No Post Today

Posted on by Sarah A. Hoyt

Sorry, was out of pocket all day. Not near a keyboard. Will try to do post tomorrow, but can’t make any hard promises. If all else fails, I’ll do it on Tuesday, I promise.

146 thoughts on “No Post Today”

  2. Didn’t you say that this week would be an interesting week?

    Something about a trip with your eldest?

    Take care. :grin:

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          1. More like:

            “Did you go to school stupid?”
            “No, but I came out that way.”

            Today’s government schools are actively teaching stupidity. That’s in addition to teaching weird sex fetishes to 6-year-olds.

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      1. “Pocketa-pocketa-pocketa!”

        Hey, kids, here comes Satyr-Man on his souped-up Vespa!

        (Extremely obscure reference from the ’60s. :-) )

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  7. I get a strange feeling Ukraine, or at least Zelensky’s Ukrainian government is about to fall. The much ballyhooed and promised counter offensive in the south has stagnated and Russians are making progress recapturing lost territory in the east. It appears most of the supplied western weapons have been squandered by inept generals. Now Zelensky is taking about no elections unless the west pays for them. The west is quickly running out of money and supplies to send him. The Eu with the exception of the former Soviet Block states are tired of fighting against Russia/Putin. They are still afraid of the Russian bear and infiltrated by Russian spies who get their propaganda out, not to mention the failures of green energy in Europe adding to their economic woes. Then there is the rising tide of anti-green and anti- socialists in their own countries. Ukraine is quickly turning into a black hole that is sucking the life out of Nato and the EU. It won’t be long before the elites in the EU get tired of it and just walk away and blame the whole thing on Biden and his corruption.

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      1. Oh I agree, but Socialists never blame themselves for their own blunders. Biden is an easy target, they will just say after the horrors of El Trumpo they were easily fooled by corrupt Biden, they hate America and their own socialist supporters will eat it up. even if it is lies.

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      2. Oh by the way, love that response, will be stealing it at a later date, I have one or two characters who would definitely say that.

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    2. The much ballyhooed and promised counter offensive in the south has stagnated and Russians are making progress recapturing lost territory in the east. It appears most of the supplied western weapons have been squandered by inept generals.

      Wow that is a lot of bullshit and lies to pack into two sentences.

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      1. I really don’t have a dog in the fight, there is no real difference between either side, Both are corrupt governments, Putin is not a good guy, the Ukrainians people may be fine people, but their government is a joke. The are no good guys in this fight. This war was lost when Russia was allowed to annex the Crimea under Obama way back in 2014. This is just the Socialist in control of the World Bank trying to destroy Russia because Russia won’t kowtow to them. They don’t give one damn about Ukraine other than whatever graft they can get out of it. They don’t care if the people starve or if their own people starve because of the lack of Ukrainian wheat and grains. The reports of inept generals squandering the western weapons comes from the British and American Intel sources, hell Russia had captured western gear at their last weapons show this summer. Don’t blame the messenger because you don’t like the message.

        The people of Ukraine are suffering that is true, but this was lost when Obama allowed the Russians to annex the Crimea in 2014. You can’t get around that fact and Joe Biden was right there beside Obama.

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        1. This is just the Socialist in control of the World Bank trying to destroy Russia because Russia won’t kowtow to them.

          Russia invading the neighbors, repeatedly, is not exactly under control of the World Bank.

          Both are corrupt governments

          Unfortunately, our source for that is the same as for Russia having captured significant amounts of Western equipment.
          Russian claims.

          The literally from the Russian military video that showed a few items and announced they were captured from fleeing Ukranians is from a known military movement, that was during the push where they captured Lysychansk… by shelling the heck out of the civilians and claiming anybody they hit was military. Including shelling that shopping mall.

          That was about a quarter after Russia invaded and there was the “bullets, not a ride” speech, incidentally; about a month and change after the first US military aid arrived at all.

          And– oh, huh.
          I actually just found this when I was looking for updates on the current state of that city.

          https://www.lbc.co.uk/news/russian-general-dies-illness-poisoning

          The guy who managed that, and went on to massive defeats as Ukraine actually got decent materials…has just had the traditional death-after-a-sudden-onset-long-lasting illness!

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        2. The reports of inept generals squandering the western weapons comes from the British and American Intel sources, hell Russia had captured western gear at their last weapons show this summer.

