https://taxheaven3000.com/

I thought Patrick Boyle was a rap specialist music major?

First hit on Google was this list made by some Redditor: https://www.reddit.com/r/Betamax/comments/z8cun4/films_that_only_exist_on_betamax_or_alt_editions/

In any case: the big advantage of Betamax (and VHS) was how easy it was to get home-recordings done. An entire generation of family photos / family events (birthday parties, etc. etc.) are on Betamax and likely lost.

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Flash still got it good.

Consider the entire generation of 1970s and 1980s Betamax footage that is basically lost today.

When format wars snap to one side: VHS vs Betamax, HD-DVD vs BluRay, Flash vs HTML5, QuickTime vs DivX… The losing side basically loses a ton of footage.

For the most part, we know how to play Flash right now and mostly how to upconvert it or otherwise archive it. That’s not true of all formats.

I’m slow and missed this week’s news cycle. What the hell is going on?

Does this have to do with the Olympic Boxing thing?

No shit sherlock. You need to simplify your messaging in practice if you want it to work.

Ex: “Israel is actively spreading the war to Hezbollah and will drag the USA into Lebanon”.

Don’t say what you care about per se. Say what you know will get the other side to pay attention. Don’t double down on useless memes that have limited reach. Find a simpler message with wider reach and run with it. Say less to minimize the possibility of conflicting with your audience’s ideology.

My Grandma was running away from the Marcos regime in the Philippines as a political refugee. Many Chinese Americans’s parents were running away from Red China.

There’s more than two stories in America.

Btw: Asians are racist as fuck to each other. Just in slightly different ways. It’s hard to describe.

Even if we settle on White America vs Black America specifically, Abraham Lincoln probably was a anti-slavery but pro-segregation kind of person. Racism itself has weird fractal-like split of nuance.

Case in point: Malcom X believed in Back to Africa and was anti-integration. Malcom X believed in building a new country (kind of like Israel) except for African Americans. What side do you put Malcom X here?

Fair enough.

I guess I assumed that people were thinking of electric-battery powered boats based on the discussion. But if its just a matter of weight, we all know that boats can be arbitrarily heavy and still float (as long as they are big enough to compensate for that weight).

I’m pretty sure aircraft carriers are nuclear powered.

I mean, when people point out that Joe Biden is a Neocon who supports Israel and USAs rightful dominant place in the world… Erm I agree with that and want to vote for him.

I’m a Neocon. And proud of it and can defend a lot of my positions.

What pisses me off about the new wave of conservatives is that it’s all reactionary. There is no guiding philosophy.

With regards to neoconservatives: I know we get a bad rap since Bush. But events like Ukraine show the importance of us being the stalwart defenders and stepping up to challenges around the world.

But thats the thing. I’ll tell you that while proudly wearing my colors as a Neocon. This ‘Libs of TikTok’ bullshit is just fucking awful politics. We can’t actually work or talk around our issues when people are pretending to be on the wrong sides of debates

Politics shouldn’t be about ‘owning’ the other side. Politics should be about effectively communicating our beliefs to each other, especially our disagreements. And finding compromises where possible.

Anyway, it’s Joever to some extent so I guess all in on Kamala. She’s still acceptable to my philosophy if only because Trump + JD Vance is such a bad choice. So y’all got my vote this year, at least temporarily.

Unlike you and your ilk, I’m willing to go outside the safe zone (fkn lol) and interact with people who have different opinions. Only cowards stay in their little bubbles chit talking day in and day out. And that’s a knock at both leftists and rightists.

I’m a Republican. This area is outside my safe zone. But outrage politics affects us all and I judge people who engage in it harshly.

But sure. Judge me harder daddy. I haven’t stated my opinion yet, I’m simply pointing out that you’re engaging in outrage politics and you probably shouldn’t be flexing on that.

No.

You, like other conservatives, are hooked on the ravenous red meat of outrage. And instead of trying to move away from outrage politics, you defend it. And more importantly, you do so while claiming to be of a different ideology because you’ve noticed that the word “conservative” is no longer looked well upon in some social circles.

Defending the Libs of TikTok isn’t the flex you think it is.

I’m only responding in the hopes you recognize this eventually and grow a bit of self-reflection over this situation. Good luck man.

Ah.

