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What is the most powerful flying bug?
This poll is closed.
🦋 15 3.71%
🦇 115 28.47%
🪰 12 2.97%
🐦 67 16.58%
dragonfly 94 23.27%
🦟 14 3.47%
🐝 87 21.53%
Total: 404 votes
[Edit Poll (moderators only)]

 
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Cookie Cutter
Nov 29, 2020

Is there something else that's bothering you Mr. President?

As much as it reminds me of the STALKER games there is something a bit ridiculous about every single person in the AFU having a callsign, it's a bit cosplay. Ghost, this is Spectre, contact Spook with regards to location of Phantom, these orders come directly from Wraith himself

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Endman
May 18, 2010

That is not dead which can eternal lie, And with strange aeons even anime may die


Cookie Cutter posted:

As much as it reminds me of the STALKER games there is something a bit ridiculous about every single person in the AFU having a callsign, it's a bit cosplay. Ghost, this is Spectre, contact Spook with regards to location of Phantom, these orders come directly from Wraith himself

At least in Stalker you have funny ones like 'Peshka Idiot' or 'Vladimir Landmine'

gradenko_2000
Oct 5, 2010

HELL SERPENT
Lipstick Apathy

Endman posted:

Vladimir Landmine

lmfao this rules

Endman
May 18, 2010

That is not dead which can eternal lie, And with strange aeons even anime may die


If you play Stalker Anomaly, the standalone free version of the game that mashes all three of them together, you can get some wild generated names popping up on random stalkers.

Pener Kropoopkin
Jan 30, 2013

comedyblissoption posted:

donald trump, mtg, and tucker carlson lost the war

the chuds spit on foreign volunteers at the airport

Danann
Aug 4, 2013

https://www.politico.eu/article/germany-economy-minister-robert-habeck-recession-energy-subsidies/

Habeck argued that this downturn could be explained by high energy prices, which Germany felt more intensely than other countries because it relied on cheap Russian gas. High interest rates are also slowing down investments and global trade, he added, which particularly affects Germany as an export-dependent nation.

While stressing that there was "no reason" to react to these problems with "German Angst" — referring to a catchword describing the fear and hesitancy stereotypically connected with Germans facing major challenges — Habeck later in the TV interview himself made some blunt remarks.

"I also don't want to ignore the fact that this will put a burden on people," Habeck said. "We have a major transformational period ahead of us until 2030," during which time Germany would move from a traditional, fossil fuel-dependent industrial base to green energies like hydrogen, he said.

German Greens :rubby:

Pener Kropoopkin
Jan 30, 2013

Zedhe Khoja posted:

Az took my side when the nod forum was talking about permaing me over the pharohman777 kerfluffle. can’t be all bad, even if he was a mod

he was definitely pulling their fat from the fire if their immediate reaction was to perma someone for exposing the world’s dumbest pedophile.

BEAR GRYLLZ
Jul 30, 2006

I have strong erections for Israel.
Strong, pathetic erections.

Endman posted:

I was trawling around the internet for Cold War German photographs and I found this great US Army diagram:



I love the idyllic German farmhouse on the Western side, and the eeeeevil Communist watchtower on the Eastern side, with what could either be treestumps or corpses bicycles on the ground.

if you squint you can even make out the swastika on the farmhouse

Pistol_Pete
Sep 15, 2007

Oven Wrangler
We know how a Russian victory will be dealt with: just look at the Afghan blueprint. There'll be a bunch of furious articles blaming tankies, peaceniks and trans people (probably) for not believing in Ukraine hard enough; there'll be extra billions chucked at defense contractors to develop the miracle weapons that'll make a difference the next time and then... Ukraine will simply cease to be talked about. It's only 2 years since the final collapse of the Western project in Afghanistan and yet how often do you hear world leaders speechifying about the need to help the Afghan people, educate rural children, promote democracy etc etc? loving never, 'cos the whole thing was immediately dropped like the window dressing it always was. I've got no doubt that in a couple of years, the right wing press in my country will be writing angry pieces about feckless, scrounging Ukrainian refugees trying to enter our already over-generous society: "Don't these people know the war is over? They should be going back and rebuilding their own country, they're nothing to do with us!"

