Blue

Understood on the concerns about RQ-4 retirements, NDAAs, etc. Putting all that aside, how have things been from your initial selection up until now? Productive and rewarding? Any specific things you've seen that you thought were done well, or things you wish would have been different?

Because the majority of people who claim to "fight racism" are really just a bunch of useful idiots who are doing what they're told. They only make noise about racism when their newsfeeds tell them to. The reality is things like identity politics and racism are just used as a distraction. They keep people from focusing on actual important things like income inequality, and the fact that the quality of life is eroding away for everyone but most wealthy. The below comes off a little tinfoil-y, but I think it gets the point across.

I suppose if someone wanted to get a second one flying, this is the best opportunity. Only $129k, although you're obviously going to need more than that to get it flying again. https://courtesyaircraft.com/aircraft/n496wm-cessna-a-37b-dragonfly/

2G?

My employer has stated: "...third shots or so-called booster shots are not considered part of the federal mandate, although that could change over time." (emphasis mine). I've heard a lot of arguments about "it's just a couple of shots," etc. Which, at the moment, is all you need to comply. But just as "two weeks to slow the spread" became "masks required until further notice," don't be surprised if the vax requirement continues to expand.

I've heard this said a couple times about AA and Phoenix. As an outsider looking in, I'm left scratching my head. My impression is Phoenix is growing like mad, with lots of industry, lots of wealthy retirees, and lots of.....everything. I'd think AA would want to protect and grow what they have there. Instead, I continually hear about AA not being committed to Phoenix. What am I missing?

Now that we're out of Afghanistan, it will be interesting to see what becomes of those fleets. We don't have a good track record of supporting "novel / niche" weapons systems (see C-27). Also, guess we've already retired 2/3rds of the C-145 fleet? Some US-2 specs from Wikipedia below. Hard to put a lot of stock into them, since it is Wikipedia, and so much of the performance depends on loading. But I wouldn't have expected the US-2 to have a 2,500 nmi range. Impressive. Also, would have to imagine hanging all the enormous amphibian gear off the C-130 will have a big hit on its performance. The US-2 needs a congressional caucus to go bat for it. Gather up a couple ANG units in coastal states that are in danger of losing their iron. Pick a US defense contractor in an under-served state to provide the modifications needed to bring it up to our desired specs, etc. You know, throw some money and power around. US-2 Maximum speed: 300 kn Cruise speed: 260 kn Range: 2,500 nmi

You're just intent on trying to make this whole discussion about politics, aren't you? Trying your hardest to frame up everything as just another "Left Wing / Right Wing" circlejerk?

Apologies, as I'm trying to keep up. So, the main pro-Covid vaccine voice here now is @Prozac? The torch has been officially passed from @pawnman? @Prozac, at the risk of stating the obvious, your stance on Covid vaccine mandate is in the minority here. Rather than talking down to people, why don't you take a moment and tell us about yourself, and why you feel so strongly about the vax?

You're right. Throughout this entire "pandemic," messaging has been consistently fluid, with constantly shifting goalposts. To quote Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis from a couple days ago: "We’ve gone from 15 days to slow the spread, to 3 jabs to keep your job. If you don’t give resistance to this, they’re going to absolutely do more." When trying to gauge the reaction to your messaging, it's a pretty well-honed technique to float "trial balloons" to the masses, and then gauge the reaction. It seems like that's exactly what's happening here regarding "booster shots." You don't see any solid info regarding booster shots, just a bunch of rumors and hearsay. Wait and see what happens over the next six months though. Bet the messaging gets a lot more solid.

What drove you to quit, as opposed to staying on and letting them terminate you?

I think it's been said here before, but this certainly illustrates the point. We weren't in Afghanistan 20 years. We were in Afghanistan one year, repeated 20 times.

I think the reality that often gets missed in these discussions is that, for the vast majority of all us little "cogs in the economic machine," the Covd pandemic is over. We've moved on. The contractor I hired to do some remodeling didn't care about masks or vaccine status, and neither did anyone on his crew. The cared about getting the job done, getting paid, and moving onto the next job. When I took a business trip to one of our industrial sites, the factory leadership stressed all the different covid mitigation measures that were in play (masks, plexiglass shields, etc). When it came down to getting on the plant floor, the mechanics and technicians gave a decent effort to wear masks, but the cumbersome plexiglass shields stayed in the corner, where they belonged. They were too busy getting work done. The current administration is trying to shoe-horn in this vaccine mandate, and I'm sure the threat of the mandate has driven more people to get the jab. But the reality is that, as soon as the actual mandate is officially published (whenever that is), it'll get dragged down into the courts and never again see the light of day. Those companies that got all kinds of press when they mandated the jab (United Airlines, etc) will eventually drop the mandate, with little fanfare. There are various entities out there that benefit from a never-ending pandemic. They'll continue to try to keep the narrative and propaganda flowing. For the rest of us, we've all moved on.

https://rumble.com/vnouq3-twitter-user-video-showing-the-shifting-narrative-in-vaccine-efficacy.html This video has been making the rounds, a 2 minute review of the ever-shifting narrative on vaccine effectiveness.

For the record, @hindsight2020 made a pretty good case back on page 9 about how Afghanistan was never about "regime change," or anything of the sort.

Interesting interview with Gates. That 90 second clip was impressive. In that short snippet, he managed to spread the blame for the Afghanistan withdrawal debacle to both Trump and Biden. Cause, you know, spread the blame around enough, eventually it looks like it's no ones fault. He doesn't have a recent book release he's pushing, so one has to wonder why he's doing this interview now. It's hard not to assume he's on a push to define and burnish his reputation, now that we're closing the book on Afghanistan, a conflict that defined a such a large chunk of his professional career. Old bureaucrat, pushing 80, face looking pale and full of liver spots. Trying to make sure the "record is straight" on what he's done, and why he wasn't in the wrong. Seems to be a common thing; I remember Donald Rumsfeld doing something similar in the years before his death (one 2016 interview here with Stephen Colbert). George W. Bush seems to be making similar rounds lately as well.

