sherpa

I think they did pretty well in Iraq one and two and Afghanistan. What happened after has little to do with military leadership. I think "gross incompetence" is lack of awarness.

"Today, 95 percent of our school busses are fueled with diesel fuel. Which contributes to very serious conditions that are about health and the ability to learn." Goodness what an idiot.

There's a thread in the "Off the Wall" forum that goes over this in a bit more detail. "Jay Rosen. Air Traffic Controller." Either way, this is so predictable. Sect. of Transportation Beetlejuice remarkably non camera worthy today, as his boys fail miserably. Yet.....Last couple of weeks there wasn't a camera in the nation that didn't have him mugging about how he was going after Southwest for their meltdown, which was inexusable. Today, as his FAA causes a nation wide ground stop.....Not much. This is what causes rational, sane people to desire smaller government. No matter how much money you throw at them, they screw it up, as there are no consequences. Same for the usual two Biden admin rationalists here. Strangely, sickeningly quiet on this.

They spent the redundancy money to change the name, because Notice to Airmen was sexist.

Is there ever a point where we stop comparing and politicizing gross offenses that would result in military people losing their commissions/jobs and perhaps facing criminal charges? This recent generation of the political class, regardless of party affiliation, leads a life devoid of any accountability for basic law abidance. Doesn't matter which party, these are grossly negligent and potentially criminal acts that get other folks put in jail.

The system that failed was the NOTAM processing and distribution system. Funny, but they changed the meaning of NOTAM from "Notice to Airmen," which it was forever, to "Notice to Air Missions," simply to get the sexist connotation out of the original name. What a useless exercise. NOTAMS are things you screen before flight that tell you of known situations on your route or destination/alternate airports. Not really that important in the grand scheme, and this information, if relevant to yu can be passed along verbally during normal radio "stuff." Funny to hear the reporting on this this morning. CNBC butchered it completely. NBC not much better. Anyway, when we continue to staff positions in thee areas, Sect. of Transportation et., with political friends and patrons who have absolutely no idea what any of this means let alone fix it, this is what you get.

Yep. Not close. It's pure American naivete to suggest that the corruption here approaches what goes on in South/Central America. Loved spending time there and running a business that sourced materials and labor in Paraguay, but doing business there, and shipping through Argentina is a "unique" experience.

Not even remotely close.

That is correct, with a few adjustments. i have no view on the conservative element in Brazilian politics. I simply don't know enough about them. The fact that I spent so much time there informs me to conclude that it is preposterous to assume one can watch this stuff on US media and have any informed view of what goes on there. Brazil is a lot like other South American countries. There is massive class stratification and massive political corruption. Whomever is the current popular choice is usually temporary and media driven, and always plays to the beneficiaries of that corruption, which is a way of life and not easily understood by Americans. or consumers of American media. Saw it firsthand and was made aware from many others who experienced it. Either way, I put no causal suggestion on what happened here and what happened there, These things have been going on forever.

I don't have an opinion on Bolsonaro. I have no interest in bringing Trump into this or any other conversation and avoid those who do. He has nothing to do with this. Certainly nothing to do with Lula's leadership in the past or what he does now.

Todo bem? I spent about nine days per month there for ten months of each year between about 2003 and 2011, the heart of his two terms. He was always a bit of a windsock. Still can't get used to seeing it spelled with a "z." He initially got cordial with Chavez, but turned away from that when Hugo became toxic and evidence of the "Bolivarian Revolution" failing was becoming evident. Got a bit more moderate as economic reality became apparent and the leftist gross failures in neighboring Argentina became undeniable. Anyway, we'll see. Brazil is kind of an interesting place, but I would take any polling data from there with a grain of salt. There are massive amounts of people who are not tuned in and easily manipulated. One of the interesting things to me is how this cuddling with China be received by the Japanese population in Brazil which is the largest outside of Japan. Japan and China absolutely don't get along, so there might be a ceiling to that.

Unabashed nonsense. Violent unrest is very much a part of South American history.

Is this serious? The recent performance of our "lawmakers" screams to limit their power, not advance it. The recent 1.7 trillion omnibus appropriations bill is absolute proof that the single greatest path to fiscal tragedy is to allow them more power to decide how people's earnings are "distributed." I have a hard time believing anybody would support such a scheme, not that we haven't been warned. "“The American Republic will endure until the day Congress discovers that it can bribe the public with the public's money.” ― Alexis de Tocqueville

To think that in the late 1700's we had one million people and we came up with Washington, Jefferson, Madison and Monroe. Now we have 335m and we come up with these?

We already know how to deal with drones. First you hack them or jam them. That's how VIP ground movements are protected. Next, you use any of a number of automatic 20mm weapons to create a metal wall in front of them. Such systems are available to ships, ground based systems or airborne.

I would say Wagner's activities are far more expansive than Blackwater, to include flying Russian strike aircraft. On the Ukranian side, a retired Ukrainian pilot, was shot down and killed a month or so ago. He was 61.

I wouldn't believe a thing Bolton says about anything. He has been a crazy warmonger for a long time. Couldn't get Senate approval as UN Ambassador under Bush when the Republicans controlled the Senate, so had to get a recess appointment. Hasn't had a day where he didn't want to invade Iran. Run out of Trump staff, not that that is unusual. Was suspected of withholding information from Colin Powell during his service because it went against his views. The man needs to be away from govt., and I wouldn't trust a thing he said.

