Vet 0369

I honestly don’t mind that. To me, it means that they’re making an effort to verify truth. I respect that. They also don’t have our CM boys and girls reporting straight from the AOOs.

I’m a bit confused. What exactly does this have to do with what’s going on in Ukraine?

Hey, they needed to save at least some of them for the Red Square Victory Parade.

Look at his history. Every time he started feeling his grip was being weakened by economic or social conditions, he has slapped a neighbor to increase his public standing. I know that coincidence doesn’t equal causation, but it’s a mighty solid trail.

OK, I’ve read just about enough of this that I can stand without commenting. While I completely understand why you feel this way, and not being one of the “boots on the ground” in Ukraine or Russia, have no place to exalt or vilify your comments. This attitude is is a prime example of the vindictiveness that led the “Victors” of WWI to level such severe reparations and conditions on Germany that it caused WWII. 
 Please try to tone it down a bit, or unfortunately, I’ll have to put you on ignore, because I don’t believe in “Stirring the S*#t.” It really is nothing except extreme prejudice of the Russian people, and no peoples anywhere deserve that attitude.

OK, I’ve read just about enough of this that I can stand without commenting. While I completely understand why you feel this way, and not being one of the “boots on the ground” in Ukraine or Russia, have no place to exalt or vilify your comments. This attitude is is a prime example of the vindictiveness that led the “Victors” of WWI to level such severe reparations and conditions on Germany that it caused WWII. 
 Please try to tone it down a bit, or unfortunately, I’ll have to put you on ignore, because I don’t believe in “Stirring the S*#t.” It really is nothing except extreme prejudice of the Russian people, and no peoples anywhere deserve that attitude.

I don’t think “taking” Ukraine was ever the main reason Putin invaded Ukraine, keeping Putin in charge was.

It is very hard to argue with this, under the circumstances. The *Russian people* are ultimately responsible for stopping this unconscionable aggressive war that their leaders have unleashed. If they do not, it is they who will bear the terrible consequences of failure.
[Sigh, I've bit my tongue on this one for a while now. Feel free to kick me out for a bit, @BFCElvis]
....That being said, I feel I must say that, like many others here, I am tired of you using your country's righteous anger as a cloak for beating the drums of anti-Russian bigotry on this board, which you have doing now, for page upon page:
- that Russians as a people are an ignorant easily gulled mob of Mongolized barbarians or bandits, deeply alien, with no indigenous culture
- that they 'live and breathe war', and that their neighbours have received nothing from them for centuries but invasion and rapine.
- Ergo, nothing but violence and treachery can be expected of such people, now and forever.
These are ancient slanders, and within living memory they carry the vile stench of Hilfswillige and gas vans.
(as noted, I have dear personal relationships who are all too familiar with where this kind of thinking leads)
...To take it further, I am a honestly a little suspicious you are presetting the table for the vengeful 'cleansing' of millions of ethnic Russians out of Ukraine once this invasion collapses and is repelled, as it will be.
I have never credited the 'neo Nazi / Banderist / Azov SS' agitprop pushed by Putin et al., nor its '2 headed coin' dog whistle, but it is surely true no side has a monopoly on bigotry, and I regret you are showing it here now.
Your anger towards Russians now is quite understandable, and I hope you are doing your bit for the defence -- but know that such binary Us/Them thinking ultimately undermines and retards the Ukrainian nation, condemning it to remain an 'Okrajina', disputed borderlands. Bloodlands.
Feel free to refute any of the above!
...Finally, in this time of crisis, I suppose the ultimate proof (or refutation) must be: how many ethnic Russian boys and Russian speakers are out there right now, fighting and dying for the blue and gold?
Slava Ukraine!  But keep your wits, remain civilised, and don't lose the peace!

