News / Poland's aid to Ukraine if Russia invades - part 26 [1183]

I wonder what Putin thinks about Medvedev.

He used him like a condom, and this has had disastrous effects on Medvedev's mental health.

Does he feel bad in front of Medvedev, and this is why he gives him such latitude? Does he feel he owes him, for being such an obedient puppet through the "Great Switcheroo"?

Is it some kind of warning to the West? "Look, if you succeed in toppling my government - these are the types that will replace me!"

Maybe Putin does not know, that Medvedev gets hammered every night and then writes rants on Twitter?

News / Scandals, conflicts, tensions, arguments - real life examples from Poland [543]


I mean Orthodox.

I've heard/read many times from Orthodox priests, that if all the followers disappear - the Church will still be just fine. One day it will come back to life anyway.

But if it corrupts itself, bends this way and that, then such a Church will disappear from the Earth, because in the end - its power is Truth, and Truth cannot be changing.

I always thought this position was hilarious. A Church so proud of its traditions, that it doesn't care if it has any believers left.

It's not a new position either. In the 3-4th centuries some of the Patristic texts were already voicing this strange position.

-//-

So when you said - "If there are no good priests, then there should be no priests" - I laughed.

News / Poland's aid to Ukraine if Russia invades - part 26 [1183]


Contract between a country that can't produce 150 planes, and a country that cannot pay for 150 planes.

News / Poland's aid to Ukraine if Russia invades - part 26 [1183]


I think service in a place like that is not some like being officer of some Marine platoon.

It's probably a lifelong engagement, with some exceptions.

If you start diving with Western outfits, unless you are deeply trusted, you are probably not invited any longer to "experience exchanges", to contribute on classified projects in development, to attend conferences and symposia and so on and so forth.

I dived quite a few times with some instructors from the South, in and around the Florida Keys and Bahamas, as well as Puerto Rico. There's plenty of bases there. These guys know both people from the commercial diving community and the military diving community. My understanding, from listening to them, is that the communities overlap on some lower levels but are absolutely distinct at the more elite level (again with exceptions).

You also have absolute randos like James Cameron (director of Titanic), who are simultaneously luminaries in the field.

News / Poland's aid to Ukraine if Russia invades - part 26 [1183]

Plus, unlike a welder, these guys are:

1) Have graduate degrees and above

2) Know how to operate sophisticated surveillance equipment, as well as explosives.

3) Have a second purpose as SCIENTISTS, which they are supposed to fulfill.

News / Poland's aid to Ukraine if Russia invades - part 26 [1183]


You work for an o&g exploration and extraction company - very cool... but is it as cool as:

1) Using nuclear powered vessels as your "tender"?

2) Having access to state laboratories and manufacturing plants - which will produce equipment tailored to your exact specifications? This - giving you the chance to drive the entire science forward, and develop new standards and practices in the process?

3) Going to depths of 6,000 meters and more, as crew on deep sea vehicles?

4) Being briefed by professors from the Russian Academy of Sciences, and having access to the top talent from whichever industry you choose?

5) Defending your country?

News / Poland's aid to Ukraine if Russia invades - part 26 [1183]

@cms neuf

How does this cancel out the fact that Russia has some of the most experienced technical divers in the world, and the world's leading defense agency for studying the deep ocean?

America's equivalent of GUGI cries quietly in the corner, and is but a shadow of the Russian service.

I listened to a Congressional testimony from an American submariner last year - and he said "the Russians have certain 'eye-watering' capabilities."

If our army is not in the best shape, it doesn't mean the strategic forces have also been on a similar hunger diet.

News / Poland's aid to Ukraine if Russia invades - part 26 [1183]


2012 - genius. Adjust fx rate.


Some people can derive satisfaction out of life without an S 600 Saloon or a Patek.

News / Poland's aid to Ukraine if Russia invades - part 26 [1183]

This RUSI report, indicates that Russia pays as much as $20,000 a month to the personnel of GUGI:

"The time that naval personnel spend within the GUGI sees them paid considerable salaries without breaking the relationship between rank and pay, by treating their effective salaries as a deployment bonus related to the time they spend at extreme depths. As a result, in 2012, GUGI personnel were earning 600,000 roubles a month (around $20,000 at the time). The reason for this level of compensation is that the organisation is an extremely specialised one. During the Soviet era, in order to qualify, an individual had to be an officer and have served for five years within the submarine service, and would then have to go through a gruelling course based on the training of Soviet cosmonauts. The list of individuals killed in the 2019 fire which broke out on the GUGI deep-diving submarine Losharik - all officers - suggests the force remains a highly specialised one."

Source: rusi.org/explore-our-research/publications/commentary/stalking-seabed-how-russia-targets-critical-undersea-infrastructure

Given it comes from the UK's foremost think tank, I hope people will treat it as a credible source.

News / Poland's aid to Ukraine if Russia invades - part 26 [1183]


They're sending bathyscaphes and ROV's down to study the layout of the cables.

They're from GUGI (Main Directorate of Deep Sea Research).

This is the most secretive defense agency in Russia. Practically nothing is known about their work, but it's known that multiple new ships are laid down for them annually.

I read somewhere, that GUGI divers are more rare than cosmonauts - in absolute numbers.

They are at the pinnacle of their science. American deep sea mariners have a healthy respect for their work.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Directorate_of_Deep-Sea_Research?wprov=sfti1#

News / Poland's aid to Ukraine if Russia invades - part 26 [1183]


There's nothing to "guard" against - if you believe the press. If they want to do something with the cables, there's very little that can prevent it.

