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Everyone leaves out the confirmed people who have already had COVID which is another 30M. While they are saying people who have had should still get the vaccine, of the 111 Million world-wide confirmed cases there are only 25 confirmed reinfection cases which is a rate of 0.00002 %, to me that proves your immunty lasts far longer than they want to admit. I believe they some of the "top virologists" also postulate that there a large segment of the population who have had COVID but are not aware. I've read several studies and articles that suggest between 30% and 80% of the people who get COVID are asymptomatic and unaware they have had the virus. Dr Fauci has been using the 40% number. There is also disagreement over the number it will take to get herd immunity. Dr Fauci is saying 70% to 80%, many others say it will be the more typical 50%. The numbers above have some big variations that make it difficult to calculate a certaintity Whatever "science" you choose to believe one thing is certain, something has changed and the infections rate is dropping dramtically. The U.S. high was on Jan 8th, 2021 with 300,619 new cases per day (holiday bump?), as of yesterday the U.S. infection rate had fallen 78% to 69,740 per day. If you look at the trend line you will see that since January the trend line drops faster than BQZips Mom's panties at a frat party. That drop has continued as even more and more places are opening up.

Never got into the Porsche thing, I guess my crank is too big. Always been a fan of American Muscle, they won't turn for shit but look great going in a straight line. Here is my baby - Just finished rebuilding the motor (327 HP), now turning 450HP on the dyno...that's a lot for a light fiberglass car.

Because the news of Cruz going to Mexico covers up the Cuomo COVID nursing home fiasco in NYC on CNN, MSNBC, ABC, NBC, etc... As long as they keep talking about how bad Cruz and the GOP are, most people who really don’t follow current events will forget about Cuomo.

But did they have their masks on?

I get it. There are separate equations for technical performance and driving pleasure that share constants but can diverge. I have an "old" 1996 911 (993 variant - last air cooled engine with manual transmission). It's slow by today's standards (6.0sec 0-60) but between shifting and that distinctive flat six noise the fun meter gets pegged. On a related note I'm actually in the market for a 1967 911S. Only 160hp but considered one of the iconic models. Miata's a great car. Very popular up here for weekend autocross. I bought a used one (original NA with pop-ups) when I graduated many decades ago and drove it from New England to Del Rio. Should have kept it. Hellcat and Demon are ridiculous - horsepower, RWD, and racing slicks don't make a supercar. Sorry to the fanboys. All that said, Tesla has redefined the car and the trajectory of the industry. Brings hypercar performance if not to the masses, then to folks without Fortune 500 CEO net worth.

I hear you. I picked up a really rough, but mechanically sorted '72 on eBay for about $32k. I've spent the past two years repairing the interior, making gauges work, and bonding the RSR panels to the body as well as paint so now it is presentable. Now that I live in southern California its my primary transportation even with a 12 point cage and fixed buckets. Makes it easier adding the miles knowing that a new SBC with 400hp is only a few grand...

I waste hours a week on BaT. Haven't won yet but I make it a point to track every air cooled 911 that gets posted. My water cooled, 930 trans '72 needs a more comfortable stable mate with the back seats so I can drive my wife and daughter around. Driving an older vehicle is just more involved. It's difficult to explain but I'd put it something to the extent of "It's more rewarding to drive something that is more difficult to make perform well even if you're overall not as quick as the dude who has infinite oversight through driver aids."

Ha! Love it. Like I said, room for all tastes & preferences in the car hobby. That’s a great looking vette. Did you get that when you applied to the original Mercury program? 🤣 I keed, I keed. Seriously that’s a cherry ride.

I believe that Gen has the dreaded IMS bearing issues. That will help keep prices depressed as well. FWIW, I personally think horsepower is overrated. Give me a well balanced car with enough power to work the chassis and I’ll be happy. Slow car fast is always the best mantra. The next Gen Subaru BRZ/Toyota 86 is probably going to end up in my garage. P car money, even used, is still too much for me and Subaru/Toyota appear to have fixed the one problem with the original: the torque hole right in the middle of the power band. New version has a naturally aspirated 2.4L with 228hp and torque is up to like 184lb ft right in the middle of the power band. That’s similar numbers to my BMW 128i I used to have and the BRZ/86 will weigh 300lbs less.

