Politics

George Carlin had a very good joke about the boomers. They were the generation of, “Give me that, it’s mine!”
While I certainly don't agree with everything that comes out of George Carlin's mouth, sometimes he hits the nail on the head so squarely you can't help but laugh because it's true.

My favorite ...... "The illusion of safety"

 
@Red Leg you've conflated these topics a few times.

Three things being discussed, you blend them together as a strawman or ad hominem whether accidentally or intentionally.

1.) We talked about drones known as UAPs that defy physics. I cited the government's reports and the government clearing house on that topic. Most of the credible reports are multiple corroborations of the same event. Pilots visually, their instrumentation, and ground/naval instrumentation. Those defy the laws of physics according to the reports and video going above and below water and speeds and maneuvers that have not been explained to the general public.

2.) We talked about meatheads using civilian drones in closed airspace. Terror? A-holes?

3.) We discussed the November madness on the east coast where numerous photos and videos showed government quality drones the size of automobiles flying around New Jersey and Pennsylvania. My comments above were about point (3) herein. The amount of Federal, State, and Local government work spent trying to identify these was exhaustive. Months of speculation occurred. Sitting members of congress were suggesting they were foreign powers launching them off the coast. The Feds were saying nothing constructive other than we'll look into it. But now, as of two days ago Trump issues a statement that they were authorized flights known to the FAA and other Federal agencies? If it wasn't something nefarious, wouldn't a simple phone call from the operators to the FAA have cleared the mystery immediately, rather than requiring a damned press release from the sitting US President 75 days later? What mission do automobile sized drones need to fulfill every night over the Eastern seaboard over citizens homes, outside of US bases?

Point 3 is the topic. Lets not warp the conversation by mixing point 1 as they are unrelated technologies, locations, and observations.
There seems to be an irresistible element to the human psyche to embrace the mysterious, the unlikely, or the secret - preferably if it is government. One and three seemed to be championed jointly by the same crowd.

With respect to the first item, there is as of yet no concrete evidence that such aircraft exist anywhere but in the minds of the observers. None. Recently, the famous high speed low altitude orb observed by an FA-18 was proven to be an observation error. Of course that won't satisfy the alien tech crowd, but until there is some actual proof these things exist, I remain absolutely unconvinced. I suspect the vast majority of those who have worked in the aerospace industry or served at a senior level in the military would agree with me. However, It is difficult to prove that something doesn't exist when it indeed does not exist.

With respect to number three, neither you nor I know the actual number of test flights that are being conducted out of Joint Base McGuire, but because it is used periodically for such testing by different programs in all three services, I would suggest it is occasionally fairly robust. The V-280, a future army aircraft with tilt rotors, has both autonomous and manned capability. Several of the UFO photos out of New Jersey seemed to be this aircraft. Others seem to show a small unmanned helicopter. The Army has been prototyping several variants since the the early 2000's. All are somewhat smaller or larger than an automobile.

I would suggest a far more logical explanation than "sniffer aircraft," whatever they are, would be overlapping test schedules. To that we can add a host of hobby aircraft - some no doubt up to no good.

While the FAA would be aware of any and all test flights, they are not made public for obvious reasons. Some testing is almost certainly classified.

As to why the previous administration did not address the issue in the same way as the Trump White House I have no idea. Perhaps it is because they assumed the conspiracy crowd would not believe them regardless what they said. I suspect the Trump team will learn that as well. More likely, I think the Biden ensemble simply had trouble getting their act together on any subject.
 
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Well anytime I look up at the sky there is a plane somewhere. So I guess you are always in someones airspace. I agree with Trump why didn't he see the plane? There has been near collisions there not that long ago. I guess training is more important than civilian lives. I believe there are incredibly stupid people in the military and government. I remember an incident when I was in the Navy. Someone higher up thought it would be great training to land a helicopter on our helo deck . This ship was built in the 1940 a destroyer tender. Now they only had inches to spare or prop would hit lifeline. My job was to move the port cranes boon out over the ocean to be out of the way. I had the best view on the ship. We'll the helicopters prop hit the lifeline metal flew up and hit the crane. The pilot just barely saved the copter from going into the ocean. Totally dumb idea. Even my Chief thought as much. Always before the chopper hovered and used a lifeline and that's what they continued to do. I wondered what would have happened if the chopper went into the ocean.
You "agree with Trump" who is not a Pilot and has ZERO experience in aviation. Who is openly making statements on fault prior to an investigation being conducted.........

