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Term limits would make a hugely positive impact. It’ll never happen.

It’s almost like the super rich and powerful don’t really care about us common folk (dems and repubs, doesn’t matter). This sounds strangely familiar? Has this ever happened before in human history? I’ll give us all a big hint, yes. I’m not going to source every single time this happened because it is littered everywhere throughout the human story. I’d rather be alive today in the US than any other part of the globe or history, but we too have corrupt humans in charge. It’s the problem with having some sort of power hierarchy with humans behind the wheel . The dirtbags always find their way to the top. The best human society needs to be a compromise of capitalism, socialism (we gotta pay for roads and shit, universal healthcare seems like a human thing to do) with an elected body of government, chosen by the people. Sounds familiar. We have a really good system in place here in the US. The reason it’s not working: Turds (our leaders, regardless if it’s a political one or a CEO of a company) seem to float to the top of the power structure. Greed is rewarded instead of being a good human. Also, the rich and powerful have better means to take control of the law making process and stay in charge. But Biff, what about the people in Mississippi or North Dakota who don’t agree with the beliefs of those living in the looney bin also know as California? States rights. The Federal government needs to realize this. Not everyone agrees with the same laws. That’s why I can smoke a giant doobie in CA but not in AL. The US has the unique problem of having ethnicities from every part of the globe (maybe even the universe with Lizard People and Aliens lol). We will not make everyone happy. We all need to realize this and learn how to compromise. I don’t care for abortions, but the majority of voters here (CA) do so it’s legal here. There are more people of puritan heritage in the Deep South, so they vote against it. The majority of the people are happy. If you live in the Deep South, you’ll probably have to compromise your abortion rights. We almost have it figured out. We just need to learn to live with our differences and compromise. Edit: And somehow we need to get rid of the dirtbag mentality of the wealthy. Basically, the "fuck you, I got mine" attitude needs to go.

Let’s not forget these people still exist and are active members of society; and will espouse similar if not worse sentiment during the next manufactured crisis. Vote accordingly, they sure will.

I'm just beginning to listen to RFK Jr as he's become popular of late. It's a bit of a chore, but so far it's interesting to be able to listen to someone from the other side and not immediately feel put off. Not that he could without being shot, but I'd like to see someone with his demeanor and common sense take on DC.

Biff”s got the big picture view. Sometimes I think it’s ironic that we see heated arguments (on this forum & in society in general) about the merits of voting for one party or another. The irony is that they want us at each other’s throats. I recently had a conversation with someone who has spent a lot of time in DC lobbying (for a pilot union). This individual rather quickly became jaded (as is the way in Washington), and one of the things they told me stuck: the politicians yelling the loudest about hot button issues don’t want to solve said issues. In fact, they work very hard to make sure the stalemate continues. Why? Their very generous donors go away when the issue gets “solved”. This is universal regardless of party affiliation. Think about that the next time you want to demonize your fellow regular Joe, who may disagree with you on a particular issue. “They” want you screaming at each other because it energizes & makes their donors’ fundraising jobs easier. One of the reasons all of us should fight one another a lot less, and fight for campaign finance reform & term limits a lot more.

Lol They're the best I've ever seen.... under Biden too.....lol We're currently up 2-0 against Canada in the CONCACAF (long one sts) Nations League Final. Edit: Biden better not fuck this one up

Yes, Biden is clearly a strong man for our turbulent times. God save the queen.

GS staff has become the commander by committee. Too many times I've heard the commander won't support anything unless JA, XP, FM etc, signs off on it.

