Understanding the US - Again

[Vayutuvan]

And even such deals are made will it survive post Trump USA

If the manufacturing shifts to India fast enough, then yes. The trillion dollar - literally - question is whether this can be done "fast enough".

[bala]

One of the things that has happened to the US is that the congress/senate/media/etc and the people are now familiar with names like Kash, Tulsi, Vivek and more indian sounding names. Who woulda thunk! The Anglo saxon breed is getting used to tongue twisters, which they are not used to so far and are highly unfamiliar.

The "Deep State" is caught in a void right now. The faction that is opposed to China is waking up and aligned with DJT. The switch of manufacturing to India is going to happen under the screaming, hooting, yelling of the other faction of the Deep State (Soreass and company along with the Dumbocrats). DJT has already applied the brakes on Kanada and Mexico (a conduit for China made goods relabeled) with tariffs. China is in a steady decline and things don't look good for them. India has a surplus of imports from China, which can be cut off if need be, china is dumping things at or below cost into India. Russia is going to get break from Ukraine war, which implies that they don't need China anymore. All of these factors don't look good for China, but for India things are bright and hopeful.

[KL Dubey]

‘US invasion of Iraq was based on lies and fabrication, killed and displaced millions’: Tulsi Gabbard in her confirmation hearing.

Chetak ji,
This is the same thinking of US expanding NATO upto Russian borders. This caused the Ukraine - Russia war. The lies / fabrication within Ukraine by US Victoria Nuland and company in ukraine revolution is another cause for the US to get involved. The Dumbocrats perpetuated this line of thinking causing millions of Ukrainians/Russians to die and be displaced. This is another needless war causing turmoil in the world and the high inflation of oil/goods. The dumbocrats in 4 yrs have caused 100+% inflation of day to day consumable items + food for the average american joe. DJT has claimed that the previous Biden admin had lunatics thinking of WW-III and nuclear war with Russia.

A constant and childish obsession with one or other group or program within USA (sometimes "dumbocrats", other times "deep state", sometimes "DEI") prevents any sort of "mature adult" discussion or understanding.

Obamudu, Trump #1, and Bhaidwanwa all supported/continued the slow but steady US/NATO infiltration of Pakraine. In addition Trump #1 also tried to use Pakraine's desperation for aid in order to weaken Bhaidanwa's 2020 candidacy, but nevertheless the aid continued. It surged to very high levels during Bhaidanwa's term due to the full-scale war.

Now Trump #2 has claimed he would end the Russia-Pakraine war "before his inauguration", then afterward "in a day", but that has not happened. Now the deadline is "April". At the same time, he has now opened a new front on Russia in the Arctic, trying to lay claim to Greenland as well as trying to get Canada to be "the 51st state". Both countries have a maritime border with Russia. They - instead of USA - could directly profit from expected trans-Arctic Ocean trade due to climate change and melting of ocean ice (catastrophic though that is, they are still at it). At the same time, Russia has laid extensive claims to the Arctic ocean, including right up to the maritime borders with Greenland and Canada.

https://londonpolitica.com/geopolitics- ... and-canada

Let it dawn upon posters that USA has always pursued a policy of European world domination. It is the "new world" incarnation of this policy taking over from "old world" Europeans. This is irrespective of any president or administrations. They may employ different methods and fight amongst themselves, but the goal is the same. For example, Victoria Nuland served under multiple Dem and Rep administrations. She disliked Trump not because of political party, but because she thought Trump would erode US global power and become isolationist/transactional. Russia is particularly problematic since they do not consider themselves "European".

[bala]

This YT is of relevance to this thread. In PGurus Sree Iyer and Sumit Peer have some topics which is already known to many.

1. The Wuhan virus which DJT names as KungFlu was indeed an intentional leak from BSL-4 lab in Wuhan. The Dude who was in charge of CCP is Wang WengQuan, now promoted by Emeperor Eleven. Dr. Li-Men Yan leaked the news that it was an intentional release from the military controlled bioweapon arsenal BSL-4 lab in Wuhan. She is hiding somewhere in the US. Apparently the CIA report which initially had the information, was censored by the Deep State (yes indeed, since there is an arm of the deep state within China) and Wuhan lab was blacked out. Both Dr. Fauci and Tedrous (WHO) knew about the fact but chose to hide it in public. Bidenwa was given the blacked out verion. Wuhan has 100s of other dangerous virus.

2. Elon Musk has identified a $1T cut in US admin. This is going to be opposed by the Dumbocrats tooth and nail. Wasteful expenditure was identified in 11 days.

3. Ukrain is a huge sinkhole of expenses which has been stopped. Also all US aid has been stopped which is hurting Pakis and BDs. Pakis are losing control of Baluchistan (more Paki Army meeting their 72).

4. Pannu's security clearance has been withdrawn.

youtube.com/watch?v=vpZQtp5_K5Y

[Vayutuvan]

This is a slam dunk statement from her. She should be confirmed ASAP.

