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Oh, here, just for laughs the latest from the Corporate Welfare Queen:

Boeing Employees:

Earlier this year, I asked for your help in convincing Congress to pass long-term reauthorization of the U.S. Export-Import Bank, which helps customers finance purchases of Boeing products. You responded forcefully, generating more than 58,000 letters of support and making our One Boeing voice heard. While there's more work to do before the bank's charter expires June 30, thanks to your efforts, members of Congress understand the importance of the bank to jobs at Boeing and thousands of our suppliers.

I'm writing today to request your help on another critical issue for our company – continued production of the F/A-18 Super Hornet and EA- 18G Growler.

The president's fiscal year 2016 budget request did not include any Super Hornets or Growlers, and if Congress doesn't add funding this year, the U.S. Navy won't have enough aircraft to meet future mission needs nor will we be able to extend production beyond 2017. Potential international sales look promising, but we still need continued domestic orders to bridge to those sales.

Citing heavy combat operations against global threats and a growing fighter-aircraft shortfall, the Navy took an important first step by adding 12 Super Hornets to its "unfunded priorities" request, a type of wish list for equipment the service needs but cannot afford in its base budget.

Congressional committees are making policy and funding decisions in the days and weeks ahead that will impact the future of the Super Hornet and Growler. While the proposed legislation for a dozen more aircraft is gaining momentum, it's critical that your representatives hear from you on this important issue.

To that end, I encourage you, members of your family and others to visit our website, <a href="http://www.fa-18.com">www.fa-18.com, and send a letter to Congress asking for support. Keeping with company policy, this voluntary activity must be conducted on your own time, either from home or during a break at work.

We have proven time and again that we are more successful when we work as a team toward common goals. I'm confident that we can effect positive change once more and do the right thing for our Navy customer and our business—together.

Thank you for considering this important request.

Sincerely,

Jim McNerney

Chairman and CEO

The Boeing Company

I'm of half a mind to use their link and tell my Congressvermin "WHY? Stupor Hornet is the past and just so much Corporate Welfare--F-35 is the future, and the sooner we get it stood up the less it will cost long-haul." And THAT's why McDickless Dumb@ss is getting their arse kicked in all sectors, overreliance on iteration rather than innovation and only having retreads of the same old offerings to push rather than anything new and next-generation. It's gonna be real interesting once Mitsubishi establishes themselves with their new Regional Jet and decides they're ready to join the Big Leagues... Hell, they already build around half of 787 anyway, so how much leap would it be to do the other half?

And oh by the way, how's it ethical for a CEO to on HIS time lobby employees to lobby Congress on THEIR time? Seems to me McNutless Wonder shouldn't even be able to use corporate email as a lobbying resource, if "ethics" were still geniumely a thing...

Edited by Diamondback Six
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He probably gets to charge it to the BD account.

The parasitic drag that is the F/A-18 will continue on the defense budget. I really was hoping the tea baggers would target crap like this. Why can't ignorant isolationism ever work the way you want it?

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Second, white males in the US in general spent enough time saying "we don't think these people are good enough to make it on their own so we have to control them." To deny this, even during most of our lifetimes, would be inexcusable willful ignorance of the facts. We aren't talking about "echoes of the Big Bang", we are seeing the direct results of this nation's past discrimination against basically every non white and male group, period dot.

You don't have 200+ years of legally codified institutional dominance that just goes away overnight. Not saying PC is the right answer, but it certainly isn't any worse and very likely is a lot better than what the US has done in the past.

(chastising voice) Mark, have you been drinking the social progressive Kool-Aid again?

I will tell you what the answer is:

We need to quit making every result or perceived injustice revolve around stereotypes of race or gender. Make it about individuals. Except in certain military job scenarios, nobody gives a crap if you are a swinging medallion or a split tail, and no one cares what tint your skin is. Be a competent, honest person of character and you will be accepted and thrive in any professional organization. Affirmative action is essentially reverse discrimination. I have heard the arguments that minorities of all types have to overcome greater barriers, that white success is related to white privilege, etc. That may be true to some degree, as all individuals, families, and cultural attitudes are different. But we all know of a kid born with a silver spoon who chooses and succumbs to a self absorbed, destructive lifestyle. We also know of individuals born into dire poverty who rise above it and achieve greatness.

