ClearedHot

Very sad to hear this. Had the opportunity to meet him a few times, truly a gentleman. His book A Soldier's Way is a superb read and story of how dedication and hard work and can off in this country. He was a consummate public servant who likely could have been the first African American President had he decided to run, his wife was against it and he stated he never felt that calling. His detractors will obviously point to his "Case for War "presented to the UN. Years later he accepted fault and wished he had trusted his instincts calling the events a great failure of intelligence. In addition to his autobiography I highly recommend It Worked for Me: In Life and Leadership where he lays out 13 rules common sense rule for life. I need to do a better job using these in my life. RIP General Powell. 1. It ain’t as bad as you think. It will look better in the morning. There’s a silver lining in every cloud, you just have to find it. That’s not always as easy as it sounds. Things might look bad today, but if you’ve put in the effort, tomorrow will be a brighter day. It’s a state of mind; believe it and you will make it happen. 2. Get mad, then get over it. There’s always going to be days when events—or people—push you to the edge. When you do lose your temper, don’t lose control at the same time. People always remember the leader with a bad temper, and never in a good way. 3. Avoid having your ego so close to your position that when your position falls, your ego goes with it. People who think that their way is the only way tend to experience a lot of disappointment. Things aren’t always going to go your way, that’s just a fact of life. Be humble enough to accept that fact. 4. It can be done! Just about anything can be accomplished if you set your mind to it, have the necessary resources, and the time to get it done. Don’t succumb to the skeptics; listen to what they have to say and consider their perspective but stay focused and positive. 5. Be careful what you choose. Don’t rush into a bad decision. Take the time to consider your options, weigh the relevant facts, and make reasoned assumptions. Once you pull the trigger, there are no do-overs. So make it count. 6. Don’t let adverse facts stand in the way of a good decision. Powell was fond of connecting good leadership to good instincts. Be a leader who hones judgement and instinct. Take the time to shape your mental models. Learn how to read a situation for yourself. Become the decision-maker your people need you to be. 7. You can’t make someone else’s choices. Never allow someone else to make your decisions for you. Ultimately, you’re responsible for your own decisions. Don’t duck that responsibility and don’t succumb to external pressures. Make your own decisions and live with them. 8. Check small things. Success is built on a lot of seemingly minor details. Having a feel for those “little things” is essential. In a 2012 interview, David Lee Roth shared the story of how Van Halen used brown M&Ms as an indicator of whether large concert venues paid attention to the minor details critical to a major performance. Leaders must have ways to check the little things without getting lost in them. 9. Share credit. Success relies on the effort of the entire team, not just the leader. Recognition motivates people in ways that are immeasurable. Don’t be a glory hog. Share credit where credit is due and allow your people to stand in the spotlight. It ain’t about you. It’s about them. 10. Remain calm. Be kind. Keep calm and carry on. Kill ‘em with kindness. When chaos reigns, a calm head and a kind word go a long way. When everyone is under incredible stress, be the leader people want to follow, not the leader people want to avoid. 11. Have a vision. Be demanding. Followers need to things from leaders—a purpose and a firm set of standards. When you see leaders fail, it is almost always for one of those two things. They either lead their followers in a flailing pursuit of nothing, or they don’t set and enforce an example for their people. 12. Don’t take counsel of your fears or naysayers. Fear can be a powerful motivator, but it can also paralyze a leader at the worst possible time. Learn to understand your fears and channel them in ways that you control rather than allowing them to control you. Think clearly, think rationally, and make decisions that aren’t rooted in emotion. 13. Perpetual optimism is a force multiplier. Optimism is infectious. Maintaining a positive attitude and an air of confidence is as important for you as it is for those around you. People will feed off your optimism. Believe in your purpose, believe in yourself, and believe in your people. And they’ll believe in you.

Add the documentary Restrepo

War college classmate, you should read his book When the Tempest Gathers

The pandemic was NOT the sole cause of the microchip shortage. I actually made some good cash tracking the chip market per-pandemic. Poor planning, poor return on automotive chips (they use a different size), trade sanctions (thank Trump), and limited investment in production all combined to cause a perfect storm. Intel TSMC and Samsung are all building new factories but they take up to two years to reach full production. Intel alone is spending $20 BILLION to build two plants in Arizona. At least one positive outcome it production is moving back to America.

