Miscellaneous And Off Topic Subjects

[Mike]

Don't bother. He already knows.

[THE_WIZARD_]

STFU

[AlabamAlum]

DSL,

One doesn’t say this often, but crashcourse was correct. About 10 days. But 3-weeks is the guideline.

Almost all the time the woman has an idea that she may be pregnant by the second month. The women doesn’t menstruate while pregnant. Less than 2% experience some vaginal bleeding after conception -spotting- but even in those rare cases, most women surveyed were concerned but knew it wasn’t their “period” because of timing, consistency, and amount.

So, we’re talking an extremely minute number of women having unprotected sex who have no idea that they’re pregnant by week 11 and are denied an abortion under my preferred pregnancy law. While, that’s rough for that infinitesimally small number of couples it happens to I don’t think I would change my stance. If you did, the same argument could be made up to the time of delivery, “I had no idea, honest! Just thought I was eating too much.”


Okay. enough abortion talk.

[Tom W]

Tom, I did some digging on the SS-N12 antiship missile system and couldn't find any specifics suggesting it could be used v. land targets. Theretically,, yes it could be but from what I could determine it has active terminal guidance that relies on an electronic signature being emitted from the target. One analysis I read said if used on Moskva. the system fires all the tubes at once creating a Salvo of multiple missiles designed to overwhelm a target ship's defenses. I know that the Russian Caliber is a ground target crise missile launchable from multiple air, land and sea based platforms.

Ah, Jeff - I think the discussion of Ivan’s Naval capabilities is worthy of a bottle of fine Scotch.. or two

[lineygoblue]

And whether it's fair or not, a Republican running in suburban Detroit is going to get asked if they think a 13-year-old raped by her uncle should be forced to carry the baby to term

I would hope that the parents of the 13 year old girl would first be focused on making sure the 'uncle' spent about 30 years in prison. And if abortion is the decision as far as the rape is concerned, then it should probably be done no later than the 'zygote/embryo' stage, and not the 35-week stage, where the baby is sucking its thumb, and can feel pain.

[Da Geezer]

My niece has worked in OB for 30 years at a major metropolitan hospital. She texted me last month to tell me that they had the first woman whose life was in danger if she delivered the baby. The first case of "life of the mother" in her career.

That is why we need to listen to the phrasing of those who support abortion when they talk of the "health of the mother". That can mean "convenience of the mother". It can also be a legitimate reason for abortion, depending on the situation.

It is well within the Judeo/Christian moral tradition that the mother's life is valued over that of her unborn baby.

[THE_WIZARD_]

"My body my choice" only works if you are a prog talking about abortion. All other times its "fuck you do what we say you fascist neocon"...

[CGVT]

"My body my choice" only works if you are a conspiracy nut talking about vaccines. All other times its "fuck you do what we say you baby killing prog"...

[Jeff Buchanan]

Putin's propaganda effort to create an alternate reality for his special military operation is unprecedented and effective. CRT did an extensive diplomatic/political situation brief.

As one would imagine, both the Russian public and the West lack the entire picture of the war within the battle space. Russia, either through its constant bombardment of key cities in the east or through restricted access to territory they control make it nearly impossible for journalists to report truthfully.

The net effect is to allow Putin to create these monumentally inaccurate and favorable to the Russian's picture of the war. Accordingly, Putin continues to enjoy wide support from inside Russia and outside the core countries that have not condemned Putin.

That few in the world are paying attention or those that are buy into Putin's propaganda disgusts and frustrates me. As has been his playbook in the past aggressions he's undertaken, he's betting the world will welcome peace on any terms, more likely favorable to Putin unfavorable to Zelenski.

Both sides are stalemated and maneuvering for advantages in future negotiations. Putin knows he has the upper hand in a war of attrition and, importantly, can shape public opinion with his blatant, unabashed lies in the face of a politically and diplomatically weaker west that will quickly tire of the inconveniences the war has imposed on there too comfortable lives.

IOW he's going to get away with the chaos he's wreaked on Ukraine, the global economy and humanity with little if any accountability. He's framing his war as a contest between the Russia he dreams of redeeming from the ashes of the cold war and the US trying to wrongly prevent that from happening, holding Russia and its citizens from the glory and place on the world stage they deserve.

[Jeff Buchanan]

The battle in eastern Ukraine is shaping up to be long and bloody. Analysts believe the exact kind of battle that Russia wants, maneuver warfare involving wide open spaces, tanks and artillery, is going to happen. It is over this terrain that the Russian Army defeated Nazi Germany's Blitzkrieg, holding Stalingrad forcing a chaotic German retreat and presaging the end of WWII. At face, the terrain favors the Russian Army in large measure due to its sheer numbers. Supply lines are closer to the Russian boarder and Belgorod, a major supply point. Advantage for Ukraine is that they are more mobile, skilled in fighting on this very open terrain, have defended this territory from DNR separatists for 6 years being dug in defensively and aren't demoralized. They are fighting for their lives and the existence of Ukraine. They will be very difficult to dislodge and are well armed to hold territory and take advantage of counter offensives if the present themselves.

