The US will lose WW3

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > C-SPAM > The US will lose WW3

DancingShade: Jul 26, 2007; by Fluffdaddy

gradenko_2000 posted:

the Zumwalt-class destroyers actually are tumblehome designs

God the wikipedia entry on that hulk is a pack of lies lol.

It has [all this poo poo] oh really? Huh. Are you sure about that? Really sure?

# ? Mar 21, 2024 10:50

Adbot: ADBOT LOVES YOU

# ? May 25, 2024 13:46

Gripweed: Nov 8, 2018

yeah all the explosions would be far away from heavily populated areas and a lot of the force and radioactivity would be absorbed by the earth around the silos. There would probably be a ton of radioactive dirt propelled into the atmosphere and we could get a year without a summer from it, but that's pretty good compared to those missiles hitting their targets

# ? Mar 21, 2024 13:58

fanfic insert: Nov 4, 2009

Hatebag posted:

i don't know how many nukes it would take to blow a hole through a foot of reinforced concrete but i found this amazing drawing from a 1990 paper from the army about dividing walls

Explosives is the wrong path to take for breaking into bunkers, they're surely built to withstand at least some

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9FRx7Uto-jc

Can you imagine the fear in their soul after 3 days of drilling noises from outside finally seizes only to see hundreds of cracks beginning to form the day after?

e; well, not soul, but the thing occupying the place where you'd normally find one

fanfic insert has issued a correction as of 14:32 on Mar 21, 2024

# ? Mar 21, 2024 14:08

fizziester: Dec 21, 2023

Source: Washington Post

https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2024/03/21/russia-titanium-exports-sanctions/

Two years after start of Ukraine war, Russian titanium keeps flowing to West
By Adam Taylor
March 21, 2024 at 6:00 a.m. EDT

Western firms bought hundreds of millions of dollars of titanium metal from a Russian company with deep ties to the country�s defense industry following the 2022 invasion of Ukraine, according to a review of Russian export data.

The purchases illustrate how the West remains dependent on Russia for certain products despite pledges to break economic ties with Moscow. In the case of titanium, that dependence raises security concerns, industry and defense analysts say, as the metal is vital in the manufacturing of both commercial and military airplanes.

�Russia could shut off the flow of these � materials and leave companies critical to national defense and civil aviation scrambling,� said William George, director of research at ImportGenius, the company that supplied the trade data gathered from an official Russian database to The Washington Post.

After more than two years of war in Ukraine, Russia continues to export oil and gas that eventually reaches the United States and its allies, and Russian firms are still able to sell everything from diamonds to uranium because the West wants the goods and allows carve-outs from sanctions.

The titanium firm, VSMPO-AVISMA, has not been placed under sanctions by the United States or the European Union despite being partly owned by Rostec, a defense conglomerate that owns hundreds of companies and is under U.S. and European sanctions. Rostec is led by an ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin, Sergey Chemezov, who has been personally sanctioned since the annexation of Crimea in 2014.

Roughly 15,000 tons of titanium worth $370 million were exported by VSMPO in 2022, the vast majority of it sent to Western nations that supported Ukraine, according to the export database, with Germany, France, the United States and Britain topping the list. VSMPO, which essentially is a monopoly in Russia, then exported at least $345 million in titanium in 2023, according to more-limited data for that year seen by The Post. Russian trade data was difficult to acquire in 2023, with the available data lacking most of the details that showed transactions with Western firms. George said ImportGenius could not comment on why certain details were no longer in the data...

... Ukraine is the only country to have placed the Russian firm under sanctions. In September, the U.S. Commerce Department imposed export controls on VSPMO, stating that it was �directly involved in producing and manufacturing titanium and metal products for the Russian military and security services.� Those controls prohibit exports of goods to the company in Russia, not of its titanium to the United States, however.

�We think sanctioning titanium from Russia would be sanctioning ourselves,� Airbus Chief Executive Guillaume Faury told reporters in June 2022.

While no sanctions prohibit the purchase of Russian titanium for commercial purposes, the use of specialty metals for the U.S. military is regulated. This can cause costly problems: In 2022, the discovery of a Chinese alloy in the assembly of F-35 fighter jets led to a production halt and investigation. The Pentagon later issued a waiver for the alloy....

