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My compliments to both of you! It's nice to see some civility on here!

Ah yes, the only things I find funny are funny argument. A true man of the times.

Interesting to hear the perspective from Gates. He thinks he has the credibility to throw stones, and doesn’t realize what a loser he is.

My apologies for getting my hackles up and I appreciate your response. And this is a bit off this thread's topic anyways 👍

Kirby was smart, he put the mandate in place well before anybody had radicalized behind their position one way or the other. That left only 3% by the time the government stepped in and guaranteed compromise was dead. American is in a different boat. Something like 3, 000 are on vaccinated, and they've had months of telling everybody who will listen that they're not getting the vaccine. Pride is not so easily overcome, and 3,000 Pilots have a whole hell of a lot of more leverage than 300. I'm genuinely curious as to what's going to happen, because American Airlines couldn't afford even 500 Pilots quitting, and I've flown with multiple Pilots who claim to have already submitted their retirement paperwork. These guys are in their 50s. But our CEO played the same game last year during the furlough crisis. Hardball with the government up until the last minute, and even past it. Then throw his hands up and say he did everything he could but if the government doesn't change their position, all is lost. There's a 0% chance that this administration is going to tolerate this type of turmoil, especially one that will have an effect on the market, when their approval ratings are dipping below 44%. I'm vaccinated, so I don't really have skin in the game. But this mandate stuff is bullshit. The vaccine is no longer sufficient to stop the spread, and thus any justification for mandates, questionable as they were before, are now completely invalidated. And if you're stupid enough to think that it stops here, and won't involve a whole slew of medical decisions starting with mandating boosters, I've got a bridge to sell you.

But did you see his Master's in Pastoral Counseling from Liberty, VA?!...the morality class (catholic centric maybe??) must've been online, and wonder what (and if) he discussed in it...intriguing twist

I wasn't trying to mock what your wife has to deal with at work. I apologize if it came off that way. I was mocking the President.

Having a 16 year old call my wife a "MOTHER F$$$ING BITCH" because she told him to pull up his pants or take off his hat is not funny. It is not a subject I lighten up on at all.

"You Are Hereby Reprimanded!" I thought this was something from the trials and tribulations of our Marine O6, but it's AirForce https://www.defenseone.com/policy/2021/10/you-are-hereby-reprimanded-airman-told-begin-separation-due-vaccine-refusal/186118/

Well that’s because you’re only looking for what fits your narrative, and not for the Holy See’s position on the morality of vaccines and a vaccine mandate. Literally the second result on the Vatican website when you search the word vaccine: https://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/congregations/cfaith/documents/rc_con_cfaith_doc_20201221_nota-vaccini-anticovid_en.html “5. At the same time, practical reason makes evident that vaccination is not, as a rule, a moral obligation and that, therefore, it must be voluntary. In any case, from the ethical point of view, the morality of vaccination depends not only on the duty to protect one's own health, but also on the duty to pursue the common good. In the absence of other means to stop or even prevent the epidemic, the common good may recommend vaccination, especially to protect the weakest and most exposed. Those who, however, for reasons of conscience, refuse vaccines produced with cell lines from aborted fetuses, must do their utmost to avoid, by other prophylactic means and appropriate behavior, becoming vehicles for the transmission of the infectious agent. In particular, they must avoid any risk to the health of those who cannot be vaccinated for medical or other reasons, and who are the most vulnerable.” Which is in fact pretty close to Broglio’s: “Notwithstanding the moral permissibility of these vaccines, the Church treasures her teaching on the sanctity of conscience…Accordingly, no one should be forced to receive a COVID-19 vaccine if it would violate the sanctity of his or her conscience. Individuals possess the “civil right not to be hindered in leading their lives in accordance with their consciences.”6 Even if an individual’s decision seems erroneous or inconsistent to others, conscience does not lose its dignity. This belief permeates Catholic moral theology as well as First Amendment jurisprudence. As stated by the United States Supreme Court, “[R] eligious beliefs need not be acceptable, logical, consistent, or comprehensible to others in order to merit First Amendment protection.”7 The denial of religious accommodations, or punitive or adverse personnel actions taken against those who raise earnest, conscience-based objections, would be contrary to federal law and morally reprehensible. Those who refuse the COVID-19 vaccine must continue to act in charity for their neighbors and for the common good by undertaking means to mitigate the spread of COVID-19 through wearing face coverings, social distancing “

Most of the regionals I looked at for my own employment prospects will cover the ATP. You need to be hired with the minimums. I've definitely seen it say minimums for ATP or R-ATP.

Ok my posting skills are weak, couldn't embed the tweet. Here's the link: My favorite strategist's take on the SWA/airline issues writ large

Oklahoma State? Oh, you're in luck. PM sent.

