@Render this jives with what's been reported on the Russian military over the past ~15 years: they have a small core of professional soldiers, augmented by mercenaries, and most of their numbers are young, green conscripts mainly suited for garrison duty. During the run-up to the invasion, all this talk of "180k+ troops ready to invade" didn't sound right to me; I didn't think there were 180k veteran, well-equipped troops that were going to advance into Ukraine.

@corlin I think this is a great example of why #coso is a great place. People can reasonably discuss something like this during what is usually the most politically charged time in the public sphere - wartime - and no one's calling anyone a shill or an idiot. We're interested in the truth.

Alternative take: this doesn't pass the smell test, according to Joseph Trevithick at TheDrive.

https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/44501/reports-that-ukraine-is-about-to-get-70-donated-fighter-jets-dont-add-up

@rewerty yeah I hesitated to post this because there is a lot of skepticism, and I am concerned about being part of the consensus propaganda machine (of which Politico can certainly be a part). So I welcome discussion on the topic.

Ukrainian pilots are reportedly in Poland picking up MiG-29 fighters and Su-25 ground-attack aircraft; a total of 70 planes. The Su-25 (NATO reporting name "Frogfoot") is broadly equivalent to the A-10 in its role, close in air support and anti-armor ("tank busting").

This is a major step past Javelins and Stingers. The report comes from Politico, who was informed by Ukrainian diplomatic sources, so take that as you will.

https://www.politico.com/news/2022/02/28/ukrainian-pilots-arrive-in-poland-to-pick-up-donated-fighter-jets-00012560

#mig29 #su25 #ukraine #nato #eu #politico

#cosoguard Is there a way to use CosoGuard to check other email addresses? I used a relatively new one to sign up here. I tried hand-crafting the URL, but it chokes and gives me an authentication error, despite using the same browser (and thus cookies).

A majority - not a plurality, but an outright majority - of Finns now support joining NATO. This is a seismic shift in Finnish public opinion.

Note that the poll was conducted for Finnish Public Broadcasting, not a partisan organization.

@GEAUXJayna Oh my goodness what a gorgeous fluff 😺 Happy birthday Millie!

This is Beatrice, our flufferbun who is almost two. She was found abandoned in a gutter at less than two weeks old. We met her two weeks later, and took her home a month after that. She's as healthy and mischievous as can be 💖 #CatsOfCoSo

@Saorsa

Once again, an authoritarian leader, high on his own supply, thinks that he can launch a Short, Victorious War and appear the Conquering Hero to his people at home and the Powerful Adversary to his enemies abroad.

PROTIP: It's never a Short, Victorious War. It's a quagmire. It's always a quagmire. And if your Wagner Group mercenaries find Zelenskiy, you'll create a martyr where you've already created a hero.

@naikarrah The ruble is now worth ten dogecoin 🤪

"Nordbat 2's willingness to bend or even break the rules, and disregard direct orders from both UN command and its own government, enabled it to achieve its mission objectives as defined by the first battalion commander: protect the civilians at all cost. "

These are the people Putin is driving into NATO's arms.

https://thestrategybridge.org/the-bridge/2017/9/20/trigger-happy-autonomous-and-disobedient-nordbat-2-and-mission-command-in-bosnia

https://twitter.com/AliceAvizandum/status/1497486010795577344

The entire thread is gold.

@th3j35t3r

@ucantstop_me The "Republican Revolution" in 1994, courtesy of Newt Gingrich and friends, is what happened. Win at all costs, party over country, cooperative governance is a dead doctrine, etc. Combined with the launch of Fox News in 1996, the so-called "Falwell Tapes" that circulated at white nationalist events, etc. Unity is only for conservatives to attack liberals, cf. 9/11 and Iraq, "hating freedom", and the like.

@JeSsA be kind to yourself 💖 The amount of love we have for our creatures isn't hampered by the layers of crap that people heap on each other, and that can make the grief worse when they're gone.

My wife's cat George from before us just passed and it's been hard on her. Her ex (they're on good terms) did video calls with her and the cat, so she got to say goodbye. I've never seen her so upset as I did in that moment.

I'm grateful for the time you had with Creed 😺 Pets a blessing.

@mcfate I know that feel. I have a $189 sff computer that runs all my home automation tasks that has more computing power than every computer I owned from 1986 through 2002 or 2003, combined; maybe even 2004. I think that even includes storage and RAM, not just CPU power. And it's definitely on-par with the 2016 work laptop I just replaced. And the kicker is that it only draws 36W at full power!

@mcfate Gosh, such a mystery, since all of those conservative critics will eagerly volunteer that they "don't see race" before taking her comments out of context to support their "angry black lady" trope on Twitter. Must be a total coincidence! 🙄

#cosomusic
I'm streaming 80s, 90s, disco house, and other stuff. It's all vinyl (minus one track not yet pressed on wax), all mixed. If you liked the tracks posted by @Render last night, you might enjoy it. https://terranova.dance/ for my Twitch, or https://terranova.dance/audio for the HQ Opus stream.