Ukraine

[Jaymann]

I get it. I won't but Hunt ketchup either.

I don’t think I even want to know what that means, but I don’t think that’s appropriate language, and has no place in this conversation.

Not sure if you're joking or not, but pretty sure that's a typo and should say "buy Hunt ketchup".

What the deal with Hunt ketchup is...no idea.

Just another family of butthole billionaires.

[Carpet_pissr]

Absolutely love the response to epic arsehole (non-hunting kind) Musk by a Ukrainian diplomat:

"F--- off is my very diplomatic reply," tweeted Ukrainian diplomat Andrij Melnyk.

[Max Peck]

I get it. I won't but Hunt ketchup either.

I don’t think I even want to know what that means, but I don’t think that’s appropriate language, and has no place in this conversation.

Not sure if you're joking or not, but pretty sure that's a typo and should say "buy Hunt ketchup".

What the deal with Hunt ketchup is...no idea.

Just another family of butthole billionaires.

Yes, but...

Hunt's is the name of a brand of preserved tomato products owned by Conagra Brands. The company was founded in 1888, in Sebastopol, California, as the Hunt Bros. Fruit Packing Co., by Joseph and William Hunt. The brothers relocated to nearby Santa Rosa in 1890, and then to Hayward in 1895. This small canning operation grew rapidly, focused on canning the products of California's booming fruit and vegetable industries. By 1941, the plant shipped a hundred million cans of soup, fruits, vegetables, and juices annually.

[coopasonic]

He is synonymous with the brand.

Dammit man and I just decided to keep the car...

[Jaymann]

Yeah, the ketchup is OK. But word association is strong. I wouldn't buy Hitler bean sprouts even if the family is completely innocent.

[Carpet_pissr]

Your loss. Best brand of sprouts on the market!

[Unagi]

Your loss. Best brand of sprouts on the market!

And their sprouts are nothing compared to their kale....
kale ~Hitler

[raydude]

I get it. I won't but Hunt ketchup either.

I don’t think I even want to know what that means, but I don’t think that’s appropriate language, and has no place in this conversation.

Not sure if you're joking or not, but pretty sure that's a typo and should say "buy Hunt ketchup".

What the deal with Hunt ketchup is...no idea.

Yes. I was joking. And understood the typo.

I was pretending he said “I don’t butt-hunt ketchup”.

Which I don’t know what that means but it sounds like TMI.

I used to be annoyed at typos like that. Now I assume folks made a freudian slip. Makes it much more fun.

[gbasden]

I'm essentially in the same boat as tjg. I've longed for a Tesla from afar if the price and conditions were right, but now it's off the table because of Elon. Now, I doubt that Elon is going to weep over my lost maybe potential business a few years from now, but still.

Elon was definitely a deciding factor in my choice to get a Mach-E instead of a Tesla.

[LordMortis]

By the time I'll be in the market for a new car, I expect all the big OEMs to have electrics out on the market, so I'll ideally have my choice of whatever I want.

This... and the fact the I'm more likely to be PHEV than BEV anyway. We'll see when that time comes.

[Holman]

Anyway, I'm pretty sure Teslas won't be selling well in Ukraine for a while...

[Smoove_B]

Anyway, I'm pretty sure Teslas won't be selling well in Ukraine for a while...

What does he care? He got paid by the U.S. government to launch Starlink for them. Or as he likes to say, he "donated' them.

[LordMortis]

Anyway, I'm pretty sure Teslas won't be selling well in Ukraine for a while...

What does he care? He got paid by the U.S. government to launch Starlink for them. Or as he likes to say, he "donated' them.

Wait... He didn't donate them? I was giving him huge kudos for that and gave him more benefit of the doubt for his "realism" of the situation based on that donation.

[Smoove_B]

Somewhere around $3 million in U.S. taxpayer money.

[malchior]

Good thread summating what's behind the rapid change of fortune we are seeing in the Kharkiv and Kherson fronts.