Jay gaaru, now do Kash Patel. This is what Wikipedia - your go to source yet unreliable as heck - says about him.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kash_Patel

Kashyap Pramod Vinod Patel[1][2] (born February 25, 1980) is an American lawyer, former federal prosecutor and official, and conspiracy theorist. He served as a National Security Council official, chief of staff to the acting U.S. secretary of defense, and senior advisor to the acting director of national intelligence, all during the first presidency of Donald Trump. In November 2024, President-elect Trump nominated Patel to succeed Christopher Wray as director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

[Vayutuvan]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talk:Kash ... I've_seen.

Code: Select all

It seems wikipedia isn't even attempting to create the veneer that it is an apolitical, fact based source. 
Briandrewdrew (talk) 02:21, 9 November 2021 (UTC)

	Correct. Wikipedia is nowhere near reality. They should have just stuck with movie articles and basic pop culture. 
	They can't even get the ABBA page done right. 
	Good grief! 2600:1700:9F90:2EA0:986B:ABB8:6062:F40E (talk) 16:14, 28 May 2022 (UTC)
	
	    If either of you want to improve the article by pointing out biased sources, or statements in the article that are wrong [and] 				 
            providing a source for why you think they are wrong], that would be great. Other, you're not really helping. (See fake news.) -- 
            John Broughton (♫♫) 00:16, 22 August 2022 (UTC)

                  Maybe if they just eliminated all the anonymously sourced "facts" and quotes from clearly left-leaning publications' opinion 				 
                  articles (again, without attribution), it might have some level of credibility. Oh, and if you need to have specific passages 
                  pointed out,  you are part of the problem (deception and deceitful propaganda), 
                  and not helpful to dissemination of truth. Rickerwill (talk) 02:50, 1 December 2024 (UTC)
                  
The trending political pages on Wikipedia are run and tightly locked down by a handful of moderators with an agenda. If you peruse the talk pages on certain politicians' entries, you'll see what I mean. 2601:447:D185:3340:BC3E:22EF:E6F0:DFB0 (talk) 05:01, 8 December 2024 (UTC) 

Can't rely on Wikipedia for unbiased background information any longer. 4.34.75.244 (talk) 18:48, 30 January 2025 (UTC)

The fact that he had some of the highest intel positions and it's overshadowed by him being a 
"Conspiracy theory pusher" says all you need to know about how biased Wikipedia is. 
2601:603:700:4D10:85A0:22D6:CCFE:7C73 (talk) 16:48, 31 January 2025 (UTC)

Agree 2600:1005:A126:95E6:9B28:971A:C721:DB73 (talk) 16:57, 31 January 2025 (UTC)

[RCase]

These senate confirmation hearings are just a bunch of theatrics and show. Hearing the questions being asked of Kash and Tulsi, just seems like a whole load of BS. All the senators in the committee already have come in with their minds made up of how they will vote. Highly unlikely that the answers to any of the questions will suddenly make them see an ah-ha moment to change their minds. Most of the 'changing of mind' will happen behind the scenes for reasons other than the answers that were dished out for the questions!

In the meanwhile, it is made for TV material to watch some of the senators making a fool of themselves with their stupidity antics and and getting owned by tough cookies like Kash and Tulsi. The focus was on character assassination and smearing. There was nothing of substance to see the fit of the person's ability for the job.

My own observations from few of the hearings:

- Adam Schiff the 'wewe' senator from California made a spectacle of himself and probably saw his wewe neutered.
- Amy Klobuchar got clobbered with the 'you have 2 min'
- Corey Booker - got totally flummoxed on what to say.
- Richard Blumenthal - come out looking really sleazy.
- Mazie Hirono - She just seemed spaced out.

[Vayutuvan]

Patel promoted multiple pro-Trump conspiracy theories and appeared on podcasts hosted by far-right personalities such as Stew Peters[53] and co-hosted a talk show on The Epoch Times, a far-right Falun Gong-affiliated media organization.

Don't Chinese have a bee in their bonnet regarding Falun Gong?

Dumbocrats and Wikipedia are attacking a Hindu. Same thing happened to Tulsi Gabbard and Vivek ("Chatur" isn't he?) Ramaswamy as well. We know that there are fundoos in GOPricks party, but Dumbocrats seem to be no better in that regard. They simply hide their Hinduphobia (arising out of their mohammadophilia) better, I guess. Dumbocrats are dumb but viciously smart as well.

[drnayar]

https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/wor ... 834365.cms

A major purge is ongoing in Washington DC, with thousands of government officials being removed, spurred by President Trump and led by Elon Musk, targeting the established bureaucratic structure. Key figures in departments like Treasury and Justice are being fired, challenging the traditional power dynamics in the US government.

[Vayutuvan]

One more gem from Wikipedia, "a great source" for some here on BRF.

Patel is the author of a 2022 children's picture book, titled The Plot Against the King, which falsely argues that the Steele dossier was used as evidence to initiate the investigations into Russian interference in the 2016 United States elections.[55][56]

Interesting wording that.

[KL Dubey]

This YT is of relevance to this thread. In PGurus Sree Iyer and Sumit Peer have some topics which is already known to many.

youtube.com/watch?v=vpZQtp5_K5Y

PGurus is mostly BS, as others have observed. His only saving grace is the Monday appearances of Rajagopalan who at least has real connections in the sarkar and provides fairly credible (though sometimes embellished) info.

