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It's total insanity. I don't know what the point is, but it sure isn't 'science,' or 'public health.' The rationale for mask mandates was always based on two main concepts: 1) "Flatten the curve" so hospitals don't get overrun. 2) In the good ol' days of cloth and surgical masks, 2-way masking was touted as the solution for the fact that those types of masks don't protect the wearer. "My mask protects you, and your mask protects me," they told us. Fast-forward to today, and both those concepts are OBE. They mailed out 400 million "free" N95's across the country and the CDC declared that 1-way masking using them was "highly effective" at protecting the wearer. So now, "your mask protects you," and we're at no danger of overrunning hospitals? Great. Mandates should have ended that very instant. If 1-way masking is highly effective, and we're not going to overrun hospitals, why should I be forced to wear one? The reason is that they've decided that the US is a nanny state. They know what's best for you, and will help you make the "right choices" for yourself ...by not allowing you to make choices for yourself. And sadly, very few people are calling them out on it or even highlighting the disconnect. Vote them all out.

If you are looking for a way to help I highly recommend the The Mozart Group They are looking for funds AND volunteers. The founder is a good friend and retired Marine O-6 who has been on the ground in Ukraine for some time trying to make a difference. He stood up this group and they are working hard to train Ukrainian forces in a large array of tactics and capabilities as they kick the shit out of the Russians.

Unfortunately the notions of "left" and "right" today are obscured by cultural and historic definitions, as the left and right "wings" harken back to the national assembly during the period of the French Revolution. The two-dimensional "political spectrum" only muddies these concepts as, in practice, separating economic and social liberty (or control) is near impossible. People tend to form political associations based on broad ideological beliefs (e.g. freedom vs control) or by more empirical or granular issues (e.g. tax rates, abortion, gun control, regulation, etc), none of which are easily placed in a single quadrant. Assuming the "far left" and "far right," meaning the commonly understood totalitarian ideologies of communism and fascism, don't come close to "meeting" presents a false choice, with the "moderate" position simply being placed between the two. Communism (or in practice, socialism) and fascism have more in common than most realize as they are both collectivist ideologies that subordinate the individual to the group, whose locus of control is by default the state. Unlike classical liberalism, neither recognizes the sanctity of the individual, and their rights, if any, are merely utilitarian and subject to the whims of the state and the party. The term "fascism" has latin roots, symbolically as a bundle of sticks fastened together (symbolizing the strength of the group under the leader). The ideological origins of fascism in Italy, first authored by Giovanni Gentile and practiced by Mussolini, were actually socialist in character. https://fee.org/articles/theres-no-denying-the-socialist-roots-of-fascism/ Gentile was influenced not only by Karl Marx, the father of authoritarian socialism, but also Hegel, who was essentially the ideological grandfather of authoritarian socialism (Marx's main man), having developed the notions of dialectical historicism and German idealism (awful!). His convoluted philosophy ultimately boils down to nothing more than nineteenth century alchemy that influenced a number of terrible ideas and regimes. While many historical and contemporary advocates of socialism have decried any common ideological roots or practical similarities between socialism/communism and fascism/nazism, these splinters are regular features in their ideologies. For example, the infighting between Bolsheviks & Mensheviks during the Russian Revolution, the left-opposition against the Stalinist "right," the purging of party members following Lenin's death (and Trotsky's ultimate demise by icepick to the skull) under Stalin, the Night of the Long Knives (Nazi "socialist workers party" members killed by Hitler), and so on. These ideological "splits" demonstrate that just because one faction is opposed to the other, they are not polar opposites but merely dissenting factions. Practically speaking, both Nazism/fascism and socialism/communism as political and economic systems concentrate power under the state. Both are opposed to free market capitalism, private property rights, and individual liberty. Its well understood that both systems restrict or eliminate civil liberties and clamp down on dissent, freedom of speech/expression, privacy, etc. What's more telling is the similarity in their economic systems. Many socialist ideologies propose that the means of production will be owned by "the workers" which, due to its absurdity, gives rise to the state ownership of production, i.e. a centrally planned, state-run economy that eliminates market and price signals and private property rights. Fascism and nazism likewise take control of existing private enterprises, eliminate or restrict property rights, and establish wage and price controls under state mandates. https://www.econlib.org/library/Enc/Fascism.html Here's an even better example. Look at the proposed economic policies of a Bernie Sanders (Democratic Socialist) or an Elizabeth Warren (Progressive Dem) type and compare them to Fascist Italy... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economy_of_Fascist_Italy I'm sure none of us favor a political or economic system that is "far left" (communist) or "far right (fascist)" but given this dichotomy would likely describe ourselves as "moderate." But placing oneself in between fascism and communism is...absurd. If one were to ask your political beliefs, would you say "Well, I'm somewhere between Stalin and Hitler"? That...doesn't sound right. If we look at the ideologies and history of these regimes, it becomes obvious that liberal, free-market capitalism (what we nominally have in the West) is not in between the far left and far right, but rather completely separate and opposed to either system. If anything, fascism is between free market capitalism and communism.

Are you proud of this? Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

This entire war is amazing to watch. Russia’s only off ramp to return to normalcy is if the FSB kills Putin and his successor says, “yeah, he was a crazy asshole, good riddance, now who wants to buy some oil?” I’d put $69 on it happening within the year.

