TheVulture

Dude, good lord.  As Steve has signalled we are getting way off track here but if you are going to take a position…how about some proof before we turn all the way into an INCEL echo chamber?
Here are counter points that took about 10 seconds to find:
https://www.cfr.org/womens-participation-in-global-economy/#
https://www.imf.org/en/News/Articles/2022/09/27/sp092722-ggopinath-kgef-gender-korea
https://eige.europa.eu/newsroom/economic-benefits-gender-equality?language_content_entity=en
As to demographic trend…yeesh been hearing this old song for forty years.  People don’t have fewer children because women get jobs.  They have fewer children because they can’t afford them.  So we are at distribution of wealth.  A living wage.  Social program and a bunch of issues that basically hold a society together.  Immigration (oh let’s light that fuse).  And a bunch of other stuff that really drags this thread sideways.
Move along now.  Nothing to see here.

 

It's modified from from "Life, the Universe and Everything" by Douglas Adams - third part of the Hitchikers Guide to the Galaxy (where a bunch of advertising executives are trying to invent fire in a suddenly stone-age society)

What's interesting is that those that are constantly harping about democracy and freedom being destroyed are the ones actually destroying democracy and freedom, at least in the US.  In 2020 (and coming in 2024) we faced the end of american democracy.  A giant mob of these brainless idiots even attacked and captured the US capital!  First time in over 200 years for that!  And what is said of this on the right?  "oh, was a little dustup!".  And these same people generally think religion should be more in charge in the US, while at the same time constantly harping about the constitution which very clearly says "hell no" to that.  
The enemy of democracy is ignorance and demogogery.  Fox news in the US being the primary source of this.  Fox news viewers have no idea what's actually happening.  It's news & infotainment for people that literally can't handle the truth.  They think the 2020 election was stolen, yet have no evidence other than "some black people were seen.."  (do they even know that Fox CHOSE to settle out of court and pay out ~$750M in a civil suit because of their election lies??)   They think climate change is a hoax despite their own thermometers.  They think Trump didn't didn't do anything wrong while the rest of us have actually seen the indictments and the mountains of damning evidence.  They think Jan 6 was everything except what it actually was -- a mob induced by Trump to try to overthrow the duly elected govt of the US -- it was an atttemped coup.
So western society is not being destroyed by gays or transgenders or atheists.  It's being destroyed by ignorant, nationalist, rage-filled fools who listen to rightwing propaganda to the point where they can't even stitch two thoughts together about reality yet think they are saving america while actively trying to destroy it, through their utter stupidity.

I was going for a more mocking angle to be honest.  Since the dawn of time people - usually old people - have somehow hooked whatever social ills they see onto a crisis.  “Moral decline”, “Hippies”, “Homosexuality”, “Women who can vote”!
Human social systems are naturally a mix of progressiveness and conservatism.  And rarely, if ever, does a war start based solely on whatever social issue means most to you.  We did not start wars because “the church” since the Crusades, possibly the Middle Ages - and even then there was a whole lotta money and power at play.  We sure as hell have never started a war over any of the rest of “damn kids these days” stuff.
The West is not going to fall over the obsolescence of religion or LGBTQ issues, or whatever you are worried about.  Why?  Because it didn’t last time with “women voting”, “civil rights” and “rock and/or roll”.  In fact since those End Times, the West has continued it rise in power and wealth.  
If anything does destroy the West it will be power hungry egomaniacs that leverage all that social angst into something really dangerous.  They aren’t doing it because they really care about our church/mosque/raccoon ratios - they are doing it to take more power.  The dismantling of democracy, social divisions that turn cancerous, deep corruption and greed- this is how empires die.  Not because we decide to stop going to freakin church and start this strange new thing called “meditation”.  

My uninformed speculation is to wonder if the recent spate of friendly fire incidents is due to some new cyber or electronic warfare capability becoming available that's enabling Ukraine to feed dodgy information to Russia AD to encouraging friendly targeting. But that's based on wishful thinking with no evidence to back it up (and if it was true, I[m pretty sure no-one would be talking about it in public anyway)

The fuss, bother and denial that is coming over capital fleets is going to make the tank and helicopter hand wringing look freakin quaint by comparison.
 “A 10 billion dollar ship can be taken out by drones?  Well so can infantry and you don’t see us getting rid of them!”

Same pattern on both sides.  Try big, get hammered…go small.  Have western commentators go “silly [insert side], why are you going small?  Be more manoeuvry!”

One minor bit of good news: a deal via intermediaries in Qatar to return four abducted children from Russia to Ukraine. It is apparently a trial deal in the hope of a much larger scale return of children.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-67121574

I think he's saying that both countries are extremely unlikely to have shared their plans with anyone else (i.e each other) based on those traits.

I think he's saying that both countries are extremely unlikely to have shared their plans with anyone else (i.e each other) based on those traits.

I think he's saying that both countries are extremely unlikely to have shared their plans with anyone else (i.e each other) based on those traits.

I think he's saying that both countries are extremely unlikely to have shared their plans with anyone else (i.e each other) based on those traits.

