Leaderboard

About 35 years ago I was a new skydiver, jumping at a tiny DZ on Long Island and dreaming about moving somewhere new. I spent some of my free time at work posting on rec.skydiving - a Usenet group that catered to skydivers. It was a different time back then. To be able to get to Usenet at all means you needed a modem and a computer, both pricey purchases, and you needed to be able to get them to work together, which meant you needed some tech experience. As a result, not many people were on Usenet - just me and a few other tech nerds. And there was hardly any spam! Slowly over the years more people figured it out and started joining. I remember TooyT, Barry Brumitt (wrote the first skydiving FAQ!) Lance Kirwin, Kevin O'Connell, Dave Appel and Jerry Sobieski. I also met Amy on there, which changed the course of my life in a big way. I moved to California in '94 both to escape a bad relationship and to skydive. And of course because I found a great company - Qualcomm - in San Diego. By that point Usenet was becoming a cesspool of Viagra ads and foreign bride offers, and filters had not gotten good enough yet to remove all that, so browsing it was painful. So when Willem announced he was starting DZ.com I felt a big sense of relief. He got in touch with me to see if I wanted to moderate S+T and Incidents, which I said yes to. We started with a complement of about a dozen moderators, some of which I got to know really well. I spent a day in San Diego with Andrea watching whales swim by the gliderport, and I spent a few days with Chuck and Katie at Raeford jumping. Derek once built me a tersh just because I was talking about how I needed one (thanks again Derek) and Remi, Karen and I would meet up whenever we were out at Eloy. Seven of us once got together at Eloy and did the now-infamous moderator jump, angled carefully so no one could see Willem's face on camera. I think Eric and Scott were on that one as well. I also met a bunch of other people from DZ.com in real life - Lisa, Keely, Gary, Winsor - and saw them at Perris and at boogies all the time. It grew my circle of friends from Socal jumpers to jumpers all over the US. And even the world; I met some people from the Irish Parachute Club and made a trip out there to jump with them. I recall a lot of drinking. Over time as moderators changed I took on moderation of a few more forums, but to me the S+T and Incidents forum were always the important ones. I got some sort of award - a "skydivers hall of fame" or something from Parachutist for running that, and got on a few podcasts talking about safety and incidents. One of my proudest moments during that time was reading an incident by a newer jumper flying a too-small canopy. He had read one of my many diatribes on "LEARN FLAT TURNS!" and had tried them once or twice. Then one day he found himself flying downwind by accident, and he tried to turn into the wind at 50 feet. He tried that flat turn he had heard about, but there was something off about it (he explained) because he landed hard, tore his jumpsuit and sprained his ankle. The fact that he was complaining about a sprained ankle after a turn at 50 feet under a heavily loaded canopy made me think that maybe this forum was actually doing some good. I learned a lot, too, mainly from the forums I wasn't moderating - forums like General and Gear and Rigging. Based on what I learned about wingsuiting here, for example, I bought a small wingsuit, taught myself how to fly it, started moving up in wingsuit sizes - then met Jari and became one of the first Birdman wingsuit instructors in the US. And over the years we lost people here too, of course. In some ways this place served as a memorial; you could go back and read what Shannon or Taz had posted while they were still alive, and remember them that way. Over the years traffic has started to fall off as people find more social-media options for skydiving, which is a natural evolution. I'm sorry that it will be disappearing sooner rather than later, but nothing lasts forever. It will be interesting to see what happens to the database; all these incident reports and threads on canopy flight have a lot of value (IMO) and I hope we can save some of it. Thanks to everyone who participated on this site over the decades it has been running, and thanks especially to all the moderators who I've worked with - Wendy, Lisa, Andrea, Chuck, Eric, Remi, Meso and all the others. And of course thanks to Willem for doing all the work to set up and maintain this site. See you out there.

