Bob_Church

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Posts posted by Bob_Church


  1. SkyDekker

    ***See, this is evidence of something I didn't even know. It turns out I am a racist, it's the only explanation. You see, in my twisted bigoted excuse for a brain, the idea that all of this very real and very documented social injustice means that a young black man who wants to stay alive SHOULDN'T feel obligated to do whatever a scared cop aiming a cocked gun at him was the stupidest thing I've ever heard. Can you believe the depths of my racism and delusion? Maybe I should take one of those racial sensitivity programs where, using small words and speaking slowly, they can explain to my simple mind the way having the world stacked against him makes a young black man immune to bullets.
    I've got so much to learn.



    For fucks sake. Nobody is saying that.

    What people are trying to explain to you is that there are underlying reasons for much of that behaviour. Maybe some understanding from "the other side" is helpful in trying to keep young black men alive.

    You may not be racist, but the constant unwillingness to look at "the other side of the coin" is certainly a trait you share with racists.

    I just think it's critical to not confuse two things.

    1. Because of how society has screwed blacks over the inner cities have become war zones. This needs to be fixed. This MUST be fixed. And I think that if it were actually acknowledged and acted on it could be fixed. I wouldn't be averse to a few politicians being shot, but shooting cops and fellow black men won't help.

    2. There are things that if you do will get you killed. If you aim a gun at a cop one of you will die. If you get drunk and try to take a cop's gun someone will die. When you go flashing a handgun around in public you may very well die.

    And absolutely nothing about the first situation will bring a victim of the second situation back to life. Dead is dead. As for BLM I honestly believe that they will get far more young black people killed without saving any lives. If they'd include a few "don't act stupid with a gun" signs in with all the "no justice no peace' ones maybe they'd do some good for the people they claim to be worried about.

  2. See, this is evidence of something I didn't even know. It turns out I am a racist, it's the only explanation. You see, in my twisted bigoted excuse for a brain, the idea that all of this very real and very documented social injustice means that a young black man who wants to stay alive SHOULDN'T feel obligated to do whatever a scared cop aiming a cocked gun at him was the stupidest thing I've ever heard. Can you believe the depths of my racism and delusion? Maybe I should take one of those racial sensitivity programs where, using small words and speaking slowly, they can explain to my simple mind the way having the world stacked against him makes a young black man immune to bullets.
    I've got so much to learn.

  3. bamber

    Many people on this forum said that first time skydiving in water is dangerous, but look at the below video. They are using static line non-steerable T-11 from a helicopter over a lake while wearing inflatables. As soon as they land they are greeted by a boat.

    The statistics show many people get leg injuries from first time jumps or slam into wall and trees. It seems that the way they are jumping in the below video those injuries will not happen.

    It also seems like a good method for tourists that only want to jump once.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vzbr-Cqgdfc
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vzbr-Cqgdfc




    Ok, but serious question. What about when the water went up your nose? Do you think that that and the momentary disorientation you felt would affect some people enough for them to not want to come back?

  4. gowlerk

    The people who have a real stake in skydiving are the same people who make it happen for you. Without them you would have no place to jump. So, go ahead and complain. It’s easy and it’s your right. It’s also completely meaninglessness because the people who matter support USPA.



    Just for the record, except for the odd visit somewhere else I've never jumped at a USPA member DZ.
    Oh wait, Lancaster was and I jumped there one summer. Now I remember that they had to take my USPA number and check it. That's the only way I knew.
    I'm not trying to go all anti-USPA but I thought some posts were going a little overboard with how much we need them.

  5. riggerrob

    20 years was a simple number for rigged to quote when refusing to repackage older/obsolete parachutes. After 20 years - in the California desert - containers get faded, frayed and filthy. There was a lot of progress during the 1970s and 1989s. For example, no modern rigger wants to touch round reserves made during the acid-mesh era of the mid-1980s.

    Our last major revolution in skydiving technology occurred around 1990 with the introduction of collapsible pilot-chutes, ZP fabric, zero stretch suspension lines, electronic AADs, ringed harnesses, free fly friendly, wing-loading a more than 1:1, etc.
    Since then we have only seen incremental improvements.

    Another difficulty - when maintaining older parachutes - is finding manuals and Service Bulletins that were published before the inter web.



