BaltACDPutin wants the return of the USSR and most of its Stalinist policies and policing. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M53cwS9YgOo
Thanks for the post Balt. He is a true KGB man and has no empathy or concern for anyone.
Take it for what you will, I've seen it suggested that there are bad guys who have nothing to do with the conflict pointing out targets to the Russians. Possibly their competition?
Or, firing on such targets themselves, then blame it on the Russians...
Nothing would surprise me.
Larry Resident Microferroequinologist (at least at my house) Everyone goes home; Safety begins with you My Opinion. Standard Disclaimers Apply. No Expiration Date Come ride the rails with me! There's one thing about humility - the moment you think you've got it, you've lost it...
As you suggest, it ain't your gramps's USSR!
charlie hebdo... This Russian military is not that of the old Soviet Union. And motivation is on Ukraine s side. Putin gambled and is not winning so it's massive artillery and rockets to try to smash cities to rubble. They should remember Stalingrad.
This Russian military is not that of the old Soviet Union. And motivation is on Ukraine s side. Putin gambled and is not winning so it's massive artillery and rockets to try to smash cities to rubble. They should remember Stalingrad.
Ukraine has been whipped and beaten like Russia's red headed step-child since Czarist days. It has only been the breadbasket that fed Czarist Russia and the USSR.
Putin wants the return of the USSR and most of its Stalinist policies and policing.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M53cwS9YgOo
Rolling the clock back 70 years is near impossible.
Never too old to have a happy childhood!
Betcha didn't know that Tehachapi Pass is in Russia or that Putin runs BNSF
Fact check: Video shows American train carrying tanks, not Russian military convoy (yahoo.com)
Five posts this day. So are you ready to get out of bed now? Go out and face the world.
But as to the subject. Ukraine has Russia on part of its East and South East sides with Russia controled Belarus on its North side. Other neighbors are NATO members Poland, Hungary, Slovakia, Romania, and as I understand it, Ukraine did not have the resources to join NATO when the others did. Russia co-existed with Ukraine but its democracy was seen as a irritant to the authoritarian Russian powers and when Russia grabbed the eastern provinces that had a significant number of Russian people living in them and the Crimea, Ukraine started talking about joining NATO. Putin felt that he was threatened. That he might be vunerable to an attack on his west. Although he was the first to invade Ukkraine back in 2014. So I hope the motivated Ukrainians can check his military and that NATO can and will provide enough material and supplies to let them cause Putin to admit his error. IF he can say he made a mistake. I doubt he can. Our previous leader never could concieve that he could. Dictators can't.
Well, I've had a good day. Managed to say what I wanted to say, didn't anger anybody, didn't get moderated, thread didn't get locked. Can't really get much deeper without veering into politics. Think I'll quit while I'm ahead.
Convicted One Murphy Siding . That took a couple trips down the rabbit hole to straighten out. Ol' Gimlet Eye is a pretty interesting "rabbit hole" as well.
Murphy Siding . That took a couple trips down the rabbit hole to straighten out.
Ol' Gimlet Eye is a pretty interesting "rabbit hole" as well.
Thanks to Chris / CopCarSS for my avatar.
kgbw49 '76, unless something changes, there are not going to be any Ukraine DMVs in 6-8 weeks. Russia is going to encircle and lay siege to the major population centers. Nothing will get in - no food, no water, no ammunition. Russia killed millions of Ukrainians before to keep them in the Soviet Union. There will be millions dead again before this is over as the Russians strangle the life out of that country.We the USA are still buying Russian oil at 500,000-600,000 barrels per day. China is giving them covert support. We have done nothing to increase oil supply in the US. Once Russia cuts off the supply lines to those cities it is only a matter of time. The cavalry is not coming to save those people. Sure, sanctions will hurt Russia, but the biggest impact will be too late to save lives, and China will prop Russia up because it is in their imperial interests to have Russia keep Europe and the US occupied. Read the chess board, folks. Look out Taiwan and South Korea. Meanwhile, the USA is not even playing checkers.
'76, unless something changes, there are not going to be any Ukraine DMVs in 6-8 weeks.
Russia is going to encircle and lay siege to the major population centers.
Nothing will get in - no food, no water, no ammunition.
Russia killed millions of Ukrainians before to keep them in the Soviet Union.