The video has a "clickbait" headline but the discussion doesn't support it. Other "right wing ecosystem" people like Shawn Jay Dixie have also lately resorted to "clickbait" headlines with little substance in the actual discussions.

There are a lot of garbage YT videos and speculations online, but the most detailed and sensible proposal I have seen is from a Dem senator:

https://www.warren.senate.gov/imo/media ... 0years.pdf

Her list is very detailed, properly referenced, and realistic. The biggest cuts would be in the DOD (which feeds the hugely wasteful MIC) and in Health areas (in which Big pharma, healthcare management companies, and insurance companies have been running riot).

I have to agree. Unless the USA abandons a hugely inflated, wasteful, and ultimately counterproductive "defense" (in reality a "global dominance") DOD/MIC ecosystem in favor of a lean, lethal self-defense system, there is not much hope down the road.

If this "dumbocrat" can come up with something specific and detailed, why aren't the vastly more intelligent Rep leaders or Musk coming up with better ideas?

[KL Dubey]

These senate confirmation hearings are just a bunch of theatrics and show.

Historically most of them are. The opposition party obviously will ask a lot of questions.

But some aren't. Hegseth's hearing for example. He only made it through because of Vance's tie-breaker. 3 republicans voted against his character issues and sheer lack of qualifications.

In case of Patel - I don't know much about his record, but it was nice to see that he brought his family from India and greeted them with "JSK"!

Gabbard and RFK are different from Patel, in that both are recent "turncoats" and have made a lot of controversial statements on critical health and natsec/foreign policy issues. I'd say Gabbard is more at risk.

[Vayutuvan]

- Adam Schiff the 'wewe' senator from California made a spectacle of himself and probably saw his wewe neutered.
...

A notable one you missed is

NY Senator Gillibrand - gilldanda khela hobe

[Jay]

This is a slam dunk statement from her. She should be confirmed ASAP.

Jay gaaru, now do Kash Patel. This is what Wikipedia - your go to source yet unreliable as heck - says about him.

I don't know sir ji. kash patel comes across as trumps dance monkey...but he's not the worst out there and an hindu...he should be good to go.

[KL Dubey]

The history of many disasters (industrial, infrastructure) and collapse of organizations (companies, governments) shows very high vulnerability in times of large staff turnover, lack of qualified expertise, lack of coordination (chaos), budget/investment cuts, poor decisions, and external threats. While USA is already in a slow decline relative to other countries, there is heightened potential for sudden collapse of institutions.

In autocratic systems without any accountability, things march on till the next revolution. In a long-standing democratic system like USA, there will be running battles involving the executive goremint, opposition, legislature, and judiciary till the next election.

I haven't looked in detail at all EOs and memos, but one that I read:.

https://www.documentcloud.org/documents ... memo-1-27/

The signing official is the acting director of the Office of Management & Budget. He says the federal government spent $10T in FY 2024, whereas it is common knowledge that the FY 2024 sarkari budget is about $6.8T...a "mere" $3.2T difference....and this is the director of the OMB. A federal judge immediately blocked the memo. Then the white house spokesperson insisted it was still on. A second federal judge blocked it again the next day to "make sure". Meanwhile the sarkar rescinded the memo altogether. What a clusterfawk!

[KL Dubey]

I don't know sir ji. kash patel comes across as trumps dance monkey...but he's not the worst out there and an hindu...he should be good to go.

"Jay" - Trump, by default, only requires dance monkeys under him. So that is not a distinguishing factor from the rest of the nominees/appointees.

[saip]

I don't know sir ji. kash patel comes across as trumps dance monkey...but he's not the worst out there and an hindu...he should be good to go.

"Jay" - Trump, by default, only requires dance monkeys under him. So that is not a distinguishing factor from the rest of the nominees/appointees.

Not surprising considering that Trump himself is a great monkey (look at his hair) and puts up show for his followers.

[chetak]

The ATC had informed the helo of approaching traffic and he acknowledged the message. There was probably a mistaken identification of another aircraft by the helo pilot (but this aircraft was in the opposite direction and not on the landing approach). I believe the paths of the aircraft and the helo were about perpendicular to each other. The weather being clear and visibility being reasonable, the helo pilot should have been able to see incoming traffic while crossing the landing approach path and taken evasive action.

The question I have is that this was a black hawk helo and must have had sophisticated radar to show aircraft in the vicinity. Also probably would have had collision avoidance systems. I think the more likely reason for the air crash is helicopter pilot error.

RCase ji,


here is a WA forward that was sent to me

Former Blackhawk pilot here. I’ll try to describe it for you.

Imagine you are looking at the world through toilet paper tubes, and everything is just different shades of green and black, with stars and ground lights hard to differentiate and aircraft lights that look the same as those.

Then you have 3 different radio frequencies going off in your ears.

Then you’re trying to navigate without any peripheral vision.

And you’re trying to keep the aircraft under control.

And you are trying to keep watch for all traffic, not just one plane. Because there are several in the sky at once and you’re tying to mentally keep track of all of them.

And you get distracted for like 5 seconds or your focus goes elsewhere, like your instructor pilot asking you a question about airspace regulations.

