Originally Posted By sq40:


It really is fascinating to watch in real time.  The most interesting part to me is how quickly ad-hock technologies are coming into play from all areas.  You have civilian drones dropping grenades, and then three months later a commercial drone with six mortars and professional targeting shows up.  Now you have quad copters with ATGMs.  The soldiers with the best xbox controller skills will become some of the most lethal.

Originally Posted By Logcutter:



That is not my experience, and I'm glad you weren't in my fire team

Originally Posted By LurkerII:


https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FfIvUbrXwAEluCz?format=jpg&name=large


Can someone explain this to me as if I was a 5 year old?
Not familiar with Soviet tank models and stuff.

Originally Posted By AlmightyTallest:


lol,  In the first part during WW2, the tanks improved in design, but in the current war the models are starting as the most advanced T-14 Armata, and they keep getting worse, downgrading to the ancient T-62's we're seeing on the battlefield after 8 months of fighting in Ukraine.

Originally Posted By dillydilly:

I mean they did just have some sort of Russian-Asian gathering the other day. Wonder if this has something to do with that?

Originally Posted By Ryan_Ruck:
So, got home after a long day at work and started making the rounds on the YTers I follow. One I follow is Chrissie Mayr. Some may know who she is and most probably not. She's a stand up comic that has a YouTube show that focuses pretty much on pop culture (she's on some other channels I follow more closely so gave her a sub).

Seems she had Dr. Sebastian Gorka on her podcast and had a segment on Ukraine with him. I hadn't heard him comment on current events yet and given it was on Chrissie's show gave it a watch, figuring I may hear some "Conservative" nonsense. Instead I was extremely surprised to hear what Gorka said given he's firmly in the, "Trump camp", "alt right", not sure what you'd call it except "that group" where we seem to see a lot of the posters here that oppose Ukraine... Sorry, don't care about Ukraine but feel the need to tell us incessantly how much they don't care and it's really none of our business. Anyway... Like I said, given the circles he's associated with, I was surprised to find myself in such agreement with him.

I'd say I agree with about 90% of his take except for his opinion on Westernizing their weapon systems. And he is right on his point near the end, with this admin in charge, we absolutely do need to keep a close eye on where they try to funnel actual money (not like the simpletons here that conflate value of hardware with pallets of cash). That said, I think focusing so closely on the potential for funneling money via support for Ukraine is a poor target to focus such scrutiny on, and may even be a purposeful distraction while they pull things like the Treasury funneling $11 billion dollars to "green initiatives" over the next 2 years. That stands a far better opportunity for Lefties to launder money and get kickbacks, IMHO. You can fully and enthusiastically support Ukraine, and be concerned about the utilization of the financial aid we are sending and prefer to see actual hardware sent instead.

Anyway, here's the segment with Gorka. Hopefully more in "that group" pay attention to what he's saying.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1lTHAgZHkLw

Originally Posted By Capta:

Allowing the Russians another crack from Belarusian territory, that I can see.
Joining in the party?  Huge downside, little upside.  I don’t see it, unless Putin has literally executed a silent coup in Belarus and has Lukashenko hostage.
Could be trying to provoke a response from Ukraine.

Originally Posted By Prime:


Fixed for you.

Good grief, dude.

Originally Posted By sq40:


If you go by the cold math where lives lost by a nuclear exchange, even a limited one, versus capitulation to Russia and stopping more killing, then Musk’s thought make sense.  He just doesn’t get the idea of morality, duty to defend your home, to counter genocide, and the futility of pacification of an aggressor state.

This tells me that he may be the man to get us to Mars… but he isn’t the man to build a new society and world there.

Originally Posted By weptek911:


How about Malaysia? Do they want him too? NL doesn’t have the death penalty I read. I wonder about Malaysia. It WAS their airplane..