Struggling to find alternatives to Russia

Titanium�s importance comes from an array of factors. As strong as steel but 45 percent lighter, it�s also more resistant to heat and corrosion, and can be used in multiple products from paint to body implants. Its most critical modern use is in aerospace as the industry has pursued ever-lighter aircraft.

After the collapse of the Soviet Union, Western governments encouraged aerospace firms to do business with VSMPO, which had enormous capacity after the end of the Cold War, and until 2022, the Russian firm was estimated to supply roughly a third of the high-grade titanium used by the aviation sector globally.

Only after Russia�s full-scale invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24, 2022, did Western companies begin to break these ties. Most significantly, Ural Boeing Manufacturing, a joint venture of Boeing and VSMPO, was canceled in 2022. In a statement, Boeing said it now �sources titanium predominantly in the U.S.�

Major suppliers for Boeing have continued purchasing Russian titanium, however.

The Safran Group, the French aerospace company that works on engines and landing gears for aerospace companies, including Boeing, saw its imports from the Russian firm rise in 2022, hitting over $20 million compared with $8.6 million the year before. As recently as November of last year, Russian trade documents stated that exports to France were going to the Safran-made LEAP 1B engines used in the Boeing 737 Max airliner.

In a statement, Safran said that its purchases had increased in volume in 2022 but that �the share of Russian titanium in our purchases did not increase.�

Executives with Rolls-Royce, a British company that produces engines for both Airbus and Boeing, said in the spring of 2022 that they would stop purchasing Russian titanium. Trade data suggests that imports from VSMPO continued throughout 2022, increasing from $5 million in 2021 to $6.7 million in 2022, with VSMPO deliveries marked for Rolls-Royce as recently as April 2023.

�Rolls-Royce strictly adheres to applicable export control and sanctions requirements and we are securing alternative supply chain capacity to deliver our transition,� the company said in a statement.

The continued reliance on Russian titanium by European firms is shown in European Union trade data. The bloc imported $244 million worth of Russian titanium in 2023, only 20 percent down from its highest-ever volume, in 2019. U.S. trade data for 2023 shows $47 million worth of Russian titanium purchases, almost 80 percent lower than the 2019 peak.

Analysts said Western companies were probably struggling to find alternatives to VSMPO. One American who worked with VSMPO before the invasion of Ukraine, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss private negotiations, said Russia�s lower overheads meant VSMPO could also offer discounted prices.

�They have the scale that allows that cost of production to go way down,� the American said.

... While U.S. titanium firms can create aerospace-grade metal, after closures in 2020, they have been reliant on imports of titanium sponge, the first stage in making the metal. Roughly 80 percent of titanium sponge used in the United States comes from Japan, which has struggled to keep up with demand...

... Willy Shih, a Harvard Business School professor who specializes in manufacturing, said that the U.S. titanium industry could certainly fill the hole in the global market left by VSMPO, but that it would require significant investment and probably the embrace of new technologies to create cleaner, more-efficient titanium.

�We tend to be short-term-focused and price-focused,� Shih said. �But if you really think of these things as being strategic, then you have to play the long game.�

# ? Mar 21, 2024 15:03

OhFunny: Jun 26, 2013; EXTREMELY PISSED AT THE DNC

Yemen’s Houthis Tell China, Russia Their Ships Won’t Be Targeted

quote:

China and Russia reached an understanding following talks between their diplomats in Oman and Mohammed Abdel Salam, one of the Houthis’ top political figures, said the people, who asked not to be named discussing private matters.

The Americans sent a naval fleet. The Russians (and Chinese) sent a diplomat.

# ? Mar 21, 2024 16:04

Hubbert: Mar 25, 2007; At a time of universal deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act.

