Ukraine

[SkyDekker 1,465]

Russia is now invading Ukraine.

Major news agencies are reporting on this. Fox instead has Ingraham chatting with Trump about the Russia Hoax.....

God help the Ukrainians.....and the US.

[ryoder 1,590]

Putin states he is invading to "protect civilians", since there is no better way to do that than to bomb a city of 3M people (Kyiv).

For some background on Putin's obsession with Ukraine, I recommend this:

 

So that asshole declares the dissolution of the USSR as the greatest catastrophe of the 20th century. Never mind the 24M Soviets citizens who died in WWII, 2/3 of them civilian.

[ryoder 1,590]

A FB posting from Normiss this morning prompted me to checkout Ukraine on FlightRadar24, and I'll be damned; A US-registered RQ-4B loitering over Ukraine at 50,000', with a flight origin indicating it launched from a vessel in the Black Sea. Of course at this moment, nothing is transmitting ADS-B over Ukraine.

[SkyDekker 1,465]

No longer having the Open Skies Treaty has certainly helped Putin....

Edited February 24, 2022 by SkyDekker

[yoink 321]

2 hours ago, ryoder said:

A FB posting from Normiss this morning prompted me to checkout Ukraine on FlightRadar24, and I'll be damned; A US-registered RQ-4B loitering over Ukraine at 50,000', with a flight origin indicating it launched from a vessel in the Black Sea. Of course at this moment, nothing is transmitting ADS-B over Ukraine.

I’m sure this is probably significant, but honestly have no idea what most of these words mean.

 

Any chance you can translate for us whuffos?

[BIGUN 1,393]

3 hours ago, yoink said:

A US-registered RQ-4B loitering over Ukraine at 50,000', with a flight origin indicating

Surveillance Drone

 

3 hours ago, yoink said:

nothing is transmitting ADS-B over Ukraine.

ADS-B Out

ADS-B Out works by broadcasting information about an aircraft's GPS location, altitude, ground speed and other data to ground stations and other aircraft, once per second. Air traffic controllers and properly equipped aircraft can immediately receive this information. This offers more precise tracking of aircraft compared to radar technology, which sweeps for position information every 5 to 12 seconds.

Radio waves are limited to line of site meaning radar signals cannot travel long distances or penetrate mountains and other solid objects. ADS-B ground stations are smaller and more adaptable than radar towers and can be placed in locations not possible with radar. With ground stations in place throughout the country, even in hard to reach areas, ADS-B provides better visibility regardless of the terrain or other obstacles.

Aircraft operating in most controlled U.S. airspace must be equipped with ADS-B Out.

ADS-B In

ADS-B In provides operators of properly equipped aircraft with weather and traffic position information delivered directly to the cockpit. ADS-B In-equipped aircraft have access to the graphical weather displays in the cockpit as well as text-based advisories, including Notices to Airmen and significant weather activity.

SOURCE: https://www.faa.gov/nextgen/equipadsb/capabilities/ins_outs/#:~:text=ADS-B Out,other aircraft%2C once per second.&text=Aircraft operating in most controlled,equipped with ADS-B Out.

 

[Phil1111 1,149]

Kudos's to President Biden. IMO he has handled the western response to Putin and his madness more or less perfectly. Contrary to Winsor's incessant criticisms of President Biden's intelligence and conduct. He has single handily brought NATO and the west together.

IMO liberals and the nature of democracies has given license to Putin's conduct over the last two decades. He has invaded countries before. Killed opposition leaders, journalists and critics. Both in Russia and outside. All w/o real response. But then again so has the Saudi leadership. To some extent there is a realpolitik of the EU dependence upon Russian gas. But as I've said here before Nord Stream 2 should never have been built. Oh well, its but one miscalculation in this entire mess.

President Biden is entirely correct as is NATO. This is not "our" war. But Ukraine is but a canary in a coal mine. Putin has unlimited ambition to do and take whatever he wants. Its really up to Russians to remove him. But until then US leadership is needed and thankfully trump isn't in the equation.

[winsor 236]

It seems Putin has been using the U. S. playbook for Iraq.  I can't see how our harsh words and finger wagging will dissuade him from seeking his goals.

In the 1930s Japan used U. S. rhetoric, pretty much verbatim, to justify their incursions into China, and were surprised that we didn't see them as kindred souls.  They figured that we were cool with wiping out civilizations in order to take their land on the basis of our treatment of the people that were here when Europeans 'claimed' the land.

Given our track record, I can't see where we have any moral standing to criticize Putin's actions, much though I personally disapprove.

FWIW, I am on the record as having opposed the invasion of Iraq at the outset, and opposed our incursion into Afghanistan without a clear scope for the end game.  Then again, that's how we do business.

We can only hope that the invasion of Ukraine is as detrimental to Russia as was our invasion of Iraq.  One advantage that Russia has is that it makes no pretense of being 'the good guys,' wearing white hats and all.  They're the Russians, and they play by different rules.

Whoever is running the show in Washington has been delusional so far - or hadn't done much homework at the very least.  You don't put 130,000 assault troops fully equipped in position to invade as a bluff, and Moscow has been situating itself to weather any sanctions we might bring to bear.

We're playing checkers and they're playing chess, as usual.

 

BSBD,

Winsor

[lippy 918]

17 minutes ago, winsor said:

Whoever is running the show in Washington has been delusional so far - or hadn't done much homework at the very least.  You don't put 130,000 assault troops fully equipped in position to invade as a bluff, and Moscow has been situating itself to weather any sanctions we might bring to bear.

We're playing checkers and they're playing chess, as usual.

 

BSBD,

Winsor

If only you'd picked up the phone when they called to ask you how they should have handled it!!!!

