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It takes a fair amount of money and effort to get to Ukraine at them moment which immediately discounts 98% of the internet warriors saying they are going to Ukraine from ever getting there.
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Mar 21, 2022 16:27
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Hyrax Attack! posted:I wonder what is the ratio of guys showing up (with no ties to Ukraine) to usefulness. Maybe 1 in 5? Even then I'd imagine being given a shovel and helping clear streets would be far more likely than running riot with a javelin. I'd guess they wouldn't give a gun to a rando especially if he didn't speak the language. They seem to be changing tactic, but the very earliest volunteers described being given a rifle, placed in mixed-language squads, and sent to man the line north of Kyiv while regulars had AT weapons etc., typically with a Ukrainian officer who could speak english telling them what color uniform to shoot at. It seems Ukraine saw how poo poo these troops were and has been changing it up a bit lately.
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Mar 21, 2022 16:29
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mlmp08 posted:They seem to be changing tactic, but the very earliest volunteers described being given a rifle, placed in mixed-language squads, and sent to man the line north of Kyiv while regulars had AT weapons etc., typically with a Ukrainian officer who could speak english telling them what color uniform to shoot at. Yeah, the new line is that they only need/want *snipers*, and not weebs with PUBG/Fortnite experience.
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Mar 21, 2022 16:34
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psydude posted:Tolkien went to his grave swearing that none of it was allegory. Hasn't stopped everyone from believing otherwise, though. He went to his grave swearing none of it was allegory for World War II, which is probably right. It could absolutely have been inspired by World War I, though.
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Mar 21, 2022 16:39
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Look if I can come up with Head canon where the imperium of man unfucks itself and stops being super hosed up…Tolkien could have done it for the orcs and others.
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Mar 21, 2022 16:42
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Even if its not an allegory at all just describing Mordor and having in your head a WWI battlefield it probably kinda colors that even if not intentionally.
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Mar 21, 2022 16:42
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Murgos posted:It takes a fair amount of money and effort to get to Ukraine at them moment which immediately discounts 98% of the internet warriors saying they are going to Ukraine from ever getting there. That feels similar to when evangelical friends would go on "mission vacations" where they would travel to Africa or Mexico for two weeks despite lacking language ability or any critical skills, preceded by many rounds of vaccinations and fundraising for their air travel. Even some of the less cynical folk I knew questioned how that made sense when there were established groups already there and donating the thousands in travel costs would do far more good than one extra unskilled laborer.
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Mar 21, 2022 16:51
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That Works posted:Even if its not an allegory at all just describing Mordor and having in your head a WWI battlefield it probably kinda colors that even if not intentionally. For sure. There's a fat line between allegory and influence. The Dead Marshes, for example: some lotr wiki posted:
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Mar 21, 2022 16:53
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When I retired from the mil and relocated to the upper Midwest I had an extremely strong calling to volunteer and help out in my community. I called the one local homeless shelter that promised no strings attached help to anyone who asked for it. I agreed to volunteer my time manning the counter to give food and clothes to local homeless and help sort donations people brought in. I worked 3 days a week alongside homeless and recently homeless staff for about a month until I realized that one less person was being scheduled and being kept from earning money because I was there volunteering my hours. So I switched to donating money to the shelter so they could pay someone to do the things I’d been doing. If war tourists donated the costs of their travel to and from Ukraine to disaster relief funds, they too would do more good and help more people than they will trying to play soldier in a place they have no hope of being anything more than in the way and unable to communicate.
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Mar 21, 2022 16:57
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https://twitter.com/DeItaone/status/1505937665010581510?s=20&t=xSNjjjkzxfE35B06oIaYPw
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Mar 21, 2022 17:06
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For dingbats who roll up with no combat skills you'd think just putting them to work digging people out of rubble and digging graves and poo poo would be more help than anything else. Make molotovs, load and unload trucks, man the laundry, something. They get to be of help, get a pat on the back, and then get to make up the wildest bullshit combat stories you've ever heard of when they are trying to get tail in a bar back home.
