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Clark Griswold

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Everything posted by Clark Griswold

  1. Clark Griswold
    Yep, saw that and was that at one time (except as an Lt), had car loans, boat loans, all the things I despise now... about 10 years ago I read one of Dave's books and was hooked... what really got me thinking about my own finances was when i was asked by a SrA to sign a car note letter for him his bank and it was for a new Corvette, it was so ridiculous that I started realizing that I was doing the same thing he wanted to do (I wouldn't sign it for him) and that was when I started to plug the holes in the boat and bail the water out...
  2. Clark Griswold
    Cool, sorry to be preachy about it and I try to keep it in perspective, there are plenty of people who have their shit together but it pisses me off that there is no sense of shame with some people that have an education and should have a shred of decency not to encourage financial stupidity out the sea of mouth breathers, they just take advantage of all the future guests on the Maury Povich Show by getting them to take out pay day loans, roll from one car loan to the next and keep pumping out that bullshit that lotteries are good because they fund eduction.. ok, rant complete...
  3. Clark Griswold
    Yep, built in margin for error and Murphy's Law... Not a fanatic but a fan of Dave so I'll just have to disagree with you... listen to his show and you'll see how uncommon common financial sense is... We used to encourage savings and taught basic personal finance in this country but somewhere about the time we decided that "greed was good" we said f it as a culture and just went pedal to the metal with credit cards, car loans, lotteries and all the other shit we use to keep at the margins and to a minimum... so, someone has to say the obvious now and teach basic financial skills In reference to Dave Ramsey and Primerica, he worked for them for 3 months when he was 22 years old and before he began doing and teaching his current financial strategy, he does not recommend them now for financial or insurance products That's a whole lot of pro-Dave Ramsey pixels but I can see how he may not appeal to everyone, but his method is simple, clear, low risk, appropriate for the average person in that it encourages no leverage or speculation that would require a good deal of financial speculation and sophistication and keeps nutbergers from thinking they are smarter than the casino... Not that I have a strong opinion or anything...
  4. Clark Griswold
    Your prerogative and no judgement from me but others depend on me for food, shelter and cable tv... all the essentials of life, so you balance things out to live for today, plan for tomorrow and not leave chaos in your wake if you ride one in... The Baby Steps (Dave's plan) doesn't mean you'll always be on a financial diet but only for a period of time till your debts are gone, you've got two nickels to rub together and have figured out how to control your money... after that, within reason, live your life well...
  5. Clark Griswold
    I'm in Home equity: 100K Cash on hand: 100K ( job instability right now so keeping a large emergency fund ) General investments: 10K Retirement investments: 200K 529s: 12K Property: 250K I put investing (retirement, college, etc..) at idle to help some family members get out of the hole but looking to start investing more heavily this year. Dave Ramsey is my co-pilot: Live on less than you make, don't buy stuff on credit (home is the 1 exception), save/invest a bit, give a bit to charity... rinse, lather, repeat...
  6. Clark Griswold
    The political officer approves the new policy of "commitment" to EOT... The jobs program aspect of the AF is growing like cancer and getting to the point of overwhelming the actual military aspect of the organization.
  7. Clark Griswold
    The MC-27J at the Paris Air Show
  8. Clark Griswold
    No way, it's all good...
  9. Clark Griswold
    Thread Revival http://www.janes.com/article/29948/cad-images-suggest-strike-version-of-shenyang-j-31 Strike version of the J-31.
  10. Clark Griswold
    Drunk POS vs wife, the results are awesome...
  11. Clark Griswold
    Yep, the odds are somewhere between not in a million years and not ever ever going to happen.. but interesting none the less... My two $0.02, the LAAR would be a good mission for the Guard/Reserve. Keep the planes and aircrew qual'd and current, break the glass and spin up when needed.
  12. Clark Griswold
    Yep, it does not have the longest legs but that could be fixed, Conformal Fuel Tank. More money, but fixable. The Scorpion lists 150 NM to station - 5 hours on station - 150 NM home with a reserve so it may be the answer. LAAR Requirements: Rough field operations. Defensive package. Armored cockpit and engine. Long loiter time. The aircraft must be able to fly 5 hour sorties (with 30 minute fuel reserves). Range. The aircraft must have a 900 nautical mile (1600 km) ferry range. Data link capability. Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR) capabilities. Weaponry. Looking at all of them and considering the financially austere future, I think it makes more sense to look at light jets for LAAR. The turboprops are good in uncontested airspace but once there is a significant threat they may need to be pulled back from the FEBA / AOR. If we decide to purchase more than a few for Partner Capacity Building training mission, we'll need an asset that can take part (realistically) in a conventional campaign also. Light combat jets like the L-159, Scorpion, M-346, etc.. seem to be a better overall investment than the pure COIN aircraft like a A-29 or AT-6. Be good at several missions rather perfect in only one.