Boom. You’re all dead. Flying these machines is really tough, and the airspace and NVGs make it a heck of a lot tougher.

You’re welcome. Aviation is really difficult, and I’ve lost many friends in accidents like this.

[vera_k]

Right. The civilian airport needs to be shut down after dark. But who will bell the cat?

[bala]

PGurus is mostly BS, as others have observed.

My opinion is contrary to yours, so You don't need to react to my posts, just not required since I don't share your perspective on the things that are happening in the US.

most detailed and sensible proposal I have seen is from a Dem senator:
https://www.warren.senate.gov/imo/media ... 0years.pdf

Sorry, she is one of the worst garbage dumbocratic senators in the US. Never understood any of her stances. I am all for Elon Musk to slash away the rot in the US administration system. So many useless people clogging the system. I wish BJP has a DOGE equivalent and clears out the rubbish people in Govt of India.

[bala]

WA forward that was sent to me

Chetak saar,

One of the rules of commercial aviation is that they are assigned a flight path corridor/channel to descend. This is preset and ready to land. If the runway is busy they ask the flight to circle around. Once the plane is on descend it needs to precisely reduce altitude and be ready to touch the runway, so many things need to come into place for precise landing.

Having a Helo cut across perpendicular to runway is not done usually. Tis very strange to have a helo cut across a commercial flight path corridor. This is a huge 101 basic mistake. The helo probably was stationed somewhere parallel to the runway. Why can't it follow its own corridor/channel parallel flight path. After attaining altitude it can then correct for direction which is again assigned by flight control. These are all basics and 101 type things.

[chetak]

Right. The civilian airport needs to be shut down after dark. But who will bell the cat?

No one is going to do that, vera_k saar. That airport is vital to the govt

The operations at that airport continues almost without a break even after the accident.

There was some talk about a single ATC person (it is said that usually there are two) manning the tower with a myriad of duties that they had to simultaneously handle

It was one of those moments where the holes in the swiss cheese lined up perfectly.

[chetak]

WA forward that was sent to me

Chetak saar,

One of the rules of commercial aviation is that they are assigned a flight path corridor/channel to descend. This is preset and ready to land. If the runway is busy they ask the flight to circle around. Once the plane is on descend it needs to precisely reduce altitude and be ready to touch the runway, so many things need to come into place for precise landing.

Having a Helo cut across perpendicular to runway is not done usually. Tis very strange to have a helo cut across a commercial flight path corridor. This is a huge 101 basic mistake. The helo probably was stationed somewhere parallel to the runway. Why can't it follow its own corridor/channel parallel flight path. After attaining altitude it can then correct for direction which is again assigned by flight control. These are all basics and 101 type things.

bala saar, it was night time traffic, in very crowded airspace, with both fixed and rotary wing traffic, mixed MIL and civilian aircraft, and perhaps not all of them speaking the same ATC lingo in terms of interpreting ATC instructions

the blackhawk was being flown with NVGs (usual for night flying) and that is a whole new scenario, one that is not commonly understood by most civilian ATC guys

crossing traffic is very routine for that airport. There are very important govt offices on the other side, the kind that works 24X7

The inquiry report will become public in some months

This airport has restrictions, rules of its own, peppered with restricted no go mil areas where overflight is not permitted

Its a complicated situation where, without knowing the restrictions, and understanding the local scenario, making judgements would be fruitless. IMO, there was no doubt that it was a recipe for disaster, an accident looking for a place to happen but the very foundation of all MIL flying is just that.

Best to drop it until more info becomes available

Any which way one looks at it, it was a sad accident that shouldn't have ever taken place, after all, there was nothing out of the way that made the day of the accident stand out from any other day there

[bala]

Best to drop it until more info becomes available

Any which way one looks at it, it was a sad accident that shouldn't have ever taken place, after all, there was nothing out of the way that made the day of the accident stand out from any other day there

Chetak saar, yes, yes, you are right, will wait for the report to reveal the extenuating circumstances.

[RCase]

Former Blackhawk pilot here. I’ll try to describe it for you.

Imagine you are looking at the world through toilet paper tubes, and everything is just different shades of green and black, with stars and ground lights hard to differentiate and aircraft lights that look the same as those.

Then you have 3 different radio frequencies going off in your ears.

Then you’re trying to navigate without any peripheral vision.

And you’re trying to keep the aircraft under control.

And you are trying to keep watch for all traffic, not just one plane. Because there are several in the sky at once and you’re tying to mentally keep track of all of them.

And you get distracted for like 5 seconds or your focus goes elsewhere, like your instructor pilot asking you a question about airspace regulations.

Boom. You’re all dead. Flying these machines is really tough, and the airspace and NVGs make it a heck of a lot tougher.

You’re welcome. Aviation is really difficult, and I’ve lost many friends in accidents like this.

Accidents do happen and I am not diminishing the fact. It is understandable when weather, visibility, ATC error, craft malfunction, combat exercises etc. can be a factor that leads to an accident. In this case that is not so. it is good weather and visibility. No craft malfunction or incorrect ATC instructions.

