That is all.
Mar 112022
Mar 112022
I don’t know who either of the characters here are. And it doesn’t even matter what the debate is about, and who has what point of view; when asked a question, you answer it. Or you don’t, and the debate ends.
Mar 112022
A simulation of what *could* have happened had an A-10 gone up against that kilometers-long Russian convoy in Ukraine. Note: The Russians would have had to have been particularly accommodating for this to happen… stay bunched up on the road, don’t shoot back, no air cover. Still, it’s interesting the sheer volume of destruction that could have been unleashed.
Mar 102022
Mar 102022
After the last post where it was mentioned that Russia is effectively stealing hundreds of airliners that Russian airlines ahd leased, here comess this “never do business with Russia again” story:
Putin may re-open McDonald’s in Russia by lifting trademark restrictions: report
Reportedly, Russia will not only re-open places like McDonalds, they will continue to do business *as* “McDonalds.” They will have no actual relationship with the actual McDonalds corporation; they’ll simply steal their locations, their stuff, their name, their logo, their brand.
Next: I presume Russian agents in the west will procure computer games and movies, transport them to Russia, and then sell/show them to Russian audiences. And why not? Books, music, movies, TV series; car, computer, fashion, architectural designs can all be stolen and used without compensation under the new rules Putins stooges are putting forward. This will make Russia a *monumental* pariah nation. The Chinese at least *pretend* to actually care about IP.
Mar 102022
China has until now taken a largely “stick fingers in ears, hum real loud” approach to the Russia/Ukraine situation. And their reasoning is obvious: what Russia is doing to Ukraine, China wants to do to Taiwan. If Russia got away with it, China would doubtless launch their own invasion, secure in the knowledge that they too would be allowed to get away with it.
But Russia is having more difficulty than Putin seemed to expect. Not only are the Ukrainians putting up a lot more of a fight than expected (and the Russian military demonstrating a hell of a lot of incompetency), the world is laying an economic beatdown on Russia. This probably surprised the Russian leadership… and it’s clearly spooking the Chinese leadership. The sort of sanctions that are crippling the Russian economy would cause the Chinese economy to implode. And who knows? Perhaps the Chinese people would actually turn on their government. Can’t have that. And thus we get:
Russia says China refuses to supply aircraft parts after sanctions
It’s starting to look like China might be starting to side *against* the Russians, doubtless as a way to deflect attention and potential sanctions away from themselves. What’s ChiCom for “you’re on your own?”
And at the same time that Russia is finding it’s list of allies growing thin, they’re working to assure that nobody will ever do business with them again:
Russia draft law raises doubt over fate of $10 bln of jets
The Russian civil aviation industry has leased five hundred and some airliners from the likes of foreign companies Airbus and Boeing. Those foreign companies now want their airplanes back. The Russian government is proposing to effectively nationalize those aircraft… to steal them for the state. Great. So now you have yourself some free airliners. Good luck getting maintenance or replacement parts. Good luck getting new airliners in the future. Pretty sure *nobody* would be dumb enough to lease or rent you anything you could walk off with. Boeing and Airbus might be willing to outright sell you new airplanes… but likely only after you’ve paid for the ones you stole, plus interest.
Good job, morons.
Mar 092022
From the Russian propaganda outlet Tass:
Nationalists cook up provocations with toxic agents in Ukraine – Russian Defense Ministry
MOSCOW, March 9. /TASS/. Nationalists are plotting provocations in Ukraine involving toxic substances in order to pin the blame for the alleged use of chemical weapons on Russia; for this purpose, about 80 tonnes of ammonia have been delivered to the settlement of Zolochev, northwest of Kharkov, Russian Defense Ministry Spokesman Igor Konashenkov said on Wednesday.
The implication here is obvious: they’re preparing to drop chemical weapons on Ukrainians, probably Ukrainian civilians, and they’re planting a story in advance to blame the Ukrainians themselves for the forthcoming atrocities. Also from the same page:
Russia notifies OPCW of Ukraine’s plans to stage provocation at Kharkov’s nuclear reactor
Oh, goody.
Mar 082022
Florida teacher hospitalized after attack by 5-year-old needs surgery; union says it’s child’s 3rd attack
This is apparently not just the 3rd time this five year old has attacked his teacher, it’s the third time she has required hospitalization as a result. One wonders why he was given an opportunity for the *second* attack. Seems like the lil’ dickens needs to be institutionalized. Or just yeeted across the border, dunno. Given the violence involved, I *really* want to get a look at this kid; one doesn’t normally expect a five year old to be capable of causing grievous bodily harm to an adult. This was a “special needs” class, so it might one of those cases where an intellectual defect was offset with a whole lot of physical strength. If he’s such a danger at five, I shudder to imagine what he’ll be like as an adult member of Antifa.
