19478

This is way too combative for me on a Friday to engage with. Enjoy your weekend!

19479

You too!

19480

I think what Nichols was possibly trying to say but actually didn’t is he’s afraid the more general conversation about the use of tactical nukes, the guesses at responses of the West, etc., the more desensitized people get to the notion of them actually being used. “Some people” hold that the public sentiment is part of what stays the hand of superpowers, so any potential weakening of that sentiment must therefore place us at greater risk of the actual event.

I understand that view, even though I don’t entirely agree with it; the public talking about the potential horrors isn’t a risk of escalation. However, any peanut gallery idiocy always carries the risk of some easily influenced advisor giving stupid advice because they’re swayed by their “constituency.”

19481

I sort of interpreted him as responding to the Musks of the world who are trying to 4D chess their way to being great statesmen or something.

19482

If you click on the tweet (not that I’m encouraging you to do so or anything), he’s arguing with someone directly. If you want the context, try this.

He’s arguing with David Sacks’ original tweet (the one directly above the tweet I linked) and this Dennis guy. Mostly with the Dennis guy.

19483

Lots of good/interesting stuff in the latest update. Rumors that Russia will pull out all the experienced troops from Kherson and just leave mobilized soldiers in defense. Also, fun reversal of the Ukrainians test out Russian armor video with Wagner test out Ukrainian armor.

19484

Any of the many places where political reliability and / or loyalty to a patron is the first criterion for officer selection, probably.

19485

Link to full documentary in the comments, but if you only have time for a short onion cutting experience, this clip will surely do:

19486

Watching a little girl talking about seeing the flying robot that wanted to kill her when she just wanted to go for a walk… ugh.

19487

Dennis obviously needs a better name, like PhazorBack

19488

David Sacks is likely the original source of Elon Musk’s tweets about Ukraine, because I heard Sacks say all the same things as Elon, but weeks earlier. That’s who the guy is replying to. I’m just waiting for Elon to say “Crimea is fait accompli. There’s no point in talking about it.” Like Sacks.

19489

Elon sounds like a bot, scraping twitter for material!

19490

That was my take, more “this is important enough that maybe we step back and let the experts weigh in rather than social media powerhouses moving the needle.” As a secondary, more a criticism of social media power itself than nuclear brinksmanship strategy.

19491

Maybe NATO should mass forces around Kaliningrad and make an ultimatum:

Exit Ukraine and return its territory, or we use the same excuse you did for “ancestral lands” and we take Kaliningrad back for Poland and Germany.

Fair is fair right? We will deport every single Russian there back to Russia proper since they are there “illegally” as it never should have been ceded to Russia in the first place. If we massed troops around it, then Russia would have to divert an enormous amount of manpower and resources to defend it whether we planned to invade or not.

19492

All joking aside, there is no world in which it is ok to annex Russian territory in some sort of misguided tit for tat. It’s the kind of behaviour we are trying to prevent.

19493

Dude. You know I love you dearly. But no. This is how WW3 starts.

19494

Nothing like war crimes, human rights violations and toying with nuclear annihilation to show Putin we think he’s a meanie.

19495

I never understand the rationale of “This group is doing an objectively terrible thing to other human beings. Maybe if we did the same objectively terrible thing to other human beings, then some lesson would be learned.”

That’s how kids fight maybe, but not how you do international relations and/or even armed conflict.

19496

Man this up there with the napalmed child in Vietnam as a gut punch.

image

19497

I wouldn’t be too surprised to see some variation of this actually happen.