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I honestly don't know, but I do know they are not celebrated like BLM and ANTIFA. Remember "mostly peaceful" protests that burned U.S. government facilities all over the country. Sadly the extremes on both sides suck up all the oxygen from folks like you and me that reside in the middle. Unfortunately for me the media is dominated by liberals and most of the networks focus on one side and make excuses for the other.

Primarily democratic politicans and democrat supporters...oh, and SVB. Shocking. Presumably @nsplayr if he's 'way more involved in democratic politics.' Unless he meant that as a little d democratic, not a big D Democrat. BTW nsplayr, just because you haven't met them, doesn't mean they don't exist. BLM made enough money for the shady purchase of a $6M mansion with donation money. That's not insignificant, but it is highly corrupt...and largely funded by your party. Accountability much?

“Wait, you don’t need $469k/yr to make end’s meat? I don’t get it.” - Doug, 17 yr 7ER FO, has 3x secret families who don’t know about each other

They suck too. But as I’ve mentioned before (in this thread or one of the others), the extreme groups on the right get plenty of media coverage and often times are blown well out of proportion in terms of their scope and power; whereas the extreme groups on the left get a free pass in the mainstream press. How many businesses and lives are lost because of Qanon or Proud Boys compared to BLM Summer 2020? There is no comparison.

Yet they have such a loyal base that will vote for them no matter what. God help you if you try to shift that narrative. This perpetual cycle and the backlash that comes with calling it out scares me more than some idiot with a Viking Hat or a dude in Proud Boys

All of the people kneeling in this picture have been in some form of government power for over 20 years. They scream about changing the status quo. They've had over 2 decades (sometimes more like Biden) to solve the problems that we are so divided as a country over. The common American on both sides of the political spectrum needs to wake up. We're fighting against each other when we should be fighting (voting out) the politicians who kept us here.

I have a big block of Doge I bought on a whim and dirt cheap...only Crypto I've ever played with. If I lose...oh well, if I win I will sponsor the first annual Baseops hookers and blow convention.

I’m going to have to disagree with you on this one, respectfully of course. There’s currently an awful lot of ballot initiatives for state boundaries to be redrawn, states joining other states (ie greater Idaho), and outright secession. While this may seem like nothing but noise at the moment, the fissures in our union are undeniably growing. I recently read an old, fantastically researched, history on the Civil War by Catton. The first book is called “The Coming Fury” and focuses mostly on Congress 1860-61, the parallels to what we see today are quite shocking. Now I’m not betting we‘ll be engaging in gun battles with our neighbors any time soon, but I am saying, throughout time, the lines on the map have always changed, and they rarely change peacefully.

Man I love librarians.....

This quote seems to be an exact foretelling of what we're living through right now. “What I want to fix your attention on is the vast, overall movement towards the discrediting, and finally the elimination, of every kind of human excellence—moral, cultural, social, or intellectual. And is it not pretty to notice how Democracy (in the incantatory sense) is now doing for us the work that was once done by the most ancient Dictatorships, and by the same methods? You remember how one of the Greek Dictators (they called them ‘tyrants’ then) sent an envoy to another Dictator to ask his advice about the principles of government. The second Dictator led the envoy into a field of corn, and there he snicked off with his cane the top of every stalk that rose an inch or so above the general level. The moral was plain. Allow no pre-eminence among your subjects. Let no man live who is wiser, or better, or more famous, or even handsomer than the mass. Cut them all down to a level; all slaves, all ciphers, all nobodies. All equals. Thus Tyrants could practise, in a sense, ‘democracy’. But now ‘democracy’ can do the same work without any other tyranny than her own. No one need now go through the field with a cane. The little stalks will now of themselves bite the tops off the big ones. The big ones are beginning to bite off their own in their desire to Be Like Stalks.” ― C.S. Lewis, The Screwtape Letters: Also Includes "Screwtape Proposes a Toast"

Step 1: Live in base Step 2: Hang out in a category overstaffed with tons of new hires Step 3: Bid reserve Step 4: ??? Step 5: Profit I've blocked 12 hours this year, and I only picked up that one trip because it was pretty gucci and I didn't feel like going back to the sim to maintain my landing currency. And that's as a NB FO at the major with the worst reserve rules. Anything's possible with a little gamesmanship (and a little bit of luck).

