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SL Xpress

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Everything posted by SL Xpress

  1. Especially when it's apparent it wasn't a purposeful maneuver.
  2. Well, that part wasn't good. But they'll still try the fuel dumping thing again, so yeah.
  3. https://membrana-cdn.media/uin/desktop/ukrinform-ext2-8780-20230308-desktop.mp4?r=27490
  4. They were able to erase the intel gathered. Maybe fried the electronics? Dunno. But I wouldn't call a recovery useless. They'll still be able to learn something about it and pass it on to the Chinese and Iran, among others. That's okay. That's one of the risks of deploying it. Comes with the territory.
  5. It could be true. I read the same thing. But it was from Russian Telegram channels. I didn't see any photos or video to back the claims up. Doesn't mean it didn't happen, though. It's about 45 to 75 miles southwest of Crimea, depending on whether you trust the BBC or the NY Times more. In any case, it's in a place pretty accessible to Russian warships.
  6. When you say that's the only thing that makes sense, I don't agree with you. Even if they don't recover it there's still benefits to the operation. First of all, it's an unmanned drone. Way different consequences to bringing it down, even in international waters, than an E-3 surveillance plane with around 17 to 22 crew on board. Second, right now the US sends these surveillance planes in the area without repercussion. This sends a statement there can be repercussions, we can take these planes down without firing a shot, and we will. It's obvious to me watching the video they intended to take it down by dumping fuel on it, not by crashing into it. While it's a step beyond what they've done before, both the Russians and the Chinese have engaged in extremely dangerous intercept flights in the past. Including the recent past. China just came within 20 feet of a US plane in the South China Sea a couple of weeks ago. It's been going on for a while now. That said, I don't recall any circumstances where they were attempting to dump fuel on another aircraft, so this raises the stakes. I don't have a clear idea what the US is going to do in retaliation, especially considering everything they've done in concert with Russia's invasion of Ukraine, but they're going to have to do something otherwise this will continue.
  7. Hard to argue that wasn't the right way to go. Very inyourface surly style.
  8. Yeah, I don’t know your full story, but I do know no one talks to sailors about the consequences of not making it through the training cycle of the rating you pick at MEPS. Doesn’t matter if it’s BUDS, EOD, Nuke, crypto, what have you. Once you’re out of that track, there’s no telling where you’re going to go. Doesn’t mean you end up a boatswain mate swabbing decks - but it doesn’t mean you won’t, either. Of course, a lot of what I know is outdated, but the military is still the military. Those billets aren’t going to fill themselves.
  9. I was hoping for something a little more cavalier. “What’s that Chris Beard guy up to nowadays, anyway” had the kind of jocular tone I was hoping for.
  10. I think you’re going a bit off the deep end. First of all, I’d argue throughout its history rich and powerful people in this country have gotten away with a lot of really awful things. Even things worse than being an accessory to murder and domestic violence. I’d also say that right still triumphs wrong. But certainly not every time. There are huge benefits to breaking rules. It’s up to everyone else to make sure there are consequences, too None of that is to make you feel better necessarily. It’s certainly not to be dismissive of how you’re feeling. But I do feel like you’re drawing some pretty extreme conclusions from Miller and Beard. I’m not challenging you to find examples which make your conclusion even more powerfully, mind you. We know they’re out there. I’d just say that all is not lost, and there’s always different perspectives that aren’t necessarily our own.
  11. Nope. People with political connections invited me because of shared interests. I'm not quite sure how exactly someone would force me to do something. We'll see how it goes. I've gone to plenty of lectures from people I disagreed with. I just don't usually attend lectures from people I actively despise.
  12. So apparently I'm now going to a lecture from Ted Cruz on April 12 as part of a private club's Distinguished Speaker Series. I consider myself not a fan in the slightest, but the circumstances aren't going to allow me to get too hostile. I'm sure I'll bring up something about Ukraine. I don't think I've ever dreaded attending a lecture from a Senator more than this one, and I've been to dozens of them.
  13. From what I can find, the penalties appear to be limited to financial. I'm NOT an expert, and really know nothing about the sector. But some quick google searching shows the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) is the key investigative/enforcement arm. I did find that ZTE was fined $430.4 million for violating sanctions back in 2017. Haas Automation is a big company with revenue over $1 billion, but they're not as big as ZTE. Bittrex was fined $24 million not too long ago for not preventing access to sanctioned areas to their products, which isn't nearly as flagrant or deliberate as what Haas is being accused of. Suffice to say the financial penalty will be significant. Not sure what will happen beyond that. Maybe someone else can add something that actually knows what they're talking about?
  14. In that same meeting he said that over 150 Leopard 2 tanks have been pledged. I'm sure most of them are 2A4s, but those are still formidable tanks. The Swedes do a number of custom alterations to their Leopard 2s which should be useful in Ukraine. Also, the German defense minister announced over 100 Leopard 1 tanks have been promised as well. That's not including the metric shit ton of Tawdry's the Poles have sent to the UAF. And don't forget, the British upped their ante from 14 Challenger tanks to 28. Then sometime in 2029 those 31 Abrams will get there.
