Ultradave

sadly stories like this are too much the norm.  Look at the fight it took to pass the compensation fund for 9/11 responders.

Unfortunately, this concept isn’t new. My Father was severely injured while in the U.S.M.C. during WWII. His left leg was crushed from the hip to the ankle when a vehicle he was driving rolled over to the left, which threw his leg out and under it. My Grandparents received the telegram “We regret to inform you ….” He spent two years in the hospital, where they get him addicted to Morphine, which he had to kick. The U.S.M.C. discharged him on a medical discharge as a “Ruptured Duck” because his left leg was put back together with rods, pins, plates, and screws, and was 1 and 1/2 inches shorter than his right leg. He continued to work for the rest of his life as a fisherman, lobsterman, automotive body repair, and a Master Plumber. When he tried to get the U.S.M.C. to up his pension from 60 or 70% disabled to 100% disabled, they refused stating that they would up it when he couldn’t work anymore.

Used to subscribe, but won't even read it anymore after their Editorial Board article opining that step one to reducing the deficit is cutting back on veteran's benefits. Nope. 
The gist of their opinion being that veterans are getting partial disability but still able to work. Well, duh. It's not JUST about work. It's about life. What if the partial disability was that they lost a hand or lower arm and can no longer play piano, or they lost almost all of their hearing, or they were a marathon runner and lost a lower leg, or two....  I could go on, but it's about compensation for life altering injuries caused by being sent into combat. Sure, in *all* of those examples, the veteran can work, at some job, even good jobs, maybe even the job they were in before the service. But life overall has become different now, with great loss to the important things in life. It's not *just about work. As a former chief engineer who was our group leader told me once (and one of the smartest guys I ever knew), "You work to live, not live to work." 
Sorry for the off-topic but this is a huge sore spot with me. The WaPo got slaughtered in the comments for that editorial but they did not retract it or comment in any way. Someone pointed out that no one who wrote that garbage ever served. Not surprised.
We return you now to your regular warfare news.
To make an on-topic post, for myself, being essentially a Cold Warrior (although things in the 82d could occasionally get "interesting"), I would have *loved* to have the technology that is available for today's artillery. Watching all the videos of using drones to call and adjust artillery fire. These are real game changers in supporting fire. Imagine the savings in ammunition there has been because of the ability to see the enemy so much better, or to see him AT ALL, even when out of sight of any forward observer. And even at that, both sides burn through artillery ammo at a staggering rate. Coolest thing we had were the very first laser target designators and we thought that was Star Wars level stuff at the time. 
Dave
PS - I subscribe to the NYT and the Times of London, so if anyone wants an article gifted from those, let me know 🙂
 

Used to subscribe, but won't even read it anymore after their Editorial Board article opining that step one to reducing the deficit is cutting back on veteran's benefits. Nope. 
The gist of their opinion being that veterans are getting partial disability but still able to work. Well, duh. It's not JUST about work. It's about life. What if the partial disability was that they lost a hand or lower arm and can no longer play piano, or they lost almost all of their hearing, or they were a marathon runner and lost a lower leg, or two....  I could go on, but it's about compensation for life altering injuries caused by being sent into combat. Sure, in *all* of those examples, the veteran can work, at some job, even good jobs, maybe even the job they were in before the service. But life overall has become different now, with great loss to the important things in life. It's not *just about work. As a former chief engineer who was our group leader told me once (and one of the smartest guys I ever knew), "You work to live, not live to work." 
Sorry for the off-topic but this is a huge sore spot with me. The WaPo got slaughtered in the comments for that editorial but they did not retract it or comment in any way. Someone pointed out that no one who wrote that garbage ever served. Not surprised.
We return you now to your regular warfare news.
To make an on-topic post, for myself, being essentially a Cold Warrior (although things in the 82d could occasionally get "interesting"), I would have *loved* to have the technology that is available for today's artillery. Watching all the videos of using drones to call and adjust artillery fire. These are real game changers in supporting fire. Imagine the savings in ammunition there has been because of the ability to see the enemy so much better, or to see him AT ALL, even when out of sight of any forward observer. And even at that, both sides burn through artillery ammo at a staggering rate. Coolest thing we had were the very first laser target designators and we thought that was Star Wars level stuff at the time. 
Dave
PS - I subscribe to the NYT and the Times of London, so if anyone wants an article gifted from those, let me know 🙂
 

