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The Kiss Your Arse Goodbye Thread

That's a concern in most conflicts, though. Nothing new, there. Supply and demand, weapons needed, weapons sold/shipped in by "honest" means or otherwise. Weapons falling into the wrong or right hands, depending on viewpoint.

Let's say the weapons aren't sold/given because of these concerns. How are invaded countries supposed to defend themselves, without the means to?
Perhaps. But it still wasn't about the cost. Better to actually read the post you're replying to.
 
Are the concerns justified, do you think? Is it better for the nation to be crushed, or for it to resist?
This still hasn't got anything whatsoever to do with that short piece the Guardian reported.

But if you demand an answer, then... maybe. Or maybe not. I don't decide on this issue. The Pentagon or the CIA might.
 
For instance: (to paraphrase and only just) 'I can spam the most important discussions with my own shite and then tell people it doesn't matter anyway.'
 
This still hasn't got anything whatsoever to do with that short piece the Guardian reported.

But if you demand an answer, then... maybe. Or maybe not. I don't decide on this issue. The Pentagon or the CIA might.

Was replying, simply, to the Reuters bit. Felt that (whatever about concerns) the weapons should be supplied free.

Neither of us get to decide on such things, as you say.

It's interesting to have an opinion, though. Rather than just cut & paste jobs?
 
Was replying, simply, to the Reuters bit. Felt that (whatever about concerns) the weapons should be supplied free.

Neither of us get to decide on such things, as you say.

It's interesting to have an opinion, though. Rather than just cut & paste jobs?
You've had my opinion. I repeat: our opinions mean nothing; we don't get to decide on these issues.
 
You've had my opinion. I repeat: our opinions mean nothing; we don't get to decide on these issues.
What's the point in posting, then?

Hard to see why you're upset about not being able to post on the main thread, when any answer is dismissed and the mantra that there's nothing we can do is repeatedly offered up.

(Reminded of a guy who used to do either saturdays or sundays at Speaker's Corner. He'd come out with all manner of "you're all sheep/I know better than you" monologues and if anyone interjected, he'd take the position that he was just here to say his bit & nobody need reply, interrupt etc.)
 
What's the point in posting, then?

Hard to see why you're upset about not being able to post on the main thread, when any answer is dismissed and the mantra that there's nothing we can do is repeatedly offered up.

(Reminded of a guy who used to do either saturdays or sundays at Speaker's Corner. He'd come out with all manner of "you're all sheep/I know better than you" monologues and if anyone interjected, he'd take the position that he was just here to say his bit & nobody need reply, interrupt etc.)

Maybe he's a snake
 
So Ukraine gets its way with the No Fly Zone. Russian and NATO forces clash. We're all shitting ourselves as to what will happen next...

What would you do in the shadow of the nuclear holocaust other than think about how unlikely this was (1962 excepted) in the good old days of Cold War stability?
The siren went off when I was a kid, that was rather unnerving.

Seems that when you only have 4 minutes you just stare out of the window with your mum.

 
The siren went off when I was a kid, that was rather unnerving.

Seems that when you only have 4 minutes you just stare out of the window with your mum.

I remember this so well.

I was dreaming that there were sirens going off and that we had to rush to a bunker. Then I was awake and my mum was in the room, early hours of the morning, thinking "Shit, is this real?"

It was round the time of Protect and Survive/ Threads and all that and remember working out that the centre of town was the other side of the wall, so I expected to be done by the blast, rather than flash.

After 10 minutes I was clearly still alive so went back to sleep.

eta. That's how we found out that the pub at the bottom of the road had a siren on it's roof
 
I remember this so well.

I was dreaming that there were sirens going off and that we had to rush to a bunker. Then I was awake and my mum was in the room, early hours of the morning, thinking "Shit, is this real?"

It was round the time of Protect and Survive/ Threads and all that and remember working out that the centre of town was the other side of the wall, so I expected to be done by the blast, rather than flash.

After 10 minutes I was clearly still alive so went back to sleep.
I remember it vividly too, school the day after was surreal, my dad dropped me off early so I was in the playground on my own for a bit, I recall other kids coming in and we were all

OMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMG

The next day we all got in trouble cos we decided to wear a twelve-year-old's interpretation of a full face of makeup. We'd decided that life was too short so we were gonna show 'em that with blue eyeshadow and candy floss lipstick.

Do I know you? :hmm:
 
The siren went off when I was a kid, that was rather unnerving.

Seems that when you only have 4 minutes you just stare out of the window with your mum.

I grew up in Portsmouth during the 70s and 80s, IIRC they used the old dockyard air raid sirens for all kinds of things back then (shift changeovers, ships leaving / arriving, maybe even a fire alarm for all I know) so I was kind of used to hearing them every so often. It didn't mean I wasn't as terrified of armegeddon as we all were, but the sirens weren't a particular trigger when I heard them. I was always confident that in a nuclear strike I'd get toasted in a second so that was kind of .. not comforting, but close.
 
I grew up in Portsmouth during the 70s and 80s, IIRC they used the old dockyard air raid sirens for all kinds of things back then (shift changeovers, ships leaving / arriving, maybe even a fire alarm for all I know) so I was kind of used to hearing them every so often. It didn't mean I wasn't as terrified of armegeddon as we all were, but the sirens weren't a particular trigger when I heard them. I was always confident that in a nuclear strike I'd get toasted in a second so that was kind of .. not comforting, but close.
It was different to that, same kinda noise obviously, but imagine that scaled up a lot

shudder

I spent the rest of my tweens scared to stay over night at friend's houses, I got over myself once but just lay there planning my most direct route home through hedges and gardens.

