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Posted
  On 7/6/2024 at 5:09 PM, BamaATL said:

I must have had only one bloodshot eye open in hydrology class when they covered dumping the physical truck into a void.  

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Is it possible it’s too dangerous to back the truck up close enough to dump with it the ground beneath it washing out / collapsing?

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Posted
  On 7/6/2024 at 7:40 PM, Parliament said:

I mean, if the dam was on the verge of a complete failure, it’s something you might do as a last ditch.

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In all honesty, they are probably fucked either way, so I get the desperation.  The only quick band aid I can think of is a shit load of boulders, followed by a metric shit ton of hydraulic cement, along with draining the reservoir/lake to levels where you can get a caisson to start a real repair.  That brings us to other sunny part of this, once an earthen damn fails, I'm not aware of anyone really fixing it, it may well be more cost effective to just start over; assuming you are hell bent on having it.  

It's a shit deal for everyone, and we have a lot of earthen dams here that are going to be problematic for us as well.  

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Posted
  On 7/6/2024 at 9:20 PM, UT_OB1 said:

Is it possible it’s too dangerous to back the truck up close enough to dump with it the ground beneath it washing out / collapsing?

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That's fair, to be honest I doubt any part of that is safe for really anyone to be on, let alone heavy equipment.  That having been said, if your whole town is about to be washed away, I'm guessing you take your chances.  

Posted

Dropping the trucks (or other heavy obstacles the rushing water can't easily move/wash away ) gives the rocks/sand/etc something to stay against while the water is rushing past. So fill the crack with debris and then add sand/rock/gravel in front to more quickly fill the breach.

 

I would have thought boulders or steel girders or something, but if all you got is old trucks and are in a hurry, it would work in a pinch.

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Posted (edited)
  On 7/25/2024 at 11:59 AM, Chad Fuck said:
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Here’s the article…

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Over the past 15 years, China has expanded its once-minimal military presence in the South China Sea into a significant one.

Beijing has laid claim to nearly all of the strategic waterway, a vital shipping lifeline for the global economy that is rich in energy and fishery resources. China has used nonmilitary assets such as its Coast Guard, fishing vessels and maritime militia to bully its neighbors, blockade their ships and build Chinese military bases on disputed islands.

America is partly to blame. It has condemned China’s behavior, but, eager to avoid escalation, has consistently refrained from standing up militarily, which has only further emboldened Beijing. A new approach is needed. The United States must take real action to strengthen alliances and confront China before it eventually takes control of this hugely important body of water without firing a shot.

Like any unchallenged bully, China has become increasingly aggressive. Last month, Chinese Coast Guard personnel attacked a Philippine supply vessel with axes and other crude weapons — Manila says a Filipino sailor and several others were injured — in one of the worst acts of violence between China and its rivals in the South China Sea in years. The incident took place near the Sierra Madre, a rusting World War II-era ship that the Philippines had beached 25 years ago at Second Thomas Shoal to assert its territorial claim. The shoal lies about 120 miles off the Philippine island of Palawan and is well within the nation’s exclusive economic zone.

China also had past territorial confrontations in the South China Sea or other waters on its periphery with Vietnam, the United States, Australia, Japan and Taiwan. In 2012, China took controlof the disputed Scarborough Shoal from the Philippines, and run-ins between China and the Philippines have grown in number and intensity in recent years. In late May, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. of the Philippines warned that any Filipino deaths caused by a “willful act” by a foreign force in the South China Sea would be “very close to what we define as an act of war.”

Concern has grown in Manila, Beijing and Washington that tensions in the South China Sea — perhaps even more than Taiwan — could trigger a conflict with China.

These fears are overblown. I study Chinese military strength and strategy, and I’m convinced that if the United States were to take a more assertive stance in the South China Sea, Beijing would be likely to back down to avoid a war it knows it would lose.