Firstly, there have not been MANY accidents like this with a direct collision between a helicopter and commercial jet near a civilian airport.
If the airman was inexperienced in handling the craft with NVG and mentally immature to handle multiple inputs in a crowded airspace, then he has no business training in this crowded commercial airspace. First he needs to get acquainted flying with NVG. By the way the approaching aircraft's landing lights would have been the brightest thing that he would have been able to see. (It was visible from a video shot from the airport).

Secondly, what about the judgement of the instructors? They should be well aware of flying with NVG and multiple radio frequencies (wouldn't that be true for the commercial pilots too?). From the video posted earlier, the communication from the ATC is pretty clear and the helo pilot acknowledged with a visual separation.

Sometimes it is amazing with the BS thought process. NVG technology is supposed to be an enhancement to regular vision. If you can see things in plain sight, why use convoluted technology that is a hindrance, especially if it does not allow you to differentiate stars from aircraft lights? I wonder what these guys would do in a battle situation where there could be multiple craft in closer proximity. Will they complain of getting blinded by gunshots fired from the ground?

Complaining of overload of mentally keeping track of all crafts in the airspace is another specious argument. The commercial pilots also have the same problem. ATC is keeping track of all the traffic too. A modern helicopter like the Black Hawk must have radar to to display the crafts in the vicinity. In a battle situation, it would be far more chaotic and understandable with tracking enemy fire, other aircraft flying in unpredictable formations.

In my opinion, the crew of the black hawk is primarily responsible, especially the instructor pilot not being capable of taking proper precautions and heeding the warning of the ATC. He must have had enough experience flying with NVG and all the other overload factors that are made as excuses.

[RCase]

Right. The civilian airport needs to be shut down after dark. But who will bell the cat?

It was around 8:45 pm. There is no need to close the airport after dark. In fact most flying club airstrips are technically open through the night (even if they don't have ATC).

[vera_k]

It was around 8:45 pm. There is no need to close the airport after dark.

Sunset was around 5:30pm, so dark by 8:45 pm.

[RCase]

and perhaps not all of them speaking the same ATC lingo in terms of interpreting ATC instructions
> That is not true. The lingo is standard. (Even if the pilot speaks in a foreign accent). It is meant to be precise and the instruction needs to be acknowledged.

the blackhawk was being flown with NVGs (usual for night flying) and that is a whole new scenario, one that is not commonly understood by most civilian ATC guys
> it is not the ATC guys responsibility of what technology you are using. In this case, they are quite familiar with military aircraft in this corridor. The lingo used for visual separation request by the helo and granted by the ATC means the helo is totally responsible. They were advised by ATC of the incoming flight.

crossing traffic is very routine for that airpoThrt. There are very important govt offices on the other side, the kind that works 24X7

The inquiry report will become public in some months

This airport has restrictions, rules of its own, peppered with restricted no go mil areas where overflight is not permitted
> This stuff is pretty well documented for each airport for airspace classification. Also, the instructor pilot should have definitely known about this.

Its a complicated situation where, without knowing the restrictions, and understanding the local scenario, making judgements would be fruitless. IMO, there was no doubt that it was a recipe for disaster, an accident looking for a place to happen but the very foundation of all MIL flying is just that.

Best to drop it until more info becomes available

Any which way one looks at it, it was a sad accident that shouldn't have ever taken place, after all, there was nothing out of the way that made the day of the accident stand out from any other day there

Chetak ji - just some clarifications.

[KL Dubey]

Right. The civilian airport needs to be shut down after dark. But who will bell the cat?

No one is going to do that, vera_k saar. That airport is vital to the govt

The operations at that airport continues almost without a break even after the accident.

There was some talk about a single ATC person (it is said that usually there are two) manning the tower with a myriad of duties that they had to simultaneously handle

It was one of those moments where the holes in the swiss cheese lined up perfectly.

Even counting the sh!thole airports of Texas, DCA takes the cake when it comes to flight hazards and ATC quality. Case studies have been done and near-misses documented. Nothing much changed. Ironic since this is a key airport for sarkari-related travel.

Having flown several millions of miles around the globe, and landed/taken off from DCA probably >150 times out of necessity/convenience, it is the only airport in USA that makes me utter hanuman chalisa and/or mahamrtyunjaya every time. Most travelers are oblivious - perhaps not any more.

Your "holes in cheese" statement is apt. Some character on BRF blaming "DEI" for this tragedy is a sign of mental sickness.

[chetak]

Former Blackhawk pilot here. I’ll try to describe it for you.

Imagine you are looking at the world through toilet paper tubes, and everything is just different shades of green and black, with stars and ground lights hard to differentiate and aircraft lights that look the same as those.

Then you have 3 different radio frequencies going off in your ears.

Then you’re trying to navigate without any peripheral vision.

And you’re trying to keep the aircraft under control.

And you are trying to keep watch for all traffic, not just one plane. Because there are several in the sky at once and you’re tying to mentally keep track of all of them.

And you get distracted for like 5 seconds or your focus goes elsewhere, like your instructor pilot asking you a question about airspace regulations.

Boom. You’re all dead. Flying these machines is really tough, and the airspace and NVGs make it a heck of a lot tougher.

You’re welcome. Aviation is really difficult, and I’ve lost many friends in accidents like this.