When did Washington give you the impression they thought the Russians were bluffing?  When they advised Americans to leave Ukraine?  When they broadcast, step-by-step, the steps that Putin was going to take to 'justify' the invasion?  

Are you suggesting that they fact that they left a door open for a diplomatic deescalation means that they didn't take the threat seriously?

For somebody who touts his centrism and arrives at all of his conclusions through thoughtful conversations and careful research, you seem to arrive at some damn stupid conclusions.  As BIGUN noted in another post (BIGUN correct me if I'm misrepresenting you), it seems more often than not you get to the same talking points as Ted Cruz, what a co-inkidink! 

[Phil1111 1,149]

11 minutes ago, lippy said:

...For somebody who touts his centrism and arrives at all of his conclusions through thoughtful conversations and careful research, you seem to arrive at some damn stupid conclusions.  As BIGUN noted in another post (BIGUN correct me if I'm misrepresenting you), it seems more often than not you get to the same talking points as Ted Cruz, what a co-inkidink! 

If you had an intermix of neurons in a soup bowl. A combination of Ted Cruz and Rand Paul. You'd have it nailed. Overreach in conclusions and a mishmash of unrelated, biased, predicated historical events. Is his MO. The historical context to feign intelligence to further a illusory superiority.

[BIGUN 1,393]

From a personal perspective; most of us are old enough to remember the onslaught of Russian aggression during the Cold War. I don't like what's going on and see it as no more than Russia wants the Ukraine's natural resources. Part of me hopes there will be some bargaining chip that will have Putin stop this. I'm not sure if shaking our finger at Putin and scolding him like a fourteen year old and threatening to take away his phone privileges will be enough. I don't think any of us wish to return to that point in time where we're stuck in another forty-year Cold War pointing missiles at each other. Been there; done that.      

[kallend 2,099]

1 hour ago, winsor said:

 

FWIW, I am on the record as having opposed the invasion of Iraq at the outset, and opposed our incursion into Afghanistan without a clear scope for the end game.  Then again, that's how we do business.

 

Yes, but we did OK in Panama and Granada.

[JoeWeber 2,807]

20 minutes ago, kallend said:

Yes, but we did OK in Panama and Granada.

Indeed. And have you noticed we've not taken a lick of shit from a single isthmus or tiny island since.

[ryoder 1,590]

Trump was right; This is genius!

The Russian central bank has banned short-selling amid a 50% stock-market plunge as Russia invades Ukraine

Edited February 24, 2022 by ryoder

[SkyDekker 1,465]

3 hours ago, BIGUN said:

From a personal perspective; most of us are old enough to remember the onslaught of Russian aggression during the Cold War. I don't like what's going on and see it as no more than Russia wants the Ukraine's natural resources. Part of me hopes there will be some bargaining chip that will have Putin stop this. I'm not sure if shaking our finger at Putin and scolding him like a fourteen year old and threatening to take away his phone privileges will be enough. I don't think any of us wish to return to that point in time where we're stuck in another forty-year Cold War pointing missiles at each other. Been there; done that.      

Too late, Putin has already threatened nuclear devastation to any country intervening. There is no doubt in my mind this isn't "just" a Russia-Ukraine conflict, but the first part of a much larger conflict.

[winsor 236]

I will not be the least bit surprised if China takes over Taiwan in response to Russia's incursion into Ukraine.

Both Russia and China are braced for such repercussions as are likely, and both have the takeover of the respective territories amongst their agenda.

[BIGUN 1,393]

32 minutes ago, SkyDekker said:

There is no doubt in my mind this isn't "just" a Russia-Ukraine conflict, but the first part of a much larger conflict.

I wish I could argue the point. 

[billvon 3,058]

2 hours ago, ryoder said:

Trump was right; This is genius!

So far we have Pompeo, Trump and Tucker Carlson on the record supporting Putin.  Anyone else?

[SkyDekker 1,465]

4 minutes ago, billvon said:

So far we have Pompeo, Trump and Tucker Carlson on the record supporting Putin.  Anyone else?

We have Laura Ingraham arguing that the Russia investigation caused the invasion of Ukraine.

At this point Fox News is nothing more than Russian state propaganda.

[gowlerk 2,241]

I am hearing rumours that Trudeau is planning to declare an emergency and deploy mounted police and a fleet of tow trucks to Ukraine.

[JerryBaumchen 1,422]

28 minutes ago, billvon said:

So far we have Pompeo, Trump and Tucker Carlson on the record supporting Putin.  Anyone else?

Hi Bill,

Keep the phone lines open; I'm sure there will be more.

Jerry Baumchen

[ryoder 1,590]

Well, it's not my first choice of a place to be right now, but:

Sean Penn in Ukraine to film documentary on Russian invasion

[ryoder 1,590]

2 hours ago, billvon said:

So far we have Pompeo, Trump and Tucker Carlson on the record supporting Putin.  Anyone else?

J.D. Vance, Alex Jones, Tulsi Gabbard

Rolling Stone: These Are the American Right-Wingers Covering for Putin as Russia Invades Ukraine

[gowlerk 2,241]

7 minutes ago, ryoder said:

J.D. Vance, Alex Jones, Tulsi Gabbard

Rolling Stone: These Are the American Right-Wingers Covering for Putin as Russia Invades Ukraine

This is for Bigun..!!!!!!!!!

[JerryBaumchen 1,422]

1 hour ago, ryoder said:

J.D. Vance, Alex Jones, Tulsi Gabbard

Rolling Stone: These Are the American Right-Wingers Covering for Putin as Russia Invades Ukraine

Hi Robert,

Otherwise known as the Three Stooges.

Jerry Baumchen