Leaderboard

Update... after hooking two and getting on cap, flew every day this week and got good’s on all the rides. So off cap and feeling good before my solo. Appreciate all the help on here, I think something worth mentioning is being able to consistently fly was a huge plus. great community, you rock!

When does it turn into Lord of the Flies? Is there a warlord? Man, what a time to be alive! /sarcasm I'm not sure how much to trust my memory of the 90's when I was in HS, but subjectively it feels like America has changed a ton since there. And not for the better. 1) Limited media outlets limit opposing views (I'm no liberal but I did read Chomsky's Manufactering Consent, and it talks about this). 2) The echo chamber of social media where people make decisions based on groupthink and their feelings as opposed to facts and logic*. 3) Big tech companies (FB, Google, YouTube etc...) filtering their content politically, selectitvely. 4) The hijacking of language, to the point where it is not possible to disucuss things as they are. The actual truth becomes impossible to dig out, which makes already difficult problems impossible to solve. 5) Academia (colleges) imparting their ideals on an entire generation of Americans. I went to the Academy so I feel like this isn't something I have witnessed first hand, but I have absolutely seen the effects. All my previously farily conservative relatives come out of college with all these wacky liberal ideas and views that don't seem to be grounded in reality at all*. *These two points I think are related. One of the root causes of our countries problems right now is falling back to our emotions and using emotions over logic to address our problems. College is supposed to teach the opposite. It's like we are evolving the wrong way (Behave by Sapolsky talks a lot about how are brains differ from lower animals, and basically our greatest tool is critical thinking, animals rely heavily on emotion - you shouldn't need to read a book though to realize this!) I realize that I am preaching to the choir, but I am much more concerned about our country than I have ever been. The division will be our downfall. The 1st amendment (censorship, COVID assembly bans), 2nd (talk of more gun control), 4th (mass survellence and contact tracing "justified" by COVID)... Ugly times.

I was a Political Science major at a state college in Washington. Never once did I have professor try to impart some bias in class. I was also in my mid-30s when I graduated, so it would’ve been easier to see than compared to an 18-22 year old. I currently go to Georgetown for my masters and haven’t experienced a professor trying put a certain narrative towards a political ideology. In this day in age of the “woke” movement, professors are walking on egg shells trying not to offend anyone and possibly losing their jobs. I guess I could see a bias at an Ivy or Berkeley, but I haven’t observed that in my personal experience.

Was asked the other day by a kook liberal friend (but I repeat myself), "What are you doing, Brick, to adopt the new social consciousness that America is developing?" "I carry a reload now," I answered. They were not amused. I was...

At Manas years ago some idiot called crew rest for people walking up and down the hallway in one of the dorms with those pants on making too much noise.

Coming from a pilot who can’t imagine doing anything else; I wouldn’t rule out CSO. Yeah, got it, jokes about back seat, whatever. CSOs play a critical role in many platforms. B-1s? The WSO is pretty much running the mission and putting ordinance on target. AC-130s? The CSO is running comms with the JTAC, not to mention the FCO is normally an experienced CSO. CSO on a tanker or AWACS? Probably not too exciting. The point is, flying is cool and all but the mission and reward for mission accomplishment definitely outweighs the joy of simply flying the plane at times.

Yay, we don’t suck!!! #poundmetoo ~Bendy Sent from my iPad using Baseops Network mobile app

I can't remember which podcast/youtube video I saw this in, but I seem to remember Brett Weinstein making the argument that the college kids were indoctrinating themselves to a certain degree.

JFC please tell me he received a code red. I always crack up hearing stories of people like that when I talk to fellow dads about how the newborn was up 5 times last night prior to our 0500 showtime.

So this might be simplistic, but... Just write down what you would be happy doing. You are volunteering - you aren’t being forced into service. No career field is going to want to keep you if you aren’t a happy/willing member of it. If all you want to do is fly, just write that down and see what happens. - CE guy who was medically DQed from flying. I love what I do.

An upvote, skybert...but it’ll be Fair overall for your inability to correctly quote a post. ~Bendy

Statue of Ulysses S. Grant torn down in San Francisco. The man who won the Civil War for the Union, freed the only slave he ever owned, and was eulogized by Frederick Douglas. Our education system is a failure. Also San Francisco is not America.

Did I mention Never Give Up!

I think a big part to blame is the media and social media. Everyone thinks that their Facebook post is going to change the world and the more likes you get the more right you are. It seems also we have transitioned that the most emotional or loudest person is the most correct. It’s all BS. I am tired of the Us vs Them mentality for literally everything. Why can’t we all just treat each other with respect and dignity? granted, things can always improve. And they always have. I would much rather live today versus 250 years ago. But do we always have to act like the world is ending to make things better ? What is burning down buildings going to do ? Do you think someone with an opposite viewpoint is going to listen to you when after you offend them? People need to relearn how to listen to other viewpoints and respect them even if you disagree. I’m not saying that America doesn’t need to change. It does. But we can do it in a respectful way. Rant over.