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  1. Mission success! A184C0B3-2E8C-49E1-ACE0-7C5ED5C4793F.mov
    25 points
  2. oh no you don't...we KNEW pretty early on that covid was statistically a non event for young, healthy people. and turns out Fauci and his buddies at Pfizer KNEW it didn't prevent the spread...we were told straight up lies and coerced into taking a shot that provides zero protection and is very harmful...latest numbers i heard were 1 in 800 have side effects. that is a very high number and this shot should NEVER have been MANDATED. so don't give me this 20/20 bullshit....the warnings were being issued very early on but FUCKING CENSORED
    24 points
  3. I’m currently on mil leave finishing up my retirement but looking at the January Bid lines out of Orlando they varied from 60-80 hours, some of them with 18 days off for the month. Since I’ve been gone for a couple years, I’m not sure what the high time flyers are getting, so I’ll leave that question for an active guy. Before I left though, the sky was the limit and as long as it was legal and you could put it on your board, you could bank $$$. Personally, life is great. I ended up having to take my ex back to court and won full custody of the kids (hence the reason I am putting the airline life on hold temporarily and finishing up the mil career). We are all extremely happy. I did end up getting remarried and she has been amazing and my kids all call her “mom”. My older two have pretty much nothing to do with their birth mom, and my youngest is the only one that goes for any sort of visitation. It’s funny what a little bit of wisdom, maturity and life experience will do for the second time around. Sent from my iPhone using Baseops Network mobile app
    23 points
  4. RIP. 🍺 - Chief Warrant Officer 3 Stephen R. Dwyer, 38, of Clarksville, Tennessee -Chief Warrant Officer 2 Shane M. Barnes, 34, of Sacramento, California. -Staff Sergeant Tanner W. Grone, 26, of Gorham, New Hampshire. -Sergeant Andrew P. Southard, 27, of Apache Junction, Arizona. -Sergeant Cade M. Wolfe, 24, of Mankato, Minnesota.
    22 points
  5. On the USAF side access to mental health care without retribution should be SOP for our service, especially for those in combat operations. I won't go into all the details but I fought an EPIC battle with Big Blue years ago to keep CLEARED Ops Psychs available to our aviators in the AFSOC world. I am obviously not an RPA operator but the RPA community in particular needs this service. I spent a lot of time commanding and working in their world and my battle resulted in me having to brief the Under Secretary of the Air Force when the Manpower people tried to take them away our cleared Ops Psychs. I used the following argument to successfully keep access to this critical care capability: "Sir, a lot of people underestimate and overlook RPA operators believing they are fighting the war from a box and they get to go home every night, someone insinuating that is an easy way to fight a war and it reduces the risk to their mental health. In fact, our RPA operators wage a far more personal form of combat than most and I believe it defiantly impacts mental health, especially in the long-term. I would ask you to consider this small vignette. Many of our RPA operators will observe the same house, watching the same person for a month or more at a time. As they develop a pattern of life they observe the target kiss his kids each day then send them off to school, they watch him interact with his wife, they watch him pray. The interaction while one way becomes very personal. One morning our RPA operator wakes up, has breakfast with his wife and kids, kisses his kids and walks them to the bus stop then heads off to the GCU. He sits down and five minutes later the phone rings telling him or her to kill the target. Our RPA operator professionally runs the approvals and traps and a short time later launches a missile or two that turns the target into pink mist, but it doesn't end there. Our RPA operator stays over the objective and watches the body in high definition for hours to see who responds. He or she can sees the kids face and grief when they discover their father was shredded into a lifeless mass of meat, they see his wife try to put the pieces back together and they watch as the body is eventually carried off by other friends and family. At the end of his or her shift they drive home and sit down at the dinner table where the family asks "how was your day?" How does our RPA operator possibly answer that question to his family. This form of combat is different than our other platforms that deploy. While on deployment manned operators have a separation that provides a buffer to process everything that happens, the live, sleep and eat with the camaraderie of others who are experiencing the same effects of combat, they have the time it takes to get home from a deployment to decompress and adjust, and they have time at home away from combat when their deployment is over. Our RPA operators have none of that, in fact they are so critically manned that they often can't take leave, the only get one day off per week and they do this in an endless cycle that can last for years on end. Make no mistake the person he or she killed was a bad person and they deserved to die, but we never want our warriors to lose their humanity in the process." Ultimately this argument worked and we were able to keep a TS cleared Ops Psych that was with our RPA folks everyday. I will laugh when someone plays Dos Gringos Predator Euology but I will never disparage our folks in this community, they carry a different burden than most and they do it without an end in sight. And, @Danger41 , they may be the SEALs of the Sky, but I hold the Draco's on the same regard. Most don't know the impact a little PC-12 has had on the battlefield or the commitment and cost to your community.
