect for the military and other security-oriented occupations has increased exponentially. The military has a traditionally very masculine image. That may be changing a bit, but the military is still about 85% male. The hi tech industry--although it has a very different image from the military--is also overwhelming male--in fact even more so than it used to be. Although many hi tech workers are geeks who aren't movers and shakers, many of the new powerful billionaires are men from the hi tech industry--and they are overwhelmingly men. So I agree in general but there are still some areas with significant power which remain largely the province of men. "It's hard to have fun at 4-way unless your whole team gets down to the ground safely to do it again!"--Northern California Skydiving League re USPA Safety Day, March 8, 2014

Yes and the poll is about what is the most serious sentence he would have received for any crime he might have been charged with--not just the killing of Mr. Kennedy. "It's hard to have fun at 4-way unless your whole team gets down to the ground safely to do it again!"--Northern California Skydiving League re USPA Safety Day, March 8, 2014

What do you think Lee Harvey Oswald's eventual legal fate would have been had he not been shot and killed by Jack Ruby? Let's assume in answering this poll that Oswald--who was fairly young at the time--would have lived long enough for a complete resolution of all legal issues. Bear in mind that Oswald could potentially have faced the death penalty under both federal and Texas state law. But also bear in mind that at the time the use of the death penalty was waning both federally and in Texas (and nationwide). The feds didn't execute anyone between 1963 and 2001. Texas didn't execute anyone between 1964 and 1982. So what would have happened? "It's hard to have fun at 4-way unless your whole team gets down to the ground safely to do it again!"--Northern California Skydiving League re USPA Safety Day, March 8, 2014

Note that here the lasting influence of the Civil War I'm suggesting is the fact that it ended the existence of the upstart Confederate States of America, not the abolition of slavery. Civil War or not, international pressure would IMHO have eventually forced the CSA to abolish slavery which was increasingly being seen for the loathsome practice that it was/is--although it would have taken longer without Lincoln. But had the Civil War not been fought the CSA would today still exist and the world would be a very different place. "It's hard to have fun at 4-way unless your whole team gets down to the ground safely to do it again!"--Northern California Skydiving League re USPA Safety Day, March 8, 2014

I probably wouldn't list it #1, but I would definitely put the Spanish-American War on the list. It was a seemingly minor war at the time (probably not minor for the people who served and were wounded or killed, though). Its influence was the fact that it is the war that gave us the base at Guantanamo. That base has had and continues to have a profound influence on contemporary US politics--generally IMHO for the negative--116 years later. That's influential even if the future influence isn't something that could have been predicted at the time of the actual war. In terms of #1, I would probably consider it close to a tie between three other 19th century wars: the War of 1812, the Mexican War, and the Civil War. Those are the wars that, by and large, established the borders of the modern USA. I would put the War of Independence a bit lower on the list, however. Despite the importance that we attach in the modern USA to July 4, 1776, the new nation hadn't really taken shape until the adoption of the constitution and the election of the first president, which didn't happen until after the War of Independence. The War of 1812 was the first war the USA fought as an established nation. "It's hard to have fun at 4-way unless your whole team gets down to the ground safely to do it again!"--Northern California Skydiving League re USPA Safety Day, March 8, 2014

Don't know if Cosby is innocent or guilty but I'm generally in favor of a statute of limitations for rape--especially acquaintance rape involving adult women where the main legal issue is one of consent. Proving or disproving consent decades after the fact seems like an impossible task. In cases of statutory rape, where the act of sex alone makes it rape and consent is not at issue, there could be circumstances in which it could be proven beyond a reasonable doubt decades after the fact. An example would be if a man fathers a child with an underage girl and decades later DNA evidence proves he is the father. In such cases--and also considering the extreme seriousness of statutory rape--I could see doing away with the statute of limitations. But these Cosby allegations--whether true or false--seem to me a good example of why a statute of limitations is often a good idea. "It's hard to have fun at 4-way unless your whole team gets down to the ground safely to do it again!"--Northern California Skydiving League re USPA Safety Day, March 8, 2014

I believe it makes a very big difference--but mainly in terms of the new, unforeseen, challenges that the new president will face--which by definition we cannot foresee. When it comes to their approach to the existing status quo, it is unlikely a new president of either party will change much. For example, Obama talked about closing Guantanamo, but it never happened. Republicans talk of repealing Obamacare but I don't see it happening even if Republicans control all three parts of the gov't. But when it comes to new issues that will arise after 2016 and on which no one owes anyone any political debt yet, because no one has anticipated the problem--it makes a huge difference who the president is and how they approach it. "It's hard to have fun at 4-way unless your whole team gets down to the ground safely to do it again!"--Northern California Skydiving League re USPA Safety Day, March 8, 2014

But I get your point. In any event isn't summary conviction a relatively minor offense in Canada? Not a cat-of-nine-tails scenario? "It's hard to have fun at 4-way unless your whole team gets down to the ground safely to do it again!"--Northern California Skydiving League re USPA Safety Day, March 8, 2014

Therein lies the rub. It sounds like it wasn't sufficiently similar to actually fool anyone. "It's hard to have fun at 4-way unless your whole team gets down to the ground safely to do it again!"--Northern California Skydiving League re USPA Safety Day, March 8, 2014

Actually I don't have a big problem with one of the other options listed--spending time with real Pathfinders. It's just that a permanent criminal record doesn't seem to quite fit the circumstances unless he caused some tangible damage. "It's hard to have fun at 4-way unless your whole team gets down to the ground safely to do it again!"--Northern California Skydiving League re USPA Safety Day, March 8, 2014

