Ukraine v Russia II

Oddly enough, Russian is one of the few language options on some ATMs in my area.

 

Since the end of the Cold War, the only thing that Americans thought of when they thought of Russia was prostitutes and gangsters.

It’s a weird thing, so many foreigners seem to think Americans are always plotting against their countries, while Americans don’t even know where those countries are.

 

Embarrassing! He’s running out of officers.

Putin's reliance on mercenaries 'backfires' after one of them guns down Russian lieutenant colonel: report

https://www.rawstory.com/putin-russia-ukraine-war-2658402562/

 

Been to Fort Ross a couple of times.

 

Because there is a level of mass destruction that NATO will respond to with force, and we've already said that nuclear weapons are over that line. I'm sure there are conventional ways to get over that line too.

I don't know how much damage breaking the dam will do. While it is holding back a large amount of water, there isn't a great height difference between the sides. Hopefully we won't find out.

 

It's been reported that the fighting here is very largely infantry on foot. It is so flat and open here it just isn't possible to hide vehicle movement and both sides have long range direct fire weapons that can hit pretty accurately over a few kilometers. This is just a way to move infantry somewhere quickly and by moving as fast as they can and not stopping they hopefully won't get hit. It's kind of like how America moved troops around by helicopter in Vietnam.

 

From a WSJ article, the amount of material captured in the recent Kharkiv front actions is staggering. One Ukrainian said “We’ve got so many trophies that we don’t even know what to do with them. We started off as an infantry battalion, and now we are sort of becoming a mechanized battalion.” The shortage in Soviet 152mm artillery shells that have been hampering Ukraine for months is now over. They functionally outgun the Russians on this part of the front now.

 

Movement to contact is s a very fast paced maneuver. It consists of orienting on the enemy speed and lethality. Think of it as a cavalry charge. Different systems but same objectives here.

 

https://www.cnbc.com/2022/10/05/tim...saudi-relationship-sen-chris-murphy-says.html

No shit!

The bottom line of the arrangement was supposedly that the Saudi's could commit all the war crimes they wanted and occasionally chop up newspaper reporters as long as they provided the West's energy needs.
If you bottom line it in this moment, what is actually the net gain of the current status quo? Other than for individual crooks like the Trump clan.

The weakness vis-à-vis Saudi-Arabia already was quite pathetic but it is going to a whole other level with this latest debacle.

 

IT BEGINS: Moscow's TASS news reports that mobilized troops in the Omsk region are electing spokesmen to complain about conditions and lack of pay. These are literally acts of mutiny and insubordination-- and don't bode well for the combat performance Putin’s newest troops. https://t.co/CrCQsqEiJa

— Chuck Pfarrer | Indications & Warnings | (@ChuckPfarrer) October 5, 2022

 

A rousing show was prepared for the mobilized #Russian cannon fodder. pic.twitter.com/Rhq9A8We3U

— NEXTA (@nexta_tv) October 6, 2022

This is some surreal shit.

 

Musk can relate to Putin because they’re both sociopaths.

 

this was back in 1917
very curious how things play out this time

 

What is a non-horrible weapon?

 

A wet finger.

 

A few years back, more than 10, we went into a supermarket in Woodburn, Oregon.
Aisles were listed in English and Russian Cyrillic. We found out that there was a huge influx of Russians there from a happy, chatty group buying goods for a Russian wedding.

 

Talking about capping oil price was a bad idea and this led in part to OPEC to do this move as they demonstrated their willingness to defend their profits. Also, the Saudis are buying oil from Russia at a discounted price and sell it back to us at increased market price - same scheme being used by the Indians buying their stuff at a discount and selling it back to Europe at a premium.

 

Why is it a bad idea? Walk me through the environmental and societal implications of using market forces to reduce Middle Eastern or Russian hydrocarbon use.

Do be as specific as you can.