That looks good. The Porsche purists will be all over you for that, but fuckem. The great thing about the car hobby is that there’s room for all tastes. I’ve never been a muscle car guy or understood lowrider culture, but I have a ton of respect for the hard work and creativity that goes into any good car build. If I was still in SoCal, I’d say let’s meet up at a cars and coffee somewhere.

Still not sure why it's news that Cruz went to Mexico? Who cares? What was he going to do to make TX warmer and get power back? This is no different than Trump/Obama golfing all the time. I can do my job from the links so long as I have reception. Its just the optics.

Nope, I only know (and barely) the mystic ways of the guard. Sorry!

You know, the guy does have somewhat of a point. Who is ultimately responsible for their families safety and well being? You as the head of household or the government? I would say you. Many folks were sitting in their houses with no heat or running water waiting for the .gov to come and save them. That didn't happen. You need to be prepared.

One of my bros here at Altus 135PIQ was in a similar situation. RC135 Nav +1000 hrs PPL upper 90s scores and with multiple deployments. Got an ETP on age which gave him fake hope. Was pretty much told that AD would never let him move to the front seat. And this was a few years ago when each board gave out 90 plus pilot slots. Ended up getting hired by Tampa 135s. The only hope for y’all is guard/reserves. Good luck and Cast a wide net Sent from my iPhone using Baseops Network mobile app

I’m guessing it’s more driven by the dire nature of aviation hiring market rather than the appeal of the unit itself.

I bet they weren't current for Green Dot. See what happens! Bystanders, all of them!

I did an ETSS gig in Egypt flying F-16s for a year. It was wonderful. We were on dip passports, the only other Usaf F-16 pilot in country was my boss, who was 90 minutes away. I owned a compound with 140 local national employees. and 90% of the effort was running an expat bar in Cairo and scuba diving the Red Sea. Recommend

"Top end virologists" Says who? I am not a fan of Laura Ingram but was scanning around and watched an interview on her show last night. She had two "Top End Epidemiologists", one a fellow at Stanford, the other at Harvard. Both were in lock step agreement that we will achieve herd immunity by April. Having had a nasty case of COVID I am especially sensitive to news about mutations and how immunity may be impacted. I have yet to see a single scientific article that says any of the mutations is more deadly. Thus far the only proven change is some of the variants have higher transmmisability. The real problem is in your first few words "from TV", it is the sensationalistic press that is driving a fear narrative on mutations. Cases in point: Headline from the Atlantic The Mutated Virus Is a Ticking Time Bomb - first line of the article "there is much we don’t know about the new COVID-19 variant" Headline from the NY Times Covid-19: The U.S. Has Its Own New Worrisome Variants - near the top of the article "It’s not clear yet whether this shared mutation makes the variants more contagious" Headline from Vox How the new Covid-19 variants could pose a threat to vaccination - but they go on the clarify "While there’s no evidence they cause more severe disease, more cases mean further stress on hospitals and, after that, a rising death rate" The BBC had a very good article explaining the mutations and clearly stated from the science "Although there is no information that infections with these strains are more severe, due to increased transmissibility" To even further demonstrate the disconnect among "Top virologists" you might look at the Great Barrington Declaration - Which has signatures from thousands of "Top end doctors, virologists, epidemiologists, scientists and other medical professionals advocating to immediately end the lockdowns and go to a "focused protection approach.

We can fight the low end fight today. The F-15X is a jobs program to keep Boeing defense afloat so they can/will compete with designs later. If I were buying 4+ jets, it’d be more f-16s that can do multi role the cheapest. As for what we have now: An experienced F-16 guy told me they should just make most F-16s A/G only and stop supporting their old radars as they have no role in modern A/A. However with modern A/G weapons, old block 30s perform A/G terrific. Sent from my iPhone using Baseops Network mobile app

Seems like COVID turned the heavy units into fighter units! Oh well, we'll all get there one day!

'They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety.'

!RemindMe in four years...we will look back on 2020 corona virus as the most disastrous government intervention in the history of American public health. total disaster and fear based response amazed how easily americans can be lied to, deceived, freedoms taken away, businesses shut, schools closed, travel stopped...all in the name of "keeping them safe"...and most americans WILLINGLY are giving up their freedoms in the name of "safety" really is incredible. fear is a hell of a weapon.

