Profman

The Dept of Ed has shotguns. I'm sure they are needed Most large law enforcement agencies have a system in place for evaluating the need for SWAT. There are various factors they score and if the score is high enough, SWAT may be justified. SWAT usually has to be requested by the regular cops...and most SWAT teams do a careful (but imperfect) analysis of the area. That said, the Supreme Court recently found that exigent circumstances are sufficient for a warrantless search.....even if the police caused the exigent circumstances. The dangers of life are infinite, and among them is safety.

I have about 50 jumps on my Spectre 190. From my limited experience I think the Spectre is a great all around parachute. Openings are usually very soft but the snivel can sometimes be lengthy. Glide ratio is less than other chutes, namely the Sabre2, so on long spots you do have to be aware. Approach to landing appears steeper than other chutes but there is plenty of power to flare. The dangers of life are infinite, and among them is safety.

I took the plunge and ordered a Revolve helmet from BH. I was told to expect it mid-April, but it arrived, much to my delight, today. I was jumping a Protec, which was fine, but I wanted the flexibility offered by the Revolve (full face or half-face). So, after wearing it around the house for much of the day, here is my very abbreviated review. First, as you can see by the pictures, I ordered a red helmet. The color is excellent and really stands out. Neighbors who have seen it comment about the overall look and color of the helmet. Second, the finish is excellent and the overall construction of the helmet appears to be superb. It fits perfectly out of the box and is very, very comfortable. Third, for those of you who wear glasses, the Revolve accomodates glasses frames easily and comfortably. Fourth, the visor hinge takes a few attempts to get it to work but once you get the feel for it, it is easy to move up/down. Fifth, the helmet is lightweight and offers a very good view of your surroundings when on your pumpkin. Weather permitting, I'll jump the helmet this weekend but I can say this: BH did a great job on this helmet. I'm very impressed so far and cannot wait to get into the air. The dangers of life are infinite, and among them is safety.

There is a strong science on human reaction to life-threatening stressful situations. In general, the science tells us that the most common reaction to threatening situations is to do nothing. That's right...to just freeze. It sounds like, although I do not know, that this happened to the injured jumper. In these situations the body is flooded with stress hormones that are triggered by the hypothalamus-pituitary-adreanal axis (part of the deep limbic system in the brain). Cotisol and adrenalin flood the blood stream which cause other physiological symptoms (increased heart rate, for example). Also, under periods of high stress the brain can shut off auditory input (hearing) because it is not necessary to survival. The same can happen to the frontal cortex (the part of the brain responsible for rational thinking). Physiologically, this is also why simple acts, such as removing a toggle from its stow, or following simple commands, become difficult if not impossible for some people. Fortunately, most people can control, to varing degrees, how they respond to the new environmental stimuli they experience when they start jumping. Still, a minority of people cannot...and being able to tell who will, and who will not respond appropriately is difficult and prone to error. That said, research also shows that individuals who are highly neurotic, who tend to focus on the potential negative things that can happen, and who are highly anxious tend to also be the same folks who become "overloaded" when stressed. As this applies to safety and training: First jump courses tend to throw a lot of information at a person in a short period of time. The brain can only process so much information in a given period. For highly anxious people, information overload can contribute to an already elevated level of anxiety, as the person is not fully certain that they can or will recall everything when the time comes. The question is: Are there any indicators that instructors can observe or measure during the first jump course that will provide some predictive insight into a student's future performance? If so, what, if anything, should be done with that information? From my very limited experience, it appears that the use of training gear varies across DZ's. While most have gear to simulate emergency procedures and maybe even pulling the PC, many do not include direct training that includes supsension in a harness and/or removing and using the toggles. The first time I saw a toggle was under a fully open canopy descending from altitude. Just like people are trained in pc touches and "pulling red" it would make sense to also have them unstow the toggles. At a minimum, this would give the stressed brain something to fall back on. Lastly, age does not appear to be a good predictor of who will and who will not vapor lock. The adolescent brain may be less efficient at decision-making, but given sufficient time most adolescents will make the same decisons adults do--even under periods of high stress. What appears to matter is the individual's neurological reaction to stress---which is not dependent on age. There is a large science to human reactions to stress, and I would like to see more of it imported into the training of skydivers. Sorry for the long post and my thoughts and prayers to the family of the injured jumper. The dangers of life are infinite, and among them is safety.