  13. Clark Griswold
    L-159 Advanced Light Combat Aircraft CAS, COIN, Light Strike and more survivable than the turboprops.
  14. Clark Griswold
    More escalation... http://www.cnn.com/2013/12/13/politics/us-china-confrontation/index.html?hpt=hp_t2 http://freebeacon.com/chinese-naval-vessel-tries-to-force-u-s-warship-to-stop-in-international-waters/
  15. Clark Griswold
    Yes it is suspect or bat shit crazy, take your pick, but the article only references an article in the China Times reporting on comments from the former Chinese UN ambassador, a lot of bluster and hyperbole but is indicative of how seriously the regime sees this, if it goes to a point that they can't back down because of losing face we better maneuver to either bloody their noses or let them have a show of force without changing anything in reality. This official, Zukang, is known for speaking his mind and not being very diplomatic (irony), proceed with caution. More suspect fodder... http://theaviationist.com/2013/08/12/future-japan-air-war/
  16. Clark Griswold
    http://www.infowars.com/china-japan-conflict-could-lead-to-world-war-iii-warns-former-un-ambassador/ Not the most authoritative source but the drumbeat gets louder and louder...
  17. Clark Griswold
    Excellent
  18. Clark Griswold
    Interesting scenario but like Majestik Møøse I thought the little advanced capability given to the AN/APG-77 radar was unsat, it's designed for LPI operation so for at least the beginning of the BVR fight the 22's will have the advantage, not saying the Chinese couldn't detect them, specifically with their OEPS-27 EO system but it's better than the sim gives it credit for... More quibbling: All 6 AMRAAMs miss? Really? Still interesting
  19. Clark Griswold
    Good read and read the Col Gerber's FP article that drove the critique... not sure if the Army is just going to continue to criticize Air-Sea Battle or co-opting is the new line http://breakingdefense.com/2013/10/army-shows-cheek-elbows-its-way-into-airsea-battle-hearing/
  20. Clark Griswold
    Probably about 12k per hour when heavy... reference seems reasonable as the -46 is roughly equivalent to the 767-300ER in max takeoff weight but a bit smaller Some more numbers from another forum, seems pretty close to the -135
  21. Clark Griswold
    Posted in another thread but relevant here also, Chinese Sharp Sword UAV makes first flight Drumbeat keeps going... From a good article referenced here on how and why China launches wars occasionally "Chinese Premier Zhou Enlai explained that the 1962 war was meant to “teach India a lesson.” Paramount leader Deng Xiaoping used the same formulation in 1979 when he became the first Chinese Communist leader to visit Washington and told America’s then-president Jimmy Carter that “Vietnam must be taught a lesson, like India.” I guess Japan is going to be "taught a lesson"
  22. Clark Griswold
    First flight today of the Sharp Sward UAV... Drumbeat continues... which country will they use as a punching bag for a show of force demonstration?
  23. Clark Griswold
    Makes sense on why the plug got pulled. Not to detour too far off from the F-35 topic of the thead but googling more on the Comanche after your comment, I found this Time article here. And these two paragraphs seem particularly relevant to the F-35 saga: They continually piled on requirements by the bucketload and relied on technologies which did not actually exist – so many gadgets that the engines couldn’t get the thing off the ground and so many design changes that the ink never really dried on the blueprints. And then they tried to fix these problems by adding more time and money (see above). Perhaps the lesson is that military tech programs should exercise design restraint, establish strict budget and schedule constraints, and rely on proven technologies to deliver necessary capabilities on operationally relevant timelines. This formula is much lauded among defense acquisition experts and leaders, but was clearly not implemented by the Comanche team. They spent 22 years doing the opposite. As before, the dye is cast for better or worse.
  24. Clark Griswold
    Interesting discussion. Not to just focus on systems, but why not an updated and more robust version of the RAH-66 Comanche? 5th Gen fixed-wing VSTOL may be a bridge too far but a very capable low signature attack helicopter that is survivable in a contested environment (medium threat) could be a financially viable option. FAS reference on the Comanche so take it with a grain of salt but looks / looked pretty capable. 9 years on, with enough effort in development, probably could be better or lead to a better design.
  25. Clark Griswold
    Copy all. Just considering the idea, it would seem that a jet like the proposed Sea Gripen would work well for what the Marines have traditionally looked for. Granted Sea Gripen is just a proposal right now with little or no work done towards it but seems like a good fit for USMC fixed wing tactical needs. But getting the new boats to fly them off is some between unlikely in the extreme to never ever going happen and converting an LHA / LHD to STOBAR flight ops would be pricey to put it mildly.
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