Each of us has to look in the mirror and face what we see. Each of us has to play what cards we have been dealt. Getting dealt a bad hand is not an excuse to underachieve. It is a reason to try harder.

Political Correctness holds us back because it creates a victim mentality. It gives us an out..an excuse not to take on and overcome challenges, and allows us to blame another "group" for our circumstance. Although there may be some historical merit in thinking that way, it does not help us better our situation. That we need to do ourselves. It is not the government's role to ensure equal results by race, gender, culture, or community. There are reasons certain groups are not as successful as others, but that reason is not primarily racism, sexism, or whatever -ism you want to throw out. Success is mostly determined by an individual's attitude and effort.

Edited by DutyCat
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I'm of half a mind to use their link and tell my Congressvermin "WHY? Stupor Hornet is the past and just so much Corporate Welfare--F-35 is the future, and the sooner we get it stood up the less it will cost long-haul." And THAT's why McDickless Dumb@ss is getting their arse kicked in all sectors, overreliance on iteration rather than innovation and only having retreads of the same old offerings to push rather than anything new and next-generation. It's gonna be real interesting once Mitsubishi establishes themselves with their new Regional Jet and decides they're ready to join the Big Leagues... Hell, they already build around half of 787 anyway, so how much leap would it be to do the other half?

Wow... Might want to take it up with the Navy since they seem to think that their SH's still add some value, as do Australia and Kuwait (who just ordered 28 of these obsolete pieces of junk). Or are they all part of the Corporate Welfare Scam Conspiracy? More than a few JSF haters (curse their dark souls) would argue that the F-35 itself is the ultimate example of corporate welfare, but I know statements like this are considered sacrilege in these parts.

With regard to competition - you do realize that being able to crank out a regional jet does not mean you are going to be in the same league as Boeing and Airbus? Mitsubishi's RJ just hit another delay and it is not exactly slammed with orders, given that it has fierce competition from multiple other companies. Just because Mitsubishi builds some components of the 787, it doesn't mean that they are anywhere close to being ready to design and build their own wide-body. Especially one that sells well on the international market. If so, we'd already be seeing Embraer, Canadair, Sukhoi announcing their new long haul jets. Hell, the Russians are much further advanced that Mitsubishi and they still can't figure out how to build a decent RJ, let alone a state of the art widebody.

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(chastising voice) Mark, have been drinking the social progressive Kool-Aid again?

I will tell you what the answer is:

We need to quit making every result or perceived injustice revolve around stereotypes of race or gender. Make it about individuals. Except in certain military job scenarios, nobody gives a crap if you are a swinging medallion or a split tail, and no one cares what tint your skin is. Be a competent, honest person of character and you will be accepted and thrive in any professional organization. Affirmative action is essentially reverse discrimination. I have heard the arguments that minorities of all types have to overcome greater barriers, that white success is related to white privilege, etc. That maybe true to some degree, as all individuals, families, and cultural attitudes are different. But we all know of a kid born with a silver spoon who chooses and succumbs to a self absorbed, destructive lifestyle. We also know of individuals born into dire poverty who rise above it and achieve greatness.

Each of us has to look in the mirror and face what we see. Each of us has to play what cards we have been dealt. Getting dealt a bad hand is not an excuse to underachieve. It is a reason to try harder.

Political Correctness holds us back because it creates a victim mentality. It gives us an out..an excuse not to take on and overcome challenges, and allows us to blame another "group" for our circumstance. Although there may be some historical merit in thinking that way, it does not help us better our situation. That we need to do ourselves. It is not the government's role to ensure equal results by race, gender, culture, or community. There are reasons certain groups are not as successful as others, but that reason is not primarily racism, sexism, or whatever -ism you want to throw out. Success is mostly determined by an individual's attitude and effort.

clap_zpss1rjysom.gif

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(chastising voice) Mark, have been drinking the social progressive Kool-Aid again?

