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I don’t understand how you can look at all the data and conclude everyone needs to get the shot/getting the shot is “all that it takes” to end all this bullshit. But, I respect your difference in opinion though I may disagree, and will not try to force you or your family to align with my views. Maybe you should try doing the same towards others.

Malcom Nance, in that video, is the perfect summary of the modern American left. Zero fact based arguments, a complete lack of knowledge on the ideas he is defending, retorts are all based on emotion or are irrelevant to the topic at hand, and his smug elitism is palpable. The fact that he was wildly cheered every time he spoke was very sad. I’ve always liked Bill Maher despite often disagreeing with him. He is someone who has zero tolerance for bullshit and is not afraid to call it out. I wish there were more like him. I think a conversation between him and Shapiro would be a great listen. Nance is an absolute joke.

Right…but Covid isn’t like polio behavior wise, it’s much more flu-like wrt the vaccine. Keep trying to eradicate Covid and you’ll be in Sydney style lockdown forever, vaccine or not. You’ve already proven you have no regard for personal liberty. Still keeping that list of cadets who weren’t wearing masks so you can hold it against them later?

How did we eradicate polio? Was it by letting people wring their hands about potential side effects, or by mandating vaccines for every man, woman, and child? You want to be on the side of liberty, then great. Just realize choices have consequences. I'm 100% for keeping people out of certain jobs, restricting ability to travel to hot spots, mandating quarantine periods for travelers, etc based on vaccine status. Just like we currently do for a whole host of other vaccines. We've got a whole lot of case law on the side of restrictions for unvaccinated people.

Don’t disagree. Just wanted to highlight the dialogue between Maher and Shapiro as something refreshing. Two people on opposite sides of the ideological spectrum can have a rational conversation, recognize that an issue has nuance, and even discover there are details they can agree on even if they disagree on the larger issue.

Doesn’t matter. An endorsement is different than class/rating/type. Still legal to log PIC even without the endorsement. Endorsement is only needed to solo, which happens when he’s singed off to solo in the syllabus. FDNY covered the rest.

Lighten up Francis. And stop engaging dogfish like he's a rational person. He eats paste.

Just curious Pawnman, have you ever been on staff? If you were did you think you were qualified for the jobs you were asked to do and that your coworkers were competent at theirs? Being on staff was one thing that made me realize I need to maintain healthy skepticism on anything that comes from the government.

It's not just about ending the pandemic or not ending it. It's about protecting civil liberties as well, which a large amount of people are endanger of losing once we start establishing a precedent. Our constitutional checks and balances weren't written for the convenience of a peace time government, rather, they were delibertly put in there to protect individual freedoms in times of crises, as crises is most often the excuse politicians will use to erode them. I personally got the vaccine. But when people who are apprehensive to vaccines come to me about my experience, the only thing I can tell them is I didn't have side effects, and my wife possibly did. I can't tell them there are no long term side effects because we simply don't know that. Noone does. I can't tell them they will be 100% safe because I don't have the ability to guarantee that. I certainly can't tell then that getting vaccinated will means they won't have to wear a mask or get COVID tested anymore because frankly that's not true. So if those are their apprehensions to the vaccine, they are certainly entitled them as well as entitled to their freedom of bodily autonomy. But when people start pushing a narrative that we need to do this to end the pandemic and that means we need mandates, I will push back because 1.) I don't care, the pandemic can go for 100 years and I'll still stand on the side of individual liberty and 2.) Vaccination of individuals on its own will not end a pandemic. It may ease it in some cases but the only thing that ends a pandemic is viral eradication (extraordinarily hard) or waiting for the virus to mutate into an evolutionary strategy that is less fatal to humans. It will probably be a decade before either of those happen. Spanish flu took 10 years to mutate into what we know today as H1N1.

