Sin is a cruel master. Having control of someone’s money includes the temptation to misuse it. Some people, especially in government, fail to see misuse as theft. Others actively seek opportunities.
As John Owen wrote: “Temptation is like a knife, that may either cut the meat or the throat of a man; it may be his food or his poison, his exercise or his destruction.”
johnnyboy
6 years ago
It makes me appreciate the trust that many here placed in me when I asked for donations for a relative. I won’t ever forget it. Some of the best people I’ve never actually met post right here regularly and I am glad to be able to occasionally keep company and have discussions with you.
setnaffa
6 years ago
Something else that periodically chafes my sense of right and wrong…
How does someone get to be an Air Force four-star General and receive “a chest full of medals” by being a student, scientist, bureaucrat, and REMF? Granted the woman is smarter than I’ll ever be, given how she got the Government to fund her career and make her a millionaire; but how did we get to this point?
Ike also had warfighter experience. He was not just a guy who worked in a lab and got promoted by his gender, politics, and time in service. 😉
Not saying that ever happens, mind you; but being an Air Force general should probably include commanding a squadron of fighters, bombers, or missiles, not just academics. Especially since, in some cases, those stars get traded in for a cushy boardroom with the company that sells technology to the command the General just left. The taxpayers should get paid for Generals who showed they were willing to risk their lives on the battlefield, not just gifted bureaucrats and slick politicians.
Liz
6 years ago
” Granted the woman is smarter than I’ll ever be,”
Don’t be so sure.
I know the woman who would likely be in charge of the Space Force…which makes me not want a Space force, as awesome as the name sounds. She just made General, and she shouldn’t have made Captain. Aerospace engineer…I was in her Materials engineering class and I can tell you how she passed with a D I think (fwiw, I set the curve on the comprehensive final in that class. Back then they used SS numbers and displayed all the grades, so I knew exactly how dumb she is…as well as being a horrible person in general. Just sayin’). I’m sure she looks “smart” on paper too. Not that this woman is necessarily that type of moron. I don’t know. Point is, you never know. A man in the same spot would’ve been riffed long ago.
@setnaffa, the general’s career path was through the acquisitions route. Putting a warfighter in charge of acquisitions may be as bad as putting an acquisitions person in charge of warfighters. In her career path she had to be really good at what she does to be a 4-star general.
With that said I do cringe a bit when I see these senior officers retire and a week later they are working for a company that in their previous job they were supposed to be holding accountable for proper system development. It just creates perception of a quid pro quo while she was still active duty to land the position even if it nothing ever happened.
@Liz, I am not doubting anything that you are saying about the person you are referencing, but people grow and change. She may be a very different person now from the one you remember. There is a lot of time between Captain and a senior General officer.
2ID Doc
6 years ago
Two comments: First she doesn’t have a chest full of medals. She has 15, I’ve got 9 from 8 years of service and could have had several more had I stayed longer on AD. Second how does one get 4 stars, having never set foot outside CONUS? I understand that the AF is not like the other services, but I thought even the corporation required some sort of OCONUS service for flag ranks…
How ironical. Liz defends a Male General to her last breath, but attacks a Female General viciously. “Drain the Swamp!”
Liz
6 years ago
GI, I won’t say more about that one (I could say a great deal more…she got two of her squadron commanders fired when she was a subordinate, and their marriages ended too). I will say that the higher one advances the more pedigree is a player in promotion. Pedigree means filling the squares and getting below the zone earlier in one’s career.
That said, there are a fair number of really, REALLY great Generals right now. Which (as I said in the other thread) is pretty surprising the way things have been. I know a couple of really great female commanders (Colonels) right now and I hope they make General.
Liz
6 years ago
[more Liz morning blab (you’re welcome)]
There are two main metrics that should be used to determine the effectiveness of a Wing commander: 1) Operational effectiveness 2) Retention
Currently near of those metrics matter much in the promotion process. They don’t even measure the second one, strangely….they measure it for the total USAF (it’s around 50 percent reenlistment currently), but it’s not obligatory by base or Wing.
The first measures the job the commander is doing, the second would measure the environment he/she is creating. Of course, it’s not a “pure” measurement because retention is impacted by economics (jobs on the outside=lower retention rates), and a lot of things impact effectiveness too. But overall it’s kind of like a coach. A good coach will get better results…ultimately, it’s up to the team and some other variables [/the blab has ended]
What i the first thing that comes to mind when someone at a store collapses of a heart attack? I guess in some places in the US it means you start robbing them:
– MGM Executive Memo after first showing of The Wizard of Oz
setnaffa
6 years ago
GI, young people without supervision act exactly as their parents trained them.
Those young “men” acted amorally because their parents trained them to live for their lusts.
That’s why the death toll in America’s inner cities–even discounting the millions of babies vivisected from their mothers’ wombs–is enough to make anyone cry.
JRR Tolkein, in The Two Towers, captured exactly how we should act:
Theoden: So much death. What can men do against such reckless hate?
Aragorn: Ride out with me. Ride out and meet them… for your people.
Read Ephesians 6:10-20, get strong, put on the armor, and pray. Our fight is not against the misguided, rather the powers that cultivate “The Lord of the Flies” environment they’re in.
I am really not surprised this story ended badly:
https://www.yahoo.com/gma/authorities-search-home-couple-accused-squandering-400-000-183047174–abc-news-topstories.html
Sin is a cruel master. Having control of someone’s money includes the temptation to misuse it. Some people, especially in government, fail to see misuse as theft. Others actively seek opportunities.
As John Owen wrote: “Temptation is like a knife, that may either cut the meat or the throat of a man; it may be his food or his poison, his exercise or his destruction.”
