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yeah cause we want the chinese to be embedded at the core of any nuclear power generation in the US...good move on the Trump admin's part.

“You said you only have a beer a week at max, but we see you bought 69 ammo bowls in one night. But then again, that’s got to be a mistake, nobody could possibly drink that much!”

Asking for the docs isn't a big deal. I actually show up to every JS with them all out and ready to show, as this is what I was taugh by my LCA when I was at AAL. But the uniform part, thats dumb...I'm guessing an ATL guy? Yes sir, there are plenty...as with most things, a vast majority of the time, it's an ATL Captain.

You need it with you. They ask for it every CQ. Just put it in your airline "war wallet" with your passport, medical, pilot certificate, yellow fever shot, COVID shot (likely if not already for some countries), etc and forget about it until somebody asks for it.

would you feel the same way if the government closed your business and drove you into bankruptcy? i'm genuinely curious. because that's what happened to hundreds of thousands of your countrymen. you don't think there should be accountability for that? or for firing people from not taking an experimental vax that has been proven to not work and/or cause deadly side effects in some people? you also think it's "Ok" that the white house used twitter and facebook to censor and ban doctors/citizens who had options contrary to the CDC? Opinions that turned out to be 100% correct. you think it's "ok" that doctors who spoke out against mandatory covid vaccinations and mandatory masking had their medical licenses revoked by their states? you're good with saying "eh... fuck it let's move on"? i think you're missing a lot. this isn't over. not by a long shot. lawsuits are just now being filed and the truth is starting to come out.

ah yes lets talk about cost/benefit. your side is still masking toddlers....tell me about that cost benefit. also in some cases still mandating and definitely still pushing a vax that does nothing to stop covid. get out of here with your cost/benefit gas lighting.

Hhmm, death rates also match obesity rates. Weird.

It’s hard to order Cuban cigars from iHavana.com using cash though… Or so I’ve heard. That cedar lined wooden box I have is for fung shei decorating purposes only.

I’ve had less than a handful of bad experiences offline jumpseating. All of them were on Delta. Not shitting on them. The vast majority there are good dudes. It does seem like there is a contingent of captains there who are really enamored by their own authority though.

Everyone's favorite...it depends. BLUF: Maybe get a quote on what the Term would cost you and compare that cost to what you'd pay in SBP reduction of your check. The SBP type coverage is usually very costly. If a comfortable Term amount costs less than the SBP, you might be better off with that route. Obviously when you keel has a big piece, but that's uncontrollable. The controllables that will make the biggest variations are: what are your other retirement/rainy day savings, spouse/heirs' income needs, your spouse's income earning potential, and what are your costs for a Term Life policy that would cover your family's needs? The last big one that is sometimes hard to ask and the most important...what is your spouse's FINANCIAL APTITUDE? Would they have the wherewithal to smartly invest a lump sum that a Term policy would pay out vs are they not great with money and be better off with an "allowance" that the SBP would provide? If the former, the Term life is usually a much better deal (depending on your insurability) and, if the latter, it's probably better to go for the SBP. I am trying to avoid going deep down the rabbit hole of the above questions, because it gets convoluted and focused on each individual scenario, but 96.69% of the time it's better to get the Term policy (*depending on your insurability/health and what that Term policy costs) over the SBP. Pensions take a pretty costly bite out of what your full monthly benefit would be to act as your "insurance." You are usually much better off to take the higher monthly payment and INVEST the difference between that payment and what your reduced SBP would be in an IRA (if you're continuing working) or even just using it to pay the Term policy costs, but that requires discipline and also ties great into your spouses' money handling capability asked about in the paragraph above. Lastly, one big further positive to the Term vs SBP: The Term payout is tax free; the SBP is (likely) going to be taxable income. Again, if your spouse is capable of managing a large sum of money showing up, the Term payout could grow to quite a nest egg for her later years. If she's gonna use it to buy a new boat/big house/diamonds/new gardner/whatever, it might not be the best option. FWIW, I am basing a lot of my knowledge on pension options off of my civilian equivalent of an SBP (albeit, they're all basically similar calculated annuity contracts) and I was never AD, so I do not know if there are major differences with the AD Mil SBP. That said, generally, it is usually way more costly to "pay" a pension to act as your insurance over purchasing a Term policy. YMMV, of course.

Besides, it's better style...

All of this, plus the fact that we know what our government is now capable of doing during the next “crisis.” Vote! The double masked Karen walking outside sure will be!