          :pokes around:

          Well, no, actually they come from a Pentagon IG report, literally “DoD’s Accountability of Equipment Provided to Ukraine.

          They found that some stuff was stolen— not “squandered”– and that it was organized crime that had done it, and then they wiped out the gangs.
          Gosh. I wonder if that may have somethign to do with Russia having some stuff to claim was from military aid shipments.
          Naaaaah, Russia would never do something like that….

          https://www.cnn.com/2023/07/20/politics/pentagon-watchdog-report-ukraine-weaponry/index.html

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          1. War is hell, that is why it is to be avoided. I am sorry to be blunt, but they have been attacking civilians since war started, way back when the first cave man put a rock on a stick and hit his neighbor over the head and stole his women. Russia is a bad guy I get that, Putin is a bad guy, I get that, and agree. The Ukrainian Government is one of the most corrupt in the world, by everyone’s standards. I have known they are selling off the weapons they receive for years. If you dig into it you will find reports of Germany seizing weapons sent to the Ukraine, anti-tank missiles I believe. If you want to give the Ukrainian Generals some slack, they are inept because they don’t understand how to use western gear. They have never been taught how to fight in the first place, I don’t care if a lot of the Soviet Army were made up of Ukrainians. The Soviets trained their military much different than americans and later western powers did and do. And you don’t promote anyone but a true believer, competence was never a requirement. So the Generals they have are at best the same as the generals they are fighting. Their main doctrine is quantity is a quality of it’s own. They have supply problems because of that corruption. Zelensky just fired the whole of the recruitment branch for corruption. I don’t care what side the angels are on, you can’t win with that shit happening in your home front. No matter how much of a murdering pig Putin is, was, and always will be. That he hasn’t already won shows you just how screwed up Russia is.

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            1. It was always a war of attrition, it will always be a war of attrition, it’s all they understand. Neither side can stand each other, and never will. Putin is no different than any other Czar Russia has had, and they have been fighting each other for centuries.

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              1. Most Czar’s weren’t KGB chiefs in Germany and notoriously evil ones at that.
                Be aware of this please. All this propaganda about “defender of the faith” is bullshit.

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            2. War is hell, that is why it is to be avoided. I

              Why, thank you, Captain Platitude!

              That is very important information for anyone who has managed to avoid the go-to trite observation of the last century-plus of movies and other popular entertainment.

              Now, what does it have to do with you repeating quite literal Russian propaganda related to them invading the neighbors like it’s gospel?

              I mean, other than the lovely twist that self defense and enlightened self defense– “if these guys do that to that group, they are likely to do the same to me, given a chance, so I should support the targets of those types of attacks to which I would not wish to be subject”– is disreputable, all you’re doing is throwing stuff at the wall to see what will stick.

              Notably not actually engaging any of the points that show you’re pushing BS, just– keep on pushing the BS. You have conclusions, and in the face of countering evidence, you… declare the conclusions louder.

              “Ukraine is corrupt! They are… actually firing people who get caught in bribery scandals, and they are actually knocking out organized crime that stole weapons before they even reached Ukrainian custody, and one of the biggest crime bosses in Europe is Ukrainian, ignore that he lives in Moscow!”

              The Soviets trained their military much different than americans and later western powers did and do. And you don’t promote anyone but a true believer, competence was never a requirement. So the Generals they have are at best the same as the generals they are fighting. Their main doctrine is quantity is a quality of it’s own. They have supply problems because of that corruption

              Yeah, that’s what Putin and co figured. Along with figuring the comedian that got elected would run away.

              Which is why Putin’s officials are having sudden onset illnesses, and taking flying lessons out of sky scrapers.

              Ooops, they actually were cleaning things up, not just taking out Russian aligned organized crime!

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              1. I have no problem with you talking about Putin as a monster, he is, so was every Tsar in Russia. But the War in Ukraine is the essence of a black hole. You want to stop Russia? Move the American Bases in Germany to Poland, Czechoslovakia, and Hungry. The Germans hate us, the Poles would love us there, so would the others. That stops Putin dead in his tracks secures Europe and it would force Putin into Talks and stop the fighting. That is why no one would do it.

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                1. That stops Putin dead in his tracks secures Europe and it would force Putin into Talks and stop the fighting.

                  Based on what?

                  And what, exactly, makes you think that we can’t move based to friendly nations– and arm the current targets of invasion for Russia?

