brickhistory

Sooo, WWIII? With lots of nukes for everyone. And that's a good thing? I say again, give the Ukrainians all the weapons and logistics they can handle plus more. Cut off Putin and, especially, his friends from their money outside of Russia, sit back and watch the show. Start shooting as a nation-state and the stakes are raised exponentially. Tell me again, what is our vital national interest in this? I'm not a fan of spending our borrowed treasure and our kids' lives for something that's not our problem. I'm sure not willing to have nukes going off. That will tend to disrupt the twitter feeds... But, I've got ammo and there's lots of game around here, so maybe...

Annnnddd...scene...

How would they stop him?

For those eager for No Fly Zones or pushing Putin into a nuclear corner, just stop. If any nation outside of Ukraine pulls a trigger on anything, that is an act of war. If that's your intent, ok, are you ready for the full monty? Air assets are supremely vulnerable. Pretty easy to make them go boom on the ground. And how long does it take to bring in the combined arms to make a real war happen? Putin, for whatever his reasons, has pushed all in on this. To think he won't pull the nuclear trigger if he loses or is cornered by outside nations is willful ignorance. He's not likely to nuke London or Paris or Berlin, but any target in Ukraine or another none-NATO country is vulnerable. Do you really think the West will respond with a nuke when it's not on them? I don't. Powerful megalomaniacs have a history of going scorched earth when they are cornered whether in a bunker in Berlin, a field in Belgium, or a steppe in Ukraine. Toss the Ukrainians all the weapons and logistics they can use and more. Sanction the sh1t out of Putin and comrades, make it hurt financially to them personally and this can stop. Bleed him out and stack his casualties to the moon. He will be bumped off by his own side. If we turn him into a hero/martyr, we get a lot of that for us. Go full John Wayne and it won't end without a full, abrupt halt. With other non-friendly nations watching and planning accordingly.

There's a run on Canadian banks following Treudeau's dictator move. If only there was a way to think about second and third order effects...

This Administration is a clown show: https://twitchy.com/dougp-3137/2022/02/25/this-is-embarrassing-jen-psaki-tells-peter-doocy-why-u-s-will-continue-to-work-with-putin-in-key-areas/ Hate the political slant of the website if you wish, but the fact is, the White House said it will continue to cooperate with the Russians on "areas of mutual concern." Implying that Ukraine is not. So enough with the "treason" cheap shots. It won't sanction oil/gas revenue streams. Enough with the Biden's a foreign policy wizard. This won't get serious until the Russki keyboard wizards interrupt the re-runs of "Matlock." Meanwhile, have fun getting a loan to fill up your car. break, break: Kill Putin? Sure, why not? Nothing says full-on fight's on like killing the leader of a nation. Of course, you can't be too outraged when someone Hellfire-skis our leaders in that case. But, Putin has laid it all on the line. If he fails, he's literally gonna be gone, as in dead. At 69/70, perhaps he was willing to roll the dice since most of his years are behind him. Go big or go home, if you will. Something to consider in our calculus of this.

When you might lose your F1 ride because your dad's friend starts a war: https://www.espn.com/f1/story/_/id/33368180/haas-decide-nikita-mazepin-uralkali-next-week

I say again, not our fight. This Administration has got to be seen doing "something" for PR purposes, but in practical terms, not so much. Europe, particularly Germany, do not want to get tough with sanctions, especially SWIFT. The jacked up gas prices are already spooking them. If they don't want to stand up to the Bear, why should we? We have our own oil and gas and could sell if certain policies newly enacted were reversed. Screw Vlad getting the band back together. If we act strong economically, we can beat him non-kinectically. In a fight that isn't ours. If we are going to fight, then it damned sure ought to be all in. But will we? Nope. Should we? Nope. But the current clown show of Obama foreign policy II is going to screw the pooch. Of that I am sure. I hope to be wrong. But something will go over the Russian line and we won't realize it, especially if we go cyber. I know we don't talk about it here for obvious reasons, but if we poke vigoursly via electrons, I think we and the West will cry "uncle" before the Russkis. Interesting to hear how this is Trump's fault and the invasion this week is the reason for the rampant inflation of last year. With that kind of time travel at our disposal, this should be an easy win for us...

dec "decertation" or dissertation? I think I begin to understand your post...

Indeed.

I am genuinely shocked and dismayed at the government reactions from governments I considered democratic and more liberal than us. Namely, Australia, New Zealand, and Canada, and somewhat the UK. I simply could not imagine the measures they've implemented at government whim, not population voting. I have always been supportive of the Second Amendment as one area where I can enjoy basic God-given rights, but I begin to understand the Founder's intent in specifically enumerating this right, perhaps.

