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What hasn't changed is how the Democratic party still strongly believes that race is a person's most important attribute in determining who they are.

Amen, Lets get back to how the Russians suck. In this case deliberately hurting themselves to get off the battlefield.

2, I really hope this thread doesn’t devolve into another left vs right pissing contest, literally half a dozen other threads to argue that shit in.

this shit has nothing to do with Ukraine/Russia

Head for the Ecuadorian embassy Steve

To get back on track, good video of another set of Russian BMP crews getting snuffed out.

Mr. Lincoln in the C-130E sim on the graveyard shift at Little Rock. That dude was there for the patriotism, not the paycheck. If you know, you know...and that man was on bride 1.0...amazing.

As much as I admire what Redbull has done to promote aviation, I think the FAA needs to go after the company as well. Someone there planned and approved the stunt, even after the FAA declined to approve it. And yeah, the pilots should’ve known better too.

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/red-bull-plane-swap-faa-revokes-licenses-luke-aikins-andy-farrington/?ftag=CNM-00-10aab6a&linkId=164870016 What's even more WTF is the surprising amount of support these people have who believe "what you do with your private property is none of the FAAs business."

They used cell phone data to track "pings" that visited different drop-off boxes and NGOs (democrat HQs). They located at least 2000 individual phones that visited at least 20 times to different drop-off boxes. Based on video evidence, each drop off was about 5 votes. Systematic voter fraud.

Is this another General Chang thing? We being trolled again?

I see some posts about money, debt, deficits, foreign aid support and NATO membership vs spending, etc. I can offer some insight to this topic, whatever it's worth, as its not very complicated but rather unintuitive. Ultimately, this isn't the thread for this discussion, but... I'll add something here briefly hopefully to redirect energy toward the topic. First and foremost, money is debt (but what about coinage! we can talk about coins and barley and salt as well, but for now let's stick with money today). This means that for every unit of money, such as a digital bank deposit in your account at USAA, has a corresponding debt component. So if you have $1 in your bank account, then someone, somewhere, has a $1 liability the owe to someone as well. This is true for all financial assets. For every contract there is always an asset and liability component, and these two always sum to zero at any given point in time. When we say that you have $100,000 in your savings account, then I must have $100,000 in liabilities, if we are the only two account holders in this example. Here is an example of a bank holding 100k in loan contracts and the associated bank deposits. You have hoarded, I have borrowed (which created the money), and the bank created that money by writing the entries on its ledger. When we say that the Fed has X in debt, that means someone else has X in assets, typically Treasury securities. This number is not particularly relevant from the perspective of the US Gov, because it can create any amount of $USD at any time (the Fed just marks up an account holder at a Federal Reserve Bank, and likewise the recipient's bank will mark up their account holder's account [because you and I cannot be account holders at the Fed, we hold a lower tier of money known as commercial bank money]). The US Gov's budgeting process is about allocating real resources, which are finite, and the $USD they create in order to assign these real resources to different tasks and projects is just a tool to facilitate allocation in a highly decentralized manner. In the periphery, away from direct state purchases, where we all spend most of our time acquiring and exchanging these units of money, we often misunderstand that the purpose of the currency was not and is not peripheral exchange between third parties in the state's unit of account ($USD). The purpose of the currency is to achieve objectives set out by the government. Back to the question: when the US creates USD in a Federal Reserve Bank, for an account holder like a foreign bank and the recipient then spends those USD in a foreign market, real resources are assigned (if they were unemployed or idle) or re-assigned (lured away from existing employment or projects), and this is not directly related to the US itself--the US Gov is mobilizing real resources in a foreign territory. The US can spend any amount in foreign territories to allocate idle resources, or even 'overspend' if $USD is the predominant exchange currency and intentionally cause [classical monetary] inflation and associated disruption, for example. There is no 'trade off' between spending at home and spending on foreign aid, generally. When we say 'the US should be using that foreign aid at home'... Congress is generally ok with how income and wealth is distributed in the US, and spending more on certain people (say by spending the same amount as a given foreign aid program) would alter the distribution of income and wealth that Congress has rather carefully or clumsily sculpted, which would re-assign resources or employ people that they would prefer be unemployed. Lastly, because money is debt, and all units are entries on bank ledgers, and the US gov controls the most important ledger (the Fed) which the rest of the world accumulates and holds as financial savings, there is no 'funding constraint' on US gov spending. That is, the US can always write numbers on its bank's ledger. What it can't do, is manifest a specific real resource upon command at a specific time. It must try to create that real resource over time by allocating resources that produce what it actually wants far ahead of time. From this perspective, the 'US National Debt' is not a particularly relevant number. And, if we want to consider this from a stability perspective, where system participants are each eager to be net savers of financial assets (because money is debt) there must be someone or something that holds the corresponding liabilities. Make sense?