                  Please note what the locals who are on the menu think of the “well, just let Russia eat another one, we’ll stop them somewhere else” plan.

                  You know, the one that’s failed every other time.

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                2. Also the corruption in the Ukraine is fueled by the western politicians and their own corruption. So long as Biden and his ilk remain in power, the more Zelensky gets rid of some corruption, the more his own will eat him alive. You haven’t mentioned any of the rights and opponents Zelensky has silenced, ala Putin. Ukraine was attacked and has the right to defend itself I agree. If we want to help, we should. But it shouldn’t be a blank check without safeguards and over sight. Nor should we be there or anywhere forever, Americans are very good at beating the shit out of people, but we really can’t say we run our own governments any better. Hint Joe Biden is in office. That last part was sarcasm, I have been overseas and seen how other governments work, as screwed up as ours is right now, our worst day is still miles beyond their best day. I am just very wary of anything Joe Biden is involved in.

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                  1. You haven’t mentioned any of the rights and opponents Zelensky has silenced, ala Putin.

                    For the same reason I haven’t discussed Putin’s morality.

                    Because the topic of discussion was you declaring, in various manners and for various reasons, that we should let Russia loot the neighbors.

                    Notably, this claim is as accurate as the prior accusations. The political parties that were not allowed to publicly promote themselves were the ones that were literally pushing for joining Russia while Russia was invading.

                    The supposed free-speech violation was when their legal system passed a formal recognition of what their media was already doing in giving updates at a regular time.

                    But it shouldn’t be a blank check without safeguards and over sight.

                    Oh! Goodie! Another shifted goalpost so we can set fire to a straw enemy!

                    But this one has some variety in that not only is nobody arguing for it, I already gave you a report by name that shows it’s not happening when I debunked one of the earlier false claims.

                    Can you please stop listening to idiots, or at least stop believing they have a clue what they are talking about when you haven’t gone and dug up some decent sources?

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                    1. I didn’t say we should, I said it was inevitable the west will. I didn’t say the Ukrainians didn’t have the right to defend themselves. I said their own corruption was making it impossible to do it. The time to stop Putin was when he took Crimea in 2014. ten years ago. But Obama and the west didn’t have the balls for that at that time. Now all you have is a corrupt black hole that is sucking everything it can into it. Zelensky has silenced news and locked up his political opponents, just like Putin. Now he is saying no scheduled elections in October unless we and the west pay for them. Nice guy’s don’t do that, cornered rats do. They are all crooks, it’s just a matter of which ones you prefer to deal with. You don’t have to agree with me. You certainly don’t have to take me seriously. But the only one showing emotion is you, calm down, you and I don’t mean a hill of beans in this. We can only stand by the way side and watch.

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                    2. I point out, again, that you are ignoring how many of your claims have already been debunked.

                      Without, I will note, bothering to support the claims.

                      I didn’t say the Ukrainians didn’t have the right to defend themselves.

                      “there is no real difference between either side, Both are corrupt governments, … The are no good guys in this fight”

                      Totally interchangeable, just like how stopping political parties from PUBLICLY SUPPORTING THE INVASION OF YOUR COUNTRY is the same as killing off someone for getting to high in the polls against you.

                      The time to stop Putin was when he took Crimea in 2014. ten years ago. But Obama and the west didn’t have the balls for that at that time.

                      Obama and ‘the west’ did the same nonsense you’re pushing now, back then. Because at that point, the time to stop him was pushed further back.

                      Instead of learning from it– when freaking EUROPE is learning from their most recent relevant screwup.

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                3. I have no problem with you talking about Putin as a monster

                  Except… I haven’t. At most, I have pointed out that we don’t have support for claims of moral equivalency between the two sides, which is not a matter of calling Putin a “monster.”
                  Because it’s not relevant. While it would be unlikely for a country led by a living saint to invade for looting, it would still be wrong, and the response of help the target of unjust aggression would be the same.

                  Notice the traditional Soviet practices are alive and well? Sure. That isn’t calling Putin a monster, it’s calling him a Soviet at heart. Now, the overlap between the two, hard to argue….

                  I can’t help but notice you are using a lot of sweeping claims and appeals to emotion, and when you make claims of fact they tend to be irrelevant, unsupported, or inaccurate in extremely relevant ways– such as the confusion between equipment being abandoned, being sold, and being stolen while still under Pentagon control.