This has given rise to concerns coming from both US and UK defense entities that Putin is very likely to try to force a decisive endpoint in his war by initiating a non-conventional engagement using chemical or tactical nuclear weapons. Already, the propaganda machine I pointed to above has been promoting the falsehoods that the US has biolabs in Ukraine, and the Ukrainians are planning on using biological agents against Russian troops.The intent is to create these false flag events giving justification for a Russian response in kind. The bull-shit the Russians pulled in Mariupol - claiming that the Ukrainians used some kind of chemical weapons there is an opening salvo of this kind of thing, straight out of Putin's playbook that he used in Syria.

Over the last week, lines of contact, at least the ones most obvious to observers, have not changed. But, per CTR, the Russians are not pausing, rebuilding and trying to coher units. For beat up forces remaining in Ukraine, they continue to feed badly damaged, demoralized units wasting ammunition, suffering more equipment and personnel losses into tactically useless engagements with the Ukrainians. Harassment bombardment of Kharkiv, Liviv and Kiev among others has increased - another extension of Putin's playbook to diminish citizen resolve and terrorize cities. Mariupol has been completely reduced to ruble but elements of the Azov Battalion continue to hold out defending a small amount of territory in an industrial area of the city. Zelenski said on Friday that if Russia "eliminates" the remaining members of the Azov Battalion that will end any chance of engaging in negotiations with Russia implying Ukraine will fight to the death.

One last thing. The Russians have been observed using mobile crematoria to clean up dead civilians in Mariupol where the mayor, having relocated to the west but still texting via various platforms, alleging he is contact with the remaining people in Mariupol and what they are telling him. There are thousands of dead on the streets. The apparent Russian plan is to get rid of evidence that they targeted civilians to avoid the outcry against Putin's genocide that places like Bucha proved.

[Obi-Jon]

Wiz providing holiday cheer for the local children. Happy Easter!


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[Dr. Strangelove]

Simonyan, the shrill queen of Russian Propaganda, goes after a fellow pundit when he suggests the war is taking a lot longer than they were promised. Claims they're fighting NATO's entire might, not just Ukraine. Pretty sure it wasn't sold to the public that way from the very beginning...

[AlabamAlum]

Wiz providing holiday cheer for the local children. Happy Easter!


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That’s almost a Donnie Darko vibe.

[THE_WIZARD_]

Happy Easter all you twatwaffles...

[Jeff Buchanan]

I'm not at all surprised by Margarita Simonyan's beat down of that guy. Putin supporters are die-hards, entrenched and convincing. There's majority public support for Putin's war in Russia, even parts of Donbas and Luhansk Oblasts and in some places completely outside Russia. His propaganda has been effective. That's because of the way he's framed it and the generalized global dislike of America. China, in particular is augmenting Putin's propaganda. The BBC continues to provide the best reporting as the NYTs falls behind.

The west was winning the propaganda war for a time. I'm not sure we're still winning it. Here in the US, the 7d news cycle is already taking a toll. News consumers are numb to pictures of 100s of body bags on the streets of Ukrainian cities, crushing damage to residential buildings and mass graves. Estimates of civilian deaths in Ukraine are in the 10s of thousands. Estimates of civilian casualties in Mariupol alone are 20K.

I've seen estimates that the cost of the damage in Ukraine inflicted by the Russians is approaching 600b. BILLION!!! On Friday, Ukraine news and reports of Russian atrocities is was page 3 at best, back page news at worst. Western leadership talks, supplies weapons but none of that is stopping the Russian Army from its inhuman assault on the population of Ukraine. I believe there is a concerted effort within Putin's war plan to either kill or create so much fear in specific areas and civilian populations that it is genocide on a scale that certainly exceeds that of the Bosnian genocide of the early 90s ....... which BTW, prompted military intervention to stop it. The propaganda war will take a decided turn toward seeing Russia favorably and Ukraine unfavorably when Mariupol falls and the last defender of the Azov Battalion - characterized as Ukrainian neo-Nazis by Putin - are "justifiably exterminated." There will be cheering inside Russia, and elsewhere, smugness.

It's a sorry state of affairs for western democracies and strategic interests. I'm not confident this won't come out in the end as a victory for Putin. He's been right all along. The west, led by the US and with NATO forces at it's disposal to confront Putin's army and threats to freedom is weak.