    22 points
  6. Thanks again guys. Unfortunately the CR did not go the way I had hoped. This is definitely not how I had envisioned this journey ending when I started it 6 or 7 years ago, and it hurts about as much as you would expect, but I’m gonna try and still be the best officer I can be wherever I end up.
    21 points
  7. I did both. What I experienced in the army was the product of the times I was in the early 2010s. It was the surge in Afghanistan. Can't hover the helicopter? Can't pass the PT test? Don't know your EPs? Here are some wings... you are now your unit's problem. The only thing that would get you kicked out was a DUI. Going through as a young 24-year-old WO1, it did not try at all. Drinked and partied all the damn time and still got my top choice of CH47s. I thought UPT was way harder than Rucker. But when I went through I was way more mature. I got hired off the street by a tanker ANG unit and had to go through the full UPT. I was the last one to solo in my T6 class, even though I was a 1500-hour combat aviator in a helo. I guess I was just used to taking it slow in a helo. I would joke around telling folks at Vance that I used to do my ILSs at 60 knots... why? because I could. Now, going from Vance to OKC on a Rwy 17-day was a fast and rude awakening. I don't think it's a good metric to compare the two. The army sucks the fun out of everything and will try their hardest to change what should be a good experience into something horrible that will make you want to retire. At UPT, I lived for drop nights and the weekends. Party hard with the bros during those but come Sunday night it's time to hit the books and chair fly. But for your original question, I have the following: ARMY Rucker: Easy - The school program. Memorize a few things here and there. Doesn't matter if you even know what you're talking about, as long as you can spit it out verbatim, you will pass with flying colors.. - Flying VFR. Because flying instruments is very hard for all Apache pilots and MTPs. - The standard and the ability to make it. I had people I graduated with who had no business being aviators. But the Army needed the numbers, so here are some wings. I remember day one at Rucker we had the brigade commander tell us that the flight school policy was "No Flight School Student Left Behind" -I think the flying part is probably way easier nowadays. You fly UH72s in primary (no more TH-67s or OH-58s). The 72 has a pretty advanced flight control system that has studs being able to hover after perhaps an hour or two. Hard -The Army. You will graduate and think you are god's gift to aviation. You are not, and here are some field training exercises and ground training shit to prove it and to make you feel like an infantry guy. Also, here is a two-piece flight suit, a PT belt, and Eye Pro... all of those are inspectable items by the sergeant major at any time, so best be ready. -Being a warrant officer - Oh you think your job is a flying-only track? what a scam... and to prove it, here is some paperwork on stands, safety, and ops that an officer should be doing, but it's easier for the army to make a warrant do it for half the price. -Being a commission officer - oh you want to fly? here are some awards to type and some inventories that need to get done. Nobody will be your mentor and warrants will see you as more of a hazard to the flight since you probably know the ops limits of your computer better than any real helicopter anyway. USAF UPT: Easy -Wearing a one-piece flight suit and finally feeling like a real pilot. -Pulling Gs. Because doing a 60-degree bank in a helicopter is a pretty serious maneuver. Hard -The information overload and the fast pace of things. I remember coming back from a flight at Vance early during T6s. I was tired and beat up from all the U's my FAIP just gave me. I saw a random IP walking straight toward me to ask me what I was doing as soon as sat down in the flight room. Studying I said... Only to hear him say "No your not. We are stepping into another jet so let's GO! You can brief me on what all you need to clean up as we walk to the jet." All finish up by saying that the lifestyle in the USAF is a million times better than the Army. If your post originated as a product of frustration because you're having issues being selected to AD, ANG, or reserves, my advice is to KEEP trying dude. Don't look at going Army simply because the USAF is being too selective. It's supposed to be selective! The army should only be an alternative if age is not on your side. Hope that helps. Cheers
    20 points
  8. You may have found it humorous, the rest of us were terrified. I still have no idea why Big Blue thought it was a good idea to bring back a UPT 65-14 grad.