OhFunny posted:

Yemen’s Houthis Tell China, Russia Their Ships Won’t Be Targeted

The Americans sent a naval fleet. The Russians (and Chinese) sent a diplomat.

lmao

# ? Mar 21, 2024 16:08

Cerebral Bore: Apr 21, 2010; Fun Shoe

but i was assured by all the smartest commentators that china had to side with the us or they would be considered an ~unserious~ actor

# ? Mar 21, 2024 16:10

bij: Feb 24, 2007

I have been wondering if the US withdrawal from Afghanistan was catalyzed by spooky agencies getting antsy about FPV and cheap drone development.

There were other factors of course but I am beginning to think that was what did it

# ? Mar 21, 2024 16:17

Sadistic Hamster: Jan 1, 2005

Man, poo poo is crazy.

Hey FF is there a way to ask you a question that isn't public?

Also, yes this is unrelated but I'm not going outside of C-Spam and this is bugging me...

I am bad at math and do not understand the following.

Oracle tells citizens of Delos that they must replace an existing altar which is in the shape of a cube with one twice its size to rid themselves of a plague. This "problem of the duplication of the cube took a leading place in the formation of Greek geometry." Okay fine I don't know how to break that down with letters and numbers but why couldn't they have just gotten a stick, cut that to the height of the cube, get another stick and do the same, then wrap it in brass and tack them together. With the new double-stick they would know what height depth and width the cube should be. Why would the double-sticks not be a solution? Would this be insufficiently precise? Or was this just a ruse to get people more interested in geometry?

Thank you and sorry.

# ? Mar 21, 2024 16:50

Raskolnikov38: Mar 3, 2007; We were somewhere around Manila when the drugs began to take hold

Sadistic Hamster posted:

Man, poo poo is crazy.

Hey FF is there a way to ask you a question that isn't public?

Also, yes this is unrelated but I'm not going outside of C-Spam and this is bugging me...

I am bad at math and do not understand the following.

Oracle tells citizens of Delos that they must replace an existing altar which is in the shape of a cube with one twice its size to rid themselves of a plague. This "problem of the duplication of the cube took a leading place in the formation of Greek geometry." Okay fine I don't know how to break that down with letters and numbers but why couldn't they have just gotten a stick, cut that to the height of the cube, get another stick and do the same, then wrap it in brass and tack them together. With the new double-stick they would know what height depth and width the cube should be. Why would the double-sticks not be a solution? Would this be insufficiently precise? Or was this just a ruse to get people more interested in geometry?

Thank you and sorry.

because doubling the sides increases the volume by more than 2x. a 2x2x2 cube has a volume of 8 while a 4x4x4 cube has a volume of 64

# ? Mar 21, 2024 16:53

Real hurthling!: Sep 11, 2001

they probably did that and then some smart rear end was like thats 8x the original cube not 2x, do it over!

Real hurthling! has issued a correction as of 16:56 on Mar 21, 2024

# ? Mar 21, 2024 16:54

gradenko_2000: Oct 5, 2010; HELL SERPENT; Lipstick Apathy

Raskolnikov38 posted:

because doubling the sides increases the volume by more than 2x. a 2x2x2 cube has a volume of 8 while a 4x4x4 cube has a volume of 64

so if the thing has a volume of 1, the Oracle is looking for a thing with a volume of... 2

the cube root of 2 is [1.25992104989]

[1.25992104989] to the third power is .... 1.99999999998 ... so something like that?

I can imagine why that wouldn't be intuitive to Ancient Greeks who hadn't figured out cube roots and poo poo yet

# ? Mar 21, 2024 17:01

Submarine Sandpaper: May 27, 2007

1 carrot 3
2 carrot 3

Cubed is in the name

# ? Mar 21, 2024 17:07

euphronius: Feb 18, 2009

We think sanctioning titanium from Russia would be sanctioning ourselves,�

lol the biggest thunk in the world

# ? Mar 21, 2024 17:09

Real hurthling!: Sep 11, 2001

if you got one block and put another one next to it you need 6 more to build that shape into a cube again.
a very serious greek man probably killed hinself over this

# ? Mar 21, 2024 17:11

Tankbuster: Oct 1, 2021

Sadistic Hamster posted:

Man, poo poo is crazy.

Hey FF is there a way to ask you a question that isn't public?

Also, yes this is unrelated but I'm not going outside of C-Spam and this is bugging me...

