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I guess since I let the cat slip out of the bag in the VA Loans post, y’all are due for an update. For those who care read on... For those of you who don’t know my story, the short version is came back from a deployment to find out my wife of over 10 years and high school sweetheart had been cheating on me. Once she got caught in the 2nd affair (I know now that there were more than just the two I caught her in) she filed for divorce but let me take the kids and move out of state. I swore then that I would never get married ever again. I did the single parent thing for a while and then randomly her and the boyfriend decide they are going to move to the city I and the kids are living. Then they start coming to my church, then the ex tries to sign up for the same bible study I had been going to. (Crazy, I know). I start dating a girl and the ex starts texting me news articles about her, that she had found online (nothing serious, just some school awards and pictures of her with her old boyfriend). I ended up breaking up with that girl and doing the tinder and bumble thing (for the eagle drivers out there, it’s like grinder but for guys looking for girls). I was on a trip at my airline and the captain saw me doing the whole swipe right thing and he challenged me to hang up the internet dating thing. His wife had left him and his son years ago. He had been in the same situation I was when a widow and her two daughters moved into the house next door. They ended up falling in love and getting married. He told me to trust that God had a plan for my life and he would bring someone into my life when the time was right. I ended up logging off tinder after being tired of dates with crazy nurses and girls looking to tie down any man who would take them. It was just around this time when I decided to sign up for a bible study at my church (the same bible study my ex tried to sign up for before the leader told her that it wasn’t a good idea for us both to be in the same class). On the first day of the Bible study I met the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen. Total smoke show. She had a very similar story to mine (married to a narcissist, serial cheater/liar, etc). I asked her out for coffee and we started casually dating after realizing we had so much in common. The best part was that both of us swore that we were never getting married to anyone ever, so there was no pressure at all. After a couple months, COVID hit and both our jobs became telecommuting and all of a sudden we were spending almost every minute of every day together. I prayed about where our relationship was going and it became very obvious that I didn’t want to live without her. Maybe it wasn’t fair to judge every female just because I made a mistake 15 years ago and married a crazy narcissist with serious mental illnesses. So I asked her to marry me and she said yes. I’ve never been happier. My parents love her, my kids love her and call her mom. She is just all around amazing. So I haven’t been around here lately because I’ve been pretty busy merging our lives together. Thank you all who supported me and encouraged me through a rather dark time in my life. I am always an open book so if anyone has any questions, feel free to send them here or PM me and I’ll be glad to answer them. Sent from my iPhone using Baseops Network mobile app

I feel like this nurse story needs an alternate ending like... “So I walk out of the bathroom and say, “Best Sex eh? Prove it, because you don’t look like you’re good at it”. And that’s the story of how I died having sex in my own house.” Or something like that. Congrats Duck! I’ve walked a similar path and can appreciate where you are at now. 🍻

Ruger PC Charger with a Glock mag well to accept Glock large cap (32 round), magazines. I added the SB Tactical brace and a red dot. Fits nicely in my go bag and easy to hang on the back of the seat in the truck.

I feel really bad for those 300 Americans. Their arms are going to be really fucking soar after 2 million shots!

No, because I’m not a cuck.

Yep...and all of the failing banks and investment houses that were bailed out with taxpayer money in 2008 were also not based on anything fundamental. Still gets back to manipulation being okay for a certain group of people, but not okay for others.

I like the part where she called for government funding to reprogram people. Nothing like a good old Pol Pot style communist reeducation camp.

Well actually..... What he said was more along the lines of “the AF probably isn’t going to satisfy you if you’re looking to maximize income. Make the best decision for you and your family. Whatever you decide, thank you for your service.”

"You're probably not going to like the new bonus, so do it for god and country...because gosh darn it, we care for you..."

"That's the way we've always done it" were some of the only words that ever made me get angry with any of my peeps. People constantly bemoan change until gradually that change becomes the norm, and hence, the "way we've always done it". I used to ask anyone who told me that if there was nothing we could do better, why do things still suck in their ops/training/etc?

