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Has Achieved Nirvana |
Not a bad idea to get a short stack of 20s out of the bank. It’s not inconceivable that Russia targets payment networks or banks. Might fill your tank while you’re out. Hopefully all for naught, but I remember the blackout of 2003 in NYC. ATMs didn’t work and stores couldn’t process cards.
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| "I've got morons on my team." Mitt Romney Minor Deity  |
Could be far worse than a few cyber attacks shortly. The US has seemingly just green-lighted transferring jets from NATO arsenals (Poland, for instance) to Ukraine. We would then backfill Poland's needs with new equipment. The problem, of course, is how you ensure that the Russians don't simply wait for the new Ukrainian jets to fly back into Ukrainian airspace before engaging them and destroying all of them. Do we plan to allow Ukraine to fly combat missions from Polish airfields, returning to rearm and re-fly at will? That would be a big risky bet that Russian wouldn't launch lots of missiles directly at these Polish airbases. I'm beginning to smell the one-step-after-another sequence that ultimately turns into one huge misstep. A misstep right into World War Three in Europe. Blinken Green Lights Sending Jets | |||
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Has Achieved Nirvana |
We did the bank thing a few weeks ago. Probably should top off the cars, though we really don't drive very far these days. I'm actually more concerned about the grid.
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| Has Achieved Nirvana |
Sure there are lots of other concerns but few are actionable by people like us. I guess you could get a generator if you don’t have one.
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| Has Achieved Nirvana |
We have one. Also a manual transfer switch so we can power the essentials in the house without too much trouble. Ours runs only on gasoline (not one of the newer models that are dual or triple fuel), which could be problematic if power outages are widespread and you can't buy more gas. edit: And of course a million other things can go wrong, like no water. If they want to hit us, they will.
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| Has Achieved Nirvana |
I read there’s something like 70 MIGs in NATO arsenal. Ukrainians already know how to fly and fix them. NATO can be backfilled with US technology. I’m surprised this didn’t happen weeks ago.
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| "I've got morons on my team." Mitt Romney Minor Deity |
Weeks ago would have been fine. I don't see how it can happen now without Russia potentially taking it as tantamount to a war declaration. | |||
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| Has Achieved Nirvana |
There’s so much precedent for the US and Russia to arm each other’s enemies. From Central America to the Middle East. It was never treated as an act of war.
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| "I've got morons on my team." Mitt Romney Minor Deity |
How do you get the planes into Ukraine? How do you keep them from being blown to bits the moment they cross into Ukraine from, say, Poland? How do you use them if a few actually manage to land at a Ukrainian airbase and the Russians then blast the base with missiles and airstrikes? I'm not seeing how this actually works short of NATO protection of Ukrainian airspace, or allowing the Ukrainian pilots to fly missions using NATO airbases. Tell me how this works. It's a lot easier to ship stinger missiles to the border in a truck where they can be offloaded in the dark at 2:00 A.M. for quick disbursement to the front. | |||
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Has Achieved Nirvana |
If you engage a Ukranian jet, you should expect the Ukranian jet to fire back. This isn't, as they say, rocket science. Attacking a base in Poland before warning Poland to stop letting Ukranian jets take off from there would be a major escalation. It's not as if Poland would be allowing the Ukranian jets to fly missions from there (although maybe that's coming). It's just a transport and refueling stop. One-time only. More generally, it's beginning to look to me as if Russia is engaged in a war of attrition. I have read that they'd need a minimum of 100,000 troops (including backup for R&R leave) to maintain occupation of Ukraine indefinitely. And they'd be sitting ducks for guerilla warfare. I don't imagine that the Russians will be better at fighting an insurgency than we were. And then there's the reaction back home, especially when any returning troops tell their stories. Putin's endgame is really a bit of a mystery here. | |||
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| Has Achieved Nirvana |
From what I have read, which is all any of us have, Russia does not yet control Ukraine's airspace. | |||
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| Has Achieved Nirvana |
A thread worth reading on whether Putin might use tactical nukes (I have read that Russia outnumbers us on those), and what the response might be. https://twitter.com/wellerstei.../1500660695804825603 | |||
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| Has Achieved Nirvana |
Interesting. Thanks for posting it. More on whether Putin is rational. https://twitter.com/andreivkoz...610676926005251?s=21
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| Has Achieved Nirvana |
From the NYT today:
No idea what they are using for a base. Maybe somewhere near Lviv? | |||
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Minor Deity |
And especially when they come home telling tales of torturing and killing people who are just like them culturally and genetically.
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