netstack
Texas is freedom land
No bio...
User ID: 647
netstack
Texas is freedom land
5d ago
That’s already true if the robodog is made of the right materials :)
But to conventionally kill multiple men—or to do so without damaging everything in between them, too—is a good bit harder. I don’t think we pull it off within the decade.
netstack
Texas is freedom land
9d ago
There are lots of reasons to oppose Russia/push back on (perceived) Russia partisans even if one thinks Ukraine is doomed. But you may be right if I’m typical-minding.
Interesting that you blame corruption. My intuition at the start was Russia rolling in and destroying major C&C. Maybe not on Desert Storm level, but something relatively fast. In that case, the industry of either side wouldn’t matter too much. Frankly, I assume that’s what Russia expected, too. If they’d known how much money and experience they’d lose to get this far, I would like to think it wouldn’t have happened.
But given that Ukraine didn’t shatter, and instead got this awful slog—now the production is key. And they sure can’t do it on their own dime. As critics have observed, we dumped most of our old and cheap munitions, and are struggling to spin up new production. So is this failure because of corrupt or incompetent procurement? Or were we just not expecting it to come to this?
I realize this sounds like I’m saying “nah, we’d totally win if we weren’t holding back.” Hubristic, right? But there really is a lack of political will. Our politicians even fought over sending the old stuff to this small, faraway, non-NATO country. If that level of intervention was unpopular, is it so surprising that we haven’t kept up in shell production?
netstack
Texas is freedom land
13d ago
Wait, really?
Maybe I’m just making assumptions from my time in the schools here.
netstack
Texas is freedom land
13d ago
Please tone down the outgroup-booing. This is waging the culture war, not discussing it.
netstack
Texas is freedom land
13d ago
Please avoid sweeping generalizations.
netstack
Texas is freedom land
13d ago
What do those numbers look like for white-collar work?
Cause I don’t think the pool of immigrants picking fruit in the Central Valley (or cleaning toilets in Google HQ) are really driving prices, no. In a supply-choked market, the wealthier buyer is more important.
netstack
Texas is freedom land
13d ago
Our high property taxes are also correlated with—if not the cause of—our unusually good schools.
netstack
Texas is freedom land
14d ago
That’s not it at all!
The only one of those which even suggests why we’d avoid the subject is 1. I guess some people probably don’t want to talk about a losing team? But I can’t say I ever expected Ukraine to come out on top.
netstack
Texas is freedom land
15d ago
Greg Abbott?
And that’s not what I said. Chill out.
netstack
Texas is freedom land
15d ago
Please avoid this kind of snarling at the groups you don’t like.
netstack
Texas is freedom land
19d ago
Oh, another NY case. Is this the one where he was inflating penthouse sizes?
I don’t know anything about fraud judgments, but I’m willing to believe the judge based that penalty on Trump’s politics.
netstack
Texas is freedom land
19d ago
True. I was thinking of Thug Shaker Central guy: low level military.
A better natural comparison is Biden, who had 25-30 documents around his house and office. The report on him concluded with a Hillary-worthy lack of “why, how or whom.” Why didn’t Trump get that benefit of the doubt?
- They’re confident in the why, how, and whom.
- He’s being punished for non-cooperation with NARA.
- He’s being punished as a proxy for other unprovable crimes, like using RICO against mobsters.
- He’s being harassed for personal distaste.
- He’s being harassed to keep him out of office.
I’d say 2-5 could count as lawfare, but most people using that term mean something more like 4 or 5.
1 is almost certainly true. Look how much the warrant focuses on specific people. They were definitely more confident in who was actually handling the boxes and giving the orders.
Same for 2. I have to stress—NARA did have reason to believe Trump was holding out on them. Biden’s team bent over backwards to avoid that.
3 is implausible; it’s not like there’s a lack of other cases to use. Including actual RICO charges.
4 and 5 are more credible. I’d be very surprised if people on these teams didn’t dislike the man or even think he’s a danger to the country. Enough to fabricate their entire job (e.g. planting classified docs)? Probably not. Enough to push when they wouldn’t for anyone else? Much more likely.