As I have contemplated the end of this forum it seems like facing the prospect of losing a large partly dysfunctional family all in one fell swoop. Of course it has been slowly dying anyway but some of the participants that are still here are outstanding in many so ways. At this time however I would like to thank the mods for their decision to let pretty much anything go in the dying days. The resultant decline in the quality of the discourse by allowing people of such low ability to think rationally is making it a lot easier for me to prepare myself for the loss. Seriously, it was the right thing to do for other reasons as well. I certainly will miss the chance to interact with some great people in a way that I will probably never be able to replace but at least I will also never have to deal with the crazy nonsense that comes across my screen.

Hard to believe I’ve been coming here to Speaker’s Corner for 20 years for my daily dose of enlightenment and aggravation. It’s really been the best place to hear a diversity of opinions from real people, a diversity I can’t encounter at work or the drop zone where it would be inappropriate to talk about so many of the topics we can kick around here. I’ve learned something from all of you, and I’ll really miss getting perspective from you even if sometimes it makes me gnash my teeth. So I’d like to wish all of you fair winds and following seas. Don

Brother, that's quite a leap. "Sick fuck pedo's" will pose as anything to gain access. Nor, are they just male. I don't understand the trans/cross dressing thing, but I also know my framework lies in the constituion - the right to pursue happiness. If they wanna do it and it's not hurting anyone - how is that my business.

A good man. Maybe not the greatest president, but a good man who lived a good life.

About 35 years ago I was a new skydiver, jumping at a tiny DZ on Long Island and dreaming about moving somewhere new. I spent some of my free time at work posting on rec.skydiving - a Usenet group that catered to skydivers. It was a different time back then. To be able to get to Usenet at all means you needed a modem and a computer, both pricey purchases, and you needed to be able to get them to work together, which meant you needed some tech experience. As a result, not many people were on Usenet - just me and a few other tech nerds. And there was hardly any spam! Slowly over the years more people figured it out and started joining. I remember TooyT, Barry Brumitt (wrote the first skydiving FAQ!) Lance Kirwin, Kevin O'Connell, Dave Appel and Jerry Sobieski. I also met Amy on there, which changed the course of my life in a big way. I moved to California in '94 both to escape a bad relationship and to skydive. And of course because I found a great company - Qualcomm - in San Diego. By that point Usenet was becoming a cesspool of Viagra ads and foreign bride offers, and filters had not gotten good enough yet to remove all that, so browsing it was painful. So when Willem announced he was starting DZ.com I felt a big sense of relief. He got in touch with me to see if I wanted to moderate S+T and Incidents, which I said yes to. We started with a complement of about a dozen moderators, some of which I got to know really well. I spent a day in San Diego with Andrea watching whales swim by the gliderport, and I spent a few days with Chuck and Katie at Raeford jumping. Derek once built me a tersh just because I was talking about how I needed one (thanks again Derek) and Remi, Karen and I would meet up whenever we were out at Eloy. Seven of us once got together at Eloy and did the now-infamous moderator jump, angled carefully so no one could see Willem's face on camera. I think Eric and Scott were on that one as well. I also met a bunch of other people from DZ.com in real life - Lisa, Keely, Gary, Winsor - and saw them at Perris and at boogies all the time. It grew my circle of friends from Socal jumpers to jumpers all over the US. And even the world; I met some people from the Irish Parachute Club and made a trip out there to jump with them. I recall a lot of drinking. Over time as moderators changed I took on moderation of a few more forums, but to me the S+T and Incidents forum were always the important ones. I got some sort of award - a "skydivers hall of fame" or something from Parachutist for running that, and got on a few podcasts talking about safety and incidents. One of my proudest moments during that time was reading an incident by a newer jumper flying a too-small canopy. He had read one of my many diatribes on "LEARN FLAT TURNS!" and had tried them once or twice. Then one day he found himself flying downwind by accident, and he tried to turn into the wind at 50 feet. He tried that flat turn he had heard about, but there was something off about it (he explained) because he landed hard, tore his jumpsuit and sprained his ankle. The fact that he was complaining about a sprained ankle after a turn at 50 feet under a heavily loaded canopy made me think that maybe this forum was actually doing some good. I learned a lot, too, mainly from the forums I wasn't moderating - forums like General and Gear and Rigging. Based on what I learned about wingsuiting here, for example, I bought a small wingsuit, taught myself how to fly it, started moving up in wingsuit sizes - then met Jari and became one of the first Birdman wingsuit instructors in the US. And over the years we lost people here too, of course. In some ways this place served as a memorial; you could go back and read what Shannon or Taz had posted while they were still alive, and remember them that way. Over the years traffic has started to fall off as people find more social-media options for skydiving, which is a natural evolution. I'm sorry that it will be disappearing sooner rather than later, but nothing lasts forever. It will be interesting to see what happens to the database; all these incident reports and threads on canopy flight have a lot of value (IMO) and I hope we can save some of it. Thanks to everyone who participated on this site over the decades it has been running, and thanks especially to all the moderators who I've worked with - Wendy, Lisa, Andrea, Chuck, Eric, Remi, Meso and all the others. And of course thanks to Willem for doing all the work to set up and maintain this site. See you out there.

