I wasn't sure where this Israel, Iran and China debacle should go, so I thought I would start a new thread and post it here:

Interesting article disusing Israel's actions in trying to destabilize Iran and how it monumentally backfired and brought China into the Middle East... it's kind of crazy

 

"To the extent that Netanyahu played a role here, his plot has backfired monumentally. If the China deal goes through, Iran is much strengthened and its hard liners are entirely unleashed. The positioning of Chinese security forces in Iran will make it increasingly risky for other countries such as Israel or the US to strike Iran, lest they come into conflict with nuclear-armed China."

Edited September 10, 20196 yr by wanna-b-fanboy

24 minutes ago, Tracker said:

No question some hunt for food that they would have struggled to obtain otherwise, but for many the food is the cover story. 

Most hunters I know carry around at least 50 lbs. of extra fat on their asses.

4 hours ago, GCn20 said:

Ethically, it is better to hunt imo as well, especially in areas where game populations require control.

Certain species have adapted to agriculture and even urbanization, while their predaters have done so less extensively. Two examples would be the white tailed deer and the canada goose - I believe we have a certain measure of responsibility, to keep those species in check. 

5 hours ago, Mark H. said:

Certain species have adapted to agriculture and even urbanization, while their predaters have done so less extensively. Two examples would be the white tailed deer and the canada goose - I believe we have a certain measure of responsibility, to keep those species in check. 

Maybe we should offer contraceptives?

12 hours ago, Tracker said:

Maybe we should offer contraceptives?

That would mean less venison for my grill...

Fun fact? Castration was probably one of the first methods of domestication.

21 hours ago, Tracker said:

No question some hunt for food that they would have struggled to obtain otherwise, but for many the food is the cover story. 

Sure...some hunt for pleasure for sure. I still see nothing wrong with that so long as they are not wasting the meat.

21 hours ago, Fatty Liver said:

Most hunters I know carry around at least 50 lbs. of extra fat on their asses.

Only the ones that don't hunt enough. Hunting is a great way to get exercise and enjoy the outdoors. More lard asses should do it.

Edited July 21, 20223 yr by GCn20

https://www.newsweek.com/russia-putin-moscow-west-economics-world-order-1726686

Quote

Vladimir Putin has warned that "a new stage in world history" is coming in a speech in which he condemned "the model of total domination" by the West.

During the address on Wednesday in Moscow, the Russian leader took a swipe at the populations of Western countries, which he described as the "golden billion", and asked why their leaders should "impose their own rules of conduct based on the illusion of exclusivity" which he believed was "inherently racist and neo-colonial."

"One gets the impression that the West simply cannot offer the world its own model of the future," Putin said, as he described how the dominance of the West owed itself to "the robbery of other peoples both in Asia and in Africa."

He singled out India in particular as being "robbed" in his criticism of colonial powers. With Russia facing sanctions from the West due to his invasion, trade ties between New Delhi and Moscow have strengthened since the start of the Ukraine war and Russia has pivoted towards countries like China and Iran.

 

6 hours ago, GCn20 said:

Sure...some hunt for pleasure for sure. I still see nothing wrong with that so long as they are not wasting the meat.

Only the ones that don't hunt enough. Hunting is a great way to get exercise and enjoy the outdoors. More lard asses should do it.

Somehow, for me at least, killing for pleasure is just wrong.

4 hours ago, Tracker said:

Somehow, for me at least, killing for pleasure is just wrong.

Playing devil's advocate - you could also say that taking pleasure in eating factory farmed meat is wrong. Eating produce from places in the world where farm workers are subject to extreme conditions and unfair pay as well.

When I've hunted, I've enjoyed being outside, I've enjoyed tracking or setting up. I've felt bad killing an animal and given thanks in my own way, but I don't think someone can hold their head high if they actively support industrial agriculture just because they aren't doing the killing themselves.

13 hours ago, WildPath said:

Playing devil's advocate - you could also say that taking pleasure in eating factory farmed meat is wrong. Eating produce from places in the world where farm workers are subject to extreme conditions and unfair pay as well.

When I've hunted, I've enjoyed being outside, I've enjoyed tracking or setting up. I've felt bad killing an animal and given thanks in my own way, but I don't think someone can hold their head high if they actively support industrial agriculture just because they aren't doing the killing themselves.

The act of killing a non-threatening creature for pleasure changes the assailant for the worse. If killing for legitimate reasons- ie: self-defence or needed  food as part of an integral culture has a different effect. 

this former military  guy does a daily article re putin atrocity. seems to know what he is writing about.

