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So Trump killed 220,000 people due to China virus last year. But Biden's plan to beat the virus has killed more than double that this year. And, supposedly, we're gonna get told to learn to live with the virus, but those who aren't vaccinated yet will still die tonight. Quite the reuniting of the country. But no mean tweets...that's something. In the looking for the silver lining in all the madness, Hillary still isn't and won't be President.

They can't - The far left take his word as gospel and only the far left continue to feel that Biden is doing a satisfactory job. If this administration fired him they would lose their most ardent supporters while gaining very little from the rest of the population who feel that this administration is failing. Who would have bought into that slogan? I know a fair amount of people and only one has been hospitalized from covid - I wouldn't be willing to "social distance for a few years" from what I've seen. With that said, I know that some here have experienced loss and for that I do sympathize. But I would not and will not give up years of my life to provide a larger margin of safety for those who have already chosen to condemn themselves by way of their years of poor decision-making as it relates to diet and healthy lifestyles. They made their bed, they can sleep in it. Don't expect others to subsidize your poor past decisions.

I don’t know why, but this thread being locked and then reopened with this crap has really hit a nerve. I’m tired of these “points” that aren’t points. Are we ever going to acknowledge facts and actually debate policies based on reason opposed to emotion? Are we going to talk about things like reasonable age based policies or rotating geographic protections? Are we ever going to actually acknowledge that the real risk is somewhere in the middle of “0.00007%” and “everyone is at significant risk?” Are we going to talk about risk based policies that actually take into account things like BMI, race, or health status to more effectively deal with this pandemic? Are we going to discuss policies to actually temporarily deal with the increased real hospital risk over time in a population if we do have a large infection? Are we going to discuss the high chance that Omicron actually will max out hospitals again even with vaccines based on its extremely high infection rate and ability to evade previous immunity? About how it’s almost a mathematical certainty we will approach 1.0M cases per day in the next week? Or are we going to keep posting politicized, debunked talking points on both the liberal and conservative sides and then argue about how they’re wrong when we’ve had these discussions 10 times already? Whether that’s folks on the left not acknowledging the significantly diminished effects of the vaccine on transmission/infection or folks on the right posting bs talking points like you just did - it’s all fuckin stupid. But, just as you would say “Orange man bad” to condense an actually intricate thought into a BS political viewpoint, I guess I could just summarize your post as “Brandon XD lol”. I’m reminded of a good ole saying that generally holds true - definitely in these debates: “The amount of energy needed to refute bullshit is an order of magnitude larger than is needed to produce it.” But let’s look at his “points.” https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brandolini's_law 1) 0 religious exceptions have been passed - so what? This is a question literally just to generate outrage, but not logically. We’ve addressed hypocrisy here in other threads, and I don’t think it was successfully refuted, but I guess if you keep saying that religious exemptions should be approved then by golly I guess they should be. 2) Him asking why the FDA didn’t explicitly recommend the vaccine is irrelevant when the CDC explicitly does recommend it. Oh, why didn’t he mention that? Intentionally misleading to split hairs between gov organizations to make it seem like the government doesn’t have a stance 3) The vaccine has been highly politicized, resulting in orders of magnitude higher reporting than for previous vaccines. This is literally just how politics appears in statistics - its comparing tomatoes to apples. I agree that there are potentially mildly increased risks of myocarditis for young males - but that’s not his point. He is saying that there are blanket increased rates of adverse events - which isn’t true, it’s just total numbers. 4) Bullshit trying to mislead people about Comirnaty generic vs brand when they are chemically identical and the government treats them legally the exact same. But he didn’t want to mention that? This is maybe the dumbest argument that armchair lawyers love to cite. 5) Only looking at deaths is intentionally misleading when we’ve seen that COVID can make things like carrier or submarine readiness questionable based purely on sickness, outbreaks, or long term effects. You had COVID? It takes you out for a few days. Oh and don’t forget that 10-30% of folks that had COVID have long term effects on their neuromuscular, digestive, respiratory, or cardiovascular systems. But we can ignore that. We can ignore everything but deaths, right? By the way, you’re also required to be vaccinated against rubella and the flu, which are significantly less bad from every aspect, yet where are the complaints? Also, quick question, how many marines have died from Rubella? And I’m done here. It has taken me 10 times the energy to halfway refute this dumb video that has “legitimate questions.” Every singe one was intentionally misleading, largely fallacious, and irrelevant. I honestly look forward to this guy and similarly misguided folks like him that spout BS on social media in uniform getting their well-deserved discharges as they intentionally disrupt good order and discipline. To end this rant on an even more sarcastic note, make sure to listen to Donald Trump’s recent direction to go get your booster.

