ClearedHot

They just announced a deal with China. Lets see how this turns out... The UK deal was more symbolic than anything. With egg prices down, fuel costs down (inflation will come down in lag with energy costs), the border is closed and Trump just came out in favor of higher taxes on the top 1%. The Carville/Bernie/AOC are going to have to dig deep into the bag to find things to cry about.

Well done!

A bit more color from someone who spent a LOT of time around that environment...including as an exec for the Deputy Chief of Staff. Not suggesting it is a personal chauffeur but home to work was the norm when I was there and especially in places like DC it is a HUGE deal, especially with the parking and special security lanes. Also, moving around DC while the rest of us use the METRO. Ironically, I once Slugged with a dude and when we got to the Pentagon drop off area he asked if I worked in the building...I replied yes and showed him my badge. He said stay with me I have decent parking. We went through security, zipped past south parking and down pat the memorial and corridor five where all the 3-4 starts had their cars parked. I got real nervous when we turned the corner and he drove up the ramp and parked in the second spot by the Mall Entrance...unbeknownst to me I just rode to work with the DEPSECDEF who insisted on driving himself. I was trying to replay the conversation in my head because he was asking me questions all the way down 395. The "assist" with entertaining is the most abused part of the program. "International agreements with world leaders and senior partners" is absolutely comical. At least half the time they are hosting old friends who happen to work in industry. I never once saw a"world leader" but I saw a lot of old bros coming over for dinner and drinks. You forgot to add the USAF is sending these assistants to culinary schools...usually private ones. When I was an exec the boss' were swapping out and the new guy decided the interview of his new in-home assistant was a test case hosting a party for other senior leaders. That prep included mowing the Senior GO's lawn...by the way, the interviewee was pregnant. That was a defining moment when I knew I didn't want to be a GO. You forgot the execs and enlisted assistants that DO personal stuff like dry cleaning, uniform setup, going to get breakfast and lunch...I used to fill out birthday cards (I know because I got yelled at for one misspelled word in a stack of 53 cards). Same docs or not as you note they have a special place and process that they get to use even when RETIRED. They don't wait for appointments and why do they need more privacy than HIPAA provides the rest of us. My first boss had some medical issues, I could call the GO office at Walter Reed or the In-Pentagon Flight Doc and get him in within the hour. C-21s and other aircraft for the 1-3 stars...white caps for the 4 stars. Being a GO is hard work with long hours but I don't feel sorry for them one bit.

I think they changed it recently but in years past GO pay had a scale that increased over time like everyone else. However, actual basic pay for O-7 to O-10 was (and still is), limited to level II of the Executive Schedule. That limit number was lower than the pay amount for their rank and years of service on the chart. While on active duty take home pay was limited but for retirement their pay was calculated off the higher number in the chart.

Yeah they have it tough with drivers, cooks at their houses, personalized GO only healthcare and an accelerated retirement payscale. 99% of them will make up and pay deficit within 30 days of walking out the door.

@arg Right in your backyard... Simply unbelievable...and your sheriff has been mum on the investigation for months even though all charges were dropped.

India recovered a mostly intact PL-15E. I wonder how much NASIC is willing to Venmo India...

My brother in law is now a deputy chief of police but ran weapons and his departments SWAT team for many years. I was able to train with them a few times and when he first started their officers were carrying the Marlin 9MM carbine modified to accept Glock Magazines. The rationale was officers only had to carry one type of mag for both pistol and rifle. I shot it many times in training and it was able to cycle with no jams. It shot well and was easy to use during transition but my BIL converted the unit to M-4 Carbines because he was worried about stopping power of the 9MM at distance. Still not convinced after watching several videos...dependability is a big issue for me.

Almost pulled the trigger (STS), on the Chiappa M1-9 Carbine in 9MM but several videos online show it jamming a lot. Anyone try one?

Indeed and it was the first Rafale delivered to India.

I've NEVER heard the government say Muslims are viewed as "Baddie Brown People"...just the liberals on this forum.

If the 1st amendment can have limits (and all the others), so can birthright citizenship.

While everyone is watching Yemen and potentially Iran...

AMF's - We will be just fine without them. There are approximately 900 active-duty GFOs. The current number is low for the post-Cold War era and substantially lower than the number of GFOs in the 1960s-1980s, when the Armed Forces were much larger in size than they are today. However, while always very small in comparison to the total force, the GFO corps has increased as a percentage of the total force over the past five decades. GFOs made up about one-twentieth of one percent (0.048%) of the total force in 1965, while they made up about one-sixteenth of one percent (0.063%) of the total force in 2023, indicating that the share of the total force made up of GFOs is now increased by 31%. This historical trend is more pronounced with respect to four-star officers (which grew from 0.0014% of the total force to 0.0029%, a 107% increase) and three-star officers (which grew from 0.0045% of the total force to 0.0103%, a 129% increase). One- and two-star officers increased less rapidly (from 0.0425% of the total force to 0.0500%, a 17.6% increase). Sorry Chang - better start looking for a board to hire you to do nothing but bloviate on the outside. RSU's are a real thing, check them out.

NTSB initial report is out and they are indeed focused on a structural/mechanical failure. Have two friends who were witnesses and described the same things seen in the video. I am sure the final report will have much greater detail. The video does a good job discussing the counter weight system Rob installed on his aircraft and the initial findings related to that system. Rob is repeatedly lauded for being a great pilot and human.

"Baddie Brown people? " Just stop man...a completely useless comment. Question the strategy all you want...I think we all want to see something solid so we don;t get sucked into another rabbit hole but your comment was classless.

I rarely play short ball in the market and that strategy has worked out ok for me. As of today the DOW is only down 1.5% over the past six months. I was very fortunate to have a bunch of cash sitting on the sideline from a recent business deal. Using a professional I bought several blue chips on the dips (including NVDIA at $96, IBM at $227 and Microsoft at $360), and am now WAY up for 2025. YMMV I love the laugh comment from Day Man...must have been shorting.

Channeling your inner Al Sharpton...when he proves you wrong you pivot to vague racist comments?

Huh? So much blind hate you have zero clue what is going on...shocking. I know details don't matter to you you but Marco Rubio is and remains Sec State. Waltz was the National Security Advisor.

I'm thinking it could take the Hornet one circle....

The fight against the Houthis is getting ugly. Today the Truman came under fire and had to take evasive action. In doing so An F-18 that was under tow fell overboard taking the tow vehicle with it. US Navy loses $60 million jet at sea after it fell overboard from aircraft carrier Maneuver kill?

He is not a pilot...