Politics

[mark-hunter]

Maybe this.....unbelievable

Paywall. I cannot open.

 

[Scott CWO]

None of this is true (apart from your military service. Well done.)

Please have a think about where you're getting such misinformation from. It's important to point out false information when it's repeated, so I will. Why haven't the forum members who've Liked your comment put you straight on this?

Ukraine's conscription age is 25 and older. It was 27 until April 2024. Younger folk may volunteer for active service or to just get training.

Ukraine is not using meat-grinder tactics. On the contrary, Ukraine is giving up ground in tactical retreats, to preserve lives and to repeatedly expose Russian soldiers to the risks inherent in assaulting. Hence the exchange ratio. Russia is using meat-wave tactics and has recently been losing between 1000 to 1500 soldiers a day. Russia will soon pass 900,000 casualties. They are sending wounded soldiers on crutches back into battles, with machine guns and drones at their backs.

American taxpayers have spent ~ $116B (and less than Europeans btw). The bulk of this is immediately invested in US military industries, i.e. jobs, materials, with taxes recollected.

Why not take some of your salary and allowances from your deployments (well done) and buy shares in US arms manufacturing companies? Disclaimer - this is not investment advice, particularly given your president's plan to reduce spending on the military by 50%. Instead, go long on life jackets, for when the ice-melt swallows Florida, etc. Sorry, what's that? Trump has cancelled climate change? Really? OK, forget my last.

Was going to like your post but you lost me on your last couple of sentences. The earth’s climate has been changing since it was formed. About 4.6 billion years ago, water first appeared from inside the earth when it was released by volcanic activity. There also were several epochs when the northern icecaps completely disappeared before reforming. There were dinosaurs in what is now the arctic. Even Antarctica lost the majority of its icecap at times. The climate changes and always has changed. If we humans have had a slight impact on warming lately, big Fing deal! The earth has been way, way warmer than we or our next 1000 generations of descendants will ever experience. The green scary hoax has become big business for liberals. I’m all for clean air and water but this “emergency” about warming is nothing but scare tactics. Many species of plants and animals will do BETTER in a warmer climate. Like most things, it’s NOT all bad news but that’s the way it has been spun. Why so many people fall for it is beyond me. There were billions and millions of years in which the earth was way warmer than it is now or will be in even the distant future!! Educate yourself on the different epochs. It’s not hard to. Don’t be a sheep!

 

[Pondoro]

Elon Musk and several US senators (Mike Lee, Thomas Massie) want USA to pull out of NATO..

Comments..?

 

[KJE81]

Elon Musk and several US senators (Mike Lee, Thomas Massie) want USA to pull out of NATO..

Comments..?

That probably means that it is more or less decided, Musk seems to have a very big sway over Trump. Also Trump has been very anti Nato in the past. However there is a law requiring two thirds of approval in the senate for the US to leave. Implemented after Trump I, perhaps it will be hard for them to go around that?

https://www.politico.com/news/2024/11/08/trump-nato-congress-courts-00188426

 

[Scott CWO]

Elon Musk and several US senators (Mike Lee, Thomas Massie) want USA to pull out of NATO..

Comments..?

Stupid!

 

[Neophyte]

Elon Musk and several US senators (Mike Lee, Thomas Massie) want USA to pull out of NATO..

Comments..?

I’m for getting out of NATO and the UN.

 

[Pondoro]

I’m for getting out of NATO and the UN.

I am not surpriced..

 

[Neophyte]

I am not surpriced..

For too long the world has taken advantage of our generosity and sense of fairness.
Solve your own problems and lie in the bed you make.

 

[Pondoro]

USMC in northern Norway last year.. HIMARS truck in the background..

 

[rigbymauser]

Hi rigbymauser. Nice handle.

Sorry, but you’re mixing up two aspects. Yes, men aged 18-60 are banned from leaving the country. This is not conscription. It is to keep the country running, help with the war effort and if appropriate, voluntarily join or be conscripted into the armed services.

Conscription age is 25+.

Thanks.

 

[rigbymauser]

I’m for getting out of NATO and the UN.

If you were an american you ought to sleep during the times you are posting. Are you really an american?…

 

[Neophyte]

If you were an american you ought to sleep during the times you are posting. Are you really an american?…

I am an American.
I work nights so my schedule is whacked.
It’s nice of you to concern yourself with my sleep habits.

 

[Foxi]

Elon Musk and several US senators (Mike Lee, Thomas Massie) want USA to pull out of NATO..

Comments..?

never ever.