A few of us retiring at the same time did spreadsheets to try an educated decision. SBP is subsidized and if you go looking for a similar annuity on the market, SBP is a big bargain; can't find anything close in value for the cost. I can't remember the age data point exactly but well into retirement, if you keel over, the amount of time to recoup SBP premiums in monthly payments to the Mrs was like 3 years. Stats say men die 1st. So all the Mrs has to do is outlive you by 3 years. But consider family history. The main point about insurance, and trying to live off of it by either planning out living off the interest of investing it and/or dwindle down to Mrs's death, is you gotta die. No die, no insurance. And hope investments work out. Nothing like a Musk tweeting about clouds to send the market into a nosedive... dick. Also, term for this kind of coverage gets expensive in old age. The goal of SBP (or the insurance route) is the Mrs has steady monthly income and along with SS and investments like IRAs (hopefully), etc., doesn't have to worry about money. I view term as gap insurance to retirement, when hopefully the big items are paid off like house, college, boats, divorces, etc. Also, civilian jobs post retirement might offer a nice insurance deal to add to the mix. So, we all picked SBP.

Get rich scheme for someone along the way. Pay to get your “I wanna be airline pilot” card and you have to carry it with you during flight.

That’s why you use cash! 🤫

Got kicked out of the base gym last week for no mask. They are mandated at a decent amount of bases I would assume besides mine. Just a small snapshot that it is still affecting decisions and people sadly.

I thought of this thread when I saw this reported yesterday. She can’t respond to anything without referencing her notebook. A Press Secretary should be able to address at least some portion of topics extemporaneously. Sent from my iPhone using Baseops Network mobile app

Exactly. Invest in nuclear before everyone else realizes there was only ever one answer.

I think what you're alluding to is the so called small, modular reactors. In my estimation, the primary advantage of these is less their size, and more the standardized safety design(s). In other words, a 300Mw reactor could have 1-4 pre-approved configurations (# of reactors in the facility), which would hopefully make the regulatory approval process shorter, and allow new facilities to get started in a reasonable timeline. In any event. Agreed.

The proverbial golden BB?

Hey all, I tried to memorize the questions as best as possible from my interview. Not exactly verbatim, but very close. Here are the questions I was asked: Tell us about yourself, personal and professional; also, tell us about your flying experience. What do you know about the KC-135? What does it mean to you to be an Officer in the military? How have you handled leadership roles (if any applies to you)? How have you handled disagreements between you and co-workers, including superiors and subordinates. Tell us about your coolest/craziest flying experience. Can you pass the physical portion of OTS? (funny story with that 😅) What are your personal/professional goals? What are your goals for flying with the Air Force Reserves? (Full time AGR/ART or TR) How do you plan on supplementing your income as a Reservist, especially in CA? Are you ok with deployments? How do you plan on committing your time (outside of your career) to the Reserves? Tell us about your most proud moment(s)/achievement(s). Tell us about your least proud moment(s)/failure(s). Are you applying to any other units? Is your family/spouse on board for what you plan on committing to? This question was something they really emphasized. I believe a lot of folks (especially younger) don't realize the extent of how committed you have to be, especially with a family on board. I interviewed with the amazing pilots and aircrew from the 336th ARS, and they mentioned I did well. Awesome experience and quite frankly, ANY chance you can interview, do it, regardless of the base, airframe, etc. (just my $0.02). Being a civilian showing up to an air base for the first time with a panel of 7+ Officers and NCO's can be intimidating for some. (I've been fortunate enough to be around a lot of military personnel, so I've grown used to it). Side note: I know I really shouldn't have to say this but... just be completely open and honest in your answers. Some of the answers I gave were very personal, but hey, if I am to be with these folks for the next 20+ years of my life, then we better lay a solid foundation of trust right out of the gates.

Checks. They also almost perfectly match the inverse of vaccination rates. I'd bet it also maps pretty closely onto education and poverty rates. So you could argue those states, having such vulnerable populations, could have benefitted the most from more covid mitigation measures. Losing substantial weight isn't an overnight process so perhaps vaccination, masking, and distancing were good stop gaps as people worked to get in better shape. But instead the residents of Mississippi yelled freedom at the top of their lungs, continued shoveling hot pockets down their gullets, blew off mitigation measures and as a result have 4 times the death rate of Vermont. Which is totally fine. That's what the people in Mississippi want to do. And the people in Vermont want to be vegan marathon runners who live in an overbearing nanny state that probably destroyed tons of small businesses.

Kindof, yes. Our constitution's take on federalism delegates massive authority to the states to govern differently based on the desires of different groups. And I'm not aware of any part of the constitution other than speech/religion/arms that says freedom will always be prioritized 100% over safety/health especially in a public sense. Regulations for "public health" are always a cost-benefit analysis, and depending how you weigh the variables (freedom vs safety), the answer to that cost-benefit analysis will be different. This is why the constitution is so great, it pushes governance down to the lowest level where things can be decided with higher fidelity. And when the cost benefit gets skewed too far away from freedom, that's what the courts are for.