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Former President George H.W. Bush Celebrates 90th Birthday By Going Skydiving [Video]

Former President George H.W. Bush Celebrates 90th Birthday By Going Skydiving [Video]

 

By Amy Hubbard and Michael Muskal, Los Angeles Times

Former President George H.W. Bush celebrated his 90th birthday Thursday by jumping out of a helicopter. And nobody tried to stop him.

The 41st president tweeted breezily several hours before the event: “It’s a wonderful day in Maine — in fact, nice enough for a parachute jump.”

Bush made the jump — his parachute was red, white and blue — even though he has mostly had to use a wheelchair to get around for the last year. He has vascular Parkinsonism, which causes symptoms similar to Parkinson’s disease.

It was a tandem jump from a helicopter near his summer home in Kennebunkport, Maine. Bush was harnessed to Sgt. 1st Class Mike Elliott, a retired member of the Army’s parachute team.

Television images captured the former president, noted for daredevil stunts in his retirement, floating gently to the Earth in what appeared to be a long arc.

It was the former world leader’s eighth parachute jump.

The first time, he had no choice.

In 1944 Bush was a 20-year-old torpedo bomber pilot serving in World War II. His squadron was on a mission when it was attacked. His plane’s engine was on fire, but he released his bombs and headed back toward the aircraft carrier San Jacinto. On the way, he had to bail out over the ocean. Three other crew members died. Bush earned the Distinguished Flying Cross.

The former president has commemorated three other landmark birthdays with parachute jumps — plummeting to the Earth at 100 mph on his 75th, 80th and 85th.

Five Injured As Turbulence Hits United Flight

Five Injured As Turbulence Hits United Flight

By Amy Hubbard, Los Angeles Times

A flight attendant remained hospitalized Tuesday after a United Airlines flight experienced turbulence so severe that passengers, including a baby, were tossed about the cabin.

Flight 1676 from Denver dropped suddenly and “hard” as it began its descent into Billings, Missouri, passenger Joe Frank told the Denver Post. He said a parent lost hold of a baby, who landed in a nearby seat, appearing unharmed.

There were screams as the plane dropped sharply, passenger Bill Dahlin told Billings’ KTVQ-TV. He said a woman’s head struck the ceiling so hard it cracked a panel.

Five people were hospitalized following the incident, including three crew members and two passengers. One flight attendant remained hospitalized in intensive care Tuesday morning, KNX-AM in Los Angeles reported.

According to the FAA, each year 58 people aboard U.S. flights are injured in turbulence while not wearing their seat belts. It’s unclear whether the seat belt sign had been illuminated on Flight 1676 at the time of the accident. The Los Angeles Times’ calls to United were not immediately returned early Tuesday morning.

The leading cause of injuries on flights in nonfatal accidents is in-flight turbulence. From 1980 through 2008, U.S. airlines had 234 accidents due to turbulence, with a toll of three fatalities and 298 serious injuries.

AFP Photo/Mario Goldman

Money Worries Killing Our Sex Drive? Survey Measures Our Obsession

Money Worries Killing Our Sex Drive? Survey Measures Our Obsession

By Amy Hubbard, Los Angeles Times

Money worries are killing romance right when we need it, on Valentine’s Day.

The holiday means pricey dinners and sparkly gifts, an outlay of cash — and added financial stress — for many Americans. For those wanting to add some romantic sizzle, money worries are a cold shower.

A recent survey shows money-related stress may be snuffing out sexual desire. A majority of Americans surveyed in the Harris poll, conducted for financial data company Yodlee, thought about money more often than sex — 62 percent of those 18 and older. And 27 percent of those in a relationship said financial worries were negatively affecting their libidos.

“Discussing finances is often stigmatized in American culture,” said Caroline McNally, vice president of marketing for Yodlee, in a news release. “This survey shows just how severely financial stress is affecting Americans’ relationships.”

Comparative wealth doesn’t seem to help. Of those making $100,000 or more, 26 percent said money worries were affecting how often they were intimate with a partner. That’s the same percentage as among households earning $50,000 to $74,900 annually.

Of those obsessing over money, women are in the majority — with 77 percent thinking of money or the lack of it more often than sex. Men are more successful at keeping sex foremost in their thoughts — a little less than half, 46 percent, say money worries trump sex.

But when it comes to men in relationships, just as many men as women find their sexual desire affected by finances: 28 percent of women, 27 percent of men.

When viewed through the lens of geography, the West is the sexiest place to be.

In the South, 66 percent of people thought more about money than sex, more than any other region in the United States. In the West it was 57 percent. The West also had the lowest percentage of people in relationships who said their sex drives were affected by money worries: 24 percent.

The survey was conducted online in the United States from December 6 to 10 among 2,039 adults 18 and older. Some figures were weighted to reflect actual proportions in the population. The online survey was not based on a probability sample so no estimate of theoretical sampling error was calculated.

Photo: StacyA via Flickr