100% agree. It’s why I laugh when people say we have a capitalist system. We don’t. If you have the money to pay for play, you can diddle the system to work for you. Privatize the gains and socialize the losses. That said, and it’s probably deeper than anyone wants to get here, but it’s never cut and dry. I’m a huge believer in reaping what you sow, but letting banks die in 08 was a double edged sword. The culprits of the collapse already had the ill-gotten gains in their pockets and the average folks out there relying on banking would have actually been the ones to suffer if they failed. The FDIC didn’t have the funds to insure the number of banks that failed, the credit freeze would have decimated non-bank players, and the system would have collapsed. Did it mostly just bail out the rich and powerful. Yup. Should they have paid with jail time and fines? Yes, they should have. But, the wealthy only go to jail if they over other wealthy people. Madoff robbed powerful people and went to jail; Dick Fuld/Angelo Mozillo/etc. just played vital parts in screwing millions of average folks out of their homes/jobs/savings...of course they got off with golden parachutes. In the words of Carlin, “It’s a big club and you ain’t in it.” As for the current market diddling, sure, some hedge funds are losing money. But, a lot of it’s not THEIR money; it’s investors’ money. Sure, most are wealthy and can afford it, but I know my FDNY pension has hedge funds in its portfolio. They’ve had to go to alternative investments with interest rates in the shitter for nearly two decades. So, the victory is pyrrhic, in some sense. There are average people gonna suffer because of the manipulation and a game. Hopefully it brings about change in the system, because the big boys manipulate the market at will; always have and likely always will. But, I’m afraid the best antidote for this is the dreaded “Regulation” word.

Mostly nothing. The billionaires (Bs) won't like the scrutiny, so they'll fund their politicians to play dumb. The SEC won't change rules on shorting other than slapping Robinhood for halting trading for certain customers. Plus the lawsuit against them should help stop that practice. Reddit may delete the club if the SEC says "insider or collusion", but they'll find another place. In summary, the Bs shorting game will slow considerably, but won't go away. They've got a target on their foreheads and the Joes are not going to let up. Maybe next time the Bs will keep their yaps shut on their shorts. Why I do I keep thinking there was a dollar bet made sometime last year. Hey Citadel, bet you a buck you can't make Gamestop go bankrupt. To the everyday Joe investor, "Looking Good Billy Ray" Out

I thought this was an investment thread? Oh well, I'll check in next year to see what the latest political bitch session is all about. Carry on.

Well, I guess you have a problem with AOC supporting riots to murder cops this summer right? Remember when she said riots should make people feel uncomfortable? Or are we being disingenuous? I actually have a lot of respect for AOC but this was a missed oppurtunity for her. Nothing about her comment is bipartisan, it's actually quite polarizing. She should have taken the higher road on this one. Basically, she just jeapordized the chances of this movement to have meaningful change for the average person by risking politicizing the issue; because she can't get over her own political ego. Unsat.

Ha. I knew that would come up. Here was the craziest one... Meet this girl on bumble, cute girl, she’s a nurse practitioner for a burn unit. We talk for a while and then I ask her to meet for lunch. All in all she seems pretty normal. We just didn’t really click over lunch in my opinion. I was pretty bored and I felt like I was having to carry the conversation. I tell her nice to meet her and get on with my life. A week goes by and she texts me asking how I was doing etc. Eventually it turns to relationships and she mentions how she can’t wait to get married and have kids, all guys are pigs, all they want is sex, etc, etc... How it was so refreshing that I didn’t try to sleep with her during our lunch date. I tell her that I think we may want different things, I can’t have anymore kids and I am never getting married but I am more than happy to be her friend but it would never be more than that. She says that’s totally fine, that is all she wants too. (Hmmm... okay, not what you just finished saying but that’s fine.) Maybe two weeks or so later I’m sitting on my couch on a Tuesday night watching Netflix. My kids are with their mom for the week, and Nurse girl texts me asking me what I am up to. We haven’t texted at all since the last conversation. I tell her I just ordered a pizza and am watching some opioid documentary on Netflix (my sister is a doctor and she told me it was good... it wasn’t). She asks if she can come over because she had been wanting to watch it. So I know that I am super naive about all this dating stuff. I met my ex in high school and was with her almost 20 years. So I say sure, I have nothing else going on. I give her my address. She shows up, we eat pizza, watch the documentary and it’s late and time for her to leave. (She says she has to be up at 4am for the hospital and it’s 10pm). The chick won’t leave my house and now she won’t shut up. She keeps going on about how cool it is that I am in the military and an airline pilot, how respectful I am, that I haven’t tried to kiss her (I’m just not into her at all, she’s really annoying). I ask her why would I try to kiss her, we had decided just to be friends and that there was no romantic chemistry. The most annoying thing she kept doing was after she would talk for a while she would go “hmmm” as if she was thinking about something and then look at me. I kept saying, well it’s late, you probably need to get some sleep, but it was like she didn’t even hear me. Finally after one of her “hmm” moments she starts leaning over to me. The tv is still on and the remote is by me on the couch so I think she’s reaching for the remote, nope! She leans over on me and starts kissing me. Because I was sitting facing her on the couch she pushes me backwards and basically crawls on top of me. I seriously didn’t know what to do. I freaked out and immediately thought to myself. “If I don’t let her down easy, this chick is going to say I assaulted her or something” (this happened to a guy in my guard unit). She slides her hand down to my jeans and starts to try to unlatch my belt. I tell her, “wow this is awesome, but I have to go pee”. She gets off of me and I run to the bathroom. She tells me when I get back she’s going to give me the best sex of my life (paraphrased and edited to keep this PG) Normally that would be awesome, but this chick is crazy and not in a good way. I take a couple mins to figure out how I am going to get her to leave without her destroying my life. I walk out of the bathroom and I go: “Sarah, I think your awesome and I would love to have sex with you tonight, but I feel like I haven’t healed from my divorce and I still love my ex-wife (barf). You kissing me made me think of her and how much history we had together. If you still want to date me, we definitely can try, but I think we are going to need to go really slow so I can get over my ex” I guess talking about your ex wife is the key because she is like “oh I wasn’t going to have sex with you” Then I deal with her crying and complaining about how all the bad guys want to bang her and how all the good, decent ones keep telling her they aren’t over their ex or that they aren’t ready for anything serious. Finally she leaves and although she texted me a couple other times asking me to come to her house or do stuff, I always had something else planned. I know some of you are probably thinking that sounds awesome and want her number... others think I am crazy for turning her down. I’m serious though, she was crazy-crazy. So that’s the story of how I almost got raped in my own house... Sent from my iPhone using Baseops Network mobile app

