17D_guy

Tell your story and contact your reps. GOP leadership has told the reps/senators to stop holding townhalls. So ours did a tele-townhall at 2pm on a Tuesday. Heaven forbid they actually face their constituents, which to me would be the first priority of the job.

Oh shit, Chang's back?!

You'd think the geniuses at DOGE could put in a rule to not send to ".mil" but that's too hard apparently. How many more "it's easier to not be the professionals they claim to be" before the masks fall off? How does that work for the DOD civs that took the buyout...is that an exception to what you've stated above.

Been hearing about the debt my entire life with promises from Reagan on down to fix it. During that time the wealth divide increased and middle class families that could afford to have a parent at home have been disappearing. Real wages and purchasing power for normal Americans (not you or I) have gone down. Only a Democratic President balanced the budget and ran a surplus. Trump added more to the deficit before Covid with his cuts. The latest R funding bill adds more to the deficit. But wrap yourself in the "party of fiscal responsibility" while Trump wastes millions golfing more than Obama ever did.

So you failed to FWA report them. Nice.

Some one else posted how Clinton did it. I'm in the private sector. I have laid off multiple people in my company, multiple times for bullshit reasons. So get fucked with your "you don't know what it's like" bullshit paternalism. You know when I work weekends I get compensated. If not me directly, at least the org charges hours, because we don't work for free. Then I/we get a bonus at some point. Again, this is the exact shit you all claimed to hate when you were AD with bad commanders/leaders. Didn't matter if someone else posted it from a different unit "sucks bro" or "here's how to avoid that, technique only." But now it's fine for some of you. The hypocrisy is real since the Fed employees can just be "the other." And if this was mission related she and her workforce would be there ASAP. But it's not. It's the same fuck fuck games many here claimed to hate.

Cool story bro. Wife has to recall all her sections today so she can tell them to read the email. Which they can't do from home anymore...so what's the fucking point? Also, she and they are not allowed to charge that time...so fucking up a weekend and working for free. She's a prior aircrew (EWO) vet, and all her people are worried. They aren't active duty and this shit is basically harassment to get folks to quit. This is the exact shit people complain about on the "what's wrong with the Air Force" thread, but because it's someone else being impacted and "your team" you don't give a shit.

The email: Guess if you were on leave last week you're fucked to.

Guess if you're on vacation you're not coming back. DoD civ's for this as well.

Legit enjoyed catching up on this thread. Also got to ignore some trolls.

Their Constitution calls for no elections during a War? So, they're following their Constitution?

AI needs to do the DoD Cybersecurity training... BLUF: A newly discovered AI (Artificial Intelligence) prompt injection exploit can bypass critical safeguards in AI-driven systems, as demonstrated in a proof-of-concept (PoC) attack on Anthropic's Claude and exacerbated by vulnerabilities in platforms like DeepSeek. This exploit allows for autonomous malware download and execution, posing significant threats to organizations using AI in security-sensitive workflows, with the potential for malware infections, data breaches, supply chain compromises via weaponized dependencies, like poisoned datasets, and exploitation of AI service vulnerabilities. A PoC attack demonstrated that AI systems can be successfully manipulated via hidden instructions embedded in web pages. In this attack, the AI was tricked into downloading and running malware disguised as a support tool, which ultimately compromised the entire computer system. Meanwhile, service vulnerabilities like those in DeepSeek’s design amplify risks: Its iOS app transmits unencrypted user data and uses hardcoded encryption keys, enabling man-in-the-middle attacks if compromised via prompt injection or direct exploitation. Cybercriminals can hide malicious commands in web pages or documents that AI systems process, manipulating AI bots into performing these commands as legitimate tasks, such as downloading tools or modifying system settings. Once the AI executes the command, malware is deployed, allowing attackers to take control of the system and steal data. Since the AI believes it is following valid instructions, it bypasses traditional security measures. This vulnerability exposes organizations using AI in security-sensitive workflows to significant threats, including malware infections, data breaches, supply chain attacks via compromised AI model dependencies, and reputational harm. DeepSeek’s open-source model compounds these dangers: If integrated into autonomous AI agents, attackers could weaponize systems to exfiltrate data or modify security settings, mirroring the Claude PoC attack. For instance, an AI tool with access to customer data or financial systems could be manipulated into leaking sensitive information or approving fraudulent transactions after being compromised. Additionally, insecure AI supply chains, such as untrusted model repositories or vulnerable dependencies (insecure PyTorch/Pickle modules), could allow attackers to inject malicious code during model training or deployment. Further complicating governance, DeepSeek stores user data in China under government jurisdiction allowing access without consent, creating regulatory risks for global enterprises. This not only jeopardizes security but also undermines customer trust and can lead to financial losses, regulatory penalties, and reputational damages.

Working fine for Oregon and Utah. But you can hate it reasons? Also see you avoided the rest of that comment.

