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Hexyflexy posted:As someone that's done a bunch of work for science labs, reverse engineering old equipment so they could keep doing experiments, I have seen many Radiums, or at least I've seen their work. I think the sacrifice was my soul - on the plus side, the science still gets done. Just out of curiosity, what is a Radium in this context? Can make poo poo work but only in a way intelligible to them and no one else?
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Jan 4, 2020 18:24
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Nebakenezzer posted:Just out of curiosity, what is a Radium in this context? Can make poo poo work but only in a way intelligible to them and no one else? Radium was the programmer/developer/lunatic who coded a lot of the forums, but was also a flake and a headcase from what I understand. Also apparently he wasn't big on documentation or readable code. Kind of like the story of mel but the blackjack game explodes of you change things.
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Jan 4, 2020 18:48
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Yeah. I'm not a coder so I don't know what the gently caress, but some of the notes I've seen about poo poo is kind of bonkers. You know the WH40k lore about people doing arcane incantations to make the spirits of their guns and tanks work? That's basically the SAF's codebase.
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Jan 4, 2020 18:54
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 Edit: This might actually be the breakdown of Radium's alterations. When we understand this chart, search and Lowtax's spine will both work.
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Jan 4, 2020 19:12
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"Working Draft - V3"
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Jan 4, 2020 19:34
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New Yorker did a good write-up of Sulemani in 2013 that provides a nice primer on who he was. No doubt his influence had only grown in the previous 7 years. I find that this article puts my thoughts into better words than I could about why the assassination was a big deal and is a pretty concise read, albeit one tailored to Canada. To paraphrase one of the key points, the US under the orange idiot has reduced their viable option space while giving Iran option superiority. The country that recently had protests to curb Iranian presence will vote today on whether or not to expel US forces, which would be a death knell for NATO ops in the area and a boon for Iran/Russia/Syria/ISIS. Obligatory comedy article: Canada’s military advisers unsure if they should be training Iraqi army to fight ISIS, Iran, or US e: calling that the 'impending hostile acts' substantiation is bullshit 
Guest2553 fucked around with this message at 19:46 on Jan 4, 2020 |
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Jan 4, 2020 19:42
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Guest2553 posted:The country that recently had protests to curb Iranian presence will vote today on whether or not to expel US forces, which would be a death knell for NATO ops in the area and a boon for Iran/Russia/Syria/ISIS. So starting wars is bad, and ending wars is bad, and the US being bogged down in the 19th year of a forever war is good for the US and bad for Russia? Listen, I understand why people don't like Trump. He is not a likable man. But even by the standards of the present era there are some tremendously senseless reflexive political hot takes in the last couple days that don't even make sense on their own terms. Do we have any altitude left? I don't want to be the one to lithobrake the thread.
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Jan 4, 2020 21:06
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Smiling Jack posted:Radium was the programmer/developer/lunatic who coded a lot of the forums, but was also a flake and a headcase from what I understand. The difference between Mel and radium is, Mel's code works. And you can't just reference the story and not link it, it's one of the foundational myths of the digital age. Gather round the fire and let's all read, the Story of Mel. http://catb.org/jargon/html/story-of-mel.html
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Jan 4, 2020 21:25
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Jan 4, 2020 21:25
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^Aaaaand that's why V1 matters, folks.Captain von Trapp posted:So starting wars is bad, and ending wars is bad, and the US being bogged down in the 19th year of a forever war is good for the US and bad for Russia? Getting kicked out of Iraq because we started violently making GBS threads everywhere is not the same thing as drawing down in a logical fashion.