I mean, except for that Steve is British, living in the UK, and doing his research and producing that content while physically residing in the UK.

Obviously no crystal ball but here are a few thoughts: 1) Until demand is less than supply and inflation is under control we’ll continue to see some more home value appreciation 2) The Federal Reserve is trying to kill inflation as quickly as possible which mean higher interest rates on everything to include mortgages over the short term. That being said they gotta get it done in a expedient manner before they trigger a recession 3) While higher interest rates suck it’s only a short term problem because everyone will just refinance in a couple years and the Fed knows that. Lots of people made a lot of money on Wall Street/Real Estate and got some crazy rates thanks to the Fed during COVID. That’s gotta dry up temporarily to get the economy back on track for future gains. I believe everything right now is just a short term rip the bandaid approach to curbing inflation then game on again. As far as mortgages go, I’m sure everyone who is getting a mortgage now won’t be stuck in it for more than a couple years so if you keep a long term perspective you’ll be fine. In the meantime BAH will also adjust to offset the higher costs if you’re still AD. Cheers! Jon

Yeah I would agree with that statement. Completely irresponsible for a company to act that way. The FAA has historically given Red Bull a lot of slack to develop air sports. Maybe some of that needs reigned in.

I’ve heard the “sky is falling due to the national debt” shtick since I was about 12. We’re not only still here, but we’re still the world’s biggest economy by a wide margin. We might get passed by China someday if you believe their government’s numbers, but their per capita gdp sits between Iraq’s and the Maldives’. I have more/better stuff than my parents did and I enjoy living in a country that continues to host the world’s reserve currency (and will do so for the foreseeable future). It’s almost as if sovereign debt is a completely different animal than personal debt. Who knew? 🤷‍♂️

Of course it's just a renumbering. The 99th won't be a T-1 squadron when that happens. One thing (T-1 crews follow-on) doesn't have anything to do with the other (99th standing up as a T-7 squadron with T-38 and CAF IP initial cadre). Yes, the 99th was selected specifically for the tuskegee airmen motif the airplane was named for in the first place. That too has been known since the beginning.

I’d be surprised if telephonic technology has even reached the Little Kitchen yet. And I haven’t been there since ‘06.

Functionally, NATO served the purpose of keeping the European nations from fighting one another. The US underwriting their defense allowed them to focus on trade. The post WW2 economic boom was what happens when people don't fight and instead trade. The US benefits from NATO existing, but not directly from being a member. Being a member may be a pre-requisite for it to functionally exist, but that's a different point.

'Cause being the biggest player in the game means you get to make the rules. I like living in a world where the United States is THE leader when it comes to influencing global values, especially when Russia and China badly want to replace us in that regard.

Yeah…$30.5 TRILLION in debt but we shouldn’t put America and her taxpayer’s first. And the left will literally say it’s because the top 10-20% isn’t paying their “fair share”.

In legacy initial last year, having taken a COVID victory lap at the ACMI... Sim-P is a crusty old dude, mid 70's, with plenty of stories. Started out at Air Cal, mentioned this 6-9 times every day we worked with him. Great guy, easy to get along with. Walked with a cane. Took quite a while to get down the stairs to the sim bay, so if one of us needed to hit the head mid session, he'd just toss us his badge to get in/out of the door vice walking out with us. He was there...because he felt he needed to. His was the standard "timing is everything" story, with maybe one divorce, maybe one ill-timed change of carrier, but otherwise he caught the triple furlough whammy. Came home and told the Frau that our financial goal, beyond anything else, was NOT to end up in a similar situation.

Yeah, I’ve kind of wondered if it might play out that way too. One reason the airlines might want to think long and hard about this one as it very well could make their pilot “shortage” worse.

This is a VERY recent development & it kind of boggles my mind. It has been far more common for traditional “leftists” to argue that military alliances, globalism, and extensive foreign aid (specifically military aid) should take a back seat to solving issues at home. It’s only recently that the nativist wing of the Republican Party has taken over and made this issue it’s own. The Republican Party I grew up with (the people you now call Rinos) remembered the lessons of the Second World War and understood the benefits of a more “globalist” (now a dirty word for the new “conservatives”) outlook and it was commonplace to see the more left leaning folks criticize them for it. I feel like I’m living in bizarro world now when I hear conservatives rabidly sounding the mil/industrial complex alarm and liberals advocating NATO expansion.

