quote:

Originally posted by Balzé Halzé:

Let's at least look on the bright side. This war is uniting new lovers who were once worlds apart. It's really quite beautiful.

Step one, adopt a Ukrainian refugee. Step two, ditch the wife and kids almost immediately. Step three, live happily ever after. Love is love after all.

*********

Father-of-two, 29, DUMPS his partner after falling for 22-year-old Ukrainian refugee who came to live with couple to escape the war 

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/ne...-Ukrainian-refugee-c

He ordered uranium ore, and they messed up his order.

If it is not Biden dragging us in it is Ukraine. They are telling the world that the U.S is going to help them sink the Black Sea Fleet with new and advanced missiles.

quote:

Originally posted by oldbill123:
If it is not Biden dragging us in it is Ukraine. They are telling the world that the U.S is going to help them sink the Black Sea Fleet with new and advanced missiles.

Here is an article about that:

U.S. aims to arm Ukraine with advanced anti-ship missiles to fight Russian blockade

https://www.reuters.com/world/...-russian-2022-05-19/

WASHINGTON, May 19 (Reuters) - The White House is working to put advanced anti-ship missiles in the hands of Ukrainian fighters to help defeat Russia's naval blockade, officials said, amid concerns more powerful weapons that could sink Russian warships would intensify the conflict.

Ukraine has made no secret it wants more advanced U.S. capabilities beyond its current inventory of artillery, Javelin and Stinger missiles, and other arms. Kyiv's list, for example, includes missiles that could push the Russian navy away from its Black Sea ports, allowing the restart of shipments of grain and other agricultural products worldwide.

Current and former U.S. officials and congressional sources have cited roadblocks to sending longer range, more powerful weapons to Ukraine that include lengthy training requirements, difficulties maintaining equipment, or concerns U.S. weaponry could be captured by Russian forces, in addition to the fear of escalation. read more

But three U.S. officials and two congressional sources said two types of powerful anti-ship missiles, the Harpoon made by Boeing (BA.N) and the Naval Strike Missile made by Kongsberg (KOG.OL) and Raytheon Technologies (RTX.N) were in active consideration for either direct shipment to Ukraine, or through a transfer from a European ally that has the missiles.

In April, Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy appealed to Portugal to provide the Ukrainian military with Harpoons, which have a range of up to almost 300 km.

But there are several issues keeping Ukraine from receiving the missiles. For one, there is limited availability of platforms to launch Harpoons from shore -- a technically challenging solution according to several officials -- as it is mostly a sea-based missile.

Two U.S. officials said the United States was working on potential solutions that included pulling a launcher off of a U.S. ship. Both missiles cost about $1.5 million per round, according to experts and industry executives.

About 20 Russian Navy vessels, including submarines, are in the Black Sea operational zone, the British defense ministry has said.

Bryan Clark, a naval expert at the Hudson Institute, said 12 to 24 anti-ship missiles like the Harpoon with ranges over 100 km would be enough to threaten Russian ships and could convince Moscow to lift the blockade. "If Putin persists, Ukraine could take out the largest Russian ships, since they have nowhere to hide in the Black Sea," Clark said.

Russia has already suffered losses at sea, notably the sinking of the cruiser Moskva, the flagship of its Black Sea fleet.

WHO GOES FIRST?
A handful of countries would be willing to send Harpoons to Ukraine, the U.S. officials and the congressional sources said. But no one wants to be the first or only nation to do so, fearing reprisals from Russia if a ship is sunk with a Harpoon from their stockpile, the third U.S official said.

That U.S. official said one country is considering being the first to supply the missile to Ukraine. Once that "well stocked" nation commits to sending Harpoons, others might follow, the official said.

The Naval Strike Missile (NSM) can be launched from the Ukrainian coast and has a range of 250 km. It also takes less than 14 days training to operate.

The sources said NSMs were viewed as less logistically difficult than Harpoons, because NATO allies could loan mobile ground launchers which are available, and warheads from Norway.

The first two U.S. officials and the congressional sources said the United States was trying to work out a way for Ukraine to obtain NSM and launchers from European allies.

The congressional sources said another option would be for Norway to donate NSMs to Ukraine, an idea supported by Norwegian members of parliament. The Norwegian Ministry of Defense declined to comment on what additional contributions of arms and defense equipment it may consider offering to Ukraine.

All weapons requests that have U.S. content such as Harpoons and NSMs would have to be approved by the U.S. State Department, which takes guidance from the White House.

Another weapon high on Ukraine's shopping list are Multiple Rocket Launch Systems (MLRS) such as the M270 made by Lockheed Martin (LMT.N) which can strike a target 70 or more kilometers away, a three-fold increase over many of their current howitzer rounds. read more

In recent weeks, the Biden administration decided instead to send M777 towed howitzers which could be deployed faster and shipped in larger quantities, the two U.S. officials said.

The two U.S. officials said the M270 or similar system like the M142 HIMARS would be considered for shipment to Ukraine once Congress passed a $40 billion supplemental funding bill that would authorize an additional $11 billion worth of Presidential Drawdown Authority. That lets the president authorize the transfer of excess weapons from U.S. stocks without congressional approval in response to an emergency.

Probably a dumb Question, why do we announce to the world how much
and what type of weapon systems we send to Ukraine? Is it just to poke the bear?

