TheVat

My pants are dull-witted and need constant discipline with a belt, but I think the RTG nuclear battery is pretty handy, for certain niche uses. Depleted U would not be good for this, however, given its very slow decay. Other actinides, like plutonium 238, are suitable. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radioisotope_thermoelectric_generator

Holy mother of fuck what is wrong with these people? https://www.reuters.com/markets/europe/top-wrap-1-europes-largest-nuclear-power-plant-fire-after-russian-attack-mayor-2022-03-04/ BORODYANKA/LVIV, Ukraine, March 4 (Reuters) - The largest nuclear power plant in Europe is on fire following a Russian attack, Ukraine's foreign minister said on Friday, as he called for a security zone and firefighters to be allowed to tackle the incident. A generating unit at the plant has been hit during an attack by Russian troops and part of the station is on fire, RIA news agency cited the Ukrainian atomic energy ministry as saying on Friday. For once, I would be delighted to learn that I was being deceived by fake news and that this is not real!

What is your point here? How is Ukraine situation with the Donbas analogous to that of Kosovo?

Cool. I will agree as far as Biden is not an inspiring orator. And he stumbles verbally when he is tired, which 79 year old men can do. I voted against Trump, and not for putting an elderly man into the world's most stressful and punishing job. It is what it is, as we say here in these Ununited States. Cory Booker or Amy Klobuchar wasn't an option, so I had to vote Joe. He's holding up amazingly well.

Continuing this theater of the absurd interpretation, where a nation that had nukes gave them all up in 1994 (Budapest memorandum), allowed Russian control of the Crimean peninsula, and signed Minsk agreements 1 & 2 to allow some autonomy and self-governing in Donbas areas, and yet we are told that Ukraine and Zelenskyy should really back down more. LoL! Still waiting @mistermack response on what he would do in a home invasion scenario offered by two members, a more comparable situation than the ludicrous bar stool one. Or should I assume he would grovel, lick the marauders boots, and offer up the master bedroom and his nubile daughter for the sake of safety and preserving the china cabinet? ETA -- dismissing a bad analogy isn't dodging it. Obviously, I am not going to risk being shot for a bar stool. Yes, clearly any sane person would give up the stool and likely call the police when at a safe remove. Analogy remains ridiculous, and I understand you will never concede any flaw to it, so have a nice evening and stay out of bars with armed stool thugs.

You need the rest of that first quote, which you seem to have dodged neatly by omitting it. That part contained a more apt analogy which you don't seem to want to address. Come now, how would you respond to a destructive home invasion and kidnapping? @Arete, it seems, would also be interested in your addressing this. Second part, no, my father-in-law was a WWII historian who served in the Pacific theater and had direct knowledge of what happened on Corregidor, so I fear the rubbish is all yours, tovarich.

You understand the Donbas is part of Ukraine, da? And that, given a separatist revolt there, his having troops there to restore order ON UKRAINE TERRITORY would be entirely legitimate as it would be in any sovereign nation. If we have National Guard troops in Minnesota, that doesn't mean we're at war with Canada and they can invade us. I can read enough Russian to see your video is titled, Putin, what do you want? Seems like a good question!

Couple thoughts - one, if you did nothing to provoke the guy in the bar, why would he be pulling a gun on you for a bar stool? This just underscores the silliness of your analogy and how trivial its stakes are compared to the situation in Ukraine, which is more like a home invasion by destructive and homicidal marauders who want to kidnap you and own your house. (ETA: which I see another poster also pointed out) Two, MacArthur had someplace to run off to and try to acquire more troops, which again doesn't parallel too well the Ukrainian situation. Further, MacArthur refused to leave when ordered to, was utterly opposed to leaving his troops on Corregidor, and it took a special direct order from Pres. Roosevelt to get him to comply. And his troops, left behind, were captured and sent on the Bataan Death March, so MacArthur's actions, even had he done them willingly, were not exactly a brilliant falling back that saved everyone. So your analogies are just getting worse, IMO.

I posted a few days ago that that quote would be remembered for many years. (that, and the Snake Island reply to Russian warships, heh heh)

Bad analogy. Ukraine did nothing to attack Russia or promote war. The Ukrainians want to be part of Europe and expressed that, as is their right as a sovereign nation. If they want to join NATO, it's precisely because of Russian past conduct. More like a guy on a barstool gesturing to his friends on the stools west of him, "I'm with these guys. We want to be left alone and not give up our stools. You don't get to take over the whole bar." Zelensky didn't lead his people into war, he represents their wish to be a democracy with beneficial ties to European democracies. If Vladdy doesn't like that westward lean, maybe he should have been more respectful towards Ukraine. Bullying is not a good instrument of foreign relations.

