poesel

I think that is actually from Dilbert
 
Elbonia | Dilbert Wiki | Fandom
Elbonia is an impoverished Eastern European country in the Dilbert universe. In the comic strip, and originally in the TV show, its major commerce was mud. There are also mentions of a currency called the Eye-Crud. Path-E-Tech Management often outsources work there, and has a factory for their subsidiary ElboCo. 

https://www.google.com/maps/@47.1840834,33.7635943,3a,60y,21.09h,83.65t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1so5fdfTM3TMWWoR08UNG79Q!2e0!7i13312!8i6656!5m1!1e4
(view towards Dudchany)
That's not a bridge. Looks more like an earthen dam (what's the English word?). Can still be blown up, but likely much easier to repair than a bridge.
Also looks not too difficult to circumvent.
I guess that won't hold the UAF up for much.

Causeway?

Could be:
1) gun/barrel failure
2) ammo failure
3) fuze failure
 
If it was gun/barrel, then the rest of the battery and battalion urgently need to be checked since they've probably all fired about the same number of rounds. It could mean a battalion out of action for a week or so while they're checked and returned.
If it was ammo or fuze, that's a whole different level of hurt, since the lot and batch will have to be found and checked, and they could be anywhere. That could mean most of the NATO calibre guns out of action for a while.
A small group of staff officers are probably having the worst day of their lives right now, trying to rapidly identify cause, and issuing appropriate corrective actions.

My take on the sabotage of the NS pipelines is that it is a test from Russia to see how far it can go. The 'boil the frog' thing we have talked about already.
The NS pipelines are important, but they aren't now because the gas isn't flowing anyway. The pipelines were damaged on NATO soil, but not anywhere visible enough for an article 5. The pipelines were also deliberately damaged on Swedish grounds - a NATO candidate - to send a message to them.
I guess that Russia is testing how far it can go with damaging infrastructure and what the repercussions are.
Edit: just read it was just outside of Denmark & Sweden. So one level down but still a message.

Enough said about washing machines. 
 

Of interest (read full thread): 
I think the premise of this thread is pretty solid. Putin, amidst miscalculating everything else, went to the CTSO expecting to hear about how China was going to help him. Instead, he realized they saw him as an anvil to be cut loose. He panicked and escalated. That was also the week that CTSO states started fighting each other and began the process of throwing off Russian treaty entanglements. It's absolutely logical this would have sent him into a tailspin. So...the long war he thought he could win with China's help now must be wrapped up before the Russian public  has had enough and/or before Ukraine takes it all back. The nuclear threats...and hesitation to use them in fear of China's reaction...all make sense. 
Interview at Deutsch Well here: https://www.dw.com/en/former-adviser-sees-influence-by-chinese-president-xi-jinping-in-putins-recent-decisions/a-63217909
 

A friend from Krivoy Rog says that they have already repaired it, there is no flooding

Psychologically difficult decision to abandon Lyman was taken. Borova and everything to the north is much easier to abandon. So, most likely it will be abandoned in short period of time and RU most likely will retreat to defenses in front of Svatove 
 
Last news I remember UKR were fixing it.

All quite in the west? What's up with Kherson? Aren't the Russians not cut off for weeks now, and shouldn't they be starving (of ammo at least)?
I understand that Russia has its best troops there, but without supply...? So - are they getting somehow supplied, or is Ukraine holding back for some reason?

This is a hard watch....

I can't speak for Japan. For Germany I think especially some US forum members seem to misunderstand the role the Allies played in bringing about the change in German culture.
To start with, I'm not sure how much of a cultural change there actually was between, say, 1930 to 1960. The Nazis were not elected because Germans believed in all this aryan superiority nonsense or were convinced of the need for war for Lebensraum. They were elected because Germany was among the countries hit hardest by the worldwide economic crisis and had stopped trusting in the democratic system that was known for petty power squabbles and being unable to keep public order. Under the Nazis the economical situation improved, there was work for everyone, people could even go on vacations. Some lost territory was "reintregated" ... as some historian put it: had Hitler died in mid '39 he'd be counted among the greatest German leaders today. Still, there was no enthusiasm for war whatsoever at that time. Also the society was not nearly as "nazified" as Hollywood wants to make us believe. On the countryside it was still pretty much the church who ruled daily life. There was antisemitism, yes, but only up to a point. Public violence was still frowned upon (well, don't look, don't tell and all). In short, the hardcore nazis were more of a minority, most were chameleons, conformists, people who adapted to the system and were most interested in living their lives without being bothered. Don't get me wrong, many thought that Hitler had some good points. Antisemitism and some sense of superiority was common sense at the at the time and the Germans hadn't forgotten the Versailles contracts and the humiliation. Of course after the victory over France many held Hitler high regard. But they were not hardcore ideological Nazis.
Having survived the war and the chaos in the years directly after, the Germans wanted to just get on with their lives.
Denazification didn't really happen, at least not by the Allies. The Nuremberg trials did make sure that noone could say afterwards he didn't know. While they were a powerful sign that regimes could be held accountable for their deeds, it also gave the common German a bunch of scapegoats. Denazification among the common population was effectively rather symbolic. Most importantly the whole civil service was left largely untouched - our third chancellor, Kiesinger, had been a somewhat higher ranking Nazi. At least that quickly enabled a functioning state (compare to Iraq...). The civil servants functioned in the new system just as well as in the old system.
Generally, people knew of the war and what had happened at that time (although many claimed otherwise). But it was not spoken about. Former Nazis rarely ended in court because most of the judges had already been judges under the Nazis. And because the Germans didn't want to be reminded of the time and their deeds, people who tried were generally being frowned upon or even seen as traitors.
This really only changed with the next generation who suddenly demanded to know what their parents had done. That is what brought about a slow(!) change in culture.
What was vastly more important than denazification was what became known as the economic miracle. The Germans profited from the new system, their lives became objectively better. This is also where the US come into play: The Marshall plan, while strictly speaking did not do that much in reality (in the and it was all paid for by Germany), was brilliant because those signs everywhere "built with the help of the Marshall plan" connected the new good life with the Allies and the West in general. Then there was France (under de Gaulle) who extended their hands in friendship, the Queen came for a visit and all that. And then of course we discovered that we can just go on vacations if we want to see other countries 😉

