Gorth

I can't really separate events out into their episodes, but the story as I get it so far has two protagonists... Vincent the immigrant and Re-I, the granddaughter of the "administrator". They live in a city, which later turns out to be a dome existing in a wasteland, sustaining a kind of utopia/dystopia kind of society, complete with constant messages bombarding the "model citizens" with how they should behave and act like good little consumers. AI "people" are everywhere and serves many purposes. It immediately made me think of Bladerunner. A virus, called "cogito", is spreading amongst the AI's (called "autoreives") and causes havoc. On top of that, the bureau of security as well as Re-I's grandfather have gotten their hands dirty with some unsavoury research just referred to as "Proxy". The results of which escapes a lab/holding facility and goes on a killing spree. Vincent manages to escape from the city using a vent, that cogito infected AI's has been using to escape the city and ends up with a small group of people living outside the dome. One of them wants to be more than a "dome parasite" some day (being people who lives off the sewage and waste of the dome). That's where I got to. Leaving out a fair number of details and characters. Edit: Looks like I got the name of the female lead wrong... the last letter is not an 'I' but a lower case 'L', i.e. 'l' (Re-l).

Finished Ergo Proxy episode 4... completely hooked on the story Not really what i would think of when people say "Anime", which I normally associated with a few stereo types when it comes to art direction. Looks more like an animated version of a Jean Giraud ("Moebius") comic! Too much happening already to make a coherent summary of

Which would no doubt involve the stationing of a large contingent of Belarussian troops in Ukraine?

I'm not really that interested in a NetFlix subscription, not even for a month or two to be honest (because I know I would feel compelled somehow to waste a lot of time watching NetFlix for a while, because of the time limitation). YouTube videos I save in a folder and watch when I have the time and inclination to do so Having VPN is nice though, even if most of the time it just masks my IP with another Brisbane IP (I use NordVPN, no idea how it compares to the competition, but it was what looked the easiest to use for me a day when I really needed one)

It just fits the MO of Wagner better than the regular Russian army. Not that the Russians don't kill civilians, they do, a lot. But it's usually more a "convenience" thing. Lets flatten those residential areas rather than fighting block to black and door to door kind of way. Bucha was atrocities for atrocities sake, somebody who wanted it to be seen and known.

An interesting outcome in some ways… Reagan allowing the rest of the world access to the gps system to avoid such navigational errors in the future

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-61028380 I don't know how reliable Der Spiegel is as a source, but according to them, The BND (German Intelligence Service I think, Bundesnachrichtendienst or some such) intercepted radio communication between the Russian troops in Bucha, leading up to massacre of the civilians. According to Spiegel, the intercepts also appeared to indicate that mercenaries from Russia's private Wagner group played a key role in the Bucha killings. Wagner is known for callous brutality in previous theatres of war...

Second video released from Rammsteins new album (Zeit)

Life as a passenger jet near "hot zones" has a history of tragedies... the Donbas seperatists were shocked (watch the youtube video with subtitle when the commanders inspect the wreckage) to discover the Malaysian Airlines jet were a civilian plane flying over them and not the usual Ukrainian transport plane they were routinely targeting, The US shot down an Iranian passenger jet when it made a bombing run on a frigate, whose captain got a medal for bravery under fire or some such, or the Soviets shooting down a South Korean passenger jet because it strayed a few miles off course close to military installations in the far east of the Soviet Union. Edit: Forgot the Iranian shooting down a Ukrainian passenger jet just a couple of years ago. I would say, plan your trip carefully and avoid the worlds hot spots where possible

Argh... looks like Ergo Proxy is only available on NetFlix... and not the Australian Netflix (which means subscribing for a month to NetFlix and using my vpn to pretend I'm Canadian or American or some such) Not going to pay a fortune for Amazon Blu-Rays (edit: which will be the wrong region anyway) Edit: It was on Crunchyroll until 2017 when it got removed, but comments suggests it may now be on Funimations Youtube channel. I'll check it out there Edit2: Looks like Funimation has folded and Crunchyroll is the only one left. I'm screwed Edit3: Looks like most, if not all of the episodes are on Youtube, just not through official channels

I don't live in Sweden or Finland, but being an old ex-pat Dane, I can tell you the 6 months of darkness in the winter half gets to you (even if the 200 annual days of rain doesn't)... Edit: as @xzar_monty pointed out, the summer half has daylight until very late, even as far south as Denmark. As kids we used to laugh at tourists not being able to sleep at night (because the sun is still shining at 10 in the evening)

What I was thinking of was German words having three genders, determining whether to use der, die or das (I was reminded of it when changing the title of the Ukraine thread)

I think the English language is also limited to two genders?