There will be millions dead again before this is over as the Russians strangle the life out of that country.We the USA are still buying Russian oil at 500,000-600,000 barrels per day. China is giving them covert support.
We have done nothing to increase oil supply in the US.
Once Russia cuts off the supply lines to those cities it is only a matter of time.
The cavalry is not coming to save those people.
Sure, sanctions will hurt Russia, but the biggest impact will be too late to save lives, and China will prop Russia up because it is in their imperial interests to have Russia keep Europe and the US occupied.
Read the chess board, folks. Look out Taiwan and South Korea.
Meanwhile, the USA is not even playing checkers.
Convicted One But, when the narrative is staged around the premise of "good vs evil", "The bad guys pull the wings off of crippled baby whales" and other emotional spikes....it makes me think of "War is a Racket" ...and I start pondering (the possibility) "oh, so Goldman Sachs must be in over-their-head with assets stranded in Ukraine, and now it's time for the taxpayers to bail them out?". Just don't enjoy the feeling that I'm being played.
Those emotional spikes may indeed by fueled by economic exploitation of the unique opportunity offered by war. But they are also part of the “Fog of war,” which is driven by each side stretching the truth as just one more weapon to use in a death match. It is a natural reaction, and there is no reason to dismiss it just because it often looks just like the dishonesty of the economic exploitation occurring at the same time.
Murphy Siding. That took a couple trips down the rabbit hole to straighten out.
Flintlock76 Considering Smedley's service in the "Banana Wars" ( A Medal of Honor!) I'm not surprised he felt that way.
I believe he was the very first serviceman to win the congressional medal of honor, twice?
Personally, if the mantra was "hey, we don't like Putin, let's go take him out".....I'd likely be foaming at the mouth with enthusiasm.
But, when the narrative is staged around the premise of "good vs evil", ..~"The bad guys pull the wings off of crippled baby whales"~.. and other emotional spikes....it makes me think of "War is a Racket" ...and I start pondering (the possibility) "oh, so Goldman Sachs must be in over-their-head with assets stranded in Ukraine, and now it's time for the taxpayers to bail them out?". Just don't enjoy the feeling that I'm being played.
kgbw49'76, unless something changes, there are not going to be any Ukraine DMVs in 6-8 weeks.
That news story isn't something to be taken super-seriously, it's just an indication that their spirits are far from broken.
Convicted One Flintlock76 At any rate news reports should be considered what they've been traditionally called, "The first draft of history." Well then, I'm sure you must be familiar with Smedley Darlington Butler? He had a speech he would give titled "War is a Racket". Anytime I see current events being force-fit into a "good guys vs bad guys" frame of reference, I think of ol' Smedley. This is one of those times. Someone is working too hard to force fit the pieces.
Flintlock76 At any rate news reports should be considered what they've been traditionally called, "The first draft of history."
Well then, I'm sure you must be familiar with Smedley Darlington Butler? He had a speech he would give titled "War is a Racket".
Anytime I see current events being force-fit into a "good guys vs bad guys" frame of reference, I think of ol' Smedley.
This is one of those times. Someone is working too hard to force fit the pieces.
Convicted OneWell then, I'm sure you must be familiar with Smedley Darlington Butler? He had a speech he would give titled "War is a Racket".
Sure, I know about "Smedley D," all Marines know about him! Marine Corps history is part of the boot camp training package, although there's not a lot of mention of "War Is A Racket" for obvious reasons. Considering Smedley's service in the "Banana Wars" ( A Medal of Honor!) I'm not surprised he felt that way.
Erik_Mag Convicted One Frankly Balt, I'm a little skeptical that we are being given the pure, unvarnished truth. Can't really delve into it adequately here without upsetting the powers, etc. But I do believe that neither side is above distortion. One piece of advise I've run across with respect to events in the Ukraine is "not to immediately accept at face value any reports from anyone involved." It's most likey accurate to point to Russia as the agressor, and probably accurate to say that Putin and the Russian military underestimated the resolve of the Ukrainians. Zelensky seems to be a master of messaging.
Convicted One Frankly Balt, I'm a little skeptical that we are being given the pure, unvarnished truth. Can't really delve into it adequately here without upsetting the powers, etc. But I do believe that neither side is above distortion.