Unless he obtained or was attempting to obtain some tangible benefit through this fraud, then off scott free. If he did in fact obtain or attempt to obtain some tangible benefit through this fraud, then it should be punished similarly to any similar theft of services through fraud. I'd feel very very differently--advocating far harsher treatment--if he put innocent lives at risk. But I doubt that was the case at a Remembrance Day event. "It's hard to have fun at 4-way unless your whole team gets down to the ground safely to do it again!"--Northern California Skydiving League re USPA Safety Day, March 8, 2014

I find myself in a similar situation to you, SecondRound. I'm also in my "second round" at this sport, have done some interesting (at least to me) things my second time around, but wonder if it is time to give it up permanently. My first round (literally on rounds) in skydiving was in the 1980's. There was a very strong sense of sky family at my first DZ. After just 3 or 4 jumps--as soon as they saw I wanted to continue with the sport--I was being integrated into the culture of the sport. People were inviting me to participate in DZ activities, offering to teach me to pack, and to jump with me when appropriate to my skill level, and needless to say introducing me to the beer traditions. I finished the requirements for my 'A' back in the day but never officially got the license before school and job commitments caused me to drift away from the sport. It was always a goal of mine to eventually come back and officially get an A license/A license number. So many years later I returned to the sport and--basically starting again from the beginning (I no longer even have my old logbook from the 80's)--did get my A license, officially this time. However, this time around I've felt more like simply a paying customer of a business--and less like a member of a sky family. There have been some friendly gestures that I appreciate--but the overall takeaway has been that it is hard to get anyone to talk about skydiving with me in a more in depth way than "hey you what altitude are you pulling at" as I board the aircraft for a solo. As a paying customer I've generally been treated well--and the times I haven't been have been addressed and remedied and don't need to be discussed further--but being a paying customer just isn't quite the same as being part of a family and a culture. And solos get boring after awhile. I've had a few chances to do 4- and 6-way jumps, which I appreciate, but which really haven't helped me build up any sky family/friends. Of course I'm older than I was in the 1980's, but the whole sport has aged, so I'm not sure that fully explains why it has seemed less of a cultural fit this time around. Also I hurt myself on a jump early this year and--although I'm physically ready to return--I just haven't felt inspired to do so. The bottom line is that I'm really, really glad that I came back and officially got my 'A'--a sense of closure to finish something that I started a long time ago. But I'm just not sure if I see a future in this sport that inspires me. That could change at any time and if it does I'll be back at the DZ the next weekend--but right now I'm just not feeling it. "It's hard to have fun at 4-way unless your whole team gets down to the ground safely to do it again!"--Northern California Skydiving League re USPA Safety Day, March 8, 2014

You make a lot of valid points but I don't like what you say about your point #5 re the carbon footprint. You say it might be #1. That's very passive-aggressive and I don't have a lot of respect for passive-aggressive. If you think the carbon footprint is #1 then put it #1. "It's hard to have fun at 4-way unless your whole team gets down to the ground safely to do it again!"--Northern California Skydiving League re USPA Safety Day, March 8, 2014

I think the question here is what kind of criminal background checks are needed for the different levels of FAA medical. According to quade there is clearly some since even a 3rd class medical will disqualify someone with multiple DUI's. So the question is whether the 1st or 2nd classes also require a sex offender background check. "It's hard to have fun at 4-way unless your whole team gets down to the ground safely to do it again!"--Northern California Skydiving League re USPA Safety Day, March 8, 2014

I don't know that much about it. I was simply responding to quade who was indicating that DUI restrictions for TI's are enforced not directly by USPA but by the FAA via the requirement for a 3rd Class Medical. I was suggesting that if either a 3rd Class Medical or a 2nd Class Medical requires a full criminal background check, then maybe it is better to go with whatever infrastructure the FAA currently has in place rather than having the USPA develop the infrastructure to deal with sex offender checks--which I don't feel it is equipped to do. However I must confess that I am also ignorant of what exactly these checks require. Perhaps others can help us. "It's hard to have fun at 4-way unless your whole team gets down to the ground safely to do it again!"--Northern California Skydiving League re USPA Safety Day, March 8, 2014

Which is IMHO exactly why the USPA shouldn't be getting involved in this. The FAA is better positioned logistically to address these issues both because of its size and because of the fact that it is part of the government, so it is in a position to get involved in law enforcement issues. And this is essentially a law enforcement issue. The USPA simply isn't well positioned to address these kinds of issues. An arm of the federal government is in a position to enforce law; an organization devoted to promoting a sport, not so much. OTOH I could certainly see upgrading the requirement for a TI from an FAA 3rd Class Medical to an FAA 2nd Class Medical. The TI is, in effect, flying someone for hire. And I could also see an FAA 2nd Class Medical requiring a full criminal background check including (but not limited to) sex offender issues--if indeed that isn't already required. I believe that if people are serious about addressing this issue sport-wide this would be the general direction to head in. Other comments in this thread seem to again be devolving into a general debate as to how to handle sex offenders in society at large and I don't have anything more to say on that. "It's hard to have fun at 4-way unless your whole team gets down to the ground safely to do it again!"--Northern California Skydiving League re USPA Safety Day, March 8, 2014

So the ladies will only condescend to speak to the guy if they first kick him to the curb by assuring him that he has 'no chance'? If she's a lesbian then, yes, he has no chance. If she's in a committed relationship with another man then, yes, he has no chance. But in all other situations what the f**k is wrong with him thinking he has a chance? "It's hard to have fun at 4-way unless your whole team gets down to the ground safely to do it again!"--Northern California Skydiving League re USPA Safety Day, March 8, 2014