This site is apparently going tit's up. As the gal who had the biggest thread ( except db) I want to say thank you to all of you for the discourse over the years. It's been fun!

What surprises me is that there hasn’t been much coverage of how Trump’s hotel was taken by the courts due to tax fraud. The timing of Trump’s statements seems to be more about personal grievances at being held accountable than any altruistic concern for Americans

Actually there are people who have different views to the majority and are not trolls. They are sincere in their beliefs and disagree strongly while still being able to hold a rational conversation and make a point (people like Bigun etc). The childish trolling adds no value and is frankly not entertaining after you’ve left kindergarten.

Definitely. It's not you; you are a lone voice of reason crying out against a biased woke system. You are the victim here!

You know what, we are often on opposite ends, but I appreciate the humanity you bring to the table, which tends to be missing these days.

Or, for the sake of the Christmas season, and to celebrate the end of DZ.com, our fellow dz.commers could refrain from PA's to prevent you from having to do even more work. It's a thought. We could all walk away from here with fond memories of each other or a so glad that shit is over thought. Ya know, Primacy/Recency.

For the sake of the Christmas season, and to celebrate the end of the DZ.com, I am going to be a little more lenient on PA's in terms of warnings. Instead I will edit any personal attack to a new attack of my choice.

Hunter Biden is a long time drug addict. He’s probably done more crime that can be uncovered. Crime that, if he were a normal white collar white guy, would never be uncovered or would be treated as a slap on the wrist at best. But hey, let us know how happy you’d be if the Sheriff in your town started following you around and delving into every aspect of your life for just because he didn’t like you. Shouldn’t be any problem, right? If you’re innocent you’ve got nothing to hide.

And now, the end is near And so I face the final curtain My friend, I'll say it clear I'll state my case, of which I'm certain I've lived a life that's full I traveled each and every highway And more, much more than this I did it my way Regrets, I've had a few But then again, too few to mention I did what I had to do And saw it through without exemption I planned each charted course Each careful step along the byway And more, much more than this I did it my way Yes, there were times, I'm sure you knew When I bit off more than I could chew But through it all, when there was doubt I ate it up and spit it out I faced it all, and I stood tall And did it my way I've loved, I've laughed and cried I've had my fill, my share of losing And now, as tears subside I find it all so amusing To think I did all that And may I say, not in a shy way Oh, no, oh, no, not me I did it my way For what is a man, what has he got? If not himself, then he has naught To say the things he truly feels And not the words of one who kneels The record shows I took the blows And did it my way

You're a fucking loon.

Again? When was that lying piece of shit EVER right? He can't. It doesn't exist. All the 'facts' reported by the FBI, or the "Main Stream Media" are lies (because he doesn't like them). Yet he won't (or can't) provide any actual data to back up his claims.

It has made it significantly easier to let go of this place. I hadn't realized that Q still existed, so there's that. Thanks for your work over the years here Bill, seriously appreciate the effort the greenies put in here.