Vulin
Jun 15, 2012

Danann posted:

https://www.politico.eu/article/germany-economy-minister-robert-habeck-recession-energy-subsidies/

Habeck argued that this downturn could be explained by high energy prices, which Germany felt more intensely than other countries because it relied on cheap Russian gas. High interest rates are also slowing down investments and global trade, he added, which particularly affects Germany as an export-dependent nation.

While stressing that there was "no reason" to react to these problems with "German Angst" — referring to a catchword describing the fear and hesitancy stereotypically connected with Germans facing major challenges — Habeck later in the TV interview himself made some blunt remarks.

"I also don't want to ignore the fact that this will put a burden on people," Habeck said. "We have a major transformational period ahead of us until 2030," during which time Germany would move from a traditional, fossil fuel-dependent industrial base to green energies like hydrogen, he said.

German Greens :rubby:

Hey, there might be an economic downturn, but at least inflation has been down here in Germany.

Down from 6,4% inflation year-over-year in June to only 6,2% inflation in July. Things are looking up!

Toplowtech
Aug 31, 2004

Pener Kropoopkin posted:

Read the replies if you want a dose of NAFO cancer.
I can't because twiXXer is a poo poo site and won't thankfully load for me anymore but yeah, if it's anything like the average NAFO crew action, yeah it's probably incredibly dumb. That generation of meme obsessed war cheerleaders is pretty pretty bad.

gradenko_2000
Oct 5, 2010

HELL SERPENT
Lipstick Apathy

Pistol_Pete posted:

We know how a Russian victory will be dealt with: just look at the Afghan blueprint. There'll be a bunch of furious articles blaming tankies, peaceniks and trans people (probably) for not believing in Ukraine hard enough;

something I'd like to throw out there is that this isn't even how Afghanistan is talked about, at least as far as I've seen: people keep talking it up that Joe Biden Did The Right Thing By Pulling Out, while conveniently ignoring that A. the US did not leave, they were kicked out, and B. that all these same people who are backslapping Joe for his foreign policy were the same people who, on the day of the panicked evacuation from Kabul, were yelling that the US should have clung on harder

Best Friends
Nov 4, 2011

The liberal consensus on Russia is they have a racial deficiency that makes them evil and incompetent. It would not be hard to extend that to Ukrainians if the narrative requires it - after all, that already happened during the Cold War.

Cookie Cutter
Nov 29, 2020

Is there something else that's bothering you Mr. President?

gradenko_2000 posted:

something I'd like to throw out there is that this isn't even how Afghanistan is talked about, at least as far as I've seen: people keep talking it up that Joe Biden Did The Right Thing By Pulling Out, while conveniently ignoring that A. the US did not leave, they were kicked out, and B. that all these same people who are backslapping Joe for his foreign policy were the same people who, on the day of the panicked evacuation from Kabul, were yelling that the US should have clung on harder

I still see people handwringing about "women and girls in Afghanistan" sometimes, it's like, ok but what's your solution here, do you want the USA to re-invade or something. Just the latest edition of muslim women not existing unless they can be used as a rhetorical tool in a westerner's argument

Cookie Cutter has issued a correction as of 10:29 on Jul 31, 2023

Best Friends
Nov 4, 2011

Cookie Cutter posted:

I still see people handwringing about "women and girls in Afghanistan" sometimes, it's like, ok but what's your solution here, do you want the USA to re-invade or something

the official us position is that the women and girls of Afghanistan deserve to starve to death

bedpan
Apr 23, 2008

Best Friends posted:

the official us position is that the women and girls of Afghanistan deserve to starve to death

but you see this is in fact good because it means they will rise up and overthrow the taliban

Toplowtech
Aug 31, 2004

gradenko_2000 posted:

Lewis Sorley's "A Better War" went on for pages and pages about how motion-activated remote-sensing devices placed all along the Vietnam-Laos border allowed the USAF to detect the movement of porters across the Ho Chi Minh Trail and they could have totally won the war if only Nixon threw enough B-52s at the problem.