    19 points
  9. I was traveling last Friday and was kind of tuned out. A week late but……19 Jan was the 33rd anniversary of my first combat mission in DS and the kills #3 and I (#4) got that day while escorting the strike package. 1300z, day mission, 2x Mirage F-1s. AIM-7s. It was a good day. 😜
    19 points
  10. Just increase the flow from Texas A&M, problem solved.
    18 points
  11. This has so many red flags I am surprised some of you are not trying to date it.
    18 points
  12. It's just SWA being envious of UAL, DAL and AA: now, SWA can say they are "an airline with Wide Bodies".
    16 points
  13. Great questions. The answer is no. Every GO sold out, repeated the same supportive tripe in public while privately voicing concern at our trajectory, yet continued up the chain of rank and pay. Imagine if we had leaders who said this: “I resign from active service. I love our country but cannot continue in good conscience to lead our men and women into danger with no clear objective or purpose. Indecisive political policies are irresponsible, and I resign in hopes the ensuing attention will cause this matter to be taken seriously and resolved with urgency.” GOs reading this, and I know they are, will doubtlessly guffaw at the simplistic scenario I present above. However, they lacked the courage to take bold action. Everyone with combat experience knows we don’t have bold/courageous General Officers. We have highly intellectual GOs who can stay up 20 hours a day, run miles each morning and work their staff to death analyzing a multitude of variables… but they aren’t bold and can’t win.. So to the GOs readIng this in fury at my condemnation- I’m certain you think I am ignorant of how futile and ostracizing my proposed COA would be. You’d be embarrassed in front of your peers. It would be awkward and socially uncomfortable. But had you played that card, you’d be a hero today. Instead, congrats on the retired rank but you’re forever attached to the ignominy of how those wars ended. FWIW I practice what I preach and burned every bridge on my way out over an issue to help my young squadron members. It was uncomfortable going from #1 to the trash can, my peers and supervisors despised me at the end and I didn’t have a retirement ceremony over this issue. However, I played every card and logged a major win for the young captains 6 weeks before retiring.
    16 points
  14. 3 words: SERVICE BEFORE SELF.
    15 points
  15. I just watched one of my sons graduate USN bootcamp. He shot expert! He's off to Coronado for SWCC training. The navy did a good job with the graduation. All of the people in attendance were super stoked that their loved ones were now sailors. All walks of life were present. Very cool seeing all different types of Americans being happy together and serving this great nation.
    15 points
  16. When judging truth I tend to lean towards the side that does not machine gun and behead babies, but that is just me.
    15 points
  17. You sound unhinged and you are most certainly all over the intellectual honesty map. I as a conservative do not agree, support or condone MTG's actions...at all. That being said her actions do not wipe the slate clean on the Hunter investigation. You are trying to insinuate everyone is laser focused with an obsession on Hunter when the real issue is did Joe through Hunter commit a crime. You have repeatedly referred to the "evidence" so lets baseline a few issues of fact, please tell me what is not true. In my opinion all of these facts tie together and paint a much bigger picture that calls for an investigation. 1. The Trump Dossier was fake. 2. Hillary Clinton paid for the Trump Dossier. 3. The FBI Knew the Dossier was fake and that Hillary paid for it. 4. The FBI used the Dossier as a basis to pursue FISA warrants on folks in the Trump administration. 5. The Hunter laptop was real. 6. The FBI knew the Hunter laptop was real AND had a copy of it. 7. The FBI sat quietly while Secretary Blinken orchestrated a memo signed by 51 "Intel Professionals" who labeled the Hunter laptop as Russian disinformation. 8. Big tech used that memo as rational to suppress the Hunter Laptop story during the election. 9. The Hunter laptop has a lot of circumstantial evidence that says Hunter promised foreign policy favors from his father in exchange for cash. Notice I said "Hunter" promised, not Joe. 10. As of yesterday the House Judiciary Committee has thoroughly tracked approximately $17M in transactions from overseas donors including China, that went to over 20 shell companies and ended up in the bank accounts of many Biden family members...including his grandchildren. 11. At least one of the Chinese donors has direct ties to the Chinese Communist Party. 12. 150 of those transactions were flagged by U.S. banks in SARs filed with the U.S. Department of the Treasury. 13. The $17M identified by the House Judiciary Committee is from one bank, they are working through the records and flagged transactions at six more banks. There is at least one report that says the total is $100M. 14. The FBI has been approached by multiple sources that say the pay for play scheme is real. 15. The FBI tried to suppress a 2020 unclassified FD-1023 that outlines the pay for play scheme. 