PeaceLoveAndForeverBlueSkies to us all!! PatheticLoser PL -777 DannyDan

True. But all outcomes have to start with raw data. https://www.gunviolencearchive.org/ Personally, I would like to go back to a time when not everyone could have a gun in their car or on their hip.

C'mon guys, my Snoopy Santa drone must be worth at least one Like.

That's a bit of a stretch to come to that conclusion from the data provided. Just because the market share has dropped doesn't mean the number of viewers has stayed the same (and they all just went to another channel). More likely that a lot of us watched a lot of the shows for information from the candidates as the different platforms covered the public appearances. Now that the election is over, I would conclude that the people still watching as much FOX as they did before the election is skewing the percentages, since they're still getting the dopamine hit from the continuous victory laps and hate rhetoric toward the other party, which fuels more desire to keep watching. The rest of us are just decompressing and moving on to the holidays. But that's just my take on the data. I'm not hearing whining on this side, just some self-reflection on the messaging during the campaign and concern over the unqualified nominees to the cabinet. YMMV (obviously).

"intellectually incestuous circle jerk" - how conservatives see science, modern medicine, and the study of history. They prefer to be free and independent thinkers, unfettered by the chains of education, research, collaboration or review. If they see a video on their phone while they are pooping - why, that's "doing their own research", and they are now qualified to give advice on when to vaccinate your child!

Ya know, it’s people who use being a girl as an insult who make it quite clear that sexism is real Wendy P.

I would strongly advise not hiring any troublesome bible thumpers. They make other workers uncomfortable.

If this site goes down then they may never find DB Cooper.

OK no worries. The original question was: "So is someone who is XY, and has breasts and a vagina, a woman or a man?" That person is genetically male - that is their genetic sex. They are phenotypically female - that is their anatomical sex. Their gender - whether they call themselves a man or a woman, what pronouns they use, how they present themselves etc - is what they decide it is.

The Japanese that we put in prison camps were a miniscule percentage of our population. Doesn't make that OK. Gay people are a small part of the population. Still, laws that made being gay illegal were wrong. Black people were a small (not miniscule) part of our population in 1860. Didn't make slavery OK. Didn't make separate water fountains OK. Didn't make white-only schools OK. Although a LOT of bigots used that exact argument - "they have rights! Just different rights. There aren't that many of them anyway." If your argument is "as long as most people have rights that's fine" then you do not support rights - you support privilege.

Every time a gun MOVES, background check. Dad died and left you his guns? Background check.

First POTUS in MANY years to bring decency to the White House. Something we may not see again for awhile. At least 4 years anyway.

Just so you know, there is life beyond dizzy.com

I thought I could get through to the end without adding to my ignore list. I was wrong.

It's more paranoid than selfish, but to some degree it is selfish IMO. It's also a HUGE responsibility, one that's often forgotten or ignored.

Not here as long as Bill but I have jumped over the years with a bunch of former and current members, and some of the old Usenet folks too. This includes a 100+ way at Perris with Billvon, and a fancy jump at Quincy with Winsor (we also gave an evening presentation on exit separation one year). Also jumped with Wendy and Andrea at one time or another. And , of course, TK at Z-Hills.

We minions will adjust and adapt, I'm sure. It's you Mod's I worry about. Maybe you could get a dog to train. Should be a no brainer after this.

Ask me how I knew you were talking about the 15 minute city conspiracy theory, not the actual 15 minute city planning concept? Ah you don't need to ask - because it's you. It's always going to be the stupidest possible option with you.

So Scumbag Gaetz, (R, and a favorite of Trump) sought a restraining order today against the House Ethics Committee in an effort to halt the panel's release of its final report summarizing his gross moral turpitude. Appears to be moot.

Unidentified drones over Western Pennsylvania!!!!

The Evolution used a 3-riser configuration. Pretty crappy canopy with close to zero flare.