Oblige him... https://www.skysports.com/f1/news/12433/12544300/michael-masi-replaced-as-f1-race-director-after-fia-review-of-2021-abu-dhabi-gp-finale Verstappen' championship forever has an *.

US power has always flowed from our economic power, including our military power/leadership, especially post-WWII. We are broke-ity-broke. Russia has a genetic fear of being invaded from Europe due to the successive devastating invasions from Europe. It has always wanted/needed buffer room from that and had it post-WWII. The break-up of the USSR took that warm fuzzy away. NATO expansion eastward to Russia-bordering nations was steps too far for Russia (not just Putin). Putin wants his blankie back and has the means, and more importantly, the will to get it. Both economically via gas withholding and by brute force. Old Europe does not. If they don't give a sh1t, why should we? Not our fight, not worth our blood and treasure. Did I mention we are broke and literally can't afford to be global cop anymore? Let someone else be the bad guy and we return to repairing our economy and institutions of liberty in order to become that beacon of hope as we were before. Now, we are largely loathed and/or taken for granted. I say again, not our problem.

Agreed. But Dod's near blanket denial of any religious exceptions was yet another own goal to this bad, possibly illegal IMO, order. DoD took/is taking nearly 10,000 casualty equivalents over a policy, not hard science. In a time when the percentage of eligibles to join is ever decreasing. How many of those 10,000 would recommend joining? How many people that know those 10,000 would recommend or consider joining themselves? Many of us here are 2, 3, or more generations of serving. I wouldn't recommend anyone to enlist or commission. Would you?

Court: Pilot, attendant will suffer under vaccine mandate (msn.com) Air Force can’t compel Christian officer to get Covid shot, judge rules (msn.com)

When people tell or show you who they are, believe them. The appearance was positively giddy about 10,000 self-inflicted subtractions from our military forces

Of which we are STILL kicking out around 10,000 of those troops. Because science... Which is something that the "didn't say it, wasn't me" brigade strongly support.

Selling leave also negates The Man from recalling you from terminal leave and sending you TDY. Ask me how I know...

Uh, wait...I thought this was the trust the experts Administration...

A) Same Washington Post that covered the Russia collusion stories? And how many other anti-Trump stories? But ok... B) I agree that mishandling classified material should be prosecuted. C) I think any Trump investigation regarding having illicitclassified should be investigated and prosecuted with the same level of diligence that former Sen/SecState Clinton received with having dozens of classified e-mails up to and including SAP/STO on her personal home server system. The deliberate destruction of public records, as demanded by the same NARA-related laws, can be discussed later. D) Anyone remember Sandy Berger?

The worst movies I have ever seen have been "Tarzan, the Ape Man," and "The Phantom Thread." Today I add another to the pantheon of film turds: Moonfall. Absolutely horrible. Unrelated, but during the opening credits I notice that some of the executive producers are Chinese as are the studios "in association with." Which explains the inclusion of the Chinese space agency and an out of place Chinese exchange student featured in small, but heroic roles. What a piece of garbage movie. Not worth watching in theater or at home on any service or even having the electrons in your home. I need some whisky...

https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2022/02/03/rnc-cheney-trump/ The Republican National Committee voted overwhelmingly to censure Reps Kinzinger and Cheney. Despite his vociferous words that he speaks "truth to power," he doesn't get to run roughshod over his political party and the institutions of the House. Speaker Pelosi set up the Jan 6 committee. She asked the Republicans to name the members who would be joining said committee. The Minority Leader, McCarthy, named the members he wanted on the committee. Pelosi rejected them. That is not her call on who the opposition puts on bipartisan committees. The Republicans then said no Republicans would be on the committee in that case. So she specifically invited Kinzinger and Cheney to be on the committee, despite the Republican leadership and party A) naming the desired members to said committee and B) boycotting the committee when named members were refused a seat. Hate Trump all you want, but don't expect kudos from your party (and funding) when you give them a middle finger. Kinzinger got gerrymandered out his seat. I still expect a talking skull gig for him - any time you need a "Republican" to say how bad they are, he's on the speed dial. Cheney is likely to lose her primary and this censure clears the way for the RNC to put funds towards her primary challengers. She'll resume being a Beltway Bandit as she's been her entire adult life.

So trust without questioning what our government is saying and doing on this matter? That's a yes or no question. Putting caveats or qualifiers does not change the premise of my question.

If I am reading your post correctly, you are saying "Sure, the government has lied before, and I know it, but this time, it's on the level, so we should implicitly trust it." Fool me once, shame on you. Try to fool me repeatedly, including blatantly political shenangians? GFY, gub'mint. I am old school and believe there should be a vital national interest before we, as a nation, expend blood and treasure on something. There is nothing about Ukraine that meets that bar for me. And if Old Europe can't be unassed to care, why should I? As Biden's former boss once claimed, "We'll lead from behind..."