Not bad. But autoloader is critically needed ( 
 

Used to subscribe, but won't even read it anymore after their Editorial Board article opining that step one to reducing the deficit is cutting back on veteran's benefits. Nope. 
The gist of their opinion being that veterans are getting partial disability but still able to work. Well, duh. It's not JUST about work. It's about life. What if the partial disability was that they lost a hand or lower arm and can no longer play piano, or they lost almost all of their hearing, or they were a marathon runner and lost a lower leg, or two....  I could go on, but it's about compensation for life altering injuries caused by being sent into combat. Sure, in *all* of those examples, the veteran can work, at some job, even good jobs, maybe even the job they were in before the service. But life overall has become different now, with great loss to the important things in life. It's not *just about work. As a former chief engineer who was our group leader told me once (and one of the smartest guys I ever knew), "You work to live, not live to work." 
Sorry for the off-topic but this is a huge sore spot with me. The WaPo got slaughtered in the comments for that editorial but they did not retract it or comment in any way. Someone pointed out that no one who wrote that garbage ever served. Not surprised.
We return you now to your regular warfare news.
To make an on-topic post, for myself, being essentially a Cold Warrior (although things in the 82d could occasionally get "interesting"), I would have *loved* to have the technology that is available for today's artillery. Watching all the videos of using drones to call and adjust artillery fire. These are real game changers in supporting fire. Imagine the savings in ammunition there has been because of the ability to see the enemy so much better, or to see him AT ALL, even when out of sight of any forward observer. And even at that, both sides burn through artillery ammo at a staggering rate. Coolest thing we had were the very first laser target designators and we thought that was Star Wars level stuff at the time. 
Dave
PS - I subscribe to the NYT and the Times of London, so if anyone wants an article gifted from those, let me know 🙂
 

Used to subscribe, but won't even read it anymore after their Editorial Board article opining that step one to reducing the deficit is cutting back on veteran's benefits. Nope. 
The gist of their opinion being that veterans are getting partial disability but still able to work. Well, duh. It's not JUST about work. It's about life. What if the partial disability was that they lost a hand or lower arm and can no longer play piano, or they lost almost all of their hearing, or they were a marathon runner and lost a lower leg, or two....  I could go on, but it's about compensation for life altering injuries caused by being sent into combat. Sure, in *all* of those examples, the veteran can work, at some job, even good jobs, maybe even the job they were in before the service. But life overall has become different now, with great loss to the important things in life. It's not *just about work. As a former chief engineer who was our group leader told me once (and one of the smartest guys I ever knew), "You work to live, not live to work." 
Sorry for the off-topic but this is a huge sore spot with me. The WaPo got slaughtered in the comments for that editorial but they did not retract it or comment in any way. Someone pointed out that no one who wrote that garbage ever served. Not surprised.
We return you now to your regular warfare news.
To make an on-topic post, for myself, being essentially a Cold Warrior (although things in the 82d could occasionally get "interesting"), I would have *loved* to have the technology that is available for today's artillery. Watching all the videos of using drones to call and adjust artillery fire. These are real game changers in supporting fire. Imagine the savings in ammunition there has been because of the ability to see the enemy so much better, or to see him AT ALL, even when out of sight of any forward observer. And even at that, both sides burn through artillery ammo at a staggering rate. Coolest thing we had were the very first laser target designators and we thought that was Star Wars level stuff at the time. 
Dave
PS - I subscribe to the NYT and the Times of London, so if anyone wants an article gifted from those, let me know 🙂
 

Used to subscribe, but won't even read it anymore after their Editorial Board article opining that step one to reducing the deficit is cutting back on veteran's benefits. Nope. 
The gist of their opinion being that veterans are getting partial disability but still able to work. Well, duh. It's not JUST about work. It's about life. What if the partial disability was that they lost a hand or lower arm and can no longer play piano, or they lost almost all of their hearing, or they were a marathon runner and lost a lower leg, or two....  I could go on, but it's about compensation for life altering injuries caused by being sent into combat. Sure, in *all* of those examples, the veteran can work, at some job, even good jobs, maybe even the job they were in before the service. But life overall has become different now, with great loss to the important things in life. It's not *just about work. As a former chief engineer who was our group leader told me once (and one of the smartest guys I ever knew), "You work to live, not live to work." 
Sorry for the off-topic but this is a huge sore spot with me. The WaPo got slaughtered in the comments for that editorial but they did not retract it or comment in any way. Someone pointed out that no one who wrote that garbage ever served. Not surprised.
We return you now to your regular warfare news.
To make an on-topic post, for myself, being essentially a Cold Warrior (although things in the 82d could occasionally get "interesting"), I would have *loved* to have the technology that is available for today's artillery. Watching all the videos of using drones to call and adjust artillery fire. These are real game changers in supporting fire. Imagine the savings in ammunition there has been because of the ability to see the enemy so much better, or to see him AT ALL, even when out of sight of any forward observer. And even at that, both sides burn through artillery ammo at a staggering rate. Coolest thing we had were the very first laser target designators and we thought that was Star Wars level stuff at the time. 
Dave
PS - I subscribe to the NYT and the Times of London, so if anyone wants an article gifted from those, let me know 🙂
 