I will tell you what the answer is:

We need to quit making every result or perceived injustice revolve around stereotypes of race or gender. Make it about individuals. Except in certain military job scenarios, nobody gives a crap if you are a swinging medallion or a split tail, and no one cares what tint your skin is. Be a competent, honest person of character and you will be accepted and thrive in any professional organization. Affirmative action is essentially reverse discrimination. I have heard the arguments that minorities of all types have to overcome greater barriers, that white success is related to white privilege, etc. That maybe true to some degree, as all individuals, families, and cultural attitudes are different. But we all know of a kid born with a silver spoon who chooses and succumbs to a self absorbed, destructive lifestyle. We also know of individuals born into dire poverty who rise above it and achieve greatness.

Each of us has to look in the mirror and face what we see. Each of us has to play what cards we have been dealt. Getting dealt a bad hand is not an excuse to underachieve. It is a reason to try harder.

Political Correctness holds us back because it creates a victim mentality. It gives us an out..an excuse not to take on and overcome challenges, and allows us to blame another "group" for our circumstance. Although there may be some historical merit in thinking that way, it does not help us better our situation. That we need to do ourselves. It is not the government's role to ensure equal results by race, gender, culture, or community. There are reasons certain groups are not as successful as others, but that reason is not primarily racism, sexism, or whatever -ism you want to throw out. Success is mostly determined by an individual's attitude and effort.

:salute:

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Oh, here, just for laughs the latest from the Corporate Welfare Queen:

I'm of half a mind to use their link and tell my Congressvermin "WHY? Stupor Hornet is the past and just so much Corporate Welfare--F-35 is the future, and the sooner we get it stood up the less it will cost long-haul." And THAT's why McDickless Dumb@ss is getting their arse kicked in all sectors, overreliance on iteration rather than innovation and only having retreads of the same old offerings to push rather than anything new and next-generation. It's gonna be real interesting once Mitsubishi establishes themselves with their new Regional Jet and decides they're ready to join the Big Leagues... Hell, they already build around half of 787 anyway, so how much leap would it be to do the other half?

And oh by the way, how's it ethical for a CEO to on HIS time lobby employees to lobby Congress on THEIR time? Seems to me McNutless Wonder shouldn't even be able to use corporate email as a lobbying resource, if "ethics" were still geniumely a thing...

200_s.gif

Its the same full court press they do every year. Its nice to see some Kuwait money being used to keep the line going.

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(chastising voice) Mark, have been drinking the social progressive Kool-Aid again?

I will tell you what the answer is:

We need to quit making every result or perceived injustice revolve around stereotypes of race or gender. Make it about individuals. Except in certain military job scenarios, nobody gives a crap if you are a swinging medallion or a split tail, and no one cares what tint your skin is. Be a competent, honest person of character and you will be accepted and thrive in any professional organization. Affirmative action is essentially reverse discrimination. I have heard the arguments that minorities of all types have to overcome greater barriers, that white success is related to white privilege, etc. That maybe true to some degree, as all individuals, families, and cultural attitudes are different. But we all know of a kid born with a silver spoon who chooses and succumbs to a self absorbed, destructive lifestyle. We also know of individuals born into dire poverty who rise above it and achieve greatness.

Well gosh golly, if only all those inner-city kids got that sort of peptalk everything would be all better.

So let's peel back the onion a little bit shall we? Where do you draw the line between "PC" and hold over racism? Or sexism or any other "-ism" as you put it?

By the same token, why are there no good racial slurs for white people? Cracker? Seriously? The supposed to hurt anyone's feelings?