16. Tony Bobulinski came forward and gave multiple interviews saying her personally met with Joe Biden. Biden denies that meeting, someone is lying. 17. In 2021, Hunter Biden repaid more than $2 million in past-due taxes after receiving a loan from one of his private attorneys. 18. One of the reasons Hunter owed unpaid taxes is because tried to deduct sex club membership and prostitutes by classifying them as business expense. 19. The purchase of a weapon by Hunter Biden while using drugs was a felony. 20. IRS Whislteblower Joseph Zielger alleges investigators AND assigned attorneys, which included DOJ tax attorneys, all agreed to felony tax evasion charges and misdemeanor charges related to Hunter Biden's 2017, 2018 and 2019 returns. 21. IRS Whislteblowers testified DOJ attorneys stopped the IRS investigators from seeking a warrant for Hunter Biden's Virginia storage unit then notified Hunter's Defense Lawyers that the government wanted to search the unit. 22. David Weiss wrote a official letter stating that he has “ultimate authority” to bring charges against Hunter Biden in any jurisdiction, and he said Friday that this is still the case. 23. IRS Whistleblower Gary Shapley testified he was in a meeting with David Weiss and Weiss told him that he was not the deciding person in whether or not charges were filed. "He told us that D.C. U.S. Attorney had declined to allow charges, he told us that he had requested special counsel authority from Main DOJ.” Rep. Jordan: “And was denied?” Mr. Shapley: “That's correct.” 24. Gary Shapley captured the meeting in a memo which was endorsed by his supervisor who was also in the meeting. Either Weiss or both Mr Shapley and his supervisor are lying. In most neutral investigations the above facts would at least raise the possibility that something illegal happened. If there is even a 1% chance the President committed a crime shouldn't we look? I think we have a right to know and when you look at the situation in totality and have questions, that doesn't make you a nutjob conspiracy theorist. It is way past time for a special prosecutor.
    15 points
  18. It was a little harder getting ATIS in the Huey single pilot. We were so slow, it'd change several times from the time I was 7 miles out to touch down. So much ATIS. I have nightmares about it.
    15 points
  19. Sorry to hear that but it sounds like you have a good attitude about it. That’ll serve you very well wherever you end up. Questions: 1. Yes, you’ll be limited to crew aircraft only now. That still leaves most of the inventory. 2. Your wings will only be stripped if they decide to go to a Flight Evaluation Board (FEB) and that’s the decision from it. I know a bunch of guys that washed out of fighter B courses and the vast majority got offered a waiver to a FEB and reassignment to another aircraft. Only one I know that was FEB’d and lost his wings did some truly heinous things that were deliberate and dangerous. 3. It won’t affect you at all. Just do great at your next jet and you’ll be fine. Plenty of fighter washouts have done great, gone to WIC, made rank, etc. It will all come down to attitude and performance on your next assignment. Keep up your honest attitude and that’ll do serve you very well. Don’t hide it at your next assignment and just be honest. Don’t do the “they had it out for me and it was all BS” routine. In terms of future assignments, you’ll fill out a dream sheet and go from there. Let your leadership know what you want and why and they will help you if you’re a good dude. Try to figure out what mission appeals to you and pursue that. And then whatever you get, that is the best jet in the Air Force. Good luck!
    15 points
  20. Yeah, you're not wrong. I fall into the "I don't know shit about investing" category. But... mainly on other airline websites... I read posts where pilots get on their high horse and admonish other pilots for their "need" to have an 85 hour month. Or they bad mouth this and that, and tell us how smart they are for doing X or Y. And if it works for them, I'm happy for them. But lecturing others is poor form. Some pilots are living on the edge of their finances because they are taking care of a parent suffering from dementia... or devoting their efforts to a special needs child... or dealing with a painful and costly divorce. Some have sick spouses that require treatments that exhaust life savings. Life is tough for many people. And before someone starts pontificating on how other pilots should be saving for college and how they should be more careful with their money... then they should stop... give thanks to God that they are not in a bad situation... and simply pray that others can find a way to become financially secure. Frankly, no financial advice given on this forum is going to make a difference. As such... I will shut my fucking piehole before I offer my less-than-sage wisdom on the subject.
