Soldato
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The US government has paid for it so why not?
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Ukraine Invasion - Please do not post videos showing attacks/similar
- Thread starter areksnumbr1sxylady
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And now he decides he wants 'out' and tells Ukraine to accept a peace deal that involves them losing territory after tens of thousands dead.
Here is the problem, this idiot doesn't 'think'. He just acts on whims, like most other billionaires. Narcissistic to the end.
Give over 'Mr Musk', are you his PR secretary or something?
AFAIK he's been pushing for the Pentagon to take over funding since before the recent Twitter drama, that tweet is as you pointed out obvious trolling.
SpaceX isn't a charity, Elon owns a little under half of the stock, the big donation they chose to make of multiple terminals was nice and very helpful, it's not really their role to have perpetually ongoing costs associated with that ergo if the Pentagon can takeover their part of the costs of providing the service then that's probably the right thing to do.
Not entirely true though?
They would have spent 1000x to get an inferior solution.
But I agree they should spot Elon a few extra bil - small change in comparison to the profits the military industrial complex are getting.
Thats his opinion, we all have one.
He has donated plenty of money for the cause and if he can't do anymore and is asking someone else to pick up the bill its a reasonable request.
Yeah keep it up USA, bully sovereign nations until they cave into your demands. Although in this case I dont actually mind, Saudis deserve it fully.
Putin moves nuclear bombers to airbase near Finland and Norway borders
Russian president Vladimir Putin has gradually increased the number of strategic bombers at Olenya air base from none on August 12, to four Tu-160s on August 21, to 11 now.
Daily Mail...Putin moves nuclear bombers to airbase near Finland and Norway borders
Russian president Vladimir Putin has gradually increased the number of strategic bombers at Olenya air base from none on August 12, to four Tu-160s on August 21, to 11 now.www.dailymail.co.uk
normally I treat with a pinch of salt
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Soldato
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They were moved some time ago.Putin moves nuclear bombers to airbase near Finland and Norway borders
Russian president Vladimir Putin has gradually increased the number of strategic bombers at Olenya air base from none on August 12, to four Tu-160s on August 21, to 11 now.
It's true the Finns are stocking up on iodine but Russia should remember what happened last time they poked that bear.
Plus not being part of NATO Finland has kept its own stall regarding defense, everybody does military service (or civilian service if preferred) and there is a nuclear proof small city underneath Helsinki.
Better prepared than many.
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If you check my past posts you will find me having described him as a "druggie", and in so far as one can have a personal opinion of someone one has never met, I rather dislike him. But that doesn't mean i consider his every action self serving, despicable and contemptible.
I think his main distinguishing feature that draws such hatred by some here is that he has various right leaning opinions and sympathies, which is anathema.
Interesting takes from Kamil Galeev from this week's episode of China Talk. Some points I took away, with my thoughts in yellow:
Putin doesn't care about casualties because he's mobilising the ethnic minorities in Russia far more than native Russians. Not only is it good for rebalancing the Russian-ethnic population, but is a useful tool to keep Russians in line. Before, getting arrested twice would lead to a prison sentence. Now, you might get sent to the front line, which makes people think twice about protesting. So "partial mobilisation" is not completely inaccurate as places like Moscow are mainly untouched.
Russian manufacturing capacity post-USSR is non-existent, so their nukes might not work, as they relied completely on the west (with no parts from China) for things like servos. He seemed pretty confident, but I wouldn't want to FAFO. Also, Russia did to us what we apparently did to China wrt offshoring.
The long-term goal should be decolonisation (people saw the USSR as an empire, but really Russia is the last empire of Europe). Helping military-age minorities flee to neighbouring countries, talking to local leaders, and their eventual secessions, would lead to the "Russia collapse" scenario seen in many videos like the Caspian Report one. Places like Mongolia are already doing this. Kamil is an ethnic Tartar, so he has skin in the game. This is one reason why the Soviet Union collapsed, and why China is much more resilient, as the 93% Han population is more united than ever.
He also says that his views are popular, but get unheard because Moscow, and westerners with Moscow contacts, suck all the air out of the debate. Not gonna lie, a lot of Russian takes do seem to blend in with each other as of late. It's like listening to London news 24/7, and being surprised by Brexit or Scottish independence.
Remember Alexei Navalny? Minorities fear him and other Russian liberals because they think he's going to run the empire the same way, with some concessions to the west. Dems or GOP, US foreign policy doesn't change. In fact, some very big and popular leftist and centrist debate streamers are pro-US foreign policy. So it should be the same in all countries.