    Speaking of 20 years, there's some other rule in their. A rigger who was packing my rig let me know that this would be her last time because the reserve would be over 20 years old then. But it wasn't a problem with the reserve, it's just that she couldn't. She was letting me know that a different rigger would have to start packing it after this.

  6. massis

    ***
    When the Sav-A-Lot opened in Athens their policy was that the customer had to do all of their own bagging.



    Oh no, the horror! Wait... What?! Over here in Europe we NEVER have anyone for "bagging", which honestly sounds like a pretty sexual act (dirty mind?).

    You roll your cart up to the conveyer, unload all of it yourself onto the conveyer, the cashier grabs each item and swipes it across the scanner, and you pick it up at the other end and put it in a bag/box/your cart.

    Years ago there would be plastic bags provided you could grab and stuff everything in, but since ~2010 you're expected to bring your own bags (environmentally friendly), and 99% of the customers just toss everything back into the cart and put it in bags when you load it into the car.

    Most stores gave up on the 10 items rule a long time ago, the larger ones now have self scanning available, although if the self checkout line (which is still manned by at least one cashier per 2-3 stations, who handles payment and performs random cart checks as instructed by the automatic cash register) is too busy, you can just take your scanner and give it to a cashier in a normal checkout and have them handle payment.

    Thank god for collect&go options. Order groceries online, drive up to the store, park in predesignated spots right next to the exit, pick up the prepared boxes with all your groceries and be in and out in under 10 minutes. Added bonus: you didn't buy 15 things you don't need but are going to eat anyway because it looked yummy.


    I'm sure it was an accident, maybe a new keyboard, that made you cut the actual POINT to my post. Or are we to assume that 'over there in Europe' that if someone needs help they won't get it? I find that hard to believe.

    "but waiting forever five back in a row while an 85 year old woman tried to pack up all of her stuff while a young healthy clerk stood there with his arms folded and a grin on his face tore it for me"

  7. maxmadmax

    Col Joe is a true American hero.

    Balloons, High altitude, POW.......name it.

    HBD!

    Regards,
    Mad Max



    And he gave up a real shot at being an astronaut because he knew that Stapp needed his help.

  8. ryoder

    ***
    Interesting that the major mid west regional competitor for Walmart is Meijer's (pronounced Meyer), started by Fred Meijer in Grand Rapids. Also a major philanthropist. Or course I throw up a little in my mouth when I have to go to the Van Andel Arena or the Devos Hall in Grand Rapids, being those two namesakes started Amway. And yes it's that Betsy Devos.



    Oh, for chrissake!
    I didn't know she was part of the Amway scam-family.:S

    Wait, is all of this connected to Meiers? Please say no, I really like Meijers. They're expensive but a nice alternative now and then, especially since the closest one to us is about sixty miles. There's one right next to the airport in Lancaster and when the winds were right we'd be in freefall right over them. Then at the end of a winter's day of jumping I'd go over to their food tables area and have a cup of coffee and donut as I warmed up under where we'd been jumping.

  9. "Ah, but there are 12 items or less self scanners and unlimited self scanners. And people still can't count. What truly annoys me is that for much of the day they have NO checkers on duty. Sometimes with a cart full I just don't feel like bagging my own"

    We had gone to Nashville to see a live Rifftrax show and afterwards we were more in the mood for grocery cold plate than restaurant stuff. I was in a line in Krogers when the clerk stopped and announced that she was now off work. "ok, where are the other clerks." There were none, after 11pm you HAVE to use the scanners.
    When the Sav-A-Lot opened in Athens their policy was that the customer had to do all of their own bagging. Well, mostly boxing, they had empty boxes piled up by the checkout lines. This was supposed to somehow save time and money but waiting forever five back in a row while an 85 year old woman tried to pack up all of her stuff while a young healthy clerk stood there with his arms folded and a grin on his face tore it for me and I never went back. It seemed like the sort of policy that you follow when it saves time but no. Bag 'em yourself and we'll wait if need be. Finally a few people who were close enough helped her and ruined the clerk's fun.

  10. ryoder

    ***
    My most-used grocery store gave up on the 'x item or less' and now offer multiple DIY scanners; which I always use.



    Best change my local King Soopers (part of Kroger) ever made.
    I never use the manned checkout lanes any more.