Used to subscribe, but won't even read it anymore after their Editorial Board article opining that step one to reducing the deficit is cutting back on veteran's benefits. Nope. 
The gist of their opinion being that veterans are getting partial disability but still able to work. Well, duh. It's not JUST about work. It's about life. What if the partial disability was that they lost a hand or lower arm and can no longer play piano, or they lost almost all of their hearing, or they were a marathon runner and lost a lower leg, or two....  I could go on, but it's about compensation for life altering injuries caused by being sent into combat. Sure, in *all* of those examples, the veteran can work, at some job, even good jobs, maybe even the job they were in before the service. But life overall has become different now, with great loss to the important things in life. It's not *just about work. As a former chief engineer who was our group leader told me once (and one of the smartest guys I ever knew), "You work to live, not live to work." 
Sorry for the off-topic but this is a huge sore spot with me. The WaPo got slaughtered in the comments for that editorial but they did not retract it or comment in any way. Someone pointed out that no one who wrote that garbage ever served. Not surprised.
We return you now to your regular warfare news.
To make an on-topic post, for myself, being essentially a Cold Warrior (although things in the 82d could occasionally get "interesting"), I would have *loved* to have the technology that is available for today's artillery. Watching all the videos of using drones to call and adjust artillery fire. These are real game changers in supporting fire. Imagine the savings in ammunition there has been because of the ability to see the enemy so much better, or to see him AT ALL, even when out of sight of any forward observer. And even at that, both sides burn through artillery ammo at a staggering rate. Coolest thing we had were the very first laser target designators and we thought that was Star Wars level stuff at the time. 
Dave
PS - I subscribe to the NYT and the Times of London, so if anyone wants an article gifted from those, let me know 🙂
 

Used to subscribe, but won't even read it anymore after their Editorial Board article opining that step one to reducing the deficit is cutting back on veteran's benefits. Nope. 
The gist of their opinion being that veterans are getting partial disability but still able to work. Well, duh. It's not JUST about work. It's about life. What if the partial disability was that they lost a hand or lower arm and can no longer play piano, or they lost almost all of their hearing, or they were a marathon runner and lost a lower leg, or two....  I could go on, but it's about compensation for life altering injuries caused by being sent into combat. Sure, in *all* of those examples, the veteran can work, at some job, even good jobs, maybe even the job they were in before the service. But life overall has become different now, with great loss to the important things in life. It's not *just about work. As a former chief engineer who was our group leader told me once (and one of the smartest guys I ever knew), "You work to live, not live to work." 
Sorry for the off-topic but this is a huge sore spot with me. The WaPo got slaughtered in the comments for that editorial but they did not retract it or comment in any way. Someone pointed out that no one who wrote that garbage ever served. Not surprised.
We return you now to your regular warfare news.
To make an on-topic post, for myself, being essentially a Cold Warrior (although things in the 82d could occasionally get "interesting"), I would have *loved* to have the technology that is available for today's artillery. Watching all the videos of using drones to call and adjust artillery fire. These are real game changers in supporting fire. Imagine the savings in ammunition there has been because of the ability to see the enemy so much better, or to see him AT ALL, even when out of sight of any forward observer. And even at that, both sides burn through artillery ammo at a staggering rate. Coolest thing we had were the very first laser target designators and we thought that was Star Wars level stuff at the time. 
Dave
PS - I subscribe to the NYT and the Times of London, so if anyone wants an article gifted from those, let me know 🙂
 

Speaking as one who lived through the “Red Scare” BS of “Tail Gunner Joe,” and not the history books, the opinions of many that he was right, doesn’t matter. His actions were absolutely wrong, and unconstitutional! The First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution affirms not only freedom of speech, but also the freedom of association. It completely disgusts me when politicians (who swear an oath to “defend the Constitution from all enemies both foreign and domestic), media, and individuals, decide the Constitution applies only to them and their beliefs and positions. The Constitution, and every Amendment to the Constitution must be treated as a whole and applies to everyone EQUALLY whether or not you like what it says, and every part of the Constitution MUST be afforded equal weight, no matter whether you like it or not!
 
