Leaderboard

It goes way beyond Plastic. A society without soaps… most medications… superior lubricants to machine parts… fertilizers growing 8 billion people in food. The sheer stupidity of somebody that thinks human existence can exist at this scale without petroleum is just unaware of anything petroleum is used as a precursor or provides the bulk chemical make up of. They just think a barrel of oil = gasoline = bad stuff for global warming. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Technically speaking @BashiChuni is correct on point one. It's not possible to re-blunt something that is already as blunt as it can be. They (Russia) are more than two years into this mess after having had 8 years of pre-combat battlefield shaping operations. Two years! For an operation that would have taken us a long weekend. Russia is most certainly blunt.

because he's off...or will be thereso getting...Biff says:

This

The lines have shifted several times. You seem to only recognize one direction. The initial thrust of the invasion stopped, followed by counter-attacks by both sides...doesn't sound like the one-sided war you seem to be describing.

two points: 1. they are not blunting anything 2. they are not stopping russian advances. russia is clearly advancing, capturing territory, and clearly winning this war. and they will win regardless of how much money/ammo we give them.

I would say that I'm Ukraine War continuation skeptical but not opposed exactly, they passed the "funding" bill but as a skeptic I would be less skeptical, cynical and maybe supportive if they passed a funding vehicle (bureacracy speak phrase for tax increase or creation) to pay for this appropriation https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2024/04/20/betrayal-complete-mike-johnson-passes-61-billion-ukraine-aid-violates-hastert-rule-again/ Like climate change preening / virtue signalling... if the activist / big mouth / holier than thou person advocating for a low energy life style actually lived that way themselves I'd take them seriously, but as they are not actually for paying for it but thru debt issuance, continued funding seems less than honorable Follow up: So as I know there are CODEL staffers lurking on this thread /s… the IRS says there were 161 million income tax filings, divide that into 60 billion, that’s about $373 per filer, propose an amendment or stand alone bill to 2023 income tax filings and collect the money, not holding breath but that would go long way to burnishing your credentials and supposed commitment to the LIO and love of it

Very distant relative. I remember hearing the story a long time ago as a kid. Randomly a couple days ago I called and thought to get clarity from another family member and found this. After my own service it takes on a whole new meaning. We had a great discussion how in 1949 when 12 O'clock High came out no one wanted to see or discuss the movie because the feelings were still so raw in the family. Only child. Yesterday I noticed today would have been his 100th birthday. Lt. Dunn and Crew Marshall Clyde Dunn was born on April 20, 1924, in Wichita County, Texas. He was the son of Clyde Stanley Dunn and Merle Sheldon Dunn. He was a graduate of the Electra High School and was a member of the band. He was attending Texas A & M when he enlisted in the Army Air Force. Marshall entered the service in February 1943 and had been overseas in October 1944. He served in the 850th Bomber Squadron, 490th Bomber Group, Heavy, as a First Lieutenant and Pilot on the B-17G #43-38699 during World War II. He was Killed in Action on February 6, 1945, when his airplane was involved in a mid-air collision with B-17G #43-38167 over France. That day, his crew took off from airfield station 134 in Eye, England, for a strategic mission to Chemnitz, Germany. Upon reaching 17,000 feet, his plane collided with B-17G #43-38167 piloted by Lt Schoenfield and crashed near Mittersheim. This resulted in the death of seven members of his crew; 3 survived and recovered. Sgt Johnston, who jumped around 3000 feet, indicated that the survivors were transferred to Nancy, then to Vittel, returned to Nancy, then Paris by rail, and finally returned to the UK in C-47 on February 11, 1945. 1Lt Dunn is now buried in the Fort Sam Houston National Cemetery, San Antonio, Bexar County, Texas, USA. Airmen who perished on B-17G #43-38699: Dunn, Marshall C ~ 1st Lt, Pilot Philley, Jack O ~ 2nd Lt, Co-Pilot Baland, Helmer O ~ 2nd Lt, Navigator Horton, Fred H ~ S/Sgt, Ball Turret Gunner Mayhew, Donald R ~ S/Sgt, Radio Operator, NY McKinney, Clarence H ~ T/Sgt, Mechanic Mulvihill, Edward J ~ S/Sgt, Bombardier The survivors were SSgt Dean R. Smith, SSgt George A. Naifeh, and SSgt Osvil F. Johnston.

