Politics

[spike.t]

 

[Hunt anything]

Quite interesting, @spike.t . Is it SOP for MP’s to vote in the leaders and not the general population? The mayor of London was voted in by the people but what are the laws of who can vote in the UK? Thanks

 

[WAB]

Quite interesting, @spike.t . Is it SOP for MP’s to vote in the leaders and not the general population? The mayor of London was voted in by the people but what are the laws of who can vote in the UK? Thanks

Parliamentary system of government, the leader of the majority party becomes PM. The only folks to vote directly for the PM are the members of his riding.

 

[Red Leg]

Meanwhile back at the front -

Another of these relatively short clips that reveal quite a bit. It is important to remember that the army of 250-300K Russian troops which entered Ukraine in 2022 truly no longer exists. The first line modernize equipment is gone along with that relatively professional fighting force and most of its tactical leadership. The new recruits, which seem to be the sweepings from society, are barely trained and launched in relatively small groups at prepared Ukrainian defensive positions.

The clip is of a squad size element (though likely a platoon due to losses), apparently attacking over the ground of a previously failed assault. As they come under fire, the result is total confusion. They obviously have no battle drills and no leadership with any experience. One could also draw conclusions about the skill set of whomever ordered the attack.

The Ukrainians are clearly husbanding ammunition. They have the Russian element under direct UAV observation, and they are hit with three or four light mortar rounds in order to fix them. That provides enough time for the armed explosive UAV (suicide drone) swarm to arrive and carry out individual attacks on the survivors. Pretty amazing footage. I trust we are paying close attention.

https://www.reddit.com/r/CombatFootage/comments/1bie590

 

[ActionBob]

It's interesting that you bring up these types of considerations because some of our founding fathers actually did...

At the Constitutional convention it was argued by some that only property owners should have the right to vote. Others argued that should be extended to those who own businesses as well... Even a handful of delegates suggested the requirement of literacy which was still the exception rather than the rule at the time. The general consensus being at the time that one must have skin in the game in order to have the right to vote. So, your suggestions for those types of requirements were actually given serious consideration by some very brilliant men of the times...

What men were thinking at the time and why is the part of history that fascinates me. It's also the part that progressive liberals cannot seem to accept. They fail to understand historical perspective... Many Americans, especially those under 30, probably have no clue that the black man was actually granted the right to vote before women in this country which shows that gender bias was actually much more significant than racial bias even then... Sorry ladies, I guess you were considered to be just too valuable in the kitchen and for procreation than to be burdened with the vote.. LOL...

Yes good background. Liberals failing to understand historical perspective.... Heck I don't think they understand current reality. Obama knew this well, he stated clearly that facts don't matter, only politics matter. In other it doesn't matter what the truth is, all that matters is what can you get people to believe. Sounds like the play book of the Nazis!

It has been said that all democracies fail when more than 50% of the population figures out that they don't have to work if they just vote to take money from those who do.....

 

[375 Ruger Fan]

 

[fourfive8]

One for the conspiracy theorists. I've no idea what this picture is of I took from the deck of my house. To the south of Phoenix, heading from west to east more/less.

View attachment 593941

Kind of hard to be certain but that photo may be even more extraordinary than it seems at first glance. I checked the SpaceX launch schedule and it was likely a Starlink launch from Vandenburg. Just below the obvious plume is a bright object with thin trailing plume. That smaller object could be the Falcon 9 1st stage shortly after lighting up the engines for burn back. If that is the case… a truly extraordinary photo!

These impressive “luminous” engine exhaust plumes can vary in size and color. The most common color I’ve noticed being a blue-green. I know certain kinds of solid fuel exhaust can also really light it up if the twilight timing is right. I’ve watched several pre-dawn launches of solid fuel Hera rockets really put on a show. If I’m interpreting the above photo correctly, the large plume is the sunlit exhaust condensate/ice crystal mist from the second stage Merlin engine which uses a conventional kerosene-oxygen fuel mix. Thanks for posting. Cool stuff!

 

[mdwest]

I trust we are paying close attention.

I certainly hope so...

The Chinese are definitely watching closely... their investment in military drone technology, drone training, and drone procurement has skyrocketed since the war in Ukraine started..

Ive got a good buddy thats involved in geospatial intelligence work for an agency with pretty significant resources in the San Antonio area whose team has been reallocated to specifically watching drone activity in the Ukraine region (they arent tasked with much else)...

The things he can tell me, are frankly terrifying..