[Carpet_pissr]

Exec summary on that please?

[Unagi]

Exec summary on that please?

Ukrainian army seems to have much better recon and intel on the battlefield, at a tactical level.
Ukrainian army has 3 fantastic generals that know their shit big time and are excellent at enabling those below them.
Ukrainian army is structured more like the US army, and takes better advantage of situational opportunities and flexibility.
Ukrainian soldiers are fighting for their country.
Russian soldiers are not, and even feel set up.
Ukrainian battle plans are being made and wait for the situation to present itself.
Russia is desperate.

[Carpet_pissr]

Thanks. I also wonder how much effect having the same, dedicated troops in the field (Ukraine) after months, building up experience and battle hardiness factors into this compared to what seems to be a constant churn of refugee/criminals/pressed ‘troops’ for Russia?


That may be oversimplifying things. I guess soldier death rate would have to be considered for both sides, and total soldiers active.

[malchior]

Thanks. I also wonder how much effect having the same, dedicated troops in the field (Ukraine) after months, building up experience and battle hardiness factors into this compared to what seems to be a constant churn of refugee/criminals/pressed ‘troops’ for Russia?


That may be oversimplifying things. I guess soldier death rate would have to be considered for both sides, and total soldiers active.

He talks about that but more from a command staff point of view. His take is the command staff has been fighting this war for 8 years and has developed good planning/operational capabilities and understands their limitations and when to apply force. You'd assume the soldiers are not all green either, they had better training to begin with, and we're providing additional training and facilities for them to train.

[malchior]

Meanwhile, the right is OBSESSED with the lack of a peace deal option for Ukraine/Russia. As if Ukraine is at all interested in discussing while the Russian military is collapsing and making illegal annexation claims. If you are listening to them, they are baying like wolves about it constantly.

Beyond the fear factor and anti-Biden motive I can't help but continue to feel that the far-right is scarily aligned with what are horrific Russian values. And you keep having to wonder if they have been infiltrated. It's scary how an entire portion of the population which was fervently anti-Russia until about 6 years ago has turned on a dime.

[LawBeefaroni]

But I've been told that Elon's capitulation tweet was harmless.

[YellowKing]

I have no doubt a good swath of the GOP has been bought with Russian money. It's the only thing that makes sense.

[LordMortis]

Beyond the fear factor and anti-Biden motive I can't help but continue to feel that the far-right is scarily aligned with what are horrific Russian values. And you keep having to wonder if they have been infiltrated. It's scary how an entire portion of the population which was fervently anti-Russia until about 6 years ago has turned on a dime.

Well Putin is a very smart genius, we do all have blood on our hands, and Russian agents actively support such American institutions as the NRA, Merry Lego, and highly marked up leased real estate, so what's not to love? Beyond that, they make sure that voting supports the right people and that courts support the right government. Dissidents get shut up without question. How can you not love the way the doing things. It's a great place to spend the 4th of July.

Noyou're puppet!

[Scraper]

I have no doubt a good swath of the GOP has been bought with Russian money. It's the only thing that makes sense.

Honestly I believe the realty is much simpler than that and actually just as depressing. It goes hand in hand with their PWNING the Libs policy. The modern GOP has absolutely no policy beyond doing the exact opposite of whatever the Democrats want. O.O policy beyond that. Biden is supporting Ukraine therefore the GOP is against Ukraine and pro Russia. Putin can see this and it's one of his many disinformation tools that he uses.

[YellowKing]

They were turning pro-Russian long before Biden and Ukraine. Heck, Hillary was calling Trump a Russian puppet before he was even elected. We know Russia was using social media to influence the election, it's not a stretch to think they were using money as well. Then we also have the known ties to Russian money of McConnell and DeSantis.

[Holman]

Russia has poured money into right-wing causes (think tanks, the NRA, certain media), and this naturally makes those orgs sympathetic to Putin.

