FourFans

Perhaps I didn't use enough sarcasm. Protests should not occur in those chambers. That's just naked intimidation. Moreover, the elected leaders shouldn't be actively leading those protests. It wasn't ok on Jan 6th and it's still not ok. Acting like a thug has no place in our civics. As for if it's actually allowed? I have no idea what the law says about that.

Yes. Weirdly enough it took almost 10 minutes of google searching to find out that Reps. Justin Jones and Rep. Justin Pearson used a megaphone because, after stating their opinion in the assembled state congress, they didn't like the response they got from both republicans and democrats of all races, so they used a megaphone to shout down their opponents and excite and and embolden protestors. CNN claims it was a "rally" (because rallies happen in congressional chambers...obviously) when in fact it was an assembled session of congress. It was almost like google didn't want me to get the raw facts...weird. This wasn't the first time they disrupted sessions, and obviously the state leaders were tired of their childish behavior. They are 27 and 28 years old and, according to google, haven't done anything with their lives outside of politics. But google and CNN say they were ejected because of their race and the fact they were supporting gun control...not because they were acting like petulant children and refusing to let the state legislative body proceed with it's business. The 60 year old lady with them wasn't expelled, but she says that's because she's white. Seriously, these are people responsible for leading a state. Apparently Jones isn't new to the megaphone. If people don't like what you say, yell louder until they respond the way you want them to, right? They are nothing but entitled bullies.

I'm not imagining 'deployed' as the desert, and I'm well aware that we use civilians on the daily for target practice. Hell, I've done urban E&E myself. It's great training, and it's needed. There's a reason it's not readily disclosed how and where we practice with military skill sets. Civilians simply wouldn't understand. However, being on the business end of an ISR lens, bombsight, empty barrel, or HUD is one thing. Doing practice interrogations in public lodging is something completely different. The deployed locations that mirror a major US city where DoD would need these skills are many and varied. We definitely need to train for that. That's why we have secure facilities specifically built for the purpose of replicating those environments (with obvious limitations). There are times when a major US city is the only place to practice employment, tradecraft, etc. But, practice interrogation should not be happening in a civilian environment for the exact reason that they hit the wrong target and didn't immediately realize it. That's all kinds of unsat. Interrogation...as in get information. If they are brand new to this, it should happen in a controlled environment. If they aren't new, the instructors should be fired. It should have taken all of 5 seconds for the instructors to realize they had the wrong dude/wrong room. Field interrogation is one of the few times we question someone without knowing much about them. I get this guy probably just sat in a tub while an academic situation was occurring, but that is precisely why this kind of training should never happen in a civilian environment. FBI training DoD, I get it. There's nothing wrong there. But they HAVE to weigh the risks of making a mistake like this though. It really does make them look like the gestapo, especially in today's social and political environment. Hitting the wrong target in a person-to-person environment, possibly even disclosing some ways and means, speaks to a serious problem in the system. Risk vs reward analysis is way off somewhere in that training process. I sincerely hope this isn't an indicator of the proficiency levels in our federal agencies. That all assumes this was actually a training event. I'm not willing to discount that it could have actually been a real event that missed it's target. "Training event" would be a likely cover story for such a miss. That's no conspiracy, just a statement of fact. We can't be immune to the fact that this is precisely how federal agencies interdict bad guys. All the more need for well planned training. Either way, I think you're right: that dude's getting paid.

WTF are federal agents doing training in a public hotel? So, in the room next door there was some poor bastard waiting to get interrogated? I know a cover story when I see one. Whoever wrote that one didn't work very hard. How many deployed environments look like downtown Boston? Taken another way: the federal government is practicing invading public lodging and interrogating citizens, presumably without waking the neighbors (which is the only logical reason you'd practice in a place like that, train like you fight). That's straight up gestapo shit. In the broader context of how federal agencies have been acting recently, this is concerning.