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Jan 4, 2020 22:58
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https://twitter.com/FranticGoat/status/1213582831152254985
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Jan 4, 2020 23:17
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Godholio posted:Getting kicked out of Iraq because we started violently making GBS threads everywhere is not the same thing as drawing down in a logical fashion. It would be nice if we could draw down in a logical fashion, but Bush didn't manage it in five years and Obama didn't manage it in eight. How convinced are we that it's even possible? At this point getting kicked out would at least be out. True, we'd have spent untold blood and treasure to turn Iraq into a vassal of a regional hegemon Iran. But at this point it's hard to say the alternative isn't spending more blood and treasure to turn Iraq into a vassal of a regional hegemon Iran, but later. E: ditto as a reply to the below Captain von Trapp fucked around with this message at 23:25 on Jan 4, 2020 |
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Jan 4, 2020 23:21
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Captain von Trapp posted:So starting forever wars, over murky pretenses, with massive collateral damage, lacking clear objectives, without proper oversight, and not bothering to understand the local tradition in a part of the world where empires historically go to drown in their own hubris is bad, and "ending" wars in haphazard fashions by abandoning allies, burning down your international support/diplomatic credibility, and creating power vacuums that actively work against western national interests while benefiting their adveraries is bad, and the US being bogged down in the 19th year of a forever war is good for the US ed: it's not and I don't remember implying it was? and bad for Russia ed: my semi-informed instinct is that this is also not the case? I think we're on the same page that the best COA is to go back in time and not invade Iraq/elect Al Gore, but the goat has been hosed at this point so trying to minimize the damage caused is the only real way out. If you have a take on how the west hasn't diminished their option space I'd love to hear it. International opinion is heavily against the US and people that would become allies or would otherwise be on the fence are less likely to support their actions, not least of which because avenues of soft power are being gutted and politicized. Iran gets a massive PR win and galvanizes internal dissent outward without any huge loss of military function. e. edit to tone down the snark/reply to above Guest2553 fucked around with this message at 23:34 on Jan 4, 2020 |
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Jan 4, 2020 23:23
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Captain von Trapp posted:It would be nice if we could draw down in a logical fashion, but Bush didn't manage it in five years and Obama didn't manage it in eight. How convinced are we that it's even possible? At this point getting kicked out would at least be out. Iraq hasn’t announced the US being formally booted yet, but if they do, that would be more haphazard than the US decision to withdraw from Syria this year, ceding territory and airspace to Turkey, Syria, and Russia. If the goal is departure, rapid announced departure, as was executed in 2019 is still a far cry from an eviction, should an eviction occur. And to be clear, the US government has not stated that the goal is rapid departure or eviction.
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Jan 4, 2020 23:27
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Hexyflexy posted:It's a loving miracle this places runs as well as it does (and it does run well). Good luck. Every forum I was a part of in 2007 is now dead or toxicly stupid, this being the one place thats less stupid since then (now that helldump is long closed). Also weird to think I've been making bad posts on this forum for 13 years. I need a new hobby.
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Jan 5, 2020 01:00
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Hey, this harkens back to the cold war era! https://twitter.com/conflicts/status/1213594723920875520?s=21 btw targeting cultural sites for vengeance purposes is something JAGs tell us not to do for war crime reasons, but threats on Twitter are different from actual strikes.
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Jan 5, 2020 01:37
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Trump’s already shown that he’ll give out get out of jail free cards with every war crime committed.
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Jan 5, 2020 01:41
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Wingnut Ninja fucked around with this message at 02:30 on Jan 10, 2020 |
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Jan 5, 2020 01:43
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Remember, you cant commit war crimes if you're already in jail (for disobeying orders) 
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Jan 5, 2020 01:49
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mlmp08 posted:Hey, this harkens back to the cold war era! Legitimate military targets can have cultural importance (Pearl Harbor, the Pentagon, the White House (1812!), Etc). That said, that's quite the tweet. It's a very visible redline, so it had better work. If not, I work in a plausible if not super high level military target so that'll be interesting. The reason Iran may not back down is if they believe they can eat a moderate scale air attack and come out ok. Their passive defense strategy is pretty much designed to do just that. At any rate I hope the American interests section of the relevant embassy in Iran is hopping with people on both sides saying "ok we'd better figure this out".
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Jan 5, 2020 02:04
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I reeeeeaaaalllly hope we don't play the "discover how effective Iranian anti air is" over their goddamn home ground. Not with manned planes atleast
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Jan 5, 2020 02:14
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I hope S-300...... is bad!
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Jan 5, 2020 02:16
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Stravag posted:I reeeeeaaaalllly hope we don't play the "discover how effective Iranian anti air is" over their goddamn home ground. Not with manned planes atleast Yeah I'm not sure if LiveLeak videos of American pilots being executed by Quds Force have factored into CinC's thinking at this stage I'm sure someone will grumble about it if they do decide to mount air strikes against Iranian soil
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Jan 5, 2020 02:19
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Dandywalken posted:I hope S-300...... is bad! Just be glad the Iranians don't have the S-400, even though the S-300PMU2 is nasty enough.
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Jan 5, 2020 02:27
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mlmp08 posted:Hey, this harkens back to the cold war era! I’m more concerned about the 290 targets Iran will hit for the Vincennes’s shoot down.
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Jan 5, 2020 02:49
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While we're doing the game theory thing, let's reflect on the fact that Iran has no reason to think that deescalation can work with the US.
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Jan 5, 2020 02:59
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Captain Log posted:Read it. So should everyone else. A full NYT story is up partially based on that thread - https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/04/us/politics/trump-suleimani.html It says Pentagon staff put striking Suleimani on the menu for Trump as the extreme crazy choice to make other options look more reasonable and were shocked when Trump picked it. If true, those Pentagon guys are pretty dumb and I'm a little skeptical that they can plausibly claim to be shocked. The story does have a good tick-tock of how the decision-making process went down.
