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Ditto Joe, I spent 20 years of my life throwing my ass into the fire. Here we are in Act III of our lives and I feel frustrated like those 20 were wasted. This is not where or how we should be.

Excellent paper. Thank you. WHO now estimates the death count was under-reported and was closer to 3 million. I still think the lockdowns were a good idea given that we didn't know what we were dealing with and really had no plan, so decisons at that instance in time had to be made. In the military, there is a "Stand-Down." Everybody stop what you're doing, assess what's going on, and present ideas - basically, hit the stop button. Then, reboot. Politicizing it - no bueno.

In 1888, two friends started the Pearl Milling Company, a flour mill in Missouri. They soon faced a flour glut and started selling extra flour as a "self-rising pancake mix" sold in big paper sacks. In 1889, they added the Aunt Jemima trade name to conflate their product with the "Southern Mammy" stereotype; a vaudeville carciature of an obese Southern slave woman who was happy to be a slave. (The original image for Aunt Jemima actually came from a Vaudeville poster.) She was referred to as "Aunt" since honorifics like "Miss" were prohibited for slaves - and later freed slaves. People were, by comtemporary accounts, amused by the name. At the 1893 World Exposition in Chicago they hired a former slave, Nancy Green, to play Aunt Jemima at their booth. She didn't look much like the picture on the product, although they were both black women. After time went by the image of Aunt Jemima changed. One change recast the image based on an obese black actress named Anna Robinson. The next change was based VERY loosely on cook Rosa Washington Riles. In 1968 a spin made her into a composite of several women. She was made thinner and more stylish, less cartoonish. In 1989 it was revamped again, with the scarf removed completely and a plain white collar with lace. Again this was not based on any specific woman. In 2020 Quaker Oats (the new owners) decided to change the branding away from the Vaudeville woman to a simpler Pearl Milling Company logo. When Pepsico bought THEM out, they continued with the change, for several reasons: 1) They thought that sales would increase, which as always was the primary consideration. 2) They wanted to avoid the "happy slave" stereotype which was becoming more problematic. 3) Conservatives were beginning to use "Aunt Jemima" as a racial epithet. Conservative talk show host John Sylvester had started calling Condoleeza Rice "Aunt Jemima" and Colin Powell "Uncle Ben" - and they didn't want to sell a breakfast product synonymous with a racial slur. (Later republican mayor Barry Presgraves would call Kamala Harris "Aunt Jemima" during the 2024 presidential campaign.) This caused an almost unbelievable amount of outrage among conservatives. Liberals were "cancelling history" and the government was "woke" - and were destroying a beloved icon. Several memes cast this as a government decision - "I can't believe that changing a pancake box didn't end COVID for Biden!" - and other such memes that conflated it with government action. What was odd about this is that it was a decision purely based on corporate bean counters and lawyers, who felt they would just plain make more money (and lose less to lawsuits) with the rebrand. I noticed this recently when the US government actually DID start deleting historical records of black people. As a single example, Charles C. Rogers was a highly decorated Army officer and the highest ranking black soldier to receive the Medal of Honor during the Vietnam war. During an attack by the North Vietnamese, Rogers was wounded three times but continued directing artillery fire and leading counterattacks until the enemy was repelled. He was awarded the Medal of Honor in 1970 for his extraordinary bravery. The DoD set up a web page to honor this man and his accomplishments. It was deleted about two weeks ago in the "DEI purge" under the current administration. On Facebook, I noted several conservatives defending this, opining that he probably only got the MoH to begin with because he was black, and how glad they were that the real heroes would now be honored. It is both remarkable and sad that conservatives will vociferously defend depictions of fictional black people that show them as willing servants, but condemn any depictions of actual black people as heroes. It exemplifies how conservatives want minorities to be seen (and used) in the US.

I agree with you pretty much 100%. Unfortunately, people like us, who vote on what someone knows and can learn, don't appear to be in the majority now. I'm really concerned about my country right now. I've lived in what it looks like it's becoming, and it's generally a great place to be privileged, or subservient. But not for the kind of people who actually settled this country. Wendy P.

The glaring truth that base698, and others who believe the same, ignore is that we who supported restrictions-even with some degree of doubt-did it not for ourselves but for our fellow citizens. They, invariably as base698 has again made evident, take their exceptions because they personally were in some way limited. Sadly, that exact psychology is on open display again with their support of Trumps policies that limit or harm their fellow human beings.

Even with the clearances I had, we still and always had the Need to Know rule. Clearance was just the initial hurdle, but does that person have a need to know? In this case it's a crystal clear HELL NO. Compartmentation of sensitive information is something the current admin is clueless about.

I was going to jump in, but then I remembered this is not SC.