Originally Posted By Ryan_Ruck:
So, got home after a long day at work and started making the rounds on the YTers I follow. One I follow is Chrissie Mayr. Some may know who she is and most probably not. She's a stand up comic that has a YouTube show that focuses pretty much on pop culture (she's on some other channels I follow more closely so gave her a sub).

Seems she had Dr. Sebastian Gorka on her podcast and had a segment on Ukraine with him. I hadn't heard him comment on current events yet and given it was on Chrissie's show gave it a watch, figuring I may hear some "Conservative" nonsense. Instead I was extremely surprised to hear what Gorka said given he's firmly in the, "Trump camp", "alt right", not sure what you'd call it except "that group" where we seem to see a lot of the posters here that oppose Ukraine... Sorry, don't care about Ukraine but feel the need to tell us incessantly how much they don't care and it's really none of our business. Anyway... Like I said, given the circles he's associated with, I was surprised to find myself in such agreement with him.

I'd say I agree with about 90% of his take except for his opinion on Westernizing their weapon systems. And he is right on his point near the end, with this admin in charge, we absolutely do need to keep a close eye on where they try to funnel actual money (not like the simpletons here that conflate value of hardware with pallets of cash). That said, I think focusing so closely on the potential for funneling money via support for Ukraine is a poor target to focus such scrutiny on, and may even be a purposeful distraction while they pull things like the Treasury funneling $11 billion dollars to "green initiatives" over the next 2 years. That stands a far better opportunity for Lefties to launder money and get kickbacks, IMHO. You can fully and enthusiastically support Ukraine, and be concerned about the utilization of the financial aid we are sending and prefer to see actual hardware sent instead.

Anyway, here's the segment with Gorka. Hopefully more in "that group" pay attention to what he's saying.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1lTHAgZHkLw

Originally Posted By AlmightyTallest:

The workplace of the S-300 operators and the workplace of the operators of the "NASAMS" air defense system https://t.co/D3ZkadPs7u

— M|§F|T \uD83C\uDDFA\uD83C\uDDF8\uD83C\uDDFA\uD83C\uDDE6 (@am_misfit) October 15, 2022

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FfJar63WIAI4tLw?format=jpg&name=small
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FfJar69XkAEH2g0?format=jpg&name=small

Originally Posted By dillydilly:

I mean they did just have some sort of Russian-Asian gathering the other day. Wonder if this has something to do with that?

Originally Posted By Ryan_Ruck:
So, got home after a long day at work and started making the rounds on the YTers I follow. One I follow is Chrissie Mayr. Some may know who she is and most probably not. She's a stand up comic that has a YouTube show that focuses pretty much on pop culture (she's on some other channels I follow more closely so gave her a sub).

Seems she had Dr. Sebastian Gorka on her podcast and had a segment on Ukraine with him. I hadn't heard him comment on current events yet and given it was on Chrissie's show gave it a watch, figuring I may hear some "Conservative" nonsense. Instead I was extremely surprised to hear what Gorka said given he's firmly in the, "Trump camp", "alt right", not sure what you'd call it except "that group" where we seem to see a lot of the posters here that oppose Ukraine... Sorry, don't care about Ukraine but feel the need to tell us incessantly how much they don't care and it's really none of our business. Anyway... Like I said, given the circles he's associated with, I was surprised to find myself in such agreement with him.

I'd say I agree with about 90% of his take except for his opinion on Westernizing their weapon systems. And he is right on his point near the end, with this admin in charge, we absolutely do need to keep a close eye on where they try to funnel actual money (not like the simpletons here that conflate value of hardware with pallets of cash). That said, I think focusing so closely on the potential for funneling money via support for Ukraine is a poor target to focus such scrutiny on, and may even be a purposeful distraction while they pull things like the Treasury funneling $11 billion dollars to "green initiatives" over the next 2 years. That stands a far better opportunity for Lefties to launder money and get kickbacks, IMHO. You can fully and enthusiastically support Ukraine, and be concerned about the utilization of the financial aid we are sending and prefer to see actual hardware sent instead.