Losing to Ukraine is a much bitterer pill to swallow than losing to US/Nato. Just like the Russian empire (and Qing dynasty) survived wars with Britain & France, but not Japan. I'm sure we've all heard Putin framing this as a proxy war to soften the blow. Unambiguously losing to Ukraine might actually collapse the state.
Ethnic minority regions (although they're compliant with mobilisation so far) will definitely be the source of any unrest. They also have a lot of private armies. In fact, this whole war is an export of Russian internal conflict, and it's coming home to roost. English-speaking foreigners tend to be the most wealthy and well-educated, and not representative of the wider population (I understand the irony talking about Kamil here). So all those Russians on YT showing how normal their lives are, their apartments, and supermarkets, aren't the ones that are gonna rise up. They're too comfortable.
So to summarise, Kamil believes Russia's options are not good:
Balkanisation
Putin leaves and a new leader gives concessions in return for sanctions relief
Putin stays and Russia becomes a large North Korea (Donbas is a better example, where rule of law has eroded to nothing)
A balkanised Russia would probably be a win for the west, China (loses strategic competitor, can reclaim Vladivostok), India (who's questioning the efficacy of Russian weapons) and all countries neighbouring Russia. But it also makes India more reliant on the west, when they usually forge an independent foreign policy, and the last thing China needs right now is secession. And then there's the question of where the nukes go.
Putin doesn't care about casualties because he's mobilising the ethnic minorities in Russia far more than native Russians. Not only is it good for rebalancing the Russian-ethnic population, but is a useful tool to keep Russians in line. Before, getting arrested twice would lead to a prison sentence. Now, you might get sent to the front line, which makes people think twice about protesting. So "partial mobilisation" is not completely inaccurate as places like Moscow are mainly untouched.
Russian manufacturing capacity post-USSR is non-existent, so their nukes might not work, as they relied completely on the west (with no parts from China) for things like servos. He seemed pretty confident, but I wouldn't want to FAFO. Also, Russia did to us what we apparently did to China wrt offshoring.
The long-term goal should be decolonisation (people saw the USSR as an empire, but really Russia is the last empire of Europe). Helping military-age minorities flee to neighbouring countries, talking to local leaders, and their eventual secessions, would lead to the "Russia collapse" scenario seen in many videos like the Caspian Report one. Places like Mongolia are already doing this. Kamil is an ethnic Tartar, so he has skin in the game. This is one reason why the Soviet Union collapsed, and why China is much more resilient, as the 93% Han population is more united than ever.
He also says that his views are popular, but get unheard because Moscow, and westerners with Moscow contacts, suck all the air out of the debate. Not gonna lie, a lot of Russian takes do seem to blend in with each other as of late. It's like listening to London news 24/7, and being surprised by Brexit or Scottish independence.
Remember Alexei Navalny? Minorities fear him and other Russian liberals because they think he's going to run the empire the same way, with some concessions to the west. Dems or GOP, US foreign policy doesn't change. In fact, some very big and popular leftist and centrist debate streamers are pro-US foreign policy. So it should be the same in all countries.
Losing to Ukraine is a much bitterer pill to swallow than losing to US/Nato. Just like the Russian empire (and Qing dynasty) survived wars with Britain & France, but not Japan. I'm sure we've all heard Putin framing this as a proxy war to soften the blow. Unambiguously losing to Ukraine might actually collapse the state.
Ethnic minority regions (although they're compliant with mobilisation so far) will definitely be the source of any unrest. They also have a lot of private armies. In fact, this whole war is an export of Russian internal conflict, and it's coming home to roost. English-speaking foreigners tend to be the most wealthy and well-educated, and not representative of the wider population (I understand the irony talking about Kamil here). So all those Russians on YT showing how normal their lives are, their apartments, and supermarkets, aren't the ones that are gonna rise up. They're too comfortable.
So to summarise, Kamil believes Russia's options are not good:
Balkanisation
Putin leaves and a new leader gives concessions in return for sanctions relief
Putin stays and Russia becomes a large North Korea (Donbas is a better example, where rule of law has eroded to nothing)
A balkanised Russia would probably be a win for the west, China (loses strategic competitor, can reclaim Vladivostok), India (who's questioning the efficacy of Russian weapons) and all countries neighbouring Russia. But it also makes India more reliant on the west, when they usually forge an independent foreign policy, and the last thing China needs right now is secession. And then there's the question of where the nukes go.
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