Accidents do happen and I am not diminishing the fact. It is understandable when weather, visibility, ATC error, craft malfunction, combat exercises etc. can be a factor that leads to an accident. In this case that is not so. it is good weather and visibility. No craft malfunction or incorrect ATC instructions.

Firstly, there have not been MANY accidents like this with a direct collision between a helicopter and commercial jet near a civilian airport.
If the airman was inexperienced in handling the craft with NVG and mentally immature to handle multiple inputs in a crowded airspace, then he has no business training in this crowded commercial airspace. First he needs to get acquainted flying with NVG. By the way the approaching aircraft's landing lights would have been the brightest thing that he would have been able to see. (It was visible from a video shot from the airport).

Secondly, what about the judgement of the instructors? They should be well aware of flying with NVG and multiple radio frequencies (wouldn't that be true for the commercial pilots too?). From the video posted earlier, the communication from the ATC is pretty clear and the helo pilot acknowledged with a visual separation.

Sometimes it is amazing with the BS thought process. NVG technology is supposed to be an enhancement to regular vision. If you can see things in plain sight, why use convoluted technology that is a hindrance, especially if it does not allow you to differentiate stars from aircraft lights? I wonder what these guys would do in a battle situation where there could be multiple craft in closer proximity. Will they complain of getting blinded by gunshots fired from the ground?

Complaining of overload of mentally keeping track of all crafts in the airspace is another specious argument. The commercial pilots also have the same problem. ATC is keeping track of all the traffic too. A modern helicopter like the Black Hawk must have radar to to display the crafts in the vicinity. In a battle situation, it would be far more chaotic and understandable with tracking enemy fire, other aircraft flying in unpredictable formations.

In my opinion, the crew of the black hawk is primarily responsible, especially the instructor pilot not being capable of taking proper precautions and heeding the warning of the ATC. He must have had enough experience flying with NVG and all the other overload factors that are made as excuses.

RCase ji.

One is not looking for an argument. Your "opinion" or even mine, for that matter, counts for less than schitt.

I have used NVGs. NVGs are not meant to look outside in the way that you seem to imagine.

It was night time and that brings in its own set of complications

There are no visual cues thus making judgement of distances impossible

If one has driven down a dark Indian highway at night, with on coming traffic blinding you with their hi beam headlights, you have no idea of the distances or even the closing rate of such traffic. The blinding head lights keeps one from accessing any and all references like trees, pedestrians, bullock carts, cyclists, scooterists and other things that usually crowd an Indian highway at night

NVGs are ok in a closed dim lit building complex or very dimly lit cockpit where one has visual cues from other objects in the vicinity to make distance judgement, but out in the open, with a lot of bright (landing lights) confusing one, it is very difficult to focus on one set of lights, look inside to monitor instruments, maintain speed and heading and moments later look out and possibly lock on to another, very different set of lights by mistake. Under such circumstances, judging distances is next to impossible

No one knows the circumstances. Why didn't the CRJ pilot/copilot take evasive action. He would/could have noticed the helo too. Why didn't the ATC exercise better control. They have recovered the black boxes. ATC also records all its transmitted/received conversations on a time stamped multi channel recorder. So one just has to wait and see what happened

Why such focus on the helo, which was, like the CRJ involved, on a lawful preplanned flight, duly cleared by ATC for height, heading and destination. While the CRJ involved is mandated by law to have a TCAS, the blackhawk (I could be wrong) may not have been so equipped.

There was nothing illegal about what happened. It was an accident where people died.

Take a look at the circumstances of Air France flight 447 accident, to have the glimmerings of the faintest idea of what disorientation and loss of situational awareness can do to exacerbate a developing situation going south rather rapidly.

Fatigue, stress and work overload can cause a pilot to fixate on a single task which can reduce their overall situational awareness of the flight.

It costs millions of dollars to train a Blackhawk pilot. The ones who make the cut are more than competent.

and on a given day, any pilot, no matter the experience or competence, can become disoriented or lose situational awareness and end the day in disaster.

CDS Gen Rawat died in one such accident.

[chetak]

and perhaps not all of them speaking the same ATC lingo in terms of interpreting ATC instructions
> That is not true. The lingo is standard. (Even if the pilot speaks in a foreign accent). It is meant to be precise and the instruction needs to be acknowledged.

the blackhawk was being flown with NVGs (usual for night flying) and that is a whole new scenario, one that is not commonly understood by most civilian ATC guys
> it is not the ATC guys responsibility of what technology you are using. In this case, they are quite familiar with military aircraft in this corridor. The lingo used for visual separation request by the helo and granted by the ATC means the helo is totally responsible. They were advised by ATC of the incoming flight.

crossing traffic is very routine for that airpoThrt. There are very important govt offices on the other side, the kind that works 24X7

The inquiry report will become public in some months

This airport has restrictions, rules of its own, peppered with restricted no go mil areas where overflight is not permitted
> This stuff is pretty well documented for each airport for airspace classification. Also, the instructor pilot should have definitely known about this.

Its a complicated situation where, without knowing the restrictions, and understanding the local scenario, making judgements would be fruitless. IMO, there was no doubt that it was a recipe for disaster, an accident looking for a place to happen but the very foundation of all MIL flying is just that.