    15 points
  21. I'm doing my AA quarterly online training and one lesson describes what to look for to report human trafficking. Who do you report human trafficking to if the government is facilitating the trafficking?
    14 points
  22. I will support age 60-whatever when there is meaningful testing that filters out pilots. Too fat? Bye. Can't handle *complex* surprise EPs in the sim? Bye. Can't pass a real medical exam from a random AME? Bye. Comparative cognitive testing from your previous attempts shows a decline? Bye. And not just for 65+, all pilots. But right now this is about guys who aren't ready for retirement, many of whom are convinced their particular struggles make them uniquely deserving, wanting more. My ability to retire early is affected by how soon others retire. So if the 65+ crowd can make a financial-based argument, so can I. But mostly I'm just tired of the Baby Boomers upending every system for their financial advantage then acting shocked that other generations don't appreciate being left the tattered ruins of a once functional societal pact.
    14 points
  23. Great to hear the pilot go out! Since everyone is ok. PACAF/CC right now...
    14 points
  24. Tomorrow’s the day everyone. I managed to write a pretty killer show cause letter acknowledging my mistakes and outlying my plans to get back on track, and I got a fair few letters from others as well. Hopefully it all works out. Thanks for all your insights, advice, and encouraging words.
    14 points
  25. Just stay in, have the kid, take a year off, never be available when you come back, schedule kid appointments in the middle of the day, come off sorties constantly because “the baby had a rough night”, get sent to the wing after the article about being a fierce fighter pilot Queen that can do it all, get tagged for a deployment, immediately get pregnant again, repeat cycle.
    14 points
  26. My wife has yet to put any of my tools back in the correct spot either.
    14 points
  27. Wild that the same people who fell for Russian talking points are now falling for Hamas talking points...
    14 points
  28. DAYUM...next Huggy will be measuring socks at the DFAC.
    14 points
  29. If there's one thing the Air Force pilot pipeline managers constantly forget and have to re-learn, it's that teaching skills at the lowest possible level in the cheapest airframe always pays dividends. Passing the buck to b-courses to teach fundamentals that should have been learned in IFS/UPT/IFF is 100% of the time a giant waste of money. The temptation to green up slides over doing the things that actually make sense is going to run our service into the ground. Whenever this comes up I like to tell people some napkin math I did a few years back: I used more JP8 in my first 8 sorties in my MWS than I did in 3 years/1100 hrs in the T-6.
    14 points
  30. It may not be the entire Air Force, but I'll tell you something that's wrong with ACC: ePEX. We've had it now for what... 20 years? And it's getting worse. Holy shit, PEX is literally killing those that use it daily. Our entire Information Technology enterprise is a mess. The AF puts the "IT" in "shit".
    14 points
  31. I think it's because we have idiots in every crevice of our federal government.
    13 points
  32. In 1996, I was co-chair of the annual POW Reunion at the 560th at Randolph. We got all four of the Pardo's Push guys there for the Friday social. We even got an F-4 on the ramp and had them pose by the tail. It was the first time all four had been together at the same time since the actual Push. Bob Houghton was the only guy we originally couldn't find. Keep in mind this is 1996... a lot harder to find people. Bob got word of the event about 36-48 hours prior to the event. IIRC he was doing missionary work in Africa. He jumped through hoops and made it there. These guys got a hero's welcome. I need to see if I can find some photos.
    13 points
  33. I think the number one threat to the Republican party right now, aside from the usual political machinations in Washington, is the inability of conservative voters to deal with the cognitive dissonance of appreciating the policy successes of Donald Trump contrasted with the fact that he is in fact a piece of shit as a human being.