I think we mostly agree: words mean things. Chinese military scientists made a virus more transmissible & deadly. That involves a high degree of intentionality as you say. We helped fund it (naively thinking “gain of function” is something other than weaponization). You might not like the nomenclature, but that is a bioweapon dude. Whether those scientist meant it to be a weapon or not I don’t know, but surely you don’t think PLA involvement was altruistic? That I think lab escape was accidental is irrelevant to my language. The only way this conversation is productive is if we all assume the best intentions of each other. It’s not hyperbole for me to label something a weapon when military scientists are intentionally increasing lethality. But I understand why you are sensitive to potential hyperbole; emotion poisons logic. If you want to call it something else that doesn’t bother me and I’d prefer to focus on areas we agree. All that said, what do you think we can do to China to combat what they’ve done to our economy? How can we fight back at something that has hurt us, and must be defended against, but does not look like the traditional war we have trained for? These are the questions that can unite us.

Yep. I posted that a little after midnight on 29 March (a Saturday). Later that day, the new-hires that were in the class starting 3 March (one is a friend of mine) got the notification that their class was cancelled... and that's when the music stopped. Waited for 14 months to start... but at least it didn't affect his line number!

He comes off as a giant smug douchebag.

Or life just moved on.

I guess I wasn’t too far off at 75-100 days. Much more chill on the line. We have some great times and of course challenging moments. Welcome Aboard Herkbum, I hope it treats you right while your here and takes you wherever you desire as a career destination. Thanks SocialD, we hope for better. It’s been a long drag out so we need to get this one done so we can plug all the holes for the next one and so on. Works very well for myself, but could be better and on par with industry standards which I use loosely. Cheers to all and just have fun.

This would all be solved if the vaccinated would wear their masks and quit spreading the virus to the unvaccinated.

I agree that masks slow the spread, but comparing death rates across these countries is fraught with difficulty. For starters, Japan's obesity rate is ~4%. In the US, not one state has less than 20% obesity. Stated differently, our skinniest folks are 5x fatter than Japan - some states approach or exceed 10x! So what amount of the difference is due to their mask adherence vs. them just being much, much healthier in general? I don't know, but I think I'd rather have a BMI < 30 and not wear a mask than rely on a cloth mask to save me. https://www.cdc.gov/obesity/data/prevalence-maps.html

So explain why countries w 98% plus mask rates experience wild spikes? and why countries like India see a wild wave then rapid fall off? oh and Sweden!? the fact is Masks are pure theatre and bull shit. Fauci told the truth about this in early 2020. There is no data to support them “slowing the spread” And making those vaccinated and prior infected wear masks is INSANELY anti science and anti vaccine We have lost our fucking minds.

This might be an area were those of us in disagreement can have a constructive conversation if we all assume the best of each other. I’ll start: no I do not think mask mandates are some weird DOD mind control experiment. I think DOD bureaucrats are doing what all bureaucrats do: curry favor and survive by knowing which way the political winds blow. I also don’t think masks have an appreciable difference on the spread of Covid. We can disagree about how the statistics read, but when I look at numbers & spikes worldwide that is my opinion. Let’s not bother debating it, we probably disagree, just realize I hold that opinion in good faith. so what is my answer to your question? I think the mask debate is a giant distraction in order to divide us against each other as a population. divided, we’re all at each other‘s throat‘s about who’s fault these episodic spikes are. And none of us are able to look up and give the obvious answer about who’s fault it is: the Chinese and the idiot scientists at NIH. Our government accidentally funded a Chinese military bio weapon that was released on our population. Think for a moment about the implications of that statement. And then realize nobody’s doing anything about it, we’re all busy talking about whether or not third graders should wear one mask or two and yelling at Floridians for wearing none. The Chinese are loaded with cash. They have bought our media, many of our politicians are in their pocket. These are not fringe conspiracy theories. What do we do? World War III? That’s not going to happen. An FBI investigation of NIH or some kind of bi-partisan origins probe would be helpful. But none of those things are going to happen either, and is there any good reason why not? I think our adversary, the Chinese, are deliberately waging information warfare against us. The CDC and NIH are focused on the small shit and these smalltime debates because they are complicit in the origins of this pandemic. Whether you agree or not, many people have a good reason to believe there is some weird ass hypocrisy going on: Americans are being blamed for choosing not to vaccinate their children By the same people importing Covid positive illegal immigrant children. Church in CA = jail but BLM riots are encouraged to stop the “white supremacy pandemic.” “Scientists” are saying these things, I mean seriously what the fuck? Every mandate and piece of information is suspect coming from people obviously playing politics. You’re a smart dude, tell me honestly d you not at all understand why rational people have serious reservations about what’s happening and are hesitant to just shut up and obey?

