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This is a massive and important distinction. There *are* racists. Varying degrees of intent and magnitude, but they absolutely exist. The timeline and procedures for eradicating racism (if possible at all) is a long, nuanced conversation. But that doesn't translate into the existence of systemic racism, or a racist America. Or for that matter a racist police force, even though there are definitely racist cops. (Both once were, but no longer are) The statistics don't lie, there is no systemic extermination of black people in America. Even the Washington Post pegs the number of unarmed black men killed in the US in 2019 at nine. Nine out of 30 million is not a result of systemic racism. Why does it matter? Because people react violently and unpredictably to narative lies. We have an insane president because the Democrat party told a story about illegal immigration that just didn't jive with the American people. Despite what the Twitterati and talking heads say, the average American cocks their head to the side when they are told that America in 2020 writ large is a racist nation. Many times this fallacy is exaggerated to the point to say that it's *just as racist* as it was 200 years ago. Really? Why is this narative being pushed? Counter intuitively I think it's because the warriors of the bad old days, the survivors of a time when America *was* systemically racist, see the end of their crusade to change the system, and while they were successful (thank god), there hasn't been any sort of obvious retribution for the perpetrators of hate. This is why reparations are being brought up again. If we can't punish the people who bear the blame, we can at least extract a measure of compensation from the group as a whole. Or riot. Break their stuff. But thats just the way of things. The timeframe for wide scale societal change is measured in generations, not days or months or years. And the previous generation doesn't change so much as get overruled by their progeny. And they don't pay for their sins, they just die eventually, leaving their kids to sort it out. Dr. King understood this: Americans do not believe in the sins of the father. It's the generational version of "one guy shits his pants and we all wear diapers." It's a bad strategy in the military, and it's a bad strategy in social change.

Great post. Don’t go into hiding, this is an insightful discussion. Not to mention, we can all rally around telling the shirt to fuck off with petty reg enforcement.

I’ve got both side by side in my closet and the only difference to me seems to be the hue. Same material/makeup. However there was an AF wide materials test for new bags about a year ago. Unknown outcome.

Hey mods - how about we get this thread back on track and move the George Floyd debate to its own thread. This used to be my fav but has become a buzz kill. Here's a little turn toward the normal for the WTF discussion...

This! I don't have cable, and have essentially blocked everyone on SM and the only thing on my feeds is stuff I'm interested in (mostly Aviation groups). Last Saturday someone posted on our Squadron group chat to avoid X part of town due to protests. I had zero idea what people were protesting about and had to look it up, which is when I heard about this incident. Today was spent tinkering on an N3N and a Stearman, then helped a guy who is building a Starduster, flew with a kid I'm teaching instruments, did a few pre-sunset grass landings in the Cub, then beers at my buddies hangar as we watched an amazing sunset. The world need less 24 hours news (err entertainment) channels and more sunset hangar beers!

I received an email a few days ago asking for clarification about something in my package, nothing since then.

Well then by all means, what has he said that's so cringy? Include context. Comparing him to AOC is the second silly thing you've said.

So the only thing you've ever watched of his comes from videos made by people who hate him? That's like asking for a fair account of Barak Obama's presidency from Sean Hannity. JLP is one of the most inoffensive intellectuals in modern history. The hate for him is indicative of the mental flimsiness of progressive philosophy. If you're message is garbage, go after the person instead of the point.

C-5's out of Dover! https://www.guardreservejobs.com/newjobboard/jobs/upt-candidate-c-5m-super-galaxy-2/

If Pearl Harbor happened today...

So... Can I get them issued? Every uniform is more comfortable when it's free.

Unfortunately, I do not have a direct contact at either unit to give you. The hyperlinks will take you to information on modernization and recapitalization of the ANG C-130 fleet. The 133rd is not a finalist for the C-130J. I have no information on AFR priorities or plans for their C-130H fleet. https://www.ngaus.org/sites/default/files/2020-04/FY21-C-130-Fact-Sheet-Final_1.pdf https://www.ngaus.org/about-ngaus/newsroom/eight-guard-bases-still-running-c-130j-aircraft

You bring up some poignant points. Don’t go back into hiding..let’s talk about this like adults. If the racism you talk about exists, I’ll bet you a bottle of jack that 99% of us will fight tooth and nail to eradicate it because that’s what we do in the military, we take care of our own. I do not think “systematic racism” exists in the sense that there is no law that prevents a POC from attaining any rank or position because of their skin color. Does racism still exist? Of course it does. How we confront it is how we differ. Again don’t go back into hiding, let us participate in mature discourse. We may not agree on certain things but I’m sure we will all learn from each other.

Let’s fight it together. Show us where it exists. Tell us. Not saying there isn’t racism out there. Don’t go into hiding. Glad you see it as human rights. That’s what Id like to think that all of those posting on the topic to include myself are after too. A fair and equal opportunity for all. I wish there weren’t labels and we were just all Americans and specifically us just volunteer Americans on one team for the better of our country. Thanks for your words. No need to go into hiding. Good conversation.