    13 points
  34. This. Everytime I had an O-6 or above asking why my generation didn't want to stay in longer, I had to explain that I simply didn't have the same memories they had from their CGO years. It takes a lot of emotional attachment to the military to want to deal with the life of an FGO and above, and frankly, we didn't have that, especially in the heavy world. Instead, we had the all-men-are-rapists campaign, the great cleansing of 2012, RIFs from my second year at USAFA until the sudden reversal in 2015, 0-0-1-3 and literal article 15s for shenanigans that were tame compared to the stories the O-6 writing the Art15 would tell in private, blah blah blah. Never mind the two-months-on two-months-off deployments to the Died that guys would do for years because the AF decided that trickfucking the 90 day flying hours restrictions was more important than any sort of balanced family life, or the camaraderie built from deploying as a squadron. Ironically, after I was court martialed (not guilty all charges) it *improved* my Air Force experience. I was immediately relieved of all the non-flying nonsense that they make you do to chase down the next promotion. I would have done anything to get "back on the path," but they were done with me, and boy when you start producing the quality of work that you would expect from someone who has been guaranteed to be passed over, they stop giving you work to do. If the AF wants to improve retention they need to accept that young people who want to kill people for their country have a lot of energy to burn in unsavory ways. Fail to provide that and they will not serve for another 10-20 years off the inertia of great memories and personal connections. Those people will in turn help recruiting.
    13 points
  35. Donald Jr doesn’t look drunk. It’s just an unflattering snapshot taken while he was talking. Meanwhile, Hunter’s teeth have rotted away due to hard core drug abuse. Good old meth mouth. I can’t get past the situation with this granddaughter. The American people would love to see Joe stand up behind a podium and say that his son has another daughter and that he understands the situation isn’t ideal but that the Bidens will love her and accept her anyway. A moment like that would go pretty damn far for him morally, politically, etc. But nope. They spend huge sums of money on attorneys trying to deny this child in every way possible. It’s disgusting and it’s despicable.
    13 points
  36. Apparently, the U-2 disinformation campaign at the UPT bases is alive and well. To cut to the chase: - The U-2 Program is hiring. There are no plans to not hire. If anyone tells you otherwise, irrespective of their rank, they are not telling you the truth. - The U-2 Program is accepting FAIP's. We have accepted FAIPS for at least 35 years, and there are no plans to stop hiring FAIPs. If anyone tells you otherwise, irrespective of their rank, they are not telling you the truth. - We now have some wiggle room on minimum hours. So if that is a concern, call us. We might be able to waive some of your hours. I don't know if this bad info emanates from the staff... or from UPT SQ/CC's (like it did a number of years ago)... or from exactly where. If you want the truth about the U-2 assignment, don't speak to your DO, nor your commander. Don't speak to AFPC (until it's time to get released, anyways). Don't speak to your buddy at Base X that "thought about applying, but found out a bunch of bad stuff." So who do you speak to? I'll get you in touch with the Recruiters, so contact me. One recruiter is a Reservist and I don't want to put his personal contact info in this post (he isn't on his govt email that much). Maj Beamer moved and a new active duty recruiter is settling in. Contact me privately for their contact info. As for me, I'm on the Global as Jonathan Huggins. Or you can pm me here. I'm out on leave for a few weeks and won't be checking email until mid July, so ping me here if it is time critical. If you want U-2 facts, go to the source. That source is centered in a room that measures about 40x15 in the zip code of 95903. If the person you're talking to doesn't have a desk within 22 meters of that room, take what they say with a grain of salt.
    13 points
  37. Support or don’t support whomever you like. Some of you guys give way too much credit to the “woke mob” or whatever the latest boogeyman is. Here’s the thing: Iran and the Taliban can both get fucked. It really isn’t that hard to figure out who the (admittedly flawed) good guys are in the Ukraine conflict though.
