51–60 of 61 posts
These articles come up every so often and they're always a little strange as a former submariner. Firstly, they're always aboard US boomers, which are immensely spacious by submarine standards (lol'd at "The ship seemed cramped, with narrow passageways."). You can walk two-abreast in some US boomer passageways, a completely unheard of feat on any other class of sub. They also have relatively relaxed, predictable sche…
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Such a fallacy. The Ukrainians don't have a functioning diplomatic or ambassador corps, either. Much as Americans might fantasize about adding it as another star to their flag, Ukrainians aren't American citizens whose taxes get wasted on these ridiculous submarines, and the Ukrainian people don't pay for the US' military junta's favorite toys of the month. It buys the old ones for its war. If America drops a bomb, i…
> Much as Americans might fantasize about adding it as another star to their flag Bothsidism is a strong in this one. Why am I not surprised it comes from an Austrian? > If America drops a bomb, it is only because it failed at diplomacy. First, diplomacy must be backed by strength, leverage, without it there's nothing to negotiate, because the other side can simply take what it wants. As such, sabre rattling is part…
False. I'm Australian. You shouldn't be surprised that someone who has been watching OUR war crimes, crimes against humanity and massive violations of human rights at scale, is critical of the narrative being proffered by folks such as yourself which only leads to more war, bloodshed and calamity. "Bothsidism"?
No, I'm not concerned about any side but my own, which is the only state I can do anything effective about.
>Nuclear deterrence is part of diplomacy.
A classic America-first point of view which is entirely incompatible with the mores of the rest of the world, as we are finding out with BRICS - which is real, true diplomacy.
>Western diplomacy failed in 1938 and 1939
Another very USA'ian-centric perspective which only leads to a blindness. Your argument would be better centered around the failures of the American political ruling classes in preventing the American military junta from massacring 5% of Iraqs population .. in 2003.
Or, lets just address the bear in the room: America's utter failure to commit to the diplomacy of the Minsk accords. Or of the Istanbul agreement. Or any one of countless other acts of real diplomacy that America has shat on, in order to sell its weapons stocks to the cultures its oligarchic classes deem inferior...
Taiwan? Yes indeed, respect the wishes of the Taiwanese residents, and not just the ones the CIA send to have interviews on CNN. ALL of them.
There's a very old post which was on USENET and then on Reddit, which was a wry look at life on a sub, and an even funnier post of how to re-create the experience at home. Mostly it consisted of getting your SO to lock you in a cupboard under the stairs, run a vacuum cleaner outside the cupboard 24/7 and periodically throw a bucket of shit over you, while you were wrapped in a black plastic bag (CBW)
Modern subs, especially the missile ones, are way more comfortable than subs back the day. What I was told by someone who served on German navy subs in the 2000s so is, that the depiction of sub life shown in the movie "Das Boot" (I recommend the 7 (?) hour long mini series) is actually not too far of the mark. Better sanitation, but other than that, it is pretty much the same experience. They did have great food so!
In any case, WW2 submarines were torpedo boats only diving when necessary. The battery capacity of a German Type VII or an American Balao class was measured in hours, not days. Before snorkels reached operational status, boats had to completely surface for recharging; that is not the case anymore.
I think life on a Type VII was much nastier than on a modern Type 214. The engine was extremely loud, exhaust fumes were regularly in the air, and it was cold and incredibly cramped. Living conditions are much better on modern subs, even if space is still at a premium, especially on smaller boats.
What surely remains is the sense of camaraderie because of a shared fate; each sailor's life depends on the boat functioning as a unit. In that sense, nothing has changed.
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> There is no threat from Russia or China that can't be countered with a functioning diplomatic and ambassador corps I feel like Ukrainians would disagree with you. And Taiwanese. And people using chips made in Taiwan.
Such a fallacy. The Ukrainians don't have a functioning diplomatic or ambassador corps, either. Much as Americans might fantasize about adding it as another star to their flag, Ukrainians aren't American citizens whose taxes get wasted on these ridiculous submarines, and the Ukrainian people don't pay for the US' military junta's favorite toys of the month. It buys the old ones for its war. If America drops a bomb, i…
This suggests a belief that diplomacy is always sufficient to prevent war. Which runs counter to all of observed human history.
> The military’s rationale for offering us access seemed clear. The brass, apparently, wanted to help get Americans accustomed to the increasingly real prospect of conflict with a genuinely powerful opponent. They wanted to humanize the otherwise inhuman—some would say inhumane—reality of nuclear deterrence. And, finally, they wanted to convey a message to China and Russia about US forces and their strategic capabili…
The potential (and very likely at this point) US nuclear rearmament is hotly discussed topic atm
Sentinel ICBMs, B-21 bombers, and Columbia Class SSBNs.
"The Air Force told Congress January 18 that the newly estimated cost of each LGM-35A Sentinel has jumped from $118 million in 2020 to $162 million today. That’s a 37% spike."