Frankly Balt, I'm a little skeptical that we are being given the pure, unvarnished truth. Can't really delve into it adequately here without upsetting the powers, etc. But I do believe that neither side is above distortion.
One piece of advise I've run across with respect to events in the Ukraine is "not to immediately accept at face value any reports from anyone involved." It's most likey accurate to point to Russia as the agressor, and probably accurate to say that Putin and the Russian military underestimated the resolve of the Ukrainians.
Zelensky seems to be a master of messaging.
Flintlock76At any rate news reports should be considered what they've been traditionally called, "The first draft of history."
JoeBlowAre American parents, and grandparents, ready see their children, and grandchildren, go into the draft?
I for one am NOT in favor of any re-institution of the draft, unless there's a formal declaration of war passed by Congress. Needless to say we haven't had one of those since December 8th 1941.
Remember the wise words of General Washington, "An army is a dangerous thing to play with." With a BIG military comes the temptation to "Take it for a test drive!" We've had enough of that.
Flintlock76But look at it this way, "Who fired the first shot?" or "Who threw the first punch?"
It would be very easy for me to get myself in trouble if I tried to "go deep" on this subject. I just think we have a definite dual standard in terms of what we consider to be "provocation", depending upon whether we are dealing, or on the receiving end. Look at the rant of Ivan Drago's wife in the movie Rocky IV. I realize that is only a scripted drama. But I feel the talking points to be valid.
How it applies here? I believe the prospect of Ukraine "threatening" to join NATO might very well be seen as a domino from the inverse perspective. I'm not cheering for the other side, mind you, but I just don't believe that equal time for opposed points of view are making it into the narrative, either.
That's about as far as I feel I can go here, accept it or reject it, I'm not looking to argue.
A couple of years ago Hanjin was crippled by a cyber attack that lasted for a month. Many companies lost money while the entire mess was sorted out.
But that is not the scary part. The US military is woefully understaffed. Many people who served in the Long War (Iraq/Afghanistan) retired early after serving 2 or 3 consecutive tours stressing the volunteer military model.
Are American parents, and grandparents, ready see their children, and grandchildren, go into the draft?
Convicted One BaltACD Naked agression against a sovereign peaceful country is worlds beyond politics. Frankly Balt, I'm a little skeptical that we are being given the pure, unvarnished truth. Can't really delve into it adequately here without upsetting the powers, etc. But I do believe that neither side is above distortion.
BaltACD Naked agression against a sovereign peaceful country is worlds beyond politics.
The historian in me says you really can't get the whole correct picture until 150 years have passed since a major event, like a war for example. There are exceptions of course.
At any rate news reports should be considered what they've been traditionally called, "The first draft of history."
But look at it this way, "Who fired the first shot?" or "Who threw the first punch?"
As an aside, the Ukrainians must be doing even better than we thought. According to this there might be some interesting registration applications at Ukrainian DMV's after this is all over.
https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/tanks-a-million-ukrainians-permitted-to-skip-tax-declarations-for-seized-russian-tanks
BaltACDNaked agression against a sovereign peaceful country is worlds beyond politics.
ccltrainsOne of my life rules is to never discuss politics or religion. It holds true here.
Naked agression against a sovereign peaceful country is worlds beyond politics.
One of my life rules is to never discuss politics or religion. It holds true here.
CMStPnP Erik_Mag given a powerful enough jammer Who has that exactly? Also who has overcome the anti-spoofing and anti-jamming capabilities of a U.S. military reciever. I am just curious because the military has spent a lot of money in this area. I never heard it happening in any conflict. I've heard of our military jamming others GPS access (civilian GPS I believe) but not the reverse.
Erik_Mag given a powerful enough jammer
Who has that exactly? Also who has overcome the anti-spoofing and anti-jamming capabilities of a U.S. military reciever. I am just curious because the military has spent a lot of money in this area. I never heard it happening in any conflict. I've heard of our military jamming others GPS access (civilian GPS I believe) but not the reverse.
A little bit of searching for GPS transmitter power came up with 500W effective radiated power (ERP) for the L1 signals. Given that the satellites are very roughly 10,000 miles away, a transmitter 100 miles away would need 50mW ERP to equal the received signal strength from the satellite. A local UHF-TV station was operating with an ERP of 4MW on a frequency not much lower than the L1 signals so it's conceivable that a transmitter could be made that would provide a signal level about 80dB higher than the signals from the satellites which would likely overwhelm any processing gains from the direct sequence spread spectrum modulation used by GPS. This is simply brute force.