New episode out now! DB Cooper Falsehoods Fly, with my good friend Ryan Burns. https://www.podbean.com/eas/pb-xw2v4-1778eb1 Enjoy!

Kirk was definitely my go-to coach for the numerous times I had to get current. Questionable sense of humor, though not if you asked him! The funnier he found one of his own jokes, the more snorts you'd get out of his laughing (I did hear a three-snort laugh once!). After I learned of his death, he came up in conversation with someone I had only just met. I told her the funny story about how no one ever knows until later that they dated Kirk Knight. She got quiet for a minute, then realized she had dated him as well (she wouldn't have realized it had I not connected the dots for her). Kirk was the reason I was a decent skydiver, am a pretty good judge, and am also an ambassador for the Museum/Hall of Fame -- and I'm just one person. I know there are dozens (if not hundreds) of people who could say the same about how Kirk helped them. He is still missed. Fucci -- thanks for being there for Kirk, especially at the end (whether he wanted it or not). You were both great teammates. --T Bone

My concern about Hegseth's idea is that he says the "choose your own" healthcare provider, funded by the VA, for only service-related injuries/health problems. There is your hidden issue: what gets determined to be "service-related." A friend of mine has what his VA doctor described as "paratrooper knees" after many years jumping round canopies while carrying radio equipment (active duty). However, he has never been able to get his broken-down knees categorized as "service-related" for his disability claim. The doc claims they can't prove it was caused by his airborne time in the service. [smh] It's this kind of nonsense that we'll hear about incessantly if the VA goes to the type of medical care option Hegseth is proposing, and we'll be back to veterans suffering.

I agree that those people are sick fucks. But from what I can see, there are a lot more risk of that from straight people than trans people. Mark Foley - propositioned teen Congressional aides, forced to resign Joel Greenberg - sentenced for sex trafficking of underage girls Ghislaine Maxwell - sentenced for sex trafficking of underage girls Denny Hastert - sexually abused underage boys Jim Jordan - supplied underage boys for Richard Strauss to abuse, then kept allegations quiet Donald Trump - bragged about peeping on underage girls Roy Moore - cruised local malls when he was in his 40's to hit on 14 and 16 year old girls Matt Gaetz - under investigation for pedophilia and sex trafficking; quit government to dodge the investigation So if your goal is to defend kids, spending your time targeting trans people will result in you missing the actual criminals and enablers.

The sneaky wording on attorney Paul Van Der Velde suggests that he is lying about collecting the $40 million. Has an attorney ever lied before? Hah! Hah!

Turns out dragging knuckles and understanding humour are mutually exclusive.

It was really interesting to see the recent spate of news about the opposition making gains in Syria last week. Amazing to hear the news about Assad. It's easy to celebrate these milestones (and we should), but we should still be very concerned about what's next. ISIS could decide to make a power play, the forces in power could totally fail to deliver public services, or someone else could simply step up with his own brand of authoritarianism as just a different kind of "bad" for Syria. I'm not sure we should be a part of the re-building of institutions and democracy, considering our penchant for "getting ahead of our skis" when we start out trying to do the right thing. But I certainly think we should support our allies stepping in to assist in the process. The earlier a new government can get off the ground, the better the whole region will be.

Finally a concise definition of what 'woke' is - pronouns on social media. Seems like such a petty thing to get so worked up about, but whatever floats your boat.

Well sure, Brent really doesn’t want to talk about Syria. What’s he going to say about the fact that Trump hand picked an Assad supporter for Intelligence Director? What’s he going to say about the fact that Assad was toppled because Putin was busy having his military destroyed in Ukraine - a war that Trump is determined to let him win as soon as he can? Changing the subject is really the only option for a good little MAGA follower right now.

Richravizza, I heard. There are some planned changes, disabling spell check for example, but otherwise no worries.

And if it shines a bright light on insurance industry cockroaches , their lobbyists, and the bastard republicans in Congress who keep America saddled with shit insurance then good. Medicare for all, it works.