I got nailed by one in Ohio. Total BS if you ask me. These systems have nothing to do with safety and everything to do with $$$$. That is is. It would be just as effective to increase the length of the yellow light by 1-2 seconds. If the motivation is to reduce accidents, put in turn-a-bouts. The dangers of life are infinite, and among them is safety.

I started using them about 3/4 through my training and noticed an immediate improvement. Noise is a major distraction. I use simple wax inserts. The dangers of life are infinite, and among them is safety.

I'm new to the sport and just earned my "A" stamp. Like most folks at my level, I have about 20 +/- minutes of free-fall time. That's it. In 20 minutes I learned how to fall stable, turn, get stable, doc, track, and swoop. To put this in perspective, it took me longer to learn how to tie my shoes and to ride my bike, both activities that are a heck of a lot safer than skydiving. Simply put, there is no way in Hades to be proficient in any complex activity with 20 minutes to a few hours of practice. The same thing goes for canopy flight. Low jump numbers are an indicator limited actual time performing in the skydiving environment. Downsizing rapidly against the advice/experience of people with many, many hours under various canopies (under varying conditions) seems like an obviously bad idea. I don't know (yet) what I don't know... so I have to listen and be willing to take the advice of people who know more than I. Self-deception in this sport can be a killer. The dangers of life are infinite, and among them is safety.

Great post. The dangers of life are infinite, and among them is safety.

Ok, I didn't want to get drawn in to this but what the hell, here goes. I don't know all the facts. Moreover, I was not present during the negotiations with the IRS, specifically the criminal investigation division, nor was I at the trial. But here is the point Statostar/DBcoopper or whoever the hell you are, NEITHER WERE YOU. You cast dispersions with so much venom that it shows a clear lack of class and intellect. Indeed, given the joy to which you appear to take in Mr. Hart's problems, I suspect you have some personal vendetta against Start and/or Mr. Hart. Tell us, were you turned down for a job there or something? What in the world could cause you to take such personal satisfaction in seeing a man go to prison, his family suffer, and his business--yes a SKYDIVING business--tarnished? There has to be something more to this than you are telling us, so please, do tell! And since you have such a fondness for broadcasting the personal faults of others, how about you also tell everyone how you have screwed up in your life? Ever taken drugs? Ever engaged in any unethical behavior? I deal with criminals for a living. Over the years I've learned that sometimes the folks that scream the loudest for justice are the very individuals you need to look at. I do not have to defend Mr. Hart. He and his family will pay the price for his violations. However, your behavior sickens me as only cowards trash people anonymously, take joy in the suffering of others, and kick a man when he is down. The dangers of life are infinite, and among them is safety.

I smell an axe grinding......... The dangers of life are infinite, and among them is safety.

That has happend before, although not at all pretty The dangers of life are infinite, and among them is safety.

I'm doing the same thing. Going up on Wen to work on turns/tracking, maybe even some rolls and flips. The dangers of life are infinite, and among them is safety.

Great picts. Thanks for posting! Glad she is ok and back at it. The dangers of life are infinite, and among them is safety.

