kanisatha

Well, yes, but they're just the first batch. And other countries have now also said they too will send HiMARS. And HiMARS is an awesome system for the Ukrainians for this one reason. The one thing that is truly hurting the UA badly right now is that the Russians are relentlessly and indiscriminately bombarding UA positions with massive amounts of artillery, which the UA cannot get at as they're out of reach. With HiMARS, not only do those Russian artillery systems come with reach, one HiMARS has the potential to wipe out an entire battery of artillery guns, and possibly even more, in counter-battery fire mode.

Damn, I really got to give massive kudos to Lithuania. Their railroad action against Russia has the whiney crybabies in Moscow going bat-crap crazy! They're literally losing their minds, because tiny Lithuania has come up with a completely legal under international law way to REALLY stick it to the Russians, and there's precious little Russia can do about it short of invading NATO territory. Every argument the Russians raise about how "wrong" this is can be turned right back around on them! Lavrov, Peskov and co. are so apoplectic its side-splittingly hilarious. I'm keeping my fingers crossed it pushes Palputin's ticker over the line. Man, Lithuania is ****ing brilliant!!

Steam summer sale starts tomorrow!

I would guess they'd launch a major cyber attack. That's their big go-to short of military action. And yeah, Peskov saying, "This decision is really unprecedented. It's a violation of everything. We consider this illegal," is hilarious and the height of hutzpah. Everything the Russians have done since 2/24 is unprecedented, illegal, and "a violation of everything." In response to Russia's actions, any counter-action taken by anyone anywhere in the world is eminently reasonable by default.

See, the problem with all these new breakthroughs is that they will be too late to do anything for me, a 54 years old guy in *not* the best shape.

I had this game on my Steam wishlist for ages, mainly because I automatically put any cRPG with RTwP combat on my list. But after it came out of EA and still had huge issues, I dropped it from my list. Would be interested in hearing more from you about how it is.

Hahaha, you are so silly! Those of us living out here in the northeast already know what it feels like to have our last drop of blood squeezed out of us! Those prices are pretty close to what they charge out here. Besides, I'll have that Massachusetts-level pension going for me (50% of my annual income).

HA! Hawaii is exactly the place that's been on my mind lately for retirement as well. As someone who loves gardens, mountains, jungles, seafood, WW2 and naval history, and who is of Asian heritage and has family there, Hawaii is extremely attractive if I can swing the finances.

What about a couple of hundred acres of pristine beauty in Wyoming? Maybe even a horse ranch.

As far as I'm concerned, way to go little Lithuania!! Way to show the supposedly big and strong countries (Germany, France, Italy) what it means to have even the tiniest bit of a backbone.

These were assessments of NATO capabilities relative to Russia from before the Ukraine war. Current assessments are that both NATO and the US had continuing Cold War mentalities about Russian capabilities being akin to Soviet capabilities at the height of the Cold War, which is to say we severely overestimated Russian capabilities. Ironically, many experts assess that even as we overestimated Russian capabilities, we are simultaneously underestimating Chinese capabilities (and that's going to seriously bite us on the ass very soon).

Hehe, perhaps you need to think farther than even Iberia and bring those investments all the way across the Atlantic. I promise you they will be safe here.

Same here. And especially since I don't shell out for any streaming services. CBS used to be my go-to network for shows I loved for years. But now, three years in a row, they've canceled one of my beloved shows: first Hawaii 5-0, then SEAL Team (putting it in Paramount+ was the same as canceling for me), and now Magnum P.I. So now I literally have zero hour-long shows carrying over from the 21/22 season to the 22/23 season.

Now if only we could use our tax returns to buy an actual F-14 Tomcat. I'm sure they're cheap at the Boneyard.

No I don't. And I also don't read the same kind of sites on the left.

@Mamoulian War, I've never ever seen this outlet (and I read an axtremely wide range of news and academic sources).

Completely agree. Modular robotic systems are the future of warfare.

Here's a great piece on a Russian angle to the war that the many casual observers and commentators are not seeing: https://carnegieeurope.eu/strategiceurope/87319

Nah. Biden has made it central to his foreign policy that Russia needs to lose in Ukraine. And he has enough Republican support for this policy. In fact, among both R's and D's in Congress, the demand is for Biden to go even further in supporting Ukraine, such as providing missiles that can hit Russian territory.

https://www.defenseone.com/threats/2022/06/us-pledges-more-weapons-ukraine-milley-warns-numbers-clearly-favor-russians/368229/ https://www.defense.gov/News/News-Stories/Article/Article/3064765/more-than-50-nations-pledge-to-help-build-ukraines-defense/ https://www.usnews.com/news/world/articles/2022-06-15/nato-defense-ministers-to-discuss-weapons-for-ukraine

Yeah, I like analysts like Michta who think big and can see the big strategic picture. His overall geopolitical conclusion is absolutely correct. The war in Ukraine is ultimately not just about the future of Ukraine. It is very much also about the future of Europe.

Piece from a very highly regarded academic that puts this very issue in great perspective: https://www.politico.eu/article/ukraine-could-be-an-inflection-point-eu-us-west-war-russia/

I really liked and appreciated the attention and support MS gave to their Stalker 2 Ukrainian colleagues. A very nice tribute.

I went from III to V (still play V a lot) and skipped IV and VI. So I guess it's the odd-numbered ones for me. And ARA apparently has Civ 5 lead designers working on it, so that may be a good sign.

It has a very strong user rating on Steam. But a few folks here were somewhat down on it. I still intend to buy it at some point. And yes, Civ 7 is supposedly soon to be announced: https://www.pcgamesn.com/civilization-vii/narrative-lead-job-posting