Note, you can start that discussion any time you like - and there is also a law (can't remember what it's called) that says you don't have to disprove bullshit, or convince stupid people that they're dumb. So don't worry about it. The Alex Jones and Berenson types can generally be ignored. Also, I'm not about to defend any of these stupid videos of soldiers "standing up" to the PTB and demanding answers to questions. I think they are grossly misguided, as a rule, and I don't think I would have made a good Marine. In any case, I think it's worth continuing the discussion on this point in particular. On this point, my personal belief is that there should be zero religious exemptions for anything in the military. Like, there shouldn't be regulatory guidance that governs religious exemptions. The only thing they do is put military leaders in the impossible situation of determining what "sincerely held" means - which is not a determination that can be made, unfortunately - and then arbitrarily granting and denying them based on that determination. This undermines their roles as leaders, because it does, in actuality, force their decisions to be arbitrary. But in any case, since religious exemptions are a thing, it matters. I looked for, but could not find, a historical example of a religious exemption for a vaccine in the military. That said, I have a feeling that they're out there, and that they have been approved in the past. Taking that admitted assumption as the case, it was made clear to us as the ramp up to the vaccine being released that "religious exemptions" would not be a thing for the COVID vaccine. Well, ok, cool - not that I particularly care - but why was this message pushed out so clearly, and with such certainty? That occurrence strongly suggests to me that this is an "unofficially official" policy that there will not be any religious exemptions to this vaccine. The idea was floated at the highest levels of our government, and it was made absolutely, crystal clear, that there will not, under any circumstance, be exceptions to this policy - history and our present reality reflects that. Why is that important? Because it adds to my suspicion that this is all theater. And every day that passes, I become more and more convinced that it actually is. We locked down when this thing first began, and at its absolute worst, we were seeing ~250K/ cases per day with ~3-4K deaths per day (if you subscribe to the notion that COVID was the sole cause of death, which I do not; https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/covid-data/covidview/index.html). Now, you're telling me that this thing is going to imminently peak not only to that level, but at a rate (mathematical certainty) that will top it by 4X!!! Are you kidding me? And all we get from #1 is a statement that if your vaxxed, you can go on vacation, but if you're not, you're gonna die??? Mkay. I don't believe you. I don't believe that these people actually think we're heading to a space where 12,000-16,000 people are going to be dying every day. I don't believe they believe that. If they did, they'd be taking different steps. It's fear porn in order to justify expediency that there is otherwise no appetite for. If they do believe that, and that's all they're doing, then they're even more cynical people than I already think.

I was once told I should consider using a signature block as opposed to simply putting my callsign at the bottom of emails. So I considered it for a bit... Sociald

Just a parade of success. I know I successfully pay more for fuel, food, tires, etc etc https://nypost.com/2021/12/21/biden-admin-insists-us-is-better-off-now-than-under-trump/?utm_campaign=SocialFlow&utm_source=NYPTwitter&utm_medium=SocialFlow&fbclid=IwAR25IVDlRlS1bOlBCulsD04E2FgAHvfx17WDhNH0ZlrJXzPON4s0visqYuQ

last 5-10 years, i don't know that any AD tone people other than T-1 FAIPs have gone to the bone, and even that was a rather brief period of a few years iirc. B-52s have dropped for join spouse and i even saw it offered to the top grad in my T-1 class for family reason though they turned it down. i've talked to reserve people from both and they didn't seem to mind hiring T-1 trained people, would make sense if they dropped them AD. curious to hear if they ever did it with regularity.

Stay tuned for scenes from the next episode of "Yellowstone..."

Believe whatever you want. If you think I'm going to face judgement in front of god because I took a vaccine partially made through stem cell research, that's your prerogative. Just as it is my prerogative to think your beliefs are backward and silly. But at some point we need to acknowledge the reality that not all beliefs are compatible with military service.

No doubt. We've moved from vaccines to just debating the merits of religion as a whole. Bottom line: I honestly don't believe anyone who got all the other vaccines we get when they claim that ONLY the Covid vaccine violates their religious beliefs. Just like I didn't buy the "I don't know what's in it" argument from people who eagerly await the McRib and drink a Monster for breakfast.

I'd argue the puritan stance against birth control and teaching teens to use it probably creates more abortions than it prevents. The huge pushback against legalizing gay marriage, marginalizing a chunk of the population. Constant covering up of abuses in large faith organizations. The Catholic Church is the most visible example, but definitely not the only one. There's a ton of things the religious right supports that I think are at odds with what Jesus teaches... but there's a Bible verse for everything. It is always fun to watch someone quote a Bible verse as support, then clearly ignore the verses before and after it.

There's such a strange desire among many religious people to feel persecuted, hated, or oppressed, so it's not surprising that you interpreted my post that way. Feigned oppression helps deflect away from having to confront the actual merit of the belief(s), and helps the person having their beliefs questioned actually feel virtuous (instead of embarrassed). Someone questions the fact that you believe certain humans lived over 500 years, and you spin it to be about "hatred" against you. What if I told you something ridiculous, like I can jump 50 feet high? I'm guessing you would want some evidence. And the more extraordinary the claim, the more evidence you'll require. That's how the world (outside religion) works. Imagine if you said: "I really doubt you can jump 50 feet high. Can you prove it?" And I responded: ".. Ohh, well that's because you despise me." Truth is, I said nothing about hating you. You can believe anything you want. I'm saying that if you believe things that don't align with reality, it makes no sense inviting you to the discussions about science and evidence. And that it's absurd for people to ask for religious accommodations for a vaccine by haphazardly trying to weave concepts of science/reality with Genesis, as if they're compatible. I'm not going to pretend that I don't find many religious beliefs ridiculous, absurd, or even silly. You feel the same exact way, just about other religions than your own. It's why you're not a Hindu, Muslim, or Scientologist. .....or a flat-earther or chemtrailer. It's not about hating people that hold certain beliefs. It's a rejection of those beliefs because they don't align with reality.

