I’m becoming more skeptical that Trump can end the Ukraine war. Putin seems to give him a line of BS then escalates the conflict. Now there was an incursion of drones into Poland and Poland has asked for NATO. I don’t see how this ends well.
physicsguy-
you’re probably correct- no way that Trump or anyone else can end this.
Part/most of the problem is that our supposed allies (Germany and other EU nations) are enabling and financing Putin with their ongoing purchases of petroleum from Putin. Trump had (and has) no intention of going kinetic with Putin, but may have expected that diplomatic and especially economic pressures could motivate Putin to pull back. Instead, Germany (and others) has killed its nuclear power program, continues to support its military with words but not deeds or euros, writes huge checks to Mr Putin every month so he can pay for his military.
Trump is in the process of cutting his losses with respect to Ukraine. It’s unfortunate, but going to war with reluctant allies is not a recipe for success. It would be truly unfortunate if Putin takes and keeps the portion of Ukraine that he already controls, and then oozes his way into more western parts of Ukraine. If the big European economic powers will not fight it with more than words, why should Trump care?
I don’t see how this ends well.
==
Putin slips on the ice, cracks is head, and is incapacitated by a brain bleed. Someone more sensible takes over and decides to cut their losses.
who would have thought firing more rockets into the Russian interior would turn out badly, we were never this reckless in the Cold War, placing Pershings in Germany was as far as we got,
Yes Russian oil purchases help fuel the beasts, but so does this game of rocket roulette,
writes huge checks to Mr Putin every month so he can pay for his military.
==
There’s a limit to the number of soldiers they can recruit for the meat grinder. BTW, Putin is older than all but one of his cabinet ministers and a contemporary of only a few. His life expectancy is about 11 years.
who would have thought firing more rockets into the Russian interior
Who would have thought that Ukraine would retaliate when Russia attacked them? Russia kicked this mess off in 2014.
I’m becoming more skeptical that Trump can end the Ukraine war.
I was always skeptical, but it was worth a try. I think the lesson here is that being nice to Russia buys you nothing. That lesson was also learned after WWII. It is what it is. Which doesn’t mean you have to go to war, but you need to make it look expensive. Ukraine looked cheap, that is why Russia gave it a shot.
Speaking of actors and movie people, here is Hamas rehearsing “injured and starving” propaganda production.
These are the vids MSM broadcast as reality.
You do not need an account to view.
@physicsguy: Side comment: is there a reason the open thread videos are now in portrait format instead of landscape?
I can’t speak to neo’s choices, but with today’s smartphones everyone has a video camera in their pocket.
On the video format …
YouTube has 2 types of videos: long-form and “shorts.” For some reason, shorts are vertical, long and narrow. Sometimes I post one type of video and sometimes it’s the other type. The one in this thread is a short.
That said, for some reason the shorts have gotten bigger, I’ll see if there’s another setting to use, the next time I post one.
The vertical video format:
It seems that about 90% of the average smartphone videos are shot this way. I guess the physical shape of the phone itself makes this a convenient fit to the hand and the record button falls naturally under the thumb.
Also, I find the HD aspect ratio very nice at 16:9. But for whatever reason the smartphone aspect, called “full,” is even wider or narrower if vertical.
It amuses me that people settle for this keyhole view of the world. Have they never been in a movie theater or watched TV?
more on Shorts portrait format for smartphones and tablets
“By design, YouTube Shorts, just like Instagram Reels and TikTok videos, are all vertical videos. They’re meant to be consumed with your phone in portrait mode, fill the entire screen, and are designed to keep you swiping and watching more. Shorts are not meant to be consumed in landscape, but YouTube is now bringing that option as an accessibility feature to its mobile app.”
It’s noon, ‘wednesday, Pacific time… FOX covering the shooting of Charlie Kirk. He was holding a rally at Utah Valley University. No word on his condition, but it doesn’t sound good.
Miguel
Just coming here to post that.
Of course the left is NEVER violent.
The ace of spades seems to be the best website to follow the Charlie Kirk shooting. As of 1541 EDT he is reporting that the video showing blood gushing out is AI fake.
I have a post up about the Kirk shooting. See this.
Today I was recalling a bit of 70s satire:
_________________________________
Six Phases of a Project
(1) Enthusiasm
(2) Disillusionment
(3) Panic
(4) Search for the guilty
(5) Punishment of the innocent
(6) Praise and honors for the non-participants
The list was used in computer science in the early 1970s, and quickly spread to engineering and government projects. It is a humorous summary about the outcome of IT-Projects, with an unspoken imputation about the seemingly inherent tendency of these toward failure.
I’m becoming more skeptical that Trump can end the Ukraine war. Putin seems to give him a line of BS then escalates the conflict. Now there was an incursion of drones into Poland and Poland has asked for NATO. I don’t see how this ends well.
https://www.dailywire.com/news/poland-downs-huge-number-of-russian-drones-violating-its-sovereign-airspace?topStoryPosition=undefined&author=Leif+Le+Mahieu&category=News&elementPosition=2&row=1&rowHeadline=Top+Stories&rowType=Top+Stories&title=Poland+Downs+%E2%80%98Huge+Number%E2%80%99+Of+Russian+Drones+Violating+Its+Sovereign+Airspace
Side comment: is there a reason the open thread videos are now in portrait format instead of landscape?
