The Swamp

Johnnie wrote: ↑Sun Feb 27, 2022 11:30 am

Steve of phpBB wrote: ↑Sun Feb 27, 2022 11:22 am

That literally popped up in the YouTube algorithm for me the other day. Free with ads!

That movie is the only reason any of us old people know which way the DEFCON scale goes.

Steve of phpBB wrote: ↑Sun Feb 27, 2022 11:39 am

Johnnie wrote: ↑Sun Feb 27, 2022 11:30 am

Steve of phpBB wrote: ↑Sun Feb 27, 2022 11:22 am

That literally popped up in the YouTube algorithm for me the other day. Free with ads!

That movie is the only reason any of us old people know which way the DEFCON scale goes.

When I was joining the military and saw the career field "Electronic Warfare Systems" I asked the guy in MEPS, "Is this job like the movie Wargames?"

"Sounds like it!"

It was not. And when I learned I got got, it was too late. Excellent business model recruiters have.

Oh snap.

Wow...

As a literal Logistics Planner, I'm laughing my ass off with these tweets right now.

Awesome drawing:

So, anyone think that Putin is sick or something? It just feels like he's doing all of this shit because he's acting out against his own mortality.

Johnnie wrote: ↑Sun Feb 27, 2022 11:56 am

Canada Too

Huh?

Ok. You're still a piece of shit for trying to rationalize January 6th because something worse happened half a world away.

sancarlos wrote: ↑Sun Feb 27, 2022 11:30 pm

I feel badly for the people in Russia, but it's a kleptocracy.

Good news here

tennbengal wrote: ↑Mon Feb 28, 2022 7:37 am Good news here

Okay, now that we (presumably) know that, what they did is perfect. They inspired the world - and their fellow Ukrainians staring down the Russian army - with their defiance, bravery, and self-sacrifice. But they didn’t actually die doing it.

Process not results, Steve!

Knowing FIFA, this is probably less about doing the right thing and more about avoiding a headache.

I was thinking over the weekend, this might also give the IOC some cover to boot Russia from at least the next cycle of competition.

FIFA did the thing. Cynical as it may be, that has to be the most significant thing any of these global sports bodies have done since the South Africa ban.

Oh shit!

FIFA and the IIHF have suspended Russia.

And also Eurovision...

psunate77 wrote: ↑Sun Feb 27, 2022 10:36 pm

Sending hugs. Hope you find someone soon.

I’d love to charge from 50 feet away then leave my feet to launch a cheap shot at Alex Ovechkin, but it sure feels like people are taking his Putin support, ongoing or from the start, at face value. There was no reason to think Tom Brady or his family was under any type of duress when he used prominently placed campaign merchandise to support his good friend Donald Trump. The same can’t be assumed with Ovechkin or any Russian athlete.

I was procrastinating - as one does - and looked up % of GDP spent on the military.

Ukraine is at 4% which while not making it a goliath, certainly implies that the country has some decent weaponry.

Johnnie wrote: ↑Mon Feb 28, 2022 1:25 pm Oh shit!

I don’t have much to add over the last couple days. The resistance by Ukraine and her people have restored a tiny bit of hope for the future that people genuinely will stand up to bullies and for what’s right. The Ukrainian delegate to the United Nations just suggested Putin to off himself. There’s condemnation, and then there’s Condemnation. That’s clearly the latter.

Marco Rubio assessing Putin's mental health is fucking rich.

L-Jam3 wrote: ↑Mon Feb 28, 2022 7:07 pm

Johnnie wrote: ↑Mon Feb 28, 2022 1:25 pm Oh shit!

I don’t have much to add over the last couple days. The resistance by Ukraine and her people have restored a tiny bit of hope for the future that people genuinely will stand up to bullies and for what’s right. The Ukrainian delegate to the United Nations just suggested Putin to off himself. There’s condemnation, and then there’s Condemnation. That’s clearly the latter.

Yup. And also I wonder what China is thinking. There was always a hypothetical, how would America and the World react if they ever attacked Taiwan. How would Taiwanese react? Are we seeing this hypothetical in reality? Kind of a trail run? Would it be the same type of response? China is in a stronger position than Russia but does this put the brakes on any Chinese ambition of invading Taiwan? Would an Asian NATO be established?

The NBA’s PR team runs through this scenario every Tuesday at 9AM

God I feel it’s about to turn really grim for the Ukrainian defense. I hope I’m wrong.

Salon has a couple articles from a correspondent asserting that the US goaded Russia into this.

https://www.salon.com/2022/02/26/the-uk ... -foretold/

https://www.salon.com/2022/03/01/is-the ... no-excuse/

From the couple articles I’ve read that this is partially the US’s fault for “goading” (their words, not mine), they all seemed to suggest that Ukraine had no agency in this. Am I wrong to think that if Ukraine wanted to join NATO, it was because they thought it would be beneficial to them?

I stopped reading Salon a long time ago because their headlines seem so much more sensationalistic and eye catching than nearly anywhere else. Are they actually reputable?