How's about this simple test:

Would you consider the phrase "drunker than 10,000 Indians" offensive? If you're not of Indian descent, or are painfully ignorant of how alcohol has been used in the past by whites to control Indians, then I suppose not. Pay attention here because this is the F-35 tie-in. The vice commander of AETC use that very phrase in an open Article 15 hearing. AETC as you may be aware is responsible for training Air Force pilots in the F-35

http://www.examiner.com/article/drunker-than-10-000-indians-remark-tanks-stellar-career-of-air-force-officer

Is there even a similar slur that could be used against white people? And would you suggest that given our nation's (or going further back white settlers in general) history of smallpox infected blankets, broken treaties, forced multiple relocations and our current reservation system which has an astonishingly high suicide rate that such phrase used by a 2 star general should've just been shrugged off? I'm not asking you for the PC opinion, I'm asking you to take a personal stand and say in front of everyone on this forum that you have no problem with such a phrase being used.

And don't try to make this about the military. Overall I think the military does better than most in trying to equalize things. But as we have all seen, the military is not a reflection of our society.

I'm not saying that if everybody talk nicey-nice urban crime, single-parent families, low income opportunities, or glass ceilings would magically disappear. But it certainly doesn't help when the main group in charge of this country, which also happens to be socia-economically on top as well, continues to perpetuate these things. Call it race or call it class, there's a pretty good correlation between the 2.

So pretend like none of this matters, "all these people need to do is pick themselves up by their bootstraps and they'll be just fine", and all that other self-justifying BS if it helps you sleep at night.

Getting dealt a bad hand is not an excuse to underachieve.

By the way, have you ever been pulled over by the police just because by your appearance alone you don't "fit in" in the area where you are driving? Or perhaps you don't look right in that very expensive car? A man who I very much admire, a former Air Force Col., experienced just such a thing as a young man and was dragged out by gunpoint of his brand-new car that he had just paid for with his deployment money, simply for driving legally in the "wrong" neighborhood-- that is, the rich part of town. The only reason why he's alive today to tell the story is as he was pissing himself in fear when he heard the cop cocked the hammer, was to cry out he was a military officer. While his story occurred some 20/30 years ago, that crap still happens on a daily basis in this country, today.

So again, keep pretending that with just the right amount of gumption any scrappy, hard-working kid can become the next Bill Gates regardless of the institutional and systemic roadblocks.

I stand by my original statement that it is ridiculous that the first woman pilot of an F-35 didn't get to sit in the jet until 8 years after first flight and thousands of flight hours. It's not news that she's the first woman pilot, it's a scandal it took this damn long. And as long as it takes 8 years for a woman pilot to finally crawl into a big bad jet, then I guess we are stuck with it being newsworthy the first time it happens. Chew on that clappy boys.

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Chew on that clappy boys.

Let me guess; You were born in or after 1975. Am I correct?

Because you definitely sound like a person with 'white guilt' mentality that totally subscribes to PC.

The vast majority (90+%) of violent crime against minorities are by fellow minorities. Did you know that?

THEE three biggest culprits that perpetuate the racism mantra in this country are the minority leaders, the liberals in congress, and the liberal media.

An example:

Black minority leaders and their political clout. I've known for at least 25 years that minority leaders ride the political coattail of the supposed continuation of racism as though it was still 1935. Being that they were the biggest single minority group, they milked that for what it was worth as well. Their political power/clout is totally dependent on keeping the racism card front and center.

What confirmed this opinion was when the report came out that the Hispanic group is now officially the largest single minority group in our country. Guess what political group is completely against Obama's amnesty bill, a bill that would greatly increase the Hispanic population?!

Democrats don't care where the votes come from as long as the votes are for them. There was an article which stated that with the huge influx of illegal Mexicans coming into Texas, there was a good chance for Democrats to take Texas in a general election.

Another example:

The D.C./Beltway sniper coverage.

There was coverage of some sort EVERY SINGLE DAY until the perps were caught and found to be two black men AND at least one being Muslim. Coverage nearly completely dropped off the news media radar scope after that.