China may enjoy military advantages in a potential conflict with Taiwan, which is just off the mainland. But its position is less secure in the South China Sea. Over the past 15 years China has built more than two dozen military outposts on disputed islands. Among the largest — at Mischief Reef, Fiery Cross Reef and Subi Reef — there are air strips, fighter jets, radar systems, and laser and jamming equipment. But so far China lacks sufficient antiaircraft and anti-ship missile systems in the region to deny U.S. forces the ability to operate, which leaves the Chinese bases vulnerable to air and naval bombardment.

And the South China Sea is vast — about half the size of the continental United States. The Sierra Madre is around 800 miles from the Chinese mainland. A conflict there would require the People’s Liberation Army to mount joint air and naval resupply operations and to refuel its fighters across great distances — something it has never done and is not equipped for.

If the Philippines is in the fight, treaty obligations would trigger the participation of the United States, which would have access to nine Philippine air and naval bases, greatly enhancing its already considerable ability to project military power in the region. China does have “carrier-killer” ballistic missiles based on its mainland. But U.S. carriers could still send fighters into parts of the South China Sea from outside the range of those missiles. In conjunction with land-based fighters operating from the Philippines, the United States could gain crucial air superiority over a Chinese surface fleet.

China has spent huge sums on its aircraft carrier program and has two in operation, with two more in development. But those still cannot rival the number or capabilities of nuclear-powered U.S. carriers, which are larger, support more aircraft and need to refuel only about every 20 years. China’s carriers need to be refueled about every six days. And learning how to effectively conduct carrier operations takes time; the Chinese have only just begun.

It’s telling that China has been careful to use Coast Guard and civilian vessels in its encounters with neighbors rather than hard military assets — the latter would signal an escalation that Beijing is not yet willing to embark on.

But there is another very good reason China is unlikely to risk war with the United States: It doesn’t need to. Its brinkmanship and use of nonmilitary assets to intimidate its Asian neighbors has been more than enough to take China from almost no military presence in the South China Sea in the late 2000s to a significant force today.

America should call China’s bluff and press its military advantage. This could include escorting Philippine resupply vessels headed to Second Thomas Shoal or even conducting some supply missions itself or with allies like Australia and Japan. This would send China the powerful message that its intimidation will no longer go unchallenged, while allowing Manila to remain visibly in the lead but part of a more enduring coalition. To save face for China, Washington could present operations like these as exercises or training to minimize pressure on Beijing to respond.

Manila is a strategically vital player in America’s regional competition with China. The United States and the Philippines should strengthen their alliance to allow for more U.S. bases in the Philippines and a stronger U.S. commitment to help defend against Chinese incursions into Philippine waters. Closer relations could also make it easier for the United States to resupply Taiwan from Philippine bases during a conflict with China and open the door for enhanced military cooperation with other South China Sea nations, whose fear of an unrestrained Beijing may be deterring them from taking that step. If China determines that its provocations are likely to draw in the United States, it might begin to moderate its behavior.

Of course, anything is possible — Beijing may respond with a full-on military escalation, a daunting prospect that should not be taken lightly. But that risk is low for a Chinese military whose own doctrine is to avoid any war in which victory is not ensured.

Neither U.S. option — standing up to China or backing down — is attractive. But unless the United States asserts itself, China will continue chipping away with its tactics of bluster and intimidation until its military presence in the South China Sea becomes so dominant that it no longer fears war.

The United States can re-establish a favorable balance of power, but it must act now.

 

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Edited by B00M
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Posted (edited)
  Quote

Concern has grown in Manila, Beijing and Washington that tensions in the South China Sea — perhaps even more than Taiwan — could trigger a conflict with China.

These fears are overblown. I study Chinese military strength and strategy, and I’m convinced that if the United States were to take a more assertive stance in the South China Sea, Beijing would be likely to back down to avoid a war it knows it would lose.

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Ok, OK. As long as YOU study it and think it is overblown, we should be good to go. I'm sure we don't have anyone working on this issue in the Pentagon or CIA.

 

That is a good opinion piece and thanks for posting it, but that one section made me laugh a little bit.