So you’re a “Libs of TikTok” guy. Conservatives call themselves Liberal and you believe them.

Jack Dorsey is Libertarian, which is Republican-leaning.

Jack Dorsey was a progressive?

That’s not what is being reported. They are still making advances. Even pro-Ukrainian channels are reporting this.

Advancements of a few sq. kms a day mean nothing compared to 2022 or 2023 style movements that the Russian 1st Guards Tank Army (when Russia attacks) or Ukrainian Counter-offensive (in late 2022) performed.

The line is more static today than ever before.

Kinda false, there are a number of videos showing artillery hitting moving targets, maybe those are rare, but they are non-zero.

It requires special rounds like Copperhead (laser guided artillery), or BONUS (Infrared Guided / Heat guided Artillery). These rounds are very special and are not typical artillery. And they only work in very specific circumstances.

Copperhead needs someone at the frontline shining a laser to pinpoint the target. BONUS only works vs hot tanks or vehicles. So “some”, very rare very expensive artillery rounds, can hit a moving target. But we can ignore them for the most part since the 99% of artillery rounds used are dumb rounds.

If the glide bombs are easy to intercept, why are Uranians complaining about them all the time?

Because Ukrainian defenses only work vs glide bombs if they have an ambush setup. And Ukrainians have very few anti-air missiles. Russia only has to attack randomly along the front, and the Ukrainian ground defenses are too slow to reposition to the movements of Russian aircraft.

But Ukraine is 100% allowed to intercept and kill Russian fighter/bombers using these glide bombs. Ukraine simply doesn’t have the capacity to effectively and reliably do so however. That’s why F16s are so important, they are fast enough to launch air-to-air missiles vs the glide bombers and whittle the Russian aircraft down more reliably.

As for the American systems, it seems odd that if Ukraine already has unlimited permission, why are there still articles about Ukraine asking for it repeatedly?

Its not what you said earlier. What the Ukrainians wish is for more permissions. Ukrainians want deep strikes that can target Russian Air Bases. Ukraine wants to hit the fighter/bombers on the ground before they take off. These locations are so deep into Russia that USA is nervous about authorizing it, as it’d definitely be another escalation.

But Ukraine is 100% allowed (and already has), shot down Russian fighter/bombers on glide bomb maneuvers. Its a difficult shot for a ground-to-air system like Patriot. But it should get much easier to do after F16s arrive.

To be honest, we both want Ukraine to win, and all was saying is that in a modern war where both sides have access to a lot of resources, there are no wonder weapons that will shift the game sufficiently to push for a quick win and that we should not underestimate the enemy. Things help and we in the West, should be doing more to help.

F16s should be key for the glide-bomb problem. But I’m seeing estimates that Ukraine needs 200+ F16s for that to really be enough.

A dozen or so F16s is barely moving the needle. But at least Ukraine has some F16s coming and can start doing something about that particular problem.

Two Fascists.

JD Vance is as bad a pick as they come.

They don’t need to

1st Guards Tank Army probably could face M1 Abrams in maneuver warfare. That was literally their training.

We’ve gone from a position where the Russians had a command of the frontlines, into a position where Russians are forced to use inferior equipment and ambush tactics. Its why the Russians are unable to effectively attack into Ukrainian defenses anymore.

Now you’re right in that Ukraine may not have the strength to attack into Russian defenses. But that’s what F16s are supposed to change. Is it enough? Who knows, but its better than nothing and better than what was available in 2023. What I can say for sure, is that Russia has also been unable to mount an effective attack.

In any case, I think the M2 Bradley is probably a match for T-55. M2 Bradley doesn’t have the same firepower, but it does have homing missiles. T-55 thin armor probably gets penetrated by enough M2 Bradley armor-piercing rounds (not that I’m an expert in that, but… M2 Bradley did take down more powerful tanks already). Its not what the M2 Bradley was designed for, but its showing the technological advantage Ukraine now commands on the front.

Remember: M2 Bradley is a troop-carrier. Not a tank. But it seems to match up favorably against many Russian tanks in practice, because Russians have had their forces degenerate so much.

at which point they are artillery and drone targets.