A second part of this legislation, Biden also plans to DOUBLE the size of the IRS and hire 87,000 new employees. Before you say great, catch all the cheats, remember every agent comes with a mandate to bring in funds. I am all for catching the cheats to raise revenue but with the IRS it rarely turns out that way.

Some very damning statements and interesting to hear he thinks we have already lost. Part of me hopes his is falling on his sword to get the attention the issues deserves (he is testifying before Congress next week), part of me is terrified he is right. When...not if...China goes for Taiwan the American public likely won't know, we will be too bust trying to figure out why the lights are out, the water is out, the internet is out, the traffic lights are out. It will be ugly.

Almost like that episode was written for you and your measly* social science degree. I know several including a classmate from ASG. He was brilliant and spoke terribly of his time there being and brainwashed. Yes, it is a prestigious school but as he said "that nice sheepskin also came with a health dose of ultra liberal dogma brainwashing." 1000% agree. The pay we give teachers is a national crime, this is our future and it is horrible don't make a better investment. That being said teachers unions have become far too political which is not making the problem any better. What do you think about some liberal school districts cancelling and discouraging gifted programs in the name of "equity"?

I agree on people skills, you either have them or you don't and you certainly can't teach them at Berkeley. I never said we should push for nothing but STEM majors, the world needs artists. The problem comes when people with good people skills can't do basic math, as you know and underlying requirement for high end IT/Cyber/programing. I was a STEM major pilot, I guess I am the exception 🙂

100% agree, but don't expect a living wage this choice. As you said, supply and demand and there is very little high paying demand for the overwhelming pool of soft degrees.

Do you have any idea how hard this is? Maddening brother! It is so easy to just wave a hand and say "just pay more" or "fix your business model." Not trying to insult you but have you ever run a business? First, you have the federal government telling you who you can and can't hire and crawling up your ass if the employee population is not a perfect reflection of society. I have seen companies go to extraordinary lengths to meet these government quotas but fall short and be punished when the reason the goal can't be achieved is there simply were no qualified applicants. Second, American kids are far more enamored with a liberal arts degree from Berkley that allows them the time to "find themselves" and identify social injustice rather than investing in the hard sciences and technical degrees. For the record we have invested in recruiting and retaining talent. We have gone to HBCs, opened paid internships ($23-$25 an hour for College Juniors), and offered to hire 30-40% of those interns. We offer free lunch on site via catering and food trucks, tuition assistance, excellent benefits, box seats to sporting events and concerts. In certain jobs we give $30K spot bonuses to keep talent and we still can't keep up. Simply not true...absolutely not true. The government dictates many business models and I am sorry but I can't waive my hand and have a Berkley female studies major perform the same duties as a C++ or C Sharp Dev. And, while I pay many new college grads 6+ figures eventually I run into the brickwall of the government telling me what my profit can and can't be.

I think the press was mistakenly reporting it was Jax Airport when as Huggy notes it was Jax center. The FAA spin was many had to take a mandatory two day break after getting the jab.

Sorry but all I hear is a lot of excuses. Is there risk, absolutely but there are many thousands of millionaires and hundreds of billionaires that started with nothing. Immigrants who arrived with $100 in their pocket and they somehow overcame all the drag of no college degree, low wages, housing and poor transportation.

That is a common and so far closely held fact among MANY defense companies. I think numerous critical DoD contracts will be impacted. The current EO fines companies with DoD contracts $5000 PER employee PER day.

It is an interesting coincidence and I heard the union put out a statement saying it wasn't them. There is other information on the margins that is feeding the false narrative, didn't the union petition the court last week to shutdown the vaccine mandate? Also, I believe I saw a report that said 40% of the pilots are still not vaccinated.

And it is still not enough according to some! Even if everyone paid the same rate (and I am not saying it should be that way), if I made 10 times as much I would pay ten times as much...but that is not enough. Under the current progressive tax structure I pay 36.5 times as much...but I am greedy? Make ZERO sense. No other country in the world offers so much opportunity. In this great country the only thing standing between you and wealth is hard work.