It makes me appreciate the trust that many here placed in me when I asked for donations for a relative. I won’t ever forget it. Some of the best people I’ve never actually met post right here regularly and I am glad to be able to occasionally keep company and have discussions with you.
Something else that periodically chafes my sense of right and wrong…
How does someone get to be an Air Force four-star General and receive “a chest full of medals” by being a student, scientist, bureaucrat, and REMF? Granted the woman is smarter than I’ll ever be, given how she got the Government to fund her career and make her a millionaire; but how did we get to this point?
2015: https://www.af.mil/About-Us/Biographies/Display/article/104867/lieutenant-general-ellen-m-pawlikowski/
2018: http://raytheon.mediaroom.com/2018-09-06-Ellen-M-Pawlikowski-elected-to-Raytheon-board-of-directors?WT.mc_id=linkedin_socialmedia_N/A&utm_source=linkedin&utm_medium=organic&utm_campaign=N/A&linkId=56502694
SeTNafFa, Ike had tons of resentment from other career Officers for his success.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dwight_D._Eisenhower
Ike also had warfighter experience. He was not just a guy who worked in a lab and got promoted by his gender, politics, and time in service. 😉
Not saying that ever happens, mind you; but being an Air Force general should probably include commanding a squadron of fighters, bombers, or missiles, not just academics. Especially since, in some cases, those stars get traded in for a cushy boardroom with the company that sells technology to the command the General just left. The taxpayers should get paid for Generals who showed they were willing to risk their lives on the battlefield, not just gifted bureaucrats and slick politicians.
” Granted the woman is smarter than I’ll ever be,”
Don’t be so sure.
I know the woman who would likely be in charge of the Space Force…which makes me not want a Space force, as awesome as the name sounds. She just made General, and she shouldn’t have made Captain. Aerospace engineer…I was in her Materials engineering class and I can tell you how she passed with a D I think (fwiw, I set the curve on the comprehensive final in that class. Back then they used SS numbers and displayed all the grades, so I knew exactly how dumb she is…as well as being a horrible person in general. Just sayin’). I’m sure she looks “smart” on paper too. Not that this woman is necessarily that type of moron. I don’t know. Point is, you never know. A man in the same spot would’ve been riffed long ago.
@setnaffa, the general’s career path was through the acquisitions route. Putting a warfighter in charge of acquisitions may be as bad as putting an acquisitions person in charge of warfighters. In her career path she had to be really good at what she does to be a 4-star general.
With that said I do cringe a bit when I see these senior officers retire and a week later they are working for a company that in their previous job they were supposed to be holding accountable for proper system development. It just creates perception of a quid pro quo while she was still active duty to land the position even if it nothing ever happened.
@Liz, I am not doubting anything that you are saying about the person you are referencing, but people grow and change. She may be a very different person now from the one you remember. There is a lot of time between Captain and a senior General officer.
Two comments: First she doesn’t have a chest full of medals. She has 15, I’ve got 9 from 8 years of service and could have had several more had I stayed longer on AD. Second how does one get 4 stars, having never set foot outside CONUS? I understand that the AF is not like the other services, but I thought even the corporation required some sort of OCONUS service for flag ranks…
Commie moon persecuting more business leader in pursuit of his communist dream land. https://www.reuters.com/article/us-southkorea-politics-samsung-lee-idUSKBN1AN0I1
Samsung needs to pull complete out of Korea.
How ironical. Liz defends a Male General to her last breath, but attacks a Female General viciously. “Drain the Swamp!”
GI, I won’t say more about that one (I could say a great deal more…she got two of her squadron commanders fired when she was a subordinate, and their marriages ended too). I will say that the higher one advances the more pedigree is a player in promotion. Pedigree means filling the squares and getting below the zone earlier in one’s career.
That said, there are a fair number of really, REALLY great Generals right now. Which (as I said in the other thread) is pretty surprising the way things have been. I know a couple of really great female commanders (Colonels) right now and I hope they make General.
[more Liz morning blab (you’re welcome)]
There are two main metrics that should be used to determine the effectiveness of a Wing commander: 1) Operational effectiveness 2) Retention
Currently near of those metrics matter much in the promotion process. They don’t even measure the second one, strangely….they measure it for the total USAF (it’s around 50 percent reenlistment currently), but it’s not obligatory by base or Wing.
The first measures the job the commander is doing, the second would measure the environment he/she is creating. Of course, it’s not a “pure” measurement because retention is impacted by economics (jobs on the outside=lower retention rates), and a lot of things impact effectiveness too. But overall it’s kind of like a coach. A good coach will get better results…ultimately, it’s up to the team and some other variables [/the blab has ended]
What i the first thing that comes to mind when someone at a store collapses of a heart attack? I guess in some places in the US it means you start robbing them:
https://www.yahoo.com/gma/2-teens-seen-ignoring-store-clerk-collapses-front-161036286–abc-news-topstories.html
“That rainbow song’s no good. Take it out.”
– MGM Executive Memo after first showing of The Wizard of Oz
GI, young people without supervision act exactly as their parents trained them.
Those young “men” acted amorally because their parents trained them to live for their lusts.
That’s why the death toll in America’s inner cities–even discounting the millions of babies vivisected from their mothers’ wombs–is enough to make anyone cry.
JRR Tolkein, in The Two Towers, captured exactly how we should act:
Theoden: So much death. What can men do against such reckless hate?
Aragorn: Ride out with me. Ride out and meet them… for your people.
Read Ephesians 6:10-20, get strong, put on the armor, and pray. Our fight is not against the misguided, rather the powers that cultivate “The Lord of the Flies” environment they’re in.