Which means the things he cant tell me, are very likely the thing that nightmares are made of...

Figuring out drones for offensive operations is pretty easy (and very cost effective)...

Figuring out a solution for defensive operations against drones (and the myriad of methods they are deployed and the different technologies they use to track, target, attack, etc) appears to be a challenge no one has risen to master just yet (clearly the Russians havent.. but to my knowledge and understanding, no one else has either)..

 

[Red Leg]

I certainly hope so...

The Chinese are definitely watching closely... their investment in military drone technology, drone training, and drone procurement has skyrocketed since the war in Ukraine started..

Ive got a good buddy thats involved in geospatial intelligence work for an agency with pretty significant resources in the San Antonio area whose team has been reallocated to specifically watching drone activity in the Ukraine region (they arent tasked with much else)...

The things he can tell me, are frankly terrifying..

Which means the things he cant tell me, are very likely the thing that nightmares are made of...

Figuring out drones for offensive operations is pretty easy (and very cost effective)...

Figuring out a solution for defensive operations against drones (and the myriad of methods they are deployed and the different technologies they use to track, target, attack, etc) appears to be a challenge no one has risen to master just yet (clearly the Russians havent.. but to my knowledge and understanding, no one else has either)..

Ukraine seems to have the defensive skill set well in hand. They have become the primary means of killing both infantry and armored vehicles.

We could fairly easily field a radar directed weapon system to deal with reconnaissance UAVs - large and small. These individual attack drones are another issue entirely. Currently they have LOS command link to a human operator who is "flying" it which could be broken. But, just on the horizon are swarms of such drones with AI chips that need no human guidance once launched. That is truly frightening.

 

[Red Leg]

I haven't opened the Post yet this morning, but this ruling in Florida likely will make the liberal media's collective head explode.

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF FLORIDA WEST PALM BEACH DIVISION CASE NO. 23-80101-CR-CANNON UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Plaintiff, v. DONALD J. TRUMP, WALTINE NAUTA, and CARLOS DE OLIVEIRA, Defendants. / ORDER REQUIRING PRELIMINARY PROPOSED JURY INSTRUCTIONS AND VERDICT FORMS ON COUNTS 1–32 ONLY

On or before April 2, 2024, Defendant Trump and the Special Counsel each shall file proposed jury instructions limited to the essential elements of the offenses charged in Counts 1 through 32 of the Superseding Indictment [ECF No. 85], along with proposed verdict forms for those counts (general or special).1 Moreover, understanding that juries are judges of the facts, not the law, the proposals shall take care to specify (in incorporated briefing as necessary) exactly what factual questions are reserved for the jury on Counts 1 through 32 in light of the recently argued motions to dismiss [ECF Nos. 325, 327].2 With respect to the proposed language pertinent to the issue of “unauthorized possession” specifically, the parties must engage with the following competing scenarios and offer alternative draft text that assumes each scenario to be a correct formulation of the law to be issued to the jury, while reserving counterarguments.

(a) In a prosecution of a former president for allegedly retaining documents in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 793(e), a jury is permitted to examine a record retained by a former president in his/her personal possession at the end of his/her presidency and make a factual finding as to whether the government has proven beyond a reasonable doubt that it is personal or presidential using the definitions set forth in the Presidential Records Act (PRA).3

(b) A president has sole authority under the PRA to categorize records as personal or presidential during his/her presidency. Neither a court nor a jury is permitted to make or review such a categorization decision. Although there is no formal means in the PRA by which a president is to make that categorization, an outgoing president’s decision to exclude what he/she considers to be personal records from presidential records transmitted to the National Archives and Records Administration constitutes a president’s categorization of those records as personal under the PRA.

DONE AND ORDERED in Chambers at Fort Pierce, Florida, this 18th day of March 2024. cc:

An early one from MSNBC

________________________________

 

[Tanks]

...They have the Russian element under direct UAV observation, and they are hit with three or four light mortar rounds in order to fix them. That provides enough time for the armed explosive UAV (suicide drone) swarm to arrive and carry out individual attacks on the survivors. Pretty amazing footage. I trust we are paying close attention.

...

Question is why aren't the Russians deploying similar technology? I assume they have more resources than the Ukrainians.

On a side note, this demonstrates how far we have gone in warfare. One WW I story that was told to me by my grandfather (he was a cavalry officer) was that one day an airplane had thrown out flechette aerial darts and one had gone through the head of his horse but had missed him. If he was going a step faster, I would not have been here today.