    13 points
  38. The previous NCAA testosterone requirement for a male to compete as a female was to bring the testosterone levels down to or below 10 nmol/L. Problem is the normal range for women is .5-2.4 (https://www.healthline.com/health/low-testosterone/testosterone-levels-by-age#normal-testosterone-levels), so the biological male that was born with a biological propensity for larger muscle mass, larger bones, faster muscle movements could compete as a female, despite those previously mentioned advantages AND with still having 4-20 times the testosterone levels as the women he is competing against. How is that fair? Sports have rules for a reason and it is to make it a fair competition. To your second point, there are very few, if any, sports where women are better than men, so no one cares about a biological woman competing in as a man or even as a woman. Look at the NFL, NBA, MLB, NHL, etc. Do any of them have rules against a woman playing? Not that I know of. But there are none because when you get to that level of competition, you're talking the top .01% of athletes. There are no women in the top .01% for those sports. That's why Serena and Venus Williams, possibly two of the best female tennis players ever, both lost to a man that was ranked 102. Third, it is not hate. The left is quick to throw out 'hate' because 'hate' is bad and they only have emotional arguments. But, like calling someone racist, if you say it all the time it becomes meaningless. I don't hate these individuals, I feel sorry for them. 40% of transgender people have actively attempted suicide. They have a mental illness and our society has decided that it is better to play into their delusion than help them. If I was walking across a bridge and saw someone about to jump off, would it be hateful of me to tell them they shouldn't? Should I indulge their desire to kill themself and tell them I think they're brave or should I pull them back from the edge and get them help? Which of these actions is loving and which is hateful? These people are actively hurting themselves (and even worse, hurting children) and somehow it is 'hateful' of me to not give them my full support.
    13 points
  39. I’ve never seen or met a Nazi in my entire life. I don’t know any blood and soil radical nationalists. If I’m around bigots, they don’t say anything out loud. I’ve also never met a white supremacist. I have known countless people who completely stood behind BLM from the very start. They gave them money and marched in the streets. I’ve known people who’ve bought into the hands up don’t shoot scam and went with the bashing of cops. I watched 6 or 7 trans kids walk the stage at my youngest daughters HS graduation. I watched the vast majority of our society fall for the Covid lockdown power grabs. It sure seems to me that the radical left is actually and tangibly destroying our society while we chase some invisible boogey man on the right… Im not talking about AOC or MTG. I’m talking about in my community.
    13 points
  40. Eh, you look at Kathleen Hicks' bio, and it becomes clear how someone like her could arrive unprepared. She's a DC swamp creature through and through. She's spent her entire career within the DC Beltway. It's not surprising that she would appear so entirely out of touch. She probably thought Jon Stewart would crack a couple jokes, shake her hand, and leave. Look at her bio; she's spent her entire adult life as a bureaucrat in the federal government. She's married to a fellow swamp creature (Thomas Hicks) who had such career highlights as "helping to pursue low emissions alternative fuels" as Undersecretary of the Navy, and now runs a K-street advisory firm focusing on "help(ing) companies, organizations, governments and institutions prepare for, mitigate against and take advantage of change." Whatever the fuck that means. When people talk about the "Deep State," these are the kind of folks they're talking about. A huge body of career bureaucrats, answerable only to their fellow bureaucrats. They make buckets of money, and provide vanishingly little in return. As time goes on and their numbers increase, they only get more and more out of touch with the day to day lives or ordinary Americans.
    13 points
  41. I thought Tucker hammered the WSJ reporter issue pretty well and held Putin to an answer. After initial prevarications Putin essentially answered “we will release the dude eventually, but I am bingo good faith gestures to the west so we’re not doing it now.” I don’t like that answer, but hearing it directly from Putin was illuminating for many reasons. I also reject your unspecified moral concerns at engaging in dialogue with someone who has done something bad. Of course Putin portrays himself as the good guy and is evasive; knowing he’s bullshitting isn’t a reason not to listen. I’m surprised how many military officers are disgusted by Tucker‘s interview. I would gladly hear from adversaries no matter how much I despise them. I want to hear from North Korea, from Iran, the Houthi’s, would love to hear a podcast from al Shabab, AQ, etc. I watched the Vice documentary on ISIS with interest. I would kill all of them with no hesitation, but talking is the way wars end and listening is potentially advantageous. This is a recent development in our country and not a good one: we used to listen to everybody and journalists were applauded by interviewing adversaries. Now there is a large group of people who cover their ears and shout when introduced to a different opinion, claiming it is propaganda disinformation malinformation. Yes it is, so what? The enemy believes things we think are wrong, that is why they are the enemy. Answers can’t always be taken at face value, we’re engaged against them so their speech is a lot of subterfuge and attempted manipulation and they fight with words. Listening to those things doesn’t infect me, it helps me understand how to resolve conflicts to my advantage. Where might we agree? What are things they care about that we don’t where concessions might be made? What are sensitive areas where we might ascertain vulnerabilities previously unseen? How can we exploit their words against them? Who are the charismatic, intelligent leaders who have a chance of defeating us that we should target and kill? Who are the dumb ones we should prop up to weaken their organization? There are also tactical advantages: UBL, ISIS & NVA were targeted successfully based on analysis of items in the background of videos they allowed reporters to take; fucking dummies. I encourage that (Napoleon said never interrupt your enemy when he is making a mistake). So let’s all be mature and realize there is goodness here if we are smart enough to filter appropriately. And if hearing a different perspective challenges your own conclusions, that is healthy as well.
