That is not dead which can eternal lie, and with strange aeons bring us some web forums whereupon we can gather
http://www.octopusoverlords.com/forum/
When on our nerd cruise, the war in Ukraine had just begun. One of the crew was Ukranian, and he was stuck on the ship while his wife and two daughters grabbed what they could carry and fled to Poland. One of my friends is a very resourceful engineer and has been working with the crew member, Ievgen, to get refugee status for himself and the rest of his family. We just got done raising the money to get his family flown over. Helping one family is a drop in the bucket, but it sure feels good.Daehawk wrote: ↑Sat May 21, 2022 11:12 pm The local news shows we have 2 Ukrainian refugee families living here in my town. Neat..in a way. Sorry they had to leave their home but glad they made it here safe. Not sure how they'll get by or fit in not speaking the language. Im not sure how I could deal with that if it was me.
The chief of the Russian mission to the United Nations in Geneva has resigned his post in shame with a damning hate letter to Russian President Vladimir Putin, calling the Feb. 24 invasion of Ukraine not only a crime against the people of Ukraine, but perhaps “the most serious crime against the people of Russia, with a bold letter Z crossing out all hopes and prospects for a prosperous free society in our country.”
Boris Bondarev had worked at Russia’s foreign ministry since 2002, first in Moscow and then in Geneva, during which he said “the level of lies and unprofessionalism in the work of the Foreign Ministry has been increasing all the time.” It is highly unlikely the former diplomat will go back to Russia, but there has been no confirmation about if he defected and, if so, to what country.
He named checked Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, who he said started as an intellectual held in high esteem, but who was now “a good illustration of the degradation of this system.” He blames Lavrov—not Putin—for many of Russia’s recent choices, condemning him for “threaten[ing] the world (that is, Russia too!) with nuclear weapons!”
This is awesome! You and your family are to be commended for your selfless sacrifice to help total strangers in need.gbasden wrote: ↑Sat May 21, 2022 11:19 pmWhen on our nerd cruise, the war in Ukraine had just begun. One of the crew was Ukranian, and he was stuck on the ship while his wife and two daughters grabbed what they could carry and fled to Poland. One of my friends is a very resourceful engineer and has been working with the crew member, Ievgen, to get refugee status for himself and the rest of his family. We just got done raising the money to get his family flown over. Helping one family is a drop in the bucket, but it sure feels good.Daehawk wrote: ↑Sat May 21, 2022 11:12 pm The local news shows we have 2 Ukrainian refugee families living here in my town. Neat..in a way. Sorry they had to leave their home but glad they made it here safe. Not sure how they'll get by or fit in not speaking the language. Im not sure how I could deal with that if it was me.
Would he? If the Russian people are pissed after the war's conclusion, I doubt that they would say "oh well I guess Lavrov was behind everything and poor Putin was just his hapless stooge!". I also doubt tossing Lavrov overboard would change the minds of the Western powers about Putin's regime either. Putin's ruthlessly consolidated power in himself for the past couple decades, and also cultivated an image of himself as Russia's indispensable leader. Not that he would definitely be toppled if the war failed (that's not an easy thing to do), but sacking Lavrov would probably only make Putin's enemies smell blood in the water.LawBeefaroni wrote: ↑Mon May 23, 2022 12:34 pm Lavrov would make a good sacrificial lamb for Putin if Putin cares about an exit strategy.
Blaming Lavrov (or someone else) will work at home in the state controlled media. In the West, it's a conciliatory gesture that everyone will accept to make this go away.El Guapo wrote: ↑Mon May 23, 2022 4:03 pmWould he? If the Russian people are pissed after the war's conclusion, I doubt that they would say "oh well I guess Lavrov was behind everything and poor Putin was just his hapless stooge!". I also doubt tossing Lavrov overboard would change the minds of the Western powers about Putin's regime either. Putin's ruthlessly consolidated power in himself for the past couple decades, and also cultivated an image of himself as Russia's indispensable leader. Not that he would definitely be toppled if the war failed (that's not an easy thing to do), but sacking Lavrov would probably only make Putin's enemies smell blood in the water.LawBeefaroni wrote: ↑Mon May 23, 2022 12:34 pm Lavrov would make a good sacrificial lamb for Putin if Putin cares about an exit strategy.
Putin's control of the state media and the state security apparatus means that he will probably remain in power even if the war ends badly. But I don't think canning Lavrov or not will impact that one way or the other. And I can see even less reason to think that canning him will impact relations with the West. Insiders don't attribute Russia's conduct to him, and the public doesn't know him enough for it to change the domestic politics of Russia anywhere that matters.LawBeefaroni wrote: ↑Mon May 23, 2022 8:22 pmBlaming Lavrov (or someone else) will work at home in the state controlled media. In the West, it's a conciliatory gesture that everyone will accept to make this go away.El Guapo wrote: ↑Mon May 23, 2022 4:03 pmWould he? If the Russian people are pissed after the war's conclusion, I doubt that they would say "oh well I guess Lavrov was behind everything and poor Putin was just his hapless stooge!". I also doubt tossing Lavrov overboard would change the minds of the Western powers about Putin's regime either. Putin's ruthlessly consolidated power in himself for the past couple decades, and also cultivated an image of himself as Russia's indispensable leader. Not that he would definitely be toppled if the war failed (that's not an easy thing to do), but sacking Lavrov would probably only make Putin's enemies smell blood in the water.LawBeefaroni wrote: ↑Mon May 23, 2022 12:34 pm Lavrov would make a good sacrificial lamb for Putin if Putin cares about an exit strategy.