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    3. Like every war Russia fights, this war has devolved into a war of attrition. Wars of attrition are usually won by the side with more soldiers and resources to sacrifice and the will to do it.

      That would be Russia this time around.

      Whether NATO can make up for Russia’s advantages over Ukraine is anyone’s guess.

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      1. Wars of attrition are usually won by the side with more soldiers and resources to sacrifice and the will to do it.

        Only if both sides are fighting it as a war of attrition.

        Russia zergs, that is so; however, “more resources will make you win” only works if they’re fighting zerg as well.

        If it’s not, then it’s a matter of overwhelming the target fast, before it can organize to an effective response– and that time passed a long time ago.

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        1. Maybe. We’ll see. Grant and Sherman forced the Confederacy to fight a war of attrition years after the Civil War started, and the Russians have pulled off victories from far worse situations than they’re in right now (granted, at great cost, which they may not be able to pay this time).

          I’m not making any predictions, and I hope Putin loses, but I wouldn’t bet on it.

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          1. You’re using two different meanings of war of attrition. They’re both used, but you can’t swap between them mid-stream and get something useful.

            There’s the “wear them out/bleed them dry” version, and there’s the “both sides are throwing bodies and materials in roughly the same manner.”

            The Russia is doing the “throw material and men” tactic. Of course.

            Ukraine isn’t.

            So the latter meaning is not relevant, and the former meaning would require looking at the speed with which each side was making the other poor SOB die for his country.

            As linked earlier, Russia got a victory last year because Ukraine wasn’t willing to throw away even civilian lives, while Russia was…and their pool of even simi-experienced folks got drained, fast, even when they were dumping conscripts on to the fight.
            While Ukraine has support from the folks in the areas with fighting, and the infamous farmers driving off with Russian military gear that they sell for scrap.

            And all that is before the defections, with or without gear, since the conscripts kinda figured out they were being put a meat grinder… to which Russia again went traditional and started shooting their own people.

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            1. “Ukraine isn’t.”

              Yet. That’s my point. Even if they never do, they have to kill between five and seven Russians for every Ukrainian killed just to break even.

              That is unlikely. And no, I don’t believe casualty figures from either side.

              Like I said, we will see.

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              1. Even if they never do, they have to kill between five and seven Russians for every Ukrainian killed just to break even. That is unlikely

                It is unlikely if the Russians were not zerging.

                The Russians… are zerging.

                Because, as was previously pointed out, that is how Russians fight.

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                1. You’re still misunderstanding me.

                  I already stated that the Russia is throwing men and resources into the meat grinder.

                  You said that the Ukraine isn’t doing that. I said that Ukraine isn’t doing that yet, and even if they never do it’s unlikely that Ukraine can ever inflict enough casualties on Russia to break even, much less defeat Russia.

                  Finland inflicted 7:1 casualties on Soviet Russia in the Winter War, yet Russia achieved its strategic goals anyway.

                  Finland capitulated in 3.5 months because because their population is tiny.

                  It’s highly unlikely that Ukraine can inflict the 7:1 casualties they need to break even, much less the 10:1 casualties they need to – maybe – win.

                  Again, I’m not making any predictions. I’m just pointing out that Ukraine’s odds are slim.

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                  1. I did not agree with you.

                    That is radically different.

                    Your clarification and elaboration also do nothing but show that with a lot more disposable population, over a much shorter period of time, and against a much smaller enemy that did not have the neighbors going “Uh, if he eats them, we’re next” and supporting the invaded/refusing to supply Russia, the USSR was able to beat Finland.

                    For an idea of how different the Russian side of the equation is, they recently announced a push to increase their total military numbers… to about twice what they threw at the Fins, whose entire population wasn’t even seven-to-one vs the military poured at them. (As much as one can believe Soviet numbers, anyways.)

                    That is, the zerged. And zerging is not a winning route over a long period.

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                    4. Why, thank you, captain obvious! Time will tell!
                      That is completely relevant to the previously outlined issues with Russia zerging when they’d need to have some fifteen times their current nearly-double-the-armed-forces-total-number plan, and win in less than a fifth of the amount of time that’s already been spent, AND have to have the neighbors distracted by a Hitler level threat that doesn’t exist so that it can match how it “worked before.”

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                    5. What do you want me to say? That you’re right? I’m not a prophet. I can’t know if you’re right. The best I can say is that I hope you’re right.