  15. I tried to convince my godson to go EOD. He was a high level freestyle competitor in high school and AAU and a black belt in jujitsu. His Mom basically bribed him with a new car and a big monthly stipend not to do it. Scared her baby was going to die in war. Which, fair point. Although an EOD rating wasn't going to be in the same kind of path of danger as other military occupations over the last 10 years. At the time I had an in with a Navy recruiter. The big problem with SEALs is that they use it in part to get a ton of guys in knowing the numbers say they won't make it through training, then they can fill Navy needs with them in just about any way they want to. While EXTREMELY rigorous, EOD training simply doesn't have the significant dropout rate of BUDS, so you're a lot less likely to end up as a striker. It's highly prestigious, and a great community.
  16. I feel quite confident we’re about to put a destroyer in there. Long ago we began phasing out guided missile cruisers, which is the type of ship I served on (William H. Stanley holla!). Even the Ticonderoga class was originally designated a destroyer. I don’t know if we’ll ever see a classic cruiser in the US Navy arsenal again. The destroyers have pretty much taken over that role. But the Arleigh Burke was in the Black Sea shortly before hostilities broke out and the Turks closed the strait to all warships from countries without a port there. A year earlier the Donald Cook was operating in the Black Sea when the Russians did a risky flyover in an SU-24 that gained some international notoriety. We’ll see what happens, but I bet one is on its way right now, which is why the Turks made the announcement.
  17. I feel quite confident there will be no aircraft carrier in the Black Sea. From the US because they’re too invaluable an asset and the area is too dangerous. From Russia because they don’t have one that actually works.
  18. I mean, a recession is going to occur at some point. I don’t think economies are exactly rollicking along. And in the end we’re never eliminating the boom-bust cycle. The global supply chain keeps taking hit after hit, and a great deal of the global wealth of the world has been fueled in part by decades of Chjnese double digit growth, which doesn’t exist any more and frankly the US is concerned enough the tensions between the countries are going to create difficulties anyway. The truth is the people who either favor the Russian narrative for one reason or another, or who want the US to have limited international responsibilities in the first place, are always going to have a presence regardless. Either we have the political will to overcome that resistance or we don’t. And you say Western support, but the truth is this war has transformed European thinking dramatically. The Italian Prime Minister is still actively supporting the war even when her party leader is against it. Orban from Hungary is already making noises about the limitations of aligning himself with Russia. Poland is in the midst of building the largest armed forces on the continent. Germany is raising their defense budget significantly. The Baltic states are screaming “fuck Russia” in as many ways as they can think to say it. Finland and Sweden are joining NATO. Serbia has made noises about buying Western arms. I understand the concern, but beyond the fact I don’t believe there’s a bank contagion - there’s not the systemic issues with assets being held at an overinflated value that there was in 2008 - the only real issue in the West is the minority of Republican politicians pandering to the isolationist strain of the American body politic. That’s going to exist regardless of the state of the economy. The biggest issue in terms of Ukrainian support right now is the 2024 presidential election, and we’re simply too far out to see how that’s going to play out. But one thing I know for sure - like 100% sure - is the vote won’t be determined by support for Ukraine or not. That said, I’m hoping for breakthroughs as well. I’m not sure what to expect at this point, but I remain hopeful.
  19. UAF tankmen from the 95th brigade, one of the country's elite brigades, describe how they fire off an average of 100 rounds per day, sometimes 150, have destroyed a company of the enemies' tanks, and relay one encounter where they went up against 4 Russian tanks.
  20. You've said this repeatedly. I think it's pretty obvious they're not together right now. I don't know why you'd keep assuming they are. That's not to say he shouldn't have left her sooner, but I doubt Ole Miss will have to deal with their relationship. It's his next relationship they'll be dealing with.
  21. Hahahahahahaha. Yes. I'd say that shoe fits. Quite snugly, as a matter of fact.
  22. But you and I have a different perspective. I want to see coaches that leave Texas fail, whereas you're indifferent. Not to mention I'm embittered about the whole situation, at least in a fan sense. If Beard is as successful as I think he'll be, unless Texas has a similar success, it's going to be unpleasant for me as a fan. That's not true for you, so good on you.
  23. She's not blameless, but c'mon. Beard had all the power in that relationship. He could have sent her packing at any point. He could have left the house at any point in time. He chose to stay and have it out with her regardless of what that entailed, since it's unclear. Her only power in the situation was to provoke him rather than have him sit in the guest bedroom and ignore her. Which she utilized. I'm not sympathetic to her per se, but Beard is the one at fault for that entire situation.
  24. A couple of things, it's unlikely we'll ever know the truth of what happened that night. I'm not sure it's any of my business. What "truly" happened isn't nearly as big of a deal to me as the fact Beard made decisions to put himself in that position in the first place. If the affidavit is true to any extent, he has issues he needs to address. If it's not true, his fiancee still felt like the best way to address the situation was to call the police and tell them her life was in danger. And then Beard stuck around for 3 hours instead of getting a hotel room because I guess he felt like if he just explained what happened everything would be hunky dory. I'll also point out he and Trew are no longer together. I guess maybe they're together but not engaged? Highly unlikely, but I guess within the realm of possibility. As I've posted before, it's likely they were on the serious outs the night this incident occurred, and Trew wasn't handling it that great, did her best to provoke Beard into a reaction, and Beard then gratified her wish, much to the chagrin of everyone involved. Not sure why so many people made the assumption they would stay together. This isn't the kind of thing that brings couples together. Meh, this is going to suck, I know that. I hope Ole Miss loses every basketball game while he's the coach.
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