This demographic does seem to try harder to please. So I've been told.

Dibs!!

Perhaps you're right, the war will be fought economically. If one wanted to slowly weaken, bleed, and defeat Russia, here's how we should go about it: Economically: First, we get Russia to spend themselves into oblivion. Interfere in their elections by funding Communists and leftists. That's assuming they have free and fair elections. Once their domestic spending outpaces their GDP by a substantial amount, we compel them to send hundreds of billions of dollars more to foreign governments. They'll be forced to further into debt, using creative tools to sustain their economy. Soon, they won't be able to maintain an infrastructure, the Russian standard of living declines, and social unrest ensues. I also see other strategic opportunities to weaken Russia: Socially: Using technology and social media, we inundate it's population with propaganda. We flood them with polarizing ideas and political ideologies. We create organizations that fund the migration of millions of poverty level people, particularly military age young men, from a vast array of cultural, religious backgrounds, creating a further strain on resources and social cohesion. Sponsor protests. Encourage violence. Militarily: Focus on making Russian military service an undesirable career choice. Create a recruiting crisis that shrinks the size of their military. Make them reliant on complex technologies with multiple single points of failure and insanely expensive acquisitions processes instead of mass and production. Create cognitive dissonance by telling Russians they're fighting for the nobel principles Russia was founded on while simultaneously incentivizing Russian politicians to destroy those principles. Energy: Make them deplete their energy reserves and hamstring domestic production by making them adhere to global climate change policies. Make them reliant on foreign cheap oil. I could go on, but I see plenty of opportunities to weaken Russia over the long term. The key is, it takes time. We can't allow ourselves to be provoked into an overreaction, massive escalation, or direct military conflict. If we're patient, Russia will eventually collapse from within.

You new here? Aren’t there runways spread around the globe? Sent from my iPhone using Baseops Network mobile app

I would counter that was the thought in the 1930s with Germany. Hitler just wanted a little more territory and he would be good. I have little doubt had Putin been in power in the 1930s-40s he would have been just as bad. What line is too far? I'm still as pissed as many over the Charlie Foxtrot that was/is Afghanistan but at least Ukraine is willing to fight.

Hate to be the bearer of bad news, but a year and a half of rushing is just getting started. I know it seems like an eternity, while in your 20’s, but if you’re a gov employee, as you stated, then you certainly should understand the glacial pace the system moves in. Have you interviewed anywhere more than once? You do realize that guard units typically select pilots only once per year? So in a year and a half you haven’t even been through the cycle more than once. Other than that, the advice offered to all the others on similar threads still holds true: -Widen your net (Heavies, Reserves, USAF, USN, USMC) -Enlist in the unit -Practice your interview skills -Get more flt time -Polish up your resume -Network

Multiple visits shows the unit you are interested. We never hired anyone that we hadn’t seen stop by a few times. Sent from my iPhone using Baseops Network mobile app

Y'all are the sorriest bunch of pessimists I’ve ever seen, seriously. “Damn, the federal government and our foreign policy are so bad I just spent 20+ years working in the DoD and personally conducting American foreign policy.” 🤦‍♂️ Freaking sack up. Don’t be doomer Gen Z kids who think everything is inexorably fucked and they are to blame (bonus, everyone gets to fill in the they with whomever they want!). Be a good person and family member, be a good officer / pilot/ Commander / etc., be a good citizen and vote, run for office, etc. If something is broken try to fix it. You won’t always succeed but you should still try. It’s not all hopeless, everyone in charge isn’t just a moron in dire need of your brilliant counsel, but if you really think you can do it better then do it better. Talk is cheap, action isn’t, but it’s well worth the cost. I was taught all this shit as a child, were you guys not? America is already great, we’re not going anywhere fast, and yes we have our flaws but modern western liberal democratic capitalism is the worst system…except all the other ones. 🇺🇸