Best to drop it until more info becomes available

Any which way one looks at it, it was a sad accident that shouldn't have ever taken place, after all, there was nothing out of the way that made the day of the accident stand out from any other day there

Chetak ji - just some clarifications.

RCase ji,

ATC lingo is pretty much standard across any given country but in another country, the lingo may vary slightly. Usually pilots adapt pretty well but at times, they may get confused, which may at times, lead to embarrassment, but sometimes end in disaster

All amriki mil pilots may not always be up to speed on the lingo, because they may be used to their own local versions with some variations or may have recently transferred in to that area. In highly stressful situations, any human will react by instinct or training

Did you know that in high stress situations, the first sense that one loses is often the hearing.

Aural warnings keep blaring in the cockpit but overloaded pilots may be unaware of them because their focus is rivetted elsewhere

There are some reports that the last ATC transmission to the helo was not acknowledged but there is no clarity on this.

[chetak]

Right. The civilian airport needs to be shut down after dark. But who will bell the cat?

It was around 8:45 pm. There is no need to close the airport after dark. In fact most flying club airstrips are technically open through the night (even if they don't have ATC).

RCase ji,

These are usually the ones with radio triggered runway lighting that incoming aircraft can switch on from the air and these are generally in areas where there is very little traffic.

[A_Gupta]

Upheaval in the Democratic Party:

Reid J. Epstein and Shane Goldmacher of The New York Times introduces us to the new chair of the Democratic National Committee, Minnesota DFL chair Ken Martin.

Mr. Martin defeated seven other candidates, including his top rival, Ben Wikler, the energetic chairman of the Democratic Party of Wisconsin. Mr. Wikler’s base of support came from the party’s biggest donors and institutional players in Washington, including Senator Chuck Schumer and Representative Hakeem Jeffries, both of New York, and Representative Nancy Pelosi of California, the former House speaker.

Mr. Martin won comfortably, with 246.5 votes to Mr. Wikler’s 134.5.

Late Friday, Mr. Wikler disclosed that his financial backers had included the billionaire Reid Hoffman and George Soros’s political action committee, both of which gave him $250,000.

[chetak]

[Vayutuvan]

Why such focus on the helo, which was, like the CRJ involved, on a lawful preplanned flight, duly cleared by ATC for height, heading and destination. While the CRJ involved is mandated by law to have a TCAS, the blackhawk (I could be wrong) may not have been so equipped.

Chetak ji, I heard/read in a few Tv channels/X posts (one Cynical Publius does a good job - a vet) that this particular Blackhawk model is not equipped with a black box nor does it have autopilot. Also the pilot was assigned to Whitehouse as a social aide. It seems all her SM posts have been deleted. This seems to be standard practice if the family requests it. It is still up in the air as to whether DEI had indirectly had any effect on this accident. DEI is in both ATC recruitment as well as in the pilot recruitment. She seems to have had only 500 hours of flight time which is not all that much. But then there they are supposed to go through this training at this busy airport. Anybody who is assigned to the WHOTUS might have to do it in real life under pressure if an emergency arises while they are on duty. So they have to train the folks under actual conditions. Just some controlled exercises won't do obviously since no wargames can simulate the real battlefield/emergency conditions.

As for the lack of black box, I can see whey they opted not to have it. What if the aircraft crashes in enemy territory? Information in the Black box might give out far too much operational data and SOP to the enemy. Not having an autopilot also makes sense as it is prone to hacking while the aircraft is in enemy territory.

I have no idea as IANAP.

[RCase]

^^^
The black boxes were recovered from both the aircraft and helicopter.
https://www.voanews.com/a/black-box-rec ... 59169.html
The DEI stuff is just Trump letting off steam.

[uddu]

Tulsi Gabbard Nuked Mark Kelly With Bombshell Revelation on Syria | Syriana Analysis

[uddu]

https://x.com/MikeBenzCyber/status/1885861960291381752
Mike Benz
@MikeBenzCyber
USAID literally set up fake AIDS prevention workshops to topple foreign governments
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/GivtdSIXkAASAhQ?format=jpg

https://x.com/DD_Geopolitics/status/1885742829483524239
DD Geopolitics
@DD_Geopolitics
British Agents Spotted in Serbia!

MI6 operative posing as a British embassy official caught at protests in Serbia.

The UK has a long history of meddling in Serbian affairs. Stay vigilant.

The biggest political mistake OF ALL TIME.

Tariffs imposed on Canada, Mexico and China

How Companies Are Dodging Trump Tariffs On Canada, Mexico And China


https://x.com/elonmusk/status/1886143806476583310
@elonmusk
USAID has been paying media organizations to publish their propaganda

https://x.com/aravind/status/1886074600473145577
Aravind
@aravind
I’ve been vocal about this for a long time, asserting that the hate towards Indians in the US and the world is being manufactured, amplified, and fueled by an organized campaign orchestrated by Pakistani and Chinese fake account farms.

Just as
@total_woke_
showed here (see the attached screenshots), the hide behind different ethnic, religious, nationality accounts and spread hate within countries or against a country in other country.