    When I'm at Krogers I'll be going past the "x items or fewer line" towards the regular lanes and have the clerk, or one of the supervisors hovering nearby, tell me to go ahead because there is nobody in the line anyway. I always feel like I'm being put on the spot. It's rude to say no, but I know that about the time I'm halfway rang out some sanctimonious asshole with way too much time on their hands is going to come by and wonder why I can't count. And yes, without fail, it happens. I have to either stand their and explain why I'm being checked out like a child explaining himself to an adult or just ignore them. And not once have I had a clerk speak up about it. They need to have a light they can turn off for instances like that.

  11. michaelmullins

    ***I know I'm going to sound rock stupid but here goes anyway. Could we get a list of what the different abbreviations mean? Things like FS for instance. Every time I think I've got it worked out someone posts something that shows me that I don't.



    All of the definitions are in the Skydivers Competition Manual which you can download from uspa.org.

    Here is the link: https://uspa.org/Portals/0/files/SCM_ch09.pdf

    Mike Mullins

    I got what I needed for now but that looks handy.
    Thanks

  12. DanG

    Quote


    When you replace logic and debate with smug condescension and ugly labels it sucks all of the joy out of a place.
    SC has become a Gated Community of trust fund babies.



    I like how you put these two sentences right next to each other but will never allow yourself to see the irony.



    Wasn't that an episode of Kung fu?

    "So, Master, you're saying that when someone finally speaks up and says "you're being an asshole" in that moment you become an asshole?"
    "Yes, Grasshopper, exactly."
    "So then, wise one, the best path is to just let the same old same old keep going until in the near future the last person to leave turns out the lights? "
    "Yes Grasshopper, you are truly growing in wisdom."

  13. Westerly

    ***I know I'm going to sound rock stupid but here goes anyway. Could we get a list of what the different abbreviations mean? Things like FS for instance. Every time I think I've got it worked out someone posts something that shows me that I don't.



    Formation Skydiving which is apparently the new-age term for RW. FS = belly jumps, FF = freefly jumps.

    Thank you. I had to assume that FS was Freestyle, but then what was described sounded like good old arrrrdubya.

  14. When I first found SC I couldn't believe that so few jumpers were using it. Now I'm not, and the comments I got when I tried to get people to come here from other sites make sense.
    When you replace logic and debate with smug condescension and ugly labels it sucks all of the joy out of a place.
    SC has become a Gated Community of trust fund babies.

  15. airdvr

    ******BLM is primarily about cops killing black people.

    It is not about white people killing black people. At all.

    Say it with me, Black Lives Matter isn't about white vs black.

    People like you really, really want it to be so you can ignore it. But it isn't. Sorry.



    Ok, sure. We continue our strategy of saving black lives by blaming it on something less uncomfortable than the real cause of their deaths. After all, that's been working so well so far, hasn't it?

    You're new here. You didn't realize that conversations about race aren't allowed in the new SC and any attempt to do so will be met with rampant attacks on the OP as a racist.

    Is there ANYTHING that can be discussed here without following a script or being talked down to who really like to type?

  16. airdvr

    ******BLM is primarily about cops killing black people.

    It is not about white people killing black people. At all.

    Say it with me, Black Lives Matter isn't about white vs black.

    People like you really, really want it to be so you can ignore it. But it isn't. Sorry.



    Ok, sure. We continue our strategy of saving black lives by blaming it on something less uncomfortable than the real cause of their deaths. After all, that's been working so well so far, hasn't it?

    You're new here. You didn't realize that conversations about race aren't allowed in the new SC and any attempt to do so will be met with rampant attacks on the OP as a racist.

    You're not kidding. It's just that growing up poor white trash in a family that had to move every few months taught me that not every injustice is about being Black.

  17. billvon

    >You're very confused. I posted those things to describe you, not this poor guy or
    >his family.

    Ah. In that case, your faux outrage over what Skydekker posted to describe your position is duly noted.



    There is no outrage, faux or otherwise. Just confusion on my part. If I say that doing a certain thing will get you killed regardless of your race I might expect someone to disagree with me about the race thing, or even that thing getting you killed. But what value does the reason the person did it have? He was nervous. Ok. But he's still dead. It's not a movie with a possible remake, he's gone and no amount of rationalization of how he acted is going to change that. If you do certain things while a nervous cop has a gun pointed at you the cop won't ask you if you've had a rough life, he'll pull the trigger.
    Personally I think that if I did the same thing under the same conditions I'd be dead. But I also think the discussion in that case would have been "well, that's what happens when you carry a gun. What did he expect?"

