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Ritchie said:
I am trying to protect my eyes mate. I struggle to read newspaper print these days.
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In contrast to newspaper print you can easily enlarge text on screens by pressing CTRL and +.

I do but cant find anything to lock the chosen text size.
 
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THIS IS VERY WORRYING.

Walking the 'cliff edge'
"Some tipping points trigger abrupt changes in our life-sustaining systems that can shake the foundations of our societies," says the report, authored by five researchers from the UN University in Bonn, Germany.
The report highlights six tipping points that need urgent attention.:
  • A chain reaction of ecosystem collapse: Key extinctions of species that many other species rely on will trigger a cascade of extinctions leading to the collapse of ecosystems that humans rely on for food, water and livelihoods.
  • Groundwater depletion: A majority of the world's major freshwater aquifers are being depleted at rates faster than they are being replenished. Two billion people rely on them for drinking and agriculture. When wells run dry, important global food bowls could be destroyed — something that has already happened in Saudi Arabia and is predicted to start happening in the US this century and India this decade.
  • Unlivable heat: When climate change drives temperature and humidity in a location above a certain point, the human body is unable to survive unscathed for more than six hours. That threshold has been crossed in Pakistan and the Persian Gulf several times, mostly since 2003. As it happens more, people will die and health systems will be impacted.
  • Uninsurable future: Increasingly severe natural disasters are driving up the cost of insurance, making it more unaffordable or sometimes unavailable. Once that tipping point is passed, people are left without a safety net and further disasters lead to cascading socio-economic impacts.
  • Mountain glaciers melting: Climate change is causing glaciers on top of mountains to retreat, lowering the fresh water supply for 870 million people that rely on them, and impacting 1.9 billion people.
  • Space junk destroying the space industry: By the end of the decade, the number of satellites orbiting the Earth could increase more than tenfold. As that happens, a collision between just two satellites could create thousands of pieces of debris, which would trigger many more cascading collisions, resulting in all existing satellites being destroyed and making future space activities impossible.
A glacier and a snow capped mountain in the background with chunks of ice floating in water in the foreground.

A melting glacier in Juneau, Alaska. (AP Photo: Becky Bohrer)
 
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I know nobody other than the warmongers want another major world conflict but even the most optimistic will admit one looks a distinct possibility sometime in the next decade. This clip is a rundown of the military strengths of both a combined China/Russia and a Europe/ US alliance.


Pretty scary even without the 7K nukes both sides possess.
The western alliance has the firepower over China/Russia to win a sea war while the enemy forces may just have the edge in a land/air war.
 
When I first posted this back in May.'21 Thomas, you said that a China/Russia alliance was very unlikely in fact improbable. Well me thinks the situation has changed over the intervening period and specially the last six months.
Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese leader Xi Jinping oversaw an ambitious joint military exercise in China this summer, which along with reported collaborations in aviation, undersea and hypersonic-weapons technology point to a solidifying defense alignment, according to military analysts.

I think the massive losses by Russia in Ukraine War has depleted their armory from the original in this article. According to reputable agencies Russia has lost 480K of manpower as of last week.
Even before 2023 Ukraine forces had destroyed 4,500 armored vehicles, 63 fixed-wing aircraft, 70 helicopters, 150 unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), 12 naval vessels, 600 artillery systems, 1,500 tanks, more than 700 armored fighting vehicles, 160 multiple rocket launchers, and nearly 300 self-propelled artillery systems. In all the Russians lost 8,400 vehicles or pieces of equipment — either destroyed, damaged, abandoned, or captured. As of this month estimates of weapons losses are probably a minimum double those figures. Is is doubtful that with punishing sanctions that Russian factories are able to replace even a third of those weapons.

armedforces.eu

NATO vs China and Russia | Comparison military strength

North Atlantic Treaty Organization and China + Russia armed forces comparison. Here you can graphically compare chosen parameters
armedforces.eu armedforces.eu

armedforces.eu

NATO vs Russia | Comparison military strength

North Atlantic Treaty Organization and Russian armed forces comparison. Here you can graphically compare chosen parameters
armedforces.eu armedforces.eu

Comparison of United States and China Military Strengths (2025)

Comparison of two world military powers in side-by-side format.
www.globalfirepower.com

Comparison of United States and Russia Military Strengths (2025)

Comparison of two world military powers in side-by-side format.
www.globalfirepower.com
 
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Ritchie said:
When I first posted this back in May.'21 Thomas, you said that a China/Russia alliance was very unlikely in fact improbable. Well me thinks the situation has changed over the intervening period and specially the last six months.
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I has , indeed, and is likely to keep changing. Will there be a US/Europe alliance at all in future if the Republicans take over at the forthcoming elections? US support of Ukraine may be a touchstone.
 