I broke rule number one about arguing on the internet. As we've resorted to childish taunts, I'm clearly hurting sensitive feelings. I'll stop de-railing the woke thread. Back to the discussion of how to have community without religion. Good luck with that.

Oh look, thin skin. -edit to stop derailing this-

-edit to stop derailing this-

This would solve 60% of it:

I think you mis-understand the argument. It's not about Christianity. It about the moral and ethical foundations of the country. Our country was founded on Judeo-Christian values, principles, and morals. In the same way as a house, if you try and move the structure off that foundation, the whole thing collapses. Imagine Iran as a whole suddenly being forced to shift to Hindu, Buddist, or Christian values. The society would collapse. Same with America. The difference being that in America, so many people have had liberty and freedom that they paid no price for, for so long, that they don't appreciate what they have, so they are ignorant to the facts of our society's structure. There's reason Wokeness hasn't caught on in Russia, Iran, or China. Freedom and liberty, unfortunately, often result in ignorant arrogance after a few generations. So it's not about Christianity for Christ's sake, it's about Christianity because those values are the foundational structure of our country.

I've been wondering the same thing. It's probably because they have no clue what real racism is. Oddly enough I have yet to see the gay-pride flag version of corporate symbols and logos on anything at all in the middle east commercial market. It's almost as if the big companies only believe in DEI when it's instituted in the USA. Weird, right?

The truth usually is. That's why thin skinned people get butt hurt in debriefs. That doesn't mean we should back off from saying it.

So...ops normal for an airlift unit commanded by a crossflow turd snorkeling tanker clown?

FIFY.

@brabusI can't upvote that post enough. I will add this simple note to answer your "I want to actually solve the problem" point It's simple. Incentivize men to stay in the home, providing with and for the mother with whom they create kids. Protect the family unit, and America will survive.

Wait, you mean calling legislation "The Inflation Reduction Act" when it does nothing at all to reduce inflation because it increases the production of money and spending on A LOT of things (like Solar which is useful in, some, places) but decidedly insists on using more money...which has to come from somewhere... BY DEFINITION, INFLATION: "Monetary inflation is a sustained increase in the money supply of a country" I ask any liberal poster here: would you run your personal budget the way the liberal agenda supporters want to run our countries?

@nsplayrA sincere thank you the specifics behind your stance! Also, fully agree about the "biggest shit show" ...sigh...can Trump just go away, please? Curious question: Are you familiar with the research and books of Peter Zeihan?

Son, reading comprehension has failed. I asked clear questions which you refuse to answer. I made no implication on who to vote for, yet you say I did. I have made no attempt to sway your opinion, I've simply posed questions asking you to elaborate your beliefs. Instead you displayed ignorant arrogance. You have no clue who I am, nor what I believe, yet you pumped all your missiles into the "all thrust, no vector" fire ball. You're a no-step U for loss of SA before even getting out of the brief. I was really hoping for better. Disappointing. We're done here.

So you're going with option 3 dodge: "I don't want to talk about it" in reference to direct, reasonable questions I asked you. What Joe Biden and Trump have done, and are doing, to this country is EXACTLY the point. Especially when you advocate for or against voting for either of them. It's called reasoned public debate, ironically what the "forum" is designed for. I'm simply asking for you to elaborate your point of view with specifics. If you can't or won't, why should anyone listen to a single word you say? I'm asking for insight into why you believe what you believe, yet you obfuscate. You know very little of my own views, as you've asked no questions. Are you going to answer my questions, or just continue shifting the subject? For reference:

Perhaps, but I've never met these guys, so I'm not willing to believe that. Rhetoric spouted online is almost invariably an escalated and idealized versions of true beliefs. Everyone does that. I know I do. Cutting through to ground truth of a differing view is worth it to me, so I'll keeping asking questions until I'm actually answered. To be clear: guys like @nsplayrand @Prozac are invaluable resources worth listening to. They continue to post on what is largely a conservative forum despite often getting attacked or derided for their beliefs, yet they continue. That means they are true believers and I, for one, seek to understand what facts drive their beliefs. History teaches that the left mis-understands or completely fails to care about the beliefs of the right. If conservatives and moderates don't try to understand the left, there is no hope of any kind of compromise, and society splits...which we're seeing right now.