Very simple, when you start dropping insults...just like your passive aggressive comment above...the "discussion" is over. Your reply is riddled with anger rather than logic so I see no real point is going back and forth.

I hope your anger keeps you warm this winter.

Yes first time doing a 1031, have owned the home for 27 years. Three items; 1. Identify the new property soonest and have a backup. I am lucky already had a property that I am buying from a friend. Would have to go back and review the rules but I think you have to close on the replacement "like kind" property within 120 days. 2. You will need an intermediary, by IRS rules you can't touch the proceeds of the sale. In my case I have a lawyer in South Carolina (where the original property is), that performs this service. He will hold the funds in escrow and deliver to title company in Florida upon closing on the new property. 3. Try to find a replacement "like kind" property that is slightly more than the property you are selling. Some of the literature says it has to be equal to or greater but checked with my CPA and you can actually go lower. It does trigger capital gains on the difference and you don't want to pay that out of your "winnings." Good luck.

Bitcoin is back to $50,000. As inflation continues and the clowns pushing more stimulus get closer to success Bitcoin is looking better and better. I think $300,000 within two years.

@VMFA187 Did a great job of raising important questions and issues, let me try to calmly pitch in because I simply don't understand how a rationale person agrees with much of what Biden has done AND many of the socialist policies his is supporting if not pushing. To be completely open and honest, I voted for Trump. I found it a painful thing to do for several reasons the most important being I found him to be a bloviating narcissist. Additionally it might surprise you but I am socially liberal; I support gay rights including marriage, I am 51% in favor of abortion (it is abhorrent, but as a nation based on personal freedoms I don't think the government has the right to tell a woman what to do inside her body...we will circle back Jenn to that one shortly), and I think we need some social safety nets to protect those who can't protect themselves. That being said, Biden is an absolute idiot who is clearly in mental decline. He has been wrong on EVERY foreign policy decision over the past 50 years. I would invite you to read Chris Wallace's new book on the Neptune Spear for more on that topic. In totality I believed as a nation we would be in a better situation and I think that has CLEARLY played out over the last year. I think the economy is worse now and under Biden for several reasons. While both parties have issues with deficit spending, by all measures of reason Biden has taken that to a stupid level that will drive us down a dangerous road. There is much to debate about Trump's tax cuts and the impact on the national debt, but a large portion of his deficit spending was COVID expense. Is the market up under Biden? Yes, even with a 9% correction over the past two weeks (we were due), but the underlying dynamics have completely changed. We now have inflation and it is going to get worse. The repeated stimulus packages are fueling what could turn into a terrible storm given the second and third order impacts caused by global supply chain issues. In general the DNC policies (paying people not to work, $20 min wage and general malaise about getting back to work), have caused incredible secondaries throughout the market. There is currently a major shortage of truck drivers, the backbone of our supply system and I would invite you to look at the situation at the port of Los Angeles. There are so many ships lined up waiting to offload they had to tell them to stop coming. As of the report I heard yesterday there are 500,000 shipping containers waiting to be offloaded and entered into the supply chain. Also as of yesterday, there was one...I repeat ONE large crane operational and manned to offload those containers. When people don't want to work unless they are paid $100,00 a year to flip burgers, you will feel it in the system. The current administration is completely removed from reality as demonstrated by an "absurd" comment from the White House Press Secretary who thinks businesses won't pass increased taxes and costs on to consumers"There are some … who argue that, in the past, companies have passed on these costs to consumers," Psaki said. "We feel that that’s unfair and absurd, and the American people would not stand for that." How you can defend or accept comments like this is simply BEYOND me. Yes we left Afghanistan and yes it took balls. Trump started the ball rolling with a conditions based deal. A few points of order. 1. The Taliban were not in compliance with the conditions. 2. No I do not think 2500 troops could have sustained Afghanistan. 