Seems like two things could make this easier on the public health side. 1. Actually approve a vaccine. B. Tell people that it won’t prevent you from contracting or spreading the disease, but it will reduce any severe symptoms. 3. Recognize that it won’t be eradicated, and plenty of well intentioned people just won’t get a vaccine.

Just to be clear, you are calling people with three page vaccination sheets who do not want this particular experimental vaccine “anti-vaxxers?” And you are calling the huge number of Democrat voting minorities electing not to receive the COVID vaccine “Trump supporters?” Do you think those with natural immunity should be forced to vaccinate? Do you think it makes you sound smart to falsely label people? Or is name-calling just a sad outlet to vent frustration in lieu of cogent thought? I am vaccinated, still got COVID, and am 100% against forcing my kids to get this injection. There are idiosyncrasies here that should be considered rationally.

Man, who knew that three fact based articles about the border situation from Reuters, CNN, and NBC News was all actually just part of some right wing conspiracy theory…

Dude, you’re wasting your time. Your view may be based on the facts but those facts are counter to the political narrative of the current administration, and more disappointingly the counter-American service members on this forum. You’ll never get them to admit they’re perfectly fine admitting illegals to the country en masse because it will ensure their party has a better chance at maintaining power. The illegals are simply a tool to facilitate the agenda, any consequence of their leeching off of the country can easily be rectified with higher taxes.

Posted for a hilarious look back.

FAA PIC definition is definitely different than AF/Airline PIC definition. @brabus and @Bigred hit it on the head about what the FAR says and there’s another good thread on here discussing that debate a few years ago, as well, that has good info. If you have a PPL and ASEL, PIC time for T6 can be logged because you’re “sole manipulator of the controls” when you’re flying. It will count toward PIC requirements for getting your (R)ATP, but the airlines won’t count it toward their PIC requirement because you’re not signing for the plane (besides for ~3.0 of T6 solo).

The long awaited Masters of the Air is finally in production now. Sucks it will be on Apple TV+ and not HBO. Which means you won't be able to buy the DVD or digital rights, as the only way to watch it is via Apple TV+ subscription. See Tom Hanks Greyhound film. ☹️ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Masters_of_the_Air

This is one of the most mind-boggling arguments that I see all the time from the left. Wealth is created. It is not static. Yes, the basis for wealth and the monetary systems we use to support it are fundamentally systems of exchanging labor. But that labor value is not fixed. When you look at the billionaire class, overwhelmingly they are represented by people who created fundamental changes in how labor functions, freeing up incredible amounts of labor to be dedicated into other pursuits. That is the creation of additional labor/wealth. They did not take it from anybody, and to say so is a fundamental misunderstanding of economics. Now, if you want to get into a conversation specifically about wealth transfer in the banking and finance system, I think there is a very strong argument there for criticizing the manipulation of financial instruments to move wealth from one person to another. But that's not where most of the billionaires come from, and it's not the argument being made by the most visible politicians/activists on the left. Jeff Bezos is worth billions because millions of people wanted to exchange their wealth for his services. He didn't trap 100,000 people in a warehouse and collect their labor. You want to know why so many conservatives view the Democratic party as an existential threat? Because anyone who thinks about the economy the way you described clearly would destroy it through sheer incompetence alone.

Sarcasm was received with sarcasm of my own. My point is you make points of taking people out of context and saying things they didn’t. It makes your other points which may be valid seem not worth paying attention to. And then you end it with a underhanded dig. Also makes you less believable and not worthy of debating with. Random question. Are you female? No reason. Just curious.

Do you feel the same about all public health measures? Or is it just the covid vaccines? Edit to add: looks like that Russian propaganda is more effective than we thought. https://www.cbsnews.com/news/anti-vax-movement-russian-trolls-fueled-anti-vaccination-debate-in-us-by-spreading-misinformation-twitter-study/