I am bad at math and do not understand the following.

Oracle tells citizens of Delos that they must replace an existing altar which is in the shape of a cube with one twice its size to rid themselves of a plague. This "problem of the duplication of the cube took a leading place in the formation of Greek geometry." Okay fine I don't know how to break that down with letters and numbers but why couldn't they have just gotten a stick, cut that to the height of the cube, get another stick and do the same, then wrap it in brass and tack them together. With the new double-stick they would know what height depth and width the cube should be. Why would the double-sticks not be a solution? Would this be insufficiently precise? Or was this just a ruse to get people more interested in geometry?

Thank you and sorry.

my man asking about surds.

# ? Mar 21, 2024 17:13

lsculpt23: Aug 3, 2022

fizziester posted:

Source: Washington Post

https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2024/03/21/russia-titanium-exports-sanctions/

Two years after start of Ukraine war, Russian titanium keeps flowing to West
By Adam Taylor
March 21, 2024 at 6:00 a.m. EDT

Western firms bought hundreds of millions of dollars of titanium metal from a Russian company with deep ties to the country�s defense industry following the 2022 invasion of Ukraine, according to a review of Russian export data.

The purchases illustrate how the West remains dependent on Russia for certain products despite pledges to break economic ties with Moscow. In the case of titanium, that dependence raises security concerns, industry and defense analysts say, as the metal is vital in the manufacturing of both commercial and military airplanes.

�Russia could shut off the flow of these � materials and leave companies critical to national defense and civil aviation scrambling,� said William George, director of research at ImportGenius, the company that supplied the trade data gathered from an official Russian database to The Washington Post.

After more than two years of war in Ukraine, Russia continues to export oil and gas that eventually reaches the United States and its allies, and Russian firms are still able to sell everything from diamonds to uranium because the West wants the goods and allows carve-outs from sanctions.

The titanium firm, VSMPO-AVISMA, has not been placed under sanctions by the United States or the European Union despite being partly owned by Rostec, a defense conglomerate that owns hundreds of companies and is under U.S. and European sanctions. Rostec is led by an ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin, Sergey Chemezov, who has been personally sanctioned since the annexation of Crimea in 2014.

Roughly 15,000 tons of titanium worth $370 million were exported by VSMPO in 2022, the vast majority of it sent to Western nations that supported Ukraine, according to the export database, with Germany, France, the United States and Britain topping the list. VSMPO, which essentially is a monopoly in Russia, then exported at least $345 million in titanium in 2023, according to more-limited data for that year seen by The Post. Russian trade data was difficult to acquire in 2023, with the available data lacking most of the details that showed transactions with Western firms. George said ImportGenius could not comment on why certain details were no longer in the data...

... Ukraine is the only country to have placed the Russian firm under sanctions. In September, the U.S. Commerce Department imposed export controls on VSPMO, stating that it was �directly involved in producing and manufacturing titanium and metal products for the Russian military and security services.� Those controls prohibit exports of goods to the company in Russia, not of its titanium to the United States, however.

�We think sanctioning titanium from Russia would be sanctioning ourselves,� Airbus Chief Executive Guillaume Faury told reporters in June 2022.

While no sanctions prohibit the purchase of Russian titanium for commercial purposes, the use of specialty metals for the U.S. military is regulated. This can cause costly problems: In 2022, the discovery of a Chinese alloy in the assembly of F-35 fighter jets led to a production halt and investigation. The Pentagon later issued a waiver for the alloy....

Struggling to find alternatives to Russia

Titanium�s importance comes from an array of factors. As strong as steel but 45 percent lighter, it�s also more resistant to heat and corrosion, and can be used in multiple products from paint to body implants. Its most critical modern use is in aerospace as the industry has pursued ever-lighter aircraft.

After the collapse of the Soviet Union, Western governments encouraged aerospace firms to do business with VSMPO, which had enormous capacity after the end of the Cold War, and until 2022, the Russian firm was estimated to supply roughly a third of the high-grade titanium used by the aviation sector globally.

