ok what the fuck is happening in ukraine

https://m.media-amazon.com/images/M/MV5BYzE1MjYzM2EtMDg1ZC00MjgyLTk0ODctNDg5MThmYzI5NDdhXkEyXkFqcGdeQXVyNjUxMjc1OTM@._V1_.jpg

Would be nice if they’d change it up a little and ask about the possibility of a no flex zone.

someone should probably point out to the cable news nitwits that our number of Ws over the last 75 years is hovering at zero and getting involved would more likely than not be to Ukraine’s detriment

On the other hand maybe we’re due.

of course the DO SOMETHING chorus will be the first ones to bash Biden if he listens to them

lmao Sam

can't lose forever

our number of Ws over the last 75 years is hovering at zero

Remember Grenada! We took out that undefended civilian airport and handed out medals like they were candy from a piñata.

We've actually had a lot of Ws if you count the first few weeks of each war

So the xp Switchblade drones are indeed scheduled for delivery to Ukraine, supposedly good anti-artillery and armor, also now reported that the human guide can cancel the hit within seconds of reaching target, if trajectory is off. so 0 collateral damage (does it self-destruct? Less danger from resulting shrapnel than whole projectile, is the idea?)
Patriot missile defense system being set up in Poland, not Ukraine, but Slovakia says will send S-300, some of which Ukraine already has, and Any country providing S-300s is likely to receive the US-made Patriot air defense missile system to backfill the capability it would be giving up, according to two other sources familiar with the negotiations. Germany and the Netherlands have already publicly announced that they are sending Patriots to Slovakia. But integrating a new, complex air defense system into a country's existing military architecture, as well as training its forces to use it, can take time, one source familiar with the matter cautioned.https://www.cnn.com/2022/03/16/europe/slovakia-s-300s-ukraine/index.html
That piece linked upthread by earlnash seems good, will have to read some more.

(does it self-destruct? Less danger from resulting shrapnel than whole projectile, is the idea?) Supposed to implode, maybe.

hope it can also detect if the target itself or the supporting intel is bad.

suppose that is less of an issue when using it to defend one's own country

xp no, it's apparently up to the human operator, as back-up, anyway.

Speaking of xpost craftspotting, Japan reported increased Russian ship movement through the Pacific, toward Straits of Hormuz, commen taters this morning said oh that means they really need backup, but now I belatedly see this, stuck into yesterday's round-up:
10:59 a.m. ET, March 16, 2022
Russian warships shell 4 villages near Odesa, according to Ukrainian army
From CNN staff

Russian warships in the Black Sea have shelled the Ukrainian coast in areas close to the key southern city of Odesa, according to Ukraine’s armed forces.

According to a statement posted on the armed forces’ Facebook page, the villages of Lebedivka, Sanzheika, Zatoka and Bilenke, which all lie about 30 kilometers (about 18 miles) south of the port city, have been shelled in the last 24 hours.

Odesa is Ukraine’s third largest city and regarded as a key target of Russia’s campaign.

An amphibious assault is seen as a probable part of any move to take the city and increased shelling of targets along the coast will increase fears that such an assault could be imminent.

9:01 a.m. ET, March 16, 2022 https://www.cnn.com/europe/live-news/ukraine-russia-putin-news-03-16-22/h_71344eadc7d9ef3f2e42fcf655fe1816

Speaker Pelosi reads #StPatricksDay poem by Bono, which reads in part:

"Ireland's sorrow and pain
Is now the Ukraine
And Saint Patrick's name now Zelenskyy."

jesus, mary and joseph weeping simultaneously!

oh that wasn't a joke

fact checked, river danced

https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/pelosi-read-poem-by-bono-ukraine/

good night

That Arnold S video is a great example of using your power/influence in a positive way.

― Legalize Suburban Benches (Raymond Cummings), Thursday, March 17, 2022 10:55 AM (three hours ago) bookmarkflaglink

yeah this was pretty good. idk if it will make any difference though

correct me if I'm wrong but is Arnold Schwarzenegger the only "good" elected Republican? I sure as shit can't think of another

The reconstruction era Radical republicans

Supposedly he's got a huge cachet in Russia still -- and probably among the older generations that need to hear it most, by all accounts -- so hopefully it'll help.