 

[Corey0372]

Question is why aren't the Russians deploying similar technology? I assume they have more resources than the Ukrainians.

On a side note, this demonstrates how far we have gone in warfare. One WW I story that was told to me by my grandfather (he was a cavalry officer) was that one day an airplane had thrown out flechette aerial darts and one had gone through the head of his horse but had missed him. If he was going a step faster, I would not have been here today.

They are, with lots of artillery shells coming behind their "uav forward observer"

 

[Hunt anything]

Won’t be long until every infantryman will need a body guard armed with a anti drone weapon to shoot down drones while the infantrymen shoot at the enemy.

 

[Red Leg]

Question is why aren't the Russians deploying similar technology? I assume they have more resources than the Ukrainians.

On a side note, this demonstrates how far we have gone in warfare. One WW I story that was told to me by my grandfather (he was a cavalry officer) was that one day an airplane had thrown out flechette aerial darts and one had gone through the head of his horse but had missed him. If he was going a step faster, I would not have been here today.

They are, but differently. As @Corey0372 notes, compared to Ukraine, the Russians have an abundance of artillery ammunition. They are primarily using UAVs as forward observers for those artillery fires. They do have a fairly sophisticated suicide UAV that can be used against lightly protected targets like artillery and air defense, but they do not seem to use them in quantity.

What is unique is the UA’s mass employment of small explosive equipped commercial drones to attack individual Russian troops as well as armor. Some drop grenades, others explode a shrapnel charge, and the anti-armor ones typically strike carrying a RPG warhead.

 

[Corey0372]

They are, but differently. As @Corey0372 notes, compared to Ukraine, the Russians have an abundance of artillery ammunition. They are primarily using UAVs as forward observers for those artillery fires. They do have a fairly sophisticated suicide UAV that can be used against lightly protected targets like artillery and air defense, but they do not seem to use them in quantity.

What is unique is the UA’s mass employment of small explosive equipped commercial drones to attack individual Russian troops as well as armor. Some drop grenades, others explode a shrapnel charge, and the anti-armor ones typically strike carrying a RPG warhead.

The Russians are employing the same tactics with small fpv drones as well using their "higher end" military grade systems integrated into their fdc chain.

Drones are Transforming the Battlefield in Ukraine But in an Evolutionary Fashion - War on the Rocks

Headlines would lead one to conclude that the age of killer robots has arrived. In Ukraine, autonomous drone swarmssupposedly hunt for enemies and

warontherocks.com

Ukraine Is Losing the Drone War

Kyiv can close the innovation gap with Russia.

www.foreignaffairs.com

 

[Randy F]

Meanwhile back at the front -

Another of these relatively short clips that reveal quite a bit. It is important to remember that the army of 250-300K Russian troops which entered Ukraine in 2022 truly no longer exists. The first line modernize equipment is gone along with that relatively professional fighting force and most of its tactical leadership. The new recruits, which seem to be the sweepings from society, are barely trained and launched in relatively small groups at prepared Ukrainian defensive positions.

The clip is of a squad size element (though likely a platoon due to losses), apparently attacking over the ground of a previously failed assault. As they come under fire, the result is total confusion. They obviously have no battle drills and no leadership with any experience. One could also draw conclusions about the skill set of whomever ordered the attack.

The Ukrainians are clearly husbanding ammunition. They have the Russian element under direct UAV observation, and they are hit with three or four light mortar rounds in order to fix them. That provides enough time for the armed explosive UAV (suicide drone) swarm to arrive and carry out individual attacks on the survivors. Pretty amazing footage. I trust we are paying close attention.

https://www.reddit.com/r/CombatFootage/comments/1bie590

I truly wish the fearless Russian leader would join his troops in his righteous cause to reestablish his golden empire. That would solve a whole lot of problems...or rather those drones would.

 

[ActionBob]

Biden has a new ad out showing Trump claiming there will be a bloodbath if he loses the election. I haven't seen the original speech but the report is that Biden's people selected a quote where Trump said there would be a bloodbath in the Auto industry......

The Democrats will just continue to twist and turn things and lie every second.

Trump's manner of speaking and his way of saying what he means is obviously flawed when it comes to easily deciphering what exactly he means. However we've all been exposed to it long enough now to start to understand it if we think it through.... What I mean is those like myself who are certainly not enamored by Trump, but have come to accept what our choices are this coming election. Obviously his long term faithful followers have had this all figured out or just don't care what he says.