Edited by Orange&White
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Posted

A useful overview of the current state of China's economy, where it is headed, and the issues associated with China's approach from The Dispatch:

The Economy Xi Wants

  Reveal hidden contents

 

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  • 2 weeks later...
Posted

The Office Lol GIF by NETFLIX

https://www.cnn.com/2024/09/26/politics/chinese-nuclear-powered-submarine-sank/index.html

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China’s newest nuclear-powered submarine sank pierside in the spring and the Chinese Navy tried to conceal the loss, according to two US defense officials. The attack submarine was the first of its new Zhou-class line of vessels, the official said, under construction at a shipyard near the city of Wuhan. The Zhou-class submarines have a distinctive X-shaped stern, designed to improve maneuverability underwater.

A satellite image from March 10, taken by Maxar Technologies, shows the Zhou-class sub, with its signature x-shape tail, docked at the port. Additional Maxar imagery reviewed by CNN from later in June shows that the sub did not return to the pier. “It’s not surprising that the PLA Navy would try to conceal the fact that their new first-in-class nuclear-powered attack submarine sank pierside,” said the senior US defense official.

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The unusual activity at the shipyard was first noticed by Tom Shugart, an adjunct senior fellow at the Center for a New American Security who routinely studies satellite imagery of Chinese shipyards. “I’ve never seen a bunch of cranes clustered around (one spot),” Shugart told CNN. “If you go back and look at historical imagery, you can see one crane, but not a bunch clustered there.” In looking at older satellite images of the same shipyard, Shugart also noticed the submarine’s larger size and its distinctive tail, indicating a new class of submarine.

“Usually, those submarines, after they get launched, they’re there at the shipyard for several months in outfitting. And it wasn’t there anymore,” Shugart said.

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CNN has asked China’s embassy in Washington, DC, for comment.

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Posted
  On 9/26/2024 at 10:41 PM, atomheartbevo said:

Not for a lack of trying, but they messed up and made it landlocked.

 

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This has to be the dumbest tourist trap idea in the world. This is worse than the crap the Emirates do. well we don't have any culture so to speak, so lets build a park replicating all the cool shit everyone else built and get them to come and see it. I always wondered how many Parisians would go to Dubai to see a knock off Eiffel Tower.

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Posted
  On 9/27/2024 at 4:43 AM, InkaUtexas said:

This has to be the dumbest tourist trap idea in the world. This is worse than the crap the Emirates do. well we don't have any culture so to speak, so lets build a park replicating all the cool shit everyone else built and get them to come and see it. I always wondered how many Parisians would go to Dubai to see a knock off Eiffel Tower.

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The thing is: we've got one in Vegas.

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Posted
  On 9/27/2024 at 4:43 AM, InkaUtexas said:

This has to be the dumbest tourist trap idea in the world. This is worse than the crap the Emirates do. well we don't have any culture so to speak, so lets build a park replicating all the cool shit everyone else built and get them to come and see it. I always wondered how many Parisians would go to Dubai to see a knock off Eiffel Tower.

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Just think of the marketing spin. You get to go on the Titanic and this time they can guarantee it won't sink.  

 

 

 

 

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Posted
  On 9/27/2024 at 4:43 AM, InkaUtexas said:

This has to be the dumbest tourist trap idea in the world. This is worse than the crap the Emirates do. well we don't have any culture so to speak, so lets build a park replicating all the cool shit everyone else built and get them to come and see it. I always wondered how many Parisians would go to Dubai to see a knock off Eiffel Tower.

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This isn't even the close to the dumbest thing they've done  They built a replica of Paris, in the middle of bumfuck China.  

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Posted
  On 9/27/2024 at 7:20 PM, InkaUtexas said:

I might say the Cultural Revolution was also pretty dumb. And Mao's wonderful Agriculture Reform concepts.

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Boxer Rebellion.  They thought if they were REALLY good at the martial arts they could dodge bullets.  Proved to not be true unfortunately.

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Posted

https://www.livescience.com/planet-earth/nuclear-energy/chinas-artificial-sun-shatters-nuclear-fusion-record-by-generating-steady-loop-of-plasma-for-1-000-seconds

 

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The Experimental Advanced Superconducting @tokamak (EAST) nuclear fusion reactor maintained a steady, highly confined loop of plasma — the high-energy fourth state of matter — for 1,066 seconds on Monday (Jan. 20), which more than doubled its previous best of 403 seconds, Chinese state media reported.

