Tar_Alcaran

And as for data safety and privacy, another 1930s Dutch story. Dutch people are great at data and statistics, and very meticulous.

As a result, we have tons of data on people, including data on where someone’s ancestors are from and what religion they have. The results of that, combined with a fascist regime were not pretty.

Teflon Mark

Speaking of artillery… Have you actually seen the locations totally bombed to the ground before Russians move forward another few meters. No amount of mining with anti-personal mines would survive that well enough to actually deter soldiers.

Artillery is actually surprisingly bad at clearing minefields. If you could just lob shells onto a minefield, why would nations everywhere develop incredibly expensive mine-clearing systems?

Minefields are used because they work. Mixed minefields are used just like castle walls, to slow an enemy and increase the defender advantage. They don’t stop an enemy by itself, but purely anti-vehicle fields are easily cleared by hand, or walked across. Mixed fields are not.

Actual infantry movement (the reasons I refered to “marching”) that would make anti-personal mining reasonable doesn’t exist anymore

Minefields that deter strategic movement have never existed. They have always been a tactical thing, even in WW2 desert combat, which saw some of the most extensive minefield ever, they have always been tactical obstacles.

Mining the border doesn’t mean spreading mines across the entire literal border. It means defending key areas with thicker fields, and probably not even that, it means keeping them ready just in case.

The thing is, yes, mines might kill civilians some time in the future. But losing a war against a genocidal foreign country will absolutely kill more.

Removed by mod

Anti personal mines are of little use in comparison, unless actual infantry marching of foot return.

You mean like the foot infantry assaults that Russia is using along the entire front?

In this article: Group with intrinsic motivation to keep America powerful discourages others to be self-sufficient.

Eh, could have been more, but its a nice start

I have 2 AliExpress rules:

• Nothing over 50 euros

• Nothing that goes into my body, directly or indirectly.

I low-key want Zelensky to sign any deal to get the US to go all-in, and when it becomes time to pay, just say “ehh, I thought you were just keeping up your end of the Budapest accords. Well give you minerals next time you help us out though!”

I can’t believe that anybody in Washington actually believes that it makes sense to get rare earths in Ukraine

I mean, has he taken a look at the absolute buffoons in Washington lately? Trump’s literal self-given purpose in life is to make a deal, even if he has no idea about the technical side.

He bankrupted a casino and a steak business, and numerous others because he understands nothing. This is no different.

The Bundeswehr could, according to top generals, not stay in a fight for more than one or two weeks before running out of artillery shells, missiles and bombs.

You should read these claims with the same amount of nuance you use on claims like “Russia runs out of tanks/missiles/shells”.

What they mean is “we can sustain a full-on, large scale offensive at optimal supply for two weeks, before we need to scale to a lower operational pace and stockpile material for our individual operations.”

No military ever has enough, Russia “ran out” a few days into their offense, and yet they’ve been fighting for years.

the absence of a unified command structure in Europe

Eh, NATO high command exists just fine. Sure, it would be headed by the 2nd in command, but it works.

also a lack of strategic capabilities (awacs, satellite data, military intelligence, air tankers, heavy lift helicopters, …).

Yeah, Europe has a terrifying lack of enablers, but the reason for that is, apart from intelligence, is that European militaries aren’t prepared for, or want to be prepared for, large scale offensive power projection away from home.

You can drive a truck from Gibraltar to Talin in Estonia in 48 hours. A train takes slightly longer, though I imagine clearing the railways is a lot easier under martial law.

Europe only has one good wing of tanker/transport planes, but we have hundreds and hundreds of airfields, and you don’t need much mid-air refueling in a defensive war where everyone has capital cities in easy jet range.

The lack of airborne radar and satellites is MUCH worse for Europe than any other enablers.

Salami slicing all the way to London.

https://youtu.be/QgkUVIj3KWY

And oh how right he was.

I’m remembering what always happens when US companies try to run US labour practices in Europe.

It’s hilarious

You are aware that french nuclear doctrine famously includes the nuclear warning shot? As in, nuke something and tell them “keep coming closer to France and the next one hits your capital”.

I would pay to see this happen. Literally, not figuratively that is

Yeah just do a 1 day ceasefire so Russia can finish 3 years of sanctions dodging, and then reinstate them.

We’re not Donald-Trump-levels of stupid, sorry.

I just have a stack of canned stuff I rotate through. I put new ones at the bottom, and make sure the stack in always 4 cans tall. Costs nothing, things are always in stock on the shelves, and in case of emergency, there’s food.

Of course, I also live about 5 meters below sea level, so if we have real, world war level problems and the pumps shut down and/someone blows up the dikes, I’m not going to shelter in place for months anyway.

Only if you have lots of water too. And preferably some way to heat it (though you can totally swell rice in cold water)

The dutch have had this like a decade ago, when funding was even worse.