|
|
Post by miscmisc on Mar 22, 2022 18:03:20 GMT 1
All of that being said, I would be very surprised if the Ukrainian military weren't in pretty bad shape too. I don't think those pathetic foreign volunteers are lying, nor do I believe they are Russian Puppets (TM). The Russians have been struggling badly to say the least, but the toll on the Ukrainian soldiers must be pretty huge. It's going to be devastating for them if Russia decided to get into the auto-pilot suicide mode, and not to relent. There will be a point where size does matter.
|
|
|
|
Post by miscmisc on Mar 23, 2022 7:36:56 GMT 1
I wonder how many Americans know that nearly 250,000 Americans under 65 have died of Covid. A quarter million people. 1/4 of the deaths are non-senior. That's crazy given the characteristics of Covid-19.
FYI, it's barely 2,000 in Japan, only 7% of all Covid deaths.
You would think it should be countries like Japan where the "Covid is a Flu Lite, dummies!" crowd spring out en masse - Oh yes, Japan has its fair share of contrarians, a huge number - but no, it's somehow a country where a quarter million non-seniors have already perished of said disease.
|
|
|
|
Post by miscmisc on Mar 23, 2022 7:59:47 GMT 1
Update on the Covid lab leak theory:
The case for the lab leak theory has gotten substantially weaker over the last several months. At this point I'm leaning heavily toward the zoonotic origin position.
|
|
gols
Novice Member
Posts: 163 
|
Post by gols on Mar 23, 2022 15:11:33 GMT 1
Update on the Covid lab leak theory: The case for the lab leak theory has gotten substantially weaker over the last several months. At this point I'm leaning heavily toward the zoonotic origin position. Can't say I have kept up with this... guess there has been some new breakthrough(s) then? |
|
|
|
Post by miscmisc on Mar 24, 2022 6:19:30 GMT 1
Update on the Covid lab leak theory: The case for the lab leak theory has gotten substantially weaker over the last several months. At this point I'm leaning heavily toward the zoonotic origin position. Can't say I have kept up with this... guess there has been some new breakthrough(s) then? No, not any breakthrough, but just the sheer volume of experts/scientists going, "Wait, not so fast, that's not really how this thing works, folks!" to the lab leak theorists. This one, for example, is really convincing to me. Nature’s neglected GoF laboratoryprotagonistfuture.substack.com/p/natures-neglected-gof-laboratory?s=wUltimately you cannot have 100% certainty with this stuff, but it seems to me that there are a lot of Hurdles of Low Probability that you have to jump through in order to get there with the lab leak theory. If you are a good Bayesian, there's a point where you kind of have to stop hedging your bet. And I think I'm approaching it. |
|
|
|
Post by miscmisc on Mar 24, 2022 6:23:58 GMT 1
Not to pour gasoline into the Nordic rivalry from the side line, but there is a huge gap between the contribution to the Covid science between Denmark and Sweden. I don't think I'll have to say out loud which one is what. It's pretty much Positive Territory vs. Negative Territory. Not even a contest.
|
|
|
|
Post by miscmisc on Mar 24, 2022 6:27:54 GMT 1
Yes, I didn't have to frame it that way to appreciate the highly valuable Danish Covid studies, but I still haven't gotten over the whole "false sense of security/viruses are too tiny" garbage. No matter how much time has passed, that idiocy still astonishes me.
|
|
|
|
Post by miscmisc on Mar 24, 2022 6:37:47 GMT 1
Zelensky really is such a great speaker. He is absolutely perfect for that role indeed.
Still I definitely wouldn't want to be in his shoes. There are so many things that he must consider. Normally your job would get pretty simple in a crisis like this. But this is Ukraine. He still has to deal with internal politics as well.
The war has empowered the far-right factions to a significant degree, for one.
I mean, one thing that you can say about those neo-nazi guys like Azov is that they can fight. I wouldn't say that for the "Western" far-right goons, most of whom seem to be of the keyboard warrior stock, but those Ukrainian ultra-nationalists aren't squeamish at all about killing Russians, and seem to find joy in the whole "glorious" battle thing. They have been battle-hardened since Maidan and its aftermath, and showered with Western weapons as well.
Without those guys, Ukraine would crumble a hell of a lot faster. And if Zelensky ever crosses the line in their eye, in terms of the negotiations with Putin, well, it could go real nasty for him.
|
|
|
|
Post by miscmisc on Mar 24, 2022 6:48:28 GMT 1
We've seen plenty of pics of Russian tanks and whatnot destroyed/abandoned, and dead bodies of Russian soldiers, but hardly anything of the Ukrainian side. There's a war going on in the info space as well, and it's really hard for us to assess the military situation on the ground with reasonable confidence when the information is this one-sided.
We just don't know much about what's been going on, and that goes against the stupid "war in the era of SNS and smartphone camera" narrative that many were pontificating lazily about.
|
|
|
|
Post by miscmisc on Mar 24, 2022 6:58:30 GMT 1
You do understand that there's a reason why Zuckerberg and others always frankly admit that it's not very hard to manipulate the information and the perception/perspective of many people on their platform, right?
Because that's their sales pitch to begin with. If you couldn't manipulate anything, couldn't influence a mass in certain ways, what's the point of investing in such a platform for business interests?
They are basically telling you that it's easy to do that on their social network.
"Please take a look at our top-5 list, it's all Ben Shapiro and Dan Bongino, largely through mutual linkage and recommendations, and then take a look at this chart that shows a clear majority of the posters think that wokeness is the greatest danger to America... and facial masks are evil. It works!"
|
|
|
|
Post by miscmisc on Mar 24, 2022 9:37:36 GMT 1
Ditto.
|
|
|
|
Post by miscmisc on Mar 25, 2022 8:12:29 GMT 1
This is really taking it up to eleven in terms of hypocrisy.
"egregious use of violence", says who?
|
|
|
|
Post by miscmisc on Mar 25, 2022 8:17:40 GMT 1
If you had told me 10 years ago that in 2022 Joe Biden would be the voice of reason to fend off the horde of mainstream media crazies on foreign policy/international conflict/war, I would've laughed at you.
|
|
|
|
Post by miscmisc on Mar 25, 2022 15:29:23 GMT 1
The peer pressure in very red (typically rural) areas in the US to force you *not* to wear a mask is no less than the Japanese one to force you to wear a mask. You'd be lucky if they only made fun of you at a bar; You could easily be physically attacked for being "a fucking pussy-ass lib idiot" or something.
They somehow only think of the latter when they talk about peer pressure. Strange.
|
|
|
|
Post by miscmisc on Mar 25, 2022 15:35:37 GMT 1
Who the fuck is the idiot who has been in charge of the Twitter account of the Ukrainian parliament? This is hardly the first time they posted dumb, offensive shit like this.
This idiocy typically shows the pattern of the political problems in Ukraine, really. They need to learn how to shut the fuck up especially in a crisis. Lots and lots of stupid blowhards.
|
|
