What's going on in Ukraine?

[Gumboot]

[Gumboot]

If we are done with the self-absorbed navel gazing?

I for one am done with the self-absorbed navel gazing and have moved on to the other kind of navel gazing.

[lemonhead]

Edge. No nuance comrades, those keyboards won't type themselves.

https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archi ... dy/629850/

[Hellraiser]

[tabascoboy]

If we are done with the self-absorbed navel gazing?

Certainly seems that Ukraine forces are concentrating on other objectives at the moment and whether they are just trying to slow down this attack and withdraw in good order to a better defensive position here I have no idea, but there is potential for Russian forces to make a gain here. Have to hope for now that their supplies and logistics can be disrupted enough to make any advances temporary.

[Hellraiser]

https://thediplomat.com/2022/05/a-forme ... ct-notice/

[The Druid]

Much the same.here, born 1949. Aware of nuclear war as a theoretical possibility but it never seemed that likely.

It was so far away, I didn't think about it much. But then I read Neville Shute's book - On the Beach??
[/quote]

Enz, as a young lad I watched the original movie of that book, it made a huge impression on me at that time.



Edit For the great theme music.

[fishfoodie]

One of the things I think this war has, ironically, made much more likely, is more Nuclear Disarmament.

Whoever replaces Putin will be well aware, that the ICBM stockpile they have is starving the rest of the army of money, & if they ever wanted to use them, they'd be lucky if 1 in 10 made it out of the launcher, & didn't go a couple of hundred meters up, & blow up scattering plutonium all over the country.

The Chinese seem to be capping their ICBMs at ~300, which with MIRVs still gives you 3,000 deliverable warheads, which is a lot better that 20,000 undeliverable warheads.

The US Would be happy (well except the USAF, & Navy), to cap the number of deliverable warheads.

[Hellraiser]

One of the things I think this war has, ironically, made much more likely, is more Nuclear Disarmament.

Whoever replaces Putin will be well aware, that the ICBM stockpile they have is starving the rest of the army of money, & if they ever wanted to use them, they'd be lucky if 1 in 10 made it out of the launcher, & didn't go a couple of hundred meters up, & blow up scattering plutonium all over the country.

The Chinese seem to be capping their ICBMs at ~300, which with MIRVs still gives you 3,000 deliverable warheads, which is a lot better that 20,000 undeliverable warheads.

The US Would be happy (well except the USAF, & Navy), to cap the number of deliverable warheads.

If commercially viable thorium salt reactor technology become a reality that will probably spell the end of nuclear weapons or at least proliferation.

[Hellraiser]

[Hellraiser]

[Rinkals]

I suppose it was inevitable.

One just wonders if there was a homing beacon or something that could make sure that the equipment was destroyed if Russians started using it.

[tabascoboy]

Another one of those translated intercepts

[Openside]

Interesting Long Read in the Guardian about the memory of nuclear war



https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/ ... -dangerous

I'm very conscious of this. I'm 51, so was 18 when the cold war ended. My childhood and teenage years had an existential terror hanging over them. Anyone who's more than a few years younger than me doesn't remember that, and doesn't really realise what the overarching fear of nuclear war was during the cold war. I remember having regular nightmares about nuclear war when I was a kid, and I know many of my friends did as well. This worries me very much.

WTF? Seriously? I didn’t give nuclear war a second thought!!

Ditto. It was there but so were girls, and they were infinitely more terrifying

[Openside]

Part of it is age. I’m a bit(ish) younger than Openside and GogLais. I grew up through the years when the BBC were keen on screening Ken Loach-type dramas about nuclear apocalypse. And CND were very vocal. That fell away by the late ‘80s.

I was a card carrying, badge wearing CND member in the UK mid-80s. The nuclear threat felt very real and very close.

I still have this, which I bought at the time.

Pah I was at Reading Uni and in 1982 we turned up en masse and changed the policy to pro Nuclear weapons!! The students Union were livid!!

[Hellraiser]

[Hellraiser]

[Jock42]

WTF? Seriously? I didn’t give nuclear war a second thought!!

Paras eh... too dumb to know they were part of a Cold War.

Obviously he believed in his noddy suit.

[Hellraiser]

[tabascoboy]

[Hellraiser]

[Rinkals]

[Rinkals]

Ah, For. Fuck's. Sake.

[Niegs]

Ah, For. Fuck's. Sake.

Do Americans do this sort of public place religious recruitment thing the most? Always reminds me of this Curbed episode where the Jewish side call out the Christians on their constant attempts to recruit:

[redderneck]

Remember wandering downstairs in my hotel in Krasnoyarsk many moons ago, thrilled at hearing the sound of American voices after putting down around 3 months solid of working through interpreters as I slowly built up my Russian from scratch, only to find it was a platoon of Mormons plotting their Siberian campaign. Safe to say they were about as thrilled to encounter a jaundiced Jesuit-educated cynical Irish bastard like myself as I was to encounter them.

An atmosphere of thinly-veiled, yet strangely civil animosity prevailed for 2-3 days until they fecked off to do God's work.

I spent most of the w/end in the bar, which must have impressed them. Not as much as my repeatedly charging my booze to their rooms.

[tabascoboy]

Hmm, hope this is a false alarm, there is supposed to be an agreement on evacuation of wounded from Azovstal during this time

[Flockwitt]

Potentially significant bridgehead over the Donet's river. Fingers-crossed it's viable.

[Margin__Walker]

Looks like a surrender is close at Azovstal

[Hellraiser]

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[Uncle fester]

Bit risky to talk about taking Crimea, isn't it?

[Hellraiser]

[laurent]

Looks like the azovstal wounded were evacuated and reached the hospital (in Russian occupied area).



Not sure about the rest of the garrison (Azov + Marines + border guards )

[laurent]

Looks like the azovstal wounded were evacuated and reached the hospital (in Russian occupied area).



Not sure about the rest of the garrison (Azov + Marines + border guards )

Still not sure what is happening after today

[MungoMan]

Bit risky to talk about taking Crimea, isn't it?

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-05-17/ ... /101070084

A local article asking what comes next.

[Jock42]

Quite surprised this was allowed to air




EDIT: just seen I was beaten to it.

[tabascoboy]

[TB63]