You need more Cugi in your life:
==
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ngIIoZr6G9M
physicsguy-
you’re probably correct- no way that Trump or anyone else can end this.
Part/most of the problem is that our supposed allies (Germany and other EU nations) are enabling and financing Putin with their ongoing purchases of petroleum from Putin. Trump had (and has) no intention of going kinetic with Putin, but may have expected that diplomatic and especially economic pressures could motivate Putin to pull back. Instead, Germany (and others) has killed its nuclear power program, continues to support its military with words but not deeds or euros, writes huge checks to Mr Putin every month so he can pay for his military.
Trump is in the process of cutting his losses with respect to Ukraine. It’s unfortunate, but going to war with reluctant allies is not a recipe for success. It would be truly unfortunate if Putin takes and keeps the portion of Ukraine that he already controls, and then oozes his way into more western parts of Ukraine. If the big European economic powers will not fight it with more than words, why should Trump care?
I don’t see how this ends well.
==
Putin slips on the ice, cracks is head, and is incapacitated by a brain bleed. Someone more sensible takes over and decides to cut their losses.
who would have thought firing more rockets into the Russian interior would turn out badly, we were never this reckless in the Cold War, placing Pershings in Germany was as far as we got,
Yes Russian oil purchases help fuel the beasts, but so does this game of rocket roulette,
writes huge checks to Mr Putin every month so he can pay for his military.
==
There’s a limit to the number of soldiers they can recruit for the meat grinder. BTW, Putin is older than all but one of his cabinet ministers and a contemporary of only a few. His life expectancy is about 11 years.
who would have thought firing more rockets into the Russian interior
Who would have thought that Ukraine would retaliate when Russia attacked them? Russia kicked this mess off in 2014.
https://x.com/TheGoodISIS/status/1965780191768186926
On the Russian drone incursion into Poland
day ending in y
https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/414711
I’m becoming more skeptical that Trump can end the Ukraine war.
I was always skeptical, but it was worth a try. I think the lesson here is that being nice to Russia buys you nothing. That lesson was also learned after WWII. It is what it is. Which doesn’t mean you have to go to war, but you need to make it look expensive. Ukraine looked cheap, that is why Russia gave it a shot.
Speaking of actors and movie people, here is Hamas rehearsing “injured and starving” propaganda production.
These are the vids MSM broadcast as reality.
You do not need an account to view.
https://www.instagram.com/reel/DNLtkKkRFJn/?igsh=MTc4MmM1YmI2Ng%3D%3D
@physicsguy: Side comment: is there a reason the open thread videos are now in portrait format instead of landscape?
I can’t speak to neo’s choices, but with today’s smartphones everyone has a video camera in their pocket.
On the video format …
YouTube has 2 types of videos: long-form and “shorts.” For some reason, shorts are vertical, long and narrow. Sometimes I post one type of video and sometimes it’s the other type. The one in this thread is a short.
That said, for some reason the shorts have gotten bigger, I’ll see if there’s another setting to use, the next time I post one.
The vertical video format:
It seems that about 90% of the average smartphone videos are shot this way. I guess the physical shape of the phone itself makes this a convenient fit to the hand and the record button falls naturally under the thumb.
Also, I find the HD aspect ratio very nice at 16:9. But for whatever reason the smartphone aspect, called “full,” is even wider or narrower if vertical.
It amuses me that people settle for this keyhole view of the world. Have they never been in a movie theater or watched TV?
more on Shorts portrait format for smartphones and tablets
“By design, YouTube Shorts, just like Instagram Reels and TikTok videos, are all vertical videos. They’re meant to be consumed with your phone in portrait mode, fill the entire screen, and are designed to keep you swiping and watching more. Shorts are not meant to be consumed in landscape, but YouTube is now bringing that option as an accessibility feature to its mobile app.”
https://www.androidauthority.com/youtube-rotate-shorts-setting-3574015/
charlie kirk has been shot in the neck, at a campus in Utah
https://www.deseret.com/utah/2025/09/10/charlie-kirk-shot/
It’s noon, ‘wednesday, Pacific time… FOX covering the shooting of Charlie Kirk. He was holding a rally at Utah Valley University. No word on his condition, but it doesn’t sound good.
Miguel
Just coming here to post that.
Of course the left is NEVER violent.
The ace of spades seems to be the best website to follow the Charlie Kirk shooting. As of 1541 EDT he is reporting that the video showing blood gushing out is AI fake.
https://ace.mu.nu/
Bob Wilson:
I have a post up about the Kirk shooting. See this.
Today I was recalling a bit of 70s satire:
_________________________________
Six Phases of a Project
(1) Enthusiasm
(2) Disillusionment
(3) Panic
(4) Search for the guilty
(5) Punishment of the innocent
(6) Praise and honors for the non-participants
The list was used in computer science in the early 1970s, and quickly spread to engineering and government projects. It is a humorous summary about the outcome of IT-Projects, with an unspoken imputation about the seemingly inherent tendency of these toward failure.
https://www.smart-words.org/jokes/six-phases-project.html
_________________________________
We used to laugh about this stuff. Now it turns out to be business as usual with a vengeance, especially when government or politics are involved.
Consider the Biden 2024 debacle.