War in Ukraine

#11,328
#11,328
lawgator1 said:
Moved to secret bunker. So that its at least in part no longer secret.

I don't doubt he would. But why tell anyone? This is the kind of posturing that creates mistakes.
Click to expand...
The Mirror is a left wing socialist publication, why would they publish this? Could it be because it's true?
 
#11,330
#11,330
AM64 said:
It's probably too much to hope that people here in the US are paying attention to that very point.
Click to expand...
I don’t see any meaningful movement in either direction; toward fossil fuel independence or toward alternatives. Maybe I’m ignorant on the subject, but if it’s happening there is no expediency.
 
  • Like
Reactions: AM64
#11,335
#11,335
landscapingvol said:
Nor the people outside of it
Click to expand...

Eh, we all have to face our own mortality. Whether it be a result of Putin, the person driving beside us, or a health issue, there isn't one of us getting off this mortal coil alive. Now, I hope today is not that day, but someone as unstable as Putin seems could have ended it all any day since he came into power. If you walk around worrying about dying, you will never live.
 
  • Like
Reactions: davethevol, AM64 and Rickyvol77
#11,336
#11,336
IluvdoubleD's said:
Not sure how true this is. It appears they want to drag him before the hague if he comes out of his bunker. Anyone of you smart asses out there want to verify? View attachment 436600
Click to expand...
International Court of Justice (assuming this is legit) strike about as much terror into Putin as Barney Fife and his single bullet in his pocket would
 
  • Like
Reactions: AM64
#11,338
#11,338
OHvol40 said:
I don’t see any meaningful movement in either direction; toward fossil fuel independence or toward alternatives. Maybe I’m ignorant on the subject, but if it’s happening there is no expediency.
Click to expand...

I really meant we are just generally too reliant on foreign made - especially Chinese - goods.

As far as US energy and transition, I don't see any logical plan at all - nothing. If we go to electric vehicles to save the universe, then there has to be a plan for more generation and transmission ... and it has to happen 24 hours a day which wind and sun don't do. There's no thought at all to standby generation and especially the cost of idle plants that have to be staffed and running to come to power when solar and wind fizzle out. Solar and wind generators should have to be paying real utilities for the loss of income when plants are idle because you can't run a grid on intermittent power sources. It's complete idiocy to neglect that issue, and we certainly are doing it. There's apparently this wild dream of huge battery storage ... not reasonable. Pumped storage (like Racoon Mountain) where you pump water uphill with "excess power" and then let it go back down and generate works but it's terribly inefficient. In short we've got wild eyed dreamers, a worthless Department of Energy, a bunch of lawyers running things, and no workable plan.
 
  • Like
Reactions: tbh
#11,339
#11,339
Gandalf said:
Well, if the numbers of Russian Soldiers killed (5700+) to Ukrainian civilians killed (136+ based on what UN said) is anything close to accurate, the Russians should win an award for the most accurate, least collateral damage and least lethal war (sorry, special operation) EVER. Guarantee you that with all our efforts, we got nowhere close to that in Iraq, Afghanistan or Syria.
Click to expand...

Sadly 70+ Ukrainian soldiers got blown up in a single airstrike on a military building earlier today, so those #s are crap. The deaths are going to skyrocket now... on both sides.
 
#11,341
#11,341
Velo Vol said:
There are multiple reasons, but the impetus for the ongoing shut-down plan was largely driven by Fukushima.
Click to expand...

Germany isn't real susceptible to tsunamis swamping the backup power, and Germany isn't sitting on an active ring of fire that stokes earthquakes on a fairly regular basis. The German people for all their "intelligence" sometimes just aren't very bright.
 
  • Like
Reactions: NCFisher, Weezy, Smokey X and 1 other person
#11,342
#11,342
I hope the actual button pushers of Russia’s nuclear weapons have a good serious contemplation about what is happening and what they will do if Putin makes a nuclear launch decision should it look like this will be a total loss for Russia.

If Putin doesn’t get what he wants out of this invasion, Ukraine remains in some form independent and not under Russian control, and the world has shunned Russia from business……is that something Putin is willing to accept. Or could he be so far gone that if Russia is a loser he says eff it there will be no world with a politically and economically impotent Russia.

From his actions so far this looks like it will be a long time before Russia recovers economically or politically. Unless they plan to stick to a nuclear bully diplomacy.
 
