At least we can still watch Superbowl before grabbing our rifles and helmets.
Right now it looks like a bad movie... ?
At least we can still watch Superbowl before grabbing our rifles and helmets.
Right now it looks like a bad movie... ?
Of course. Excuse my acid sarcasm there.
Well maybe you're being a bit partial again. Haha. ? Well in my case that the problem with being an idealist. It is very close from innocence. It makes sense I finally became a philosophy teacher.
Regardless, H-bombs have no care about partiality or who is supposed to win the war.
I might fill that backpack tomorrow. Far enough from a big town and there are the Pyrenees mountains 2 or 3 days south on foot. I can see them when the weather is clear. Plenty of caves that were used by our stone age ancestors, might last 2 weeks with a bit of luck, before radiation sickness really sets in. ?
Well, my parents have a nuclear shelter in their cellar... It's going to get a bit cramped since the family has grown by 2... Not that I'm expecting any use of nukes. Unless Russia is invaded directly, nukes are off the table, and I don't think anybody's planning for that.
Technically possible, but Putin would have to be utterly nuts to push his luck that hard. While I don't think highly of Putins morality, and he seems to think economics are optional, I do consider him a competent statesman, decent strategist and alltogether very sane. I don't expect him to do something crazy like that, just as I don't expect NATO to violate russian territorry apart from missile and air strikes at military targets close to the border.What about if NATO territory is invaded directly? This is something I hadn't considered when thinking about such conflicts earlier in life: The nuclear-armed NATO states are in a bit of a bind if Russia should make a penetration into Europe that can't be contained by conventional forces
Technically possible, but Putin would have to be utterly nuts to push his luck that hard. While I don't think highly of Putins morality, and he seems to think economics are optional, I do consider him a competent statesman, decent strategist and alltogether very sane. I don't expect him to do something crazy like that, just as I don't expect NATO to violate russian territorry apart from missile and air strikes at military targets close to the border.
Admittedly, a lot...And I very much wonder to what degree our judgment that Hitler was "obviousy" bat@$&% crazy is a product of hindsight
He seems saner than Hitler to me, yes, but at the same time, I was raised with the idea that bullying one's neighbors like that is proof that one is not altogether sane.
Much like Trump, there's a degree to which he seems sane and coolheaded and cunning, but also a note of craziness there that just keeps setting off alarm bells. And I very much wonder to what degree our judgment that Hitler was "obviously" bat@$&% crazy is a product of hindsight.
Of course, one thing that makes such judgements hard is that the existence of such a thing as sane human is far from obvious to me.
I am sure, Putin COULD attack NATO main land, especially the baltic states, sell it as "protecting Russian minorities" and expect that NATO will give up because NATO appears to be in a poor state. Politically, he has enough sabotagers in our countries to hinder any resolute reaction. If the US republicans decide that this isn't their war...who could really stop Putin?
European militaries need to be larger, and it needs to be clear to Putin that trying to take Eastern Europe will be costly whether or not the US is involved. But a European buildup and US drawdown will take time, probably a decade
I don't see that happen at all, honestly. Military isn't very popular in Europe, and in democratic countries it means that governments can't spend too much in defense.
In France, which is the most militarized european country (2.5% of GDP goes to defence), there is still limited popular support towards the army, and conscription has been suspended from 1997 (me and my generation never served in the army). The cultural background is quite different from the US one there.
Where we badly failed is that European Union should have been a defensive alliance. And Putin would probably accept Ukraine as a part of EU, because his "big devil" is of course USA through NATO.
if you want to avoid crises like the present one, you have to be willing to fund your own militaries.
a US Virginia-class submarine was discovered in the waters of Russia it ignored the demands to surface, after which the special means of a water hammer were used (the sonar turns on in an active position, on the submarine it feels like they are knocking on the submarine with a sledgehammer)
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В Минобороны заявили, что в территориальных водах РФ обнаружили подлодку ВМС США - ТАСС
В ведомстве сообщили, что подводная лодка типа Virginia проигнорировала требование покинуть территориальные воды РФ и ушла после применения "соответствующих средств"tass.ru
Well, I think I know who that is directed towards...Also, when France sells Rafale fighters which are certainly more capable and operational than the F-35, it could be nice to favor the "local" option...