_Speaker Pelosi reads #StPatricksDay poem by Bono, which reads in part:

"Ireland's sorrow and pain
Is now the Ukraine
And Saint Patrick's name now Zelenskyy."_

Ireland's sorrow and pain
Is now the Ukraine
In the membrane

FIFY

The house of 'kraine is in effect y'all
and anyone that steps up is gettin wrecked

This is the poem Vladimir Putin stole from the beatles
We’re stealin it back

https://faroutmagazine.co.uk/static/uploads/2021/05/When-Paul-McCartney-met-Vladimir-Putin.jpg

Thinks: " ... and he'll go out the bathroom window ... "
Thinks: "If I can't be the fifth Beatle then I will be the onlyBeatle."
Whispers: "I think 'Spies Like Us' is underrated."

Supposedly he's got a huge cachet in Russia still -- and probably among the older generations that need to hear it most, by all accounts -- so hopefully it'll help.

Seems not good:

https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/33527472/ex-gm-donnie-nelson-sues-dallas-mavericks-says-was-fired-reporting-sexual-misconduct-team-denies-claim

Whoops! V sorry.

omg that macca pic

No thumbs up, Macca playing it cool.

Cable news has spent the past few weeks almost literally begging administration officials to label Putin a war criminal -- now that Biden and Blinken have said so, they've gotten out their fainting couches. 'Embarrassed Biden aides scrambling to de-escalate the WH's war of words!' Stfu.

Not @ you personally, Sam Weller, but if there's one thing I can recommend 100% it's to stay away from cable news or any TV news. You can literally look up #ukraine on Twitter and go all night looking at varied perspectives interspersed with hyped-up Indian nationalists, re-heated Ukraine biolabs theories from 2019, edgy tankies/sullen right-wingers, and still come out better informed, saner, and more sober than you would from watching TV.

I thought people abandoned cable news after 2016 but it's weird how many takes on Ukraine are more about "I'm scared by the crazy things on cable" than about the actual war. NGL, I still get taken in by the odd Tucker Carlson smarm piece about how Putin never called HIM a racist, but just catching up with politics on ILX threads is a much healthier way to get your news than wasting time with TV. Probably faster too.

Avoiding cable is probably better for your mental health, but you don't necessarily see what people in power are reacting to.

I'm with Moomin all the way. Made that decision on 9/11 itself and my life's better for it.

I'm late to the party on this, but:

Ireland's sorrow and pain
Is now the Ukraine
And Saint Patrick's name now Zelenskyy_
What a sad and sorry and sickening sight
Ah hu-a-a hu-a-a hu-a-a hu-a-a-a, ha-u...
Ah hu-a-a hu-a-a hu-a-a hu-a-a-a

Dan, is this set to Flipper’s “Ha Ha Ha”?

Worst/most cringeworthy lyric on The Cranberries' 'To The Faithful Departed'

I recall reading at the start of this invasion that Russia's place on the UN security council was actually grandfathered in, that after the fall of the Soviet Union they just kind of remained in that position. But given all the current bullshit, perhaps it's time to reconsider giving Russia such a prominent platform.

... what purpose do you think that would serve?

Probably none. But it's a permanent spot, with instant veto power, which allows them to fuck with votes, however symbolically. If current events really do mark a conspicuous break with the geo-political status quo, then it's kind of weird to have them there so prominently.

Just recognize Kyrgyzstan as the legitimate inheritor state of USSR and give the seat to them. Simple dimple!

CNN can be good when I get around the talking heads to field correspondents, so I gravitate more toward their website, via Google News, but checking international sources there too---much easier than sorting through bullshit on Twitter, though I do some of that as well.

via CNN: "Ukraine’s armed forces say about 14,200 Russian soldiers have been killed since Russia began its invasion more than three weeks ago. It added that 450 Russian tanks and almost 1,450 other armored combat vehicles have been destroyed, along with 93 Russian aircraft and 112 helicopters.

Additionally, 205 Russian artillery systems have been destroyed, along with 72 multiple launch rocket systems and 43 anti-aircraft weapons systems, it said."