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Looks like we can identify the Chinese spy given they named a nuclear reactor after him. He's passed on all our surly secrets, even the squirrel ones 🐿️ 

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Posted
  On 5/29/2024 at 3:17 PM, BrazilHorn said:

China has around 1.7M people in prison. I figure they give them all paintball guns and throw them at defenses first. 
 

There will be a measure or “quantity having a quality all of its own” here that will fall on side of Chinese. 
 

Also long game is to bribe/pay more and more politicians in Taiwan to be open to being annexed by China for personal gain. 

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IMG_2729.gif

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Posted (edited)
  On 3/19/2025 at 12:53 AM, Girth Brooks said:

Not in China, but their fault. An environmental disaster for Zambia. 12 million of the 20 million population dependent in some fashion on this river. China’s record on environmental concerns is pretty well established. 
 

https://x.com/ap/status/1901020609057886374?s=46
 

A river ‘died' overnight in Zambia after an acidic waste spill at a Chinese-owned mine  

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A big ass river. providing a lot of the drinking water for about a million people during a real bad drought.

The collapse allowed some 50 million liters of waste containing concentrated acid, dissolved solids and heavy metals to flow into a stream that links to the Kafue River, Zambia’s most important waterway, the engineering institution said.

About 60% of Zambia’s 20 million people live in the Kafue River basin and depend on it in some way as a source of fishing, irrigation for agriculture and water for industry. The river supplies drinking water to about five million people, including in the capital, Lusaka.

The acid leak at the mine caused a complete shutdown of the water supply to the nearby city of Kitwe, home to an estimated 700,000 people.

https://apnews.com/article/mining-pollution-china-zambia-environment-93ee91d1156471aaf9a7ebd6f51333c1

 

Edited by InkaUtexas
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Posted

I was in Zambia over a couple of months in 2012-13 (northern Zambia mostly, not in the Copper Belt or much in Lusaka). Two Chinese "advisors" at a copper mine near Kitwe had recently been murdered and I was chatting about it and the growing Chinese presence with a Zambian acquaintance. His response was a shrug of the shoulders and "We Zambians know colonialism when we see it."

Unfortunately they're still having even worse luck with them than they did with the Brits.

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Posted
  On 3/19/2025 at 12:57 AM, InkaUtexas said:
A big ass river. providing a lot of the drinking water for about a million people during a real bad drought.
The collapse allowed some 50 million liters of waste containing concentrated acid, dissolved solids and heavy metals to flow into a stream that links to the Kafue River, Zambia’s most important waterway, the engineering institution said.
About 60% of Zambia’s 20 million people live in the Kafue River basin and depend on it in some way as a source of fishing, irrigation for agriculture and water for industry. The river supplies drinking water to about five million people, including in the capital, Lusaka.
The acid leak at the mine caused a complete shutdown of the water supply to the nearby city of Kitwe, home to an estimated 700,000 people.
https://apnews.com/article/mining-pollution-china-zambia-environment-93ee91d1156471aaf9a7ebd6f51333c1
 

Don’t worry, this is coming to US waterways soon. With full “EPA” approval.
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Posted
  On 3/19/2025 at 3:23 AM, Brisketexan said:


Don’t worry, this is coming to US waterways soon. With full “EPA” approval.

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It’s amazing how you can take literally anything and immediately connect it to your omnipresent US dissatisfaction. 

Speaking of the EPA, it’ll be interesting when this kind of shit becomes regular with China as they exploit cobalt in the name of clean energy. 

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Posted
  On 3/19/2025 at 4:41 PM, Rex Kramer said:

Speaking of the EPA, it’ll be interesting when this kind of shit becomes regular with China as they exploit cobalt in the name of clean energy. 

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It's been happening in China since they've had their industrial revolution.  They don't care. If you mean when does it become a regular occurrence outside of their borders where they'll face more scrutiny or accountability... it's also been occurring for a while and will continue to happen as long as they're in Africa.

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