  18. billvon

    Quote

    What are you even talking about. Do you know that this is a real life jincident? You talk about a man's death like it's a plot hole in a movie. A man's behavior got him killed and you're going off on him being nervous. Is that supposed to make us feel better, will it make his girlfriend or child feel better.


    Something tells me that if you were talking to his child or his girlfriend you would not be mentioning the victim-blaming, third-grade table, cough medicine crap you are posting here.



    You're very confused. I posted those things to describe you, not this poor guy or his family.

  19. SkyDekker

    ***For instance, there is a standard procedure for being pulled over while legally carrying a concealed weapon. First off, hands on the top of the steering wheel. And they stay there until you've told the cop that you are carrying. What's that, but he already asked for your id? So what, he didn't know you were carrying then. And if you've got an IQ at least as big as your belt size you know that. You keep your hands on the top of the wheel until the cop knows the you have a gun then you follow their instructions. Exactly If you did screw up and start digging for ID, and that is a serious screw up, you instantly put your hands back on the wheel. You do not tell a cop that you have a gun then keep digging around. Why? Because this WILL get you killed and I don't care what your race, gender, social status or anything else is. And at this point neither does the cop, you've put a cop who has a gun aimed at you into a position where that person has no way of knowing what you will pull out until it's too late. And nothing will change that. What's that you say, racism is a real problem? Cops unfairly assume the worst? If you believe that then isn't that just another reason to act like you're not a brain dead cop hating criminal with a gun so PUT YOUR HANDS ON THE WHEEL. It's not rocket science. When I get pulled over I put my hands on the steering wheel until I'm told to do something else then do that. That's because I don't want to die and I don't want everyone I know wondering why I acted so stupid. Carrying a couple concealed weapon may be legal but that doesn't make it anywhere near trivial. Personally I suspect that far more people will get themselves killed with concealed carry than save themselves.



    Of course if you have spent the previous 15 years being harassed by cops for really no other reason than being black, one might be nervous, worried, stressed, anxious when pulled over again.

    Guess what happens to people when they are stressed, worried, nervous and anxious? That's right genius, they act differently than they normally would.

    Your comments really show that you have not a single clue about what goes on.

    What are you even talking about. Do you know that this is a real life jincident? You talk about a man's death like it's a plot hole in a movie. A man's behavior got him killed and you're going off on him being nervous. Is that supposed to make us feel better, will it make his girlfriend or child feel better. You insist on treating this like a card game and arguing over points when a life hung in the balance. And was lost.

  20. "And, um, Bob -- Black Lives Matter is about black people saying that others don't get to determine the worth of their lives for them, any more than they should for anyone else. Most police officers don't think "that could be me in that car" about a black guy, because they don't know any. So they react differently. I had a friend who was a police officer in central Houston. The vast majority of people he interacted with were, in fact, guilty -- and he said it was hard to remind himself that they were innocent until proven guilty, and just as likely to have a "you idiot" explanation, instead of a "you criminal" explanation, as the white guy he might have been drinking beer with.

    Wendy P. "