Particularly Avdiivka is not "strategic offensive", but it shouldn't be considered as something separate and local. 
First. Political reasons. Of course everybody know Putin will win presidental elections in 2024, but Russian authorities critically need any significant success on frontline to boost it in media as confirmation of right startegy of war, which will lead to future victory.
But Russian authorities play dangerous game. There are rumors about conflict between Gerasimov and some generals, who keep Putin in warm bath (or Putin, who want to be in warm bath - no matter). Gerasimov demands immediate mobilization of 300 000 people in order to prepare them for several month, else as if he claims, exists a real risk of catastrophe if UKR troops early of later break through southern front. Because will no reserves to stop them by weakened units. As alternative he offered to withdraw troops to Tokmak to save their capabilities, but this was rejected. So, Russian authotities in front of coming elections can't do both unpopular things - neither to make "a gesture of free will", nor announcing mobilization, because this can rise social unstability and entail additional significant expences. 
So, was choosen the variant of alsmot simultainous offensive operations in four locatins, which if all four are successfull, this can be sold as "4 Putin's strikes" (by analogy with 10 Stalin's strikes) or as "Strategical offensive", "radical fracture of the war" etc.  But if only one of them is successful this also can be sold by TV-propaganda. According to probability theory if you try more, you have more chances to get the desired result.
So these operations are:
- Kupiansk (we retook large railroad node! We revenged Balakliya! )
- Lyman (we liberated heroical town! We threw UKR in Oskol river! We revenged Balakliya!). According to Mashovets Lyman operation can be most complicated in four stages and now we can see the first stage in Makiivka area.
- Avdiivka (we encircled and destroyed southands of banderites in heavy fortified )
- Novomykhailivka (we secure our new railroad which we built from Rostov through Mariupol and Volnovakha) 
And looks like Russian political and military leaders main bet put on Avdiivka. Here should be classical Soviet-style blitzkrieg with artyllery wall of fire, massive airstrikes and bulk attacks of the armor. Avdiivka has open terrain, not so forestry and riverine like Kupiansk and Lyman and more fiercely defended by UKR, then "unpopular" Novomykhailivka, so TV will get nice picture.
Here opinions of around-mulitary TG "Colonel Shuvalov" - Avdiivka was a main bet. 

According to other Russian TG Avdiivla operation had to be finished with full success up to 4th of November - new Russian holiday, actively boostng by state propaganda - "The Day of national unity" (timed to "expelling of Polish intervents from Moscow in 1612). 
Here is Russian forces involved in this operation (by Mashovets). I notice, that Avdiivka operation is not only near the town itself - this is zone from Pisky/Pervomaiske on NW to Krasnohorivka/Novokalynove and N-20 road on the north 
Main forces - 1st Army Corps of DPR of 8th CAA of Southern military district
Additional forces: elements of 150th and 20th MRDs of 8th CAA, 21st motor-rifle brigade of 2nd CAA, Central military district, couple of Territorial Troops regiments 
Total:
Separate motor-rifle brigades - 8
Motor-rifle and tank regiments - 15
Separate rifle regimenys - 11
Separate tank battalion - 1
Separate motor-rifle battalion - 1
Separate rifle battalions - 22
BARS and Shtorm Z units of about battalion size - 3
Reserves:
Separate motor-rifle brigade - 1 (21st motor-rifle, already entered to the battlle north from Krasnohorivka)
motor-rifle regiments - 3
rifle reserve batatlions - 7
BARS - 1
But all this armada has uneven level of personnel and vehicles staffing
 
 

This is really irking me right now.  First we  see the nonsense that Ukraine war & terrorist attacks by Hamas are somehow part of some scheme, which is of course true because .....they are contemporary in time?????
I see idiotic, imbecilic new narrative being built where somehow aid to Israel precludes aid to Ukraine.  Israel already has 10,000X the military power of Hamas.  Maybe they'll need to be back stopped on shells, but not at anything close to the level that UKR goes through.  Could people just use their damn brains and not just swallow these obviously absurd narratives without question?  Jesus, this is infuriating.  It's like watching the pied piper hypnotize children.

Ugh, can we not.  Unless we can see some hard evidence that links these two events, then we are basically in “bio-lab” territory.
A tactical counter offensive in Ukraine somehow linked to the largest terror attack in Israel’s history (might largest since 9/11) is just too much of a stretch with what we do know.  It opens up the door to all sorts of pro-Russian, or pro-Ukrainian conspiracy theories that have no grounding in facts.  

So the US, UK, Germany and Norway have all announced this week military aid with substantial air defence and anti-drone components.  Guess we know what was top priority on Ukraine's wish list at the moment.

Being cynical, a full strength formation has around 300 vehicles. How many a DNPR formation has at this point in the war might be a different matter. Although one would assume they'd be re-stocked to some extent when being thrown in to the main assault of the last few months, but them with Russia, all bets are off: as we've seen, they do things differently there.

Being cynical, a full strength formation has around 300 vehicles. How many a DNPR formation has at this point in the war might be a different matter. Although one would assume they'd be re-stocked to some extent when being thrown in to the main assault of the last few months, but them with Russia, all bets are off: as we've seen, they do things differently there.

So the US, UK, Germany and Norway have all announced this week military aid with substantial air defence and anti-drone components.  Guess we know what was top priority on Ukraine's wish list at the moment.

With the Russian attacks on Avdiivka, I can imagine two main scenarios:
* Russia feels comfortable with their defensive situation around Tokmak so they can afford the forces for the attack
* Russia's position around Tokmak is precarious and this is an attempt to relieve pressure by either faking the idea they have sufficient reserves,  or  Hitler-esque belief in the decisive nature of offensive action to solve problems.
What are the key bits of evidence to look for in the coming days that might indicate one way or the other?

So the US, UK, Germany and Norway have all announced this week military aid with substantial air defence and anti-drone components.  Guess we know what was top priority on Ukraine's wish list at the moment.

The ISW touched on this a few weeks ago ( https://www.understandingwar.org/backgrounder/russian-offensive-campaign-assessment-september-24-2023 )
 

So the US, UK, Germany and Norway have all announced this week military aid with substantial air defence and anti-drone components.  Guess we know what was top priority on Ukraine's wish list at the moment.

So the US, UK, Germany and Norway have all announced this week military aid with substantial air defence and anti-drone components.  Guess we know what was top priority on Ukraine's wish list at the moment.