 

https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2022/7/22/2111869/-Ukraine-Update-LOL-no-Russia-isn-t-attacking-Odesa-They-re-already-out-of-steam-in-the-Donbas

 

 

16 hours ago, WildPath said:

Playing devil's advocate - you could also say that taking pleasure in eating factory farmed meat is wrong. Eating produce from places in the world where farm workers are subject to extreme conditions and unfair pay as well.

 I don't think someone can hold their head high if they actively support industrial agriculture just because they aren't doing the killing themselves.

I think raising livestock, gardening, butchering and cutting meat - are things that more people should still be able to do. 

20 hours ago, Mark F said:

this former military  guy does a daily article re putin atrocity. seems to know what he is writing about.

 

https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2022/7/22/2111869/-Ukraine-Update-LOL-no-Russia-isn-t-attacking-Odesa-They-re-already-out-of-steam-in-the-Donbas

 

 

The stalling of the Russian invasion happened before the effect of the western training and weapons came into full impact. There are credible reports of mutinies and half-hearted attacks by Russian troops and even the troops from the Wagner Group and mercenaries from Chechnya have not helped. Putin is pressuring Belarus to begin attacks.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/russia-invasion-ukraine-day152-1.6530910

Quote

Russia appears to have reversed itself after the country's top diplomat said Moscow's overarching goal is to topple the government of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy as Russian artillery barrages and airstrikes continue to pummel cities across Ukraine.

The remark from Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov comes amid Ukraine's efforts to resume grain exports from its Black Sea ports, something that would help ease global food shortages, under a new deal tested by a Russian strike on Odesa over the weekend.

Speaking to envoys at an Arab League summit in Cairo late Sunday, Lavrov said Moscow is determined to help Ukrainians "liberate themselves from the burden of this absolutely unacceptable regime."

Lavrov accused Kyiv and "its Western allies" of spouting propaganda intended to ensure that Ukraine "becomes the eternal enemy of Russia."

"Russian and Ukrainian people would continue to live together, we will certainly help Ukrainian people to get rid of the regime, which is absolutely anti-people and anti-historical," he said.

Lavrov's remarks contrasted sharply with the Kremlin's line early in the war, when Russian officials repeatedly emphasized that they weren't seeking to overthrow Zelenskyy's government.

7 hours ago, blue_gold_84 said:

https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/russia-invasion-ukraine-day152-1.6530910

Putin is whistling past the graveyard. The fighting has turned against him even before the arrival of western military supplies, his troops are often mutinying and Russia's economy is crumbling.

 

Russian Officials Beg for Donations to Buy Troops Equipment

Russian officials are asking local residents in one Novosbibirsk community to crowdfund equipment for troops fighting in Ukraine.

Officials in Morskoy used the popular networking sites Odnoklassniki and Vkontakte to plead for donations to buy quadcopters, gas generators, binoculars, compression bandages, and combat application tourniquets used by the U.S. and other NATO countries, according to the Siberian news outlet Taiga.info.

“The goods can be handed over to the administration of Morskoy village on business days,” one posting reportedly read, along with pro-Putin and pro-war hashtags. The appeals were later deleted.

The equipment on the local officials’ wish list was said to be meant for members of an anti-aircraft missile regiment heading for Ukraine, though it was not clear why the Russian military was not supplying such equipment.

https://www.thedailybeast.com/russian-officials-beg-locals-for-donations-to-buy-troops-equipment?ref=home

1 minute ago, Tracker said:

 

Russian Officials Beg for Donations to Buy Troops Equipment

Russian officials are asking local residents in one Novosbibirsk community to crowdfund equipment for troops fighting in Ukraine.

Officials in Morskoy used the popular networking sites Odnoklassniki and Vkontakte to plead for donations to buy quadcopters, gas generators, binoculars, compression bandages, and combat application tourniquets used by the U.S. and other NATO countries, according to the Siberian news outlet Taiga.info.

“The goods can be handed over to the administration of Morskoy village on business days,” one posting reportedly read, along with pro-Putin and pro-war hashtags. The appeals were later deleted.

The equipment on the local officials’ wish list was said to be meant for members of an anti-aircraft missile regiment heading for Ukraine, though it was not clear why the Russian military was not supplying such equipment.

https://www.thedailybeast.com/russian-officials-beg-locals-for-donations-to-buy-troops-equipment?ref=home

Begging or demanding?

Just now, TrueBlue4ever said:

Begging or demanding?

If its Russian officials asking, its probably pretty much the same thing. They would likely accept washing machines, refrigerators and TV sets in lieu of cash.

3 minutes ago, Tracker said:

If its Russian officials asking, its probably pretty much the same thing. They would likely accept washing machines, refrigerators and TV sets in lieu of cash.

Yeah, I’m thinking that “politely declining the request” is not really on the table, is it?