Under Trump, NATO will (have to!?) concentrate more on the Pacific than on Europe.
And as long as 31 NATO countries (have to!?) buy the majority of US weapons, they are guaranteed not to go.
These are the big deals he loves so much.
Just my 2 cents.
Europe needs its own nuclear umbrella and a European (transnational) arms industry in the future.
Well, the USA under Trump is destroying what it has (almost 100 years) created itself.
My God, what has happened to the Republicans?
When I think of the halcyon days of Ronald Reagan
Reagan publicly alongside Margret Thatcher on the Falklands War:
“Aggression must not be rewarded”.
Strange world

 

[Vashper]

Hi rigbymauser. Nice handle.

Sorry, but you’re mixing up two aspects. Yes, men aged 18-60 are banned from leaving the country. This is not conscription. It is to keep the country running, help with the war effort and if appropriate, voluntarily join or be conscripted into the armed services.

Conscription age is 25+.

May be it's about the "contract 18-24" - new program from 10 February - a set of volunteers with large cash payments and benefits for admission to the university. It is unclear how this relates to the ban on leaving the country from the age of 18.

 

[Neophyte]

never ever.

Under Trump, NATO will (have to!?) concentrate more on the Pacific than on Europe.
And as long as 31 NATO countries (have to!?) buy the majority of US weapons, they are guaranteed not to go.
These are the big deals he loves so much.
Just my 2 cents.
Europe needs its own nuclear umbrella and a European (transnational) arms industry in the future.
Well, the USA under Trump is destroying what it has (almost 100 years) created itself.
My God, what has happened to the Republicans?
When I think of the halcyon days of Ronald Reagan
Reagan publicly alongside Margret Thatcher on the Falklands War:
“Aggression must not be rewarded”.
Strange world

I voted for Reagan but I’m more of a conservative Libertarian Constitutionalist.

I don’t care who does what to whom as long as it’s consensual and I don’t have to pay for it.

 

[MauserM03Blog]

Was going to like your post but you lost me on your last couple of sentences. The earth’s climate has been changing since it was formed. About 4.6 billion years ago, water first appeared from inside the earth when it was released by volcanic activity. There also were several epochs when the northern icecaps completely disappeared before reforming. There were dinosaurs in what is now the arctic. Even Antarctica lost the majority of its icecap at times. The climate changes and always has changed. If we humans have had a slight impact on warming lately, big Fing deal! The earth has been way, way warmer than we or our next 1000 generations of descendants will ever experience. The green scary hoax has become big business for liberals. I’m all for clean air and water but this “emergency” about warming is nothing but scare tactics. Many species of plants and animals will do BETTER in a warmer climate. Like most things, it’s NOT all bad news but that’s the way it has been spun. Why so many people fall for it is beyond me. There were billions and millions of years in which the earth was way warmer than it is now or will be in even the distant future!! Educate yourself on the different epochs. It’s not hard to. Don’t be a sheep!

Hi Scott. I agree. We all need to educate ourselves. I'm a scientist, retired now after a long career. I led large teams of scientists doing mindbendingly complex work. It was challenging and very fulfilling. Because of this background I understand how scientists in other fields do their work. When I see the overwhelming majority of climate scientists making the same observations, with evidence, which is then studied, repeated and confirmed, I'm comfortable with accepting their advice and warnings. Why aren't you?

Yes, the earth's climate has changed through the eons of time. But consider this. It took hundreds of millions of years for algae in the oceans to lay deep seams of slowly rotting carboniferous material, sucking stupendous quantities of carbon dioxide out of the air in the process and delivering the climate we have today. Now, us humans are releasing vast quantities of this stored carbon back into the atmosphere in a very short space of time. Anyone can understand that this has to have an effect. And it is. It's measurable. In the last 20 years we've been able to see it with our own eyes. It is the rate of change that is the problem. It's going to be very difficult and expensive to deal with and so limiting the impact is very much worth doing.

The climate doesn't care how we vote. A hurricane doesn't know if you're right or left of centre, and how far. This issue is not a matter of epochs. The effects are already being felt and will be very troubling in the next 50 and 100 years. I care about that and I'm sure you do too. It will affect our children and theirs and further generations of our families.

What's strange is how some folk feel that the facts of climate change are a personal attack upon them. It's not personal. It's factual. And, it's so easy to deal with. And so profitable. And healthier. Who doesn't want cleaner air to breathe? I have four ICE cars and enjoy keeping them going, but hardly ever drive them these days. It's fun. And it's thrifty, to extract maximum value from them. I tend to ride a bike most places. If I need another car it won't pollute the air we breathe with all kinds of emissions. Where's the problem with that?