I don't post here a lot, so I'll say this and go back into hiding. We literally fought a war about states rights...to own slaves. Right side won. Slaves are freed. Lincoln had a lot to do with that...he was assassinated. Now black folks have to pull themselves up by their boot straps. No education, no skills, don't own any of our inventions, nothing. Cool. We pulled ourselves up, and started to thrive. We had our own schools, churches, hospitals, banks, etc. Those that hate us, couldn't handle it. So comes the Tulsa massacre in 1921. Burned down schools, churches, hospitals, banks, killed the men, and raped the women in front of the children. This happened in other parts of the country as well. But pull yourself up by your bootstraps. We did it again. Those that hate us didn't like it. Lynchings and burnings came along, also Jim Crow. While blacks were in WWI and WWII when they returned home, they were not given those same freedoms they went to a foreign land to fight for. Returned home to racism and segregation. Most weren't recognized until they died. JFK comes along and tries to help, does some good work...assassinated. Desegregation comes along. But then the country is redlined so we can only live in certain pockets of the country. Well now we can vote and make things better in our community, but the voting lines are redrawn to lesson the black vote. Now the funding for schools, banks, etc go to the "other neighborhoods" Well this isn't right. Lets peacefully protest. Those that hate us didn't like that. My parents and grandparents were in the street when Bull Connor unleashed the dogs and fire hoses on peaceful protesters in Birmingham. We had a voice, MLK...assassinated. Malcolm X comes along and tries it a different way...assassinated. Then comes the crack epidemic, and guns flooding black neighborhoods. We didn't own anything. We didn't own planes or boats to get any of this stuff in, or even leave the neighborhood to go buy such things. But it showed up. How did it get there? Now we have rich drug dealers and poor addicts. Violence ensues over these things. War on drugs happens. Dads/Uncles (dealers) are sent to prison. Addicts are still in the street. Who takes care of the children? No one, they raise themselves...in that environment. That's all they know. No one was coming into these communities to shed light on other options in life or a way to make it out. You gonna go to school, or sell a dime bag so you can eat tonight? We are still recovering from that. Moving into the 21st century, it's no longer cool to be racist out in the open. Those people didn't change their views they just went into hiding. I say this not to blame folks, but to shed light on a few of the things the black community has faced. Yet, we still overcome and thrive. BUT if you think racism no longer exist, you're sadly mistaken. If you think racist haven't infiltrated our Sqs, Grps, Wgs, etc you're sadly mistaken. They are still out there, my black bro's and I see it often. We're not playing victim, and we aren't weak, but they still try us. Example, at my last Sq there was almost 20 flights and shops. 3 black flight ccs and a black shop chief. Some one had gotten enough complaints from others and had enough balls to complain to the CC that there were "too many" of us in leadership. Thats just one example. If you want more examples of racism me and the bros have seen on AD, we can take it to the PMs. I'm not saying you guys are wrong, I value your input and opinion. My issue is when we bring this stuff up, it gets dismissed and or downplayed. Having someone tell me my experiences didn't happen or "thats not what they meant" is ridiculous. If you can't see that black people have been oppressed and that those that oppressed us are still alive and or have passed those teachings down to their children, there's not a lot I can say. We just want a fair shake. I/We shouldn't be treated differently because of our skin color, that's it. I see a lot of you thinking of this as political, I don't see it that way. It's human rights. Conservatives/Leftist/libtards or whatever doesn't matter right now. I went a bit long. I'll go back into hiding now. If I ever see you dudes in the real world, first one is on me.

You missed the point. Why couldn’t the statement say “I’m afraid an airman will be shot by a police officer”. Why did he have to throw white vs black into the argument ? Why doesn’t he want to say the cops are 18 times more likely to be killed ? Why aren’t the real issues addressed ? Agreed with previous poster that race is easier to say versus talking about the real issues on what caused a divide. Lastly no one is sticking up for Chauvin. I think we all agree he deserves to face a trial. I think the disagreement is that Floyd was some great law abiding citizen making the world a better place Because he definitely wasn’t. Did he deserve what happened ? Absolutely not.

Your separation orders should specify. Mine showed my ANG unit as the gaining unit and I was given 7 days to get there. Technically I guess that means I could have sworn in 7 days after separation, but I moved while on terminal so I swore in immediately after. I would ask the question to a personnellist just to avoid a break in service. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Pft. Amateurs. Everybody knows you surrogate your wife's FB as a sockpuppet account.

Any time brotha! Glad to help! On a side note I know many of you have contacted me about helo slots. Bare with me as I get back to you. TDY at the moment. But I promise I’ll reply back!

They get around this by claiming that their political opinions aren't political opinions, they're "values" that "we" all share. Which is to say, you'd better share them or else.

Welp, guess I'll keep my 11 month streak of not checking my guard e-mail going.

I'm not a big fan of the index here. It's still quite expensive, in fact if you look at revised estimates for 2020 earnings you are paying the same P/E today as you were at the market peak in early February. Hardly a steal. We're also still at almost 2x Sales when historic average is 1.5x and that's on trailing revenues. There are some interesting cheap stocks out there although I would avoid airlines and casinos given poor balance sheets and incredibly high operating leverage. The government bailout of the airlines includes warrants which are massively dilutive to the equity in order to save the businesses from bankruptcy. That's not a good thing for those buying today. Aircraft lessors look like a much better bet at 0.3x book value. There are a bunch of junior gold miners who are still discounting ~$1,300 gold when spot is now $1,690 (I did a basket approach here because the risk of any individual miner can still be high). Crude tankers are getting a huge lift from the oil contango that still isn't fully priced in. Some smaller regional banks are now down to 0.5x book, even after they take some loan losses here they're probably ~0.7x book. Gun and ammo companies are getting hit despite the highest ever YoY NICS reading in March and Sportsman's Warehouse saying they are restricting the amount of ammo you can buy each day so they have enough to go around.