The actual reality is that the cost of placing these devices, and the constant replacement of their batteries, represented a cash transfer of billions of dollars from the government to the private sector that is a direct through-line into the foundation of Silicon Valley and the extant tech sector.
Oh yes, the Vietcongs, well known not to be able to dig tunnels, just ask the French :france:. Total US victory, drat you Nixon for not giving those geniuses billions over billions of dollars. :suicide:

gradenko_2000
Oct 5, 2010

HELL SERPENT
Lipstick Apathy

Toplowtech posted:

Oh yes, the Vietcongs,

Orange Devil
Oct 1, 2010

Wullie's reign cannae smother the flames o' equality!

tristeham posted:

nimbleness is key

I'd prefer to be part of an army best described as a steamroller, but sure nimble might be positive.

Modus Pwnens
Dec 29, 2004

fizzy posted:

"Ghost is my call sign" he tells me. "When we started bringing terror to Bakhmut, we got the name 'the Ghosts of Bakhmut'."

stephenthinkpad
Jan 2, 2020

V. Illych L. posted:

the discrepancy between communicated state posture and actual policy is at a level not seen since environmental policy. if there's a ukrainian state collapse and russian military victory at some point it's going to be interesting/depressing to see how people deal with it. the only coherent way i can think of is to blame the ukrainians somehow, but idk how easy that would be after fanatically lionising them for years

You drag it long enough you can bridge it with the Taiwan crisis so you just let the new crisis take up all the air way and you don't have to reflect on the Ukraine war.

bedpan
Apr 23, 2008

fizzy posted:

Good news for Ukraine - Ukrainian forces achieved successes and advances in the directions of Bakhmut, Berdyansk and Melitopol


https://www.understandingwar.org/backgrounder/russian-offensive-campaign-assessment-july-30-2023

RUSSIAN OFFENSIVE CAMPAIGN ASSESSMENT, JULY 30, 2023

Ukrainian forces conducted counteroffensive operations on at least three sectors of the front and made claimed advances in some areas.

Ukrainian military sources reported that Ukrainian forces are achieving small successes on the southern flank of Bakhmut and are gradually advancing in the Berdyansk (western Donetsk-eastern Zaporizhia Oblast area) and Melitopol (in western Zaporizhia Oblast) directions.[9]

thanks for keeping us from just smelling tankie farts, fizzy

bedpan
Apr 23, 2008

DancingShade posted:

Your assault thrust gets annihilated because someone used the wrong tactical emoji on a map that looks like it came from hearts of iron.

I'd like to find the reference for it but I swear I read that using the /slap command is forbidden on the IRC client the military used

Palladium
May 8, 2012

Very Good
✔️✔️✔️✔️

Toplowtech posted:

Oh yes, the Vietcongs, well known not to be able to dig tunnels, just ask the French :france:. Total US victory, drat you Nixon for not giving those geniuses billions over billions of dollars. :suicide:

tunnels suck so much they kept the entire ~100K men IDF confined in 6 mile stretch of road from start to finish in 2006

Cuttlefush
Jan 15, 2014

gotta have my purp

PawParole posted:

No, the USSR was allied with Somalia, Ethiopia’s Fascist Military Junta commited genocide on the Somalis the dinosaur oil company (Sinclair) gave to them, blamed somalia when the local people fought back, bombed Somalia’s second largest city and then the Soviet’s tried to make a stupid union that both sides rejected, then they backed the fascist military junta (that was in the middle of murdering the actual communists who overthrew the racist emperor).

say what you will about the british, they sure knew how to chop up peoples and land to maximize existing tensions in a resilient way. you clearly know more about this. i thought somalia was the first (or most adamant) on not making a thing with ethiopia/south yemen. not entirely sure why it was dumb but i have some ideas. hard to see a worse outcome than what happened

