Political Discussion Thread (READ FIRST POST)

[Darth Fluffy 302]

6 hours ago, ijuin said:

As long as your requirements do not mandate “automatic fire mode” or “magazine capacity larger than eight rounds”, then it is still an excellent rifle. It was pretty much the top of the line until the end of the 1950s.

Automatic fire mode in a personal weapon is largely overrated, it burns through ammo with very low accuracy, although some guns specifically designed for it do OK. Modern weapons tend to have 'selective fire' modes of a small number of shots, which is more useful. The Garand holds up well because the shooter can accurately place individual shots, which ultimately has more effect.

Setting matters, and the Garand will be a better choice outdoors. Urban combat can favor pray and spray; a single, accurate, slow rate shooter can get overwhelmed. The guy shooting out from a window will probably be spotted.

[mlooney 3,417]

6 hours ago, ijuin said:

As long as your requirements do not mandate “automatic fire mode” or “magazine capacity larger than eight rounds”, then it is still an excellent rifle. It was pretty much the top of the line until the end of the 1950s.

If you need auto fire and want more than 8 rounds and want to stick to the 30-06 round, there is always the BAR.

[mlooney 3,417]

 

[The Old Hack 2,448]

Putin's newest superweapon: zombies. He has raised the maximum enlistment age in Russia to 70. Average lifespan for Russian males is 66 years.

Coming soon in a major production from Nyetflix: The new hit TV series "Z Nation: Attack of the Walking Dead."

[ijuin 572]

Perhaps then they will be able to find some brains for him, since the current leadership seems to be short on them.

[mlooney 3,417]

3 hours ago, The Old Hack said:

Putin's newest superweapon: zombies. He has raised the maximum enlistment age in Russia to 70. Average lifespan for Russian males is 66 years.

I first read that a draft age and was very confused.  As I recall from my OpFor training classes, Soviet generals and marshals could server past 60 but all other ranks had an upper age limit.  I assume that the Russian military kept those limits, as least until now.  I'm 63, in fairly good shape for my age, but there is no way in hell I would survive basic training in the US army, much less the Russian army, never mind in combat.

[ijuin 572]

By the time they start drafting people that old, they stop caring about physical fitness and only care that you can fire a rifle in the enemy’s general direction.

[Darth Fluffy 302]

27 minutes ago, ijuin said:

By the time they start drafting people that old, they stop caring about physical fitness and only care that you can fire a rifle in the enemy’s general direction.

Which, to be fair, can be enough; less that ideal, but in dire straits . . . of course, if you are invading a neighbor on false pretenses, that's hardly dire straits, unless you at the poorly calibrated tool that sent them in the first place.

So Ruskie pensioners, hobble on down to your recruitment center, so you can contribute your sorry self to preserve hero Putin's dubious legacy.

[The Old Hack 2,448]

42 minutes ago, Darth Fluffy said:

So Ruskie pensioners, hobble on down to your recruitment center, so you can contribute your sorry self to preserve hero Putin's dubious legacy.

We can always hope that they will be deployed in areas less likely to see combat to free up younger troops. Ones in their forties and fifties.

[The Old Hack 2,448]

13 hours ago, The Old Hack said:

Putin's newest superweapon: zombies. He has raised the maximum enlistment age in Russia to 70. Average lifespan for Russian males is 66 years.

Coming soon in a major production from Nyetflix: The new hit TV series "Z Nation: Attack of the Walking Dead."

I just had this clarified. Putin isn't actually sending press gangs to retirement homes and hauling random septuagenarians off to the front line, which was my own initial impression. This is about recalling retired personnel and it is actually graded on rank. High ranking officers may be recalled if they are up to 70 years old. Middle rankers may be recalled if they are 65 years old. Low ranking officers may be recalled up till the age of 60. As for actual ground pounders -- NCOs and enlisted personnel -- they only get recalled if they are up to 55 years old.

It's still not a good sign, mind you. Putin desperately needs personnel without actually ordering a general mobilization and he is clearly scraping the bottom of the barrel. But to be fair to him, his position can't exactly be compared to that of Revolutionary France in 1793. When they issued their levée en masse, large numbers of French patriots mustered to fight for their country. Putin is afraid that if he tries that, large numbers of Russians will take to the streets and protest against the war. Given how much his throne is tottering at the moment, that might make it topple altogether.

[Darth Fluffy 302]

5 hours ago, The Old Hack said:

 . . .  Given how much his throne is tottering at the moment, that might make it topple altogether.

One can only hope the operative extension of that is " . . . or faster." I don't see a good outcome for him. His game does not work on the world stage, his backing is no longer intimidating, the vast wealth of his territory is diminished by his antics, all he has left is a nuclear threat that is basically a messy form of suicide (scary thought, though, as suicide might seem to be an only option at some point).

I feel bad for his people. The smart ones left and are refugees. The true believers among those remaining are as delusional as are our own MAGATS.

How long until some other Russian faction with an axe to grind takes a shot at him? I doubt his group of oligarchs are happy right now.

[The Old Hack 2,448]

On 7/24/2023 at 8:56 AM, Darth Fluffy said:

I doubt his group of oligarchs are happy right now.

It's okay. They are not in any danger of running out of sixth story windows. Or maybe they are. I suppose that depends on how fast they are moving as they pass through them.

In completely unrelated news to any matters dictatorial or genocidal, Shakespeare is no longer permitted in Florida's institutions of education. His plays contain materials harmful to children. Limited excerpts in pamphlet format may be made available until such time as Adolf Santis again has an inspiration for how to keep Florida's young and children safe from the non-threat of Woke. It is amazing how many solutions that man can come up with for problems that only exist in his befuddled, bigoted and power-hungry excuse for a mind.