We're in the golden age of fraud. Anyone can get away with almost anything if they have enough money/power that other people want.
Now I want to go watch it. CHAPPPPPIEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEESort of. They are similar to the merc company Blackwater USA founded by Eric Prince. Although there are many more rumors of bad behavior out of them than out of Blackwater shockingly.Carpet_pissr wrote: ↑Tue May 24, 2022 12:47 pm Wagner? Is that a common knowledge despot/assassin master/Bond villain that I’m unaware of?
Wagner GroupCarpet_pissr wrote: ↑Tue May 24, 2022 12:47 pm Wagner? Is that a common knowledge despot/assassin master/Bond villain that I’m unaware of?
The Wagner Group (Russian: Группа Вагнера, romanized: Gruppa Vagnera), also known as PMC Wagner, ChVK Wagner (ChVK being the Russian abbreviation for Private Military Company), or CHVK Vagner (ЧВК Вагнера ChVK Vagnera, Частная Военная Компания Вагнера), is a Russian paramilitary organization. It is variously described as a private military company, a network of mercenaries, or a de facto private army of Russian President Vladimir Putin.
The Wagner Group came to global prominence during the war in Donbas in Ukraine, where it aided separatist forces of the self-declared Donetsk and Luhansk People's Republics from 2014 to 2015. Its contractors have reportedly taken part in various conflicts around the world—including the civil wars in Syria, Libya, the Central African Republic (CAR), and Mali, often fighting on the side of forces aligned with the Russian government. Though welcomed by some allied factions, such as the governments of Syria and the CAR, Wagner operatives have been accused of war crimes in areas where they are deployed. The accusations include rapes and robberies of civilians and, at one point, a video was published of Wagner PMCs torturing an accused deserter.
Because it often operates in support of Russian interests or foreign policy objectives, and is reportedly trained on installations of the Russian Ministry of Defence (MoD), several sources consider ChVK Wagner an arm's-length unit of the MoD or Russia's military intelligence agency, the GRU. Likewise, the group is widely believed to be owned or financed by Yevgeny Prigozhin, a businessman with close links to Putin. It is speculated that the Wagner Group is used by the Russian government to allow for plausible deniability in certain conflicts; it has most recently been tied to the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022, where it has been reportedly deployed to assassinate Ukrainian leaders.
They already have some US M777 155 howitzersDefault wrote: ↑Sun May 29, 2022 11:00 am As the Ukrainians have their equipment and weapons destroyed or replaced, they'll basically be converted to NATO standard equipment. Good news for them bad news for the Russians. I just hope that they can hold out until they get the 155 howitzers and the other high tech equipment that they need. It seems to be more artillery that the can use than anything else. Would be nice to see Poland get f-16s and somebody just push the migs over the border so the Ukrainians can take ownership of them. Maybe they could get stolen?
This design difference is thought to be, at the very least, a contributing factor in a number of airline crashes where a Russian trained pilot is flying Western-built aircraft.Most Russian-built aircraft have a somewhat different design. The background display is colored as in a Western instrument, but moves up and down only to indicate pitch. A symbol representing the aircraft (which is fixed in a Western instrument) rolls left or right to indicate bank angle.
Holman wrote: ↑Mon May 30, 2022 10:43 am Hopping out of a Mig-29 and into an F-16 isn't an easy thing, though.
Even if the pilot speaks fluent English, the systems are all different, and there are a dozen things that need to be second-nature for effective flying and fighting. A Ukrainian pilot would probably need scores of hours of flight-time training before pointing an F-16 at the enemy.
Yeah, the idea is to get F16s to Poland so they can send their MiGs to UA.Default wrote: ↑Mon May 30, 2022 6:22 pmHolman wrote: ↑Mon May 30, 2022 10:43 am Hopping out of a Mig-29 and into an F-16 isn't an easy thing, though.
Even if the pilot speaks fluent English, the systems are all different, and there are a dozen things that need to be second-nature for effective flying and fighting. A Ukrainian pilot would probably need scores of hours of flight-time training before pointing an F-16 at the enemy.
I stated the Poles would get the F-16s to replace the Migs that just "showed up".
Unfortunate choice of music considering one of Putin's claims for invading!
: https://www.nytimes.com/2022/06/01/worl ... -east.htmlA Washington state Guardsman received a phone call from a Ukrainian who has an issue with the Javelin. Guardsman talked him through it. 30 minutes later, Guardsman gets a call from the Ukrainian who just blew up a Russia vehicle.
This Guardsman and Ukrainian befriended each other during a relatively recent Washington deployment to the country before the war.