Regardless of gender, if I were a kid and was taken to visit a drone squadron, I’d choose the librarian path too.

When they first started making us use the government card, Amn Biff used his card to pull out cash at the library. Red Flags as a mx dude were a shit show lol. There was no OEF/OIF (or DEI lol) only drunken shenanigans.

From the lamentations I hear at work, don't do that at the folksy texas two step airline. The new hires eat the lines for training (consolidation), leaving the "senior" eating the reserve coverage, which is generally not commutable (no LC). Since NH bid off said junior base asap, the cycle repeats with new entrants, so you don't get the downline needed for all these QOL promises to materialize. Of course, the only reprieve is the fluctuations of the training footprint itself, which is system-wide dependent, so the training glut can shift away to a different domicile and restore much of your loss. For a guy who lives in said base this is perhaps a sunk cost; for a commuter that matters quite a bit more. Talking to the non-LUV junior guys (we have quite a few nowadays), that doesn't seem to be an issue for them, cuz I guess they get the trips bought off or whatever. Not sure why swa doesn't; must be more of that whitewashed texas exceptionalism mythology story they try to indoctrinate my 4th grader with. 😄

Q was a goofy online conspiracy cult. proud boys stood up as a joke not equivalent to antifa or BLM

Thanks, it works now!

I agree. But it still concerns me when enough people to spike the RWR are talking about civil war. It also concerns me when radical people on either side continue to push radical agendas in the face of opposition from what I’ll call “the reasonable” core of our population. There’s far more reasonable people than not, but don’t think that means we can afford to just brush off the crazies and say, “meh, they’ll just go away.” That kind of flippant attitude is exactly how we end up in a very bad spot years down the road.

Moderators (of which there are 12), are not by default allowed to be ignored. Many folks fall into multiple groups, but I think they only inherit "Can ignore" from the Moderator group. I've fixed your specific issue, @Blue

My statement holds, I don’t know any of the people in the video. Anyone on the left calling for a civil war is a dangerous moron that no one should listen to…just like anyone on the right! Or the center. Theres not going to be a civil war, our politics is not substantially more radical than in the past, but we do need to actively stick together and move the country forward if we want our kids to enjoy the gift we were all given at birth (or naturalization) - a great country.

I have to agree with @nsplayr on this one point: We're nowhere near a civil war. Such a thing would involve a vast majority of the population. Right now I would argue that 10% or less of the US population composes the highly vocal left and right. Civil unrest? More likely. If we can elect some leadership that moderate and actually has some form of wisdom in their decision making, we'll be fine. Our current administration is populated by muppets and morons, which is why we're in the economic, political, social, and international troubles we're in.

NATO Edges Closer to Expansion as Finland Wins Over Holdouts (msn.com) And in other not great news for the Russians, Finland's NATO bid is gaining steam.

No one I know left-of-center talks about a civil war 🤷‍♂️ Joe Biden, an old white man and long-time senator is president, and the GOP holds the house. Not seeing some insane liberal agenda washing over us anytime soon. jUsT aSkInG fOr InSaNiTy To StOp ok what do you mean by that?

I just find it funny how women are taken at their word, and their reasons implied as gender-role-appropriate, for eschewing an airline career thus contributing to the demographic labor participation disparity... but when a man espouses the same reasons on here it's all of a sudden blasphemy? Misogynist and misandrist at the same time, didn't know that was possible. Seriously, where's mai eh-KWal-e-taaah! 😄 /sarc..ish P.S. I noted they did finally installed the koala-care baby changing station at the men's pisser at work....yet there's still that unsanitary gaping @ss hole on the wall from the urinal they ripped out when it went weapons active and started shooting high pressure piss water at bystanders. I mean, what gives? Does everything have to be zero-sum around here?! 😄

Is this why you became a nav?

Thank you for bringing actual data. Also thank god were all safe from the Woke DEI nightmare that’s ruining civil aviation and compromising safety! /sarcasm Not a dig at you personally, just the general vibe where too many people take their desired biases and graft them into whatever the issue is.