Only after Russia�s full-scale invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24, 2022, did Western companies begin to break these ties. Most significantly, Ural Boeing Manufacturing, a joint venture of Boeing and VSMPO, was canceled in 2022. In a statement, Boeing said it now �sources titanium predominantly in the U.S.�

Major suppliers for Boeing have continued purchasing Russian titanium, however.

The Safran Group, the French aerospace company that works on engines and landing gears for aerospace companies, including Boeing, saw its imports from the Russian firm rise in 2022, hitting over $20 million compared with $8.6 million the year before. As recently as November of last year, Russian trade documents stated that exports to France were going to the Safran-made LEAP 1B engines used in the Boeing 737 Max airliner.

In a statement, Safran said that its purchases had increased in volume in 2022 but that �the share of Russian titanium in our purchases did not increase.�

Executives with Rolls-Royce, a British company that produces engines for both Airbus and Boeing, said in the spring of 2022 that they would stop purchasing Russian titanium. Trade data suggests that imports from VSMPO continued throughout 2022, increasing from $5 million in 2021 to $6.7 million in 2022, with VSMPO deliveries marked for Rolls-Royce as recently as April 2023.

�Rolls-Royce strictly adheres to applicable export control and sanctions requirements and we are securing alternative supply chain capacity to deliver our transition,� the company said in a statement.

The continued reliance on Russian titanium by European firms is shown in European Union trade data. The bloc imported $244 million worth of Russian titanium in 2023, only 20 percent down from its highest-ever volume, in 2019. U.S. trade data for 2023 shows $47 million worth of Russian titanium purchases, almost 80 percent lower than the 2019 peak.

Analysts said Western companies were probably struggling to find alternatives to VSMPO. One American who worked with VSMPO before the invasion of Ukraine, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss private negotiations, said Russia�s lower overheads meant VSMPO could also offer discounted prices.

�They have the scale that allows that cost of production to go way down,� the American said.

... While U.S. titanium firms can create aerospace-grade metal, after closures in 2020, they have been reliant on imports of titanium sponge, the first stage in making the metal. Roughly 80 percent of titanium sponge used in the United States comes from Japan, which has struggled to keep up with demand...

... Willy Shih, a Harvard Business School professor who specializes in manufacturing, said that the U.S. titanium industry could certainly fill the hole in the global market left by VSMPO, but that it would require significant investment and probably the embrace of new technologies to create cleaner, more-efficient titanium.

�We tend to be short-term-focused and price-focused,� Shih said. �But if you really think of these things as being strategic, then you have to play the long game.�

hahahahahaha

# ? Mar 21, 2024 17:19

Orange Devil: Oct 1, 2010; Wullie's reign cannae smother the flames o' equality!

Admiral Bosch posted:

no loving way please post a link about this

also my nuclear war plan is to kill myself

Just make sure you set up some cool environmental storytelling before you do it.

# ? Mar 21, 2024 17:20

The Oldest Man: Jul 28, 2003

euphronius posted:

We think sanctioning titanium from Russia would be sanctioning ourselves,�

lol the biggest thunk in the world

i remember when obama was just continuously poo poo-talking russia as a gas station that doesnt make anything anyone wants

what a loving loser

# ? Mar 21, 2024 17:22

Loucks: May 21, 2007; It's incwedibwe easy to suck my own dick.

Raskolnikov38 posted:

because doubling the sides increases the volume by more than 2x. a 2x2x2 cube has a volume of 8 while a 4x4x4 cube has a volume of 64

I hate these stupid problems that rely on ambiguous language to ensure that the jackass posting the question can smirk and tell you you're wrong. "Size" doesn't necessarily imply "volume" even if that's what was meant. Should have just dumped the Oracle into the nearest lake and gone about their business.

In legend though it could well be another example of the theme "The gods are huge assholes," which seems super common.

# ? Mar 21, 2024 17:27

Orange Devil: Oct 1, 2010; Wullie's reign cannae smother the flames o' equality!

Punished Turtle posted:

I really kind of doubt it. It was probably the least erotic half hour of my life. What I learned from it is that if you think you are possible about to become explosively owned in a really dumb way that you will probably just be sort of disassociatively melancholic.

What about the next half hour though?

