HeloDude

Sure. But that’s not how our political elite run things. They love a good war/military involvement, whether it’s small (Iraq 2.5/ISIS or Libya) or not so small (Iraq/Afghanistan invasion and occupation). It’s beyond time to pull out of NATO…which doesn’t mean that you still can’t have positive relationships with other countries when it suits our interests and provide aid when we want to. But let’s be honest, NATO gets is power/authority from the US…not because Iceland or Slovenia is a member. And yet we’re obligated to defend these countries if attacked, who clearly aren’t concerned with protecting themselves. About 10+ years ago I had dinner with a buddy whose wife’s sister was married to an attorney from Iceland. We were chatting about militaries and he said that Iceland didn’t need much of a military because NATO would always defend them. Look at how much Iceland spends wrt their military obligation to NATO, and then tell me who is the fool? NATO might have made sense when there was the Warsaw Pact…but now, not so much.

The political left needing entertainers/the Hollywood elite to tell the common folk how great left wing politicians are…strange, I’ve never seen that done before.

An all out war with Russia for invading Ukraine?! That’s a good one!

Define “strong military support”? One of the reasons Putin is emboldened is because when he last invaded Ukraine, very little was done in response. If European countries want to fight Russia militarily, then they should go for it…I seriously doubt they will, and Putin knows this. As for the US, I definitely don’t support military action against Russia…we need to give the war thing a rest for a while unless we’re actually attacked. Sanctions? Sure, I guess? But Germany wants their fossil fuels from Russia, so how strong will the sanctions be? So no, I don’t think Russia invading is a good thing, but let Europe do something about it. But as a direct question back to you: Do you actually think European nations will go to war with Russia if the US is not involved? Do you think you can militarily drive Russia out of Ukraine without attacking Russia itself? Putin has the upper hand in this whole thing…and after our horrible pull out from Afghanistan and Biden’s terrible press conference on Wednesday, Putin is even more emboldened. I am hopeful that this somehow gets resolved with Putin invading, but unlike Obama, I’m don’t think hope is a useful strategy.

Finally some good news! Looks like there’s very little support for large military action against Russia if/when they invade Ukraine (again). https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/fewer-than-1-in-6-americans-want-us-soldiers-in-any-ukraine-russia-war-poll/ar-AAT0EBu As I’ve said in the past, Putin is not going to be dissuaded if he plans to invade—it’s his for the taking if he wants to expend the resources to do so since I would see very little (if any) military response from NATO/European nations. In other news, we recently bought my son the book “If You Give a Mouse a Cookie” (he loves it by the way).

Fair enough…so you pick and choose what’s acceptable when it comes to others and their personal risk decisions when those decisions could result in people requiring hospitalization or death, when those decisions effect other people directly or indirectly, drive up medical costs, etc. Just think…if no one did drugs or had unprotected sex (if not attempting to procreate), we could probably come close to eradicating all STDs, especially HIV, not to mention all the welfare costs associated with those unwanted children, or the medical costs associated with abortions. I also wonder how much medical resources could be redirected after HIV is no longer a problem. Condoms…people who don’t wear one (or have consensual sex with a partner not wearing one) are so selfish.

I’m pretty sure that the more injured a motorcyclist becomes after an accident the more likely they are to require more hospital care if the initial impact is not fatal. This means that the person requiring hospital care (that might be in short supply) is putting an undue strain on our medical system…unless this argument only goes towards the unvaccinated? If you’re going to use the argument that my actions wrt not wearing a mask/not getting a shot can affect the well being of others (ie taking up a hospital bed after getting covid) then the same argument can be used for not taking proper care when riding a motorcycle…or hell, even riding one at all considering how less safe they are compared to automobiles. I appreciate that you’re not for mandates, but to your point, everything we do in life comes down to risk vs rewards, and you can make the argument that many of our decisions can have a negative impact on someone else. So where’s the line? Just think, if all those who want others to get a shot/wear a mask (and insult those who don’t)…if those same original people felt that strongly about people having unprotected sex. The odds of you contracting a disease or having an unwanted pregnancy would be near zero. I mean, is it too much to ask others to utilize a condom during intercourse? Good talk.

I wonder why the government doesn’t require motorcycle riders to wear a helmet and propped PPE? Or perhaps, why not ban them all together?

“Always”? Really? I’m raising the BS flag here—the medical community that the far left loves to quote has pretty much been all about vaccines and masks and typically says little about natural immunity, especially if someone who has had covid doesn’t want to get the shot and/or wear a mask. The DoD doesn’t care if you’ve had a documented case of covid, you’re still getting the shot whether you like it or not. That being said, I don’t feel bad for those facing discharges for refusing to get the shot (after all, it is the military and we do what we’re told)…but let’s not pretend then that those members who have had covid are somehow less protected than those who have gotten a shot 9 months ago. Edited to add: Yes, you said that the narrative has been horseshit…but yet how many pro-vaccine and mask people have been saying that if you don’t want the vaccine and/or wear a mask that you’re “selfish and anti-science”? If Fauci and the other “medical experts” want to start over by admitting to the American people how they’ve been wrong several times, why they were wrong, and publicly say how others have been right (see above), then perhaps they could regain some credibility. But they won’t.

