Turns out, “modern warfare” isn’t as modern as everyone thought. Whatever euphoria the liberation of Kherson created has long ago faded. In the time since, autumn has arrived on the steppe, bringing cold and rain that presages winter, clogging battlefields with increasingly-impassable mud and filling trenches with dingy gray water. Russian missiles and drone attacks have pounded Ukrainian cities with almost-total focus on civilian infrastructure. So far, some 50 percent of Ukraine’s electricity grid has been knocked out, with much of the country now without heat or light as winter sets in. While electricity has been mostly restored to Kyiv, the city has dealt with rolling blackouts for weeks.
I read RUNNING ON EMPTY as a tragic report. Does Putin care that his weaponry is running low, too -- that Russia's economy is sinking below the sewer? Is it that all Putin wants is to destroy Ukraine? I think so. Remember when this war started, I was in favor of 'the no fly zone'. TC was gentle with me. I had a 'nuclear' idea, he said. His report is dry and to the point. I'm thinking of the Ukrainian people. It is not a dry idea. Look at where evil gets us.
😣 I shouldn't post the following to you Fern - it's really tough to watch the clear proof that Putin is intent on nothing less than dessimating Ukraine and it's people - but when Timothy Snyder lays it out, there's no denying.
Mary Pat, TY for this. Did you notice in the Q&A that Snyder says the work of military historians is critical in understanding what is happening in this war. I thought of the several times TC laid out the supply center difficulties of the Russian troops. Snyder says this is a level of understanding which operates independently of other lenses and that we " don't have enough military historians."
The only answer is the elimination of Putin. All else is a bloody nightmare of an endless slog. I know, I know, that's a line never to be crossed or it could happen here. But maybe, just maybe it's the only answer. Keep in mind the multiple attempts to "remove" Hitler. One man....ONE MAN created this nightmare for millions. he does not deserve to exist.
Terrific dissection ( horrible word choice) of the continuing clusterfuck of the human race.I don't know how, but this shit has to end. How many thousands of years have we been tearing ourselves bloody apart over stupid, fucking human arrogance. I'm a fucking liberal and I would love to put a bullet into Hitler, Stalin, Pol Pot, and Bush, Putin. And when you add international relations into the mix it is more depressing.
As you, know each and every fucking day I grow more pessimistic about humans. From wars to genocide to climate change, we are FUBAR.
I'm hopeless. Yeah, every so often we see a story about somebody save a puppy or kitten but it will never, ever wash the blood from our minds and hands.
I'm glad you shared your knowledge. It reminds me of the lyric from "Crazy" by Gnarls Barkley, "I'm crazy, not because I didn't know enough. I knew too much. Does that make me crazy?
You, kind sir have perfect timing: I just finished watching a Q and A with the makers of " Causeway". It's on Apple+ and just a kick in the fucking gut.
Thanks brother. We won't last the century. I think that's a good way to start over.
I agree with you about putting bullets into certain people. I'd add a lot of the MAGAts to that list, and Reagan. We'd be so much better off had he never been president, along with TFG. I still sometimes find myself wishing to wake up on 11/9/16 to find out that Clinton was elected, after all.
We're living at a time when too much history is happening. This isn't as bad as WWII was for the Europeans, and not nearly as bad as the Nazis were for Jews all over Europe. It may not be as bad as the Civil War was for Americans.
And yet, China has seen protests that might signal some movement towards Democracy. And the Ukrainians are fighting like mad to save their country, something we never dreamed would happen last February 25th.
Those Chinese protests have resulted in a government announcement that some of the zero-Covid restrictions will be lifted, including mass involuntary testing. A small result for a large risk, but that's the way things happen. The Chinese government has never "given an inch" before, going back to Tianmen Square and even further.
I'm in full agreement Judy. Never mind the money, think of the lives that would have been saved if someone just had the balls to decorate Red Square with a small crater containing Vladolf Putler's body fluids and internal organs. There have already been opportunities aplenty, the job could even still probably be outsourced. Heck, I reckon Mossad would have some toys they'd like to practice playing with.
I just heard reports that investments in energy savings has been rising 13% globally. In normal times it might not have happened, but NO, we should not thank Putin.