Now compare that to how Timothy McVeigh was covered. Absolutely no comparison in regards to time the media spent on McVeigh. When McVeigh was executed the news media had on-sight live coverage FOR HOURS! When John Allen Muhammad was executed, There were basically two articles written; One to say the date for his execution was coming up and the second announcing the execution had been completed.

I don't agree with Dutycat much but in this case he hit the bull's eye dead center.

Derogatory remarks are derogatory. Racist remarks are racist. Get it? They're two completely different animals.

"...10,000 drunk Indians" is a derogatory remark just like 'white trailer trash' is. "Indians don't have the intelligence to blah, blah, blah" is a racist remark.

Dutycat was spot-on when he commented that AA was reverse discrimination. To let someone in based on skin color is racist. PERIOD.

Look at AA from a different angle: How do whites benefit from AA? Without question; In college entrants; Women and minorities benefit greatly via points that are specifically for them to help with getting their entrance score high enough to be able to enter. Did you know that?

Regarding your remarks about a female F-35 pilot:

Have you seen data that shows that many females applied to be an F-35 pilot yet she's the only one to qualify? Isn't it possible that not too many applied therefore possibly answering the question of why she's the first one? Or are you more concerned with PC to see that there may be other reasons for her being the first after 8 years?

BTW; I'm a minority.

I've had LE pull me over for various reasons (Mostly using the 'See if I'm drunk' excuse). 30 seconds of contact via polite discourse and proper body language (Hands on wheel, sit upright, if at night turn on interior light) said LE returns same manners.

One time a LE ask me how long I've been on parole; I replied about long as he's been a KKK member. He asked why did you say that?! I simply replied I was using the same logic/mentality he was. I 'disarmed' him in every way: "Would you like to completely search my vehicle?", "Would you like me to perform a sobriety test?", Would you like me to perform a field breathalyzer test?" I destroyed him with my polite manners! His backup partner was laughing at him! My guess is the LEO thought he pulled over a Cholo but instead got a brown-skin Beaver Cleaver (I'm Filipino/Spanish but look more Spanish than Asian)!

I've been verbally attacked with racist remarks. Do I think the U.S. is still racist a-la 1950? Of course not!

But I do believe this country has become racist against white people and it's on full display (Via many laws, for example). No hiding it by the congressional left and the black minority leaders as well as the news media that's for sure.

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tumblr_no28qaJ5Bv1r9waklo1_1280.jpg

Curious, what's happening in this shot above? I have seen this done with naval patrol/ASW aircraft after long missions out over salt water. Is this a similar "shower" type washing procedure or some water type test?

Regards,

Don.

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Curious, what's happening in this shot above? I have seen this done with naval patrol/ASW aircraft after long missions out over salt water. Is this a similar "shower" type washing procedure or some water type test?

Regards,

Don.

For some reason I want to say that specific pic is a ceremonious occasion/event.

I think I read an article with that pic in it.

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I've had LE pull me over for various reasons (Mostly using the 'See if I'm drunk' excuse). 30 seconds of contact via polite discourse and proper body language (Hands on wheel, sit upright, if at night turn on interior light) said LE returns same manners.

One time a LE ask me how long I've been on parole; I replied about long as he's been a KKK member. He asked why did you say that?! I simply replied I was using the same logic/mentality he was. I 'disarmed' him in every way: "Would you like to completely search my vehicle?", "Would you like me to perform a sobriety test?", Would you like me to perform a field breathalyzer test?" I destroyed him with my polite manners!

Amazing.. You admit getting pulled over for no reason by "LE" and apparently have no issue with it. I'm white and the only times in my life I've been pulled over by police is when I've been clocked over the speed limit. Surprising enough, I was never asked if I was drunk or on parole. If I was randomly pulled over by the cops and subjected to crap like that, I would have a serious issue but since I'm apparently the "correct" color, it doesn't happen to me or my family.