Every summer, Russian and NATO ships shadow each other back and forth over the North Atlantic.

Sometimes, a Russian research ship will seemingly hover over the same spot for days or even weeks.

NATO officials claim, that the ships are sending down Remotely Operated Vehicles to plant "snooping" devices and explosives on the cables.

So in theory - on some "Day X", those charges should go off without any submarines having to be in the vicinity.

-//-

Have many technical questions about this which make me curious...

How are the listening devices powered? Do they have some passive radioactive source of power? Do they "parasitize" power from the cable somehow?

How is the signal to "explode" communicated to the explosive devices? How can a signal reach 4-5 kilometers deep underwater, in a reliable way?

Can American ROVs descend to the same location, after a Russian one left, and simple remove the "bad" devices? I imagine it's like looking for a needle in a haystack.

News / Scandals, conflicts, tensions, arguments - real life examples from Poland [543]


This really made me laugh. In a way... a very Orthodox position.

Off-Topic / Random Chat Thread [872]

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News / Polish-Russian war? Drones entering Polish airspace. [254]


Man - you want to have a serious subject matter discussion - spend at least a little bit of time reading the sources.

News / Polish-Russian war? Drones entering Polish airspace. [254]

@cms neuf

Many pretty words - but what is the remainder?

What can your country do to protect itself and how real is it?

News / Polish-Russian war? Drones entering Polish airspace. [254]


These idiots exist in all times and all places. They are the belonging of all humankind.

There is a strong impetus within human psychology, to achieve comfort - through outright denial of unpleasant facts.

It's neither Russian, nor Polish, nor American.

To be honest - it's probably better than them being scared.

News / Polish-Russian war? Drones entering Polish airspace. [254]


People like this... are why Russia failed in its initial invasion plan.

I've written about this many times before - but for anyone who was watching closely during the period 2014-2022, it was exceedingly clear that a war with Ukraine will not be an easy one.

Thankfully, 98% of Russians were high on the euphoria of Crimea. To them - it was just "one more push, and Ukraine is done".

Everyone who was arguing that "no, the Ukrainians are in fact much stronger than you think", became immediately a HOHOL and a person who loves to copulate with pigs.

Russia was filled with CMS Neufs and Mafketises.

They are worse than the enemy - because they are close to your bosom.

When sh*t really gets hard - they will be nowhere to be found - with their former jingoism. They will shift the narrative, and begin to sing a different song.

Underestimating the enemy - oldest mistake in the book.

News / Polish-Russian war? Drones entering Polish airspace. [254]


I admire you, I truly do.

News / Polish-Russian war? Drones entering Polish airspace. [254]


In the world I live in - the real world - all of NATO is busy studying Russia's war lessons and ringing the alarm bells that Russia's army is incomparably more experienced than their own militaries.

Russia and Ukraine are writing the textbook for how wars will be fought in the 21st century.

Most of what you lot have been investing in between 2022-2025 will be completely useless in the next conflict.

News / Polish-Russian war? Drones entering Polish airspace. [254]


You are a true idiot.

At least I had an excuse in January-February 2022 to be such an idiot as you are.

You have now had the tremendous benefit of watching Russians and Ukrainians at war for three plus years....

You want this? You are excited about this?

You should be put in a gas chamber, and quickly put to sleep.

Off-Topic / USA News and Poland - part 17 [937]


Trump does not operate in these categories "does he realize it", "does he not realize it".

Trump likes big, beautiful words about... himself. End of story. If nobody say these things - no problem - Trump will tell you himself how amazing he is.

Trump likes men he views as "strong".

There is no one more "strong" than Putin in this world (and remember now, that Trump went all the way to the Korean DMZ to shake Kim's hand).

So... kind words from Putin are the best words.

Probably means more to Trump, than Barron coming in at 11 PM, hugging him, and saying "I'm proud of you Dad!".

Off-Topic / USA News and Poland - part 17 [937]

@Ironside

Putin is troll king of the universe.

Of course Putin is the bigger troll.

News / Was Charlie Kirk popular in Poland? [601]


Poland?

News / Was Charlie Kirk popular in Poland? [601]

I don't have much to say in this thread... except that I think Charlie Kirk was only attractive to neophytes and people generally not very sophisticated.

I thought scripture was his strength (he didn't go to college), but even there his knowledge was on the level of some pastor minted freshly out of Liberty University.

No Billy Graham, he was.

News / Was Charlie Kirk popular in Poland? [601]


I don't know man.

My anal sphincter clenches every so slightly, upon learning my pilot is black or a woman.

I like to think of myself as a pretty progressive fella - but I would still rather have the white guy fly me.

Life / If you lived abroad, would you like to have a Pole as a neighbor? [93]

Speaking in an exclusively personal capacity - I very much enjoy the conversation between the two different Ironsides.

Reminds me of Old PF.

Whoever you are, Ajronsajdz - I hope you stick around.

I suspect even old Ironside enjoys the banter.

Off-Topic / Random Chat Thread [872]

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Off-Topic / Random Chat Thread [872]

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Off-Topic / Random Chat Thread [872]

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Off-Topic / USA News and Poland - part 17 [937]


Whoah!

I would have loved to be there.

I hope Rich lives to 120, and continues to write here until then.