Didn't really fancy getting vaporised without my mum

:(
 
I always thought that nuclear siren thing was only a Funeaton thing, should propably have read my link more closely.

We lived in Exhall for a bit when I was a kid, we're practically cousins. Or something
 
I grew up in Portsmouth during the 70s and 80s, IIRC they used the old dockyard air raid sirens for all kinds of things back then (shift changeovers, ships leaving / arriving, maybe even a fire alarm for all I know) so I was kind of used to hearing them every so often. It didn't mean I wasn't as terrified of armegeddon as we all were, but the sirens weren't a particular trigger when I heard them. I was always confident that in a nuclear strike I'd get toasted in a second so that was kind of .. not comforting, but close.
Used to hear the siren from Broadmoor every Monday as a kid and on a couple of occasions when there was an escape.. Which was never on a Monday struck me as the sensible time to plan an escape but they were all mentally ill I supose
 
Czech Republic still has sirens; in Prague they are tested on the first Wednesday of the month. It's preceded by a notification that it's a test, now in both Czech and English, but still newcomers look panicked when the wailing starts :D

They cancelled testing for a few months, so as not to alarm Ukrainian refugees, but they are back now.

When the war kicked off and there was a fear of potential bombing, there was a renewal of interest in air raid shelters. Until about ten years ago, some of the public shelters had food and water stockpiles, but it was decided it wasn't worth the expense. The shelters are still maintained though, enough space for something like 300,000 people. At home, I have the basement of the building, while at work we are near an underground station with blast doors and air filtration.
 
I always thought that nuclear siren thing was only a Funeaton thing, should propably have read my link more closely.

We lived in Exhall for a bit when I was a kid, we're practically cousins. Or something
I think everyone in Bed'th is related to each other somehow.
 
'The world is entering a "dangerous new age of proliferation", with threats from genetic weapons, lasers and nuclear warheads, the UK's national security adviser has said.

Sir Stephen Lovegrove raised the spectre of a "collapse into uncontrolled conflict" unless methods are devised to deter hostilities and impose controls over the spread of ever-more deadly weapons that have become increasingly easy to acquire.


In a rare and very frank public speech during a visit to the United States, he warned how mechanisms developed during the Cold War by and between Western allies and the then Soviet Union to prevent either side from triggering a nuclear exchange were no longer sufficient.'



 
'The war in Ukraine has prompted Western leaders to send the country military equipment worth billions of dollars.

Experts say this, combined with the conflict's role in pushing up military spending, will lead to a windfall for Western arms manufacturers - but there are risks.'





'Siemon Wezeman, a senior researcher at the arms transfers programme at the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), says most of the weapons being sent to Ukraine are from existing military supplies.'

'Kristen Bayes, a spokesperson for the Campaign Against the Arms Trade, says the provision of weapons to Ukraine is understandable but "not problem-free".

"You might think you're handing over weapons to people you know and like, but then they get sold on to people you absolutely don't," she tells Sky News.

Mr Wezeman says weapons supplied to Ukraine "may end up disappearing into the black market" - an increased risk given that the country "isn't in full control of its territory".

He says it is difficult to keep track of weapons when they have to be supplied at such speed and there is a risk of them getting "lost or disappearing in the chaos".

He says there is little that can be done about this now but as soon as the war ends, a good programme needs to be put in place to collect weapons from civilians.'


Mr Wezeman says increases in military spending could also provoke Russia to expand its nuclear capabilities.

He says: "They may very well look at that and think: 'We can't compete with that. We cannot increase our spending at the same rate as NATO countries, it just doesn't work. We have to find alternatives.' And if you find no military alternatives, then you very quickly start looking at focusing more on nuclear weapons, because they are the rather cheap option." '

He says this could "bring down the threshold" for nuclear weapons use, adding: "It's a highly dangerous game."
 
'The war in Ukraine has prompted Western leaders to send the country military equipment worth billions of dollars.

Experts say this, combined with the conflict's role in pushing up military spending, will lead to a windfall for Western arms manufacturers - but there are risks.'





'Siemon Wezeman, a senior researcher at the arms transfers programme at the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), says most of the weapons being sent to Ukraine are from existing military supplies.'

'Kristen Bayes, a spokesperson for the Campaign Against the Arms Trade, says the provision of weapons to Ukraine is understandable but "not problem-free".

"You might think you're handing over weapons to people you know and like, but then they get sold on to people you absolutely don't," she tells Sky News.

Mr Wezeman says weapons supplied to Ukraine "may end up disappearing into the black market" - an increased risk given that the country "isn't in full control of its territory".

He says it is difficult to keep track of weapons when they have to be supplied at such speed and there is a risk of them getting "lost or disappearing in the chaos".

He says there is little that can be done about this now but as soon as the war ends, a good programme needs to be put in place to collect weapons from civilians.'


Mr Wezeman says increases in military spending could also provoke Russia to expand its nuclear capabilities.

He says: "They may very well look at that and think: 'We can't compete with that. We cannot increase our spending at the same rate as NATO countries, it just doesn't work. We have to find alternatives.' And if you find no military alternatives, then you very quickly start looking at focusing more on nuclear weapons, because they are the rather cheap option." '

He says this could "bring down the threshold" for nuclear weapons use, adding: "It's a highly dangerous game."
Who invaded who and for what reason?
 
Who invaded who and for what reason?
There's a limit to how many times you can answer the same question, not to mention a limit to the number of times you can carry on asking it across multiple threads.

What do you imagine you're gaining or achieving?
 
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