Russia Sending Mercenaries to Hold Ukrainian Frontline as Troop Casualties Pile Up: U.K.

With infantry losses stacking up, Russia is increasingly turning to mercenaries to hold key front line sectors in its war in Ukraine, a British defense report said Friday. The U.K.’s defense department said Putin was sending private military contractors from Wagner Group to carry out duties normally performed by enlisted soldiers. “This is a significant change from the previous employment of the group since 2015, when it typically undertook missions distinct from overt, large-scale regular Russian military activity,” the British defense ministry tweeted. “Wagner’s role has probably changed because the Russian [ministry of defense] has a major shortage of combat infantry, however Wagner forces are highly unlikely to be sufficient to make a significant difference in the trajectory of the war.”

Yesterday the Russians posted a video of a Russian soldier castrating a captured Ukrainian soldier with a straight razor. In all likelihood the Ukrainian soldier died from blood loss and shock. The Russian soldier has been identified and will have a bounty on his head, as will his whole unit. The Russians then announced that Ukrainian artillery shelled a POW camp, killing all 50 Ukrainian soldiers. However, the Russians also announced that no Russian personnel were harmed or killed. The Ukrainian military stated that this was the place where torturing and killing of Ukrainian soldiers was taking place and that Russians bombed the camp to hide the evidence.

wrecked russian weaponry, and russian dead. 70 photos. russian forces have got some savages if these (tracker) reports are true.

the afghans defeated them. resoundingly.

https://www.reuters.com/news/picture/russias-military-suffers-heavy-toll-from-idUSRTS9ZI7C?utm_source=reddit.com
 

couple of days ago a bear... black bear was trying to get at our bird feeder... sitting in tv room , ground level, ten or fifteen feet away, watching this, then the bear walked over to the window, and looked in at us for a minute or so. luckily then just walked away.

Edited August 1, 20223 yr by Mark F

10 hours ago, Mark F said:

wrecked russian weaponry, and russian dead. 70 photos. russian forces have got some savages if these (tracker) reports are true.

the afghans defeated them. resoundingly.

https://www.reuters.com/news/picture/russias-military-suffers-heavy-toll-from-idUSRTS9ZI7C?utm_source=reddit.com
 

couple of days ago a bear... black bear was trying to get at our bird feeder... sitting in tv room , ground level, ten or fifteen feet away, watching this, then the bear walked over to the window, and looked in at us for a minute or so. luckily then just walked away.

Is the hidden message in your allegory that you are Ukraine and the bear is Russia?

You would have put up an unexpectedly strong fight against the bear?

10 hours ago, WildPath said:

Is the hidden message in your allegory that you are Ukraine and the bear is Russia?

You would have put up an unexpectedly strong fight against the bear?

 

😀.... I wish I was that poetic, and thought that way.... I was thinking about the discussion about hunting, not sure why, that seemed related.  

yours is a very nice comment

On 2022-08-01 at 10:05 AM, Mark F said:

wrecked russian weaponry, and russian dead. 70 photos. russian forces have got some savages if these (tracker) reports are true.

the afghans defeated them. resoundingly.

https://www.reuters.com/news/picture/russias-military-suffers-heavy-toll-from-idUSRTS9ZI7C?utm_source=reddit.com
 

couple of days ago a bear... black bear was trying to get at our bird feeder... sitting in tv room , ground level, ten or fifteen feet away, watching this, then the bear walked over to the window, and looked in at us for a minute or so. luckily then just walked away.

Putin is desperate to find a way to "win" this war or salvage some kind of victory, and it is not happening. At this point, they, according to reliable reports have lost over 40,000 dead and literally billions of dollars/rubles of ordnance and the full impact of the western armaments is just beginning to be felt. The Russian military has called up former soldiers who are in their 60;s, sent "soldiers" into battle with a week or less of training (some do not know how to reload their guns), brought in the Wagner group (openly Nazi complete with tattoos) and mercenaries from Chechnya and anywhere they can find them. The Ukrainian forces appear to be recapturing one or two villages every day and the ultimate prize is the city of Kherson which is strategically important. The Russian fleet in the Black Sea have retreated to about 200 km away from Ukrainian shores and the Ukrainian navy will soon take delivery of several guided missile frigates. And in the devastated city of Mariupol, Ukrainian partisans are harassing and killing Russian troops in urban guerilla warfare. 

The sanctions have devastated the Russian economy and all this reminds me of a line from Dr. Zhivago, "Germans underestimated Russian capacity for suffering"

The Ukrainians are using their new long range arsenal of artillery and rockets, to to pound Russian supply routes - to choke off and deny the front line troops - gas, food, ammo, spare parts, and fresh (shrinking) reserve units.  This is the classic setup, to launching successful offensives.