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Trump talks to Putin must mean that Trump is Putin's puppet. Ya not buying that. Despite the noise in the first Trump term, something struck a nerve, at least for me. Some background: I cut my teeth in the military with my first assignment in Okinawa--the Korean Theatre of Operations. Obviously as an E3 my worldview was as tight a soda straw as it gets. But there I was going through exercises, training plans, sorties, upgrades, trips, and doing research projects on forward operating locations both in Taiwan and up on the peninsula. 1995, so KIS had just kicked the bucket leaving KJI in charge, but not before he'd started lobbing ballistic missiles across the Sea of Japan. Fast forward a decade, and I'm back in the KTO, this time as a member of the LPA. More bluster, more ballistic missile launches, KJU taken over after his dad. At this point, patterns start to emerge, at least in my mind. After the NoDAKs had lost their benefactor, the USSR, they devolved into a pattern of famine, saber rattling, receiving aid from the west, less noise until the aid starts to run out, then lather rinse repeat. All while, for the most part, diplomacy is cold and almost non-existent from the west. Then one day, seemingly out of nowhere, POTUS is standing on the other side of the line in Panmunjom, shooting the shit with KJU. What in the actual fuck? But for a minute at least, the NoDAKs appear to have blinked, taken a moment to consider some economic incentives, trade even. ========== Ok, lots of words, but how does this tie into the Ukraine situation? 1: Remember when Obama got caught on hot mic with Putin whispering all of the sweet nothings he could do in his second term? -->Clean pass. DJT keeps a line open to Putin-->obviously a puppet. Bullshit; don't piss down my back and tell me it's raining. 2: DJT, as I illustrated above, clearly breaks with established geopolitical dogma. And I honestly cannot say that I see the downside, although I will not suggest there won't be a downside ever. Likewise with UKR: he's changing course, and I for one do not see a desirable outcome in the course followed over the last 5 years, so by all means pick another point on the compass and press. Folks (not the least of which Zelenskyy) want to see Putin/Russia defeated/punished/humiliated. And they are willing to spend as much of our treasure and the UKR military aged population to reach their utopian vision. Here's the bottom line, as I see it: Putin/Russia are not going to be defeated/punished/humiliated without a real cost that we will not want to pay, and I just cannot fathom how everyone is ignoring that elephant in the room.

curious why you aren't happy getting rid of illegal alien gang members? bet you wouldn't want them in your neighborhood...

Sim Instructor.mp4

Epic PA failure here, reservest claiming to be a former SEAL. Don Shipley contacted him and called him out on it. https://videos.extremesealexperience.com/movie_Phony-Navy-Seal-Of-The-Week-Ryan-Jay-Spencer-Youngstown-Air-Reserve-Station

35¢?! Look at Daddy Moneybags over here 🤩🤩 A steel cased Magtech will get the job done *and* save the taxpayers some money. DOGE approved!

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cvg1z42pkj8o

What a ridiculous legal argument. You have to wait until a full trial before the government is allowed to do anything to stop you from breaking the law? So if a cop pulls you over for speeding, 50 mph over the limit, he has to let you keep speeding until you've gone to trial? No. They seize your car for reckless endangerment. You get your car back after your day in court. If I decide to dig a 50-ft wide hole in the middle of the street, the cops can't fill it in until I've had my time in front of a judge? This falls apart immediately upon even the most simple-minded analysis. They may deserve their day in court, but we have no obligation to keep them in our country, which is an active and ongoing violation of the law, until they get their chance. I sincerely hope the Democrats keep hammering away on this issue. They are doing everything in their power to keep Americans on Trump's side.

Vance Class 25-10

As of recent data, there are over 733,365 pending immigration court cases. The duration of an immigration court case can vary significantly based on several factors, including the complexity of the case, the backlog of the court, and the location. On average, cases can take about two years to be heard. However, in some locations, the wait time can be much longer, averaging over 1,400 days (almost four years) in places like San Antonio, Chicago, and Arlington. And now you think we have the time and resources to try those who can't prove they're legally in the country in the first place?!? Illegal immigrants in the U.S. do not have the same rights as U.S. citizens, but they are still entitled to certain protections under the Constitution such as the Fifth Amendment which guarantees that no person shall be deprived of life, liberty, or property without due process of law. This means undocumented immigrants have the right to a fair legal process in criminal and civil matters. As soon as the Supreme Court overturns all current violations of the Second Amendment ("A well-regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.") for actual US citizens, I fully support it looking into the rights of these illegal invaders!

Well, here’s an explanation of the law that you’re pretending to know something about: https://www.congress.gov/crs_external_products/IF/PDF/IF11357/IF11357.5.pdf It lays out the exactly when “expedited removal” applies. It doesn’t require a trial or hearing, but it does lay out under what conditions someone can get a hearing and on what grounds. It’s a good balance of expediency in obvious situations with a due process remedy to catch mistakes. Give it a read. It’s interesting stuff. It’ll serve you better than… whatever that little outburst was.

Our entire system of government is predicated on the idea that Marco Rubio’s personal credibility isn’t a legally binding construct. I suspect you know that. It seems perfectly plausible most of these guys were illegal shit bags. Cool. Stick them in front of a judge, prove it, send them on their way to whatever hell hole prison you like. There’s no reason to not do it right. Edit: Rather, there are reasons to not do it right. It’s just that none of them are good.

After St Paddy’s… Related to Irish fighters, worth the read on Ireland and expandable to other declared neutral countries https://warontherocks.com/2025/03/no-time-to-spare-irish-defense-and-security-in-2025/ FA-50 in Irish Air Corps colors

It's not as simple as you make it seem

How pathetic is it to sit in your car and record a video to post on X... 😞😞😞

The MRTT (A330 tanker) carries eight 463L pallets (four in the bottom aft lobe and four in the bottom forward lobe). It also doesn't carry ISU-80/90s due to the height restrictions in the lower cargo lobes. The KC-46 carries 10 463L pallets centerline, 18 463L pallets side-by-side, has aero medevac litters in all jets, etc. The USAF isn't buying tankers just to refuel like the KC-135 originally was built for.

One of the coolest helicopter scenes made by Hollywood. Kinda gives a guy a quarter chub.

Hey folks, just wondering if anyone had any extra of these Vance class patches they could spare? I'm trying to fill some gaps in my class patch board at the parachute shop here. Thanks Cheers!