If you move, artillery can’t hit you. Artillery takes over a minute before it lands. That’s why tanks exist, tanks are close enough to bring the guns to the frontlines and instantly strike a target, because striking a target within 3km is just a few seconds at most… while striking a target 20km away with Artillery has all kinds of delays and downsides.

Drones are subject to electronic warfare and anti-air guns like the German Flakpanzer Gepard, or US’s MACE system (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d5e-KIu7t3M). Aimbot + RADAR == dead drones. Yes, Ukraine needs to advance under the cover of anti-air (and those anti-air can be targeted by guide bombs or other more powerful weapons). But there’s a plan in place for that too.

For now they are unfortunately still making gains everyday.

Russia has still lost territory since 2022 actually. Russia has been unable to secure Donbas or Luhansk. Russia then starts a new front in Kharkiv and immediately stalls out.

Russia, even with all their meatwave attacks, was unable to cause anything like the 2022 Kharkiv counteroffensive (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2022_Kharkiv_counteroffensive). It is Kyiv / Ukrainians who have effectively counter-attacked and changed territory last. Everything else is just a rounding error.

It seems that currently glide bombs are a large problem but for f16 to be effective, they need to have permission to engage russian fighter/bombers that tend to fire from deep inside russia, out of “allowed” reach for western missiles. To me thats a massive issue.

That’s not how glide-bombs work. Glide bombs don’t have any rockets, they literally fall into their target with little wings to extend the range a bit. Glide Bombs only have like 100km range or something like that, and the Fighter/Bombers that launch these glide bombs have already been taken out by well placed Patriot systems (or … something??. But probably Patriot missiles given what has been publicly released. I think there were some discussions that the Ukrainians made a ground-launched tube that can shoot air-to-air missiles from the ground… so its not necessarily the “Patriot” system that killed those fighter-bombers. But whatever it was, the Ukrainians have the capability for that kind of ground-based ambush today).

The problem is that its very difficult to constantly move Patriot systems (or any other ground-based system), so the Russians can just attack elsewhere. The Ukrainians need an aircraft that can meet the speed of enemy aircraft so that anti-air can follow Russians as they fly around the frontlines. But Ukraine is actually already in a position where they can position Patriot missiles (or whatever ground-based system they’re using) to stop glide-bomb attacks in one area. Ukraine just can’t afford to defend the whole frontline, and Ukraine cannot move those Patriots / ground defenses faster than Russia can move Glide-bomb / Jets.

Finally, USA has given permission to use American equipment anywhere the Russians are attacking from. Your point is moot as of a month or two ago, the Ukrainians already have that permission. Its simply an issue of capabilities.

Neither apparent hurt for vehicles or manpower losses deters them. Do see Ukrainians making some gains recently from time to time, but overall, its still not going well enough.

No one expects Ukraine to make gains this year. Everyone expects Russians to attack and pin everything on the hopes of Donald Trump winning the 2024 election (wherein Donald Trump then cuts off funding, preventing Ukrainians from counter-attacking next year).

That’s Russia’s plan. Ukraine has placed their trust / counter-offensive in the hands of the election. I don’t think Ukraine will surrender if Donald Trump becomes President though, Europe should be strong enough to keep Ukraine going even without the USA in 2025.

Problem is that they still have thousands in storage, even if they are in bad condition, a tank is a tank, it still has its place in war.

When we get to T-55, these tanks are unable to damage an M1 Abrams. Furthermore, T-55 are a stop-and-shoot tank, they’re unable to attack while moving. Etc. etc. And again: Russia has runout of tanks and IFVs in practice. A lot of today’s attacks in Kharkiv are motorcycle and golf-cart attacks.

I’m not saying that it will be easy. I’m saying that the change from highly regarded Russian 1st Guards Tank Army that took over huge swaths of Ukraine in the first weeks of the war is over. 1st Guards Tank Army has been crushed. Russia is reconstituting them now, but they are noticeably absent from the battlefield.

Then Wagner showed up with tanks and other advanced equipment. Now they’re gone.

And then we have shitty ass T-55s that are wholly outmatched by Leopard and Abrams. In an ambush maybe the T55 can still disable the tread and score mobility kills, but its really not as threatening as what Russia was sending initially. Luckily, the best Russian equipment seems to have already been wiped out from 2022 and 2023.

Obviously its not the time to get complacent. But we can’t deny the shift in Ukrainian’s favor.