OK, I’ve read just about enough of this that I can stand without commenting. While I completely understand why you feel this way, and not being one of the “boots on the ground” in Ukraine or Russia, have no place to exalt or vilify your comments. This attitude is is a prime example of the vindictiveness that led the “Victors” of WWI to level such severe reparations and conditions on Germany that it caused WWII. 
 Please try to tone it down a bit, or unfortunately, I’ll have to put you on ignore, because I don’t believe in “Stirring the S*#t.” It really is nothing except extreme prejudice of the Russian people, and no peoples anywhere deserve that attitude.

As I was going through militaristic russian social network channels to report and hopefully shutdown - I found that the narrative now shifts towards the following, quoting one example:
"it's now obvious that a special military operation won't be a quick one to even the most stubborn of us - so we must prepare to shift our peaceful economics to a full wartime mode and prepare to mobilize all our resources to bring peace to Ukraine"
So that martial law and possible mobilization rumour looks to be less and less of a rumour

OK, I’ve read just about enough of this that I can stand without commenting. While I completely understand why you feel this way, and not being one of the “boots on the ground” in Ukraine or Russia, have no place to exalt or vilify your comments. This attitude is is a prime example of the vindictiveness that led the “Victors” of WWI to level such severe reparations and conditions on Germany that it caused WWII. 
 Please try to tone it down a bit, or unfortunately, I’ll have to put you on ignore, because I don’t believe in “Stirring the S*#t.” It really is nothing except extreme prejudice of the Russian people, and no peoples anywhere deserve that attitude.

OK, I’ve read just about enough of this that I can stand without commenting. While I completely understand why you feel this way, and not being one of the “boots on the ground” in Ukraine or Russia, have no place to exalt or vilify your comments. This attitude is is a prime example of the vindictiveness that led the “Victors” of WWI to level such severe reparations and conditions on Germany that it caused WWII. 
 Please try to tone it down a bit, or unfortunately, I’ll have to put you on ignore, because I don’t believe in “Stirring the S*#t.” It really is nothing except extreme prejudice of the Russian people, and no peoples anywhere deserve that attitude.

OK, I’ve read just about enough of this that I can stand without commenting. While I completely understand why you feel this way, and not being one of the “boots on the ground” in Ukraine or Russia, have no place to exalt or vilify your comments. This attitude is is a prime example of the vindictiveness that led the “Victors” of WWI to level such severe reparations and conditions on Germany that it caused WWII. 
 Please try to tone it down a bit, or unfortunately, I’ll have to put you on ignore, because I don’t believe in “Stirring the S*#t.” It really is nothing except extreme prejudice of the Russian people, and no peoples anywhere deserve that attitude.

OK, I’ve read just about enough of this that I can stand without commenting. While I completely understand why you feel this way, and not being one of the “boots on the ground” in Ukraine or Russia, have no place to exalt or vilify your comments. This attitude is is a prime example of the vindictiveness that led the “Victors” of WWI to level such severe reparations and conditions on Germany that it caused WWII. 
 Please try to tone it down a bit, or unfortunately, I’ll have to put you on ignore, because I don’t believe in “Stirring the S*#t.” It really is nothing except extreme prejudice of the Russian people, and no peoples anywhere deserve that attitude.

OK, I’ve read just about enough of this that I can stand without commenting. While I completely understand why you feel this way, and not being one of the “boots on the ground” in Ukraine or Russia, have no place to exalt or vilify your comments. This attitude is is a prime example of the vindictiveness that led the “Victors” of WWI to level such severe reparations and conditions on Germany that it caused WWII. 
 Please try to tone it down a bit, or unfortunately, I’ll have to put you on ignore, because I don’t believe in “Stirring the S*#t.” It really is nothing except extreme prejudice of the Russian people, and no peoples anywhere deserve that attitude.

OK, I’ve read just about enough of this that I can stand without commenting. While I completely understand why you feel this way, and not being one of the “boots on the ground” in Ukraine or Russia, have no place to exalt or vilify your comments. This attitude is is a prime example of the vindictiveness that led the “Victors” of WWI to level such severe reparations and conditions on Germany that it caused WWII. 
 Please try to tone it down a bit, or unfortunately, I’ll have to put you on ignore, because I don’t believe in “Stirring the S*#t.” It really is nothing except extreme prejudice of the Russian people, and no peoples anywhere deserve that attitude.