500W ERP from 100 miles would probably degrade the accuracy.
Spoofing would require a lot more sophistication, but Iran was apparently able to use GPS spoofing to capture a US drone a number of years ago. I strongly suspect that a fairly spoof resistant receiver could be made by using a good atomic clock, a phased array antenna system and just the civilian GPS channels.
The things that impressed my kids the most when they asked me what were the things I remember that were different from their lives:
1. I didn't have TV until I was 15 and we only had 2 channels.
2. I traveled in passenger trains pulled by steam locomotives.
3. I started earning money at the age of 8 [mowing, raking, shoveling snow] and had a steady after school job at the age of 12 that wasn't delivering newspapers [illegal of course but it was common in my area] making 35 cents an hour.
4. Candy bars and soft drinks cost a nickel in my younger years.
5. Phone numbers were first 4 digits then 5 digits in my area.
tree68 charlie hebdo I suspect that many of us old-timers would freak out if we were forced back into the environment of our parents' youths. I'm with Flintlock on this one. My generation didn't see the sea change that the current generations have experienced. Sure, things changed. But I can identify with the life my parents lived, even if I didn't live the same life. I'm fortunate to be aware of that life. My maternal grandfather was, at one point, a lumberjack. My maternal grandmother taught in a one-room schoolhouse. My father's parents ran a coal yard. I've never milked a cow, but I can drive a tractor and stack hay on a wagon. I've ridden miles on a bike, without Mom knowing where I was. Today we see things such as kids freaking out because their entire life revolves around a small electronic device. Kids actually walking down the mall together, but communicating with each other on their phones. There's a facebook meme along the lines of "my kids asked me what it was like when I was a kid, so I took away their Nintendo, their cell phone, and pushed them outside."
charlie hebdo I suspect that many of us old-timers would freak out if we were forced back into the environment of our parents' youths.
I'm with Flintlock on this one.
My generation didn't see the sea change that the current generations have experienced.
Sure, things changed. But I can identify with the life my parents lived, even if I didn't live the same life. I'm fortunate to be aware of that life. My maternal grandfather was, at one point, a lumberjack. My maternal grandmother taught in a one-room schoolhouse. My father's parents ran a coal yard.
I've never milked a cow, but I can drive a tractor and stack hay on a wagon. I've ridden miles on a bike, without Mom knowing where I was.
Today we see things such as kids freaking out because their entire life revolves around a small electronic device. Kids actually walking down the mall together, but communicating with each other on their phones.
There's a facebook meme along the lines of "my kids asked me what it was like when I was a kid, so I took away their Nintendo, their cell phone, and pushed them outside."
My Grandfather entered the world in 1892 and was 11 when the Wright Brothers managed to get something heavier than air into the air. He formed his family and my father was born 10 years after the Wright Brothers achievment. I was told my Grandfather's father was a Conductor on horse car moving people about the city of Baltimore. My Grandfather hired out on the B&O in 1910 at a age of 18 and retired in 1957 having seen the coming of diesels and the end of steam being squarely in sight. He embraced 'console' radio and had one about five feet high - a piece of furniture. He normally commuted to and from work at Camden Station using the Baltimore & Annapolis interurbans between his home in Severna Park and downtown - until the B&A expired in 1953. He embraced the telephone - and before a dial system was installed in the early 1960's his telephone number was 'Severna Park 45' which got accessed by a operator with patch cables. When his phone was converted to dial - his number was the assigned three digits for Severna Park with the last four being 4545. After retirement he and his wife would Snowbird in Ormond Beach, FL and make arrangements to have the local Daytona Beach newspaper sent to me during the Daytona Speed Weeks. After his wife passed on from a lingerling illness, my father (retired at the time also) got him to fly to Florida for a vacation. He also got the opportunity to watch man walk on the Moon - quite a transition from when man could not fly. Unfortunately my father preceeded him in death by about 8 years and he died at age 98.
I can't comprehend all the discoveries that went past his eyes during his lifetime. To be honest I can barely comprehend the discoveries that have gone past my own eyes in my 75 years.
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