Ukraine and the Russian invasion, 2022-24

[planetgeli]

Enough. You're spoiling the war.

 

[A380]

Unlike you I am not an archer afficionado

And Thereby hangs a tale, only time will tell if you stick to that. But people will turn a blind eye. Still this derail has been a wasted hour.


( TBF I’ve only read two of his shit tomes.)

 

[A380]

I do like the Robert Rankin books , especially The Brentford Trilogy, which are sort of fantasy.

Urban Fantasy to be sure and they were pretty good. I prefer Aaronovitch for that though.

 

[Pickman's model]

Tolkien was the first to go mainstream, as we would describe it now, indeed some have argued he created the genre, and whilst they would be wrong, that certainly is seen as his place in literature. Mind I don’t actually like Fantasy that much. Having read the LOTR books twice I’m not sure I ever will again. But then The only fantasy I’d go back to is Pratchett and, arguably he isn’t really fantasy, so what do I know. ( I do like Martin’s SF though TBF).

On Screen The first few series of GOT is far more entertaining than LOTR , what with humour, proper characters and fucking.

ignoring George macdonald, William Morris, lord Dunsany, James branch cabell and e.r. eddison, all of who published fantasy before Tolkien, as did Robert e howard in the pages of eg weird tales.

 

[Pickman's model]

I do like the Robert Rankin books , especially The Brentford Trilogy, which are sort of fantasy.

East of Ealing is a masterpiece

 

[A380]

ignoring George macdonald, William Morris, lord Dunsany, James branch cabell and e.r. eddison, all of who published fantasy before Tolkien, as did Robert e howard in the pages of eg weird tales.

Indeed, or Swift to look even earlier. Which is why those who argue he created the genre would be wrong.

 

[Pickman's model]

Indeed. Which is why those who say he created the genre would be wrong.

Yes indeed, as would those be who'd say he was the first to go mainstream

 

[A380]

I’d stand by that. None of the fine authors you quote can really be described as mainstream beyond genre fiction.

 

[Pickman's model]

Best take it up with them then.

 

[krtek a houby]

Yes indeed, as would those be who'd say he was the first to go mainstream

There's an argument that Lucian of Samosa might have been the first...

 

[Pickman's model]

There's an argument that Lucian of Samosa might have been the first...

Him or apuleius

 

[xenon]

Russia launches biggest drone attack yet on Kyiv as city marks its founding

Ukraine says it shot down 52 Iranian-made devices but debris killed one person and injured two

www.theguardian.com

What's the cheapest way of taking out drones I wonder. Can Russia keep doing this indefinitely. Iran will obviously want to keep some of their production for themselves.

 

[A380]

Russia launches biggest drone attack yet on Kyiv as city marks its founding

Ukraine says it shot down 52 Iranian-made devices but debris killed one person and injured two

www.theguardian.com

What's the cheapest way of taking out drones I wonder. Can Russia keep doing this indefinitely. Iran will obviously want to keep some of their production for themselves.

Stop derailing this literary thread.

 

[existentialist]

Russia launches biggest drone attack yet on Kyiv as city marks its founding

Ukraine says it shot down 52 Iranian-made devices but debris killed one person and injured two

www.theguardian.com

What's the cheapest way of taking out drones I wonder. Can Russia keep doing this indefinitely. Iran will obviously want to keep some of their production for themselves.

I think Gepard seems to hit the sweet spot between cost and effectiveness. Judging by the footage from Kyiv last night (and the hit rate), they're doing a pretty good job, at a fairly minimal per-round cost.

And I think there is talk of another 50-odd units being sent from Germany.

 

[Cid]

Russia launches biggest drone attack yet on Kyiv as city marks its founding

Ukraine says it shot down 52 Iranian-made devices but debris killed one person and injured two

www.theguardian.com

What's the cheapest way of taking out drones I wonder. Can Russia keep doing this indefinitely. Iran will obviously want to keep some of their production for themselves.

There are specialist anti-drone electronic warfare weapons... Certainly quite a few of those in Ukraine. No idea how effective they are. Then more 'traditional' AA platforms that mount autocannons have seen a resurgence due to cost (and availability) relative to missile systems... See existentialist's post above.