"I believe there are incredibly stupid people in the military and government. I remember an incident when I was in the Navy."........ What the military offers is an environment where we train for contingencies and incorporate emerging Tactics Techniques and Procedures. It is how we stay ahead of adversaries...... "The Guts to Try".

You have an interesting point of view.
 
Some sources in the media are claiming that the air traffic issues around D.C were brought before congress some time back, and that congress has ignored it
I don't know the truth to it, but it sounds plausible.
 
I believe there are incredibly stupid people in the military and government.

There are incredibly stupid people everywhere... the military and government doesn't have a monopoly.. I'd argue that both have a larger percentage of half way intelligent people than many industries.. they both at least test for intelligence to one degree or another depending on the job applied for..

Been to a shopping mall lately? or bought a coffee? or talked to people in your local bank branch? We even get truly stupid people to stop in on AH on occasion..

Ive interfaced with stupid people at of those places just this week... and its only Thursday.. Im sure I'll add more to the pile before the weekend is over.. :)
 
I just wish that all of the talking heads would just wait until some hard facts are presented before throwing out a bunch of SWAGS, I guess they just try to beat everyone else on the radio and TV to the punch and can say “I was the first to report”. This includes our president.

On the cleaning up the federal government front. I fear that Trump taking a sledgehammer to a job that a claw hammer could do is going to run off some of the best and brightest to the private sector. Hopefully I’m wrong.
 
Trump and members of his cabinet public statements lead me to believe either the ATC or Pilot has a well known and documented. less than stellar record of performance.

They seem to be definitively stating DEI has a role here. Either It must be glaring or they are very irresponsible for the early conjecture.
 
Ok lets address your concerns in order......

1. No I haven't paid into SS for 40 years - I've paid into it for 27 years to date and by the time I'm 62yo I will have paid into it for 48 years.

2. Like you I would have gladly kept my money, as I believe SS gives something around -3.5% on investment; but my generation and those younger than me have had no choice but to be at the mercy of a giant voting block that refuses to let anyone change the system appropriately.

3. Yeah it sucks, however the insolvency of SS has been well known for decades now; I remember my college finance professor who was in his 70's at the time railing against social security and how it was going to fail, and this was in 2003.

My point being - Any adjustments made now will affect BOTH of us and I'm willing to at least accept adjustments to this failed system to make sure future generations at least receive something from the program we've been forced to pay into.

However the "Not going to cut it/off with their heads/hurray for me not for thee" mind set of the boomer voting block will insure the checks keep coming for their generation and will leave future generations holding the bar tab for nothing but empty bottles left over from the party crashed by what is now the wealthiest generation in American history.

No need for a lecture, I understand the situation pretty well. We felt exactly the same at your age and the generation prior to us prohibited a change. So it looks like you’re going to suffer the same fate we did.
 
I got to watch the coverage on the news once, and I'm still tired of it...
 
The unit is located in the DC metro area and flies live missions there daily…

If it wanted to go somewhere else to train, it would still have to enter DC metro airspace just to get off the ground and leave the area…

The pilots assigned to that unit are among the best in the military.. many of them are either headed into or headed out of the special operations air units… rookie pilots and flight crews don’t get assigned to a VIP transport unit that routinely has passengers on board like general officers, secretaries of the army, congressmen, etc…

If they’re going to fly with VIPs every day in the DC airspace as their primary mission.. where would you expect their best training opportunities to be? Flying over rural parts of Mississippi?

Rule #1 in military training… train like you fight.. so that you’ll fight like you trained..

They were exactly where they should be as an experienced flight crew training to deal with DC airspace… (whatever that training mission was for the day… there are a litany of things flight crews train for ranging from easy to difficult)…

As someone in DC that knows a lot of people that take those helicopters. Most of their flights aren’t necessary they are just people who don’t want to sit in traffic that have enough pull to get a chopper. They can could ride in the back of an suv. Very few of them are at a level to justify the flights.
 