# ? Mar 21, 2024 17:32

stephenthinkpad: Jan 2, 2020

If you have flat material to build a cube, it's pretty simple to calculate it with volume. For example use wood panels to build a sand bucket cube, and trail and error to a 2nd bigger cube that can carry twice the amount of sand. Now you can measure the size ratio between the first cube and the second cube.

Bad tolerance doesn't matter because your building sized cube will have bad tolerance too.

# ? Mar 21, 2024 17:34

Sadistic Hamster: Jan 1, 2005

Thanks for the replies, I'd never have zeroed in on "surds" being what I was asking about. You're all probably familiar with them but apparently this 7 minute video does a good job of teaching them -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ndU_cCbPAm4

I said I was stupid and I certainly feel it. If it weren't for elon musk proudly displaying his idiocy to the entire world every minute of the day I might have considered deleting my post (not really).

Thanks for the 2x2x2 / 4x4x4 thing. That was a really stupid oversight, in my head I didn't even attribute numbers to anything I was just like double cube hmmm sticks yes. What you have said makes sense, volume etc. Those ancient greeks were certainly on some poo poo... how many cones can fit in a sphere, I don't know why is this important just measure it with something for fucks sake.

# ? Mar 21, 2024 18:27

The Voice of Labor: Apr 8, 2020

Orange Devil posted:

Just make sure you set up some cool environmental storytelling before you do it.

*the vault dweller stumbles upon a shack. inside is a wooden table on top of which is a burnt out candle, an empty wine bottle and two glasses. seated at one end of the table is a human skeleton, at the other end the faded and decayed remains of a waifu pillow*

# ? Mar 21, 2024 19:10

Justin Tyme: Feb 22, 2011

The Greeks developed complex math to sus out a cube twice the size via proofs and logic

The Rus simply used a scale and made the cube out of clay, knowing it's density empirically

# ? Mar 21, 2024 19:20

Orange Devil: Oct 1, 2010; Wullie's reign cannae smother the flames o' equality!

Skeletons last forever and are known for their excellent structural integrity.

# ? Mar 21, 2024 19:21

sullat: Jan 9, 2012

Loucks posted:

I hate these stupid problems that rely on ambiguous language to ensure that the jackass posting the question can smirk and tell you you're wrong. "Size" doesn't necessarily imply "volume" even if that's what was meant. Should have just dumped the Oracle into the nearest lake and gone about their business.

In legend though it could well be another example of the theme "The gods are huge assholes," which seems super common.

It was the gods way of gifting the Greeks with the concept of irrational numbers

# ? Mar 21, 2024 19:31

sullat: Jan 9, 2012

Orange Devil posted:

Skeletons last forever and are known for their excellent structural integrity.

Not once you reach enchantment 6 for wither bones spam

# ? Mar 21, 2024 19:32

fits my needs: Jan 1, 2011; Grimey Drawer

https://x.com/starsandstripes/status/1770862938565279843?s=20

quote:

Sgt. 1st Class Nicholas Nofziger�s love of all things Disney is so strong, his forearm permanently bears the image of Belle in her yellow dress and the Beast in a blue tuxedo jacket as they dance together and fall in love in the 1991 animated movie �Beauty and the Beast.�

He�s also a dedicated soldier and �tenacious� about advancing his career in Army public affairs, which led him to apply for the Army�s Training with Industry program, a highly competitive opportunity for active-duty soldiers to spend a year working in a civilian company and then bring back lessons learned to their peers in the service. In that classic happily-ever-after way that Disney stories go, Nofziger earned a spot in the program as the first soldier to work in the communications office of the Disneyland Resort in Anaheim, Calif.

�It was, first, a really exciting and incredible opportunity to be a part of the program. To add Disney was just the cherry on top,� Nofziger said in an interview last month.

# ? Mar 21, 2024 21:10

Pf. Hikikomoriarty: Feb 15, 2003; RO YNSHO; Slippery Tilde

gradenko_2000 posted:

so if the thing has a volume of 1, the Oracle is looking for a thing with a volume of... 2

the cube root of 2 is [1.25992104989]

[1.25992104989] to the third power is .... 1.99999999998 ... so something like that?

