jriot

Food, shelter, and clothing are needed to live but not a right, there is a difference that is lost on everyone including the often misinformed UN.

Survey says; most people are lemmings.

When you live in a rural area none of these are needed, zoo, aquarium, bike trail, running path as they are provided naturally from the environment.

West coast cities would be my definition of undesirable.

Face-to-face communication is not needed, it is a notion everyone says to keep the status quo.

A basic map is all people need if GPS were to go offline. I have driven across the country, and around cities (both in the US and non-US) without using a GPS. Not really noteworthy nor does it say much about a lot of people who can't function without one.

> Your job as a parent is to provide your kid with all necessities of life and with love.

* Your job as a parent is to teach your children to ensure they are functioning adults at 18.

25 is not young. I was married for 4 years (still married at 34 to the same woman), a one-year-old daughter, working as an air traffic controller for 7 years, deployed to the ME, stationed at three different bases, traveled to 12 countries (at the time), completed undergrad, and half-way through graduate school. The age appearing young is because society likes to make excuses on why people haven't gotten their act together.

Appears to be a personal choice.

My wife and I have two kids, we are both in the best shape of our lives, eat better than before, and our kids are quite healthy - participating in gymnastics, volleyball, and roller derby.

This is the biggest load of bull.... being pushed these days, reaming of a selfish, entitlement attitude.

This is just purely my observations. I'm of the firm belief that it doesn't really matter what you eat if you exercise enough. Military (actual combat, outside the wire) live off MREs yet are in phenomenal shape. I train strongman/powerlifting, it doesn't matter what I eat - double cheeseburger, fry, and chocolate shake, thats fine because my body needs the calories from the morning workout. It doesn't lead to six-pack abs, but I'll trade that for my level of strength.

They aren't hard on the spine with proper form.

I thought our (you and me) mindset was normal, that if money weren't an issue no would work, but I have been mistaken many times. I am not sure if people don't have interests outside of their work, or their work is their interests but it seems many people would continue working if financially secure.

I am a data scientist with little to nothing in common with my colleagues (particularly on the engineering side), outside of us working for the same company. I'd rather spend my time with my wife and kids, pursuing my hobbies, and generally being outdoors. Not having to commute or waste hours pretending to be interested in my colleague's lives outside of work is a huge benefit. Side conversations occurring at the office which are beneficial are a rare occurrence - put more specifically, I am willing to risk missing out on in office perks to benefit my own life. When I hit my financial number, I won't write code, conduct analysis or do anything near a computer screen again.

Schools fill them with their own religious/political dogma. You just don't like it because it doesn't match your worldview.

We started giving a book or two with 2 - 3 chocolates on top. Even if the kid reads it in a week, they can then bring it to the used book store to trade it in for a different book.

People who rely on the government to tell them what is healthy and what is not healthy are idiots. A drink made in an Atlanta Lab is obviously not healthy.

I vote to not pay into social security, let me manage my own money.

As a former Air Force air traffic controller, the sentiment is similar on the enlisted side. I remember a Chief called all controllers in for a meeting to discuss his new policies, then asking the NCOs what he thought of his them. Every NCO agreed and said they were needed Chief. I told him they were counterproductive and would cause more problems than solve. He kicked everyone out of the room, and we had a one-way conversation in which I was instructed to never disagree with him, ever, particularly in a group setting.

While ATC isn't fighter pilot cool, it was an amazing job to have when you're 18 at the beginning of the war (2003), but after 11 years of many similar experiences, as I illustrated above, I left. What struck me most, was when I told my Chief, Flight Commander, and SQ/CC I wasn't reenlisting, none of them tried to talk me into staying. I was dual rated - Tower and RAPCON (with ARTCC) - with 4 different facility ratings plus a deployment to Balad AB where we were pushing 1000+ aircraft a day. They could care less to keep their experienced NCOs in, their sole focus appeared to be on their next promotion and/or assignment. It solidified my choice while reassuring me I made the right decision.

That is fair. I was living in Turkey when I went to Ukraine so spending 3 months learning a third language at the time was all I could commit.

I understand others wanting to practice with a native English speaker, and them getting the chance was probably more beneficial than me speaking Russian. Though the stereotype of Americans not attempting to learn a 2nd language gives me a slight annoyance, though nothing I lose much sleep over :)

The only language I could not grasp when traveling was Nepalese. Though all Asian languages based on tones has given me trouble.