    But it's hard to see a culture (not a race, a group of people who are black, but not 'blacks') who write "cop killer"" music, kill each other at prodigious numbers and then expect a cop to just walk up to the car or the person on the street and not be edgier than usual. And when I read the details on the shootings it's rare to see a situation in which the shooting wasn't forced by the person who died. I read these descriptions of the events and know, no two ways about it, if I did the same thing I would be dead. Do you know that the BLM movement considers Michael Brown a martyr? Many members credit him with starting the organization. A large belligerent drunk who pushed around a shop owner then was trying to steal a cop's gun. He's their hero.
    And in Cleveland a so-called mother watches her brother give her son, who is large for his age and wears a hoodie, an airsoft gun that has been illegally modified to look like the real thing then tells him to take it to the playground and have fun while she and his uncle stay home to do something more important. The only thing that keeps the gun from looking exactly like a real gun is a red tip on the barrel which her brother either removed or at least obviously knew. You can't miss it.
    When the son inevitably dies is she arrested for child endangerment? Does childrens' services get involved?
    No. Do you know what they did? They gave her six million dollars, a group hug and, and I'm not making any of this up or exaggerating, a place on the committee that's designing the statue to commemorate her outstanding Motherhood.
    So BLM can say whatever they want. They can make any signs they want and people can cow tow to them but the fact is, and I do mean fact, that they are trying to defend the un-defendable. Look at each and every case they champion, look at the case itself, the same way the cop watching a person pulling a gun on them has to, and then see what you think. Yes there are the occasional bad shoots. But the idea of a cop not having to chose to either die, no two ways about it, or be pretty much burnt in effigy is insane. They had a march in Columbus and one sign said "if you don't want shot then don't be a cop." Nobody even mentioned it, it was in the photos but nobody said a thing or even blinked. When black students painted "kill all cops" on the local graffiti wall then bragged about it it was defended.
    In 2016, despite being only 13% of the population over 7,000 blacks were killed by other blacks. Whites and hispanics killed just over 6000 of each other in the same time period.
    How can we ignore that simply because BLM trots out some touching rhetoric?
    No, I don't think they act the way the do because they're black. I know for a fact that most black people don't act like that. It's not something in their genetic makeup. It's the conditions they're forced to live in in this country but instead of going after the politicians who create then refuse to fix those conditions they go after cops who know that if young black men are this eager to kill each other they aren't going to hesitate to kill a cop.
    If you can just step back and look at the reality of it, the case by case situations and what causes them, ignore the rhetoric for one afternoon, I think you'll see a very different picture. It's not about race, no matter how much BLM and their white supporters like to think. It's about logical reactions to a situation that the police didn't create.

  21. "However, there is never a reason to take off on a skydive after sunset or to exit an aircraft 30 minutes after sunset. If you exit to land no later than 30 minutes after sunset you will have plenty of light to land without any other skills (take a light visible for 3 miles with you). Unless, of course, you decide that you are on an episode of "Ripcord" and there is someone in distress, after sunset, that you must jump in and rescue. Lassie came and told you, you must go.

    Mike Mullins "

    Right or wrong we used to do a LOT of dark jumps at our DZ. We logged them as dark jumps because they couldn't be night jumps since nobody had lights. We were just getting one more load in and someone screwed around and it got dark. I mean, dark. And in West Virginia dark was dark.
    I've also done a lot of night jumps, but they in no way prepared me for the dark jumps. Night jumps have lights on the jumpers, lights at the landing area, usually car headlights. Dark jumps have none of that.
    I'm not defending or apologizing for those jumps and I'm certainly not encouraging them but I am saying that night jumps did absolutely nothing to prepare us for them. They're a completely different situation. If the airplane is taking off too late for you but then you think "hey, I've got all those night jumps so I'll be ok" well, no. It just doesn't work that way.

  22. Phil1111

    ***************The real cause of blacks dying at the hands of cops is blacks being shot by cops - often for no reason other than they are black. That's what BLM is trying to stop. I would assume you agree with that approach.


    I don't believe in your statement and the reality doesn't back them up. Over and over I read reports of someone doing something that I know, absolutely, would get me killed. The difference is that if I did it all of my friends and loved ones would say "what was Bob thinking? You can't do that!"

    Reality supports Bill's statement, as anyone who has been paying attention to credible news sources knows. Your repeated denial of that reality speaks volumes about you.

    A cocked, locked 1911 on the hip is how Bob, Marc, Ron and other trump cultists. Deal with the inherent propensity. The DNA. In Black people who can't help their violent impulses. trump understands this as well.

    Don't blame the "uppity" Black folks who are trying to change a dynamic. That they themselves can't change. Because its in their nature, their culture. Like a love of fried chicken, they love violence.

    You and i could understand this. But "socialism" precludes this. Colors our view of reality. If you'll pardon the pun.

    You forgot to call us "Nazis."

    Thats a little unfair!


    RonD1120 wrote:
    I remember discussing the terrorism in South Africa with an Afrikaner. It was in the mid-80s and we shared an office building in the Tampa Bay area. The focus of our discussion was the Communist support for the rebels. He wrote that off as insignificant because "blacks kill blacks, it is part of their culture."

    and you responded.

    I think it's culture not race, at least in the US.

    Fascist support hasn't entered this discussion.

    Wait a minute, you're saying there was some actual thought out logic to that post and not just a spittle flecked "you're with us or against us so anything is fair" rant? You put those words together and considered them lucid?
    I feel like I'm sitting at the wrong table in a third grade cafeteria.