They have indirect control over unemployment rates, but direct control over unemployment compensation. They have direct control over many jobs bills and taxation, etc. ********How much "indirect" control? The US economy is huge, massive, and does not respond in a 1:1 input/output manner. It is a highly complex, dynamic, emergent system. The best they can do is play in the margins. Well, unless you talking about taxation. Let's be real, the economy is far more than just employment and teh rpes has a lot of control over the entire economy. Right, the tax increase didn't increase government tax receipts, bringing a 12-year running 250B/yr deficit to a halt and balancing the budget, ending the debt increase. I get it that you want to act as tho it's all coincidence since your party has fukced it all up, that's typical of a person who's side is responsible. ****Chill out. I voted for Clinton and WAS a liberal during his term. You also have to remember there was a small thing called the fall of the Soviet Union. When that happened, we downsized our armed forces and enjoyed a "peace dividend" that help us enjoy a balanced budget. By the way, the Republicans were in charge of Congress then :) It makes a nice bumper sticker, but in good Reagan neo-con fashion, you have yet to detail a time in history where just that happened. In fact, when controls have been relaxed and taxes lowered, e.g. Reagan and GWB, things went to hell; accumulatively the worst economic times in the US. So if you could please can your theory and show me applicational examples, I would love it, but don't expect it - just more trickle-down rhetoric theory. **I think you are spitting in the wind and then getting pissed because your getting wet. Reasonable controls on economic transactions and certain regulations on business are necessary. Problems emerge when we try to control too much (see the mess from the recent housing bubble where the government incentivized making bad loans) or when we turn a blind eye to those who wish to deny basic economic laws (again, see the recent housing bubble mess). http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lawrence_Summers Summers is a crook. Summers has recently come under fire for accepting perks from Citigroup, including free rides on its corporate jet in 2008.[54] According to the Wall Street Journal, Larry Summers called Chris Dodd asking him to remove caps on executive pay at firms that have received stimulus money, including Citigroup.[55] On April 3, 2009 Summers came under renewed criticism after it was disclosed that he was paid millions of dollars the previous year by companies which he now has influence over as a public servant. He earned $5 million from the hedge fund D. E. Shaw, and collected $2.7 million in speaking fees from Wall Street companies that received government bailout money.[56] In early April 2010, Joshua Green reported that Summers is frustrated with his position at the NEC and upset that he was not chosen to replace Ben Bernanke as head of the Federal Reserve. It is seen as likely that Summers could leave the post soon.[57] ...and is on the way out. If Obama loved him so much, why did he put Bernanke as head of the Fed Res? *****Neither of us know the relationship Obama has with Summers or Bernanke. However, if you are going to criticize the Repubs for having a close relationship with business, you better get ready to slam Obama. For all of his populist rhetoric and business-bashing, he and his staff have very close relations with AIG and Goldman Sachs, not to mention the unions and other interests. From your article: -- Unemployment was a serious economic problem in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries prior to the welfare state and widespread unionization. Unemployment then, as now, was closely linked to general macroeconomic conditions. -- The great depression, when unemployment in the United States reached 25 percent, is the classic example of the damage that collapses in credit can do. Since then, most economists have agreed that cyclical fluctuations in unemployment are caused by changes in the demand for labor, not by changes in workers’ desires to work, and that unemployment in recessions is involuntary. Looks to me like He's saying credit issues and demand issues are key to unemployment. Sad when your own article rejects your point. At least I can say a conservative actually posted a citation fro once. *****Read again my friend. Summers also makes the point, elsewhere, that FDR's policies actually prolonged the depression. Yes, courtesy of Fascist Ronnie and G "dumbshit" Dumbya. Hillarious to read you act as if the economy is random, then try to assign blame to Clinton when his presidency yielded the greatest growth ever while under tax increases and more controls. Make sense. You must harbor some strong feelings because they interferred with your assessment of my post. I did not lay any blame on Clinton, nor am I a neocon, nor do I believe that the economy should be without some regulation. And by Facist, do you mean the idea that government should control every aspect of our lives? Or that government is more important than the individual? There is a good book out on the topic called "Liberal Facism." Give it a read. It may suprise you. The dangers of life are infinite, and among them is safety.

Good thing they did not delay the arguments. With the next justice about ready to be confirmed (Kagan), it would have been very different. The dangers of life are infinite, and among them is safety.