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Jan 5, 2020 03:00
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Captain von Trapp posted:Legitimate military targets can have cultural importance (Pearl Harbor, the Pentagon, the White House (1812!), Etc). That said, that's quite the tweet. It's a very visible redline, so it had better work. More likely: Commanders and lawyers will not enact this tweet, because finding a legal way to roughly approximate the intent of the president has been status quo for a while. Because doing the tweet as written would be criminal.
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Jan 5, 2020 03:03
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hobbesmaster posted:I’m more concerned about the 254 targets Iran will hit for the Vincennes’s shoot down. Fixed that for you. (Iranian lives)
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Jan 5, 2020 03:05
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I'm reminded of the military parade that turned into a static display of a couple of tanks.
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Jan 5, 2020 03:05
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Mortabis posted:I'm reminded of the military parade that turned into a static display of a couple of tanks. There were people who were no-poo poo calling 911 in Northern Virginia because Air Force One was in a low holding pattern over their precious property and they wondered if it was "another 9/11 situation." 
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Jan 5, 2020 03:06
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BIG HEADLINE posted:There were people who were no-poo poo calling 911 in Northern Virginia because Air Force One was in a low holding pattern over their precious property and they wondered if it was "another 9/11 situation." “See something, say something” messaging from the government has real consequences. Those phone calls are directly invited.
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Jan 5, 2020 03:08
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CMS posted:While we're doing the game theory thing, let's reflect on the fact that Iran has no reason to think that deescalation can work with the US. Why not? The electorate is war-weary, and it's an election year where "no war with Iran" is an explicit campaign promise that was reemphasized after the strike. We would both benefit from a mutually face-saving offramp. Whether one exists is an open question.
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Jan 5, 2020 03:11
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mlmp08 posted:More likely: Commanders and lawyers will not enact this tweet, because finding a legal way to roughly approximate the intent of the president has been status quo for a while. Also known as 'Working Towards the Tweeter'.
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Jan 5, 2020 03:11
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Captain von Trapp posted:Why not? The electorate is war-weary, and it's an election year where "no war with Iran" is an explicit campaign promise that was reemphasized after the strike. We would both benefit from a mutually face-saving offramp. That sort of thing doesn't seem to matter that much? Trump was ostensibly against adventurism, and just because something is obviously terrible doesn't stop it happening. That, and there was a perfectly good-faith deal in place that got torpedoed with no US domestic consequences.
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Jan 5, 2020 03:19
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Captain von Trapp posted:Why not? The electorate is war-weary, and it's an election year where "no war with Iran" is an explicit campaign promise that was reemphasized after the strike. We would both benefit from a mutually face-saving offramp. because dealmaking is predicated on having an, if not trustworthy, then at least rationally self-interested counterparty. The US Government as it presently exists is not that.
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Jan 5, 2020 03:20
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God damnit I cannot believe the senile old grandpa who sends vaguely racist email forwards all in caps is both the president and person with the keys to the armed forces.
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Jan 5, 2020 03:24
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CMS posted:That, and there was a perfectly good-faith deal in place that got torpedoed with no US domestic consequences. That's a pretty good example though. It was an explicit campaign promise, followed through on in the face of strong pressure. Reasonable people disagree on whether the JCPOA was a good deal, of course. But Trump is surprisingly consistent. He bullshits like breathing, but he he rarely backs down from policy as expressed on the campaign trail. It really is reasonable to believe that he doesn't want war and can be negotiated out of it. His stated red line is now on Twitter. So we can do a game theory exercise: what's the most dramatic thing Iran can do that doesn't kill Americans? If that's what happens, great. (Comparatively.)
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Jan 5, 2020 03:40
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Captain von Trapp posted:So we can do a game theory exercise: what's the most dramatic thing Iran can do that doesn't kill Americans? If that's what happens, great. (Comparatively.) Tanker War II: Diesel-Electric Boogaloo
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Jan 5, 2020 03:46
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Captain von Trapp posted:But Trump is surprisingly consistent. He bullshits like breathing, but he he rarely backs down from policy as expressed on the campaign trail. That is why the following is true and definitely not ignored or unaccomplished: There is a southern US border wall that the government of Mexico paid for. China is formally labeled a currency manipulator Repeal and Replace complete (I’m willing to give a pass, because that’s very much not a POTUS power). ISIS is defeated. Swamp (Washington DC) drained of lobbyists and careerists. Military Rebuilt (this was always vague so I guess one could label a rando computer toucher being hired as “rebuilding” the military). Domestic Infrastructure. I generally put the brakes on myself ITT, but for you to complain here that others are getting partisan and then spew non-cold war non-current events, non-air power, political propaganda about campaign promises, oh man.... you are bad at this.
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Jan 5, 2020 03:51
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