I can imagine why that wouldn't be intuitive to Ancient Greeks who hadn't figured out cube roots and poo poo yet

the ancient greeks thought of numbers as ratios of lengths constructable via compass and straightedge

it is impossible to construct the cube root of 2 this way, not that the ancient greeks could prove that

likewise you can't trisect an arbitrary angle or construct a square and circle with the same area

# ? Mar 21, 2024 21:21

Nothus: Feb 22, 2001; Buglord

�tenacious� about advancing his career in Army public affairs

# ? Mar 21, 2024 21:31

scary ghost dog: Aug 5, 2007

gradenko_2000 posted:

so if the thing has a volume of 1, the Oracle is looking for a thing with a volume of... 2

the cube root of 2 is [1.25992104989]

[1.25992104989] to the third power is .... 1.99999999998 ... so something like that?

I can imagine why that wouldn't be intuitive to Ancient Greeks who hadn't figured out cube roots and poo poo yet

if you think the cube root of 2 isnt intuitive wait until you find out about the square root of 2

# ? Mar 21, 2024 22:02

Votskomit: Jun 26, 2013

Once America loses the ability to use the square root of -1 in equations, they'll lose ww3.

# ? Mar 21, 2024 22:17

Scarabrae: Oct 7, 2002

fits my needs posted:

https://x.com/starsandstripes/status/1770862938565279843?s=20

ffs, its the Buster Bluth army experience

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=0NUoNnX045A&pp=ygUgYnVzdGVyIGJsdXRoIGFybXkgaGFzIGEgaGFsZiBkYXk%3D

# ? Mar 21, 2024 22:32

scary ghost dog: Aug 5, 2007

Votskomit posted:

Once America loses the ability to use the square root of -1 in equations, they'll lose ww3.

i would expect radicals to cause more military problems than they solve

# ? Mar 21, 2024 22:35

Cerebral Bore: Apr 21, 2010; Fun Shoe

Votskomit posted:

Once America loses the ability to use the square root of -1 in equations, they'll lose ww3.

that's unlikely to be a problem as many americans have entirely imaginary math skills

# ? Mar 21, 2024 22:36

Regarde Aduck: Oct 19, 2012; c l o u d k i t t e n; Grimey Drawer

fizziester posted:

�We tend to be short-term-focused and price-focused,�

oh, word?

# ? Mar 21, 2024 22:50

Danann: Aug 4, 2013

https://www.airforcetimes.com/news/your-air-force/2023/04/14/air-force-looks-to-cut-nearly-50-of-tactical-air-control-party-jobs/

quote:

https://www.airforcetimes.com

Air Force looks to cut nearly 50% of tactical air control party jobs

Rachel Cohen

6 - 7 minutes

The Air Force is set to shrink its elite corps of tactical air control party airmen by nearly half over the next three years, Air Force Times has learned.

Downsizing the cohort is among the Air Force’s latest steps to pivot toward the Indo-Pacific after 20 years of more traditional air-ground wars in the Middle East.

TACPs deploy with Army and special operations units and act as liaisons between forces on the ground and those overhead. Cutting those airmen would significantly limit the number of officers and enlisted airmen who are trained as battlefield scouts to plan attacks and call in airstrikes on the front lines.

There are now around 3,700 slots for officers, enlisted airmen and civilians in the TACP workforce, Air Force spokesperson Maj. Patrick Gargan said Monday. If approved by Congress as part of the Pentagon’s annual budget requests, that would fall to around 2,130 positions by 2025 — a 44% cut.

“The Department of the Air Force continues to work hard to create a force of airmen and [Space Force] guardians with the right mix of skills to meet the mission requirements today and address future pacing challenges,” Gargan said. “We’ll continue to manage our personnel programs thoughtfully and deliberately, recognizing that people are our most valuable resource.”

Still, the service argues that the field command-and-control skills TACPs offer will “become even more imperative” in competition with other world powers like Russia and China.

Most active duty TACPs are part of air support operations squadrons that fall under the 93rd Air Ground Operations Wing at Moody Air Force Base, Georgia; and the 435th AGOW at Ramstein Air Base in Germany. The Air National Guard employs TACPs as well.