I think that something that many Trump supporters miss is that any increase in power in the presidency goes both ways. They cheer when Trump, for example, deports legal US citizens, defunds universities that do not follow government mantra, ignores parts of the Constitution and uses the FBI as a tool for revenge because all of that is "owning the libs." But that sort of power doesn't "go away" once someone else is in power. Imagine a new democratic president that declares an emergency and creates, via executive order, a requirement that anyone who wants to own a gun get a federal license, to save the thousands of children that are killed every year by firearms. They are not violating the second amendment - heavens no! - because anyone can still get a gun as long as they get a license. Of course, in order to save money, there won't be many places to get that license; having a lot of licensing centers is a waste of taxpayer dollars. Or an emergency ban on gasoline/diesel for any vehicles over 4000 lbs due to the climate emergency. There will be exceptions granted, of course, as long as the person can prove their need. Like politicians who need armored limos and democratic contributors who have proven their loyalty to the government. Then an executive order (titled something like "protecting your vote from electoral crime") that bans criminals from voting. Which, of course, include people who own guns but aren't licensed, or people who still drive those over-4000 lb vehicles. Anyone can still register to vote, as long as you can demonstrate you are not one of those criminals. Power doesn't go away because "well, we didn't mean for them to do THAT with it!"

And here's an honest start. I heard an interview with one of the authors of this paper with a meta-analysis of papers about the effects of various things that were done, including the lockdown. And nope, the lockdown was probably not worth it. In retrospect. Because the last global pandemic we had was before germ theory was thoroughly ingrained, and experiences like the hugely increased mortality in Philadelphia due to the 1918 flu and their holding of a big military parade (at least that's what's thought to be the cause for Philadelphia's outsized death toll). The interview (and I don't remember when I heard it other than the last month or so, and where other than NPR) was really good; the author said that only an honest appraisal of what didn't work would make a difference next time Wendy P.

It was Base's fault. Him and those like him failed to adhere to a shutdown. Let's not make a virus allow us to blame either side. Everybody did the best they could with a 100 year event. Mistakes? Absolutely. Instead of playing the blame game - how about a major non-culpible lessons-learned communicated to the people.

Your perception skills are a tad skewed, methinks. Certainly your understanding of how Bill thinks isn't even close. Your admission that Trump supporters, including you, are believers in weaponizing the legal system to attack their enemies does naught but confirm all that we've been saying all along. So you just carry on not seeing how your political views are destroying the fabric of the nation and making a mockery of the Constitution, our apparently fragile separation of powers, and the judicial system that was supposed to hold it all together. You see, the thing of it is we all need to be able to hold our noses and accept what we do not like in the name of holding together the nation; that is in fact job one. What Trump is now doing and what supporters such as yourself are now doing is the polar opposite of that but you just keep pretending it will all rebalance nicely once your pet peeves, personal agenda, and identified enemies are dealt with properly.

Operational security (OPSEC) is a security and risk management process. Having a TS1 clearance does not mean, 1) that anyone with a TS1 gets to know what's going on in another area - to Normiss' point; "Need to Know," and 2) one in a leadership position must keep, maintain, and enforce the process and standards. If a Navy E-3 can get courtmartialed for taking a pic in the Nuke room and sending it to his family, then the standard for the SecDef should be much higher. For God's sake, he's surrounded by Intel people whose whole existence is to ensure that security is maintained. All he had to do was turn his head and say, "Take care of it."

Also Schumer, Pelosi, Maxine Waters, that old cane waiving guy and others.

Apology accepted and apparently you don't know, right. The idea is that you show up not to vote for your party but to vote for your country. That you did not do; what you did do was put your head in the sand. This I take exception to: "This too will pass and our system is still one of the best." In other words, it's all no biggie, take a chill pill, and just ride this out waiting for better times. Yesterday Lisa Murkowski basically told her constituents things were weird and she was scared. Well fuck that noise. Why not announce you are caucusing with the D's and get loud with your colleagues in both houses to do the same recognizing that is probably our only short term hope if not a good plan for reelection? You know, be brave and set an example for others to follow. You could do the same: start by admitting that voting third party and not Harris was a partial vote for Trump, change your voter registration, call every last one of your R representatives and tell them you are pissed and they should be, too. And go big telling all of your Special Forces buddies that current conservative values are not what you served to protect and encourage them to take the same new, liberal activist path. Why? Well because right now there is no reason to think this will simply pass and we'll soon, or even someday, be back to sanity and fair treatment for every person living in America and the respect and admiration of the world. Nor is there any reason to believe Trump will suddenly stop tanking what was a great economy and the envy of the world or quit hiring sycophantic nincompoops like Pete Hegseth to run departments of state. That alone, I would have thought, might have inspired you to say enough's enough.