Then you proudly tell us that you remain nice and passive while being verbally abused by a police officer. I guess you know your place. Maybe if more people had issues with antics like this, it might finally cease. My buddy and co-worker is African American, ex-USN vet, clean-cut and all around good guy. He's at my level in the company, drives a BMW, drives a great deal both on business and with family. Pretty much once a month he gets pulled over (often with his wife and kids in the car) for no reason and is subjected to the same line of BS that you apparently have no issue with. On multiple occasions, after being pulled over, he's asked to exit the car and is patted down, he's also had his vehicle searched multiple times. On all occasions, nothing was found.

But by your standards, my friend is the lucky guy and I'm the one subject to racism. What a crazy world we live in.

Edited by 11bee
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Amazing.. You admit getting pulled over for no reason by "LE" and apparently have no issue with it. I'm white and the only times in my life I've been pulled over by police is when I've been clocked over the speed limit. Surprising enough, I was never asked if I was drunk or on parole. If I was randomly pulled over by the cops and subjected to crap like that, I would have a serious issue but since I'm apparently the "correct" color, it doesn't happen to me or my family.

Then you proudly tell us that you remain nice and passive while being verbally abused by a police officer. I guess you know your place. Maybe if more people had issues with antics like this, it might finally cease. My buddy and co-worker is African American, ex-USN vet, clean-cut and all around good guy. He's at my level in the company, drives a BMW, drives a great deal both on business and with family. Pretty much once a month he gets pulled over (often with his wife and kids in the car) for no reason and is subjected to the same line of BS that you apparently have no issue with. On multiple occasions, after being pulled over, he's asked to exit the car and is patted down, he's also had his vehicle searched multiple times. On all occasions, nothing was found.

But by your standards, my friend is the lucky guy and I'm the one subject to racism. What a crazy world we live in.

I only speak of my experience living in Southern California in the '80s and '90s.

LE was very proactive at trying to keep drunk drivers off the road, especially during the holidays, which is where about 90% of my pull overs happened.

During my time living down there approx. 37% of all drunk driving pull overs and crashes involved Hispanic males yet the ENTIRE population of Hispanics accounted for only 21%.

So I don't speak for how LE act in other parts of the country.

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Sens. John McCain and Jack Reed presided over the SASC markup of the defense policy bill, cutting $860 million from three Air Force programs — including the two of the service’s top three priorities — and moving the money to pay for things the Air Force doesn’t want: the $355 million restoration of the A-10, which the Air Force wants to retire; buying 24 more General Atomics MQ-9 Reaper drones for $480 million; and moving another $75 million to add back the Compass Call aircraft the Air Force wanted to retire, The bill will lower spending by $200 million for Lockheed Martin’s GPS III satellite; $460 million for the Long Range Strike Bomber (being battled over by Boeing-Lockheed and Northrop Grumman); and $200 million for the long-sough KC-46 airborne tanker (Boeing). The House also cut $460 million from the LRSB.

Navy F/A-18 Super Hornet

Navy F/A-18 Super Hornet

What didn’t the Navy get? Hmm. Well, they did get: $1.2 billion for 12 new F/A-18E/F Super Hornets (Boeing), $1 billion for six more F-35Bs (Lockheed), the same amount the House Armed Services Committee added; and $170 million for something that’s a bit mystifying: “upgrades jamming protection for F/A-18E/F and E/A-18G.” Since the G model is the electronic warfare plane, one wonders.

McCain and Reed added $725 million for “remaining research and development work” for the Unmanned Combat Air System-Demonstration (UCAS-D). And they tell Defense Secretary Ash Carter to develop “competitive prototypes” for “a carrier-based, unmanned, long-range, low-observable, penetrating strike aircraft” — which is what Congress thinks the future UCLASS drone should be, rather than the Navy’s preference for an armed scout.