I think this nugget from the Good Idea Fairy isn't going to hit reality intact. Sure, there's going to be a few individuals with the healthspan to make it to 67. They will likely be eclipsed by those who want to, but fall short, driving up LTD costs for starters. Likewise, at least at my carrier, can't take the sick bank with you, so the older segment spends their last few years (if otherwise healthy), burning down their sick bank; again higher cost per productivity widget. It's going to be an exponential cost increase that in the end will squeeze only a few drops of productivity from the least productive segment of the pilot population.

Like I posted, nothing from the MoT. How is people going back to work after lockdown creating jobs?

I don't think you are soapboxing, I think Danger41 summed it butter than I could. Steve as a journalist operating under the freedom of the Constitution and the 1st amendment, told the story, bravo. I am assuming you are not saying Steve can't report what he finds as a journalist. I agree that folks with classified knowledge have no business discussing things with the press or anyone not read in period dot. When I say Doc's story deserved to be told, perhaps I should caveat, I mean to his family. There is probably some middle ground but DoD never seems to find it. The family deserved some details and instead of "your loved one died in a crash, sorry", I would have handled it like this - "Unfortunately Doc passed away in the crash of a classified aircraft. It happened when he attempted to land but there was an issue with said classified aircraft and Doc was forced to initiate a very dangerous go around that ultimately saved the life of his backseater. Doc attempted to eject but his seat failed and he perished."

https://coffeeordie.com/bronze-star-kabul-evacuation/ Phenomenal Navy O-3 I owe some friends lives to. Super happy she was recognized.

Took me almost five years to build the story, and it might not make me any friends in publishing it, but Schultz’ honour deserves to be defended: Doc Schultz' Area 51 Mishap: The Details Revealed https://youtu.be/zidJB6qxlKs

That’s an interesting historical background I’d never heard about, thanks for sharing. I’ve had many a discussion with great FCCs scratching our heads about why they were ineligible for things like AMs/AAMs. It’s a double whammy because by missing out they’re leaving major promotion points on the table in a perpetually undermanned career field. Also the reason the FCC was on stage is because the AC made it a point during his speech to bring him up there to highlight his contribution. In fact he said if he had a game ball he’d give it to the FCC. IMHO it was a genius way to make the whole chain of decision makers look inept, which I think was probably at least 50% of his intent.

In my younger days I was a Flying Crew Chief, got awarded enlisted aircrew wings, it depended on the Organization only to be told by Chiefs in other squadrons to take them off my Fatigues or BDU's. Loved my job, it was an incentive to fly with the jet and get away from the home station drudgery. Then McPeak came and said no more, you're not part of the crew, you're not getting flight pay or hazard duty pay but you will still fly and take the same risks as everyone else, and stop going to the Flight Doc, just get Motrin like everyone else. My question during that awards ceremony with the four DFC's awarded and the FCC getting nothing why was he even on the stage? I bet he still had to go to work after that and cover his shift. I would have considered it a slap in the face. I bet his own leadership torpedoed it, MX supervision are petty MF'ers who probably said he was overdue training or doesn't ever go to squadron functions or the last time I saw him he needed a haircut. Now you know why MX troops get out in droves.

It irks me to no end about the “just normal ops” line when looking at awarding medals to folks. By that logic, there should never be a medal awarded for any action short of self-sacrifice. Sal Giunta was just doing his job as an infantry NCO. Leo Thorsness just supported a rescue (that was unsuccessful and got an A-1 shot down). Tom Norris helped rescue some downed aircrew in a riverine environment well within a SEALs “normal ops”. Thomas Payne helped the core activity of Delta by doing a hostage rescue…pretty “normal ops”. See how monumentally stupid that sounds? I’m not saying the actions from various aircrew at HKIA are MOH worthy. What I am saying is that there was some serious gallantry, skill, bravery, and perseverance to make things happen. That deserves to be honored officially in the form of medal awards. I’ve got no connection to the C-17 community beyond riding as a pax a few times, but seeing what those guys did made me incredibly proud to be in the Air Force. Same goes for the Army helo guys, the Marines at the gates, etc. Massively proud of all these folks and their execution of “normal ops”.

“Whatever the number is”…that should tell you that it’s high. I’m much more concerned about our own economic problems threatening us than I am Russia or China. But again, if we’re in NATO, then why do we need a massive defense budget? And if we need a massive defense budget, then why do we need NATO when other counties (Iceland as the easy example) pays next to nothing for defense?