Hi Keith, Well written - Thank You IMO it is absolutely imperative that we elect non-GOP types next yr; both the House & the Senate [ where we can ]. I truly believe that this is the only way to stop Trump & his cronies. Well, there are a couple of other ways; but, let's not go there. Jerry Baumchen

I volunteer to serve as foreign affairs. :)

Joint Training Exercise in Texas. Bunch of SF, Rangers, Marine Force Recon get done with training and go to the local bar. Things heat up, everyone squares off, and just before the blows start; Mad Dgg walks in the center with his hands up looking at the Marine Force Recon guy and hollers, "I challenge you to a real man's contest!" Everyone quiets and he says, "Let's rub penis heads and the first one to smile loses." Everyone fell out laughing and went back to drinking.

Without further ado China has banned all US LNG imports including those en route. They have studied our weaknesses from Trump 1 and were ready. What a freakin' dupe Trump is: crash the stock market and then fold on tariffs because the more important bond markets are crashing as a consequence and now stand by dumbstruck while the Chinese reconfigure the world energy markets. Make America Gullible Again.

Personally I loved it. Can you shut it after the GI Joe jumpers exit? Wendy P.

Welcome back! I don’t know anything about the DZ, but I do know about de-entering after a long layoff. Been 24 years and 2000 jumps since I started again. Enjoy! Wendy P.

That sounds a lot like another poster here who insisted he may as well vote for the R team because "they are all just as bad as each other". AKA rationalization.

I'd have a seriously hard issue with this were I still in service. It is in direct opposition of the oath we swore. Stupidity is ending America, and it's being celebrated.

Yep. Here I can think of two chains that failed - Souplantation and California Pizza Kitchen. I also know two people who died from COVID, namely Art Bori (skydiver from the NW) and Robert, old family friend. I am very glad more people did not die. I feel less bad about the companies that failed. Putting tens of millions of people out of work to save a million from death seems like a good tradeoff to me. People can always get another job. (And did.)

And Massachusetts is doing way better. It's pretty blue in Massachusetts. We're mostly all vaccinated, too. Wendy P.

ah, I mean no disrespect or offense. I just prefer to avoid emotional and misleading titles. The world is already as heated as it is.

Pure eloquence.

That's the thing, really, that I was thinking about. ICU, and just ER, space was at a premium, ventilators were in short supply etc, and so on. It was real and the prospect that it could totally get beyond any semblance of control was real. I have zero regrets that I was supportive of some restrictions I now believe were overdone because I fully believe those restrictions did save some lives and prevent some lives from being made permanently worse and so on as we've already discussed on these pages more than enough. None of which in any way, shape, or form, justifies the insensible and irrational over reaction in the opposite direction some here propose is the right course.

Yes, absolutely. And accepting questions from people who disagree with them will be key. So they need to start talking with Republicans now. Wendy P.

Speaking of the moon.. Here is a matching tie and clip from a NASA launch.. The guy is a swarthy IBM contractor, I found his name but don't need to say because he isn't Cooper and he doesn't have the Michael Jackson nose.

Hi Joe, Last week I received an email from David Hogg. He probably got my info because of my political donations last year. Then yesterday, I saw him on ABC's This Week. I found him way too talkative. But, then I began looking into him. I have to agree with him that the Dems have to get rid of those way too old folks that are holding us back; think Biden at his debate last year. While I do not agree with everything he stands for, I damn sure agree that the Dems [ and this country ] need some new blood. Party vice-chair David Hogg wants to unseat some fellow Democrats by funding primary challengers | Here & Now Jerry Baumchen

At what point is it time to drop the bone on this? One of Biguns points is the polarisation of US politics. I think it’s clear you disagree with his choice, skydivers have a twisted sense of humour and there’s a chance this is friendly ribbing between the two of you. There are going to be people who actually voted for Trump who regret their decision and crucifying them and rubbing their noses in it, isn’t going to encourage them to “swap sides” From the outside it looks like the Dems lack strategy and are incapable of mobilising against the Trump regime. As Jasmin Crocket pointed out, insider trading is rife within Congress and that’s both sides. Breaking the system is going to require a new approach and building a new base from somewhere that represents the average American.

Thats the problem, Bigun — too many people honestly believe the rule of law should only apply favorably to people they agree with, and that it should be used as a weapon against those they don’t. And the current president is among them, along with the majority of the people he’s selected for his cabinet and staff. Wendy P.

Morning, Nigel. I've had a chance to ponder and think about this overnight. Over the past 100 years; there's been a lot of countries that have been at their worst and the US was there to help. I hope they remember what we; the American people did to help them and realize the American people are still good folks. Yes, he was voted in by a majority, and yes; you kind of reap what you sow . . . but, many are now starting to realize the political promises are/were not what they were promised. Trump is a con man. Always has been and always will be. I hope those other countries will remember us for our strengths and forgive us for our weaknesses. This too will pass and our system is still one of the best. Just today a judge ruled against shipping out Venezuelans. There is still a rule of law and the judicial system needs to realize their job is to protect the Constitution.