The Chernobyl disaster happened in 1986. Probably before most of the Russian conscripts were born. If not briefed by command to keep their shovels away, they may not have been any the wiser. We're talking about an army where the common soldier doesn't seem to be encouraged to show initiative or heaven forbid, critical thinking. (and it may not have featured regularly on RT either)

One of the paradoxes of WWII, Germany was the only country willing to help Finland defend itself against the USSR... the West was perfectly willing to sacrifice it Sudetenland style to make the Soviets happy and keep them in the war against Germany.

They do, but very rarely. It is an "OZ centric" group. Doesn't mean they wont cover the war in Ukraine some day, but I wouldn't hold my breath. E.g. they didn't cover things like Afghanistan etc.

They are preparing to invade Sweden and liberate Scania, Halland and Blekinge in a special military operation...

It's this horrible translated from Danish to English stuff (not machine translated, but it sounds "stilted"), but just a list of current and recent engagements. Includes peace keeping missions in various parts of Africa and the training of Ukrainian troops since 2016... https://www.forsvaret.dk/en/roles-and-responsibilities/International-operations/ As said, the numbers wont overwhelm anyone, but the experience gathered can be shared. Edit: Missing from the list is the Airforce being part of enforcing of the no fly zone over Libya... that one was always a bit weird, because it was never announced nor referenced afterwards. The public only knows because some journalists wondered where all those F-16's suddenly went and they were later spotted on Italian airbases flying sorties to the south...

Even a tiny country like Denmark has an experienced group of officers as the country has been constantly at war effectively since Yugoslavia fell apart (early 90's), fighting in Bosnia, Iraq, Afghanistan (2014). Getting scores of body bags with young Danes sent home didn't really rattle the popular opinion either (since the casualties happened to professional soldiers, not enlisted men). I think these days they are mostly active with peace keeping in Kosovo and The Middle East as well as fighting pirates along various East African coasts (which would be navy units). Small, but with 30+ years of active combat experience in "real" war situations.

I watched the Ergo Proxy trailer on youtube and read a few lines about it. Sounds interesting enough for me to make it my next viewing project

Why the English language and spelling is such a bastard...

Agreed. It really depends on context and motivation. If Russia had attacked Ukrainian forces in say Syria (yes, completely hypothetical situation), the outcome may have been different. Possibly. Never underestimate a combatant fighting tooth and claw on their home turf to defend it.

An interesting version of an 80's hit. Only the vocal tracks from the recording (to really appreciate her voice)...

Old but not out... (oldies but goodies!). A surprising number of WWII weapons being used on both sides in the Ukrainian war

I know it was a jest question, but a little known fact (outside the Nordic countries) is, the viking women were both powerful and influential before the Christianity imposed patriarchal system... https://www.historyextra.com/period/viking/vikings-women-home-matriarchs-traders-artisans/ – the Old Norse word víkingar referred solely to men. For this point in history, however, Viking women enjoyed a high degree of social freedom. They could own property, ask for a divorce if not treated properly, and they shared responsibility for running farms and homesteads with their menfolk. They were also protected by law from a range of unwanted male attention. ... A married couple of húsbóndi (an Old Norse word which gives us English 'husband') and hýfreyja (wife) presided over the home as partners. The status accorded to the role of wife is clear from an inscription on the Hassmyra rune stone (Sweden), in which a bereaved húsbóndi claims that "no better hýfreyja will come to Hassmyra to run the estate" than his late wife, Odindisa. Common signs of wives' social status are the pairs of ornamental oval brooches, used as dress fasteners, found in large numbers of Viking-era female graves. ... War in the Viking age was fought at close quarters with swords, spears and axes. Women could not escape such violence, especially if they were part of a group or community under attack, or travelling with a group of merchants who had to defend their wares. However, conclusive evidence for female participation in war as trained and regular warriors is currently slight, despite the recent interpretation of a 10th-century ‘warrior’ burial at Birka in Sweden as being that of a woman. The significance of this burial is still under debate, while in other instances women found buried with ‘weapons’ had actually been laid to rest with everyday tools, such as axes for chopping firewood. It also includes a few bits about viking women as explorers and religious leaders...