An example I'd like to share is to rebut the claims made on this thread that Trump says he can end the Ukraine war in a day and that by doing so will throw Ukraine to the wolves, i.e. Putin and Russia. From the interview Trump did with Maria Bartiromo of Fox Business. (I personally find Maria very credible). These are a couple screen shots as I'm not so techy to get links posted and personally appreciate not having to be redirected off site

 

[mdwest]

I truly wish the fearless Russian leader would join his troops in his righteous cause to reestablish his golden empire. That would solve a whole lot of problems...or rather those drones would.

I dunno... I think if Putin disappeared tomorrow, he'd likely be replaced by someone no better..

While the thought of unnecessary loss of life on both sides of the Ukraine war is distasteful.. even if Russia were to achieve all of its strategic objectives and completely overrun Kiev tomorrow.. Im pretty certain the russian threat to Europe and much of the rest of the world a little more than 2 years ago has largely been set back for at least a couple of decades..

they lack the military industrial capability or the GDP to rebuild what they have lost over the last 24+ months in any reasonable amount of time..

and many, if not most of their military systems, as well as their TTPs, have been proven ineffective.. which means the rest of the worlds desire to purchase their aircraft, armor, etc.. or even their training/mentoring/advising services has dried up quite a bit...

We spent 20+ years in Iraq and Afghanistan.. and we lost quite a bit of equipment and munitions during that time.. but we had the ability to re-stock almost as quickly as we expended things.. and we lost very little in terms of high cost, difficult to replace things like heavy armor, gen 4 aircraft, etc..

The russians have lost considerably more, in substantially less time, without the factories or the money required to quickly replace most of their losses..

2 years ago, Poland (and much of the rest of the former Soviet Bloc) very likely had a much greater "what if" concern regarding the Russians than it does today...


Over the next 20 years I think the only real near-peer threat we need to be deeply concerned with is China.. the Russians are still nuclear, which is an issue.. and they are certainly still capable enough to not drop completely from consideration.. but the likelihood of them even attempting to regain the old soviet empire, much less having the ability to do it.. is incredibly diminished as a result of their soiree into Ukraine ..

There are frankly (IMO) remaining asymetric threats out there that I think are a larger problem for the US moving forward into the next 10-20+ years than the Russians are..

Dont get me wrong... I think we should continue to support the Ukrainians.. while the Russians are on the ropes, why not continue to kick the shit out of them and set them back 30-50 years?

There are other things going on that benefit the US if the Ukrainians continue to beat back (or just hold the line) on the Russians..

For example, Russia has for a VERY LONG TIME, been one of the largest state sponsors of cyber attacks on US businesses and other US interests.. which results in BILLIONS of dollars of damage to the US economy each year.. What many people dont realize is several of the most successful Russian cyber gangs were largely staffed by Ukrainians.. Once the Russians invaded, there were rifts formed in many of these groups.. they have split, subdivided, etc.. and have become only fractionally as effective as they once were.. The Ukrainians largely will not work for the Russians anymore (for obvious reasons).. the Russians arent as effective without the Ukrainians.. and the Ukrainians are otherwise pretty indisposed and busy at the moment with things to do other than sit in a basement somewhere attempting to hack JP Morgan Chase or Raytheon..

Other major cyber threats are still out there (you'd be amazed at some of the talent currently working in Somalia for example among some other places).. but the once monstrous Russian cyber threat, while not gone, is definitely not the same sort of threat it was in many ways just a few years ago..

 

[Kelly G]

 

[mdwest]

Biden has a new ad out showing Trump claiming there will be a bloodbath if he loses the election. I haven't seen the original speech but the report is that Biden's peole selected a quote where Trump said there woukd be a bloodbath in the Auto industry......

The Democrats will just continue to twist and turn things and lie every second.

The problem is... people in this country believe anything that they are told in 140 characters or less.. and have no desire to actually know the truth or find out what the real story is..

Trump not only said it would be a bloodbath in the auto industry.. he was making a very specific point about the border and trade relations with Mexico under democrat administrations, pointing out that over 1/3 of what was once US auto manufacturing has moved to Mexico.. and that a continued D administration would see that number get worse.. i.e. a bloodbath..

People in this country appear to just want to be stupid and not find truth... if MSNBC says Trump said there will be a bloodbath if Biden wins.. then it MUST be true.. no need to look any further..

disappointing honestly..