So you are saying Biden is honestly the best option for leading our country right now? Regardless of the track record to date? You're willing to vote for him again instead of someone like desantis who has a proven record of success in implementing policies that are both wanted by the people he leads and actually result in good outcomes? It sounds like you are advocating for siding with politics instead of reason because we can't change the world, so might as well accept shitty performance out of our leaders and move on. Do you accept that same stance with your financial advisor, mechanic, plumber, or home repair specialist? If not, please address, specifically, the items you are very happy with from Biden. You may agree with his policies, but please show me the exact outcomes in, lets say: economics, that you are pleased with. Do you believe Biden has unified or divided the country through his efforts? Is our international footing better or worse because of the policies of the last two years? Get specific please. You wouldn't ignore strange noises under the hood after a visit to the mechanic, and you'd want to know exactly what's wrong. I'm asking the same questions. Don't tell me to ignore what's broken just because "Politics has always been somewhat dirty/disingenuous/cynical". Without fail, every time I ask these kinds of questions I get one of three responses: "Somehow Trump's fault." "You won't understand because I already know what you believe" or "I don't want to talk about his." Never have a I heard a rational, unemotional explanation of why people are pleased with Biden. Not Once. The truest response I ever got was "Doesn't it make you feel good that we're voicing support for the oppressed?" Those aren't answers. That's dodging the question because those people are afraid to answer questions with real facts and are running away. So yes, I will call that what it is. Cowardice.

Truth about USAF FS sucking at their jobs aside...let's not pretend that the Flying Class 1 is a high bar.

I am neither conservative nor liberal, democrat nor republican. I never voted for Trump. I never voted for Biden. I currently have been voting more conservative simply because I have been agreeing topic to topic in that direction. It's not always been that way. For example: Democrats used to be anti-censorship and anti-authoritarian and I agreed with them often. Now they aren't, so now I don't. I'm an American who prefers adults making difficult decisions using humility, reason, logic, candor, and a certain level of social awareness. Our current president has none of those attributes. He is a hollow shell and you clearly understate all your critiques of him. It shows in how you carefully craft those critiques. Have the balls to admit the truth: Biden, Trump, and a vast majority of our current government have no business leading anything...ever. Yet you support them. If you let these people run your house or manage your daily decisions, you'd be homeless, divorced, and broke....and like addicted. I implore you to stop being a coward and call a spade a spade. Our government under Biden's administration has amplified political divisions rather then unifying as they claimed they would, has undercut our self-defense capacities, and is in the process of putting our economy nearly a decade away from fiscal recovery by way of spending beyond their means. There is no way you'd run your personal life the way this administration is, yet you actively support how they run our nations affairs. Such dissonance is not sustainable psychologically or socially. That's not understatement. That's factual information from each of those areas of focus. Ignore it if you want, but if you choose to refute it, please bring facts that prove your point, not emotions. You'll note I reference no social agendas, politics, or hot topic issues. It's the basics that are completely messed up. Live within your means. Make rational decisions. Protect the family unit. Don't pass on debt to your children. Unify, don't divide. Basics. If you insist on supporting agendas simply because they are "mainstream democrat" I beg you to reconsider. Acting in that way makes you what Marx called a "Useful Idiot", and you are hurting our country.

You're seriously still standing behind this guy?

I know some are adverse to facts...however, the $25,000 was established sometime in the early 90's (best I can tell). Congrats, they basically finally adjusted for inflation...for the first year of the 10 you'll be receiving it. Have fun with your AFPAK HANDS 2.0 assignment when they create it. Good work, great incentive. P.S. Don't take the bonus. https://www.bls.gov/data/inflation_calculator.htm