War in Ukraine

[majorhavoc]

I love Russian people, honestly I had a plan to move to Russia and get like 200-500 acres of land. And just go away. The wife was even down for it.

Bur how fucking stupid are they? It's not difficult to find videos if thousands if theirs killed. And for what? I mean I suppose Putin is doing this because he wants to kill an entire generation... why? Because younger Russians are/were sick of him. Best way to stay in power and not hav an uprising kill the younger generation or run them out if the country.

I watched clips that totaled probably 5 hours if 5000ish Russian troops, armor, APC, etc get wiped out a week ago. Imagine if 5k US, British, German, etc troops were killed in a couple days. Just imagine.

Yeah, I guess I was a bit flippant in my last post.  It's just that after a year of this damn war, I'm so angry and frustrated.  You're right Halfpint: a whole generation of Russia's best and brightest is being sacrificed for the foolish pride of an arrogant old man.  In the end Ukraine will stand, Putin will be gone and millions of Russians will weep over those who were lost.  As you say ... why?

I hate the idea of Russians dying.  But it's even more heartbreaking to me that good, promising Ukrainians, young and old, have to put their lives on hold, deny society the very best use of their talents, and risk their lives defending their country.  This woman's story is playing out a thousand, thousand times across Ukraine every single day.  It's a damn waste of human potential.

[echo83]

I love Russian people, honestly I had a plan to move to Russia and get like 200-500 acres of land. And just go away. The wife was even down for it.

Bur how fucking stupid are they? It's not difficult to find videos if thousands if theirs killed. And for what? I mean I suppose Putin is doing this because he wants to kill an entire generation... why? Because younger Russians are/were sick of him. Best way to stay in power and not hav an uprising kill the younger generation or run them out if the country.

I watched clips that totaled probably 5 hours if 5000ish Russian troops, armor, APC, etc get wiped out a week ago. Imagine if 5k US, British, German, etc troops were killed in a couple days. Just imagine.

Yeah, I guess I was a bit flippant in my last post.  It's just that after a year of this damn war, I'm so angry and frustrated.  You're right Halfpint: a whole generation of Russia's best and brightest is being sacrificed for the foolish pride of an arrogant old man.  In the end Ukraine will stand, Putin will be gone and millions of Russians will weep over those who were lost.  As you say ... why?

I hate the idea of Russians dying.  But it's even more heartbreaking to me that that good, promising Ukrainians, young and old, have to put their lives on hold, deny society the very best use of their best talents, and risk their lives defending their country.  This woman's story is playing out a thousand, thousand times across Ukraine every single day.  It's a damn waste of human potential.

     I agree with both of you, at the rate that the Russians are are being shovelled like meat into the grinder, I almost feel bad for them. I don't consider them to be "orcs," or "demons," or "zombies," (although I understand that dehumanizing your enemy makes it easier to fight him). I consider them to be young (and often old) men being lied/forced into an almost impossibly brutal situation. 
However, my sympathy for them wanes when I see pictures of the atrocities that many of them have committed.
     It's almost like there is some national imperative to throw humanity against a "problem" until the "problem" is "solved," and I'm hard pressed to find a society more inured to suffering. 
     Every time I see a video of a tank getting taken out, I think two radically different things. 
     "God help you, you poor bastards." 
                 and
     "You did this to yourselves. You weren't supposed to be there. Stop and turn around."

[flybynight]

I love Russian people, honestly I had a plan to move to Russia and get like 200-500 acres of land. And just go away. The wife was even down for it.

Bur how fucking stupid are they? It's not difficult to find videos if thousands if theirs killed. And for what? I mean I suppose Putin is doing this because he wants to kill an entire generation... why? Because younger Russians are/were sick of him. Best way to stay in power and not hav an uprising kill the younger generation or run them out if the country.

I watched clips that totaled probably 5 hours if 5000ish Russian troops, armor, APC, etc get wiped out a week ago. Imagine if 5k US, British, German, etc troops were killed in a couple days. Just imagine.