BadOptics
Sep 11, 2012

fizzy posted:

Bad news for Russia - Ukraine's snipers are absolutely badass and are bringing terror to Russia's forces in Bakhmut, with 524 confirmed kills between them.


https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-66354363

Ukraine war: 'People call us the Ghosts of Bakhmut'
By Jonathan Beale, defence correspondent
3 hours ago

Ukrainian forces are trying to retake the city of Bakhmut in the country's east. The BBC was given exclusive access to a team of elite snipers, referred to as "the Ghosts of Bakhmut", who are conducting night raids nearby.

Ghost, the sniping team's commander, takes us to the place he calls the "edge of existence" - their base on the outskirts of the city.

"Ghost is my call sign" he tells me. "When we started bringing terror to Bakhmut, we got the name 'the Ghosts of Bakhmut'."

Their base is already well within the range of Russian artillery. Ghost doesn't flinch at the crump of a shell landing nearby. "The artillery always makes people worry," he says. "You can hide from artillery, but not from a sniper".

The Ghosts, a team of around 20 soldiers, have been operating on the edges of Bakhmut for the past six months. They often hunt for high-value targets.

I ask Ghost how many Russians his team have killed. He says, "there's a confirmed number - 524. Seventy-six of those are mine". The team electronically records every shot through the sights of their rifle.

Not everyone's keeping count though. Kuzia, the marksman for tonight's mission, says "it's nothing to be proud of. We're not killing people, we're destroying the enemy".

Before the war he worked in a factory. He says he never liked guns, but felt compelled to take up arms when Russia invaded.

Kuzia does one final check of his US-made Barrett sniper rifle: "Each mission is dangerous, when we make a mistake the enemy can hit you," he says. "Of course I'm scared - only a fool wouldn't be."

On tonight's mission he'll be accompanied by Taras, his spotter. Kusch is the driver - who'll bring them as close as possible to the front line. From there the two-man team will have to walk more than a mile to reach their target. Ghost will remain back at the base, along with the rookie, known simply as the Brit.

The youngest member of the team got the name after receiving his initial training in the UK. He's yet to have his first confirmed kill.

Ghost says he's handpicked every member of the team based on their "humanity and patriotism" rather than their military experience and skills.

As dusk approaches the team climbs into their armoured Humvee. I, and cameraman Moose Campbell, will accompany them to the drop-off point.

Kusch, the driver, tells us that part of the route is still being targeted by Russian artillery.

As he starts the engine the team all give themselves the sign of the cross. Kusch starts to play some music from his phone. He says the Ukrainian rap song gets them in the mood. But it'll also mask the sound of the shelling.

At first it's hard to hear the explosions nearby because of the rattle of the Humvee, which Kusch drives at speed over pot-holed tracks. But he points to the sky several times and warns, "incoming". There are a few thuds nearby.

We pass half a dozen wrecked Ukrainian armoured vehicles that weren't so fortunate. Kusch points to minefields on either side of the dirt track.

Twenty minutes later we come to an abrupt halt close to a ruined house. The two-man sniper team open the doors and disappear towards a tree line. Kusch shouts out, "God be with you" before making a fast exit.

As we return there's a flash of orange and a louder explosion. The Humvee starts to rattle even more. Kusch opens his door, while driving, to look behind and lets out a stream of swear words.

A piece of shrapnel has shredded one of the back tyres. It's a nerve-wracking hobble back to base. When we finally return he shows us the large piece of jagged metal which tore apart the tyre.

It's now dark and the shelling has subsided. Inside their base they anxiously hold on to their radios for news from the sniper team. Kusch and the Brit pace the floor.

Ghost makes a phone call to his seven-year-old daughter. She's on speaker when she excitedly shouts, "I love you daddy". It's a brief burst of normality - but he's already taught her how to strip a gun.

Seven hours later, with little sleep, it's time for the extraction. We shelter in the building while there's a volley of incendiary fire, and then make our way back into the Humvee.