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                    6. If you have nothing to say, I’d rather you refrained.

                      Traditionally, when one decides to make a statement and a second responds, one responds to the statements of the second. Preferably in a manner that is relevant and rational, rather than repeating assertions in variations that are not responsive to correction of fact.

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                    7. I’d rather you refrained.

                      So?

                      Unless our host tells me I’m not allowed to express skepticism, I will do so.

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                    8. So?

                      You got short-term memory loss?

                      Literally two hours ago, you demanded that I tell you what I would prefer.

                      Now you’re acting like it was thrust upon you as a demand.

                      Unless our host tells me I’m not allowed to express skepticism, I will do so.

                      You’re quite allowed to talk out of your hind end with history so inaccurate that even I can notice it.

                      You’re not entitled to have us all nod along like you’ve said something wise, nor cooperate when you start dodging around.

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                    10. You’re not entitled to have us all nod along like you’ve said something wise, nor cooperate when you start dodging around.

                      From the start I stated that I hope Putin loses, but I’m skeptical that Western assistance can make up for Ukraine’s disadvantages, and I stated why. None of that has changed. No “dodging around”.

                      Nor did I “demand” anything. I asked a question. I made no demands.

                      Nor does asking a question obligate me to comply with your preferences.

                      Nor does stating that I won’t comply with your preferences equal “acting like it was thrust upon” me “as a demand”.

                      Nor does expressing skepticism and explaining the reasons why equal “nothing”.

                      Now that we’ve dispensed with the obvious falsehoods, I am curious about one thing.

                      history so inaccurate that even I can notice it

                      Like what, specifically?

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                    11. Nor does asking a question obligate me to comply with your preferences.

                      The only one suggesting such… is you.
                      The same guy doing the demand-an-answer followed by a glorified who-asked-you and a tizzy that couldn’t even manage to notice that it only made sense if you were admitting you have nothing worth saying. And even then, it was over-reach on your part, since I gave no indication I expected anyone or anything to comply with my desires.

                      From the start I stated that I hope Putin loses, but I’m skeptical that Western assistance can make up for Ukraine’s disadvantages, and I stated why. None of that has changed. No “dodging around”.

                      You gave your reasons, and when it was pointed out that they were not supported by the objective facts, you either repeated the same thing or got huffy.

                      Your argument rests on “the Soviet Union attacking Finland is a decent model for Russia attacking Ukraine.”
                      You even wanted a kill ratio that would require Ukraine kill more Russians than are actually alive. (A 7-to-1 kill rate, with Ukraine having ~40m people, and Russia having ~144m, would require that Ukraine somehow produce almost an entire second Russia, then kill them.)

                      That is before the other situations with a funny moustache at the time are considered.

                      Like what, specifically?

                      Gosh, if only the prior comments were available in some form, such as in black and white directly above the question!

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                    12. demand-an-answer

                      Okay, so you don’t understand the difference between a request and a demand. Sounds rough.

                      Your argument rests on “the Soviet Union attacking Finland is a decent model for Russia attacking Ukraine.”

                      I never said that it was “a decent model for Russia attacking Ukraine”.

                      You even wanted a kill ratio that would require Ukraine kill more Russians than are actually alive. (A 7-to-1 kill rate, with Ukraine having ~40m people, and Russia having ~144m, would require that Ukraine somehow produce almost an entire second Russia, then kill them.)

                      Seriously? You actually think that a 7:1 kill ratio in war means a country kills 7x its own total population, as opposed to 7x the number of its own soldiers killed in combat?

                      Seriously?

                      Okay.

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                    13. Yep, you totally never said it worked before, right above here, where you said it, repeatedly.

                      Seriously? You actually think that a 7:1 kill ratio in war means a country kills 7x its own total population, as opposed to 7x the number of its own soldiers killed in combat?

                      You are aware that humans don’t magically appear in large numbers of only military age men, outside of propaganda claims?

                      Getting a bit stung by a comparison that is unjust in your favor? Because invaders don’t commit their entire population. The invaded, especially ones familiar with Russia, do.

                      You’re the one that pulled seven to one being too few out.

                      Forget that Russia isn’t actually the entire Soviet Union?

                      Or forgot that Ukraine is like ten times the size of Finland?

                      Or just busy huffing Russian propaganda and forget that they’re really big on stories?