Yeah, I guess I was a bit flippant in my last post.  It's just that after a year of this damn war, I'm so angry and frustrated.  You're right Halfpint: a whole generation of Russia's best and brightest is being sacrificed for the foolish pride of an arrogant old man.  In the end Ukraine will stand, Putin will be gone and millions of Russians will weep over those who were lost.  As you say ... why?

I hate the idea of Russians dying.  But it's even more heartbreaking to me that that good, promising Ukrainians, young and old, have to put their lives on hold, deny society the very best use of their best talents, and risk their lives defending their country.  This woman's story is playing out a thousand, thousand times across Ukraine every single day.  It's a damn waste of human potential.

It's not just one old man 
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foundations_of_Geopolitics
This is the beginning of ww3

[Ghost]

Related to the war? Agriculture.

Remember all that wheat, grain, corn etc that comprises 30% of the total world's output? All that didn't get planted last spring? Now the effects of that is going to ripple out across the globe.

Add to this China and India hoarding their supplies that leaves the US to provide for ourselves and the rest of the world (Europe is useless). Expected prices to continue to climb and skyrocket.

And to further add? They aren't going to be planting this year either... let that sink in.

[Halfapint]

Related to the war? Agriculture.

Remember all that wheat, grain, corn etc that comprises 30% of the total world's output? All that didn't get planted last spring? Now the effects of that is going to ripple out across the globe.

Add to this China and India hoarding their supplies that leaves the US to provide for ourselves and the rest of the world (Europe is useless). Expected prices to continue to climb and skyrocket.

And to further add? They aren't going to be planting this year either... let that sink in.

Yep, I don't do much baking but I bought a 50lb bag of flour last summer just because I knew this was going to happen. Maybe this will spur US farmers to dump corn and plant wheat/other staple edible crops

[Moab]

"Russia will defend itself by any means, including with nuclear weapons, Russian Security Council Deputy Chairman Medvedev said. "We are heading for a conflict on a global scale," he added. - TASS"


https://twitter.com/TheInsiderPaper/status/1628320900239196160?t=tr4FXM8KosUNkGF_0GK0Vg&s=19

[majorhavoc]

I'm still hopeful cooler heads will prevail. But it's frightening to think we might be stumbling inexorably toward another world war.

We are a deeply flawed species.

[Anianna]

In Putin's speech before Biden spoke in Poland, he said "the west started this war" and said Russia was backing out of the nuclear treaty with the US. 

I'm seeing a desperate man who may be ready to commit suicide via the launch of nuclear warheads and that's not going to be good for anybody.

[NT2C]

In Putin's speech before Biden spoke in Poland, he said "the west started this war" and said Russia was backing out of the nuclear treaty with the US. 

I'm seeing a desperate man who may be ready to commit suicide via the launch of nuclear warheads and that's not going to be good for anybody.

Hopefully, saner heads in the military see that too and will prevent it.

[EBuff75]

One major question (both for us in the West and probably within Russia as well) is how the Russian missiles might actually perform.  Remember that they are being maintained by the same military which ran out of gas/food when trying to drive trucks to Kiev from Moldova, which is only about 60 miles away.  It's not unreasonable to wonder what percentage of their nuclear weapons (whose launch systems are incredibly complex) simply wouldn't work if they tried. 

Obviously, even one working is very bad thing, but if they tried to nuke someone, only to have it fail, then they've pretty much guaranteed their own destruction. 

There are a number of news stories out regarding a Russian "Satan II" ballistic test launch
Russian "Satan II" ballistic test launch this week which apparently failed.  Had it succeeded, it would likely have been part of Putin's speech on Tuesday, as a way of flaunting the Russian withdrawal from the New START treaty.

The question has always been: if Putin realizes that he won't be able to win, is he crazy enough to decide that everyone else should lose. 

[12_Gauge_Chimp]

I'm still hopeful cooler heads will prevail. But it's frightening to think we might be stumbling inexorably toward another world war.

We are a deeply flawed species.

I don't remember where I first read this quote, but I think it pretty accurately describes humans.

The quote describes Earth as "a primitive mud ball inhabited by psychotic apes.", which is a pretty fair description I think.