You know its quite hard for us Americans to actually to learn to speak a 2nd or 3rd new language fluently, outside of maybe Spanish.

I lived in Turkey for two years, spoke at a conversation level fairly well, but once the other person realized I wasn't Turkish (it wasn't apparent) they wanted to practice their English. I went to Ukraine in December, spent 3 months learning Russian (I was visiting a Russian speaking area), and once they learned I was American (much sooner than Turkey), they wanted to practice their English. The only two counties that let me practice were France and Italy, with the Italians being the most patient in our conversations.

As an American, we want to learn new languages but no one let us practice.

I was raised and lived in fairly conservative areas - Alaska, Louisiana, North Carolina. Though as everyone does, I explored many areas of politics, attempting to formulate my own belief system; it is continuous work in progress never settling.

However, having lived and traveled throughout the world, from the US, Iceland, Ukraine, Turkey, Cyprus, Nepal and more I've learned that your own culture and people help you the most. The US is too big to systematically solve any problems at the federal level. Issues are best solved locally, at the community level.

I don't keep every ounce of wealth, we donate to our local church which gives to the homeless in our area. My wife gives her time to the church, helping families that are currently homeless. She aids in the school, volunteering in the classroom, functions, ensuring the children are receiving the attention they deserve. Local issues are what we are trying to progress. Areas we can see an impact - where our money, time, and effort are being used properly.

I do believe the system is set-up for people to succeed, but it isn't easy. Work, sacrifice, owning up to your mistakes and learning from them are what matters. I've never seen one person regardless of race, sex, or age be denied an opportunity they truly put 100% effort into. Does plan A always work? No, sometimes you have to accept plan C and make the best of it.

Hopefully, that provided a little insight. It is late here.

I graduate high school in '03, turned 18 a month later followed by boot camp two months later. After boot camp, it was 1.5 years of air traffic control training. This involved 8 - 10 days 5 - 6 days a week in the military, knowing if I failed I would be washed out of the career-field, potentially kicked out of the military with no benefits. On a positive note, I wasn't in a combat role so that did alleviate some stress.

After I completed training and was comfortable as a controller I started using my benefits to complete school; went through two master's degrees using my benefits. Separated from the military while living in southern Turkey, accepting a role in a small town in Idaho as a data scientist. Wife and I landed in the states and a month later we drove our two children to a town we've never even visited to start a job I've never done. Five years later, I work from home as a data scientist.

Acknowledging the hard work and risks it took without a fall-back has made me much more conservative in my politics than I would be otherwise.

Maybe we should eat foods native to our culture and region. Being from Louisiana, I eat plenty of meat (I have no ethical qualms with animals dying so I can eat meat, its apart of life), vegetables that can grow in the region, starches that also grow in the region e.g.,, converted Louisiana white rice, and take in a good portion of dairy. I don't need my food imported from around the world, I eat what is grown and raised here. Couple that with an active lifestyle and I don't see any need to change.

There is an investment in exercise you just need to set goals. I went from never running 4 miles to completing 55km mountain runs. Then switched up and went from 800lbs powerlifting total to a 1300lbs total and still looking for more.

No citizen has a right to be an amateur in the matter of physical training…what a disgrace it is for a man to grow old without ever seeing the beauty and strength of which his body is capable. - Socrates

I drink 32oz of whole milk a day, bacon with grits and butter for breakfast, steak at lunch, then my dinner varies. I have normal levels of cholesterol. I believe genetics play a bigger impact.

Society still views gender as binary.

That would be wrong.

The guys in the tower are ATC, they do ground control (still ATC) and local control, surface to 2500' with a 5-mile radius. The dark room guys (TRACON) do surface to the top of their airspace (depends, 18k, 23k) with a 60-mile radius (roughly). Then there is center/en route, which does air traffic above the TRACON when you are level flying at 30k+.

Simplified version.

Source: Was an air traffic controller.

Humans are meant to be active for long periods of time. There aren't any dangers of exercise. Only in the minds of people who are trying to justify their fat lifestyle do they perceive some sort of risk associated with what us, animals, are meant to do be doing naturally.

Air traffic controllers wear a small in the ear style headphone, and only in one ear. It was far easier to wear ATC headset than headphones all day. Plus I usually took a 30 min break every two hours so I didn't need to wear it all day.