Not only gas, but also gas prices, are explosive. An indication that 'habits are almost another nature', and that a great challenge with global warming is changing our habits.
Thanks for the in depth analysis, TC. Disheartening how war eats up resources that could do some real good. The horror of winter in the Ukraine in the midst of this continuing wave of evil destruction.
Thank you TC; so many important numbers to learn about, and well combined in the context.
Along with Swedish news flashes on the ammunition issue it has been clear that we may be able to produce most parts of ammunition, but the ignition parts are mostly delivered from China! Now we have the conservatives back in power, who once shut down our defense forces, saying they will build them up again. Most decisions were almost unanimous, but the conservatives needed the money to lower taxes for the rich.
Foreign minister Lavrov has unsurprisingly accused the West for being part of the war with deliveries to Ukraine; no mention of the War generation 6, Putin's branding, that Russia has been waging for years on the internet against the West. No vanishing of stockpiles there.
So the great patriotic struggle in Ukraine has now devolved into a shopkeeper's dilemma, unless of course, you are sleeping in the mud and freezing your ass off, or trying to keep your children alive in a freezing basement. There is no justice in any of this, only suffering.
Yeah, basically. A semi-trained workforce could rivet a B-17 together and wire it and such. The technical background of the workforce to assemble a Javelin isn't in the same universe with that.
I read RUNNING ON EMPTY as a tragic report. Does Putin care that his weaponry is running low, too -- that Russia's economy is sinking below the sewer? Is it that all Putin wants is to destroy Ukraine? I think so. Remember when this war started, I was in favor of 'the no fly zone'. TC was gentle with me. I had a 'nuclear' idea, he said. His report is dry and to the point. I'm thinking of the Ukrainian people. It is not a dry idea. Look at where evil gets us.
😣 I shouldn't post the following to you Fern - it's really tough to watch the clear proof that Putin is intent on nothing less than dessimating Ukraine and it's people - but when Timothy Snyder lays it out, there's no denying.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=d_2y2LgTvoI
Mary Pat, TY for this. Did you notice in the Q&A that Snyder says the work of military historians is critical in understanding what is happening in this war. I thought of the several times TC laid out the supply center difficulties of the Russian troops. Snyder says this is a level of understanding which operates independently of other lenses and that we " don't have enough military historians."
Believe me, the competition isn't fierce. But I know all the good ones. :-)
Wow! I missed that. Thank You Carol. And MANY Thanks, TC for your amazing military history expertise!
P.S. Many Thanks to my sister, Joanne, who sends me these sources, makes me view/read them, and quietly fights for democracy in Red County.
Decimating, I mean. Horrid however it is spelled
MaryPat, I knew the truth of this when the war began. It is the deep, dark hole instead of a soul imbedded in them. Dear MaryPat.
Dear Fern. Warm hugs and a box of Kleenex. I am taking more walks and hollering at God and gods to inflict some "natural causes" on the despicables.
You, too, MaryPat. Big warm hug. He's exterminating human beings, animals, plant life...LIFE.
I do love your 'natural causes'. You're priceless!
The only answer is the elimination of Putin. All else is a bloody nightmare of an endless slog. I know, I know, that's a line never to be crossed or it could happen here. But maybe, just maybe it's the only answer. Keep in mind the multiple attempts to "remove" Hitler. One man....ONE MAN created this nightmare for millions. he does not deserve to exist.
I have to admit that when I read this morning of his falling down stairs, I had a moment of hope.
Terrific dissection ( horrible word choice) of the continuing clusterfuck of the human race.I don't know how, but this shit has to end. How many thousands of years have we been tearing ourselves bloody apart over stupid, fucking human arrogance. I'm a fucking liberal and I would love to put a bullet into Hitler, Stalin, Pol Pot, and Bush, Putin. And when you add international relations into the mix it is more depressing.
As you, know each and every fucking day I grow more pessimistic about humans. From wars to genocide to climate change, we are FUBAR.
I'm hopeless. Yeah, every so often we see a story about somebody save a puppy or kitten but it will never, ever wash the blood from our minds and hands.
I'm glad you shared your knowledge. It reminds me of the lyric from "Crazy" by Gnarls Barkley, "I'm crazy, not because I didn't know enough. I knew too much. Does that make me crazy?
