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Majorian posted:They're getting enough of that from being able to declare victory in Syria, regardless of whether or not anything that could be deemed "victory" was achieved. Cool! T-28 or KV-1 crew?
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Mar 23, 2016 00:42
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Friendly Humour posted:Cool! T-28 or KV-1 crew? KV-1. He always said the cuckoos (snipers) were a constant source of terror for the Soviets, which certainly squares away with my reading of history. One shot him through the forearm, and he had the scar until the day he died. Guy was a badass - glad he made it to the U.S. eventually though!
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Mar 23, 2016 00:46
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I'm glad his guy was a bad shot then!
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Mar 23, 2016 00:52
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khwarezm posted:I think its worth keeping in mind, despite the extreme degrees of romanticism around the winter war, the Russians weren't actually defeated. They actually imposed harsher terms on the Finns when the war ended than what was offered before it began. True, but it kept Russia from having Finland as a satellite state they could dictate terms to. Finland would have been absorbed into the Soviet Union otherwise. And the Russians were defeated in their attempts to conquer Finland, because it wasn't worth it. They could have won, but they couldn't make that victory cost-effective. And that's more or less the Finnish plan in the future too. It doesn't need automatic weapons, it needs ways to harass the enemy from afar to keep them from sleeping, and ways to make it an expensive logistics nightmare to transport anything.
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Mar 23, 2016 00:56
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Friendly Humour posted:I'm glad his guy was a bad shot then! So am I! 
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Mar 23, 2016 01:51
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A Buttery Pastry posted:We should bomb the Saudi royal family to kingdom come. I say stop buying their oil. Don't let them invest and tell Switzerland that when their regime collapses that under no circumstances are they allowed in Switzerland. Let them die.
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Mar 23, 2016 02:31
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endlessmonotony posted:True, but it kept Russia from having Finland as a satellite state they could dictate terms to. Finland would have been absorbed into the Soviet Union otherwise. Its more than a little contentious to argue that Stalin was seeking to reabsorb Finland under the Russian thumb as a primary aim. He could attempted to do so seriously during WW2 itself and the amount of resources required probably would have been a drop in the bucket compared to the rest of the horrifying struggle that was the Eastern front. In any event the main impetus of the war was laid out by Soviet demands before it started and what they took after it ended, the surrender of territories around Leningrad to make it less vulnerable in the event of German attack, they even offered to exchange territory in Karelia to make an easier swallow, albeit frozen wasteland but it was something. This was very much in line with Soviet behavior in Poland and the Baltic, grabbing surrounding territory less to reconstitute the old Tsarist empire (though that's a plus on the side) but to create a buffer against the Nazis if the worst came to the worst. Given the horrific siege of Leningrad that followed its easy to see why the Soviets were preoccupied with making their second city as secure as possible. When the war ended they gained basically all of the territory they demanded and more without giving up any of their own, if the war continued it would probably have gone even worse for the Finns. The problem was such a victory took an utterly embarrassing amount of time, men and money, despite the huge disparity in size and means between the two countries, and worst of all this was gold for Hitler since it seemed to show what he believed, that the Soviets were a paper tiger that would fall apart if the right amount of pressure was applied.
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Mar 23, 2016 07:39
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The reason Finland trains most of its men to be in the army and supports active reservists training with their own rifles, which the current iteration if the directive would curb, is to make any military action against us too costly, hth. It must be nice to be rich enough to make flippant statements about other countries safety and I am glad that you guys are not interested in the directive as it means the powers opposing it are more likely to prevail. I suppose you guys oppose any kind of self-defence and believe in the rule of the strong too? I can imagine you would have said roll over to Ukraine as well.
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Mar 23, 2016 10:46
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Syrians rescue German far-right candidate from car crash wreckage This time, the Musselman has gone too far. 
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Mar 23, 2016 11:29
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quote:Jean Christoph Fiedler, the NPD’s leader in the Hesse region, told the Frankfurter Rundschau newspaper that the Syrians had “likely performed a very good, humane deed”. What a petty rear end in a top hat.
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Mar 23, 2016 11:35
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What's with the (Greater) German far right and crashing their cars?
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Mar 23, 2016 11:41
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They're defending the purity of German culture through drinking beer and driving with no speed limit, I guess?
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Mar 23, 2016 11:46
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A Buttery Pastry posted:What's with the (Greater) German far right and crashing their cars? That's because they drive German cars. Nah, actually it's because German roads are trash, since Germans HAVE CUT BACK ON FUNDING and now they are REGRETTING THIS.
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Mar 23, 2016 12:42
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A Buttery Pastry posted:What's with the (Greater) German far right and crashing their cars? White trash with German characteristics.
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Mar 23, 2016 12:47
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I CANNOT EJACULATE WITHOUT SEEING NATIVE AMERICANS BRUTALISED!
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Cat Mattress posted:That's because they drive German cars. Hahaaahah! I see what you did there! that said, did they really cut back on funding?