And then there are the top five items under the rubric of “accelerating Navy modernization and shipbuilding:”

$800 million for additional advance procurement for Virginia-class submarines

$400 million for incremental funding authority for one Arleigh Burke-class destroyer

$199 million for more advance procurement for LHA-8

$80 million to accelerate the next amphibious ship, LX®

$97 million to build the Afloat Forward Staging Base a bit faster.

One of the most interesting ads is for $400 million for the Third Offset Strategy. The money is targeted at cyber capabilities; low-cost, high-speed munitions; autonomous vehicles; undersea warfare; intelligence data analytics; and directed energy.

http://breakingdefense.com/2015/05/sasc-markup-whacks-lrs-bomber-adds-12-super-hornets-6-f-35bs/

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Yep. and shafting the usaf with the a-10 while cutting lsrb and the tankers.

The bomber program requested the funds be cut and the KC-46 program is behind schedule. The shaft is to the service member who will see less money in the pocket and a possible restructure in retirement for incoming personnel.

Edited by fulcrum1
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The bomber program requested the funds be cut and the KC-46 program is behind schedule. The shaft is to the service member who will see less money in the pocket and a possible restructure in retirement for incoming personnel.

I stand corrected

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Well gosh golly, if only all those inner-city kids got that sort of peptalk everything would be all better.

So let's peel back the onion a little bit shall we? Where do you draw the line between "PC" and hold over racism? Or sexism or any other "-ism" as you put it?

By the same token, why are there no good racial slurs for white people? Cracker? Seriously? The supposed to hurt anyone's feelings?

How's about this simple test:

Would you consider the phrase "drunker than 10,000 Indians" offensive? If you're not of Indian descent, or are painfully ignorant of how alcohol has been used in the past by whites to control Indians, then I suppose not. Pay attention here because this is the F-35 tie-in. The vice commander of AETC use that very phrase in an open Article 15 hearing. AETC as you may be aware is responsible for training Air Force pilots in the F-35

http://www.examiner....r-force-officer

Is there even a similar slur that could be used against white people? And would you suggest that given our nation's (or going further back white settlers in general) history of smallpox infected blankets, broken treaties, forced multiple relocations and our current reservation system which has an astonishingly high suicide rate that such phrase used by a 2 star general should've just been shrugged off? I'm not asking you for the PC opinion, I'm asking you to take a personal stand and say in front of everyone on this forum that you have no problem with such a phrase being used.

And don't try to make this about the military. Overall I think the military does better than most in trying to equalize things. But as we have all seen, the military is not a reflection of our society.

I'm not saying that if everybody talk nicey-nice urban crime, single-parent families, low income opportunities, or glass ceilings would magically disappear. But it certainly doesn't help when the main group in charge of this country, which also happens to be socia-economically on top as well, continues to perpetuate these things. Call it race or call it class, there's a pretty good correlation between the 2.

So pretend like none of this matters, "all these people need to do is pick themselves up by their bootstraps and they'll be just fine", and all that other self-justifying BS if it helps you sleep at night.

By the way, have you ever been pulled over by the police just because by your appearance alone you don't "fit in" in the area where you are driving? Or perhaps you don't look right in that very expensive car? A man who I very much admire, a former Air Force Col., experienced just such a thing as a young man and was dragged out by gunpoint of his brand-new car that he had just paid for with his deployment money, simply for driving legally in the "wrong" neighborhood-- that is, the rich part of town. The only reason why he's alive today to tell the story is as he was pissing himself in fear when he heard the cop cocked the hammer, was to cry out he was a military officer. While his story occurred some 20/30 years ago, that crap still happens on a daily basis in this country, today.

So again, keep pretending that with just the right amount of gumption any scrappy, hard-working kid can become the next Bill Gates regardless of the institutional and systemic roadblocks.

I stand by my original statement that it is ridiculous that the first woman pilot of an F-35 didn't get to sit in the jet until 8 years after first flight and thousands of flight hours. It's not news that she's the first woman pilot, it's a scandal it took this damn long. And as long as it takes 8 years for a woman pilot to finally crawl into a big bad jet, then I guess we are stuck with it being newsworthy the first time it happens. Chew on that clappy boys.