Sorry to ask but I cant find it through the hundred + pages in this thread but was there a link to a Youtube video of a highly intelligent and realistic political scientist giving a talk at Ft. Benning (?) posted in this thread, including details on Russian aggression current and past, and the global situation in general (e.g. charts about how China's population is in decline and blockading their oil shipments would end them in six months...)

quote:

Originally posted by Balzé Halzé:
Let's at least look on the bright side. This war is uniting new lovers who were once worlds apart. It's really quite beautiful.

Step one, adopt a Ukrainian refugee. Step two, ditch the wife and kids almost immediately. Step three, live happily ever after. Love is love after all.

*********

Father-of-two, 29, DUMPS his partner after falling for 22-year-old Ukrainian refugee who came to live with couple to escape the war 

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/ne...-Ukrainian-refugee-c

Where do I sign up for this program? I'll take two (just in case one is defective).

quote:

Originally posted by Schmelby:
Probably a dumb Question, why do we announce to the world how much
and what type of weapon systems we send to Ukraine? Is it just to poke the bear?

Because we are ruled over by F-ing morons who are lying to us daily while sucking this country into a long term black hole of cost and violence. But what the hell, its only money we don't have, and lives (Russian and Ukrainian) that US politicians don't give a damn about.

The best question I've heard anyone ask of a media type on TV was...."When this is all over, who's going to pay to rebuild Ukraine, given it will be completely destroyed?" Anyone with a functioning brain stem knows the answer to that question.

Came across this video. The comments are great. The next song will be Tanks over troubled Bridges.

quote:

Originally posted by Jimbo Jones:
Sorry to ask but I cant find it through the hundred + pages in this thread but was there a link to a Youtube video of a highly intelligent and realistic political scientist giving a talk at Ft. Benning (?) posted in this thread, including details on Russian aggression current and past, and the global situation in general (e.g. charts about how China's population is in decline and blockading their oil shipments would end them in six months...)

Peter Ziehan, who's a geopolitical analysts, basically he's a more accurate and pragmatic version of the NYT's Thomas Friedman.
Friedman is in NY, is well connected and likes pumping out large books, ergo he's wealthy and is a celebrity amongst the pseudo-intellectual crowd. Zeihan is located in Colorado, has no issues talking to the military and is more realistic and pragmatic.

quote:

Originally posted by bigdeal:

quote:

Originally posted by Balzé Halzé:
Let's at least look on the bright side. This war is uniting new lovers who were once worlds apart. It's really quite beautiful.

Step one, adopt a Ukrainian refugee. Step two, ditch the wife and kids almost immediately. Step three, live happily ever after. Love is love after all.

*********

Father-of-two, 29, DUMPS his partner after falling for 22-year-old Ukrainian refugee who came to live with couple to escape the war 

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/ne...-Ukrainian-refugee-c

Where do I sign up for this program? I'll take two (just in case one is defective).

Maybe there's a 'Ukrainian Refugee' catalog...

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
There are plenty of websites to find attractive women overseas. It is rather pitiful as attractive women compete for the attention of a very unattractive male from the States. There is usually a large age difference between them as well.

quote:

Originally posted by ZSMICHAEL:
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
There are plenty of websites to find attractive women overseas. It is rather pitiful as attractive women compete for the attention of a very unattractive male from the States. There is usually a large age difference between them as well.

Who you callin' "unattractive" pal?

I am sure you are a stud. If the shoe fits ya know

quote:

Originally posted by Schmelby:
Probably a dumb Question, why do we announce to the world how much
and what type of weapon systems we send to Ukraine? Is it just to poke the bear?

"Loose lips sinks ships"

Someone needs to tell these fools in the Government how this works. I think they got it backwards. They think it means;

"Loose lips sinks Russian ships"

quote:

Originally posted by ZSMICHAEL:
I am sure you are a stud. If the shoe fits ya know

Come on, smile a little. Just trying to inject a bit of humor into this bummer of a thread.

Headline in today's on-line WSJ:

‘Biden Says U.S. Would Intervene Militarily if China Invaded Taiwan“

I think that answers part of the original question of this thread…

Thanks!

JB

quote:

Originally posted by corsair:

quote:

Originally posted by Jimbo Jones:
Sorry to ask but I cant find it through the hundred + pages in this thread but was there a link to a Youtube video of a highly intelligent and realistic political scientist giving a talk at Ft. Benning (?) posted in this thread, including details on Russian aggression current and past, and the global situation in general (e.g. charts about how China's population is in decline and blockading their oil shipments would end them in six months...)

Peter Ziehan, who's a geopolitical analysts, basically he's a more accurate and pragmatic version of the NYT's Thomas Friedman.
Friedman is in NY, is well connected and likes pumping out large books, ergo he's wealthy and is a celebrity amongst the pseudo-intellectual crowd. Zeihan is located in Colorado, has no issues talking to the military and is more realistic and pragmatic.

[FLASH_VIDEO]<iframe frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/l0CQsifJrMc" title="YouTube video player" width="560"></iframe>[/FLASH_VIDEO]

quote:

Originally posted by tleddy:
Headline in today's on-line WSJ:

‘Biden Says U.S. Would Intervene Militarily if China Invaded Taiwan“

I think that answers part of the original question of this thread…

But if Russia invades Ukraine, nah.

Biden "Misspeaks" In Vow To Respond Militarily If China Attacks Taiwan, White House Walks Back

https://www.zerohedge.com/geop...china-attacks-taiwan

White House officials walk back on President Biden's remark that the US military would intervene to defend Taiwan in any attack from China — comments that appeared to break from the longstanding US policy of "strategic ambiguity"

Oh my God, what an absolute clown show.