    12 points
  42. Yeah, it's bad. I try to remain stoic while attempting to get the facts and assess the situation, but this is some horrific stuff. This attack was designed to provoke an emotional response, and it certainly worked on me. I can't imagine being close to the event. But could there be anything more satisfying to this evil than seeing the leadership of the most powerful nation in the world openly weeping on live TV? Somewhere on our path to modern Western society, it became tolerable for full grown men to lose their composure and put their weakness on full display when representing a superpower during a 60 second news segment. Process your grief elsewhere, then man up and demonstrate that we are a nation of strength, not weakness, and give the public faith that we can make sound rational decisions during dangerous times. It's like looking over at the other cockpit and seeing your lead crying just before you launch a night tac LL formation airdrop in mountainous terrain. WTF? Kirby crying may not be a huge deal in itself, but it affirms my suspicions that this administration is going to fuck this up as bad as everything else in the last 3 years.
    12 points
  43. Israel needs to capitalize on the world's brief sympathy and wipe out Hamas once and for all. Bulldoze Gaza. It is clear that Hamas and Israel cannot co-exist peacefully.
    12 points
  44. Speaking of the CIA....... There I was - RFO (relief pilot for 2-man crew) flying MD-11 from Taipei to Anchorage. I've since learned the CIA presence in Taiwan is significant - more on that later. Deadheaded into TPE about 24 hours before departure, arriving about 19:00L and basically crashed. I had enough fun on the trip up to that point and was ready for some rest. Met up the the CA and FO at hotel pickup time the next night and headed to the AP for the flight. They had pushed it up the night before at a local watering hole called Canegies. Wed night, ladies night. In the car, they were exchanging recaps of the night and were also apologetic to me for not contacting me prior to heading out. I was cool with that since I was dragging, so no biggie. I just stayed in listening mode. The left seater was an old school dog and found his standard-one-each Filipino LBFM for the evening. The FO had ended up with an American chick who he later discovered was CIA. I'm pretty sure our driver didn't speak English since I saw absolutely no reaction to some of the rather graphic stories being shared. They both wrapped up the stories detailing the difficulties of getting their companions to leave the next morning. The LBFM wanting to clean the bathroom and organize toiletries and the American wanting to lounge around over coffee and room service. A good time was had by all in the end. So, a few hours into the flight. The CA is in the bunk and the FO and I are just chilling somewhere over the Pacific. I had a thought as I was listening to their stories that I couldn't keep from bringing up at that point. "Hey, I'm not judging or anything. I'm a huge fan of strange pu$$y. But do you think stepping out on your old lady with a chick from the CIA was the best move? I mean, if she turns out to be a Glenn Close/Fatal Attraction type, she's got some resources to possibly track your ass down." My man was visibly shaken for a minute and then said quietly - "You know, that's a valid point. Let's hope it doesn't come to that." I didn't mean to freak him out, but i always think of him any time I'm Taipei. Actually heading there on my next trip. Every round-eye I see there now is a potential spy. 😁
    12 points
  45. The demise of the O'Club on Friday is something I miss. We used to have standard Friday stuff happening in the squadron... and around 1700 we would head to The Big House, meet the wives, and have a great time. The camaraderie among the wives was pretty high back then, as a result. They did some pretty funny shit and managed to avoid getting arrested on base. There were two years in a row when Hiram Walker sponsored an ACC Crud Tournament at D-M and the winners (Moody AFB) got a $10,000 check. It was absolutely epic. The D-M Wing CC gave the opening remarks and I was expecting the usual bullshit-cover-your-ass. Not so much. He pretty much said "fight's on" and have a great time... and still made 2-stars. I recall that every ACC base but one sent a team TDY the first year. I simply cannot imagine that happening in today's climate. Our Beale team didn't win, but we did show up to the bar at 0930 on Saturday and didn't depart until 0230 Sunday. What a weekend.
    12 points
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