The Understated Benefit of Retirement - Free Military Travel

For years now I have traveled almost exclusively on military aircraft.  The downside to this is, of course, flexibility.  If you have a job with a leash then it's a difficult way to travel but if you're truly retired or have a job where you can digitally clock-in, then Space A is amazing.

I'll take stretching out on the floor of a C-17 and taking a nap or the sweet top deck of a C-5 over first class on Delta any day of the week and twice on Sunday.  The pax terminal may not have the little buffet of an airport lounge, but I don't have to get groped, filmed nude, and have my rights violated by TSA thugs in order to enter.

And living in the PNW with McChord AFB stocked full of sexy C-17s ready to go anywhere, anytime...  it's just so convenient.

It's also nice not having doors fall off the jet in flight.

If you're thinking about whether to stay until retirement or not, don't underestimate this benefit in your calculation.

Thank God - Julian Assange is Free!

Don't know the details.  Appears to be a plea deal.  I'm glad he took it.  Any thinking human knows he did not violate the Espionage Act nor could he.  If American law applied to him (which it did not) then the First Amendment also did and he was blameless.  He sacrificed so much for all freedom lovers and it's great that he is finally out of prison after the horrific torture our embarrassingly government and its allies inflicted upon him.

If humanity is lucky and free in the future, his name will be up there with the greatest movers of humanity in the face of the common tyranny of the time.

Involuntary Servitude is no LOLing Matter

 

Despite Huggy's age and experience, he can't grasp the complicated idea that it's a form of slavery when government forces somebody to give up years of their life, against their will,  to do labor they don't want to do.  Under threat of force where those who don't comply get punished.  Involuntary servitude is a limited form of slavery.  Duh.

LOL, wut indeed.

Our Constitution fortunately recognizes this obvious fact and forbids the practice.  In a free country, people are not forced to work to benefit others with their labor.  But this fact isn't something taught at Oshgosh so it's beyond Huggy's comprehension.  Real Americans, however, reflexively understand this obvious fact as does our Constitution.  The Thirteenth Amendment states:

Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction.

 Poor showing there, Huggy.  Very poor.

A Poor Assumption

 

Your assumption that they didn't know (or that if they did know it would change anything) is wrong.  It's along the same line as "they need more training."

No, that's not the problem.  The problem is they don't care and they do not share the values that led to our Constitution.  Just like the great many ordinary American citizens who do not care or who actively want to change that document or ignore it.

Just like your peers who have been trained on the Constitution and unlawful orders and who cheered on the murder of American citizens using military airpower.

It's comforting to think they simply don't know, but the reality is much more unsettling.  And obvious.

Congratulations to my Frau

From Reuters:

June 10 (Reuters) - The U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to hear a lawsuit by more than 200 hospitals that serve low-income populations accusing the federal government of shortchanging them on Medicare funding by about $1.5 billion per year.

https://www.reuters.com/legal/government/supreme-court-will-hear-case-claiming-us-underpays-hospitals-serving-needy-2024-06-10/

The Worthlessness of the Third Branch

 

It's a good thing to hope for and most Americans think the judicial branch is some kind of check and balance when it comes to rights violations.  Just like most airmen think an IG complaint has actual power.  But the reality, as is so often the case, is it's just for show to present an appearance.  Inspector Generals work for the commander, and the judiciary works for the same forces that own our government.

A lawsuit would be doomed to fail unless the oligarchs wanted to increase the perception of justice and let off some steam from the mob.  The DoD can't be prosecuted since it's government.  Individuals could be, but they won't be since they were following orders from civilian leadership.  American citizens could sue DoD individuals in a civil suit but the tyrannical court-made-up theory of "qualified immunity" would mean the most you could hope for is the judiciary ruling "yup, your rights were violated but you still lose the lawsuit."  Even if a civil suit were to succeed (and it woudln't), any money would be paid by the taxpayers.

Our system has been rendered incapable of holding government accountable.  The Third Branch of government is used against the American citizen and not against government actors.  Sorry to rain on your parade because it's a parade I'd love to attend.