Just rounding this out:

Here's my perspective as someone who entered UPT with few hundred GA hours (CPL w/instrument rating) and currently a T-6 IP. For starters, ground ops (walking out to the jet, the preflight, getting the aircraft started and taxied) sound benign but in reality, the AF wants them done quickly and accurately. You won't have time to sit under the canopy in the heat or cold and go through the checklist item by item, especially when you're in a formation and you have a VHF check-in time. You'll need to create flows to make sure everything is in order and it helps to do things the same time, every time, so something will hopefully seem off to you if it's forgotten. The struggle between speed and accuracy is what some students struggle with, to include those with previous flying experience. One large difference in UPT is the vastly different traffic pattern. In the GA world, you're used to a single rectangular box pattern. In UPT, you have several different patterns (overhead, straight-in, low pattern, high pattern, breakout/reentry, etc.) controlled by the RSU within the Class-D and things happen fast. You'll have close to a dozen other T-6s moving at 200 knots at its busiest, and you have to listen on the radios for every little detail while precisely maneuvering the aircraft. It's not uncommon to routinely pull several Gs in the pattern to follow the precise ground tracks. It takes several flights to build your SA bubble enough to be comfortable to solo... this is something you can't really prepare for in the GA world. It's also a blast once used to it. The formation phase is obviously entirely new to most. As someone who occasionally flew formation with buddies in the GA world before UPT, it was nothing like military formation. For most with prior hours I'd say, this is where the playing field is generally leveled. I was a strong student in contact and instruments, but perfectly average in the formation phase and it was similar to learning to fly all over again in some ways. How so? Like in the pattern, things happen fast and you're maneuvering in relation to someone else while keeping up with precise, timely, and correct comms. As lead, you need to make the appropriate decisions for the formation and you're constantly under pressure to do so. But again, it's also a blast once used to it. Also, unlike on a GA training flight where you just fill the fuel tanks and typically don't have to worry about fuel, you will always have a set amount of time/fuel to accomplish each sortie in UPT. You simply won't have the time/gas to mess around. You need to be quick to accomplish your profile within these constraints, whether single ship or for the formation. It's added pressure. Those are just a few specific examples and I'm sure others will chime in with more. What helped me the most in UPT was having good stick and rudder skills from GA flying and my instrument rating. This allowed me to fly/trim the aircraft so I could focus more on what was going on outside and build an SA bubble. Previous flight time will set a foundation in terms of some basic general knowledge and hopefully some stick/rudder skills, but you will have to much to learn in terms of AF procedures and applying them while inverted/under moderate G/potentially being yelled at by the IP. Did I mention that it's a blast?

I hope heads roll on that one, unbelievable. And the “lesson” they’ve taught, again, is don’t trust the police. That’s an invalid lesson and not applicable to 98% of cops, but shit like this makes people wholesale distrust all cops. I’ve always had positive interactions with police and appreciate they’re service to the community, but no matter how nice one is, they will never be allowed in my house, vehicle, etc. unless I have no legal choice.

That is the Terre Haute, Indiana guard unit. The 181st FW. Great unit that lost its F-16s during the Brac of 2005. Now a non flying wing with a bunch of odd missions.

First 8x initial cadre hours are programmed via the contracted syllabi and that’ll be the first 18 months of flying. After the initial cadre, nothing planned yet but those hours are being planned in the FY23 FYDP. PM me your address...

"I pledge to advocate for and acknowledge all lived experiences and intersectional identities of every sailor in the Navy. I pledge to engage in ongoing self-reflection, education and knowledge sharing to better myself and my communities. I pledge to be an example in establishing healthy, inclusive and team-oriented environments. I pledge to constructively share all experiences and information gained from activities above to inform the development of Navy-wide reforms." Latest wokeness infiltrating the DoD. I sure hope we don't go to war with China. That would be racist.

We know that, but public perception is that the issue is with a Boeing jet. And coupled with the 737 MAX issues, it's the last thing Boeing needs right now.

Guess my Boeing stock is about to take another hit.