Can this internal review help shrink the Air Force’s pilot shortage? “Do all the pilot positions we have on staff actually require a pilot, or does it require someone with operational expertise?” Brown said. Slife the non-combat knife now doing extreme damage to the Air Force Writ large instead of just AFSOC. I know most pilots don't want to go to a staff job, sitting at a desk especially in the five sided wind tunnel can be pure drudgery. HOWEVER, if we don't put pilots, especially seasoned experts who know what it is like in those key staff positions, then the REMFs will make decisions about the equipment you get and how you operate. It is always good to look at resource allocation--especially the expensive ones--but airmanship and the ability to speak like an operational airmen does not come easily. It takes years to develop. The Air Force has evaluated where they needed pilots/operators in the past, and it has been to its severe detriment. Here are some examples: 1. ALOs--We first removed fighter pilots/WSOs from the ASOS communities, then pretended we could advise Army leadership on the best use of Airpower. The result has been an Air Liaison community with no tactical airborne experience, no real weaponeering ability, and an Army that dismisses their advice even more than before. 2. Staffs-- Air Force first used retired pilot/WSO contractors to fill positions, but is now even using engineers, program managers, and others who, while probably competent on many levels, have no business speaking about Airpower capabilities, selling Airpower capabilities, and funding the same. Many decisions are now made by Airmen who have only learned about Airpower through schooling and relative proximity. 3. Inexpensive yet relevant platforms--when we killed all of the Tactical Air Support Squadrons with their OV-10s/O-2, we killed a great pilot absorption capability, a great way to season aviators for pennies. The aircraft's tactical relevance diminished by the day, but their operational/strategic value was immense. Yes, we cut the pilot requirement down, but hurt even more the pilot creation capability. and the overall Airmanship of the Air Force. There is a reason why pilots run the Air Force, why WSOs/CSOs exercise a great operational influence over the direction of the Air Force. Not because of the universal management badge of wings, but because IT IS WHAT THE AIR FORCE DOES. Many have been the companies that have lost their ways as they turned the reigns over to CFOs and Program Managers...Just ask Boeing. Again, I know most of you clowns don't want to do a staff job, it is a necessary evil. If we don't put people who know what it is like to fling themselves into the air in a metal frame full of fuel and munitions and take said crate into combat, then the contracting officer who was CGO of the year for leading the savings bond drive is going to determine your future.

I've got a lot of thoughts here, but two quick ones: To answer your question about the nuclear family: Anti-family policies surrounding welfare (dads in low income families are incentivized to make children and leave the home), divorces has never been easier so families are split more often, abortion couldn't be more contentious and there is currently no policy that incentivizes men to have accountability in the baby-making process, in several states 'the state' in the form of schools and teachers unions are effectively trying to take over the moral instruction of children...to include the legal prosecution of parents if they 'mis-gender' their own 12 year old, there's a lot more. In short, the federal government should have absolutely no hand inside a family unit, yet they currently do. All of those policies are not tolerated or accepted, but celebrated and in some cases enforced by our current administration. Second: go to your stat source there: https://realtimeinequality.org/ and play around. You'll find that the Times did a wonderful job of zooming in on a very specific data set to tell a story that simply isn't true. Moreover, if you want to compare data, use the same time frame. You compare Jan 2021 to EOY 2022 directly to Trump's entire term. Not an apples to apples comparison. With stats like these, a long view of at least a decade, usually more, is the only way to get a real picture of the impact of policies.

No retribution at all. My commander was completely on board and supported me the whole time. No one attempted to talk me into staying. Not one person said anything negative. A few people that got picked up for major in my group were mad they didn't do the same, especially when I separated a month or so after they pinned on. My commander also told me that when he was at a meeting with the wing commander before the second board's results came out for those already passed over, a lot of other commanders were saying that their guys were going to off themselves if they didn't make it. My commander said to the group that "his guy" (me) was going to throw a f-ing party. There is no fight with AFPC. It is a federal law. Twice passed over officers must be separated (if they do not elect to continue) within six months of notification of 2nd non-selection. No one in the Air Force has the power to stop that. I highly recommend anyone thinking of getting out gets passed over twice and saves more than a year of their life.

Lol. I know. I think we might have a good shot for a world cup run in 2026.

Funny, I’ve been saying this for quite a while on here: No American administration is going to war with China to protect Taiwan. And likewise, no sizable amount of the American population is going to refuse to purchase products made in China if/when China goes into Taiwan.

I mean, Taiwan doesn't explicitly support Taiwan's independence. If there's one lesson we should take away from our involvement in Afghanistan and Ukraine, it's that we should only commit to helping people who are willing to die for their cause.

“No justice, no peace!”