Story of my life...

Let me be clear, I'm not saying she is great, or even good. My comment goes more to the statement that this is the most cringe moment. Would you rather she rip into the press Corp, call them stupid, then lie to them? What am I missing here? Someone doesn't know a decent answer, tries to find it in the moment, acknowledges they don't have a good answer, then says they'll get back to them with it. That's cringe? I ask this sarcastically because I think I know the answer to this, but were you one of those WG/CCs that expected answers regardless? I don't know wasn't acceptable? Based on the character you've shown here I highly doubt you'd tear into someone over an answer like that. Maybe the timelines, but saying I don't know is acceptable with some exceptions. But you guys are right, let's get Conway, Spicer, Huckabee, or that last nitwit Trump had back out answering questions with lies... I'll add this caveat, maybe there's some context I'm missing here, but based on what you've shared, this looks ridiculously petty.

5-6 for Pfizer and 10 for Moderna. The timing is slightly different (somewhere between 6-10 hours) but you start a clock once the vial is taken out of the freezer to use before they expire. So I am happy that people are transitioning from "get the dose in the correct tiered arm" to "get the dose in an arm" when required.

Other similar events where I live. I guess there are 10 doses per vial and once they start using a vial they must use by end of day? The local Grocery store that is giving the vaccine has been going around the store just before closing asking if anyone regardless of what group they are in would like the vaccine so it doesn't go to waste.

Wait until Harris gets in the seat. If I were king for a day we would have a non-narcissist mentally capable president from one party who acts and speaks like a President. The House would be controlled by one party and we wouldn't have an 80 year lunatic as the speaker. The Senate would be controlled by the other party and the Majority leader would be of a reasonable mindset. They would be forced to work TOGETHER and DEBATE issues to work towards COMPROMISE as the framers intended. Who am I kidding?

I’ve had multiple airmen pull out money from their TSP to “invest” in dogecoin. I guess, on the bright side, they’ll get a taste of reality and losses early in life.

Lately, This thread is so much fun to read... Now, who wants to buy some rare tulips!? Better yet some tulip options (Jk).

Duck, Glad to hear you’re happy and things worked out for you.

Duck, Glad to see things are working out for you. Was kind of curious what became of you situation a while ago. Best of luck man!