Ding Ding....to each their own but when you hit a certain age (as I have), you begin to realize that QOL is way more important that the almighty dollar. My colleagues look at me aghast when I tell them I'm happy working 2-4 days for the airlines per month. But what about all that money you're giving away?? My answer, don't need it, not gonna take it with me, don't have 3 ex wives, no loans/mortgages, no boats/airplanes, nest egg is built, etc etc. This is where I differ from the "norm" IMO. In that I mean my time spent w/ friends/family and doing hobbies that I may not be able to do when I'm 55-65 are the priority.

Just confirming I have the facts...Trump will be arrested on Tuesday for giving a check to an adult film star while Biden is celebrated for standing by as millions of dollars were funneled from Chinese firms to all of his relatives.

I flew with a gay pilot in the early 2000s. Nobody knew he was gay. He didn't prance around or anything. He was an awesome pilot. I always respected him for being a great pilot, even before I knew he was gay. A few years later, when they allowed gay people to serve, he came out and was married. One of the most squared away dudes I flew with. You would have never known. I still respect him. I flew with two Pilots who transitioned after I retired. One was a good stick (STS). I can't speak for this person recently though. The second one was the scariest rated pilot I flew with for 17 years AD and 2 years at Compass (RIP)..lol 1/2 of the identitied Trans I've encountered can fly level. If I've flown with any trans/gay and I didn't recognize it. Awesome, because they didn't tell me how they like to fuck. I didn't care, unless I was involved in the playful shenanigans. Just don't tell me DEI is heading in a logical direction.

Crazy! Almost like there is a new virus in the world that can kill people! im not arguing any view actually, but I need more than tabloid headlines to draw an actual conclusion.

ANG fighter slots are extremely competitive, but yes, if you get hired you know what aircraft you’ll be flying. Though, you still have to make it through all the training and things could happen such as your unit switching aircraft when you’re 1/2 way through UPT (rare, but it happens). Fighter pilots fly a lot in the guard, even most of the part timers are flying a similar amount as the full timers. If you go the Navy route and don’t fly jets, your chances of flying fighters later in the guard are extremely small…don’t count on it. Go ANG over AD, and especially over the Navy. Do well in college, get your PPL, and consider enlisting in a guard unit you’d like to eventually fly for if that works out for your life desires (gets your college paid for at least partially and you make connections at that unit).

Were they deployed?

In general it is said that the Guard lifestyle is a little better than Reserves in that the reserves are more similar to the AD culture. Guard is perceived to be more "relaxed" although YMMV depending on unit and frankly anywhere you go you'll still have to deal with most of the queep. Regarding your original question, cagg011 pretty much said it. Sponsored/unsponsored is an AFRES thing. Sponsored means you find a unit that wants you (you court them the same way as the Guard process) and they sponsor you for a specific airframe and location when you are done, unsponsored means you put in a packet to Big Blue and they will flip the coin and find you a unit when you come out the other end of pilot training (or you can use your time shopping for a unit once in flight school, which is fairly typical).

It's OTS now. With the "Total Force" thing they just combined it. I still have guys at my unit that call it AMS but it is straight up OTS. If you are guard you are more likely to do OTS at the DET12 squadron which is considered the "Guard" squadron but really I've heard of both squadrons training guard/reserve types.

Hi all, first off I cant say thank you enough to all those that have posted in the past and helped me grasp what the process of off the street ANG pilot selection is like. I can now say first hand that with motivation and perseverance anything is possible. I have been in this process for a tad under 2 years and was just selected to fly the f-16. I took 3 interviews, 2 afoqts (both were not out of this world by anymeans)2 tbas tests and a few weekend trips to SQ, but it finally paid off. The 3 top points I can share are 1- Rush Units, Show up get to know the pilots, but more importantly let them get to know you. 2-Dont let anyone tell you NO! but understand that to get to where you want to be (Fighters, Heavy, Helo) you have to put in the work to get there. No one you meet who have succeeded in this were handed anything, they busted there butts to get where they are and continue to do so, you should do the same.(for me the real work is about to star AMS UPT etc. ) 3-Be Yourself, I cant stress this enough. anyway feel free to pm me for more info on any of my experiences id be happy to share what ive learned.