FLEA

WTF?

I mean, I would NEVER encourage my children to voluntarily join the military anymore. When they are old enough, I will actively discourage them from that decision. The sacrifices simply aren't worth it in the end.

I mean in either case, if a dude is killing it all the way to phase 3 and then his grades just hike off a cliff, that was clearly a wasted oppurtunity to retain some great talent. This was a problem that could have been easily fixed.

Probably fine if someone mentored him on how to harness failure. But the AF lacks mentors right now so probably noone would have stepped up and it would have been catastrophic. In that case you're correct.

This is the same shit logic that represents why the Air Force can't discern two officers apart. "Well, they both completed PME and got their masters done. How do we pick?" Honestly, your argument largely relies on the idea that there are non-discernable differences in candidates for these positions. The reality is in fact, especially at this level, there are heavily discernable characteristics. From the jobs they held prior to the approach they see on the world. This is in fact the wrong logic to go about appointments. To that note though, the counter argument is also true. There is no such thing as "more qualified" as qualifications for these positions is largely the opinion of the POTUS to begin with. There is certainly a threshold of qualifications congress likes to see before making confirmations but the rest is largely discretionary. The reality is, the President should be picking the "best" people for the jobs but "best" might not mean "best" performing or most qualified. It means the most suited for that position, at that time, with the contemporary challenges that department faces and the particular skillset the President needs access to. This has a lot of connotations. If the President has certain knowledge gaps he may pick a person that fills them. If he recognizes there are certain challenges a less experienced candidate is better prepared for than a more experienced candidate, he may pick the less experienced candidate. Its largely discretionary. You could argue Gender/Race make an important part of that decision if you believe there is a significant challenge having to do with gender or race involved. But if you are making that challenge up in a vain effort to appease voters you are probably 1.) ignoring candidates that are better suits and 2.) being seen through by the voters who can smell bullshit.

Different stressors. Ive met a lot of people who honestly just couldn't handle the idea of being inadequate. They were groomed for success their whole life, never failed, and when it actually happens, they have no comprehension of how to embrace it and use it to improve themselves. I don't think combat would have got him later on, but at some point debriefing is going to be a problem. You have to know how to take critiques in this line of work. Take the CAF for instance where even when you meet all of your objectives on the surface you will still spend nit noids of time discussing how to do it better.

This is going to kill the primary campaign to vaccinate people if the public has reason to believe it's not as effective as advertised.

I mean, I literally, actually, very well probably couldnt survive without Amazon right now, living overseas in lockdown. I have ZERO other ways to receive products. Stores havent been open here for months and Amazon is the only delivery service for consumer goods I know of in this country. Pretty much ANYTHING I can't get at a grocery store, I've been buying off Amazon for the last year.

Say nothing to the fact that tech companies did nothing to censor the 3 years of lies politicians told about Russia-gate and the Trump dossier.

I think this is my issue. It's not neccessarily that they are censoring, but the FCC has special rules and provisions that giveany tech and telecom companies de facto monopolies. Telling conservatives to build their own social network is near impossible, as they need all the infrastructure and cloud behind it as well, plus a search engine and everything else that brings traffic.

I really like it for running into a grocery story to just buy 1-3 things. It is a great option over having to wait in line behind families with cart fulls of groceries. They probably need to put an item limit on it, but grocery stores are probably unlikely to do that.

You and I are probably really similar. On the left right spectrum I'm -2 and on the authoritarian / libertarian spectrum I'm -1 (slightly more libertarian). Yet I generally vote Republican. One reason is, is because like you, I'm very strong on the 2A and the democratic party is literally willing to do nothing to defend it or even recognize it's purposes. But as you know, both parties carry a moving goal post. And everytime they move it the 50 yard line changes. That is going to cause some people to have a hard time deciding.

There's a lot of moderates like myself that find the democratic party running away from them.

Yeah I'm already curious how many people are going to have to sell back in 2022 when everyone in the squadron has 90-120 days to burn off. I guess you just lose it unless you are seperating, but if they are smart they would start pushing for a sell option. I know in my organization leave has generally been denied (due to COVID) for the last year unless you are staying local area.

I mean, I'm pretty sure you don't mean this, but no, a collapsed China would not benefit us. Encouraging top Chinese talent to leave at a controlled pace would though. You could probably make a case study on what the effects of operation paperclip created on East Germany after WW2 and get a rough idea.