Personally, I don’t agree that he continues to have considerable support. What you are hearing in Oz mainly comes from a media here the demonizes him and his supporters while exulting the other side. He is indeed an egomaniac, and totally out of touch with reality. The problem is that he is in touch with the heart strings of a population of people who feel disenfranchised by the ultra liberal left-leaning politicians giving everything to Noncitizens and minorities, while they see their own being eroded. In the main, these are not bad people, but he is able to mobilize their support with speeches that are taken right out of Mien Kampf. Even his Vice President refused to go along with his ridiculous claims and performed according to his Oath of Office. Everyone has their village idiot. Unfortunately, ours was elected leader. At the same time, both of our major political parties are being controlled by their extremist elements, ad actually, I blame them for plowing the ground that allowed the flowering idiot to get elected.
This should serve as a warning, and an object lesson to all Democracies that have the honor of selecting their own leaders. We might blow it and elect one, but that doesn’t mean it has to happen twice. If it does, they deserve what they get

Probably. Another benefit might be reduction of carbon from producing electricity. You wouldn’t need lights at night because everything would be glowing!

Nothing ever made has been idiot proof! Idiots are too ingenious!

I don’t necessarily agree with this in total. CMBS takes place what, seven years ago? At that time the UKR military still consisted of older Soviet equipment and training, both of which were said to be inferior to the new, more superior equipment and training of the Russian military. Since that time, the Ukraine military has received what we would consider superior training and maintenance of equipment BECAUSE of the Russian invasion of Crimea. That drove the Ukraine to allow training from the West, and ensured better maintenance practices regardless of the bureaucratic corruption that seems to be endemic in the post-Soviet satellite countries. Russia, on the other hand, continued and expanded on the endemic corruption that would have earned a bullet to the back of the head under the Soviets (since the corrupted wern’t part of the Politburo). 

I don’t necessarily agree with this in total. CMBS takes place what, seven years ago? At that time the UKR military still consisted of older Soviet equipment and training, both of which were said to be inferior to the new, more superior equipment and training of the Russian military. Since that time, the Ukraine military has received what we would consider superior training and maintenance of equipment BECAUSE of the Russian invasion of Crimea. That drove the Ukraine to allow training from the West, and ensured better maintenance practices regardless of the bureaucratic corruption that seems to be endemic in the post-Soviet satellite countries. Russia, on the other hand, continued and expanded on the endemic corruption that would have earned a bullet to the back of the head under the Soviets (since the corrupted wern’t part of the Politburo). 

And that makes us among the luckiest individuals in the world; we keep getting older! I celebrate every birthday as a victory.

I see the difference as the following: In the 80’s, western GPS was basically brand new. I got out of the USMC/USMCR in 1982, and never saw a GPS. We did of course trained a lot with 1:25,000/1:24,000 maps. We also used 1:50,000 maps, but we were infantry. In Reforger, you had to be extremely careful that you didn’t get lost and inadvertently cause WW III.
I volunteered to teach Map and Compass , and Land Navigation to my son’s Boy Scout troop in 2015. One of the Scouts, who later became a USMC Officer, asked what use it was because we had GPS by then. I responded by saying “and will you do if a solar flare or a hostile power takes out the GPS constellations? That’s also why the Russians developed GLONASS, so they couldn’t be cutoff from the western GPS.” Maybe corrupt officers or senior NCOs sold parts of the systems and the troops no longer knew how to use a map or compass, or both.

True this, but it might take me a little longer as I’d probably be slipping in my own poop!

LOL, thank you very much! It goes to show how bad the memory of a 17-year old can be in a 72-year old! Hey, I’ll bet I can claim to be single now when I make a stupid or inane statement😁