Welp, I'm sure they'll figure it out with this coming - Trump administration orders Pentagon to plan for sweeping budget cuts Also getting rid of probationary means people that have moved positions as well, and a ton of vets. So, if you had a shit hot tech person that moved into a supervisory position last year -- thanks for your service your performance isn't good enough and you're out. Personal anecdote, wife's gig hired a new tech lead last year...still on probation, the old tech lead got a new position higher up to better inform leadership of test capes for F22...still on probation. Same thing they just did to VA nurses (2 year probationary period), seasonal firefighters (def won't be a problem here in the West...), etc. Meanwhile my state leg is trying to get rid of mail in voting because...well no reason. They've got an R super-majority but apparently some foreign influence campaign is going to flip UT blue next election? Also setting the standards for ballot initiatives even harder than legislators have, and to get rid of the FOIA agency and make it a single person accountable only to the Gov. You know, anti-representative democracy stuff. Yea, haven't read it yet. Like I said before, while we disagree on a lot I still value the input here. The tax and home examples a few pages back were fucking money for discussion.

Thoughts on the new EO where only the Pres and AG can interpret the laws? Or Trump saying Ukraine shouldn't have started the war?

Often getting a Amazon warehouse or other large corp HQ comes with corresponding tax cuts/breaks from the local/state governments. So, we got an inland port up where I'm working, for the next 10~15 years the owners of that port are paying severely reduced taxes compared to other businesses in the area. Idea is to spur growth obviously. Is that passed on to the businesses who utilize said inland port? No idea. I legit have no strong feeling either way about that. Additionally, these large corp's have armies of tax lawyers looking for ways to categorize for tax savings, and Amazon itself has many sub-business arrangements under the Amazon umbrella (ex. AWS) that allow for further tax savings (ex. R&D like I mentioned before). Finally, there's the whole revenue vs. profit and how that applies to taxes. Also not a tax lawyer. EDIT: As a nerd, the story of how AWS came to be is pretty cool.

Fair, I've hated the 1% saying. It's more the .1% that are "the problem." Technically I'm in the 1% as well according to some metrics. But as I said in another post, I ain't "hide my money like an oligarch rich" and my stock investments aren't ever going to make a dent in the percentage of ownership of a company. But, with the flat tax how is that going to work with the Bezo's, Musk's, et al who use loans on their stock as their means of acquisition/funding? Does this include a flat tax on corporations, no more R&D deductions for example? The rich can also pay cash to avoid these taxes, a la "the greek experience" 😁. The flat tax has been shown to hit the poor harder than the current system. I don't know everyone's experience here, but I feel like a lot of you haven't interacted with many poor people regularly. I have them in my family, and because of my political/religious leanings I deal with them regularly. The majority of them aren't lazy, do nothings. Most are working at least one job, or have a disability of some kind, or medical challenges that are just outside their control. Note, I say all this with a son who has rejected every leg up I could provide (Tricare/GI bill/VA ed benefits) who completely fits the bandied about poor person trope on here. But again...kid has some mental disabilities he's no longer taking meds for. SIGH....

I'm 100% T&P. Some days I do great and feel like the disability is fraud; some days I can barely get out of bed and realize why it's there. Basically every joint from L4 down is jacked up. Either way the rating is a roll of the dice. I'd hate to go on a good day and be told I've been faking it. Or get means tested and since I make so much get it cut off...then get laid-off/fired (PTO just got changed where I work) and be in the wind. Doubly worried since the wife is a DAF Civ... That doesn't even go into the tax "benefits" of being a disabled vet and possibly losing them.

So we all cool with the Democratic Mayor of New York City getting his bribery case dismissed since he jumped on the immigration band wagon? Then the DOJ getting the resignation of the primary prosecutor, then firing the prosecutors who wouldn't dismiss the case? Nice Quid pro quo.

It's fixed now but...lol. Also...why isn't the White House included in the "bureaucracy"?

For my conservative bros/chicks here - thoughts on RFK being confirmed, or Tulsi as DNI? I don't know enough about Tulsi to give real opinion. I was/am deeply concerned with RFK. I also think it's hilarious how a decade ago the vaccine nuts (and playboy models) were all Left, and now it's shifted Right.

How do you account for the red-states that receive more in federal funding than blue states? As someone (and friend's) who's moved into the "productive class" since retiring I've learned something about the taxes: we pay a lot because we're not rich enough to get the breaks or have the capital (yet) to either avoid most of these taxes, or just eat the fines/audits. @M2 fucking excellent on that one. I busted that image out for one of my morning meetings and all the vets groaned.

Cool. It'll make all those Agent Orange, Gulf War Syndrome complaints invalid too. https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/02/implementing-the-presidents-department-of-government-efficiency-workforce-optimization-initiative/ Looks like the RIF for gov't is now coming. With "individuals identified as non-essential during appropriations lapses" as first targets. Ah, loved having to go from a 24/7 positions with appropriate manning of AD and civ's, to pulling constant 12s because the civ's were "non-essential." I'm sure the F22 capes and test program out at the base(s) near me will be 100% protected. Oh wait, nope a chunk of them got "non-essential during appropriations lapses." Guess those F22 capes can wait. Also, making DOGE Team Lead sound an awful lot like Commissars; The Emperor protects.

The irony here is amazing

Damn...I'd rather have that too.