willedoo

Getting that info to the public is the tricky part. Since the war started the government has tightened it's grip on the press to the point where there's really no independent press left that's worth noting. Virtually all of it is compromised by the government and their propaganda. In the Kursk region, local media has interviewed people saying that Polish speaking Nazis are firing on civilians. Obviously paid stooges for the news crew. The sad part is that a lot of people believe it. On the up side, locals in the region know they have been largely abandoned to their own devices. They know if the Russian military can't put down the incursion straight away, then something is wrong at the top. Anything that makes putler look weak has to be a plus. There's also been a lot of bad blood and infighting in the Kremlin and they are not one big happy family these days. putin knows he's dead if he can't hold his grip on power. The power struggle between him and Shoigu might come to a head soon and if this operation continues to advance and take Russian territory, it could accelerate events in Moscow. I think putler would be starting to feel like a scared rat. He might be a trapped rat soon.

There's still a bit of guesswork with what's going on in the Kursk region. The Ukrainian authorities have an opsec ban on any publication of troop movements, so the only available information is coming from Russian Telegram channels, and what they are reporting doesn't sound good for the Russians. Any MSM news is a couple of days behind. They've certainly stirred the Russians up, with about 78,000 people claimed to be evacuated in the district. It could turn into something big if the Ukrainians had enough forces. It would be very difficult to take the two large cities of Kursk and Belgorod, but cutting them off would be a huge problem for the Russians as they are both the major logistic hubs for Russia's northern group. It could play out in a lot of ways. Ideally, Ukraine could take enough land to have a sizeable bargaining chip. As a result, Putin loses his grip on power and falls in a coup. Then Ukraine negotiates with his successors to exchange the Kursk and Belgorod region territory for the Russians retreating back to the 1991 boundaries. Great theory, but it would take a sizeable Ukrainian force to do it.

This is one of the Melania memes that came out when Trump's ear got nicked.

Other reports are saying that Ukrainian intelligence hacked the roadside security cameras and have been using them to monitor Russian troop movements.

Someone said Trump is what happens when the ventriloquist dies, but the dummy keeps on talking.

It's all still happening in the Kursk region. The Ukrainians have now advanced into around 500 sq.klm. of Russian territory. The Russians are bringing in reinforcements, meanwhile at the same time, idiot Russian TV reporters with camera crews are filming and broadcasting live the movements of Russian columns. It saves the Ukrainians having to wait for satellite information; all they have to do is turn the TV on to find the Orc convoys. A Russian convoy of reinforcements traveling through Rylsk was wiped out by a HIMARS barrage, with about 100 killed and a dozen trucks destroyed.

There's some bad designs around. The washing machine spat the dummy today. On the initial water fill, I noticed water leaking out onto the floor, then the earth leakage unit tripped and the power went out. About a third of the way up the outer plastic bowl there is a small outlet about a quarter of an inch diameter. Connected to that is a small, clear plastic tube attached which had come off. All the water filling the bowl was forcing it's way out this small outlet with the pressure creating a stream of water directed straight at two electrical wire connectors for wires that run to the pump. I've reconnected the small hose, dried around the electrical connectors and given them a spray with some WD40. I'll let things settle down a bit and dry overnight and give it another go in the morning. Hopefully the electrics are ok; I couldn't see or smell any sign of burning. It all looks fairly normal. It's one of the modern type washing machines so I hope the circuit board is ok.

I saw this quote in that article - " A defeat would break Trump’s grip on the GOP and signal a shift in American politics. It would mean that Trump’s brand of politics no longer holds the same influence, which is crucial for the future of our democracy." It's a good point. Hopefully if he loses that will happen and the Republican Party can rebuild back to their base before Trump and the crazies hijacked the party.

The problem's solved; the radio went on the blink this morning. Maybe it was the country music. All I need now is for someone to steal my truck and I could write a song about it.