                      Liked by 1 person

                1. Trent Telenko (John Ringo recommended him so I’m following) is suggesting the military/diplomatic “geniuses,” currently in charge here want Ukraine to suffer to the point of agreeing to a “negotiated peace,” that would make Biden and Co. look properly “statesmanlike.” Something like North/South Korea in Eastern Europe. Something “sensible,” which in their view is Ukraine accepting the loss of another bite if their country in exchange for “peace.”

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                  1. Probably, I seem to remember there was some pushing towards that at the start, and then Russia started spooking the neighbors with weight-throwing and such, and they can’t dismount without it being a big public scandal.

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              3. That is unlikely. And no, I don’t believe casualty figures from either side.

                Your unlikely is something that happens all the time. And that is if you DON’T include Bakhmut, where Russia was just spending conscripts with zero care for their effectiveness even by Russian standards.

                More importantly they have consistently knocked out Russian logistics, making it nearly impossible for Russia to maintain or reinforce their troops.

                And we know from the maneuvers which have been happening over the summer that Russia has no meaningful reserve — Putin committed the capital guard troops a long time ago — unless they do a general call up. That has huge political implications, which is why he has been avoiding it.

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                1. Your unlikely is something that happens all the time.

                  Hopefully it’ll happen again. Don’t be surprised if it doesn’t.

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                  1. It’s been happening constantly for months.

                    The Ukranian commanders have consistently demonstrated excellent skill in turning every strategic situation into one which inflicts enormous casualties on Russian forces while expending almost no casualties of their own.

                    If anything the opening weeks of the summer offensive were bizarre in how willing UA was to accept casualties in return for territory.

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                    1. The Ukranian commanders have consistently demonstrated excellent skill in turning every strategic situation into one which inflicts enormous casualties on Russian forces while expending almost no casualties of their own.

                      And you believe those reports? Okay.

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                    2. Unlike the postmodern world, here in the real world there is actual truth outside of any narrative.

                      And contrary to the popular opinion UA has been remarkably careful to tell the truth at all times outside of strategic deception. Notably starting with denying the ghost of kiev meme.

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                    3. Unlike the postmodern world, here in the real world there is actual truth outside of any narrative.

                      Of course there is, and I don’t believe either narrative. You’re free to believe either of them, of course. Heck, maybe one of them is true, but I doubt it.

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                    4. The competence of the Ukrainian commanders is not part of the narrative, it comes from analysis of what they do.

                      There is ample evidence outside of the propaganda departments. You simply refuse to acknowledge it and have decided that being a postmodern dumbass is wisdom. Which makes you a textbook example of what propaganda is meant to do.

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                    7. Ivan! Enough. We’re not your average right wing blog. We’re not going to buy the Moscow Times bullshit.
                      Surely you can get better bang for whatever the heck play money your paymasters are using these days elsewhere?

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                    8. After passing off Teddy B by pointing out China’s demographic problems on Gab, it’s good to know people can imagine I’m getting paid to point out Ukraine’s material disadvantages versus Russia.

                      Here’s another fun fact. The Russian Federation’s demographics are trending Muslim.

                      Thanks, no payment required.

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                    9. “I’ve been spewing nonstop BS– oh, wait! Not only are they refuting me, but they’re now pointing and making fun of the repeating Russian claims like fact! Quickly, to the skepticism mobile, I shall pretend they’re objecting to my SKEPTICISM, not the factual inaccuracies!”

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          2. Incidentally, not only does Russia not have the US providing them with supplies this time, they don’t have General Winter ready to stop the invasion in their defense because it is their invasion.

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      2. Not quite. A war of attrition is about killing the other guy in numbers more than large enough to offset any numeric superiority that he has. Nearly everyone agrees that the Ukes are killing a lot more Russians than vice versa. The question is whether they’re killing enough to counter the Russian numbers.

        I also suspect that there’s more going on than just pure attrition. But unfortunately it will likely be at least ten years after the war ends before we can get enough info to properly analyze that due to the blatant propaganda chaff from both sides.

        At the very least, if the Ukes reach the Black Sea east of where the Crimean Peninsula connects to the mainland, all of the Russians on the peninsula will be completely cut off, and starved out (or evacuated).

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      3. Ah… That would be Russia if they actually had A population of war fighting age, yes.
        Russia wins by killing more of their citizens than of the enemy.
        This time they’ll run out of citizens.