  • Like
Reactions: ***RoadVol*** and lawgator1
#11,343
#11,343
TheDeeble said:
I hope the actual button pushers of Russia’s nuclear weapons have a good serious contemplation about what is happening and what they will do if Putin makes a nuclear launch decision should it look like this will be a total loss for Russia.

If Putin doesn’t get what he wants out of this invasion, cUkraine remains in some form independent and not under Russian control, and the world has shunned Russia from business……is that something Putin is willing to accept. Or could he be so far gone that if Russia is a loser he says eff it there will be no world with a politically and economically impotent Russia.
Click to expand...

Those guys are probably robots essentially and do little thinking outside the box.
 
#11,345
#11,345
AM64 said:
I really meant we are just generally too reliant on foreign made - especially Chinese - goods.

As far as US energy and transition, I don't see any logical plan at all - nothing. If we go to electric vehicles to save the universe, then there has to be a plan for more generation and transmission ... and it has to happen 24 hours a day which wind and sun don't do. There's no thought at all to standby generation and especially the cost of idle plants that have to be staffed and running to come to power when solar and wind fizzle out. Solar and wind generators should have to be paying real utilities for the loss of income when plants are idle because you can't run a grid on intermittent power sources. It's complete idiocy to neglect that issue, and we certainly are doing it. There's apparently this wild dream of huge battery storage ... not reasonable. Pumped storage (like Racoon Mountain) where you pump water uphill with "excess power" and then let it go back down and generate works but it's terribly inefficient. In short we've got wild eyed dreamers, a worthless Department of Energy, a bunch of lawyers running things, and no workable plan.
Click to expand...

The only way to change from gasoline powered cars to electric in order to "save the planet" is to build a crap ton of nuclear power plants and upgrade the electrical grid, especially in the tree hugger states like Commifornia. Just shutting down coal fired plants and switching to solar panels and windmills is about like shooting yourself in the foot right before running a marathon. Not to mention, where are the batteries coming from. A transition requires some thought and so far, I haven't seen any.
 
  • Like
Reactions: tbh, MWR and AM64
#11,346
#11,346
DC_Vol said:
Electronics (including chips), medication, and many other critical goods are moving through a supply chain that includes Chinese manufacturing.

We’ve done most of this ourselves from years of focusing on only lowest cost. An entire generation of sourcing people think sourcing means sending your designs to a China shop, let them work out the kinks, and then own the manufacturing. Low cost and you don’t have to deal with the headaches of running production!

Try convincing a company they need to pay more than their competitors for a certain part or finished good even to hedge their own supply chain risk. 99% if the time it’s a dead end conversation. Clean sheet it and get the lowest landed cost. It’s all that matters.

There is the consumer side, too. End users who make decisions based off of lowest cost. This was inevitable with globalization. It’s human nature. And it’s the argument a lot of people make for protectionism. It has its own valid upsides.
Click to expand...

There's still no free lunch, and you can't get something for nothing. In the end US workers replaced by On, Sun, and Lo aren't going to buy anybody's goods without income. Common sense would have been years ago to have tamed labor costs in the US - a big missed first step was not applying anti-trust legislation to organized labor to balance the scales.
 
#11,348
#11,348
TheDeeble said:
I hope the actual button pushers of Russia’s nuclear weapons have a good serious contemplation about what is happening and what they will do if Putin makes a nuclear launch decision should it look like this will be a total loss for Russia.

If Putin doesn’t get what he wants out of this invasion, Ukraine remains in some form independent and not under Russian control, and the world has shunned Russia from business……is that something Putin is willing to accept. Or could he be so far gone that if Russia is a loser he says eff it there will be no world with a politically and economically impotent Russia.

From his actions so far this looks like it will be a long time before Russia recovers economically or politically. Unless they plan to stick to a nuclear bully diplomacy.
Click to expand...
Unfortunately for Ukraine I think their endgame is to get pounded into oblivion like Chechnya, have a government in exile operate from somewhere like Poland or France, Vlad installs a puppet government in Ukraine which would allow him to claim victory (which could be important to keep the conflict from further escalation), but Vlad also deals with an insurgency in Ukraine for years. That's honestly a best case scenario at this point, and probably the most likely, but it is still possible this thing spreads even further and escalates. If he's bogged down with an insurgency in Ukraine, I don't think he could take a pot shot at a NATO country.
 
#11,349
#11,349
not going to repost, might be more propaganda, but it looks like someone is dropping FOABS in the city, and I doubt its the Ukrainians.
 
New posts
You must log in or register to reply here.

VN Store



Back
Top