I'm no fan of our Sect. of Transportation. He seems like a lot of this type-likes being in front of a camera far more than solving issues. But.....This pilot shortage thing has its roots in the 1970's, and has been predicted for at least twenty years. While that is fact, this recent debacle is a purely Southwest thing. They have an interesting culture that occasionally comes to the public's attention.

As long as the ret of the world continues to go to the US taxpayer to solve serious issues brought on by those regimes, and I would add North Korea to the list, I think the US has earned the right to insist on a strident consideration of its views. The useless UN and the exposure of the European NATO weaknesses should be in focus after this latest calamity. That's not US muscle wielding. It's long overdue common sense.

I'm guessing the firing squad execution part of the deal is a bit different.

Appealing to Russian prisoners to join the fight. Sounds pretty attractive, eh? Head of Wagner group "recruiting" Russian convicts.

That is a complicated question, and can only be viewed in hindsight. I've been through all this before, on a personal level, having flown carrier based fighters, then on shore duty, teaching then Soviet weapons and tactics, as well as serving as an adversary pilot/instructor using those tactics to train US and allied Air Forces how to defeat them. It's the same now as it was then. The threat is presented, ("sold" using your word, which I would not use), based on what is known about their weapon's capabilities. There are a lot of other things you can't know the total picture of by US and allied intel capabilities. Things like training levels, degree of challenge in that training. Leadership capabilities. Maintenance and readiness levels. Morale, to some extent. The level of corruption etc., and it goes on and on. To ensure effectiveness, you can't assume they are highly questionable until you see them in action in a meaningful, to them, operation. So far, what we have witnessed is nearly a complete waste of those significant weapons and troops. They obviously don't plan well, as seen by their complete inability to supply their initial offensive. They have shown no realization that cell phones get you in trouble if the US is around. Think it was a coincidence that a number of high ranking field officers were killed this past summer? How were they targeted? Think the Ukrainians happened to be lucky? Still worse, they have seemingly no ability to maintain equipment or even produce necessary parts. Still even worser, they have shown absolutely no ability to integrate forces. No coordination between ground and air, or any other joint force multiplier assets. Their leadership, if you could call it that, is seemingly hideous from the 0-6 level down to E-3. Their entire military operation reeks of massive corruption before anything even gets to the battle. Further, they seem entirely disinterested. The point is, though, you can't assume any of that prior to observation, which we are now getting an eyeful causing us to think the way we now do. Anecdotally, I recall a similar situation during my active duty. I was a Topgun trained adversary instructor and had access to stuff pretty early in the game. We had access to a couple of defectors who had strong opinions that they were being overrated, but they were defectors. Obviously unhappy. Anyway, when they shot down KAL 007, a civilian 747, I heard the intercepted radio transmissions of the entire thing. It was an amateur, boneheaded event from their end. I remember thinking, and stating, we are worried about these clowns? It was that bad. In contrast, when I was on cruise in the northern Indian Ocean, just after the Iranian Embassy was invaded and the hostages were in custody, the first Iranian surveillance plane, a P-3 Orion that we had sold them, had just taken off and was heading out to sea looking for my carrier. I launched off and was data linked, with out talking, to our E-2 Hawkeye early warning airplane. Nothing was said in the clear, but the intercept data showed up on my HUD, and I intercepted him without him even knowing I was in the area until I pulled on on his wing and pointed to my Sidewinder missile. That's how it's supposed to be done. The Russians have, or had, all they need to be a very effective adversary, but the entire thing is only impressive until you pull the curtain down, or you watch them in action. The problem is that you can't assume that. We have an all volunteer force, and you don't get volunteers unless they are quite sure of ultimate success.

I'm not sure of the implied viewpoint here. The $65b is their one year budget. It is not like US, NATO and other support is simply neutralizing that value. The Russian non nuclear military is being destroyed to a significant extend, and the cost Putin has strapped his country with extends way beyond one year's budget, as well as a tremendous brain drain and working demographic escape. Unless the tide is turned in his favor, this is going to cost the Russians a massive amount more than one year's military budget.

I'm certain there's no changing your mind, but the situations you mention are completely different. Viet Nam is not only ancient history, but totally inapplicable. First, we deployed a large amount of troops to fight an ground/air war. Second we foolishly and tragically did not allow our military to fight that war using its capabilities. Iraq was a tremendous military success until the primary military goals were met. It was then completely destroyed by a terrible regime and massive third party interference. The military goals in Afghanistan ere relatively easily achieved, but again, domestic leadership was unsupported and horribly ineffective. Ukraine is fighting an invading force trying to steal its land. It is under a very popular regime, for the moment. It has huge international support which includes sufficient weapon aid. China has an arms length relationship with Russia and as currently developing, would never send troops of any significance to be led by this grossly failing Russian military, nor has it ever been anything but a home defense force. As the saying goes, you can't fight the last war. In addition, you can't use strategies of the last war to fit inapplicable realities. Completely turning back the unprovoked Russian invasion is extremely beneficial to Europe and the US. Doing so without US troop involvement is as good as it gets. The downside is current cost, which may be well worth it compared to continued and even more aggressive Russian expansion. Evolving trade and discovering energy realities alone are worth tens of billions. NATO countries finally coming around to learning that their failure to live up to agreements is an additional value. Anyway, lots of variables in this equation, but I doubt active, large scale warfare extends into next winter.

If BUF is closed, they could possibly change the destination and bus. Got to find an open airport with about a 7500' or longer runway, Toronto would be problematic due customs requirement.