I'd like to repeat: 'the' Germans were not denazified after WWII. Some heads were chopped off, some went into prison. But for the great majority, it was 'don't ask, don't tell'. Or a bit more precise: 'shut up in public'.
The prospect of prosperity and freedom (in this order) enabled the following generations to lose that mindset. Adults do not change their mind (a lot), you have to wait until they die for their ideas to die with them.
Russia lacks any positive democratic experience, so I guess that process takes longer than in Germany. That is, if it ever starts...
If you try to speed that up by shooting the people with the wrong mindset en masse, you only make their children angry and the process doesn't start at all. It is quite infuriating, but nothing but patience and time does work (IMHO).
Btw. same goes for the other side, too. I mean those who seek revenge (rightfully, no doubt). But some injuries can't be mended, ever. The hate only dies with the person.
It's a small miracle that France & Germany stopped shooting at each other for long enough so that nobody alive holds a grudge (at least not enough to start a war).
Sorry, sounds a bit morbid that my solution is just to wait until everybody dies.
And no rule without exemptions: the Balkans and Israel/Palestine. These guys can hold grudges over hundreds or thousands of years. So let's hope Russia doesn't join that club.

It's like the Vietnamese who had to surrender to Dr. Manhattan personally...

It's like the Vietnamese who had to surrender to Dr. Manhattan personally...

I'd like to repeat: 'the' Germans were not denazified after WWII. Some heads were chopped off, some went into prison. But for the great majority, it was 'don't ask, don't tell'. Or a bit more precise: 'shut up in public'.
The prospect of prosperity and freedom (in this order) enabled the following generations to lose that mindset. Adults do not change their mind (a lot), you have to wait until they die for their ideas to die with them.
Russia lacks any positive democratic experience, so I guess that process takes longer than in Germany. That is, if it ever starts...
If you try to speed that up by shooting the people with the wrong mindset en masse, you only make their children angry and the process doesn't start at all. It is quite infuriating, but nothing but patience and time does work (IMHO).
Btw. same goes for the other side, too. I mean those who seek revenge (rightfully, no doubt). But some injuries can't be mended, ever. The hate only dies with the person.
It's a small miracle that France & Germany stopped shooting at each other for long enough so that nobody alive holds a grudge (at least not enough to start a war).
Sorry, sounds a bit morbid that my solution is just to wait until everybody dies.
And no rule without exemptions: the Balkans and Israel/Palestine. These guys can hold grudges over hundreds or thousands of years. So let's hope Russia doesn't join that club.

I'd like to repeat: 'the' Germans were not denazified after WWII. Some heads were chopped off, some went into prison. But for the great majority, it was 'don't ask, don't tell'. Or a bit more precise: 'shut up in public'.
The prospect of prosperity and freedom (in this order) enabled the following generations to lose that mindset. Adults do not change their mind (a lot), you have to wait until they die for their ideas to die with them.
Russia lacks any positive democratic experience, so I guess that process takes longer than in Germany. That is, if it ever starts...
If you try to speed that up by shooting the people with the wrong mindset en masse, you only make their children angry and the process doesn't start at all. It is quite infuriating, but nothing but patience and time does work (IMHO).
Btw. same goes for the other side, too. I mean those who seek revenge (rightfully, no doubt). But some injuries can't be mended, ever. The hate only dies with the person.
It's a small miracle that France & Germany stopped shooting at each other for long enough so that nobody alive holds a grudge (at least not enough to start a war).
Sorry, sounds a bit morbid that my solution is just to wait until everybody dies.
And no rule without exemptions: the Balkans and Israel/Palestine. These guys can hold grudges over hundreds or thousands of years. So let's hope Russia doesn't join that club.

My take on the sabotage of the NS pipelines is that it is a test from Russia to see how far it can go. The 'boil the frog' thing we have talked about already.
The NS pipelines are important, but they aren't now because the gas isn't flowing anyway. The pipelines were damaged on NATO soil, but not anywhere visible enough for an article 5. The pipelines were also deliberately damaged on Swedish grounds - a NATO candidate - to send a message to them.
I guess that Russia is testing how far it can go with damaging infrastructure and what the repercussions are.
Edit: just read it was just outside of Denmark & Sweden. So one level down but still a message.