You, kind sir have perfect timing: I just finished watching a Q and A with the makers of " Causeway". It's on Apple+ and just a kick in the fucking gut.
Thanks brother. We won't last the century. I think that's a good way to start over.
I, too, know too much, and it has made me crazy. What a song…. Thank you
I agree with you about putting bullets into certain people. I'd add a lot of the MAGAts to that list, and Reagan. We'd be so much better off had he never been president, along with TFG. I still sometimes find myself wishing to wake up on 11/9/16 to find out that Clinton was elected, after all.
We're living at a time when too much history is happening. This isn't as bad as WWII was for the Europeans, and not nearly as bad as the Nazis were for Jews all over Europe. It may not be as bad as the Civil War was for Americans.
And yet, China has seen protests that might signal some movement towards Democracy. And the Ukrainians are fighting like mad to save their country, something we never dreamed would happen last February 25th.
Those Chinese protests have resulted in a government announcement that some of the zero-Covid restrictions will be lifted, including mass involuntary testing. A small result for a large risk, but that's the way things happen. The Chinese government has never "given an inch" before, going back to Tianmen Square and even further.
I hope they keep pushing.
I'm in full agreement Judy. Never mind the money, think of the lives that would have been saved if someone just had the balls to decorate Red Square with a small crater containing Vladolf Putler's body fluids and internal organs. There have already been opportunities aplenty, the job could even still probably be outsourced. Heck, I reckon Mossad would have some toys they'd like to practice playing with.
And that's an understatement.
For me, preserving American democracy is issue #1.
Preserving democracy internationally--including Ukrainian democracy--is issue #2.
In normal times, global warming would be issue #1
I just heard reports that investments in energy savings has been rising 13% globally. In normal times it might not have happened, but NO, we should not thank Putin.
Not only gas, but also gas prices, are explosive. An indication that 'habits are almost another nature', and that a great challenge with global warming is changing our habits.
My state, Massachusetts, has been subsidizing energy saving investments. I just got my house insulated, will be paying about $2000 out of ~$7000.
Thanks TC. Lots of moving parts here. WTF is wrong with Putin.
Thanks for the in depth analysis, TC. Disheartening how war eats up resources that could do some real good. The horror of winter in the Ukraine in the midst of this continuing wave of evil destruction.
Thank you TC; so many important numbers to learn about, and well combined in the context.
Along with Swedish news flashes on the ammunition issue it has been clear that we may be able to produce most parts of ammunition, but the ignition parts are mostly delivered from China! Now we have the conservatives back in power, who once shut down our defense forces, saying they will build them up again. Most decisions were almost unanimous, but the conservatives needed the money to lower taxes for the rich.
Foreign minister Lavrov has unsurprisingly accused the West for being part of the war with deliveries to Ukraine; no mention of the War generation 6, Putin's branding, that Russia has been waging for years on the internet against the West. No vanishing of stockpiles there.
So the great patriotic struggle in Ukraine has now devolved into a shopkeeper's dilemma, unless of course, you are sleeping in the mud and freezing your ass off, or trying to keep your children alive in a freezing basement. There is no justice in any of this, only suffering.
Excellent analysis!
“Look around for the friends I used to turn to, to pull me through, looking into their eyes, I see them running too; running on empty”
Let’s hope Putin runs out first
And how many B-17s did we build a day in the early 1940s?
The technology difference between a Javelin and a B-17 is like the difference between a Model-T and a modern Formula One racer.
Different world, balancing between sticks and stones and nukes, or something like that???
Yeah, basically. A semi-trained workforce could rivet a B-17 together and wire it and such. The technical background of the workforce to assemble a Javelin isn't in the same universe with that.
HALE, how are you feeling?
Are you referring to my statement about the B-17 and when our country worked together or the new hole in my head? 😵💫
Melanoma all gone!
I count on you, TC, I count on you.
I do so hope that President Biden has a military historian close at hand.
Thank you for the analysis.
Slavi Ukraini!
🗽
Dear Fern. Warm hugs and a box of Kleenex. I am taking more walks and hollering at God and gods to inflict some "natural causes" on the despicables.
This is depressing. But thank you for the honesty and clarity.