Rob Brunner

@BlastingThrough Good advice! Especially young men and women.

Integrity and Leadership During the Delta Force stress phase of the selection process, our rucksack required weight increased from 45 to 50 pounds and finally to 55 pounds. We ran solo through unforgiving terrain with our rucksack, a weapon, a map, and a compass. We were not allowed to use roads or trails. A few people would attempt to cheat the system and take a road or trail, thinking that they would get by with it. They did not know that cadres were watching. They were allowed to finish the course, but at the Commanders Board, they would be asked if they had used a road or trail. If they lied, they were immediately removed from the selection process. It was much better to own up to cheating the system than lying about it. Our moral compass is as important as our real compass. Before anything we attempt in life, it always turns out better to keep our moral compass, in other words, our integrity, as close to the vest as our directional one. Integrity, our personal character, is one of the foundational cornerstones of leadership.

🔴 ايران ممتعضة جداً من الامارات ليس بسبب القواعد كما يدعي بيان الخارجية الايرانية، بل بتصفية المصالح الايرانية الضخمة داخل الامارات واعتقال وترحيل اشخاص كان لهم دور في تمويل وادارة مصالح ايرانية مالية وتجارية أساسية وكبيرة جداً لعمل الحرس والدولة الايرانية! 🔴 فدبي كانت الرئة الاقتصادية التي كانت تتنفس منها ايران وتخفف عبر العلاقات التجارية غير الرسمية معها من تأثيرات العقوبات الامريكية عليها! 🔴 الان وبعد تصفية تلك المصالح الايرانية ومصادرة اموالها واغلاق شركاتها واعتقال مدرائها ، أُغلق باب مهم جداً بوجه ايران مما زاد من حجم الضغوطات الاقتصادية عليها ولن تجد منفذاً جديداً آخر بحجم تجارة الامارات، يساعدها على كسر حاجز العقوبات! تحياتي 🌷

Here in the South, when you see a man in a cowboy hat and swimming shorts, something interesting is certainly bound to happen. This absolute legend pulled a shark out of the water, yanked the hook, and started deadlifting the damn thing like it was leg day at the beach. Only in Florida, baby. We don’t need gyms — we’ve got the Gulf of America!

@ali_peek I think that's the best summation I've ever heard. The energy is different, crazy energy! LFGO!!! 🐊🏆🐊

Only one statement matches the insanity of the fanbase. Crazy recognizes crazy and I think we got our guy.

They are using their same playbook but don't realize that the board has changed. Put regional pressure on the US to make them compromise and back down. Would likely have worked a couple years ago but the board has changed. Their proxies are nowhere as near capable as before. They turned most of the important regional players against them, and the US knows they have the upper hand.

Btw let me tell you the IRGC plan here: Only bomb non-US targets in Dubai in the hopes that America doesn't see it as a direct aggression and thus don't retaliate. What a retarded plan

Yep.

@Pregory1 @Gary_Brode I admire your courage to speak in the absence of knowledge.

@RobBrunner5 @Gary_Brode Bullshit. 95% of the post’s content is spent refuting leftist claims that Trump’s oil-price spike caused spirit to fail, even though it was the proximate cause. 0% is spent explaining why the Reagan judge was RIGHT to block the merger. JB planned to hike rates 40%, for example.