We've had plenty of time to ramp up production on PPE. It has improved since the start of the pandemic (surgical style non medical masks and kn95 masks seem to be more available in stores). But for whatever reason, CDC is hanging onto cloth masks vs recommending a transition to the surgical style mask. N95 and similar respirator supplies probably still aren't there for mandating their use without creating a run on them when hospitals and clinic just caught up on supply. Mask 1: filter layer, surgical style mask Mask 2: cloth later, to help close gaps and improve the fit for the filter layer (around the sides) https://www.webmd.com/lung/news/20210126/double-masking-makes-common-sense-fauci-says I don't think this is really anything too new, there's been a lot of attention last year on how to improve the fit of surgical style masks and close the leaking sides to improve filtration, and this seems to be what was settled on (there's 3d printed face pieces as well that pin a mask to your face to create a seal). The cloth mask also has the advantage of being personalizable/fashionable. May sound stupid, but may help people feel better about wearing a mask if they can use it as an accessory to their outfit when they do to out. Alternatively Mask 1: N95 or similar, reuse until dirty/clogged Mask 2: cloth or surgical style mask to keep the N95 as clean as possible (splash protection) CDC on extending the life of N95 respirators for healthcare professionals. My wife's work has implemented the N95/surgical mask c ok mbo, plus face shield (working with blood and fluids with known COVID patients). That guidance for them has been around for several months now, since surgical grade N95 masks (which have splash protection) are in higher demand than regular N95s.

You are correct and I am guilty of it as well. Obviously politics and policies that flow from politics have a great impact on the market and investing but we (I as well), should limit that to focused impact comments rather than political bitching...I'll do better and help others do the same.

The two masks suggestion seems rather bizzarre. It's almost like "we have no idea what to do now so let's just make people do more of what they are already doing so they think we are doing something even though we aren't doing anything."

Holy shit, well, let it be known if you ever need to summon a grey beard, just stand in front of a mirror in a dark room and say "I have the aircraft, sir, I will maintain aircraft control, analyze the situation, take the proper action and land as soon as conditions permit" 3 times while holding a candle.

Ok.... So you also agreed noone was condoning the violence in the capital and AOC over reacted to Ted Cruz then? You seem to view the capital riots as more dangerous because they were an assault on our democratic institution. Thats a matter of opinion though that you use to support your view point. I can argue the race riots were more dangerous because they had larger scale and often targeted police officers who are personified symbols of the rule of law. How many small business owners do you think were "uncomfortable" when molotovs went through their storefronts?

I don't think the violence/riots we saw last year over racial issues were justified, and there seems to be a fair amount of people looting and destroying things and taking advantage of the protests. Don't think anyone really is justifying or condoning those actions. It'd be a different discussion had the protesters/rioters/insurrectionists stayed outside and peacefully protested outside the Capitol. Sure, it'd be uncomfortable for Congress. And Capitol police have been more aggressive with peaceful protests in the past. But surging into Congress while it's in session to stop a certification vote? Yeah, that's a problem, it's no longer discomfort, but rather danger, both to then and our country. Want to play revolutionary? Better be prepared to go all in, and not just for the selfies or likes, because there are going to be very real consequences for your actions.

Chemtrails...wow, ok then. It is one thing to to claim regulatory action and restrict action on some stocks like adding positions in order to calm the storm. That is NOT the whole story. I have confirmed with at least five friends that Robinhood locked them out of their account for HOURS and would not let them sell as the stock lost 50% of its value. One friend finally gained access to his account at 3:29 CST yesterday and it was too late to do anything, not that he would have timed it perfectly at the top, but if he had this little lockout cost him $90,000. Their little statement about letting people sell their positions was a lie and not a "regulatory issue." Of course the shares short can't be greater than the free float yet Melvin shorted at 140%...so the regulatory actions only work when it is the little guy taking advantage? GTFOOH! This was completely to the benefit of the hedge funds and had nothing to do with Chemtrails.

If Republican and Democratic reps didn’t blacklist each other for crossing the aisle and actually legislating we wouldn’t have this problem. They stopped actually doing their jobs a long time ago, so Bush, then Obama, then Trump, and now Biden have way too much authority to act via EO. Honestly, why not use the tools provided? That’s not a statement of support for Biden, just a simple observation. If one part of the government isn’t going to do anything, why not get as much of it done on your own as you can? Also, If he maintains the pace, ok, something to be worried about, otherwise, he has a long way to go before it’s problematic. Back to the legislature not doing its job, I don’t predict much will change... Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Your comment made me think of this tribalism cartoon from way back. Which applies to basically all facets of life.

My violence is "principled", and your violence is "terrorism". Protest should make people uncomfortable....unless those people are elected representatives of the people, in which case it is illegal.