The problem isn't noone will do it. The problem is noone will do it for what Americans have been accustomed to paying, or as.you eluded.to, without the protections and safety a US worksite garuntees. We devalued our own labor for these skills. If you offered a dude 6 figures to build roofs I'm sure you'd elicit all types of volunteers. Instead we want that for less than half. As you mentioned this ties into the cultural problem we created by devaluing skilled trades as well.

I've been reading/following/studying a lot of the migration crises in Europe lately due to my job and it's interesting to me in some of the slightly different ways they frame the problem. One thing they often do not discuss in the US that I've seen discussed here is the consequences on the country migrants are coming from when they leave. In short, the people that take the risk to migrate are often more affluent in society, else they wouldn't have the means to attempt the journey, even though they often lose their wealth in doing so. These people are often skilled in their crafts and when they leave a country, it further accelerates that societies collapse. Generally, the societies best problem solvers are bailing on it before the problems are solved. The impending collapse accelerates the migration and it reciprocates until a state collapse is imminent, creating a massive humanitarian crises for those who can't leave, and often a security crises for everyone else. Much of the literature floating the EU now, predicates that any refugee admittance programs should be based on the connotation that there is a plan to eventually return the refugee to their home country, so as to prevent that collapse. This often means negotiating with despised governments/terrorists/etc... To ensure their security. It also begs the question, is accepting economic refugees in the US the best thing we can actually do for these people? Or would taking a better interest in our southern neighbors with economic aid and humanitarian assistance go further? How many of these people WANT to be an American and how many just want to live in an afluent society, but really don't desire to leave home? There's a subtle difference there. Being an American should be about internalizing our values/morals/beliefs/etc... Not just about living our lifestyle/having money/property/cars/etc.... If migrants are only really interested in the latter than it's possibly better we adjust our strategy to one that is focused on garnering security in Central and South America. That may mean working with dictators. But that may be for the greater good.

Regarding the Uber/lyft discussion, I've heard plenty of comments on how this benefits the drivers from being exploited. Let's be clear though guys; a regulation on contract services that ultimately makes it too expensive for gig apps to operate and they close shop is not good for uber or.lyft drivers. Now they are just unemployed.

I love self checkout. Super useful if you're just going in for 1-2 things. If you have a cart, definitely go through a cashier. Alternatively we can go to the German system where checkout becomes the most stressful 6.9 minutes of your week. I wish self checkout would catch on there.

I don't get why anyone supports regulations on these. Do people not like having convenience options for transportation and dining in their life? Yeah I get the taxi driver unions blah blah blah but you can't tell me the coal miner in Pennsylvania or the automotive part manufacturer in Michigan needs to recognize that certain jobs are not coming back due to technology, and then simultaneously stand on a hill of protecting other antiquated and obsolete jobs. Are you going to try and get rid of self checkout lines and ATMs as well? Would hate to put more cashier's and tellers out of work.

Same. Does anyone remember from the last time if you signed the bonus and then VSP was offered if you could take both?

https://www.cnbc.com/amp/2021/01/13/moderna-ceo-says-the-world-will-have-to-live-with-the-coronavirus-forever.html Moderna CEO says COVID never going away even with vaccine. One thing not discussed is we don't know yet if the vaccine can get us to herd immunity even with wide adoption. It appears that scientist are very unsure whether the vaccine is effective at preventing transmission. We just received doses at our base but I refuse to be vaccinated before my parents have both doses, out of principle. Ridiculous they are in their late 70s and need to wait until late February and we have Airmen in their early 20s that can get it now.

Thinking about it further. I'm not even sure it matters. From Tulsi's point of view, I think the wider interest is we don't need to be policing every world dictator who gasses his people. Its certainly tragic and has a human costs, but shes clearly stated that the human costs of war should be bared by the US alone. Taken more holistically, and having looked up her remarks, I think she's quite clear her stance on international politics is one where we need to be willing to accept a few dictators in the world. I can't disagree with that.

Mhmm, because we've never attacked targets accidentally with incomplete intel. Come on man, are you new at this? Do you really trust our intel apparatus that much? They are awful!

Uhhhh, so we agree its filtered then right? Are you just rambling at this point?