Who’s at Fault in the Spirit Liquidation Over the past few days on X, many have engaged in the game of assigning blame for who’s responsible in the Chapter 7 liquidation of Spirit Airlines. The people who lean Republican point to Senator Elizabeth Warren bragging that she had been warning that an acquisition of Spirit by Jet Blue would lead to “fewer flights and higher fares”. When the DoJ succeeded in blocking the merger, Warren claimed that “This is a Biden win for flyers”. (x.com/SenWarren/stat…) The people who lean Democrat claim that President Trump is at fault because the war in Iran has led to higher oil prices. They claim that the increase in the price of crude led to losses at Spirit that caused the bankruptcy. For a detailed response to that, @RobertMSterling has two excellent posts. In one, he explains the history of the Jet Blue deal and why he blames Warren and the Biden Administration (x.com/RobertMSterlin…) and in another, he gives a helpful description of the difference between Chapter 11 and Chapter 7 bankruptcies (x.com/RobertMSterlin…). The reason that matters is Spirit filed Chapter 11 in both 2024 and in 2025, and just filed for Chapter 7. That’s three bankruptcies in three years. Higher oil prices are never a positive for airlines, but I think the people claiming that’s the reason for the bankruptcies are missing something. Let’s look at the data first. (Afterwards, we can point fingers at politicians.) Take a look at the first graph below. Spirit’s profitability (the blue bars) generally rose from 2005 through 2017. That trend was present even though oil rose from around $60/barrel to $100, then declined to the low $40s before rising again. In this early period, Spirit was able to generate consistently more net income regardless of whether the price of oil rose or fell. Net income turned negative in 2020 even as the price of oil plummeted. Of course it did. The world shut down and most people were afraid to travel, or limited from doing so by government restrictions. By 2022 and 2023, we heard the term “revenge travel”. People who had been isolated at home raced to airports and cruise ships to reengage with the world and start traveling again. Demand for flights skyrocketed at the same time that inflation caused a massive spike in oil prices. In this period, we can claim that Spirit net income was negative in 2020 and 2021 due to travel restrictions and negative in 2022 due to high oil prices. Oil prices fell hard in 2023, 2024, and 2025, yet Spirit’s negative net income fell further to record lows. We now have one early period when profitability rose regardless of fluctuating oil prices, and another later period when profitability plummeted despite falling oil prices. Clearly, there has to be something else happening. There is. Now, check out the second chart labeled CASM ex-fuel. CASM stands for Cost per Available Seat Mile. It’s the measure of how much it costs an airline to fly one seat one mile. Think of it as the efficiency of airline operations excluding the cost of fuel. That’s where Spirit used to excel. One big reason the airline was able to offer such low fares was they kept costs low. (I flew a Spirit flight once. It was such a miserable experience that I swore I never would again. You got low fares and terrible service.) Spirit’s CASM spiked in 2020. That makes sense. Airlines have high fixed costs and people weren’t flying. But take a look at the skyrocketing costs in 2023, 2024, and 2025. This has nothing to do with fuel. It’s the cost of airplanes, pilots, ground crew, baggage handlers, and gate agents. The real story here isn’t the Iran-related increase in oil prices during the past few months. It’s the fact that Spirit’s operating costs (excluding fuel) rose more than the cost of fuel fell in those years. This airline declared bankruptcy in 2024 and in 2025 and the real issue wasn’t oil or Iran. It was the cost of everything but oil. Senator Warren claimed responsibility for herself and the Biden Administration for killing the deal that would have kept Spirit’s assets running under the Jet Blue flag. I believe her. As for the people claiming that Spirit’s bankruptcies are due to oil prices, the evidence says otherwise. If you’ve read this far, thank you. I’d like to recognize DKI Intern, Kunal Arora who spent his Sunday doing the research behind the graphs here.

@Gary_Brode @Pregory1 No problem. It was a great post you made.

@RobBrunner5 @Pregory1 Yes and absolutely, Rob. When I wrote "tell me you read my post without reading my post", I was referring to him - NOT you. Apologies for the lack of clarity.

@Pregory1 @Gary_Brode There was nothing political in the original post or in mine. You are the only one who is bringing up political points.

@Gary_Brode @RobBrunner5 Proximate cause was oil prices. Like a Covid death with many comorbidities. It wouldn’t occur to me to blame Trump. But if he and his cronies are going to play the blame game - they own the proximate cause. Spirit held competitors’ prices down for 4 extra years tx to antitrust.

@Gary_Brode @Pregory1 It was Pregory NcRonald that was attacking you, I agreed with you.

Exactly Warren claims blocking the merger which would have saved the company was an intentional win for her and the Biden Admin. I take her at her word. CASM was the reason the company never recovered and the long-term analysis shows that oil prices were never strongly correlated with profitability. Note that Rob doesn't counter my analysis; but rather, attacks me personally, uses emotionally charged language, and provides support for his "team". It's exactly this kind of Team Red / Team Blue nonsense, I'm trying to avoid with actual financial and business analysis, something Rob neither addressed or provided himself. Insert "tell me you read my post without reading my post" meme here.

@Pregory1 @Gary_Brode He was explaining the rising costs Excluding fuel as one of the main reasons. He showed it as CASM, costs per mile excluding fuel.

@Pregory1 @Gary_Brode The take I had was it was due to Spirits costs (excluding fuel) rising. Nothing political about his post.

@OurTwoBits Taintsville, cause it t'aint there 🤣

The answer is NICEVILLE...

@tanpukunokami In the US, especially in Texas, we have the Big Steak challenge. If you can finish it, the meal is free.

Going to Japan? Forget Mt. Fuji. Do wanko soba. It's not a meal. It's a sport. How it works: 1. The server flips a tiny bowl of soba into yours, yelling "hai jan jan!" 2. You eat it. Fast. 3. They reload. Over and over. 4. Want them to stop? Slam the lid shut. Most people: 60–80 bowls. House record at Azumaya: 753 (a woman, btw). Hit 100 and they hand you a certificate.