Good to see Col Curry (319 RW/CC) really lead in the most Air Force-way possible. Set a 28 Sept deadline, in order to come in a full five weeks ahead of the 2 Nov deadline given by the Air Force. Way to lean forward Colonel. Also, have to wonder how strange these letters sound to anyone who hasn't been in the military. "You are hereby reprimanded! You are ordered to proceed to transition class, where you will be counseled on how to make you transition to civilian life as smooth as possible. Also, make sure to get checked out at the clinic." I think some people are assuming you'll get marched to the front gate and literally "kicked" out onto the street.

Nicolas Challian was appointed as the first ever "Chief Software Officer" of the Air Force in August 2018, and it sounds like he put in a good fight over the past three years. The Military.com article highlights Chaillan's concerns over Cybersecurity, but his letter posted to Linkedin is much more wide-ranging. He spends some time highlighting his team's accomplishments during his tenure (which seems like they had many). However, he has scathing criticism of how the DoD defines, develops, and fields software of all kinds. It's a lengthy letter, but his criticisms seem to revolve around the following items (none of which are unexpected to anyone who's spent any time at all around the DoD): DoD not funding his group properly, to the point that his billet and office had no dedicated funding, and he was forced to spend an inordinate amount of time chasing funding to do his job. The figures he quotes seem reasonable - sounds like he was asking for $10's of millions, not $100's of millions. DoD policies not being in line with modern software development. Putting uniformed officers in charge of software development programs when they don't have the background/knowledge. As he stated: "The Department of Defense, overall, needs to stop staffing Enterprise I.T. teams as if I.T. is not a highly technical skill and expertise. We would not put a pilot in the cockpit without extensive flight training; why would we expect someone with no IT experience to be close to successful?" Overall bureaucratic inertia, silos, and resistance to change. The story of Kessel Run seems to be a bright spot in DoD software acquisition and development. The Air Force had spent years and hundreds of millions funding the normal primes (Lockheed, Northrop, etc) to develop upgraded AOC software, with not much to show for it. The Kessel Run group was able to succeed in a matter of months after spending tens of millions. Kessel Run referring to the smuggling route in Star Wars, since the group figured they'd run into so much opposition within DoD that they'd almost have to "smuggle" their software in. Ultimately, the DoD spends a big chunk of money on software development with a lot of companies (Lockheed, Boeing, Northrop, etc). And the entire enterprise is biased against faster/better/cheaper. I'm personally out of my realm on a lot of this stuff, but it seems to be the same age-old struggle. We'll drag our feet on changing our ways until we get our ass kicked by someone. Then, after we're done licking our wounds, change will come fast and furious. Interested to hear from @17D_guy ,@Chuck17 or anyone else who's been closer to the software enterprise.

Also got a lengthy e-mail today from my employer about the vaccine requirement, including the 8 Dec deadline. @arg, maybe we work for the same place. Lots of mealy-mouthed language, including this fun bit (emphasis mine): Really begs the question (again), of "where does this all stop?" Two weeks to "slow the spread." It's just a mask It's just two shots etc. Edit to add: Maybe that's the point. There is no end. Make your choice for getting the vax now, and plan on continuing to get shots/pills/etc. as Uncle Sam dictates. Or, say no, and plan to be ostracized from participating in a large portion of corporate America.

I suppose. I guess I'd need a bit more supporting evidence. Honestly doesn't matter what the end goal is. Them who has the gold makes the rules. Therefore, the federal government is doing what they're told by the wealthy. And the wealthy are motivated by greed and power. The only power the people have is in their numbers. I'm encouraged that ~45% of Americans have taken a pass on the vaccinations, while at the same time a bit dismayed by those in my own social circle who took the shot. I only hope that 45% continues to forgo the shot. Can't fire all of us, right?

As an anecdote, that about matches the current US population (55.4% fully vaccinated, 44.6% unvaccinated).

Honest question: Is there any kind of open-source intel on what the Taliban has planned for the next weeks/months? I know the Taliban aren't likely to just drop everything and rule in peace. At the same time, are they going to set off on some kind of Khmer Rouge-style genocide, where everyone associated with the West is on a hit-list? I'd assume the reality is somewhere in between the two. I know some want to paint the Taliban as a bunch of Neanderthal goat-fuckers, which maybe they are. But they are a bunch of Neanderthal goat-fuckers who have to run a country, including Kabul, a city of 4+ million people. They may have all kinds of plans related to theology and women's rights. But they also have to keep the lights on. They've already reopened Kabul airport with the help of the Qataris. And I'd have to think they'd rather ransom an American first before they hang their body in the street.

The final part about using graphene in the vaccinations to develop some kind of "brain-to-machine interface" seems a bit far-fetched. That's just a small portion of the paper though. The rest of it I have a tough time arguing with, especially given how well the author has documented their sources. Honestly, so much of the last 18 months can be boiled down to the same old aphorisms. Specifically: Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Follow the money. Those two alone allow one to make much more sense of everything Covid-related. This "Spartacus Letter" just does everyone the favor of providing a well-sourced summary.

Dang. Reminds me of the Mark Twain quote: "If you tell the truth, you don't have to remember anything." Lt. Col. Scheller is doing nothing but speaking the truth. And it seems that military leadership is scared of him, because he's the most serious threat: An intelligent, motivated individual with nothing to lose. Also, at the risk of a tangent, I guess Mattis is gay. Not surprising, that makes a hell of a lot more sense than all the "Warrior Monk" nonsense.