Anyway, here's the segment with Gorka. Hopefully more in "that group" pay attention to what he's saying.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1lTHAgZHkLw

Originally Posted By Capta:


I’ll throw in an outside the box scenario.
Rumor is that Belarus is undergoing (or about to undergo) some sort of crypto-mobilization.
What if Lukashenko is playing the double game and his crypto mobilization is meant to secure his regime against the RUSSIANS when he turns coat?

Originally Posted By Capta:

I completely disagree.  Capitulation to save lives won’t save lives.  It will simply push the event down the road 2-5 years and mean that the fight happens on Polish and German soil with tens of millions dead.
We can either pay the toll now or pay a far worse toll later.  Anyone who votes for appeasement is voting for mass murder.

Originally Posted By AROKIE:


Wow, that really does show how far ahead the west is from the "other side".  I'm just curious how far China is ahead of russia.. but man that is light years ahead

Originally Posted By m35ben:
Put on your head phones and turn it up

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n9NrRuueHgs

Originally Posted By Ryan_Ruck:

It's a very complex subject... And to be honest, I'm probably not the best person to educate on it. I have, however, spent the better part of 2 decades reading about and studying it. There's lots of authors/researchers out there that have done a far better job laying things out than I. Start with some of the defectors that have published books detailing their life. Ion Mihai Pacepa is a good one off the top of my head. Or read material from those who were involved in the radical left in one way or another at the time it blew up here in America in the 1960s and 1970s, like David Horowitz or Larry Grathwohl. They detail the Soviet connections to the various radical left movements in America.

You're talking about an intelligence apparatus that went to such lengths as to build entire American and Western style towns including houses, grocery stores, schools, churches, etc. in isolated locations where their intel agents were fostered in every aspect of American/Western life and culture. Russian language was forbidden and only the language of the nation you were infiltrating was allowed and your accent was drilled out of you. The Americans shows this and it's true to life.

You want an example of the Soviets/Russia in religion and the culture of Liberation Theology? How about the Catholic Workers Movement that got its start in 1933? Go look at the "Known Connections" at that link. That's just one example. There's many more on the religion front like the Soviet Islam video I linked.

Or how about in race relations? Try the National Council Of La Raza or Black Panther Party (and subsequent NBPP) both of which started in the 1960s.

Here's a simple example: Soviet/Russian funding and training -> Weather Underground/Bill Ayers/Bernadine Dohrn -> Barack Obama -> Joe Biden

Now dig into the branches off of each and every one of those "stops". There's effects and effects upon effects which ultimately trace back to the Soviet/Russian intel apparatus and the international Marxist/Communist movement.

The things you mention them failing at are highly technical and scientific, and frankly things they never were good at which is why they've always had to focus so much on stealing it. But how much skill does it really take to pay off the gambling debt for a defense worker in exchange for a classified document on a fighter aircraft, or an attractive Russian woman to spread her legs for a dorky guy that works in the office of a politician that happens to be on the House Intel Committee, or to use a dead drop or shortwave numbers station/one time pad cipher to relay information, or to funnel money through various contributors to politicians sympathetic to you, or pull strings at a university to get a particular sympathetic/radical teacher in place? At the end of the day, the motivation for most espionage boils down to sex, money, or ideology; none of which require a very high degree of technical/scientific skill to leverage and exploit like all your examples. That's a big reason the Soviets/Russians put so much emphasis on it, knowing they could not ultimately out gun or out tech us.

I will grant you that the current day Russian intel apparatus is not as finely a tuned machine as it once was but even a dulled blade can still cause damage and, the seeds sown during the Soviet times are still bearing copious fruit for them, in addition to the current crop they're cultivating now.

Originally Posted By ITCHY-FINGER:

Tactical nukes on the UA in the East with simultaneous attacks on Kiev from Belarus? It IS the only possible option with even 10% chance of Russia "winning".