Virginia Republicans tried to elect the first black female governor in the country last year. @vademocrats backed the wealthy white woman. @SenLouiseLucas backed the wealthy white woman. @SpeakerDonScott backed the wealthy white woman. @BarackObama backed the wealthy white woman. @NAACP backed the wealthy white woman. @VEA4Kids backed the wealthy white woman. Democrats treated a republican black woman like garbage because she was in the wrong party. So kindly spare us your ‘republicans don’t want black people to vote’ garbage.

Florida being Florida

After the first couple of times when the chain store ran out of medication, I found out that they were putting a strict limit on how much each store would get every month. And since they would only accept electronic scripts, it was very difficult to get it sent to a different pharmacy.

@ChadDKollas @wesmoss1018 @Publix Chain pharmacists have set back my profession by decades, and I’m sorry.

Dear @Publix Your pharmacist at Publix Pharmacy #1506 will not fill a prescription for a controlled pain medication for a patient because: 1) The patient doesn’t look “sick enough” to be receiving palliative care, and… 2) The pharmacist doesn’t actually understand the definition of palliative care. Please help fix this unacceptable situation ASAP.

@Kebp123 @ChadDKollas @PublixHelps That is true, happened to me a few times. I try to find a good one. Unfortunately, pharmacists change jobs and corporate policies change.

@ChadDKollas @PublixHelps

In all fairness, I have never had a problem with my meds at the Publix I go to oin Townpark. In fact, They have always been very helpful and courteous. Over the years I have had a lot of other pharmacies be rude, a couple flat out refused and wouldn't even talk to me. CVS ran out of medicine 4 times in 2 years and with electronic scripts, it's difficult to get it switched to another pharmacy. The last time was when I switched to Publix and I wish I had done it sooner. Best of luck, I hope that they get it straightened out.

@PublixHelps I have sent a direct message with the number for our Clinic Nurse to help with additional information. Thank you, @PublixHelps.

@TonySeruga With a rail gun and likely lasers it's going to have to make a lot of energy. My guess is nuclear.

🚨 Trump Battleship design revealed in greater detail Two noteworthy topics—the "Railgun" is a core capability of the ship, and will the Battleships be nuclear powered? —Colonel (Retired) John Mills Naval “experts” are harrumphing at the cost and design of the Trump Battleship. Too big, too expensive, not worth it. The same experts conveniently forget that at the height of the Reagan Navy buildup were large surface combatants, four re-stored Iowa Class Battleships and around 10 large nuclear powered cruisers. These large warships provided visible presence which sent a message, carried a lot of weapons, and often acted as the leaders of independent “Surface Action Group” that could lead high speed forays, separate from the Carrier Battle Groups. The Trump Battleship allows an expanded U.S. Navy that has additional capabilities (i.e. cards in the deck) beyond the mono-answer of Carrier Strike Groups. There will be a “deep magazine” of missiles on the Trump Battleships - but one feature that will provide long range capability at a much lower cost is a large “Railgun”. The Railgun will use electrical power to fire a projectile much further and faster than existing cannons. Incoming ballistic missiles, enemy ships, and land targets can be hit at long distances while more expensive missiles can be reserved for the correct situations. The U.S. Navy flailed with the Railgun concept for years in the early 2000s - and like a string of disappointing program efforts, the Railgun effort was shuttered with no operational deployments. This is why the Zumwalt class cruiser/destroyer, or whatever we decided to call it was essentially a large surface combatant missing a key feature of its promised design. It is unclear on exactly what the exact, unconquerable technical hurdle was that prevented us from developing the Railgun (did the hurdle have D, E, and I in it?), but the Japanese took the basics of the U.S. Railgun design, fixed it, and handed it back to us - thank you Japan. Now that we have appeared to solve the Railgun issue, they may also provide a very efficient capability in the layered approach of Golden Dome - the defense of the United States Homeland from missiles, aircraft, and drones. The information released on the Trump Battleship is silent on the form of propulsion. To move a 35,000 ton ship at high speed for long periods, there is intuitively only one solution. That is a nuclear power plant. It is not clear why the form of propulsion for the Trump Battleship is not addressed, but there is a strong possibility that the U.S. Navy will return to surface ships with nuclear power, and the Trump Battleships may just be the first of several ship types to re-embrace nuclear power. colonelretjohn.substack.com/p/trump-battle…