I think it's magical the way aeroplanes fly and sailboats sail. And how so much electricity can be sucked out of sunlight. How electricity can be converted from wind, wave and tidal energy, or from the hot depths of the earth beneath our feet. How hydrogen can be split out of seawater with this energy. Bloody fantastic. It's as simple as using the force that is all around us. It's beautiful. How can people not be fascinated by this? Particularly when it's also a big part of the solution to a huge problem we face. Planting trees will help too. Who doesn't like trees?

C'mon Scott. Try to look at things differently. It's a wonderful feeling knowing that your energy needs have been fulfilled from a few panels sitting still in the sunlight, instead of burning stinky, dead algae and ruining the place. Yeah, I still do that from time to time, but less and less. Loving our beautiful planet and living in it comfortably and sustainably is something we can all do, and enjoy doing. For the benefit of us all.

 

[WAB]

Zelenskyy is the president of a nation that has been fighting off an aggressive attack for three years. His choice of clothes is to remind everyone of this. Perfectly legitimate.

I think that the point of @Red Leg’s posted picture of Churchill was lost on many. The man, acknowledged by many as one of the greatest leaders of modern times, wore a frumpy one piece lounging ‘suit’ to meetings at the White House. Zelenskyy looked positively avant-garde by comparison.

 

[Hogpatrol]

Hi Scott. I agree. We all need to educate ourselves. I'm a scientist, retired now after a long career. I led large teams of scientists doing mindbendingly complex work. It was challenging and very fulfilling. Because of this background I understand how scientists in other fields do their work. When I see the overwhelming majority of climate scientists making the same observations, with evidence, which is then studied, repeated and confirmed, I'm comfortable with accepting their advice and warnings. Why aren't you?

Yes, the earth's climate has changed through the eons of time. But consider this. It took hundreds of millions of years for algae in the oceans to lay deep seams of slowly rotting carboniferous material, sucking stupendous quantities of carbon dioxide out of the air in the process and delivering the climate we have today. Now, us humans are releasing vast quantities of this stored carbon back into the atmosphere in a very short space of time. Anyone can understand that this has to have an effect. And it is. It's measurable. In the last 20 years we've been able to see it with our own eyes. It is the rate of change that is the problem. It's going to be very difficult and expensive to deal with and so limiting the impact is very much worth doing.

The climate doesn't care how we vote. A hurricane doesn't know if you're right or left of centre, and how far. This issue is not a matter of epochs. The effects are already being felt and will be very troubling in the next 50 and 100 years. I care about that and I'm sure you do too. It will affect our children and theirs and further generations of our families.

What's strange is how some folk feel that the facts of climate change are a personal attack upon them. It's not personal. It's factual. And, it's so easy to deal with. And so profitable. And healthier. Who doesn't want cleaner air to breathe? I have four ICE cars and enjoy keeping them going, but hardly ever drive them these days. It's fun. And it's thrifty, to extract maximum value from them. I tend to ride a bike most places. If I need another car it won't pollute the air we breathe with all kinds of emissions. Where's the problem with that?

I think it's magical the way aeroplanes fly and sailboats sail. And how so much electricity can be sucked out of sunlight. How electricity can be converted from wind, wave and tidal energy, or from the hot depths of the earth beneath our feet. How hydrogen can be split out of seawater with this energy. Bloody fantastic. It's as simple as using the force that is all around us. It's beautiful. How can people not be fascinated by this? Particularly when it's also a big part of the solution to a huge problem we face. Planting trees will help too. Who doesn't like trees?

C'mon Scott. Try to look at things differently. It's a wonderful feeling knowing that your energy needs have been fulfilled from a few panels sitting still in the sunlight, instead of burning stinky, dead algae and ruining the place. Yeah, I still do that from time to time, but less and less. Loving our beautiful planet and living in it comfortably and sustainably is something we can all do, and enjoy doing. For the benefit of us all.

And what you're doing is what us blue collar guys call "Pissing in the wind" or as my old man used to say to me "You've got delusions of grandeur". The day the entire human race and it's political divisions coalesce around trying to change the climate will be when the dinosaurs return to earth.

 

[WAB]

He demanded a hell of a more from the Brits for our help.

Yes, some members could do with a review of the Lend-Lease Act of 1941 for starters.

 

[Hogpatrol]

More info on the misguided that think they can change the world, courtesy of our own tax dollars. DOGE needs to dump this wasteful use of taxpayer money.

Climate Change Research Grants | US EPA

EPA’s Science to Achieve Results, or STAR, program supports Climate Change research through research grants in three broad areas

www.epa.gov