I’ve been a big fan of the Gemstones since it was first released, but the first 2 episodes of season 2 were just ok. Fortunately episode 3 was more in line with the type of humor in season 1.

So this “voting rights” bill…who exactly (that is legally able to do so) can’t vote in elections? And what is keeping them from being able to vote?

“…top scientists and doctors…” Just like those who in June 2020 told people to stay home when able, avoid large gatherings, etc to stop the spread of covid…unless it’s for a BLM protest, then it’s ok. Please excuse my skepticism that obviously clearly isn’t warranted. I’m sure there will be crickets from those on the left. "Staying at home, social distancing, and public masking are effective at minimizing the spread of COVID-19. To the extent possible, we support the application of these public health best practices during demonstrations that call attention to the pervasive lethal force of white supremacy," the letter says. "However, as public health advocates, we do not condemn these gatherings as risky for COVID-19 transmission. We support them as vital to the national public health and to the threatened health specifically of Black people in the United States. We can show that support by facilitating safest protesting practices without detracting from demonstrators' ability to gather and demand change. This should not be confused with a permissive stance on all gatherings, particularly protests against stay-home orders." Yep…no agenda outside of medicine and science. Over 1,000 health professionals sign a letter saying, Don't shut down protests using coronavirus concerns as an excuse https://www.cnn.com/2020/06/05/health/health-care-open-letter-protests-coronavirus-trnd/index.html

But we’ve gotten so much out of it! And it’s clearly only brought us all closer together…

I think you mean he was straight up wrong…or he knew better and was lying. Either way, people still believe this nonsense that we can “beat” the virus, and whenever that doesn’t happen, it’s the fault of other people (often blamed on conservatives/Trump supporters) who are stupid, selfish, etc and who aren’t doing their part. Well, politics is a dirty game, and Biden is taking a big political hit with covid, which is funny I suppose since he used the issue to get elected.

Biden?

“Two-doses of Pfizer’s or Moderna’s vaccines are only about 10% effective at preventing infection from omicron 20 weeks after the second dose, according to the U.K. data.” So when does the DoD mandate that members get the booster? And then the 4th booster? I mean, if they’re all about protecting the force, then not mandating it now means they want us less protected than we could be?

Remember when he said “it is under investigation” when commenting after the news article broke? Neither do I…

No worries man. Also, I personally know someone who has worked directly with these squadrons and according to his sources, there’s validity to the claims in the anonymous email.

So did AF Times lie when they just said they have received documents proving that this member did in fact quit part of the training and yet was allowed to return?

“Editor’s note: After this article’s publication, a source provided records documenting how the female special tactics officer candidate quit during solo land navigation training, but still was offered the opportunity to return.” https://www.airforcetimes.com/news/your-air-force/2022/01/07/air-force-accused-of-pushing-woman-through-elite-commando-training-after-she-quit-spurring-investigation/

I hear you brother… I was afraid that if I laughed at your original post that the Air Force would track me down and give me an Art 15.

You tell me? What if someone had written hidden racist messages as a joke? As I said before, it’s not if something bothers me or not, or if it bothers you or not. If it bothers someone, just one person, and it’s clear that it was done to poke fun and/or offend someone in a sexual nature, etc then it’s fair game for a commander to deal with. And that’s the Air Force we’re in right now, for better or for worse…and I think they’ve made it pretty clear over the last 10+ years that they can go after individuals for it. Is it different than when I started UPT over 19 years ago?—hell yeah it’s different, and they didn’t bother to ask me whether or not I like the changes. Now how should a commander deal with/discipline those who intentionally violate the policy? That’s up to them…probably depends on the specific issue at hand, the climate/culture of the squadron, etc. But you know how you don’t get in trouble for drawing hidden dicks on the briefing board?…you don’t do it.

Looks like you spoke too soon… https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.usnews.com/news/us/articles/2022-01-04/chicago-plan-to-cancel-class-if-union-votes-for-remote%3fcontext=amp

Would you say the same for blatantly racist jokes that offended someone? I’m not saying I agree or disagree with you…just playing devils advocate. Where’s the line? Whether I like it or not, the Air Force over the last 10+ years has definitely laid out that it has a zero tolerance for this behavior. So why should we surprised when action is taken against such individuals who violate the policy? Negatory believes that if you’re in the military, then you have to follow the rules or be disciplined (ie covid vaccine)—so why does he think differently on this policy in a military building (the squadron bar)?

Just curious…what do you think should have happened to these individuals for making the sexual jokes that someone found offensive?