Millions of us might be **** if we ignore the Russian-Ukraine war

[Undried Plum]

I'm glad to be corrected and even more glad that there were survivors. I know that the accident hit that unit very hard.

Lessons were learned, one of which was not to put quite so much expertise into just one helicopter. In their line of work they have to make use of helicopters, but I know that some of them don't quite trust the things.

[Undried Plum]

Are you, perchance, on Mr Fiennes Christmas Card list?

Mad bad and dangerous to know.

Him or me? You decide!

[Ex-Ascot]

A bad Russian gain yesterday. It is going to take a huge effort to take that back.

[Undried Plum]

What, exactly, is NATO's exit strategy in this war?

Victory? Y'know, like in Afghanistan.

[larsssnowpharter]

NATO, per se, has no exit strategy.

The USA is probably quite happy, in a strategic sense, to see the RF taken out of the equation as a conventional force and at little cost in treasure or US loves.

The major European players in NATO would probably be content enough with a cessation of hostilities akin to that on the Korean peninsula.

Of course Ukraine will get all support in public, promises will be made to raise defence spending and increase ground forces in Europe to 300,000 plus (NATO being a defensive organization and, thus needing to outnumber its potential for by 2 to 1) and increase its membership by including more Nordic states.

I predict Sweden and Finland joining as being the only one of the above that will happen. As Western European voters see fuel costs rising, have to wear a sweater in their house during winter as well as an increase in taxes to pay for some Marshall Plan to reconstruct Ukraine ( current estimates of £750 billion) much of these intentions will go the same way as the 20 hospitals promised by BJ

[llondel]

One side effect of the conflict is the decrease in the number of "Russian Bride" scam emails, and a corresponding rise in the number of Ukrainian women sending me email.

[prospector]

https://www.rt.com/news/558589-graham-b ... -zelensky/

""US war hawks visit Kiev
US Senators Lindsey Graham and Richard Blumenthal have both supported pouring arms and money into Ukraine""

""Blumenthal, who previously lied about serving in Vietnam, joined colleagues from both parties for a jaunt to Ukraine in January, where he promised military aid to Zelensky’s government more than a month before fighting started. On top of voting for the $40 billion aid bill for Ukraine, Blumenthal introduced legislation on Tuesday that would commit the US to financing the reconstruction of the country when hostilities eventually cease.""

Just so that neither of those men?? personally have to get involved in the ***** of warfare.

[Undried Plum]

How the hell did we, thinking apes with car keys, get ourselves into the position where this is thinkable?

What went wrong?

[PHXPhlyer]

How the hell did we, thinking apes with car keys, get ourselves into the position where this is thinkable?

What went wrong?

Video unavailable!

PP

[G-CPTN]

Video unavailable!

PP

No problem here . . .

[Undried Plum]

Massive problem for us all.

[prospector]

An opinion from Jordan Peterson on the cause and likely effect of the happenings in Ukraine, takes a little while to listen to, but some very interesting views.

[Pontius Navigator]

This advice from the DT as given to New Yorkers prompts memories

You need to get into a building and move away from the windows.”

Step two, is to stay inside. “If you were outside after the blast, get clean immediately,” she says, including removing and bagging all outer clothing to keep radioactive dust away from the skin.

Once inside, she advises people to shut all doors and windows and head to a basement, if they have one, or sit in the middle of their building.

The final step is to stay tuned and follow the news for more information.

From an early 1960 secret book advice to bomber crews:

"In the event of being shot down you may become contaminated by fallout from your own weapon. On landing you would brush yourself down with a hand brush. In the event you don't have a brush use a clump of Heather or grass.
Then dig a trench about 7 feet long, remove your outer clothing and bury at one end before lying down and covering yourself with soil. Of course weather conditions might preclude you from removing outer garments. Remain under cover for 14 days.
You should eat your survival rations first before foraging for food. Before opening the rations, wipe the outer cover with a clean damp cloth"

I kid you not, it was so asinine that it was imprinted on my memory.

[Undried Plum]

In the 1950s there used to be a sign on the bridges over the East River in NYC:
In case of nuclear attack drive off bridge

It didn't mention whether they should drive off the side. Telling them to drive off the end seemed a bit redundant as that was what they were planning on doing anyway.

[Boac]

Maybe it was written for Teddy?

[PHXPhlyer]

Nuclear attack PSA leaves New Yorkers asking, 'Why now?'
The 90-second video isn’t tied to any specific threats, a city official said. It’s about raising awareness of something most people haven’t given much thought.

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/nu ... -rcna37989

New York City residents are accustomed to warnings about all kinds of potential threats — severe weather, public health, mass shootings.

But a new PSA on surviving a nuclear attack has rattled some cages.

Released this week by the city’s emergency management agency, the 90-second video advises citizens to stay indoors and wash off any radioactive dust or ash. It opens on a computer-generated street, devoid of life. Damaged skyscrapers can be seen in the background.

Looking into the camera, a spokesperson says: “So there’s been a nuclear attack. Don’t ask me how or why. Just know that the big one has hit.”

Many New Yorkers were left asking, “Why now?”

Christina Farrell, the city’s emergency management deputy commissioner, said the video isn’t tied to any specific threats. She said it’s about raising awareness of something most people haven’t given much thought.

“There’s no overarching reason why this is the time we sent this out,” Farrell told The Associated Press on Tuesday. “It’s just one tool in the toolbox to be prepared in the 21st century.”

She said the agency’s goal is to empower people regarding a scary subject, and despite the mixed reactions to the video, “people have thanked us that we are approaching this topic.”

“I don’t know if there’s ever the perfect moment to talk about nuclear preparedness,” she added, saying city officials have discussed implementing nuclear guidelines for quite some time. New York’s emergency response program, Ready New York, has been around since 2003.

Mayor Eric Adams has said he doesn’t believe the video was alarmist, telling reporters Tuesday “I’m a big believer in better safe than sorry.”

PP

[boing]

This is the daftist piece of tax-payer subsidised rubbish I have seen in years. I think we can say that in the event of an attack NY is going to get more than one missile and the problem in downtown NY is not going to be radioactive dust it is going to be massive blast damage, sun level heat and direct radiation. This dumb "advice" seems to think that the problem can be dealt with like picking up dust on the street, just brush it off you will be OK.

On another interesting topic we now see the Russians have even more re-supply problems. The supply of accurate longer range missiles to Ukraine means that Russian supply dumps are ever more vulnerable. Quite a paradox, you need weapons supplies close at hand to support any action, particularly if it involves massive bombardments in the Russian style, but when you store your ammunition in proximity to the action, especially in an area which is obvious to the local unfriendly community and it will be reported, it gets destroyed. A massive railway re-supply of armoured vehicles is being moved towards Kherson, not much point if there is no ammunition.

The next point of seriously increased international tension will be if the US supplies the longer, 300 km, range missiles. These put the Kerch bridge and Sevastopol in range. The Russians are going to get really crinkly about that. Perhaps New York knows this is coming.

.

[Undried Plum]

Maybe it was written for Teddy?

Did the earth move for you, Mary-Jo?

[Undried Plum]

lie flat (in a ditch) and cover the exposed skin of the head and hands

Then have a nice cuppa tea. Just the ticket.

[Boac]

The only guidance I recall was "put your head between your legs and kiss your arse goodbye"