My view is that China does not have allies, even historically. They are not that sort of country. Even '41 to '45 last century was not an exception to this trend, because they were under occupation and engaged in civil war. (USA was just another dictatorial power with the surprising characteristic of at that time being genuinely friendly to China). Similarly the Russians are not idiots and will not see China as a military partner in any scenario, except for a few days this side of what they call Central Nuclear War. I think this is because everything is upside down now. For China, peace is good for business and that's that.
 
When Russia invaded Ukraine it had planned to be in Kyiv in a week and put in place a puppet government. How wrong were the Kremlin underestimating a proud, passionate people and their allies who were prepared to arm the Ukranian army in its battle for the freedom of its homeland. There is now a very real likelihood that Ukraine can regain its stolen territory.
 

Comparison of United States and Russia Military Strengths (2025)

Comparison of two world military powers in side-by-side format.
www.globalfirepower.com
[/QUOTE]

There needs to be recount of the current military strength of Russia given how much it has lost invading Ukraine. Other than an estimated 400/600K killed, probably double that badly injured and out of commission, there is the massive loss of ground weapons.
Even before 2023 Ukraine forces had destroyed 4,500 armored vehicles, 63 fixed-wing aircraft, 70 helicopters, 150 unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), 12 naval vessels, 600 artillery systems, 1,500 tanks, more than 700 armored fighting vehicles, 160 multiple rocket launchers, and nearly 300 self-propelled artillery systems. In all the Russians lost 8,400 vehicles or pieces of equipment — either destroyed, damaged, abandoned, or captured. As of this month estimates of weapons losses are probably a minimum double those figures. Is is doubtful that with punishing sanctions that Russian factories are able to replace even a third of those weapons.
 
Ritchie said:

Comparison of United States and Russia Military Strengths (2025)

Comparison of two world military powers in side-by-side format.
www.globalfirepower.com
Click to expand...

There needs to be recount of the current military strength of Russia given how much it has lost invading Ukraine. Other than an estimated 400/600K killed, probably double that badly injured and out of commission, there is the massive loss of ground weapons.
Even before 2023 Ukraine forces had destroyed 4,500 armored vehicles, 63 fixed-wing aircraft, 70 helicopters, 150 unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), 12 naval vessels, 600 artillery systems, 1,500 tanks, more than 700 armored fighting vehicles, 160 multiple rocket launchers, and nearly 300 self-propelled artillery systems. In all the Russians lost 8,400 vehicles or pieces of equipment — either destroyed, damaged, abandoned, or captured. As of this month estimates of weapons losses are probably a minimum double those figures. Is is doubtful that with punishing sanctions that Russian factories are able to replace even a third of those weapons.
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That assertion is confirmed by this article I read:

"Russian commanders are conducting the offensive at Avdiivka Soviet-style, without regard for their own material or troops," Nico Lange, an expert on Ukraine and Russia at the Munich Security Conference, told DW. "Entire columns of Russian infantry fighting vehicles, troop carriers and battle tanks have already been destroyed by Ukrainian artillery fire or in the minefields."

Ukrainian air force spokesperson Yuriy Ihnat believes that this time the calculation will work out in Ukraine's favor. For one thing, Germany has just delivered the third IRIS-T SLM air defense system, which Ihnat called "quite excellent and powerful."

The German Gepard anti-aircraft tank has also been very successful in fending off Russian drone attacks. For a long time, ammunition for this vehicle was in short supply, but the German arms manufacturer Rheinmetall has confirmed that since August, Gepard ammunition has been produced exclusively for Ukraine at a newly established production line.

The Ukrainian air force will have trained its first squadron of F-16s by the spring. "This will mean a serious change," said Ihnat, adding that Russia will be forced to move its planes and helicopters farther away from the front lines. "It may not even be necessary to go into battle."
https://www.dw.com/en/ukraine-war-with-russia-enters-new-phase-before-the-winter/a-67236949
 
"Russia's political leadership continues to believe it can exhaust Ukraine militarily and corrode international support for Kyiv,"

Dont believe this will happen. Zelensky may be small but he is big on determination. Says he will never allow Russia to keep any Ukranian land. So more underestimating his enemy by an out of touch Kremlin.