I think the answer to most of your questions is a resounding no. I don’t think the timing of the Chinese really ramping up their actions is a coincidence, juxtaposed with our very botched last days in Afghanistan. Similarly, they can read CNN and Fox News and see our current president is not really leading with any consensus. The American public IMO has exactly zero tolerance for any conflict right, especially a force on force conflict the size and scale of which we have not experienced since, I would argue, WWII. If I were a Chinese general, I’d be screaming at the top of my lungs that if force is the chosen COA to reunify Taiwan, there is no better time than now.

So this why Hunter Biden is getting away with all of his crimes…now I get it!

Agree with just about everything you said, except for car tax. Fairly certain you owe tax on the car sales as a capital gain, unless you sold it for a loss. The $600 transaction monitoring is ridiculous. But it's cheaper to go after the poor/middle class since they probably don't have access to a good lawyer to defend themselves. (But it's there a net gain for the government? Are the funds recovered by IRS enough to offset the cost of the monitoring/legal costs to pursue small violations?) Don't forget that carrying large sums of cash is also considered suspicious, and what constitutes a "large sum" is whatever the police (or TSA if flying) feels like that day. And that threshold seems to go down if you're not a white male who's dressed well, because then it's "possible drug money" and at risk for being seized

Speaking of government involvement, anyone else see the proposal hidden in the Build Back Better bill that mandates banks provide the total inflow and outflow data of all accounts with over $600 in transactions? That’s probably one of the most blatant invasions of financial privacy the government has ever attempted. Even the awful “Patriot Act” caps mandated reporting at $5,000 for suspicious transactions. Nearly every American would be subject to this, yet the administration will still tell you with a straight face that it’s to catch rich people who are cheating on their taxes… As an example, I could potentially draw the attention of the IRS simply because my fiancé and I do not have joint accounts, so she pays her portion of rent to me and then I pay the full amount to the landlord. As such, my bank account would show $18,000 in cash inflow that is not reflected on any W2. As far as I can tell under this proposed new system, that could get me noticed by the IRS even though I have done nothing wrong. Pretty sure that meets the definition of 1984 style Big Brother. Edit: Perhaps a better example is selling a car. I sell my several year old used car as a private party to another private individual for $17,500 that is wired to my account. I am under no obligation to pay tax on this money. However, IRS AI algorithm flags me because my tax filing claims I made $100k in taxable income, yet my checking account shows $117,500 went into my account in one year. Mr IRS then wants me to prove I actually don’t owe taxes on that money. Provable? Yes, but it’s basically akin to “show me your papers”. Here is an article discussing it, however plenty of others out there as well. https://fee.org/articles/treasury-department-seeks-to-track-financial-transactions-of-personal-bank-accounts-over-600/

Holistically, now that you bring it up, I mean getting to manned flight (i.e. eval successful and unsuccessful to pilot candidates) as well as unmanned, AI-piloted aviation successfully piloting. Pilots/piloting and pilot-duties (being manned and AI-piloted) are sinkholes of time and money. [Ask Mother Blue/ref 19 AF budget]. Researching how to best invest in these areas through a disertation/thesis topic upon how to save and wisely expend $/time WILL be of interest to those deep pockets and big spenders of aviation. Aka...a widely read topic vs dust collector in a virtual library.

Not that I disagree with your literal statement, but I do disagree that such a situation is unavoidable for adults (at least it is far more unavoidable than the Dems like to make it seem). A couple local examples: 1. I have several friends who own their businesses (builder, excavation, roofing); they have vacancies paying $25/hr (and if we’re honest, there’s a lot of “under the table” paying going on). They also pay a lot more than that to many of their employees who have been with them for a while/acquired new skills while on the job. It’s hard for them to find people, let alone keep them. 2. Local area power companies (the 2 I have personal connection two) are begging for lineman. They are offering to pay $25-30k for the training/certs, and within 4 years that person is making 6 figures. Blew my mind, but it’s true. What do I see scattered all over street corners the past 6-9 mo? Abled-body men under 40 begging for money (while also getting Covid handouts I bet). They’re not disheveled, sitting in wheel chairs, etc. Many of them look like they probably work out at a local gym daily and are pretty healthy. I’ve heard every excuse in the book about these people, but when it comes down to it, they can swing a fucking hammer, they’re just too lazy to do it…they want easy money they don’t have to put effort towards. The point: Min wage is a bit of a smoke and mirrors discussion, the RC is not $15/hr (plenty for the HS kid), because we haven’t asked/answered the question why there are so many jobs out there that pay well above Min wage/offer substantially more than “that McDs job,” yet people walk right past them complaining about the “rich folk holding me down!” Barring significant medical problems preventing work, I believe the RC for these situations is our society rewards laziness while breeding ungratefulness and a weak work ethic/sense of personal responsibility.

Hopefully the universe provided the needed correction and they're all enjoying post-military careers which allow them the professional satisfaction and personal/family enrichment they deserve. 🙂

You are arguing with a nihilist…

I would have thrown grandstanding jackass out in this game of charades, but nihilist is more accurate.