Didn't congress, during Reagan's administration, fix social security for all time when they raised social security tax and raised the age for full benefits to 67 1/2?
 

audio of ATC talking to aircraft during the crash...
after watching this video a couple of times, the general thought is, the ATC waited way to long to talk to the aircraft that were on a collision course.

there were no range marks on the radar screen on the video so it is hard to know how far apart they were but, the ATC said nothing till 10 seconds prior to impact.

anyway, a real tragedy.
 
As someone in DC that knows a lot of people that take those helicopters. Most of their flights aren’t necessary they are just people who don’t want to sit in traffic that have enough pull to get a chopper. They can could ride in the back of an suv. Very few of them are at a level to justify the flights.

FWIW I at a much earlier time in my career I worked for a former Deputy SECDEF... about half the people that worked for me were former Army CID guys that were assigned to the pentagons PSU that covered "the big 10" (SECDEEF, Dep SECDEF, Chairman, Joint Chiefs, SECARMY, SECNAVY, SECAF)... Between the lot of us we spent quite a bit of time in, around, and on those birds..

Depending on your timeframe, its very possible we know or knew quite a few of the same people..


As a matter of validation... One of the guys in this pic is a much younger mdwest... (hint.. I'm not the famous guy / former Dep SECDEF in the middle :) )... at the G20 in China in 2005... 100+ or more AH members have met me in person at different times and can validate the ugliest guy in that photo is indeed mdwest.. only younger, fitter, and with a lot more hair lol :)

1738269068446.png


the younger fitter version of me is also partially viewed with same folks in Liberia about a year later..

Wolfowitz Liberia.jpg
 
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I see we’re talking about the plane crash, it’s definitely a tragedy. I’m late in the conversation but just in case it hasn’t been posted here is a news article from Jan 2024. Last year! Seems it could definitely be stupid people.


 
There is no chance on earth you will break even when compared to what it otherwise would have been worth had you had been allowed to invest it.
I wholeheartedly agree. Given that the Social Security Act was enacted in 1935, during the height of the Depression, I have to think part the thinking at the time was to provide a method of “investing for the future” for people who otherwise wouldn’t, especially given the mistrust in the stock market at the time.
The problem is the government can F up a wet dream.
 
No need for a lecture, I understand the situation pretty well. We felt exactly the same at your age and the generation prior to us prohibited a change. So it looks like you’re going to suffer the same fate we did.
In my mid 20s, mid 1980s, none of us thought we'd get a dime out of SS. Now, in my early 60s, I am retrieving some of those dimes. I would still like to see SS seriously reformed but recognize the reality Congress values their job over fixing a real problem.
The people in their early 20s today griping about the same thing I was at that age, have one positive to consider; the boomers are a shrinking population. By the time they arrive to my age, we will all be gone. Will that fix SS? No, but it will relieve some level of pressure. Maybe in another 10 years when there are even fewer boomers voting, and AARP membership is rapidly shrinking, real reform can start. It is needed.
 
No need for a lecture, I understand the situation pretty well. We felt exactly the same at your age and the generation prior to us prohibited a change. So it looks like you’re going to suffer the same fate we did.
LOL, You'll at least get to collect SS before it goes tits up
 
You "agree with Trump" who is not a Pilot and has ZERO experience in aviation. Who is openly making statements on fault prior to an investigation being conducted.........

"I believe there are incredibly stupid people in the military and government. I remember an incident when I was in the Navy."........ What the military offers is an environment where we train for contingencies and incorporate emerging Tactics Techniques and Procedures. It is how we stay ahead of adversaries...... "The Guts to Try".

You have an interesting point of view.
Well at least old Trump gave some sort of explanation. Instead of talking in circles like everyone else. Now some reporters ask some government people if the air controller was doing a job that required two people. Guess what no answer. Now having work for the government that does not surprise me one bit. They actually make rules for private industry that they don't follow themselves.
 
Didn't congress, during Reagan's administration, fix social security for all time when they raised social security tax and raised the age for full benefits to 67 1/2?
Well he should have as he toke have of my social security with the windfall elimination act. Congress finally passed the social security fairness act and now I will get a big raise.
 

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