Yesterday I saw a meme with 2 confronting images side by side. On the left was a train from 2nd world war Germany, the right was prisoners boarding a plane to El Salvador. The caption was “First trains, now planes”

It's disturbing to see how happily some humans support the heinous treatment of other humans, so long as it's not them.

The future is looking a little cloudy for the USA. The national debt is too high and that combined with the madness and wavering in policy is beginning to cause a lessening of confidence in the safety of the dollar. Good leadership and a little willingness to prioritize the things that matter are obviously not in the short term plan and probably not in the longer term either. Hopefully things at least stabilize after the fever breaks when the clown show finally ends. Most likely this marks the end of an era but what the new era brings is a very open question.

Oh, I agree it'll swing. The problem with that is that the more it swings in one direction, the more it'll swing in the other, too -- cancelling out any real chance of actual progress. Imagine a battleship being steered by having the wheel turned back and forth -- wastes a whole lot of energy, without actually changing course. Wendy P.

Everyone approaches the Cooper case as a normal crime... as the only unsolved hijacking it is extraordinary and something extraordinary happened for it to remain unsolved for so long.. for example Cooper died in the jump... I think that is extremely unlikely but something unique happened, an error, a mistake, luck or something significant occurred for this case to remain unsolved by the FBI. Distributing sketch A as Cooper perhaps.. something big undermined this case. Trying to solve this as a regular crime won't cut it. That didn't work for the FBI and it won't work now. In 1976 the FBI concluded that there is no prosecution without Cooper's cooperation due to weak evidence and faded witnesses.. Cooper is dead by now, evidence isn't much better, DNA is a dead end, fingerprints were unlikely Cooper's and obfuscated. The palm print is possibly Cooper's. So, how is this thing ever solved 100%...

Sorry. I simply believe it wasn’t a good election to give up a meaningful vote

No doubt, because they can't do math anyway.

Hold that thought. I gotta get some popcorn. This is about to get real interesting.

In a winner-take-all system. voting for a no-hope candidate is a wasted vote.

Madson's stories, regardless of the number, are nothing but bullshit. EDIT: I was busy elsewhere, and still am, and did miss the switch. I am going through the posts since January 1st and should be caught up in a couple of days. Here are a couple of things that FlyJack and I do agree on. The jump time was 8:11 PM PST and the jump was nowhere near Orchards. Also, there is no believable evidence that an NB-6 parachute was involved in the hijacking. In fact, just ignoring everything that Cossey said will greatly simplify understanding the parachute situation. More as time permits.

Why do you think there’s a dichotomy? Who he really is and who his supporters think he is are two different things. A liberal arts grad who worked in the mainstream media before becoming a professional politician lectures us about the elite? What would he call someone with his CV if they were on the other side? I saw an old pre brexit vote debate the other day and it was staggering how unquestioningly media presenters accepted the statement that the remain campaign represented ‘the elite’. But who was selling Brexit? Alexander Boris De Pfeffel Johnson (yes really) of Eton, Oxford and establishment journalism. Jacob Rees-Mogg, whose nanny looked after him during his first political campaigns, of Eton, Oxford and the City of London. Jim Ratcliffe, richest man in Britain, James Dyson, most famous industrialist in Britain. Anyone who says ‘the elite’ when they mean ‘the other side’ and hopes we won’t notice has immediately disqualified themselves from serious conversation.

I’ve not heard that saying before! I wasn’t aware of the EO or that they have threatened to shut it down. The reality is they are highly unlikely to shut it down because just like Facebook and Twitter they get to harvest enormous amounts of user data and it’s a very effective disinformation tool. I’ve no doubt that their algorithms can promote material that undermines Trump.

Personally, I give two shits about TikTok. Yesterday, Trump signed ANOTHER EO allowing TikTOk to remain another 75 days. It's now China threatening to shut it down. Sounds like they might have read, "The Art of the Deal" also. It's like watching two men at the pub rub penis heads and the first one to smile loses.

What a bunch of yahoos that they couldn't differentiate between the heavily armed military unit sent to protect them and the heavily armed military unit sent to kidnap some kids.

Jackie Robinson's profile page has had "DEI" added to its address on the DoD historical website. Incredibly disrespectful.

This, a thousand times this. There's a reason why there are "career skills" classes at junior colleges. To me, junior colleges are a gem, and deserve our support, because they're really there to help people change the direction of their lives in an achievable way. They're more interested in keeping you in that kicking you out. Wendy P.

You just did judge them and judged they should be. If someone is old and infirm or disabled and are without resources I begrudge not a penny of my taxes paid. However if you are able to work at something but simply unwilling then my sense of humanity begins to slip and I can better imagine helping you by providing a stick with a nail in the end and a bag for the garbage you stab.