Two more days and the Olympics are over and I can listen to the local ABC radio again. Not that I have anything against the Olympics, it's just that ABC radio is saturated with Roy and HG and I can't bear listening to them for more time than it takes to change stations. So what are the choices? The local commercial stations are full of loud ads and idiot presenters who think they have to yell all the time. Triple J is ok in small to medium doses. ABC news radio the same. There's only so much news you can listen to, and they have a lot of BBC content, about 40% of which is interesting and 60% pure waffle. So what's this got to do with music? I've been renovating the verandah and have been listening to ABC Country for a change while I've been working. I can handle a bit of country music if it's good quality but what really stands out on the ABC Country channel is that almost all the stuff they play is contrived, product type country music. Just a bulk produced industry product of the churned out variety. It all sounds the same to the point that they don't even bother to announce who the artist is. What a lazy f'ing radio station. There is some reasonable country music out there but the ABC just pumps out generic industry crud. My guess is that it's a heavily controlled industry and to crack into the game, musicians have to play what the Nashville producers tell them to. Winding the clock back, artists like Patsy Cline and Tammy Whinette were unmistakable when you turned the radio on. I thought the ABC kept playing the same artists over and over until I twigged that they were multiple artists who all sound the same.

In reference to the above post, I mean time left to gain bargaining chips in the event Trump pulls the plug and forces them to the negotiating table with Putler. The negotiating would be how much of Ukraine does Putler get to keep.

I seem to remember someone saying they are a handy thing to have in the first aid kit in case of a large puncture wound. It makes sense.

You could sum it up in one word - Trump. The Ukrainians don't have much time left if he wins in November.

He's lost weight but not as much as in the photo. This video is from yesterday and he's a lot lighter than he was a month ago. https://apnews.com/article/trump-harris-news-conference-florida-election-2024-94b590ddf0434d9ea7b1241396dbbcc6

It's pixel resolution, less pixels sideways. A common manipulation of original images to make someone look fatter or skinnier.

It might generate some interest in the cities but most wouldn't care less unless it was happening to them. The average Moscow resident's interest in Sudzha would be along similar lines to a Sydney dweller's interest in what goes on in Fitzroy Crossing. It would bug Putler and his cronies a lot more than the general public in the big cities. Putler would see it as a humiliation. Having to bomb their own towns is not a good look. No word has been released as yet on the reasoning behind the incursion. It could be for different reasons or a combination. Some of the possibles are a morale boosting exercise for the government, a diversion for another push about to happen somewhere else and/or to draw Russian troops away from another area, or the hope of keeping some occupied territory as a bargaining chip. Another possible is strategic - to take the high ground and have fire control over the Russian northern group's GLOC. Either way, it's a very ambitious move and the most ground the Ukrainians have gained for quite a while.

I know very little about Pascoe but one of Australia’s leading anthropologists, Peter Sutton, co-authored the book 'Farmers or Hunter-Gatherers? The Dark Emu Debate' with archaeologist Keryn Walshe. Sutton and Walshe accuse Pascoe of a lack of true scholarship, ignoring Aboriginal voices, dragging respect for traditional Aboriginal culture back into the Eurocentric world of the colonial era, and trimming colonial observations to fit his argument. They write that while Dark Emu purports to be factual it is littered with unsourced material, is poorly researched, distorts and exaggerates many points, selectively emphasises evidence to suit those opinions, and ignores large bodies of information that do not support the author’s opinions. Quote: “It is actually not, properly considered, a work of scholarship,” they write. “Its success as a narrative has been achieved in spite of its failure as an account of fact.” I'd have to read both books to form an opinion, but I've spent a lot of years working with anthropologists and archaeologists and would probably accept their side of the story before Pascoe's. I've had different opinions at times than that of the established theory that anthropologists and archaeologists go by, but I respect the extent of their work.

That will depend on whether it works or not. It's a fine line. The exact same action can be called a brilliant masterstroke if it's successful or a strategic blunder if it fails.

It might turn into a modern day Kursk Bulge.

Some commentators are describing it as a dumb action that makes no strategic sense. The Ukrainian line on the Ukraine side of the border in that area is thin due to lack of troops and someone has sent two brigades to run around over the border for no strategic gain.

spacey, it sounds like you've been watching Fight Club.

The Ukrainians seem happy with Kamala Harris's pick for VP. https://www.kyivpost.com/post/36997

You see some funny things caught on camera. One was that team official who pinched the chair meant for the sick athlete (was it a Spanish team?), and the other was the look on the face of that female walker when she blew it. She thought she had it in the bag so slackened off with only a few metres to go, then another lady cruised right by her and took first place.

He reminds me of Nick Searcy, but I don't think it is.