Mar 082022
Well, well.
Leaders of Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates declined requests to speak to President Biden during the Ukraine crisis, officials say. They both took calls from Putin. https://t.co/McsybyBKw8
— The Wall Street Journal (@WSJ) March 8, 2022
Granted, there are lots of reasons to avoid Gropey Joe. But honestly, there are more reasons to avoid contact with Putin.
Boy, I sure am glad that the USA managed to achieve a fair bit of energy independence a few years ago. It’d be a damn shame if that had been squandered away, huh.
The way to deal with Russian oil is not to promise not to buy it… but to not to *need* it in the first place. Electric vehicles would be a handy way to go about that… and the way to make electric vehicles on a large scale make any sort of sense would be to have a boatload of shiny new gigawatt nuclear powerplants coming online every year. Any day now, right?
Right?
Some years ago, Obama’s chief of staff pointed out that you never want to let a crisis go to waste, because it presents an opportunity to make changes that you otherwise could not get accomplished. The Russian war presents the United States with several *spectacular* opportunities:
1) Energy independence. Nuclear, fracking, oil exploration on out own turf should be ramped up and made national security priorities.
2) The DoD has fallen *way* behind on weapons development. The M-1 Abrams and the AH-64 Apache date from the 70’s, the Javelin and Stinger from the 80’s, the F-35 from the 90’s. We haven’t developed a new nuke in generations. Time for some new stuff… and fast.
3) Russia has threatened the ISS. Time to either abandon that orbital money pit, or boot the Russians from it and Americanize all aspects of operations and maintenance until such time as sanity prevails in Russia.
4) SpaceX should (and hopefully already is) be recognized as vital to America’s national interests, and thus should have the very best security. Physical protection against sabotage and outright strikes along with protection against theft of secrets should be priority #1 at the CIA and FBI. If recent Russian hijinks lead to this concept being more generally accepted not just at SpaceX but elsewhere, then the Chinese efforts to steal every damn thing will also be hindered. Additionally, SpaceX should spread out: manufacturing and launch sites in Texas, Florida, Vandenberg, Alaska, Colorado, Montana, Oklahoma, Hawaii, Guantanamo as a start, with point-to-point rocket transport sites built near *all* major cities over time. Does using Starship for ballistic cargo/passenger transport make sense? Probably not. Screw it, let’s do it anyway. As government boondoggles go, it would be a very minor one… and one that would *necessarily* lead to major improvements in many technologies.
5) All of the major launch systems that are now in a precarious state due to Russia cutting of the supply of rocket engines? yeah, THAT turned out stupid, huh. Globalization is fine when it comes to cheap toilet paper or Pokemon cards. Rockets? Computer chips? Drugs? No. Shoulda figured this out when the Commie Cough crapped on the planetary logistics system. Long past time to realize that some things need to be done in-house.
6) Democrats are discovering the sanctity of national sovereignty and of arming the Ukrainian populace with fully automatic weapons. These discoveries should be applied here as well: strengthen border security, deport illegals (both those sneaking across the border and those who overstay their visas), and at the very least institute universal reciprocity for concealed carry… and get rid of the NFA and all the gun-grabbery that followed. Defund the ATF; transfer the funds and staff to the INS.
Anyone who disagrees with these policy proposals is clearly a paid Putin shill.
Mar 082022
Huh.
FM #Lavrov: The goal of Russia’s special military operation is to stop any war that could take place on Ukrainian territory or that could start from there. pic.twitter.com/tLf7798DIh
— Russian Embassy, UK (@RussianEmbassy) March 7, 2022
In case it gets nuked, this tweet is from the Russian Embassy in London, and claims:
“The goal of Russia’s special military operation is to stop any war that could take place on Ukrainian territory or that could start from there.”
For some reason I’m reminded of the SJWs and “racial justice” rioters who believe that they are going to save civilization by burning it to the ground.
The Ukraine UN Ambassador is something pic.twitter.com/HWhpTtuprf
— ALT-immigration Puck Futin 🤌🏽🤌🏽🖕🏾🖕🏾 (@ALT_uscis) March 8, 2022