Nice try linking today’s left to the Nazis. The far left and the far right don’t come close to meeting. They are polar opposites. At the far left end you have socialism (you know, real actual socialism where the government owns and runs everything…usually poorly, vs. calling anyone who ever voted for a democrat a socialist) and communism. On the far right is fascism/nationalism (like the Nazis….I won’t go into their history or why they were never really Socialist here. There are plenty of places to read all about it). Agree that both extremes lead to absolutism & eventual collapse which is why most aspiring normal folk should strive to stay far, far away from the fringes.

Uhhh no. Only a broken education system and a public with a complete lack of historical curiosity would believe that the Nazi party was actually socialist. Despite the name, they were very much fascist by the time they gained power, which is in fact, about as right wing as you can get. I dunno, maybe open a history book or two once in a while? 🤷‍♂️ BTW: completely agree the MSNBC story is ludicrous.

Nice try, but I have a masters degree in history, so I have opened a history book or two or hundreds or thousands. I agree and understand that calling yourself something does not mean that you enact that system. But, as others have pointed out, the Nazis were not pure socialists, but their economic system of governance was much more towards the socialist side than the capitalist side. Some have claimed that Hitler actually privatized large parts of the German economy, such as the railroads, but it should be noted that new majority stakeholder that benefited from that privatization was an early supporter of Hitler and was heavily involved in government activities. That is hardly a free market. Germany moved significantly away from a capitalist society under the Nazi rule and even "private" (Lufthansa, BMW, etc) companies were not free to do as they desired in a capitalist free market but were often directed what to do and how to do it by the Nazi government. That is strongly on the socialist side of the economic spectrum, thus it is reasonable that the Nazis when they called themselves socialists and were in fact socialists. Also, as others have pointed out, politics are often too complicated to put on a simple linear model. But if you were to make a simplified American political thought process on a linear spectrum, a larger and more invasive government is the left side, and a smaller and less invasive government would be on the right side. While greatly simplified, the Nazis would clearly fall on the far left in this model.

So what the heck is a 2nd tier staff job and how do I sign up for this anonymous major thing?

Cranium's up, Aero Precision is offering 20% off for military right now. Also, I haven't personally seen in the .20s for 9mm. Now what you need to do, is get into reloading because you can "save so much money" (or spend the same and shoot more; but I tell my wife it's cheaper!)

Gives them two more weeks for cases of COVID to “surge” and then “justify” a longer extension. I’ll gladly eat crow on this if I’m wrong, but I think the TSA mask mandate will exist at least through the midterms. Fauci was just on the news the other day saying he thinks the airline mask mandate should be extended beyond the 15 days. This has become just another classic example of complete COVID hypocrisy and lunacy. When this all started it was determined and stated widely that flying on airplane was one of the safest things you could do because the air filtration systems on board; yet the airlines are one of the last places you are forced to wear masks.

TSA extends the public travel mask mandate another two weeks…WTF is the point of that?

If, however, you have photo evidence of yourself signing 368-DD’s, you may get hired on the spot! This pun game is getting fun!!

This version might be more accurate.

So apparently if you want to be in shape, you're a Hitler Youth? Also, how did the left succeed in pulling the switch-a-roo on making the Nazis right wing? Last I checked the official party title was the National Socialist German Workers Party. Only a the modern American liberal could come up with something so absurd as a Socialist Workers party being right wing.

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I hope Taiwan is paying attention. If I were them, I would stack the whole island with as many top end air defense and anti ship systems I could get my hands on.

My rule of thumb: if I cannot drink the tap water in a country, I won't fly on their national airline.

stolen:

We have no idea if it's a real phenomenon beyond the normal rate because that number is never mentioned anywhere. This is literally the first question you should ask when someone is trying to alarm you about something. This is basic sample vs control middle school science. You can't make a meaningful conclusion from a data point that exists utterly without context. There are very legitimate criticisms of the lefts handling of covid, but I don't think you fight hot garbage with more hot garbage.

Woke stupidity should hurt (or at least be expensive): https://hotair.com/john-s-2/2022/04/09/the-cost-of-woke-appeals-court-rules-oberlin-must-pay-gibsons-bakery-32-million-n461248

I was offered one at 59 during the NWA/DAL BK/merger crisis and never looked back. It wasn't fun then and I can't imagine flying/layovers these last two years. Perhaps double/triple the pay I was making back then makes up for it.

You are in the other fighter's cockpit... Via the hours-long tape debriefs that record everything. You're just there after the flight.

In other news home fitness is now associated with the far right.

I found the attached on AFPC's public website as I was trying to find some info for a mentee (not related to promotion non-selection, thankfully). There are a handful of helpful inputs; however, this document contradicts itself many times and may reflect what's wrong with the Air Force. I especially take umbrage with the part mentioning that officers should advocate for themselves to receive strats, awards, or be pushed for jobs. AFPC thinks it is wrong for officers to believe the system will take care of them. In one sense, they are correct. A system cannot take of someone, but leaders can. I don't think it's too much to expect leaders to build, teach, or lead those in their charge. Take a look. I'm interested to see what others think. OfficerPromo_LLs.pdf