No, but when a German hears words like "war", "army", "gun", etc. he gets very different mental images than an American does.

I am going to ignore most of your rant, frankly if anyone were to push that kind of hatred towards any other group they would get tossed off this forum pretty quickly; however, we live in odd times.  
The Russian military and political system are responsible for this war.  I have no doubt some of the population does as well; however to blame an entire people - who you don’t recognize as a people, yet point to them as an evil homogeneous empire that has been a threat for hundreds of years - down to many who have nothing to do with this or actively opposed it, nor had a say in it because Russia lacks a democratic system, is wrong on so many levels.
If in your fractured Russian scenario - the one you are promoting, and I notice no denial of you promoting cultural genocide either btw- Russian elderly, women and children show up on on your borders in a humanitarian crisis I expect you and your nation to be better than the a$$holes we are currently supporting your nation against.  If you cannot do that - and for the record I really do not believe you represent your nation - then why are we even bothering with this whole war?  If a post-war Ukraine is suppressing democracy in re-taken regions, actively supporting civil strife in former Russian fragments (which would have to be in your plan), and let potentially thousands of people die because of their ethnicity (oh wait Russian isn’t a thing, so, how will you tell who to keep out) - the what the hell are we defending here?
If we wanted a brutal regime in Ukraine to ignore human rights and suppress freedoms based on pseudo-ethnicity then why we didn’t we just sit back and let Russia take the damn place?
I stand with Ukraine in this war, but I do not stand with you on this.  We want a Ukraine with a fully functional democracy for all its citizens, a Ukraine that recognizes and operates under international law and respects human rights, regardless of who is suffering.  That is the Ukraine that gets into NATO/EU - with Hungarian arm twisting if need be.  That is the Ukraine we invest hundreds of billions in reconstruction. That is the Ukraine we support and enforce Russian accountability for.
Not whatever nightmare you are selling here.

You mean Currywurst? Don't insult the Currywurst or we two have a problem!
Btw, goes extremely well together with a Pilsbier - which you might know of.
And navy - yes. Underfunded for nearly 30 years, it has been shrunk to uselessness.
There is a very long list of problems, but the root cause is that no one wanted to have an army because it was seen as a useless waste of money after the Cold War was over. We are surrounded by friends, why do we need weapons? And projecting military power into others lands was (and is) seen as militaristic, imperialistic, historically inappropriate and generally a bad idea.
And this: you, dear reader, may live in a country where you are proud of your army. We are not.

You mean Currywurst? Don't insult the Currywurst or we two have a problem!
Btw, goes extremely well together with a Pilsbier - which you might know of.
And navy - yes. Underfunded for nearly 30 years, it has been shrunk to uselessness.
There is a very long list of problems, but the root cause is that no one wanted to have an army because it was seen as a useless waste of money after the Cold War was over. We are surrounded by friends, why do we need weapons? And projecting military power into others lands was (and is) seen as militaristic, imperialistic, historically inappropriate and generally a bad idea.
And this: you, dear reader, may live in a country where you are proud of your army. We are not.

Also, one point about Germany that hasn't been mentioned yet: Scholz party (SPD) has its supporters more in older people. Many of them do still remember WWII or its immediate aftermath. It also has many people from the peace movement.
In about two weeks, there is a regional vote in Lower Saxony. SPD will lose some points, but is still posed to win this election. Scholz would be quite stupid to do any risky decisions before this vote is through. After that, with well filled gas tanks, maybe.

Markets also factor in future possibilities. The short spike in gas prices was the squashed hope that gas would flow through NS 1/2 sometime in the future.
Why not? Send a handful and that discussion is through. Ukraine wouldn't even have to use them.
As for Germany, I can say with some certainty that it won't block Ukraine's acceptance into NATO. Blocking that would be _very_ unpopular. TBH we won't be the first of course...
This. Before February 22 it was simply unthinkable that we would send weapons. Discussions about weapons or the military would immediately propel you in the nut job or Nazi corner. An absolute non-starter on parties.
This war has changed Germany a _LOT_!
Still far from the 'normal' that other countries have with their relation to their own army or how to go about sending your troops (or weapons) somewhere. All this is still so alien to the general populace.

Markets also factor in future possibilities. The short spike in gas prices was the squashed hope that gas would flow through NS 1/2 sometime in the future.
Why not? Send a handful and that discussion is through. Ukraine wouldn't even have to use them.
As for Germany, I can say with some certainty that it won't block Ukraine's acceptance into NATO. Blocking that would be _very_ unpopular. TBH we won't be the first of course...
This. Before February 22 it was simply unthinkable that we would send weapons. Discussions about weapons or the military would immediately propel you in the nut job or Nazi corner. An absolute non-starter on parties.
This war has changed Germany a _LOT_!
Still far from the 'normal' that other countries have with their relation to their own army or how to go about sending your troops (or weapons) somewhere. All this is still so alien to the general populace.