But the larger trend (of which the above is a part) is the "international culture war" pitting pluralist Liberal Democracy against racial-nationalist Authoritarianism. You see this with Tucker Carlson's/CPAC's open celebration of Victor Orban and their thinly veiled admiration for Putin's posturing as the defender of Western Christendom. There's a huge amount of Putin support in alt-right circles.

[LordMortis]

Also, wasn't Bannon (when he was relevant to the rise tRump) openly a big fan of Putin and Russian authoritarianism?

Edit: Wow Googling Bannon and Putin really shows how the GOP should just go the fuck away.

[malchior]

Strange stuff here. Why the heck is this being leaked? Rapping Ukraine on the wrist?

[malchior]

Great footage with the usual caveats. A lot of clowns saying this is too clean. The poster claims the UA has a line set up. RUS forces can call in and get walked through how to surrender safely.

[raydude]

Thanks. I also wonder how much effect having the same, dedicated troops in the field (Ukraine) after months, building up experience and battle hardiness factors into this compared to what seems to be a constant churn of refugee/criminals/pressed ‘troops’ for Russia?


That may be oversimplifying things. I guess soldier death rate would have to be considered for both sides, and total soldiers active.

He talks about that but more from a command staff point of view. His take is the command staff has been fighting this war for 8 years and has developed good planning/operational capabilities and understands their limitations and when to apply force. You'd assume the soldiers are not all green either, they had better training to begin with, and we're providing additional training and facilities for them to train.

Yes, it's mostly training. Not just training, but training to instill leadership and initiative at the small-unit level. Also training how to give and receive mission orders. It's the kind of thing that lets a Ukrainian company commander say "My mission is to advance to point B but I have the freedom to maneuver around this Russian strongpoint in front of me, since the mission intent is to bypass and cutoff Russian units." vs. a Russian commander saying "I was told to advance along this road to Point B. There is strongpoint in front of me. I must assault strongpoint to continue to Point B."

[LawBeefaroni]

Strange stuff here. Why the heck is this being leaked? Rapping Ukraine on the wrist?

Source: Anonymous "U.S. Officials."

[LordMortis]

people are saying, dammit, people are saying.

That said, I don't see it as implausible. I'm honestly surprised at the terrorism the US hasn't seen when making imperialistic war. When a foreign aggressor is displacing and destroying entire cities and blowing up schools and hospitals and occupying ongoing infrastructure support, the side that is in existential crisis has to be capable of some of their own unforgivable action.

[Carpet_pissr]

They were turning pro-Russian long before Biden and Ukraine. Heck, Hillary was calling Trump a Russian puppet before he was even elected. We know Russia was using social media to influence the election, it's not a stretch to think they were using money as well.

Bingo. I would suggest also that the social media influencing did not stop at mere election propaganda. I’m sure subtle pro -Russia hints were sprinkled in.

They already had/have a functioning formula, they could drop in any message they want. Pro-Trump. Pro-Russia. Cilantro is a devil weed, etc.

[hepcat]

Strange stuff here. Why the heck is this being leaked? Rapping Ukraine on the wrist?

I was confused by it too. I have to wonder if it was going to come out anyway, and the U.S. wanted to get out ahead of it. Much of this war has seen Ukraine able to claim the moral high ground, but this kicks a few feet off that pedestal.

[El Guapo]

Strange stuff here. Why the heck is this being leaked? Rapping Ukraine on the wrist?

I was confused by it too. I have to wonder if it was going to come out anyway, and the U.S. wanted to get out ahead of it. Much of this war has seen Ukraine able to claim the moral high ground, but this kicks a few feet off that pedestal.

Who knows. Possible that U.S. officials want to give Ukraine a warning not to go too far with this stuff in a way that could jeopardize their support here. Or possible that there are a couple officials with pro-Russia sympathies involved?

[El Guapo]

Russia has poured money into right-wing causes (think tanks, the NRA, certain media), and this naturally makes those orgs sympathetic to Putin.