A squadron of F16 jets capable of taking on Ruskie jets in a dogfite by Spring. Good news indeed. Only the start too with a least three more squadrons to join the fleet.
 
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Ritchie said:
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I'd forgotten about tehrantimes. It was an interesting read in the noughties then I think it disappeared for a while. Was hosted in Iran and got DOSd a lot. IIRC it came back as an obvious imposter and I stopped reading it, and I didn't look at your link properly till yesterday.
Odd coincidence here: I saw what must be the same photo of damaged residential buildings on a mainstream site, probably BBC or WAPO, and came quite quickly to the same conclusion for the source of damage. The building had been partly opened by a powerful bulldozer.

Military public affairs units sometimes make stuff up from scratch (it's fun, apparently) and sometimes just gild the lily. This seems to be the latter.
It actually looks amateurish at first sight. But then you remember that the only people they're trying to fool are readers of English language tabloids, and that's just a science these days.
 
Vince said:
I'd forgotten about tehrantimes. It was an interesting read in the noughties then I think it disappeared for a while. Was hosted in Iran and got DOSd a lot. IIRC it came back as an obvious imposter and I stopped reading it, and I didn't look at your link properly till yesterday.
Odd coincidence here: I saw what must be the same photo of damaged residential buildings on a mainstream site, probably BBC or WAPO, and came quite quickly to the same conclusion for the source of damage. The building had been partly opened by a powerful bulldozer.

Military public affairs units sometimes make stuff up from scratch (it's fun, apparently) and sometimes just gild the lily. This seems to be the latter.
It actually looks amateurish at first sight. But then you remember that the only people they're trying to fool are readers of English language tabloids, and that's just a science these days.
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Pleased someone is joining me on this thread.

The simple answer is that Hamas did not burn anyone, nor did their fighters leave concrete buildings flattened with babies inside.
The Israeli military did.

Surprised this article was permitted to go to print, being an Israeli masthead.
 
Ritchie said:
being an Israeli masthead.
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Hah, I'm not surprised. Remind me not to write to the editor. It's probably just a trawling project to see who gets attracted and is dim and interesting enough to keep tabs on. Job offers! Can I work from home, officer?

I think both combatants on the first day made severe mistakes. Israeli garrisons by being uninformed and so unable to give intelligent orders.
eg as soon as they knew it was a hostage raid should have driven like hell to occupy Hamas' re-crossing points. Failure to do that means that they never trained for it. If they were of the common early opinion that the Hamas strategy was massacre, they would have driven to the wrong points; which possibly they did. Verdict: lack of orders.

Hamas' mistake was probably worse: having a desperate plan that failed because they don't understand normal psychology.
I think it's clear that they planned to take many hundreds of captives, and that it was clever to time it with the music festival which would have yielded large numbers of non-Israeli citizens and resulted in real western pressure on Israel to show some restraint.
So in go the paragliders and hatchbacks, disgorging armed men who say "Come with us and you will not be harmed"
How does a normal person respond to that? Wisdom of the crowd - they run for their lives. Hamas is left to choose between shooting them down and letting them go; they do a bit of both, and are left with mainly old and young people who couldn't run. Verdict: clear orders issued by incompetents.

I rejected the "42 decapitated babies" line as soon as hearing it. Such stuff is nowhere in Islamic history, and indeed Israeli spokesmen soon stopped mentioning it. If it were so, it would be the greatest antisemitic outrage since the 40s and already rival the trial of Eichmann.
ISIS did that stuff sporadically but they were mainly poor Asian kids with autism and a head full of God. Maybe Hamas are just what Palestinians look like at the end of their tether.

Dead kids open the ledger in the red column, there were going to be plenty in the black later on.
 
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Vince said:
Hamas are just what Palestinians look like at the end of their tether.
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Yes 80 years of repression, occupation, humiliation. The emotions of some of the more militant such as Islamic Jihad boiled over when they breached the border then failed to find sufficient Jewish soldiers to kill so they killed Jewish civilians in the kibbutz instead.
 
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