Planet Rugby Forum

Flockwitt

So Trump romps home in South Carolina. You might think that will be that for Nikki and it certainly demonstrates his unwavering base is owned by brand Trump. There's been quite a bit of back and forth on various forces at play in modern politics. For mine I look at Trump and would rather simply not...

Flockwitt

So Trump romps home in South Carolina. You might think that will be that for Nikki and it certainly demonstrates his unwavering base is owned by brand Trump. There's been quite a bit of back and forth on various forces at play in modern politics. For mine I look at Trump and would rather simply note...

Flockwitt

Syrskyi is conducting an audit of the Ukrainian army. They've got entire units and thousands of people that have somehow managed to 'avoid' front line duty.

Flockwitt

Solid article in the BBC on Russia: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-68359252 It's important to keep in mind that for a big chunk of Russia and Russians good old fashioned patriotism is still a significant factor. Patriotism has a lot to answer for come judgement day Aye. Probably number 2 aft...

Flockwitt

Solid article in the BBC on Russia:

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-68359252

It's important to keep in mind that for a big chunk of Russia and Russians good old fashioned patriotism is still a significant factor.

Flockwitt

Hmm… fair enough. I’d have to concede my direct experience is limited and can easily imagine plenty of Orban supporter equivalents. Aren't you both saying the same thing?! Opposite I think. Though Flockwit is having second thoughts. Yes and no. My own direct experience is real enough, there's a ser...

Flockwitt

Not true. The main pro-Russia parties in Germany (AFD, BSW) have their support bases in East Germany. I take your point but not the individuals I’ve met who are not rich / self interested remnants of the old hierarchy. East Germans' residual suspicion of the West and sympathy for Russia are visible...

Flockwitt

openclashXX wrote: ↑Thu Feb 22, 2024 3:41 am
Flockwitt wrote: ↑Thu Feb 22, 2024 3:26 am You can add ex-East Germans to that list too.
Not true. The main pro-Russia parties in Germany (AFD, BSW) have their support bases in East Germany.

I take your point but not the individuals I’ve met who are not rich / self interested remnants of the old hierarchy.

Flockwitt

You can add ex-East Germans to that list too.

Flockwitt

Sweden with another aid package US$680 million

Flockwitt

Yes, which makes it even more of a turnout election. Historically grievance has been a very helpful tool for Trump and he and his supporters will lean into his legal challenges throughout the cycle, piling onto concerns around the border and crime. On the other hand large swaths of Biden’s support ...

Flockwitt

Denmark to provide all artillery and ammo it has to Ukraine.

Flockwitt

Complacent confidence before the rocks of realty strike - I like this.

Flockwitt

Seems the Russians have wasted little time and begun a major push in the south around Robotyne. Previously reported by Ukrainian mil leadership that the Russians have accumulated even more troops there than in Avdiivka, with the goal to storm the village in the same fashion Hard to fathom what the ...

Flockwitt

That's not the point. Russian society at this point views the war more in terms of a world war than a small-scale counterinsurgency. That much is obvious with how many countries are now indirectly involved on both sides. Losing 400,000 soldiers would be utterly unacceptable if the war weren't being...

Flockwitt

There's very little chance that the limiting factor for the Russians is money or weapons. With oil at $80 a barrel, the budget can be sustained indefinitely. They have enough allies to procure more weapons. And the trajectory of the war is lending itself more towards artillery and drone production,...

Flockwitt

This isn't WWII, and Russia isn't Stalin's USSR. Quite. The Russian army in 1943 was probably 6m+ men. The population of Russia as a whole, some 190m. They faced an existential threat. Today, the army is approximately 1.3m. The Russian population today is 143m. It is also an older population. Today...

Flockwitt

I genuinely don’t think there’s too many undecided voters left around to be wooed. I mean, you either think it’s OK to storm the Capitol and lynch the VP. …Or you don’t. I was going to post much the same thing. Trump's such a polarising character that there's very few people on the fence about him....

Flockwitt

I genuinely don’t think there’s too many undecided voters left around to be wooed. I mean, you either think it’s OK to storm the Capitol and lynch the VP. …Or you don’t. I was going to post much the same thing. Trump's such a polarising character that there's very few people on the fence about him....

Flockwitt

That 1.3 mil figure, presume it includes rosgvardia, reserves, rocket forces, etc? It's not 1.3mil lads holding Kalashnikovs ready for the next meat wave. Yes. It should also be noted Russia's used their strategic reserve - the trained troops they would normally keep on hand to deal with other thre...