It's a short squeeze, it is fundamental. Happened in 2008 to VW as well. Will GME be worth 326 (current price) in a month, almost certainly not. But it's not going to be $4 either. The fact it was shorted 140% is ridiculous, and when you get the chance to beat someone betting hard with a bad hand...I guess if they're a billionaire we're just supposed to walk away. Fuck that.

I don't plan to take it and still plan to get out next year. Granted I wrote the airlines off a while ago. But COVID actually drove me out of the organization with more furry than before. Watching the total ineptness of leadership able to deal with this crises, and then just putting it back onto troops to suck it up and make it work, has made me realize no one in this organization has any interest in your or your family's well-being. Get out while you can.

just think how much value the future Robinhood IPO lost this week

Not sure why everything comes back to Trump? Trump did four EOs in the same period of time and that included reversing Obama policies.

So a cute nurse promised you the best sex of your life but all you could talk about is your ex? You're a stronger and better man than me. Congrats and good luck!

There's a reason I don't watch cable news very much. I could direct you to plenty of clips from his podcast or radio show, which it seems you do not in fact, listen to. But it's not worth the time. I said you need to listen to his stuff to understand the intellectual position of the right. A cable news clip is not quite the research I had in mind. Both sides do this, but right now we are in a cycle where the left is doing it more. Obviously there are racists, and they're going to wear racist t-shirts and wave racist flags. But like all things, you have to assess the prevalence of a problem to determine if the problem is in fact relevant. White supremacy is quite simply not relevant in 2021. It's certainly not relevant to the scale of nation wide rioting, nor is it relevant to the scale that justifies the Democratic push for overtly racist "equity" policies. Yes, the US was once a racist nation. Now it is not. Shapiro focuses on the broader strategy of the activists, some in elected positions, who are lying to the American people about "systemic racism." That can't be done on a 5 minute guest spot on Fox News, but I get why he does it anyways. That's where the eyeballs are. Racism and white supremacists have been the preferred misdirect of the professional left since the Obama administration. At some point they realized that their rebranded socialist/Marxist policies, which are very much real, and very much being taught in universities and corporate conference rooms (even if you are unfamiliar with them) were not palatable to the general population, Republican or democrat. So instead of making the case their preferred system, they are instead undermining the present system such that when it fails from a lack of support from the population, they will be ready to jump in with their "fixes." I've talked about this here before, because many of the left leaning posters in this conversation seem completely oblivious as to the intellectual engine driving their party. There's not a single professional Republican who is supporting White supremacists, because the extremists commonly associated with the right are cartoonishly easy to identify. But the extremists on the left are far more dangerous if only for the fact that liberal voters are almost comically unwilling to admit they exist or matter. Go read anything by Ibram X Kendi or Robin DiAngelo. Look at what "the squad" has to say about our country and way of life. Read the endless stream of BLM propaganda (being hunted, massacre, crushing black bodies, genocide) over 2020 and try to find the part where only *fewer than 20* unarmed black people were killed by the police in 2019 or 2020. Out of 40 million. These are not fringe activists. No one on the right is hosting Richard Spencer or the proud boys at their events. The professional left is fully embracing their radicals, while telling the voting left that the they are still the party of Bill Clinton. They aren't. I think the voters on the left will figure it out eventually, but I don't know how much damage will be done.

I don't have a problem with AOC's reaction. Seems like she's willing to work with the GOP in this issue, just not with the handful of Republicans that supported the rioters/insurrectionists and undermining our democracy. The fact that the GOP hasn't taken any action against those handful of Republicans points to a lack of principle on the GOP's part.

I am happy for you but I also want to know more about the crazy nurses

Doesn’t seem that long ago! I actually still have my nav school charts somewhere. I’m a pack-rat apparently. Lol Saw a FB post from Davis-Monthan that showed the T-43s...the only plane that could be 13 places at once. Where each of the 12 studs thought they were...and the aircraft’s actual location.

Wow. Makes Ja Rule’s Fyre festival disaster look like nothing.

Supposedly the SEC is already investigating and they are looking at the Reddit folks as possible manipulators...I don't know the answer here but I do know the hedge funds have been acting as market movers for years, driving prices up or down based on their deep pockets...when they finally get a taste of their own medicine that has made them billions and billions of dollars, they scream bloody murder.

Yeah no problem with his mental facilities...not a single coherent sentence in this rambling statement. Him good at math as well. Stooge.mp4