The Air Force is considering whether to consolidate TACPs at two locations within Air Combat Command, which manages airmen in fields like fighter jet operations and intelligence collection everywhere except for the Indo-Pacific and Europe.

That would provide “a larger pool of combat capability in support of Joint Force requirements,” Gargan said.

TACPs who report to Pacific Air Forces and U.S. Air Forces in Europe would not be affected.

Around 80% of TACP jobs are filled at any given time, so the Air Force will try to eliminate the 20% of unfilled jobs first, Gargan said. Airmen whose jobs are no longer funded can stay in the position for up to two years as needs dictate.

“Currently, there are no plans to retrain TACPs to other career fields in light of the manning reduction, but the Air Force is opening opportunities for those that would prefer to pursue other careers,” Gargan said.

The Air Force is shrinking its workforce overall to repurpose funds for higher priorities as it gets rid of hundreds of outdated aircraft.

Among those airframes is the A-10C Thunderbolt II attack plane, or “Warthog,” with which TACPs work closely to protect soldiers and other ground troops in combat. The Air Force wants to dump all of those planes by 2029 and use F-35 Lightning II fighter jets for the close air support mission instead.

Troops in Contact, an advocacy group for the close air support community, opposes the Air Force’s plan to retire the Warthogs, arguing that the changes will “cost lives” and “risks losing battles.”

“Ground troops would be supported, if at all, by [close air support] amateurs in a small, expensive fleet of fragile aircraft that are far less effective,” the group said on its website.

Air Force Special Operations Command and Air Combat Command, which oversees TACPs, have started to rethink the role of their airmen in competition with world powers. Troops in Contact argues a robust group of TACPs would still be relevant in conflicts with Russia or China.

“Europe’s low weather and missile threats drive low-altitude standoff tactics that a team of well-trained TACPs and A-10s were built for,” the group said. “A 50% cut in TACPs will mean no support below the brigade level. Coordination with ground forces will be abysmal.”

In the Indo-Pacific, the group added, TACPs would be “invaluable” to soldiers and Marines as they secure island territory.

“A properly manned TACP force can provide critical [communication] nodes forward,” the group said. “This not only increases the survivability of … fighters and bombers, but it provides CAS expertise and island defense in a theater that will need it.”

Special operations leaders have said those airmen will likely play a larger role in so-called “non-kinetic” missions like cyber and psychological offensives as the nature of war evolves.

The special operations community is focusing more on how their airmen can shape conditions so that the U.S. has an easier time executing its missions, Col. Nathan Colunga, head of the Special Warfare Training Wing at Joint Base San Antonio, Texas, told Air Force Times in an exclusive interview earlier this year.

“Do I need folks kicking doors and calling in strikes over here? Not necessarily,” he said. “What we actually need is a bit more connection with our partners and allies, helping to enable them in the things that they need, and less of us doing — more of us helping, teaching and shaping.”

Rachel Cohen is the editor of Air Force Times. She joined the publication as its senior reporter in March 2021. Her work has appeared in the Washington Post, the Frederick News-Post (Md.), Air and Space Forces Magazine, Inside Defense, Inside Health Policy and elsewhere.

The Air Force is deciding they don't need more people who would affect the ground war.

# ? Mar 21, 2024 23:05

Stairmaster: Jun 8, 2012

I like how they describe americas COIN conflicts as "traditional ground war"

# ? Mar 21, 2024 23:07

Adbot: ADBOT LOVES YOU

# ? May 25, 2024 13:46

VoicesCanBe: Jul 1, 2023; "Cóż, wygląda na to, że zostaliśmy łaskawie oszczędzeni trudu decydowania o własnym losie. Jakże uprzejme z ich strony, że przearanżowali Europę bez kłopotu naszego zdania!"

OhFunny posted:

Yemen’s Houthis Tell China, Russia Their Ships Won’t Be Targeted

The Americans sent a naval fleet. The Russians (and Chinese) sent a diplomat.

Lmao

# ? Mar 21, 2024 23:14

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > C-SPAM > The US will lose WW3

«‹›604 »