Jeesh, I am not even sure where to start here. To what institutional roadblocks are you referring? What are you suggesting? Stereotypes and prejudices surely exist. They always have and always will to some degree. But it is not the government's responsibility to "fix" a person's attitude. Anti-discrimination laws already exist.

There is no "white secret" to being successful. It is education and hard work. Period. Every person in America has the opportunity to get a free public education, and if you do well, a college scholarship or student loan will be available. Put together a good resume and you will get a job. There are few "bad schools." There are bad students with ghetto attitudes who destroy the climate of the school. If you are suggesting that urban schools don't have the same quality teachers as suburban schools, that is perhaps partially true. But ask yourself why it is? It is because of an environment which is hostile to teachers. As soon as a teacher can, if they don't quit first, they will seek more favorable working conditions where they are appreciated. I use to work in an urban school. The school was almost 100% black and was practically a combat zone. Aggressive, disrespectful, racist(anti-white) attitudes were the norm, and very little learning was going on there.

As far as cops and racial profiling, which is the "outrage" these days...I don't think cops in America are just waiting for their next shift so they can get on the streets and rough up some black men. Although there are some exceptions, cops are mostly family men who just want to do their job and go home to mama and the kids like the rest of us. They are on the street to arrest bad guys. Is there racial profiling based on stereotypes? Yes. It is called good police work. The simple fact is that blacks by far commit a disproportionate number of criminal acts, so of course black neighborhoods are where most of the active policing is going to occur. Is it racist to patrol the inner city, where most of the violent crime takes place? I don't think so.

I have been watching the news in the wake of the Baltimore riots, and there is a lot of talk about lack of investment in poor, mostly black neighborhoods. Well, okay, but again, ask yourself why companies are reluctant to invest. It goes back to cultural attitudes, as represented by the experience in the schools that I mentioned above. A company is not going to be inclined to build a business in a low income area where they can't make any money and can't hire anyone with good job skills. Again, as I said before, there is no big secret to success. Educate yourself as individual and as a community and stay away from behavior that will get you incarcerated. That is the ticket to improving your neighborhood. And don't expect it to happen overnight. Family and community success is often a product of several generations of work. Stereotypes, good or bad, are generalizations rooted in authentic observations. When they are good, we take pride in them as cultural accomplishments. When they are bad, especially if we are on the receiving end of a negative action, we call it racist, or sexist, or whatever. Sometimes decisions are made on stereotypes....a decision makers judgement of probable behavior. It is not his fault that the stereotype exists. He didn't make it up. Hell, all of the social progressive affirmative action programs are deeply invested in stereotypes. I don't hear many on the receiving end of these programs complaining.

If you don't like your cultural/racial stereotype, it is up to you to change it, one person at a time. The government can't fix that. Sometimes nothing can be done. Since you brought up female F-35 pilots let's go in that direction and take a look at a relatively sedate example:

I am a hiring manager. I have two people in front of me with equal resumes. One is male and one female. They both are about the same age, with spouses and school age kids. I have been doing this a long time and my authentic professional experience has shown me that males are more likely to define themselves by their occupation and a woman is more likely to define herself by her family. When I need someone to work late, the male is more likely to be willing to do that than the female. If a kid needs to be taken care of, I am more likely to lose the productivity of the female as she takes off work to deal with it than the male. Aside from all of this, I understand more about how men think and are motivated than I do females. Of the two sitting in front of me, who is more likely to fit in culturally with my organization and be more productive? Is she a looker? Will she be a distraction in my office? If one of my male employees tries to "talk" to her, is my company going to face a sexual harassment lawsuit? Does the man play golf so we can team bond and talk shop on our monthly corporate outings?

If I hire the man, am I being sexist? Am I breaking the law? Was I wrong to consider the socio-psychological/behavioral aspects of sex?

Edited by DutyCat
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