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        1. True. As I already stated, Russia can’t afford to accept the casualties they normally accept. It’s also true that Ukraine has the same problem, only worse, and a much smaller population. In 2021 Ukraine had a fertility rate of 1.3 live birth per woman vs Russia’s of 1.4, and Ukraine’s population pyramid is even worse than Russia’s.

          Here’s Ukraine’s population pyramid:

          https://www.populationpyramid.net/ukraine/2020/

          Here’s Russia’s population pyramid:

          https://www.populationpyramid.net/russian-federation/2020/

          Basically, you have two dying nations killing each other’s young men by the tens of thousands, except that Ukraine has 1/3 the population and worse demographics. Igor is definitely whistling past the graveyard, but so is Volodymyr, only faster.

          Can Western assistance make up for Ukraine’s demographic disadvantages? I hope so, but no one knows. Either way, even if they do win their Pyric victory, Russia is expending so many men in Ukraine that – well – good luck trying to seize the Baltics, Poland and all the other places Russia sees as “their” territory.

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              1. Hon. Knock that off. Ukraine’s not the origin of “V Izvesti ni Pravda, v Pravda ni Izvesti!”* Just because both can lie, doesn’t mean they’re the same. The Ukraine’s official line matches observable data much more closely than Russia’s. By several orders of magnitude. Russia is in much worse shape than the Ukraine all around. They’re pulling out of the death spiral, or were, Russia is running head long into it. That means Russia has a much lower margin for Error. Add to that that the Ukraine is fighting on home turf against what they KNOW is going to be annihilation. (The Holodomor taught them that) Russia needs way more men than they’re going to be scraping together.

                *For those who don’t speak Russian** “In News there is no Truth, and in Truth there is no News!” Works very well in direct translation with the wryness. Added punch because Izvesti, “News”, and Pravda, “Truth” were the two main newspapers. If you go to their modern sites make sure your virus protection is up to date.

                **I am not trying to type in Cyrilic on this computer.

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                1. Just because both can lie, doesn’t mean they’re the same.

                  I never said that “they’re the same”. I said I don’t trust either of them. Do you think everyone you don’t trust are “the same”?

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                  1. Yes, actually you have. You have repeatedly used a false equivalency to bleat your black pill Moscow time bullshit. And now you’re acting all affronted that we’re calling you on it.

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                  2. No. I don’t. You, on the otherhand, do. You use it to justify the idea that it’s just fine if the Ukraine is wiped out, and to justify your notion that they inevitably will be. You have done so repeatedly in this series. I say again: knock it off. You’re not fooling anyone.

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    4. If the Reader was cynical, he’d think that supporting Ukraine was a delaying action to drain Russia as much as possible, so that the actual Eastern European countries in NATO aren’t under threat. Poland’s massive up-arming will be complete by 2028 and Russia will be in no shape to do any further adventures until at least then.

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        1. That assumes that someone in the Biden regime has enough sense to think ahead. My guess is that they’re still blundering around in the dark.

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          1. Ah, but Biden (shorthand for whoever was thinking) was figuring Russia would go in, get the chunk they desired, and be out– just like Crimea, really. (Gah, he’s Barry 2.0.)

            Unfortunately for those plans, all the other free countries who escaped the USSR have no desire to go back, even if Russia does need spending money.

            So now they’re pulled along in the Brave Stance because the EU for once didn’t fold, nearly instantly, and…well, things didn’t follow the script.

            And now folks are standing there screaming the script will be followed Any Day Now.

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            1. The problem being that Moscow doesn’t want just the “disputed” territories. They want their own puppet in charge of Ukraine. And they want direct access to Transnistria, the Russian-supported separatist region of Moldova, which is probably the only reason why Moldova hasn’t started serious talks with Romania about joining the latter country (which would make it a part of NATO, and thus much more difficult for Putin to re-incorporate into Moscow’s sphere of influence).

              Ukraine’s the big prize, obviously, given its size, agriculture, and historical cultural value to Russia. But Moldova’s historical closeness to Romania probably puts a bit of pressure on Moscow to resolve the Ukrainian “problem” as quickly as possible.

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              1. They want their own puppet in charge of Ukraine.

                BACK in charge of Ukraine, at that.
                Ukraine kicked out their last puppet– which actually makes the fixation make a lot of sense, in addition to what you point out.