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Mar 23, 2016 15:08
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What is the difference between a disaster and a tragedy? A disaster is a serious car crash involving the NPD, a tragedy is that the NPD members survived.
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Mar 23, 2016 15:14
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Dawncloack posted:Hahaaahah! I see what you did there! I've read a couple of articles about how Germany's budget restraint to achieve GaussianCopula's favourite buzzword ~balanced budget~ has meant that infrastructure maintenance funding has been lacking.
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Mar 23, 2016 15:24
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Well really the issue with German highways is that they're made out of concrete, so keeping them in shape is becoming increasingly expensive as the concrete cracks and buckles; but they never planned their maintenance budget for something that gets more expensive to maintain over time. Since Autobahns were built in the 1960s and 1970s, they're reached the end of their "mostly okay with minimal maintenance" life time and entering "holy poo poo this is turning into a death trap if you don't rebuild them" period. It doesn't help that traffic has greatly increased and now exceeds what was planned for when they were built, and trucks have become heavier, so the wear and tear they cause has increased dramatically. The damage on that picture was caused by a heatstroke, by the way. In the same situation, an asphalt road melts in place, then goes back to normal after cooling off. Asphalt roads are less durable than concrete roads, but they damage more gracefully, are easier to repair, and when you need to resurface them you can recycle the old asphalt over and over again whereas old concrete is useless. So regular maintenance with relatively constant cost is something you can do with asphalt road, while with concrete roads you've got exploding costs. http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-03-21/crumbling-german-autobahns-leave-drivers-stuck-in-traffic-jams http://www.worldhighways.com/catego...o-be-increased/ Cat Mattress fucked around with this message at 15:36 on Mar 23, 2016 |
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Mar 23, 2016 15:33
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Cat Mattress posted:Well really the issue with German highways is that they're made out of concrete, so keeping them in shape is becoming increasingly expensive as the concrete cracks and buckles; but they never planned their maintenance budget for something that gets more expensive to maintain over time. Since Autobahns were built in the 1960s and 1970s, they're reached the end of their "mostly okay with minimal maintenance" life time and entering "holy poo poo this is turning into a death trap if you don't rebuild them" period. It doesn't help that traffic has greatly increased and now exceeds what was planned for when they were built, and trucks have become heavier, so the wear and tear they cause has increased dramatically. Old concrete from a roadway isn't useless - in America we recycle it by either running the concrete rubble through a cleaning and filtering process to use as part of the aggregate for new concrete, or using it instead for baselayers under roads that help spread the load, which you would otherwise use gravel or similar for, and then place new concrete or asphalt on the top. Edit: Also sometimes we just really beat and groove up the already worn down concrete road surface and then pour new asphalt on top, or even put new concrete on top. Lots of ways to reuse concrete that is no longer serviceable on the road as-is. fishmech fucked around with this message at 16:37 on Mar 23, 2016 |
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Mar 23, 2016 15:55
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Just quickly from Wikipedia, German road fatalities are pretty low no matter what way you slice it, unless you compare to Sweden that's gone for 100% driver safety instead of having roads that are fun to drive edit: US with double Germany's rate lol, though not really surprised by that given how crazy driving there seems compared to driving in Finland for example
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Mar 23, 2016 16:22
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Geriatric Pirate posted:100% driver safety instead of having roads that are fun to drive I like that you place this as a negative in your post somehow
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Mar 23, 2016 17:59
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Geriatric Pirate posted:Just quickly from Wikipedia, German road fatalities are pretty low no matter what way you slice it, unless you compare to Sweden that's gone for 100% driver safety instead of having roads that are fun to drive Trafikverket! While I do prefer not dying on the roads it can get a tad obnoxious at times. MiddleOne fucked around with this message at 18:13 on Mar 23, 2016 |
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Mar 23, 2016 18:11
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Xoidanor posted:Trafikverket! A decade ago, my dad did an experiment and abided by ALL the traffic limitations at ALL times while driving between two of our cities. The amount of profanity thrown at him was hilarious, and he himself was certain the rules really were not necessary to be this restrictive, unless you got a drivers' license as a literal retard. Truly, the finest form of trolling on the road in some EU countries is to do everything exactly as the rules say. If you have the time for it, ofc. CrazyLoon fucked around with this message at 18:23 on Mar 23, 2016 |
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Mar 23, 2016 18:21
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Welp https://www.washingtonpost.com/news...ions/?tid=sm_tw quote:For the Jews of Belgium, Wednesday should have been the happiest day on the calendar.
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Mar 23, 2016 19:13
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Kind of ironic how anti-racism rightly inspired by a rejection of the horrors of the Holocaust has had the unintended consequence of enabling violent elements of new migrant communities to once more victimize Europe's Jewish population.
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Mar 23, 2016 19:21
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So sad the far right street patrols are making jews in Belgium feel so unsafe.
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Mar 23, 2016 19:30
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Man, so that's why these Jewish dudes were wearing silly-rear end hats in the metro in Paris today ! I thought they just had terrible fashion sense.
