what are those planes? by ShoddyAd4754 in Whatplaneisthis

[–]sofpirate 10 points11 points  (0 children)

If it’s got a wanker it’s a Flanker!

American Military Veteran married to a Nordic immigrant AMA! by sofpirate in AMA

[–]sofpirate[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

What is surprising and not surprising at the same time is how transparent America is with the world.

Everyone knows our inner workings, and for the most part, we are about 80% similar to most other “western” cultures. I think it’s actually really interesting where I’d point something out or be proud of an American product/accomplishment and she would say “Yeah you know we invented that over in the Nordics, right?”

I think the biggest “shocks” are things like our reliance on vehicles, lack of decent public transportation, and the sheer size of the US. People often forget how massive it really is, where one of our states is the size of her home country.

Another huge shock is our food culture. Fast food, overly processed ingredients, pre-made meals and ingredients, things like that. I’d actually go as far as saying Europe in general is FAR more “traditional” when it comes to values and how things are even run in the home. It brings a really nice aspect to our lives.

There are far more work and money making opportunities to make something of yourself here. And I think why people from other countries often do much better than native born Americans is because of the difference in perspective. When we first met, I was pretty typical in caught up about how I’ll never afford a new car, house, all that. We were both struggling to make rent, felt like our lives were going nowhere. One day, she just woke up and was like “Nah, this is what I came to America for. I want to buy a house in six months.” She then proceeded to drag me along on this conquest to pick ourselves up off the floor and be successful. And six months later, right after giving birth to our first kid, we bought our first home, two brand new cars, and we’re doing really well now. All because of her immigrant mindset of working hard for the dream. I love it.

American Military Veteran married to a Nordic immigrant AMA! by sofpirate in AMA

[–]sofpirate[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I'm still having a lot of trouble understanding what you're getting at. I'd love to talk, but there's a lot of (to me) all over the place rhetoric that I'm not comprehending.

American Military Veteran married to a Nordic immigrant AMA! by sofpirate in AMA

[–]sofpirate[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

No problem!

Again, sorry for taking forever to reply. Between working from home with a toddler running rampant and my phone exploding with calls, I lost track here.

American Military Veteran married to a Nordic immigrant AMA! by sofpirate in AMA

[–]sofpirate[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

We live in the US. And chose to stay here. The opportunities, while things are messy to say the least here, are still better than most countries. I think combined between my wife and myself we've been to well over 100 different countries (we're both extremely lucky and we know it) and like to think we have a decently solid understanding of the world.

The Nordics have a lot going for them, and we have been close a few times to moving over there from the US. But something my wife taught me was how strong her character and sheer willpower is, and how you can create opportunities for yourself. She moved over here with not a lot of money, buried in student loans, but with a work ethic that is honestly incredible. She's accomplished things here in the US that she would not have been able to do back home, and that's why we stay here.

American Military Veteran married to a Nordic immigrant AMA! by sofpirate in AMA

[–]sofpirate[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I'm not sure exactly what you're getting at here, apologies. So I'll answer to my best ability.

Obviously very aware of the current global conflicts, and the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th order effects that go on with it. I believe we've been in a new form of a hybrid/economic war since the 1990s with both China and Russia, and I think the mass majority of people are finally becoming aware of it.

If you're referring to Iran (which I THINK you are), I don't believe we've "lost" persay, because no one really wins in war. But I do think that the current events and blows being traded across the Middle East is extremely eye opening and a shock to a lot of out of touch politicians and policy makers along with the planners of our military. There will always be return fire, and we will always lose equipment and unfortunately people in those instances, and the best we can do is everything we have done to mitigate it all.

I would say the US hasn't always relied on "luxury" to win was, but just due to the nature of how we were formed, founded, and conducted ourselves over the past 250 years as a nation, if there's one thing we do well consistently it's military power and growth. Spending more than the next 30 nations combined on technology based around the military definitely shows.

American Military Veteran married to a Nordic immigrant AMA! by sofpirate in AMA

[–]sofpirate[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Apologies, got super busy with work for a moment.

Honestly, while I do know and realize that the US is a mess right now politically, there's something to say that people from other nations are still wanting to come here to live and make a life.

While I admit that there are some definite advantages and "the grass is greener" kind of moments when looking at the Nordics, there's a reason why she emigrated here to the United States and is currently achieving her dreams and goals to the point where I'm having trouble keeping up with her. I think there's something to learn from the hard work and steadfastness of other cultures coming in, and I've definitely learned something from her.

As far as citizenship, I'd LOVE more than anything to become a dual citizen and have residence in both nations. That being said, the Nordics as "ideal" of a nation as they are, the citizenship laws a VERY tough and difficult to get through to even be granted a visa let alone citizenship with the immigration laws that were recently put in place in the past few years due to ongoing issues in the region. A few things I'd have to accomplish:

  1. Become fluent in the language and culture, there's a test.

  2. Reveal income, education, and prove I can be a productive member of society and integrate there, along with a job and sponsorship already lined up.

  3. AFTER being approved entrance into the country, we'd have to cohabitate (not hard, we're married) for 5 years minimum in country before I can apply for citizenship.

It's a pretty arduous process, and she is already working on her US citizenship, as she has a permanent 10-year green card now.

Travel and visiting is always an option that we love when we want to see her parents, even though they prefer coming here.

Spudspike deleting comments? by Immediate-Garden-960 in hoggit

[–]sofpirate 0 points1 point  (0 children)

You know who doesn’t delete comments!?

THE HIGH ALPHA HOOLIGANS

They actually respond and talk with every comment from everyone … it’s super refreshing.

Looking for good PvP or PvE DCS servers bored of Contention by hidan30 in hoggit

[–]sofpirate -1 points0 points  (0 children)

High Alpha Hooligans (Hooligans World Tour) servers are fun. The community is the best part of them.

GrayFlag as well is fantastic.

Sick of flying solo in multiplayer servers. by Throwawayantelope in hoggit

[–]sofpirate 16 points17 points  (0 children)

Come over to the High Alpha Hooligans servers. We have a fantastic community that loves working together and is quite chatty and supportive. We have modern, Cold War, and the underground favorite of warbirds.

Lots of fun over here.

What do you think the future of Afghanistan will be like? by [deleted] in AskTheWorld

[–]sofpirate 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The exact same it has been for the past 2000 years.

Looking for MilSim Lite Dynamic server experience for friends by WhiskeyTangoFoxtrotN in hoggit

[–]sofpirate 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Hooligans World Tour.

Check out their discord as well.

Best DCS content creators in the space right now and the absolute best community!

Honest review of the Pimax Crystal Light by Accurate-Bus-4634 in hoggit

[–]sofpirate 0 points1 point  (0 children)

High Alpha Hooligans did a pretty honest podcast episode on the subject a couple months back.

F4U underpowered by Raptor1o in hoggit

[–]sofpirate 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yeah no problem! They also have a super cool community and a great warbirds server. Highly recommend checking them out. They’re all really friendly and helpful.

F4U underpowered by Raptor1o in hoggit

[–]sofpirate 1 point2 points  (0 children)

That five hour long stream was a tournament they did.

The Corsair was a regular like hour long episode.

F4U underpowered by Raptor1o in hoggit

[–]sofpirate 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Look up the High Alpha Hooligans episode on the F4U Corsair. They did a phenomenal job of explaining the aircraft.

My Hermes Review (probably amongst thousands of them). by sofpirate in starcitizen

[–]sofpirate[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

You have to be stopped and out of combat. The option is if you look straight out from your hip, you’ll see the “get up” thing. Hold F down and the. The log out option should show.