... The service’s original 2016 estimate for the program was $62.3 billion. Then it ballooned to $95.3 billion. The latest projection suggests its new cost could be nearly $132 billion."[1]
[0]https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/inside-the-1-5-tr...
[1] https://www.pogo.org/newsletters/the-bunker/the-bunker-the-s...
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Well... https://sgs.princeton.edu/00000000 https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2013/12/launch-code-for-... https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Permissive_action_link > According to nuclear safety expert Bruce G. Blair, the US Air Force's Strategic Air Command worried that in times of need the codes for the Minuteman ICBM force would not be available, so it decided to set the codes to 00000000 in all missile launch contro…
It is probably a miracle, that no nukes were used by accidents or random madmen yet. But those sort of incidents really don't make me feel save, by all that destruction potential guarded by 00000000. I don't really trust, that today it somehow became really save. Even if they changed it, it probably is still attached in a pinup note next to it.
"Maj. Hering decided to ask his question anyway, regardless of consequences: How could he know that an order to launch his missiles was “lawful”? That it came from a sane president, one who wasn’t “imbalance[d]” or “berserk,” as Maj. Hering’s lawyer eventually, colorfully put it?
Hering needed a lawyer because as soon as he asked the question he was yanked out of missile training class, and after two years of appeals, eventually had to leave the Air Force, trade in a launch key for the ignition keys to an 18-wheeler.
[0] https://slate.com/human-interest/2011/02/nuclear-weapons-how...
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> Much as Americans might fantasize about adding it as another star to their flag Bothsidism is a strong in this one. Why am I not surprised it comes from an Austrian? > If America drops a bomb, it is only because it failed at diplomacy. First, diplomacy must be backed by strength, leverage, without it there's nothing to negotiate, because the other side can simply take what it wants. As such, sabre rattling is part…
>Austrian False. I'm Australian. You shouldn't be surprised that someone who has been watching OUR war crimes, crimes against humanity and massive violations of human rights at scale, is critical of the narrative being proffered by folks such as yourself which only leads to more war, bloodshed and calamity. "Bothsidism"? No, I'm not concerned about any side but my own , which is the only state I can do anything effec…
So you're an Australian living in Austria (Vienna, from your github)? Nice!
You're bothsidist, because you're projecting Russian imperialism of trying to conquer Ukraine (for centuries) on USA. Absurd.
> A classic America-first point of view which is entirely incompatible with the mores of the rest of the world, as we are finding out with BRICS - which is real, true diplomacy.
Now it's you making the mistake of assuming an identity.
I hope you're aware of the R in BRICS, currently waging a brutal war and regularly nuclear sabre rattling. So what diplomacy you're talking about?
> America's utter failure to commit to the diplomacy of the Minsk accords.
What did USA had to do with Minsk accords? Also, what a stellar example of diplomacy after Russia invaded Ukraine.
> Taiwan? Yes indeed, respect the wishes of the Taiwanese residents, and not just the ones the CIA send to have interviews on CNN. ALL of them.
You can take a look at the election results in the recent years (there were presidential ones just a month ago). Or are those manipulated by CIA as well?
Earlier quoted context omitted.
> Much as Americans might fantasize about adding it as another star to their flag Bothsidism is a strong in this one. Why am I not surprised it comes from an Austrian? > If America drops a bomb, it is only because it failed at diplomacy. First, diplomacy must be backed by strength, leverage, without it there's nothing to negotiate, because the other side can simply take what it wants. As such, sabre rattling is part…
>Austrian False. I'm Australian. You shouldn't be surprised that someone who has been watching OUR war crimes, crimes against humanity and massive violations of human rights at scale, is critical of the narrative being proffered by folks such as yourself which only leads to more war, bloodshed and calamity. "Bothsidism"? No, I'm not concerned about any side but my own , which is the only state I can do anything effec…
Even outside estimates of total "excess deaths" in the entire Iraq war -- regardless of cause or party directly responsible -- don't amount to 5 percent of the population. Or even half that.
In other words -- just another random factoid you vaguely thought you remembered from somewhere. As with your synopsis of Minsk + Istanbul.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
>Austrian False. I'm Australian. You shouldn't be surprised that someone who has been watching OUR war crimes, crimes against humanity and massive violations of human rights at scale, is critical of the narrative being proffered by folks such as yourself which only leads to more war, bloodshed and calamity. "Bothsidism"? No, I'm not concerned about any side but my own , which is the only state I can do anything effec…
> False. I'm Australian. So you're an Australian living in Austria (Vienna, from your github)? Nice! You're bothsidist, because you're projecting Russian imperialism of trying to conquer Ukraine (for centuries) on USA. Absurd. > A classic America-first point of view which is entirely incompatible with the mores of the rest of the world, as we are finding out with BRICS - which is real, true diplomacy. Now it's you ma…
>What did USA had to do with Minsk accords?
They instructed their puppet to ignore them and knowingly set Ukraine on a path to utter destruction as a result.
>Also, what a stellar example of diplomacy after Russia invaded Ukraine.
There was none - that is the point.