                They wouldn’t want any other places with puppets getting Ideas, and there’s already murmurs of Ideas being had in … Belarus, I think it was? They were going to push for troops from them, and it kinda fell through.

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                1. I wouldn’t personally read too much into the decision by Belarus. Khazakstan said “No” when Moscow asked for troops, and that was less than a year after Russian troops helped the leader of Khazakstan deal with protesters. It looks like no one wants to be involved in Mr. Putin’s War.

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                  1. No matter how much he insists they’re freeing Russians to join Russia, and fighting Nazis.

                    (Anybody else notice how Russia is still doing the “everything that isn’t favorable to Stalin Current Great Leader is far right/Nazi?)

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                2. And then there was the story of how Russia poured bribe money into Ukraine to subvert local mayors into surrendering…except the generals in charge forgot to actually pay out the bribes. Well, not forget, exactly. They felt they deserved the money more.
                  I have no idea how many of them have been defenestrated for that.

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                    1. Hard to say, I’d say the Chechnyans might make a move. The Cossacks might, but they have a century or so more of assimilation. Some bits and pieces along the border might realign themselves with neighboring countries. Most of Siberia will stay because most of Siberia barely notices Moscow. They’re too remote.

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        2. The Reader also thinks the Germans may be in for a rude surprise come 2029 or so. The Poles hate them as much as they hate the Russians.

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          2. Nothing military will happen so long as both countries and the US are part of NATO.

            On the other hand, given how little Germany seems to care for its own military these days, I wouldn’t cry if Germany were summarily ejected.

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  8. On a more cheerful note, police drove through protesters who were blocking the road to Burning Man. The protesters were protesting private jets and the “commodification,” of Burning Man and had traffic backed up for miles. (Does not appear they hurt anything but the protesters’ “dignity,” if any).
    What makes this especially delicious is the cops were from the Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribal Police Force. They were not terribly impressed by the protesters. Popcorn!

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    1. People in Europe are starting to drag them off the roadsides by their hair. The push back they are getting from the normal populace is delicious indeed.

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      1. “We are nonviolent!” is not the best way to impress full-blood Tribal-affiliated NAs of my acquaintance.

        Those pencil-neck sheisskoph protestors are not getting called out for recognition at pow-wows.

        Liked by 1 person

        1. No, it’s not. And the tribals rank pretty high on the left’s oppression meter, which causes problems when the left opposes them.

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    3. Saw the video; I was cheering the cops the whole time. I guess the “protestors” (actually saboteurs “lite”) thought, assuming they can think, that the tribal police would act like the ones in Portland or Seattle. Nope.

      Should be interesting at trial; tribal courts are also a bit different from those in Portland or Seattle.

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    4. That was beautiful. Do you know if the incident took place on tribal lands? If they’re charged by the tribe, it makes appeals and such vastly more complicated.

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      1. From what I saw and read it did; talk about your bad life choices…

        Popcorn concession, anyone? :-)

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        2. How about:

          “What you call a ‘protest’ is nothing more than a tantrum. Like a two-year-old kicking and screaming in the supermarket. Yeah, it gets attention — but nobody is thinking about your Noble Cause, only what a spoiled little shit you are.”

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          1. I like it, but your first was better; succinct, says essentially the same thing, and easy to remember.

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  11. only 62 comments. We can do better.

    One saving grace is that bean counters, who run the bs. are only concerned that you look like you are doing something. So be Wally. Practice how to look like you are doing something, while doing nothing. Learn what criteria they are using. Learn how to get paid for doing nothing.

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    1. Like Camela? Maybe that’s the point of her word salads? “Practice how to sound like you are swing something, while saying nothing.”

      Liked by 1 person

      1. Simple. Just using words to not communicate.

        Eisenhower was a pro at this. He made people think he was thick, when he was just using words to not communicate.

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      2. No…no…I’m convinced Kamela is every bit as clueless as that inane babble indicates. Nobody with two functioning neurons to rub together would toss out this gem:

        “When you’re on an electric bus, uuummm, it’s a bus, and it’s electric, and you’re on it.”

        Liked by 1 person

  13. Do posts with links get memory-holed? I linked to a meme on an older post here, and it hasn’t shown up.

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    2. The spam filter is supposed to only catch the ones with two or more links, but sometimes it snags random words, or just goes “NO PICTURE FOR YOU!”

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