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Mar 21, 2022 17:07
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Lemniscate Blue posted:I tried to read it a few years ago. I thought it was an interesting take on the idea and a decent read until about 2/3 through when it got bogged down in Umbar being a mediocre spy novel. I couldn't really finish it at that point. I don't know LOTR well but I do appreciate in fiction when an author takes the time to set up an alien race to not be all-evil all the time as like other posters have mentioned it does make escapist adventure stories have the uncomfortable question of well why wouldn't our heroes do a genocide if every single member of a species is trying to be harmful 24/7? Especially when it is accompanied by the good races being attractive to human standards and the evil ones being ugly. I thought it was handled well on DS9 where some Klingons were shown to be chefs or engineers and not all-war all the time, and the Ferengi went from bumbling greedy space gnomes to a functional culture superior to humans in some ways as their history didn't include massive wars.
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Mar 21, 2022 17:09
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not caring here posted:For dingbats who roll up with no combat skills you'd think just putting them to work digging people out of rubble and digging graves and poo poo would be more help than anything else. Oh, in other words an Airman?
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Mar 21, 2022 17:14
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On the other hand I'm also sick of modern fiction where "maybe the demons/vampires/cosmic horrors just love romcoms and want to get along at heart" At least for the most part newer irredeemable evil is getting described as inhuman rather than just ugly humanoid. Nobody cares if a slime tentacle monster or a giant evil planet that can only be defeated by love is absolute evil.
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Mar 21, 2022 17:19
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“Man is the true monster” is the ultimate copout in fiction. gently caress you Mary Shelley.
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Mar 21, 2022 17:21
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Cimber posted:Oh, in other words an Airman? "What did I do in the war? Well, I was in SF. Can't really talk about it. What does SF stand for? Uh, security forces."
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Mar 21, 2022 17:28
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Tiny Timbs posted:“Man is the true monster” is the ultimate copout in fiction. where's the fiction
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Mar 21, 2022 17:31
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Sounds like you've never cared for guard geese. Then you would know true evil
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Mar 21, 2022 17:37
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Jesus, there were guard geese at a whiskey distillery warehouse in Scotland. That it wasn’t ever overrun by desperate Scotsmen is both impressive and terrifying 
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Mar 21, 2022 17:40
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The war in Ukraine has made me revisit the Tomorrow series by John Marsden and man this poo poo is brilliant in a way I couldn't comprehend as a teenager. Go read it
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Mar 21, 2022 17:51
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Hyrax Attack! posted:That feels similar to when evangelical friends would go on "mission vacations" where they would travel to Africa or Mexico for two weeks despite lacking language ability or any critical skills, preceded by many rounds of vaccinations and fundraising for their air travel. Even some of the less cynical folk I knew questioned how that made sense when there were established groups already there and donating the thousands in travel costs would do far more good than one extra unskilled laborer. Some places have started charging people for volunteering time / photo op, it’s offered as an expedition by tour organizers and stuff. Literally “do you want to go ride an ATV in the desert, or build a wall in a village? Here’s the price list.” (I went sandboarding.) Murgos posted:It takes a fair amount of money and effort to get to Ukraine at them moment which immediately discounts 98% of the internet warriors saying they are going to Ukraine from ever getting there. It’s about $2k to get to the Romania / Ukraine border right now, with minimum difficulty (I know someone who went, they’re a reporter). Afterwards, heh who knows.
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Mar 21, 2022 17:53
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https://twitter.com/DanLamothe/status/1505924150589747201?t=KF_SNzJzXXQ60-b-Or0xkw&s=19quote:A backgrounder briefing with a senior U.S. defense official at the Pentagon about the Russian war in Ukraine has just concluded. It’s Day 26 of the invasion. Losing datalink and having your UAV crash on another country, ha, can't imagine that ever happening to us [looks away in the middle distance]
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Mar 21, 2022 17:54
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Icon Of Sin posted:Jesus, there were guard geese at a whiskey distillery warehouse in Scotland. That it wasn’t ever overrun by desperate Scotsmen is both impressive and terrifying I had to smack one in the face with its 5 gallon food bucket after i had fed it to get it to stop charging me when i was a kid. Theyre loving assholes Edit: these were some of the instructions given by their owner up the road. Also carry a opened umbrella to help herd/ fend them off
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Mar 21, 2022 17:58
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Nick Soapdish posted:
Please, call me when Vasurus accidentally invades Moldova.
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Mar 21, 2022 17:58
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Nick Soapdish posted:Losing datalink and having your UAV crash on another country, ha, can't imagine that ever happening to us [looks away in the middle distance] US DOD official reads report about Russia drone crashing in a neutral, foreign country: 
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Mar 21, 2022 17:58
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Icon Of Sin posted:Jesus, there were guard geese at a whiskey distillery warehouse in Scotland. That it wasn’t ever overrun by desperate Scotsmen is both impressive and terrifying Was that in Oban? That place had a good tour, really emphasized how much more history the UK has as when they were excavating a nearby hillside to expand their building they were finding cavemen skeletons.