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Mar 23, 2016 20:05
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Sinteres posted:Kind of ironic how anti-racism rightly inspired by a rejection of the horrors of the Holocaust has had the unintended consequence of enabling violent elements of new migrant communities to once more victimize Europe's Jewish population. Personally, I'd say nationality/culture counts for a lot. Or at least, it's a fuckton more progressive to look at it that way rather than still focusing on the color of one's skin. CrazyLoon fucked around with this message at 20:50 on Mar 23, 2016 |
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Mar 23, 2016 20:45
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The FT has an early Easter present for us: Lunch with Varoufakis http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/4d29f82e-f0ee-11e5-9f20-c3a047354386.html quote:He then admits he had actually written a resignation letter but decided not to give it to Tsipras because he wanted to “be there for him” during the lowest point. When, exactly, did he write it? “27 of April,” he says. This date is familiar, reminding me why I — and many who dealt with him at the finance ministry — found him so exasperating. There are some more very funny passages in there.
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Mar 24, 2016 15:03
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what the actual gently caress Sweden what are you doing how could you possibly have thought that was a good idea http://www.telegraph.co.uk/personal-banking/mortgages/sweden-cuts-maximum-mortgage-term-to-105-years-the-average-is-14/ quote:hink there's a housing affordability crisis in Britain, with low mortgage rates likely to drive house prices even higher?
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Mar 25, 2016 09:25
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LemonDrizzle posted:what the actual gently caress Sweden what are you doing how could you possibly have thought that was a good idea
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Mar 25, 2016 10:01
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Our politicians on both sides are just proudly passing along the bomb in the hope that it won't blow when they're in government. 
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Mar 25, 2016 10:36
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LemonDrizzle posted:what the actual gently caress Sweden what are you doing how could you possibly have thought that was a good idea Our politicians have gone full retard for quite some time and something like 70 % of people still think that the prices will just keep increasing! Since it's totally different now compared to the last bubble 26 years ago, they are right though since this time the difference is that it will be much worse!
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Mar 25, 2016 11:03
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Lord Tywin posted:Our politicians have gone full retard for quite some time and something like 70 % of people still think that the prices will just keep increasing! Since it's totally different now compared to the last bubble 26 years ago, they are right though since this time the difference is that it will be much worse! Full Kommunism Now.
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Mar 25, 2016 11:11
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LemonDrizzle posted:what the actual gently caress Sweden what are you doing how could you possibly have thought that was a good idea Everyone player knows exactly what needs to be done to deflate the bubble or at least to make it not grow (somehow remove the tax deduction on interest payments and remedy the lack of rentals/affordable housing) but this would affect strong voting blocks (middle class) so nobody wants to touch that issue with a 10 foot pole. This together with the fear of popping the bubble makes them try various other things that have only token or non existent effects. The only upside is that many tiny puncture holes might deflate the bubble over time, but as it stands now housing prices just keep on increasing and everything is going up up up! 
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Mar 25, 2016 12:25
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As a Dutchman I'm getting a strong sense of déja vu here (the mortgage interest deduction was pretty much the third rail of Dutch politics - touch it and you die). Although at least there have been some measures, such as capping the deduction, limiting the size of the mortgage, ending the frankly insane deduction for redemption-free mortgages and limiting the deduction for interest on mortgages to 30 years. Our government still seems to be hellbent on murdering the social housing market though  . I don't think anyone really knows how to pop a housing bubble without having a major crash - around a third of mortgages are now under water and housing prices dropped by at least 15% since 2008. Pluskut Tukker fucked around with this message at 13:08 on Mar 25, 2016 |
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Mar 25, 2016 13:03
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Wait, 140 years?! That's fricking insane. Does that mean that you pay almost nothing to equity and payments are mostly interest (which you can deduce from your taxes)? Does this mean the government is defacto subsidizing home buyers to a high degree?
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Mar 25, 2016 17:09
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https://www.all4shooters.com/en/mobile/Shooting/law/EU-Gun-Ban-French-Ministry-Internal-Affairs-responsibility/ Not surprising but nice hypocricy from the French government.
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Mar 25, 2016 17:57
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Speaking of France, how's that supermarket food waste law working out?
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Mar 25, 2016 18:01
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punakone posted:https://www.all4shooters.com/en/mobile/Shooting/law/EU-Gun-Ban-French-Ministry-Internal-Affairs-responsibility/ I'm probably going to regret this, but are these the changes you're so upset about? http://basc.org.uk/blog/press-releases/latest-news/qa-european-commission-proposals-for-amending-the-firearms-directive/ quote:What is the EU Commission proposing for firearms? If so, how on earth do any of those regulations impede your ability to form a militia and play Red Dawn: Mosquito Swamp Edition with the Russians? None of them relate to the functioning of the weapon, and the only one that would affect existing owners is the "no scary black rifles" rule (which, admittedly, is dumb).
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Mar 25, 2016 18:55
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