Even if these numbers are doubled for propaganda that seems like... a LOT of men and materiel

xpost Also, I don't keep up with most podcasts. but NYT's The Daily is occasionally useful re Ukraine, keeping details more organized than they were in my head; for instance yesterday's "Four Paths Forward For Ukraine"---excerpts from transcript that struck me:
David Sanger
So let me paint a scenario for you about some of the possibilities for a diplomatic end from people I’ve talked to. First, the Russians have a set of three demands for Ukraine and for President Zelensky, even though President Putin’s commitment that he would end the war, even if President Zelensky agreed to these demands, is not entirely clear. But here’s what the Russians have said Ukraine would need to agree to.

The first is they would have to give up any claim to Crimea, the territory that Russia invaded in 2014 and then annexed. The second demand is that the two Eastern self-declared republics of Ukraine, Donetsk and Luhansk, where there’s been this grinding war being fought for the past eight years, would have to be recognized as completely independent states by Ukraine. And then the third is that Ukraine would have to publicly declare its neutrality, probably along the lines of a country like Austria, which has a military but not much military capability. And they would have to say that they would never again seek to join NATO, even though that’s written right now into the Ukrainian Constitution. So the Constitution would have to be amended.

Michael Barbaro
And, David, do we think that Zelensky might be open to those demands?
David Sanger
Well, he’s indicated that he’s open to discussing at least some of them. For example, he has said that he’s moved beyond the hope that NATO was going to let Ukraine into the Western alliance anytime soon. So you could imagine how he might be willing to accept neutrality. But giving up Crimea and those two Eastern republics, boy, that’s a much further reach because he would essentially be ceding to Russia roughly a third of his country.

Michael Barbaro
So, David, let’s assume for a moment that Zelensky does agree to several of these Russian terms. I imagine Russia might still need some kind of assurance that these crippling sanctions that have been imposed by the United States and Europe will be relaxed, as part of any diplomatic solution.

David Sanger
David Sanger
Well, that’s absolutely right. The Russians would insist that these crippling sanctions, which are likely to send them into default in coming days and have plunged the ruble to its lowest levels and really begun to bite on ordinary Russians, they would need an assurance that those would get lifted. So it was interesting that on Tuesday night in an interview with NPR, Secretary of State Blinken said that for the sanctions to begin to lift, the Russians would have to withdraw completely from Ukraine and irreversibly. That is to say, there would have to be some method of assurance that in the next two or three or five years, the Russians couldn’t just turn around and go back and do this all over again. And so now you’re suddenly discovering that, while this is a negotiation between Russia and Ukraine, there are a lot of other players in it at this moment. Well yeah. Neutrality, depending on other countries for most of your security, sounds risky to me, wonder if Zelensky is really okay with it.
So that's gist of diplomatic option, transcript and pod are here:
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/03/17/podcasts/the-daily/ukraine-war-zelensky-putin.html

xpost Especially in the era of modern remote warfare.

I dunno, I'd think if Russia was doing well ... well, first of all, it would already be done. But barring that, they probably wouldn't be so cagey with their own numbers. I think the most recent numbers given by Russia were back in very early March, around 500, so the fact that there have been no new numbers for two weeks is telling.

This is prob not a fair criticism but I cannot deal with that guy Michael Barbara’s voice. He’s just so breathless in a way that I find annoying. Have been enjoying the Economist podcasts - check it out!!.

xpost@dow

Yeah, by Twitter I mean just simply looking at a hashtag + "Latest," not "Top." It's completely unfiltered and can be exhausting but between that and your personal list of people you follow, can give you some pretty decent idea of things that are happening. It was pretty surreal to watch uploaded videos of combat or airstrikes on buildings, or those famous Ukrainian farmers and their tractors, only to hear the cable networks picking up the SAME videos and showing them as news while providing little to no context. How could they? They're just people in suits on TV.

That said, it's not that twitter or ILX is magically better than other sources, I just find there's greater diversity of opinion, nuance, and context in online media than, say, among MSNBC, CNN, and Fox News. There are blogs, twitter accounts, youtube channels that have been covering any given topic for years, while on television even legit experts only get a few minutes to say their piece, with predictably disappointing results.

I think Putin might get some Stalinesque pleasure from the high death count of his own troops... young blood spilled for the Motherland is probably an aphrodisiac for psychos like him