This campaign is not limited to the US. It’s also being perpetrated in India, inciting hatred among different religions, ethnicities, states, and even India’s neighboring countries.

Regrettably, India has failed to take any action to counter, what I would call as a military operation, against the nation.

Surprisingly, India doesn’t even seem to recognize the existence of this problem. Not a single minister or leader has addressed it or raised it with any social media platform in India.

Despite the economic, geopolitical, and security consequences of this manufactured hatred against India, we have shown no inclination to take action.

Remember, I'm an eternal optimistic. But if a decade passes with no action seen, then I'm afraid I have to say "nothing is being done."

Once
@Kash_Patel
and
@TulsiGabbard
are confirmed, somebody is going to take it up with them directly to address this issue. And am sure this issue will be brought to the notice of
@JohnRatcliffe
,
@StephenM
,
@PeteHegseth
,
@SecRubio
as well in the interests of American national security.

I’m confident that they will take action and put an end to this Pak, China, Qatar influenced Deep State run campaign against American interests ironically going on all US social media platforms.

Hopefully, seeing this US response, India’s government
@GoI_MeitY

@AshwiniVaishnaw
will follow suit and take it up with SM platforms to address this military operation going on against India in the country and its neighborhood.

[uddu]

https://x.com/MikeBenzCyber/status/1886138487440609388
@MikeBenzCyber
Why was USAID actively instructing media organizations around the world to "AGREE POLICIES ON STRATEGIC SILENCE" to all collectively censor social media narratives?

https://x.com/WCdispatch_/status/1886213474164023391
Walter Curt
@WCdispatch_
NEW: Federal Procument Data shows that USAID approved over $6 Million dollars in contracts on Friday.

Including a $1.2M Payment to Deloitte for HR services, $600K for International Center for Language Studies, and over $100k for "Miscellaneous Foreign Awardees."

DOGE has work to do.

Despite the order from President Trump freezing the payments, USAID continued to defy that order as late as the 31st.

No wonder Elon is mad at them. They are unlawfully defying the orders of the President.

There should never be a payment sent out with American Tax Dollars that is listed under "Miscellaneous" ever again.

Let alone to a foreign nation.

@elonmusk
Did you know that USAID, using YOUR tax dollars, funded bioweapon research, including COVID-19, that killed millions of people?
https://x.com/elonmusk/status/1886129005759262964

https://x.com/KanekoaTheGreat/status/18 ... 1889755557
KanekoaTheGreat
@KanekoaTheGreat
USAID funneled $53 million to EcoHealth Alliance, which then used U.S. taxpayer funds to support gain-of-function research on coronaviruses at the Wuhan lab—research that likely led to the creation of COVID-19.

The CIA’s deception regarding COVID-19 origins becomes much clearer when considering USAID's long history of serving as a CIA front organization.

With an annual budget exceeding $50 billion and activities in over 100 countries, USAID has repeatedly been linked to intelligence activities. Former USAID Director John Gilligan once admitted the agency was “infiltrated from top to bottom with CIA people,” explaining that “the idea was to plant operatives in every kind of activity we had overseas: government, volunteer, religious, every kind.”

In 2013, a U.S. cable published by WikiLeaks outlined the U.S. strategy to undermine Venezuela’s government through USAID by "penetrating Chavez’s political base," "dividing Chavismo," and "isolating Chavez internationally."

In 2014, the Associated Press revealed that USAID funded the creation of a Twitter-like platform intended to incite a rebellion in Cuba.

USAID funding has been linked to coups in Haiti, Ukraine, Egypt, and other nations.

From 2009 to 2019, USAID partnered with EcoHealth Alliance on the PREDICT program, which identified 1,200 new viruses, trained 5,000 people globally in disease detection, and enhanced 60 research labs.

This partnership provided the CIA with a direct channel for embedding human assets within biological research facilities worldwide in exchange for funding and technology transfers.

In 2022, Dr. Andrew Huff, a former Vice President at EcoHealth Alliance, publicly revealed Dr. Peter Daszak’s alleged ties to the CIA.

The core issue?

The CIA lied to the American public about COVID-19’s origins because acknowledging the truth would expose its likely role in funneling taxpayer money through USAID to finance gain-of-function research at the Wuhan lab.

The revelations are final coming out officially.

[uddu]

https://x.com/sougat18/status/1886328527857049877
USAID Funds Disbursements from 2001 - 2024 to India | 24 Years of data compiled from Public Source - PART 1 | Thread

Since there is buzz around USAID funds and their flow into India here is a snapshot below:

https://x.com/sougat18/status/1886330526891692369
2. Overall USAID, US State Department & Department of Agriculture has disbursed following funds between 2001-2024 and below is the Partner Category Wise breakup:


3. % Contribution of USAID vs Overall disbursements from 2001-2024
https://x.com/sougat18/status/1886331061938057687


https://x.com/sougat18/status/1886331520530673888
4. Top 20 Implementing Partner (of Total 280 Unique Partners) has disbursed by USAID was the funding agency following funds between 2001-2024:


https://x.com/sougat18/status/1886332953862734283
5. Breakup of some of the key International Purpose Names and their funds by USAID disbursed between 2001 - 2024:


https://foreignassistance.gov/cd/india/