[Pharaoh RutinTutin 1,586]

 

And I had hoped that Indiana's attempt to ban Robin Hood in the 50s for promoting Communism was only a hiccup. 

 

[The Old Hack 2,448]

36 minutes ago, Pharaoh RutinTutin said:

And I had hoped that Indiana's attempt to ban Robin Hood in the 50s for promoting Communism was only a hiccup. 

A historian I read argued that authoritarianism seems to experience a resurgence in America every fifty years or so. Wilson's presidency, McCarthyism and now Trumpism rather lend strength to that hypothesis. When viewed from a certain angle one might even call Lincoln authoritarian. The South certainly would, given his tyrannical and absolutist insistence on limiting the enslavement of Black people. Woe unto America when a ruthless tyrant dare impinge on the right of free men to take slaves.

[ChronosCat 155]

21 hours ago, The Old Hack said:

When viewed from a certain angle one might even call Lincoln authoritarian. The South certainly would, given his tyrannical and absolutist insistence on limiting the enslavement of Black people. Woe unto America when a ruthless tyrant dare impinge on the right of free men to take slaves.

I consider Lincoln a hero, and am very glad that he freed America's slaves. And anyone who claims the Civil War was about "States' Rights" is lying (or badly misinformed); the only right the Confederacy was fighting for was the "right" to keep slaves.

All that said, my understanding is that "Preserving the Union" was a higher priority for Lincoln than freeing slaves, and that it was his primary motivation for waging war against the Confederacy. So even with Lincoln there's room to question his motives and decisions (but then, there's no rule that heroes have to be perfect).

[The Old Hack 2,448]

5 hours ago, ChronosCat said:

All that said, my understanding is that "Preserving the Union" was a higher priority for Lincoln than freeing slaves, and that it was his primary motivation for waging war against the Confederacy. So even with Lincoln there's room to question his motives and decisions (but then, there's no rule that heroes have to be perfect).

Absolutely. Agreed with your post in all particulars.

[Darth Fluffy 302]

The role of narrow-minded people in edjumacation.

[The Old Hack 2,448]

So does it say anything about how it works when narrow-minded people tell you that you are a terrible person because of what you are?

[Darth Fluffy 302]

Yes, actually. The person being told  becomes more confident in their position (small wedge becomes the dominant part), and the third party accompanying the accuser sees the shallowness of their position and becomes open-minded. Look at the expanding lined areas.

PBF is ironically named, is not at all conventionally religious, if that was not apparent.

 

[The Old Hack 2,448]

On 6/5/2023 at 0:29 AM, mlooney said:

It was one of the defining moments of my post military life.  To this day I try very hard to avoid buying things made in the PRC.  I'm aware that this is harder than it should be.

Well at least you aren't in the market for MAGA baseball caps.

[The Old Hack 2,448]

https://www.tumblr.com/vaspider/725688445046063104/average-president-has-2-felony-charges-factoid?source=share

[Darth Fluffy 302]

2 hours ago, The Old Hack said:

https://www.tumblr.com/vaspider/725688445046063104/average-president-has-2-felony-charges-factoid?source=share

"average president has 2 felony charges" factoid actually just statistical error. average president has 0 felony charges. Felonies Don, who lives in a state of disgrace (Florida) & has 92 felony charges, is an outlier and should not have been counted"

I agree with the sentiment. Horrific though it be, and I had difficulty accepting the fact, the Mango Miscreant was actually elected (perhaps Hillary should have fussed as much as Toxic Orange has about 2020). So, 'The average American President currently has two felony charges' is mathematically correct; the number could still climb.

It is, of course, a form of disinformation, a spin of the facts to color perception of what is actually going on. I'm not sure 'rule of the people' can survive an era of active factual manipulation, not when over half the populace has proven themselves to be fundamentally gullible. Fox Noise is bad enough, but at least it is plain sight, and has publicly acknowledged that it is not actually news (not because of benign honesty, but to defend itself in court). The InterWebs and social media of which we, here, on this forum are a tiny piece, have allowed the trolls free access to the weakest links in the chain.

The promise of the Internet was free exchange of information, and early on, when it was largely an academic tool, it was, but even then, the cost of low accountability and anonymity was apparent in news groups. Now, with nations engaging in informational gamesmanship, the Internet is still a great source of information, but it is an even better source of disinformation; if you don't have the wit to tell the difference, you are part of the problem. AI will ensure that the disinformation gets better and better; catching it will improve at a slower pace.

There is no river of clear water. There is an open sewer drifting by. The monkeys of the third rock have become addicted to it, so it is not going away. 

In a sane world, Trump has already been held accountable. His misdeeds are many and are readily apparent. We do not live in that world.

 

[ijuin 572]

5 hours ago, Darth Fluffy said:

"average president has 2 felony charges" factoid actually just statistical error. average president has 0 felony charges. Felonies Don, who lives in a state of disgrace (Florida) & has 92 felony charges, is an outlier and should not have been counted"

Herein lies the folly of assuming that the arithmetic mean is more descriptive of a population than the median or the mode.

[Pharaoh RutinTutin 1,586]

 

Mean Median Mode is when you put dangerous grassy strips down the middle of highways 

 

Statistics Jokes.  They exist. 

 

[Don Edwards 548]

I still think that if Trump is guilty - which he probably is - an argument of selective prosecution could be very helpful for him. After all, he was impeached on allegations of doing things that Vice President Biden publicly boasted of having done, and is now being prosecuted for offenses that were not a problem worth prosecuting when Secretary of State Hillary Clinton committed them on a much larger scale (in spite of the fact that there were and are people in prison on convictions of having done the same thing on a minuscule scale as compared to either Trump or Clinton).