This time it's dark, but Kusch tries to drive from memory - avoiding turning on the headlights to attract attention. Another abrupt halt and the two-man sniper team gets back inside the Humvee.

The relief is palpable when we get back to their base.

Kuzia says: "One shot, one target."

Later they show us the video from the night-scope. They say it was a Russian machine-gunner who'd been firing at Ukrainian troops near the front line.

They'll rest now until the next night's mission. Kuzia says: "I'm happy to be back and happy that everyone's alive".

Over the past six months several of the team have been injured, including the commander Ghost. But none of them have been killed.

Ghost says "every trip may be our last, but we're doing a noble deed".

One small team of snipers won't win this war, or even take back Bakhmut. But they believe they're having an impact.

Kusch says it has a psychological effect on their enemy - hunting down one Russian soldier at a time from a place that can't be seen and with a sound that can't be heard.

Imagining this guy is the character from those terrible John Ringo books who also goes by "ghost".

quote:

I ask Ghost how many Russians his team have killed. He says, "there's a confirmed number - 524. Seventy-six of those are mine". The team electronically records every shot through the sights of their rifle.

Not everyone's keeping count though. Kuzia, the marksman for tonight's mission, says "it's nothing to be proud of. We're not killing people, we're destroying the enemy".


What a normal human being thinks/does.

stephenthinkpad
Jan 2, 2020
Are there any sniper schools in Russia and Ukraine they can send the school principles to Bakhmut to do sniper duels?

Oh yeah what happened to that Canadian sniper volunteer who had the world highest kill count or something?

Cerebral Bore
Apr 21, 2010


Fun Shoe
iirc he want to ukraine, realized that the enemy could actually shoot back this time and promptly hosed off back home

Regarde Aduck
Oct 19, 2012

c l o u d k i t t e n
Grimey Drawer
lol at the cult of the sniper poo poo again

always the biggest psychos fighting war from relative safety

Endman
May 18, 2010

That is not dead which can eternal lie, And with strange aeons even anime may die


they’re also definitely lying about kills just like everyone always does

Panzer ace syndrome

Egg Moron
Jul 21, 2003

the dreams of the delighting void

Amazing that that sniper team killed eleventybillion russians

Frosted Flake
Sep 13, 2011

Semper Shitpost Ubique


I’ll refer you to Zahluny’s op ed about this being part of their plan for how Ukraine can win in 2023.

They want to widen the war, probably even more now that they clearly cannot achieve their goals otherwise.

Egg Moron
Jul 21, 2003

the dreams of the delighting void

How are the people of Ukraine not yet sick of all this winning?????

Frosted Flake
Sep 13, 2011

Semper Shitpost Ubique

Cerebral Bore posted:

the shitlibs will mill around in confusion for about a week while the new talking points are being workshopped and will then pretend that those are what they believed all along

We’ve seen this happen a few times too. There was that one time where most of the main Ukrainian accounts were totally silent for a day or two before a pivot, I think from “Russia could never strategically bombard Ukraine” to “Russia is genociding Ukraine by destroying the electrical and rail network in 24 hours”

Frosted Flake
Sep 13, 2011

Semper Shitpost Ubique

Cookie Cutter posted:

As much as it reminds me of the STALKER games there is something a bit ridiculous about every single person in the AFU having a callsign, it's a bit cosplay. Ghost, this is Spectre, contact Spook with regards to location of Phantom, these orders come directly from Wraith himself

Regarde Aduck
Oct 19, 2012

c l o u d k i t t e n
Grimey Drawer

Frosted Flake posted:

We’ve seen this happen a few times too. There was that one time where most of the main Ukrainian accounts were totally silent for a day or two before a pivot, I think from “Russia could never strategically bombard Ukraine” to “Russia is genociding Ukraine by destroying the electrical and rail network in 24 hours”

lol yeah very early on they were imagining the 'battle of Kyiv' as this epic tank battle and when people mentioned it was weird Russia was holding back they got so angry. This was before they got all their NATO AA as well. It's now even more apparent that Russia could have deleted Kyiv if it wanted to. Now whether it could survive the geopolitical consequences of this is another question. But militarily they could have. And this brings the idea that Russia is waging a genocidal war into question. Which i guess is why they maintain to this day that Russia is just somehow incapable of carpet bombing large Ukrainian cities.

stephenthinkpad
Jan 2, 2020

Frosted Flake posted:

I’ll refer you to Zahluny’s op ed about this being part of their plan for how Ukraine can win in 2023.

