The Para-Rigger

BLUE ANGELS - Next Week, at K-Bay

Hey gang...The "Blues" are coming to Kaneohe Bay next week.....so, here's some great footage to get you ready. The pilot is not smiling when he is pulling G's. He is gritting his teeth and is holding his breath and tensing his upper body in order to insure the blood does not rush from the head to the toes and cause a G loss of consciousness (GLOC). So, in effect this is a breathing maneuver he is doing to prevent GLOC - notice how he'll momentarily relax, take a breath and go right back into that maneuver. Staying in formation while upside down (others right side up) is very, very difficult. Also, notice on the rejoins the closure speed he uses to minimize the amount of time it takes to rejoin - of course they do this every day but it is still an art....enjoy.

WATCH: BLUE ANGELS - Footage Inside the Cockpit

Gnarly Chinese traffic jam

Beijing citizens return from vacation. All at once, it seems.

Well it's about time, I would say!

Godzilla becomes Japanese citizen

http://gawker.com/godzilla-61-year-old-monster-island-resident-becomes-1708629974

(Who says the Japanese are xenophobic?)

Recently, Mother Jones published a chart showing that states with a higher percentage of gun ownership have more gun-related deaths. This chart and similar charts have been circulating social media following the shooting at Umpqua Community College in Oregon on October 1, 2015. But further analysis of the chart leads to a counterintuitive result, contrary to the intentions of Mother Jones.

Guns are more dangerous in states with lower gun ownership. According to this chart, there are MORE deaths per gun-owning household in Rhode Island (the state with the lowest gun ownership) than there are in Alaska (the state with the highest gun ownership). Also, if the average line (assuming it is accurate) were to continue to the left, deaths per 100,000 would only get to a little below 5, even with 0% gun ownership, meaning that some gun-related deaths are possibly coming from households that do not officially (legally?) own guns.

A gun owner who lives in Rhode Island is much more likely to kill someone with that gun than a gun owner in Alaska.