But the larger trend (of which the above is a part) is the "international culture war" pitting pluralist Liberal Democracy against racial-nationalist Authoritarianism. You see this with Tucker Carlson's/CPAC's open celebration of Victor Orban and their thinly veiled admiration for Putin's posturing as the defender of Western Christendom. There's a huge amount of Putin support in alt-right circles.

Yeah, this is right I think. Some of it is Russian money influencing them. Part of this is Trump - he's got obvious pro-Russian sympathies, and everyone in the GOP feels the need to alter their policies to be in alignment with Dear Leader. And part of this is the right wing turning ever more hostile to democracy in part due to culture war reasons, which brings them into more natural alliance with Putinist forces.

[malchior]

This piece by the NY Times shows how tricky covering Russian internal politics is. They were probably tricked into running with the story Putin is spinning intentionally to take pressure off himself. They are reporting it as evidence of pressure on Putin. I have to wonder if they ran this by any Kremlinologists.

Discontent among supporters of Russia’s faltering invasion of Ukraine has produced an extraordinary barrage of criticism directed at the leadership of the Russian military, creating a new challenge to President Vladimir V. Putin, who, after cracking down on Russia’s liberal opposition, now faces growing dissent in his own camp.

The latest salvo came on Thursday when a Russian-installed occupation official in Ukraine fired a broadside at the Russian defense minister, Sergei K. Shoigu, a close associate of Mr. Putin. The official, Kirill Stremousov, said Mr. Shoigu should consider killing himself because of the Russian army’s failures in Ukraine.

“Many people are saying that as an officer, the defense minister could simply shoot himself for being the one who let things get to this state,” said Mr. Stremousov, the deputy governor of the Kherson region of southern Ukraine.

What the NY Times is getting wrong is that directed discontent has been Putin's way for decades. And Minister of Defense Shoigu is almost certainly Putin's designated fall guy for this failure now. How do we know? They have ringed off criticism of others. The Institute for the Study of War which has actual Kremlinologists posted this intel note in their daily brief on the situation in Ukraine.

Russian authorities detained the manager of several milblogger telegram channels on October 5, indicating that the Kremlin is likely setting limits on what criticism is allowed in the domestic Russian information space. Alexander Khunshtein, the deputy secretary of the General Council of Putin’s political party, United Russia, published footage on October 5 showing Russian authorities detaining Alexei Slobodenyuk.[20] Slobodenyuk is an employee of Wagner financier Yevgeny Prigozhin’s Patriot media group and the manager of several milblogger telegrams, the most prominent of which are “Release Z Kraken” and “Skaner.” The telegram channel “Skaner” has featured criticism of major state officials and military personnel, the most prominent of whom are Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, State Duma Speaker Vyacheslav Volodin, and Kremlin Spokesperson Dmitry Peskov. Russian authorities detained Slobodenyuk on accusations of fraud. His detention suggests that the Kremlin is attempting to set boundaries for which criticism is allowed in the information space and on which high-ranking officials milbloggers and journalists can criticize—Defense Minister Shoigu, Putin‘s likely scapegoat-in-waiting, now appears to be fair game, whereas officials close to Putin such as Lavrov and Putin’s spokesperson are off-limits.

[LawBeefaroni]

Strange stuff here. Why the heck is this being leaked? Rapping Ukraine on the wrist?

I was confused by it too. I have to wonder if it was going to come out anyway, and the U.S. wanted to get out ahead of it. Much of this war has seen Ukraine able to claim the moral high ground, but this kicks a few feet off that pedestal.

Don't assume it is a unified policy decision. Often times leaks are designed to force an issue that otherwise may have been left to lie or spun differently. Think about the current low bar to be a "US Official."

[LordMortis]

Many people are saying

Are we sure that wasn't Trump being quoted?

[malchior]

Pretty big news over night. The Kerch bridge which connects Cromea to Russia was seemingly badly damaged. More bad news for the Russians.