I think most people support personal religion up to the point where folks abuse and cherry pick their core values to use religion as a trump card (pun intended) to do whatever they want and impact others. See gay marriage, abortion, COVID, abortion etc. I don’t even agree with mandates for the whole population, but trying to pursue religious exceptions come off as one of the most disingenuous “You can’t make me!” temper tantrums possible - not a genuinely held belief.

I'm curious which denomination of Christianity is telling people not to get the vaccine. i know it isnt Catholics, Southern Baptists, Lutherans, Presbyterians, Assemblies of God, or Methodist. And a Christian Scientist would have objections to ALL vaccines, not just Covid. Or are y'all asserting a singular personal belief that puts you at odds with the doctrine of your chosen faith?

My philosophy is if a 200 year old book, a guy in a funny hat, a glass of bourbon, or a joint helps you sleep at night, more power to you. To paraphrase Dave Chapelle: We're all just humans on this earth trying to have an experience. Where I take issue is when you (royal you) try and push whatever proverbial opiate you subscribe to on me or it becomes destructive to the point of affecting other people. From a military perspective, I'd argue that destructive threshold is met when you can't live up to the obligations expected of the rest of the mil population. From a societal perspective, I think the threshold is met when religious beliefs stand in the way of known science to include flat earthers, anti-vaxers (of all stripes), and creationists, to name a few.

Define irony: The guy who's going to lose his job.. because he's refusing modern medicine.. during a pandemic.. because of something a 2000 year old book told him.. lecturing everyone else on accountability.

No doubt. The pilot crisis and retention issues also bode really well for passed over navs and other terrible officers who had no shot at O-5 or leadership positions in the old AF. You really aren't reading, seeing, or hearing. Admittedly, I've unknowingly taken vaccines grown or developed with fetal stem cells derived from abortions (discussed in detail in my RA). I sure as hell didn't know it was in them or used in development. I've also grown in my knowledge, understanding, and commitment to my faith, and it won't be happening in my body every again. I still don't understand why that offends you so much or you act like people like me are a threat. I've flown in the same airspace, been in the stack, probably bumped into you somewhere stateside...I literally can't fathom the vitriol and fear you have, it's kind of sad. Approving an RA for me would be the same situation as we were in for the first 1.5 years of the COVID outbreak before we had vaccines. I still haven't caught COVID (verified by T cell and antibody tests), and my honest observation is the military did really well overall (the huge impacts I observed were due to ROM & precautionary quarantine). My opposition is to both fetal stem cell use and RNA/DNA....both or either are a no-go for me. Whether you agree or like it, RNA/DNA/viral vector technology is brand new (logically consistent that this is different) in humans and also brand new as in never been used or injected into my body. Your argument that people can't change, grow, or do better in any type of belief or practice is also false and stupid. I'm not arguing or disputing whether or not it works or if it is healthy (even if it cured death and prevented all sickness I wouldn't be touching it). I'm 100% convinced through prayer and study of scripture that the method for how this technology works is abhorrent and wrong before my God (reference Genesis chapters 6 & 11...topic being humanity thinking it can ignore and do better then their creator). Every one of us will stand before God the creator in judgement and accountability for what we do in this life...your feelings and opinion don't change that. Good luck chasing wealth/health/pleasure in this world and thinking you can live however you want without accountability; I truly hope people like you will wake up to the truth.

The force will be immensely stronger without all the selfish antivaxxers in it. They claim to have “served honorably” but they were just in hiding for their decades of service, and their true colors are being shown now. Boot em all. Self righteous bastards.

Yours truly flying #381 in 1979 (leading a verboten formation landing in today's AF), the aircraft shot down by Dorsey. I flew in the same Med exercise against the same carrier, Saratoga, but was intercepted by a Navy F-4 albeit 10 years earlier. The A&P that annuals my private plane was on the Saratoga the day the recce F-4 was shot down. Small world.

Can confirm there’s a Viper pilot at a Reserve unit that rides one of those hoverboards to the jets and around the squadron. Even better because it’s got the light up wheels so you’d see him coming down the dark hallways like a traveling circus.

Segue - I think the greatest source of the immense strife we see in our country is colossal assholes like you who vehemently shit on someone for having a different view point or set of beliefs than yourself. Absolutely you can think it’s all gibberish, but when you belittle people for their personal beliefs and attack their core values, you’re just a POS bully. Time for some introspection, or just keep being a total shitbag, you’re call.