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Mar 21, 2022 18:08
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Blistex posted:What's the deal with Azov? They have good PR or are they as capable as the reporting seems to indicate? Seems that they are punching above what their numbers would to indicate. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoGFfr1ahGQ
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Mar 21, 2022 18:29
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not caring here posted:For dingbats who roll up with no combat skills you'd think just putting them to work digging people out of rubble and digging graves and poo poo would be more help than anything else. Yeah gently caress em, unless they have a specialty skill (Search and Rescue, Fire Fighter, EMT / Paramedic / 68 W or 18D), or are a combat veteran, make em do manual labor or drive trucks.
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Mar 21, 2022 19:35
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Russia admits that they have lost 10k Russian Federation Soldiers (so separatists, chechens, PMCs, and others likely are not included) and the number is still probably lower than reality. https://twitter.com/yarotrof/status/1505972650786672648
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Mar 21, 2022 19:50
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Holy crap.
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Mar 21, 2022 19:51
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Mr. Nice! posted:Russia admits that they have lost 10k Russian Federation Soldiers (so separatists, chechens, PMCs, and others likely are not included) and the number is still probably lower than reality. 25k KIA and Wounded out of 190k pre-invasion sounds like it should translate into a lot less combat effectiveness than 90% even accounting for reinforcements.
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Mar 21, 2022 19:53
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Holy poo poo.
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Mar 21, 2022 19:54
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It's either a hack, or a typo, or sself-sabotage, the Russian MoD has not released any figures of the sort.
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Mar 21, 2022 20:00
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Murgos posted:25k KIA and Wounded out of 190k pre-invasion sounds like it should translate into a lot less combat effectiveness than 90% even accounting for reinforcements. Wounded doesn't mean combat ineffective. Could be minor and back in the fight. I'd be curious about equipment losses. 10% of Russia's MBTs, IFVs, and Trucks is a lot of materiel.
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Mar 21, 2022 20:08
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Holyfuckingshit
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Mar 21, 2022 20:16
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Someone in the D&d thread posted someone else digging into that casaulty figure. The telegram post is gone into the void
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Mar 21, 2022 20:25
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Hekk posted:When I retired from the mil and relocated to the upper Midwest I had an extremely strong calling to volunteer and help out in my community. I called the one local homeless shelter that promised no strings attached help to anyone who asked for it. I agreed to volunteer my time manning the counter to give food and clothes to local homeless and help sort donations people brought in. I worked 3 days a week alongside homeless and recently homeless staff for about a month until I realized that one less person was being scheduled and being kept from earning money because I was there volunteering my hours. So I switched to donating money to the shelter so they could pay someone to do the things I’d been doing. That seems a bit odd because when I've volunteered for the local homeless and inclement weather shelters I was always put in positions that weren't jobs the homeless were doing. If we were short-staffed of volunteers the homeless volunteered their time alongside us. Also volunteering for non-profits gets them access to grants so your work really does help those organizations. Volunteering for the homeless is a noble act of compassion and is good for you. While war tourism is for psychopaths and con-men who get killed, arrested, or flee when things get difficult. I highly recommend volunteering, it really helps your mental health in these difficult times.
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Mar 21, 2022 20:27
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Scaramouche posted:Someone in the D&d thread posted someone else digging into that casaulty figure. The telegram post is gone into the void Yeah it looks like the original source has disappeared, so we're just left speculating again.
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Mar 21, 2022 20:46
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Marshal Prolapse posted:https://twitter.com/DeItaone/status/1505937665010581510?s=20&t=xSNjjjkzxfE35B06oIaYPw lowkey this has almost certainly been a huge priority since before even the mig stuff Mr. Nice! posted:Yeah it looks like the original source has disappeared, so we're just left speculating again. there've been several cyber attack efforts to get casualty figures posted openly in russian meda... probably what that was, if I had to guess. That or someone suddenly decided it would be expedient to acknowledge, what, 5x more casualties than previously acknowledged?
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Mar 21, 2022 21:22
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Herstory Begins Now posted:lowkey this has almost certainly been a huge priority since before even the mig stuff he only previous number from Russia was just below 500, a good few weeks ago, so more like 20x.
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