3. Biden claims his hands were tied by the deal...he undid almost every other Trump policy but this is the one that got him? Gimme an Fing break. More importantly, regardless of your opinion on the decision to leave, we left Americans behind...I say again...WE LEFT AMERICANS BEHIND. You with a straight face can say this puts us in a better position as a country? Those four words should be my only reply to this post...it should be game, set, match to anyone who has every served. Seriously? A more coherent message? Our policy is a mandate for all military, federal workers and companies that do business with the government but the hundreds of thousands of illegals that pour across our borders each month get a pass? In what universe my friend? For the record, Trump enabled the system to deliver a vaccine in record time and despite assurances from Biden he has NOT handled this better than Trump. As of yesterday more people have died of COVID under Biden than under Trump...WITH A VACCINE AND APPROVED THERAPEUTICS. I have to disagree with this twisted assessment. If you want to close loopholes I am ok with that as long as you account for the unintended consequences. A few items in particular and I would love honest feedback on how this is fair to rich people. The current U.S. economic system is already highly redistributive Taxes – How much more should the rich pay? Seriously, the DNC mantra that seems to hate rich people is “the rich should pay their fair share”…give me a freaking break. What is “fair” given the following facts from the IRS. #1. The top 1% pays 40% of the U.S. tax burden while earning 21% of all income. #2. The top 5% pays 60% of the U.S. tax burden while earning 37% of the income. You used the example of the marginal tax rate of school teachers...we should rich people have to pay a higher tax rate? If a teacher makes $50,000 and pays 10% they are paying $5,000 a year in taxes. If a rich person makes $500,000 a year and pays 10% they are paying $50,000 a year and taxes, but this is not "fair" Lunacy. Regardless, the progressive tax system is EXTREMELY unfair. Under the current tax code that rich person pays 37% or $185,000 a year in taxes...but that is not their fair share...you and Biden want more? Going back to 2012 In 2012, individuals in the bottom quintile (that is, the bottom 20 percent) of incomes (families with less than $17,104 in market income) received $27,171 on average in net benefits through all levels of government, while on average those in the top quintile (families with market incomes above $119,695) pay $87,076 more than they receive. The top 1 percent paid some $812,000 more....but that is not FAIR right? From your comments it seems you agree with the DNC that we should go after unrealized gains, I don't even have the words to describe how unfair and dangerous that is. That is straight up income redistribution right out of the communist manifesto. Again, seriously? We have a vaccine mandate, we want to tell women they don't have the freedom to control what they put in their body, but they do have control of what they take out of their body? Mixed message much? You don't find that to be authoritarian? What about the admin suppressing free speech? The Biden DOJ has again weaponized the FBI and will investigate parents who push back on school boards as DOMESTIC TERRORISTS. That should be staggering to anyone who has sworn an oath to the Constitution? And to make sure I understand the policy, it is okay to protest social injustice by burning down cities, rioting, destroying government buildings and property, and attack the police but if you attend a school board meeting and push back on Critical Race Theory you are a domestic terrorist? I actually laughed when I read your comment. #1. We abandoned Bagram and our ally in the middle of the night with no warning or notice. #2. We left Afghanistan to burn to the ground despite a conditions based agreement that was not satisfied. #3. We denied our ally air support and left them and the ones who supported us to die. #4. We negotiated with a terrorist organization and left them in charge of a country. #5. We LEFT AMERICANS BEHIND. #6. We screwed NATO. #7. We left the Brits so mad they officially condemned our President in Parliament for the first time since the war of 1812. #8. We pissed off the French so bad over a Sub deal that "Biden was unaware of", the French recalled their ambassador for the first time ever. If Trump did one thing right it was stand up to China while we still have tools and levers to pull. Pull back the curtain, China is going to go high order either internally or externally, much sooner than most think and hope. The United States could go to net zero carbon emissions and it would not make a difference, look at the numbers. The issue is China and India. I would rather see the U.S. remain energy independent and pour those taxes into innovation, accelerate a Manhattan like project toward fusion, clean energy and renewables. The only real solution seems to be fusion. Instead we have decided to wreck our energy industry, again become dependent on OPEC and others for our energy and give up the leadership position. I guess we disagree on the lesser of two evils. I see us as far weaker today.

DoD quietly released the Lt Col Scheller is now incarcerated in the Brig for violating a gag order. His hearing is Thursday.

But VNE in the U-28 is ~69 Knots slower than most bug smashers...

Not an easy problem to solve, most of the people intercepted are stooging along VFR when they bust into a TFR because they didn't check the NOTAMs or do any preflight planning.