My views on this have evolved a lot. Here's where I am now: Wealth inequality is irrelevant. That part I've always believed, but what matters, and what I didn't see before, is how the wealth disparity is produced. I think the people who make things are able to be as rich as possible without much consequence. Think Bill Gates, Bezos, Musk, Carnegie, Walton. Something about our connection to their products and services makes their immense wealth understandable. Plus, the creation of technology or a service that makes humans more productive (even as a second or third order effect) ultimately adds far more to the collective wealth of our society than the millions and billions that accrue to the founders/inventors. But the unleashing of modern banking since the 70's has been altogether different. You should not be able to make billions off financial engineering. At best, loans enable the above innovations, but the banking system has found a way to make as much or more than the industries they enable. Problem is, so much of modern financial markets are simply transfers of wealth between parties. It's gambling. Guess who's better at that game? It ain't you. Nothing demonstrated this better than the nauseatingly-ironically-named Robin Hood. Nothing more than a transfer of wealth from the retail investor (poor) to the banks and private equity managers (rich). And when the retail investor found a hole in the armor with GameStop, they shut it down. Disgusting. The third element is the unstoppable printing of money by the Fed. These made up dollars are vacuumed up by the top .1% of Americans at a stunning rate. So when the inflation hits from boosting the money supply, the already-rich are sitting on a greater share of the money, drastically reducing the impact of inflation on their purchasing power, while the commoners like us get crushed. This wealth is created by political access, favoritism, and shady banking practices. It is this type of wealth inequality that will destroy our society if we don't stop it, yet the pandemic wildly accelerated the problem. But it gets worse. The Republicans are still reflexively defensive of business from the communist movement of the left in the 50's and 60's. They haven't figured out that modern crony capitalism has two sides of business, the makers and the bankers. Until the find a way to escape the bankers, they will be useless. Tucker Carlson is the strongest voice against this new phenomenon, though he flails around the center of the problem at times. The Democrats are equally useless, because they are hell bent on attacking the makers while the bankers fund their campaigns and promote their ESG nonsense. In the war against crony capitalism, the Democrats have decided to attack the capitalists with the help of the cronies. Talk about missing the mark.

Not entirely gone 👑

It is kind of stunning when you look back at the last ~15 years. Progressive politics have co-opted nearly the entire Democrat Party. Meanwhile, the nation has faced incredible crises, that in years past might have seen people marching on DC with literal pitchforks and torches. Covid, Proxy wars in Syria and Ukraine, rampant inflation, crushing wealth inequality, etc. Instead, in the face of those challenges, the national discussion is centered on an endless stream of increasingly fringe nonsense (I don't know how much further you can extend LGBTQQIP2SA, for example). It's incredible what's been done to this country, all in plain sight.

What type of a personality would it take to go into DC and take on the elites? A brash, egotistical billionaire real estate tycoon from NY who doesn’t need the money, power or fame. Anyone else that has tried has been chewed up and spit out for even thinking about it. Look what they have thrown at him for the last 6 years. And he keeps on fighting. Part of his legacy will be the fact that he has highlighted and exposed the deep corruption in DC. Certainly not saying he’s my favorite person on the planet. Just making the observations.

not a good litmus test to use...transgender is a mental illness. period. it should be treated as such. look at the suicide rates. it's not a normal condition for humans to have. it's only within the last few years that this illness has exploded...WHY IS THAT!? why for thousands of years of human history has transgender not been a thing....and SUDDENLY it's a huge evolutionary human condition....hmmmm....maybe....just maybe the media and trans extremists are pushing their propaganda and it's being forced on mentally ill, vulnerable teens. you can't change your gender. that's a fact. sorry it is. has been since the beginning of time. and it's actually science too. follow the science after all.

Please for the love of God don't vote Newsom into the Presidential office. Just look at CA. Im from here and still live here. This place has declined significantly in the last 10 years. If you want this for the rest of country, he's your man. He is also pushing to take away "assault" rifles. Lol. Fucking clown. Oh yeah, he also backs reparations for slavery that our state can't afford. No person living in this country deserves reparations for something none of us alive today are gulity of commiting. The fact that they even entertain this idea is ridiculous. Yeah. We're a civilization in decline and he is too proud and stupid to realize he's (and people like him) are the causal factor. Id rather have an inmate for president than Gavin Newsom, at least the inmate cant hide the fact he's a criminal.

1000% disagree. Having obtainable naturalization and birthright citizenship is a huge leg up for the US and always has been. Furthermore, the cultural norm that an “American” isn’t a race or a people that one either has or doesn’t but rather a set of ideals and something you can choose is at the foundation of our enduring strength. I would actually support universal national service for all young people that conferred benefits like college or job training money & opportunities. But a just-naturalized Bulgarian-American or a second-generation, US-born Colombian-American is just as much a citizen as you or I, and I sincerely believe that is a feature that makes the US superior to other countries. You can move to China and speak Chinese and live there for 50 years but you’ll never “be Chinese” and that’s simply not the case here.

Agreed! Not my meme but it’s apt 😁 I believe that we will win!

🤷‍♂️ USMNT qualified for the World Cup every cycle 1990 through 2014, until they missed it during Trump’s term. They made it once again in 2022 under Dark Brandon’s sage leadership. #IBlameTrump /sarcasm if y’all can’t tell