[majorhavoc]

I'm still hopeful cooler heads will prevail. But it's frightening to think we might be stumbling inexorably toward another world war.

We are a deeply flawed species.

I don't remember where I first read this quote, but I think it pretty accurately describes humans.

The quote describes Earth as "a primitive mud ball inhabited by psychotic apes.", which is a pretty fair description I think.

I knew that turn of phrase was way too profound to be something I thought up.  I must have heard it from somewhere too.

[tirls]

I'm still hopeful cooler heads will prevail. But it's frightening to think we might be stumbling inexorably toward another world war.

We are a deeply flawed species.

I don't remember where I first read this quote, but I think it pretty accurately describes humans.

The quote describes Earth as "a primitive mud ball inhabited by psychotic apes.", which is a pretty fair description I think.

Sounds like it could be either Futurama or Richard Dawkins.

[12_Gauge_Chimp]

I'm still hopeful cooler heads will prevail. But it's frightening to think we might be stumbling inexorably toward another world war.

We are a deeply flawed species.

I don't remember where I first read this quote, but I think it pretty accurately describes humans.

The quote describes Earth as "a primitive mud ball inhabited by psychotic apes.", which is a pretty fair description I think.

Sounds like it could be either Futurama or Richard Dawkins.

A quick Googling tells me it's from Futurama.

Specifically it's part of a line spoken by the character Nibbler in the season 3 episode "The Day The Earth Stood Stupid.".

[Lambykins]

I'm getting more and more nervous about where all this is heading.
All I can do is hope that I am in a relatively safe area and hope my preps will help.
I have friends that live in Europe and the fear coming through in emails, etc is obvious. I worry about them.

[majorhavoc]

In spite of the terrifying potential to escalate into a wider war, I'm fascinated by the details of how Ukraine gets the resources that allow it to keep fighting.

Bulgarian Factories and Secret Task Forces: How the West Hunts for Soviet Arms

KOSTENETS, Bulgaria — The job is straightforward, dangerous and will soon be open to applicants: filling a 122-millimeter Soviet-style artillery shell with explosives that will turn it into a lethal projectile.

For the residents of Kostenets, a dying mountain town in western Bulgaria, it's a welcome opportunity despite the risk of death. It means more jobs at the Terem ammunition plant on the outskirts of town.

The factory stopped making the 122-millimeter shells in 1988 as the Cold War came to a close. But soon the assembly lines will be running again. Russia's invasion of Ukraine has turned Soviet-era arms and ammunition into critically important matériel as western nations seek to supply Ukraine with the munitions it needs to foil Moscow's assault.

And so in January, 35 years after the last 122-millimeter shells left the Terem plant, the company recommissioned production.

[EBuff75]

By the time this video was halfway through the discussion about Russian use of social media and how Ukraine (and the US) keep using it to target people / weapons, I had to pause until I'd stopped laughing at the absurdity of it.  It really drives home the whole "loose lips sink ships" lesson that apparently they haven't been keeping up with.

[majorhavoc]

I have to admit those Infographics videos on the Ukrainian war are as entertaining as they are informative.  

[EBuff75]

I have to admit those Infographics videos on the Ukrainian war are as entertaining as they are informative. 

It's the sarcastic / snarky statements by the narrator that are really great.  One that I just heard was "trenches are notorious for not being able to move once they're dug."  Duh! 

[majorhavoc]

Was disheartened to read this tonight:

Ukraine War Plans Leak Prompts Pentagon Investigation

WASHINGTON — Classified war documents detailing secret American and NATO plans for building up the Ukrainian military ahead of a planned offensive against Russia were posted this week on social media channels, senior Biden administration officials said.

The Pentagon is investigating who may have been behind the leak of the documents, which appeared on Twitter and on Telegram, a platform with more than half a billion users that is widely available in Russia.

Bad news for Ukraine's upcoming counteroffensive.  It looks like it might give the Kremlin vital intelligence on how the operation will unfold.  No one has any idea how the info was leaked.  A real lucky break for Russia.

But then I thought: what if it was intentionally leaked?  False intelligence? Disinformation?