They want to widen the war, probably even more now that they clearly cannot achieve their goals otherwise.

Digging the bottom of the hole bigger and wider so you live in it comfortably.

OctaMurk
Jun 21, 2013

Regarde Aduck posted:

Which i guess is why they maintain to this day that Russia is just somehow incapable of carpet bombing large Ukrainian cities.

i dont think russia could carpet bomb large ukrainian cities either right now. bombers are gigantic and slow, and theres still enough anti aircraft missiles going around to make that a suicide mission.

this honestly sounds like the people who ascribe invicibility to the us air force

Egg Moron
Jul 21, 2003

the dreams of the delighting void

Regarde Aduck posted:

lol at the cult of the sniper poo poo again

always the biggest psychos fighting war from relative safety

Sneaking is for perverts and cowards

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gradenko_2000
Oct 5, 2010

HELL SERPENT
Lipstick Apathy
Good news for Asia: Ukraine's struggle is providing a model for resisting the illegal use of force in the Indo-Pacific

quote:

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen on Monday said the “illegal use of force cannot be tolerated” in the Indo-Pacific and in Ukraine as she visited the Philippines.

Von der Leyen — the first European Commission President to visit the Philippines — blasted “authoritarian leaders” who have been violating the “fundamental principles of international law, such as territorial integrity and sovereignty.”

The global political landscape “is changing” and has become “volatile” and “more threatening,” she said in a press statement after her meeting with Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.

“Authoritarian leaders show that they are willing to act on their threats,” she said, noting that “Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine shakes the foundation of the international order.”

“It is in violation of the UN Charter and the fundamental principles of international law, such as territorial integrity and sovereignty, and this is why Europe supports Ukraine's brave fight against the aggressor,” she said,.

“The illegal use of force cannot be tolerated, not in Ukraine, not in the Indo-Pacific.”

While the EU supports Ukraine in its fight against Russia, the regional bloc also sees that the “security in the Indo-Pacific is indivisible.”

“Challenges to the rules based order in our interconnected world affect all of us. Our societies pay through higher energy bills through higher food costs,” she said.

“This is why we are concerned about the rising tensions in the Indo-Pacific,” she added.

The European Union — one of the largest trading blocs in the world — is ready to support the Philippines on the maritime security front “by sharing information, conducting threat assessment and building the capacity of your national CoastWatch center and your Coast Guard.,” Von der Leyen said.

“The European Union underlines that the 2016 award of the arbitral tribunal on the South China Sea is legally binding, and that it provides the basis for peaceful resolving disputes between the parties,” she said.

“We have a broad roadmap to bring our partnership to the next level. Let's use the great momentum we have in our relationship,” she said.

In 2016, a Hague-based arbitration court awarded a ruling in favor of Manila, and invalidated Beijing’s sweeping claims in the South China Sea, a resource-rich and strategic water way where billions-worth of sea-borne goods pass through annually.

While the international community praised the ruling, Beijing has ignored the decision and repeatedly called it “illegal.”

The arbitral award was not enforced during the administration of former President Rodrigo Duterte as he forged an alliance with China while he pivoted away from the United States, which has been critical of his war against illegal drugs.

Earlier this month, Duterte traveled to Beijing to meet Chinese President Xi Jinping in a state guesthouse.

While the Chinese government said that Xi thanked Duterte for tightening the links between the two countries during his term, the former President has yet to answer queries about the nature of his trip.

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