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Guess which language the words Intelligence, Surveillance, Reconnaissance, and Espionage come from?

My sister is an RN at Fort Sam. She got the first shot earlier this week. Zero side effects.

Got mine a week ago in NY. ARNG and ANG had secured a whole bunch of doses for local units. Huge turnout, was organized into a multi day affair...pretty much they said whoever wants the vaccine just let us know. Day after shot sore arm and a little "icky" feeling kind of like when I get the flu shot but more mild. Next day onward, no side effects. Still waiting on my 5G signal. Separately I have to say I'm impressed with the CDC webapp they gave us. It automatically prompts you to check in with any side effects - I feel like we should have this level of automation for a lot of medication (seems like a great way to get data in the digital age).

Fuck PCness! I want to thank everyone for another wonderful year of BaseOps, and hope y'all have a wonderful Christmas or whatever you celebrate this year! Hopefully 2021 will be a better year than the dumpster fire that was 2020! Be safe out there!

Bob did Christmas right Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

You can be a global superpower without an enormous conventional military though. I would argue that China is already there. There are 4 instruments of power and China is already globally leveraging 3 with extraordinary success. Further that with their non-conventional military capes (read Cyber and InfoOps) and they are slowly reprogramming the world to adhere to their narrative. Something interesting happened post Cold War. The worlds 2 largest super powers began using assassination (and still do) to accomplish political objectives. Why is this noteworthy? The taboo against assassination began in after the 16th century Peace at Westphalia. Sovereignty had been established as a political concept and big states realized they could easily exert power over small states with enormous standing armies. The problem with this model though, was a King Slayer could take your billion dollar army and make it worthless by removing the reigns of power overtop it. Because of this, the European Great Powers (as in UN 0.1 alpha) began advocating that assassination was morally evil, that heads of state were inherently civilian, that they only acted in the states interest, and therefore should be protected from the belligerence of war. The point to all of that is, all of that was upended in the Cold War. Nuclear war, by nature, is not conventional. Special Operations Forces, became a thing. Cyber is now a thing. Information Warfare is now a thing. The power paradigm that existed between 1575 to 1945 is shifting. The large, professional, standing army, is losing its appeal as the means of projection. I think China has this figured out. I think Russia is figuring it out now. I think we are REALLY slow to the plate with this. Largely because we have the largest, most impressive standing army in history. We've invested too much in this strategy to began thinking differently now.

The government didn’t pay for the auto sync on the chip, expect that with the Amazon and Google models.

Well for starters a lot of common ANA are in it for the money and will run at the first inkling of a fight. Clearly this guy is not like that. Of course, there are ANA dudes who are just as deserving as this guy to be pulled out of that shithole. I hope it works out for him and others like him.

All of that varies greatly by state. Typically it is harder to finance land than a house; you’ll either have a high rate, will have to put down a significant amount, or likely both. The best way (in my opinion) is find land you want, then buy it/start build immediately with a construction loan - construction finished = wrap it all up into a traditional loan. As always, paying cash is the easiest way. If you go just land (with intent to build in the future), then definitely get a geological survey done and make sure you can build a septic (does soil support a septic, and which kind...leech field or mound system)? What about a well (what is the water table depth? More depth = more $...estimated flow rate?), can you run power to the site, is a road/driveway already in or will you have to factor that excavation into the budget, etc. With all these things, check local ordinances, zoning, etc. to ensure what you want (or can live with) is within the local laws. Worst thing is you get emotionally attached to beautiful land, only to realize after signing the papers you can’t put a septic on it, or the driveway is going to cost $100k because of significant blasting required. Doing your homework will save a lot of headaches, and said homework will take your time and some money (surveyor, geologist, etc.)

When I was in Plattsburgh he always took his Christmas ride on the B-47 at the front gate.

The experience of these old timers is moot. This is about these "it's a big effing club...and you ain't in it", "foundations" sub-culture getting that limited/experimental passenger for hire exemption to their airplane type certificate pulled. Which, just like it did for IFT in the USAF when they went to IFS, dries up the gig for these cabals overnight. That's what this is really about. Everybody fly safe out there. Happy new year!

I mean in a lot of ways the French 🥖invented modern spycraft, so that doesn't surprise me. We are actually relatively new at it and had no spy services prior to WW2. While technologically we've come very far, I don't think we are as adept at the nuances of it compared to older states.

I live in the Seattle area and am only being partially tongue in cheek when I say that tent camping seems to be more popular in Pioneer Square than the Cascades these days and vice-versa for coffee drinking. 😝 In all honesty though Seattle still has a lot going for it as do any number of surrounding communities. Come on up. The water’s warm (a balmy 50F in July)!

Would love to see what the recent drops have been. There’s got to be some UCSO/ICSO people on here. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I grew up in a blend between rural and suburbs. I won't go back. While self sufficiency is great and I certainly appreciate the skills I got having to be self dependent, the fact is rural life is extraordinarily isolating; and human beings are meant to be social creatures. People just aren't motivated to drive 30 minutes out to your house to hang out with you. Making a 30 minute drive to town to hang out with other people is a struggle and eliminates certain activities (read alcohol) from enjoyment. No neighbors, no community, nothing to do. Its honestly boring to me. I guess the point is, its really just what you prefer. I love being able to walk out my front door and simply walk to restaurants, bars, nightclubs, etc... and never have to worry about getting into car. I love having a 10 minute commute (if that). I love how my neighbors just mingle on the rooftop balconies and chat for hours while sipping a beer. I love that when I call off work sick and can't leave the house neighbors bring me by soup, or magazines. When you have some self sufficiency sills, this helps even more as neighbors learn they can ask you for advice if they want to patch a wall, or retile a floor. I think everyone has the cabin in the woods dream, with the cozy fire, and not a neighbor in sight for miles. For me though, that's an awesome vacation. Wouldn't want to live that lifestyle.

No one ever said what he revealed wasn't important. The problem was that he didn't do it through existing whistleblower channels endangering completely unrelated US assets in the process.

As 17D mentioned, the Expanse series is great “hard” sci-fi. Books are excellent, and while the series takes some liberties, I think they did a good job overall. Definitely better since Netflix took over. Also been enjoying Mandalorian with the kiddos.

How is he any better than the common ANA that patrols the taliban infested roads in the stan? Sent from my iPhone using Baseops Network mobile app