In short, I think there are a lot of reasons. The ones which I find most likely are the least “lawfare” of the bunch.
netstack
Texas is freedom land
21d ago
I agree that using the photo as such is editorial narrative-peddling of the basest sort.
It’s like…you’ve seen those photos of heroin bricks and gold-plated guns from drug busts. They’re pure propaganda, right? The police want to look strong and successful, so they have incentives both to create such photos and to spread them around. Departments will tend towards policies that let them do it, like stacking all the product in one spot. But does that make the drug bust illegitimate?
I guess I’d expect a magically apolitical FBI to generate very similar photos. Maybe department policy includes a stack of cover sheets. (In my experience, the government loves those things, even in unclassified situations like training.) Or maybe they made the decision in the moment, either to make their sort easier, or to get that snappy photo.
If that’s true, then we’re back to priors. I believe the FBI is somewhat politically aware, and I assume some of its leadership holds a grudge against the FPOTUS. I don’t believe that was the driving factor. Then again, I wasn’t expecting them to pull the trigger at all.
netstack
Texas is freedom land
29d ago
I’ll take that bet.
Also, this revision has (apparently) been in the works for more than a few months. This mess has been brewing since Bostock at least.
netstack
Texas is freedom land
6hr ago
Tyranny of the wagon equation.
An ox requires a certain amount of food each day. This is true whether it’s hauling trade goods, soldiers, or that food. The further you’re planning to go, the more of your weight has to go towards feeding your transport. It’s even worse for military maneuvers, since your destination is unlikely to sell you supplies.
Boats have a much, much better rate of return, reducing the cost of doing business immensely. So ocean access is like a multiplier on state capacity. At one point, Rome was importing a ridiculous percentage of its food from across the Mediterranean. In turn, that freed up labor for metallurgy and bureaucracy and all those other structural advantages.
netstack
Texas is freedom land
2d ago
Yup.
But the options are still “make the case” or “ignore.” Can’t just appeal to that immune response. Them’s the rules.
Same deal as how you’ve talked about religion. Even if you and I think it’s bunk, we’ve got to write with the intent of reaching theists.
netstack
Texas is freedom land
6d ago
Hey, you take that back. I’ve been working hard to earn that title!
netstack
Texas is freedom land
6d ago
Is this how most golf carts are registered?
Sounds like a good idea to me. Better than a bike for cargo, and maybe you’d dodge the stigma of a “DUI guy.” How’s the climate where you live? Is A/C optional?
netstack
Texas is freedom land
7d ago
In your brief time on this board, you’ve picked up a wide variety of warnings and bans. The common thread? You’re clearly more interested in waging the culture war than understanding it.
Please take your outrage somewhere else.
netstack
Texas is freedom land
9d ago
Okay, that's the kind of thing where you have to make your case.
You were warned for this exact behavior a while back. One day ban this time.
That might work for 40 men in a line. I wouldn’t bet on it if they were maneuvering, in cover, or shooting back. We are getting to the point where targeting software will allow engaging infantry, sure. It’s the hardware that I would expect to limit us.
Acquisition isn’t enough. You need something that can slew the weapon over, fire, confirm the kill, and proceed. Even at the >70°/s traverse rates achieved by shipboard CIWS, that’s not a small task. Every pound you spend on servos and sensors to make it happen is one you have to haul around on your robot. Every cubic foot makes you a slightly bigger target for small arms or close support.
I think the hardware to engage multiple targets in quick succession starts to look less like a robo dog and more like an APC or tank. Which are famous for not coping with infantry in knife range. Or air strikes, for that matter.
As an aside, is there a particular justification for a 9mm chaingun? I don’t think I’ve heard of one before, and I wonder if there’s a mechanical reason. A casual search shows one company, Freedom Ordnance, which seems to really enjoy making belt-fed guns. Plus a WWI prototype. I guess it’s possible! If I were designing a battlefield robot, though, I don’t think I’d go smaller than intermediate caliber.
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