I might not like what might result from the conforming to the constitutional requirements, but I must respect them!

That's a scary picture with that Panther out in the open. Those Russian tanks only need one hit to KO the Panthers. They are slow but pack a huge punch. I tried hard to sneak around and watch from cover and hull down. Even then....
Dave

Dave, you are correct. He was knocked out the next turn. Lesson learned. 

That's a scary picture with that Panther out in the open. Those Russian tanks only need one hit to KO the Panthers. They are slow but pack a huge punch. I tried hard to sneak around and watch from cover and hull down. Even then....
Dave

"Follow" command that works in terrain or on roads, and duplicates the waypoints for each following unit so adjustments can be made.

Very true. That will never happen. Not really my thing though, and there are a number of other reasons I've always been a Mac user. You *can* install Parallels Desktop and install CM games in Windows and participate in tournaments that way. I find the experience to be very unsatisfying though. The graphics don't translate over well to Parallels. EVERY other game I have in Windows on Parallels works great - just like you were sitting at a W11 machine, but not CM. Maybe someday.
For @Apache, my new M2 MacBook Pro is amazing. I bought it to replace a 6 year old i5 MBP with screen issues from my dog knocking off my lap and onto the floor several times. Still got $400 trade in for it. 
Flawless transfer of everything from old to new. The M2 is a screamer. Is it expensive - yes, it was pricey, even with the $400, but you have to consider it is a very high end laptop and will last for many years without being outdated.
Dave

When I use CMx2 in Parallels in Windows under MacOS I find it is satisfactory for answering PBEM++ moves. For all other uses including regular PBEM you can run natively of course.
But I don't use an Apple Silicon CPU for Parallels, I have it on a 2019 i9 with 5500 AMD mobility graphic chip (which works flawlessly using the Apple driver, unlike the Windows driver). You can pick up these machines cheap if you want macOS and CMx2.

I wonder if they could get MORE bunched up along the road? They might try but I don't think so. What discipline. 🤦‍♂️ You'd think that if you were going to stop for some period of time - even 20 minutes - you'd disperse all the vehicles. It's not like UKR has never used drones for artillery spotting before. At this point it should be SOP anytime there is a halt.
Hell, we did that when there were no drones and we had air superiority!
Dave

True, we did. And we had the BEST NCOs. I'm sure every trooper and officer would agree. The professional NCO corps is not really a thing in the Russian system.
Dave

I wonder if they could get MORE bunched up along the road? They might try but I don't think so. What discipline. 🤦‍♂️ You'd think that if you were going to stop for some period of time - even 20 minutes - you'd disperse all the vehicles. It's not like UKR has never used drones for artillery spotting before. At this point it should be SOP anytime there is a halt.
Hell, we did that when there were no drones and we had air superiority!
Dave

True, we did. And we had the BEST NCOs. I'm sure every trooper and officer would agree. The professional NCO corps is not really a thing in the Russian system.
Dave

True, we did. And we had the BEST NCOs. I'm sure every trooper and officer would agree. The professional NCO corps is not really a thing in the Russian system.
Dave

Yes, but you trusted everyone not to get drunk or disappear. the second they were out of sight of an officer. I don't think the Russians can make that assumption. And actually they did a little better than most of the Russians we have seen caught on the bullseye, some of them floored it an attempt to be anywhere else when things went boom. That is above average for a mobik.

I wonder if they could get MORE bunched up along the road? They might try but I don't think so. What discipline. 🤦‍♂️ You'd think that if you were going to stop for some period of time - even 20 minutes - you'd disperse all the vehicles. It's not like UKR has never used drones for artillery spotting before. At this point it should be SOP anytime there is a halt.
Hell, we did that when there were no drones and we had air superiority!
Dave

I wonder if they could get MORE bunched up along the road? They might try but I don't think so. What discipline. 🤦‍♂️ You'd think that if you were going to stop for some period of time - even 20 minutes - you'd disperse all the vehicles. It's not like UKR has never used drones for artillery spotting before. At this point it should be SOP anytime there is a halt.
Hell, we did that when there were no drones and we had air superiority!
Dave