 

[StoneRoad]

Russia launches biggest drone attack yet on Kyiv as city marks its founding

Ukraine says it shot down 52 Iranian-made devices but debris killed one person and injured two

www.theguardian.com

What's the cheapest way of taking out drones I wonder. Can Russia keep doing this indefinitely. Iran will obviously want to keep some of their production for themselves.

As long as the gunners / operators can get the angle of deflection correct, then gepards or heavy-ish machine guns will do the job.
In one clip I've seen of a Shahed, they seem to fly relatively slowly.
If they have a propeller [pusher position ??] then that is automatically a serious vulnerability to aimed gunfire.
And even Gepards would probably be at a more cost-effective ratio than missiles.

 

[The39thStep]

Enough. You're spoiling the war.

There are several skirmishes going on here as well as the war

 

[planetgeli]

There are several skirmishes going on here as well as the war

Have you seen the Schofield thread? It became the Bakhmut of Urban very rapidly.

 

[Pickman's model]

I’d stand by that. None of the fine authors you quote can really be described as mainstream beyond genre fiction.

I don't suppose there's a poster on this thread who hasn't heard of conan the barbarian, Robert e Howard's famous creation. And mainstream now is different to mainstream in their day, eg James branch cabell and e.r. eddison were well known in their day, while Lord dunsany's fame persists and works by him remain in print many decades after his death

 

[StoneRoad]

I don't suppose there's a poster on this thread who hasn't heard of conan the barbarian, Robert e Howard's famous creation. And mainstream now is different to mainstream in their day, eg James branch cabell and e.r. eddison were well known in their day, while Lord dunsany's fame persists and works by him remain in print many decades after his death

Who ?

{only joking ! I have heard of Conan, although I don't think I've read any}

 

[editor]

Absolute bonkers list of demands.

Do Russia have any room to negotiate anything other than Ukraine becoming a vassal of Putin's colonial empire?

Not much common ground here then!

 

[The39thStep]

Article by Volodymyr Artiukh who is on the editorial board of Commons: Journal of Social Criticism

Over a Year of War with No End in Sight - Rosa-Luxemburg-Stiftung

Volodymyr Artiukh on how Russia’s invasion has changed Ukraine and the dim prospects for peace

www.rosalux.de

 

[Artaxerxes]

Stop derailing this literary thread.

Amazon destroyed the book industry due to NATO meddling

 

[Artaxerxes]

Helpful input from the UCU

 

[nogojones]

Helpful input from the UCU

That very much reads like an SWP motion.

Whilst it's nice that they call for Russian troops to leave and recognise that NATO isn't exactly a force for peace in the world, I'm somehow not totally convinced that Putin will listen to the UCU.

 

[Mezzer]

Jeffrey Archer?

Archer, famously, does not even write his books. They are just churned out under his name. Unsure as to whether this was always the case, but it has been for some time.

 

[JimW]

Sorry to get back to the fantasy but remember this Russian sequel to LOTR being quite good: The Last Ringbearer

Eskov bases his novel on the premise that the Tolkien account is a "history written by the victors". Eskov's version of the story describes Mordor as a peaceful constitutional monarchy on the verge of an industrial revolution, that poses a threat to the war-mongering and imperialistic faction represented by Gandalf (whose attitude has been described by Saruman as "crafting the Final Solution to the Mordorian problem") and the racist elves.

 

[A380]

Sorry to get back to the fantasy but remember this Russian sequel to LOTR being quite good: The Last Ringbearer

Fellowship of the Ring's fault.

 

[A380]

Helpful input from the UCU

Also whilst wars are indeed mainly fought by the poor, they, by definition, aren't fought by the unemployed. Getting unemployed people in to the ranks being one of the reasons wars have historically been so useful for Capital at time of crisis.

 

[A380]

Archer, famously, does not even write his books. They are just churned out under his name. Unsure as to whether this was always the case, but it has been for some time.

I think when he started he did do the first drafts but they were so poorly put together that they needed massive editing. Now, I've read, he just comes up with a synopsis.