Flockwitt

So you have it, Navalny dies and the news channels get flooded with the victory in Avdiivka. You don't mess with the Putin man, no sirrreeee. How many personnel have they lost to gain this bit of land. (I know it has strategic value). If you extrapolate they probably would need more than the male p...

Flockwitt

So you have it, Navalny dies and the news channels get flooded with the victory in Avdiivka. You don't mess with the Putin man, no sirrreeee.

Flockwitt

They don’t care. Not a single f*ck. They got what they wanted - ability to throw shit at the other team and distract from their own team’s actual corruption. There are likely/possibly millions of US voters that can justify voting for the GOP despite the scandals because they’ll remember that Biden ...

Flockwitt

The situation at Avdiivka is getting worse for the Ukrainians. A withdrawal of troops from a defensive pocket south of the city was confirmed by both Ukrainian and Russian sources. Seems like days not weeks before a full withdrawal. Michael Kofman @KofmanMichael · 8h The situation in Avdiivka looks...

Flockwitt

Concerned about Congress taking up the Ukraine aid bill, this may be cast adrift.

Flockwitt

While the Mayorkas indictment gets through by a single vote. The GOP got it done just in time it seems. Yay for them.

Flockwitt

So the Senate passes the aid package but we'll have to see how it goes in the House.

On the good news front Sholz has promised to spend a full 2% of GDP on defence this year which must have ramifications.

Flockwitt

They’d be mad to take it up. No-win situation for them. The Colorado Ballot question will be excitement enough. IIRC that argument is set down for Thursday. I’m not convinced by the argument that it captures the President and VP so there is a potential off ramp there for Unanimity (or near to it) b...

Flockwitt

Sorry, yeah. Breakthrough is a relative term. I absolutely do not mean a breach into which loads of Russian tanks pour and wreak havoc for kilometres around. I mean that Ukrainse makes the tactical decision to fall back to the next line of natural defenses as the current ones become untenable. That...

Flockwitt

Might be just as sensible to get out of dodge and straighten the line somewhere back where they’ve got proper fortifications that isn’t in a salient. So what if Putin gets his few hectares of ruins. A perceived set back could also get some urgency going in the US of A. Do they have fortifications t...

Flockwitt

Russian losses were >1k today. Jebus. What's their total killed and injured? Over 300k killed and wounded. Looks like Russians are on the cusp of a breakthrough in Avdivka and are pouring troops in to the north flank. They've been nibbling away at enormous cost, but have finally reached the town pr...

Flockwitt

So… DOA for anything tied to the border is where we are at. How does Ukraine and Israel get their aid?

Flockwitt

So high court says Trump can be prosecuted in his election interference case, but... delay, delay, delay. https://www.yahoo.com/news/trump-not-immune-prosecution-2020-150956012.html Wonder if the Supreme Court will take it up if the appeals reach that far though. The concept the President can be imm...

Flockwitt

Flockwitt

Coming back to this, would this help: https://www.thepost.co.nz/business/350163439/kiwisaver-be-reviewed-invest-local-growth Very much so. But the devil would be in the management of it. Government run agencies are horribly inefficient - my current company sells to Oz private and Oz government busi...

Flockwitt

Imagine onberating the victim of sexual violence for not recalling an exact date years down the line, or indeed imagine suggesting a woman's looks suggest she could only have been raped by drunk people And yet seemingly such comments are welcomed by Planet Rugby I wouldn't say "welcomed". Wilson's ...

Flockwitt

They're in real trouble labour-wise as it is, Russia certainly isn't going to be hitting any growth prediction. If they do another major mobilisation they're fecked. Half the reason they're having so many power and heating failures this Winter is because so many engineers, electricians, and plumber...

Flockwitt

They're in real trouble labour-wise as it is, Russia certainly isn't going to be hitting any growth prediction. If they do another major mobilisation they're fecked.

Flockwitt

The bling there is great, anti-mining and all terrain vehicles. But the basis.... Only a thousand 155 shells will be gone in a few minutes on one section of the front. It all helps, but they probably need orders of magnitude more than that to saturate areas whether attacking or defending. Have to b...

Flockwitt

Some dirty politics going on regards Zaluzhnyi, it'll be power plays by those who see him as a political and/or economic threat. A bunch of crooked parlimentarians have tried to impeach him before now though that never made main stream media.

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