Delete. (Silly, even for me)

I don't get my news from Russian agitprop sites like Southfront. I go with independent organizations that don't answer to shareholders or corporate bosses, like Guardian or AP. In 2014, all independent polling organizations showed Poroshenko with a massive lead. Suggesting the revolution was quite popular. And the landslide real. And that Yanukovich had indeed, as investigations found, rigged his prior election by various means including voter intimidation. I realize it may be pointless, replying to a question coming from someone who thinks Zelenskyy is a giant vagina. (A vagina who also won by a landslide) Posted later: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/mar/03/russia-ukraine-conflict-top-10-war-myths-newsguard Some of the myths (including the supposed CIA managed coup) fact-checked.

Yes. I think some countries decision to join in the sanctions was partly driven by their fears of China and the desire to show Xi what China could face if it moves on Taiwan or other Asian nations. Or Australia. Disagree with your Biden comments, however. He has done a good job bringing the allies together on strong sanctions. His work isn't flashy or dramatic, but it's quite competent.

I can get our cat interested in keyboarding by typing while appearing to be deep in concentration. Now wondering if a decoy keyboard, composed of cheese nips, would help me sustain a longer train of r5nsdrg4(+nekdrjdjs#9$@@*!%

Did someone open a large canister of nuts this week at SFN? Wow.

I've wondered if government funds would be better spent buying out people on low lying land than on dealing with disaster remediation, infrastructure repair, berms, etc. I have had forehead slapping moments as I've watched such neighborhoods in the US furiously at work rebuilding neighborhoods that are just going to face the same nightmare all over again in a few years. Both governments and private insurers need to find ways to discourage this idiocy.

You mean the coup that removed a corrupt Putin puppet and mass murderer, Yanukovich, and replaced it with a functioning democracy in which a new president was elected in a landslide? Yeah, damn those sneaky bastards at the CIA! As for the "she was asking for it" argument, I think Charon and Swanson addressed that pretty well.

I think resisting people handing out DV "tickets" is kind of the opposite of policing. But you do inadvertently make my point, again, which is that an anonymous DV is one which is unclear as to what exactly is being critiqued or disapproved. I don't want to make this a big bone of contention, since I like your posting persona and style at SFN, so I'll just leave it that the anti-DV position is only my own and reflects no ill will towards those who use it. "Mega Twat" seemed pretty overheated, for sure.

Connect the electrodes, Igor! Yes, Dr. Frankenjesus!

Thanks for your frankness. Though I disagree, I cancelled one of your downvotes because I do not object to you having a different interpretation. I don't believe that Zelenskyy affirming a non-NATO stance would have protected his country from invasion. Putin has long held Ukraine to belong to Russia, and when his puppet was removed in 2014 by the Maidan Revolution, he began looking into schemes to restore Ukraine to the empire. I'll leave it there for now.

The sanctions will hit ordinary citizens hard in Russia, a country whose per capita GDP is (IIRC) around that of Romania. A popular uprising seems quite possible now, especially if you add lots of war mortality and the country mired in a "Vietnam" with raw disheartened recruits. And, as @kotipoints out, the prospect of empty stomachs can concentrate the mind wonderfully. My concern is that Putin may not have any sober advisors in the Russian command now, and might respond to a Ukraine "embedded in the brickwork" (great turn of phrase, @String Junky) with carpet bombing and scorched earth. Or worse.

Zelenskyy is a man of courage, leadership, and grace under pressure. I don't say such things about politicians very often. I predict people will be quoting "I need ammunition, I don't need a ride," for many years to come. Хай живе Зеленський!

😂 Where do you stand on an American in missile country (Dakotas) laying in extra canned goods? Pessimist or just covering all the bases? As for a Russian Mark Milley, that's nice to imagine but I really see Putin as surrounded by asslickers. I think that Doomsday clock that the BoAS maintains just ticked closer to midnight.

I've been missing the soothing cheerful hum of germophobic hand-wringing that once came from this thread. Stunted immune systems are proliferating wildly as people refuse to eat floor food and the like. The best course is to take the bottle cap, swirl it around in the cat's litter box, then rinse off in the toilet bowl, then put back on the bottle. You're welcome.