Russian casualties remain extremely high - it's been around 1400-1500/day for several days now.  For reference, 1000 has been considered a very busy day in the past.

According to combat footage - which I know give a very skewed perception when viewed as the baseline of the fighting, these are of course the most successful operations by Ukraine and should be viewed as exceptional, not the norm.

That said, Ukraine continues to find very creative uses for drones - strapping a light machine gun to one and somehow managing to fire it semi-accurately at Russian positions (recoil is of course a huge problem)

The Russians have started to adapt somewhat to fend off Ukrainian drones and one low-cost option is to drape some sort of covering over the hole/trench as an improvised protection against Ukrainian drones.  And in theory, it could work reasonably well.  But there is a nuisance - Ukraine used a land-based drone to explode on the covering (I don't know how it got there without being shot to pieces).  With the covering gone, Ukraine immediately sent an FPV drone in there and that was that.

In a very bizarre situation, a Russian squad of around ten troops managed to wander into Ukrainian machine gun nest.  Squad gone in seconds.

There was odd footage of a group of Russians apparently trying to ransack the Vovchansk Central Hospital, with frantic diving in and out of windows like some sort of circus act.  One guy jumped out of the second story window, landed on the canopy just under the window, which somehow supported his weight despite significant damage.  He then fell off the canopy onto the concrete below, which appeared to have broken his leg.  Intentional or accident, I can't tell.

And Russian artillery fires from a busy road in Belgorod City, seemingly using Russian civilians as human shields to prevent counter-battery fire

QuotePublication of the footage has drawn mixed reactions from Russians on social media. Some accused Moscow forces of endangering the lives of civilians by firing at such close proximity, while others condemned residents for potentially exposing the positions of Russian artillery.

QuoteThe channel added: "What kind of idiots do you have to be to stupidly endanger civilians like that?"

Yeah, really strange behavior for people who...*checks notes* have literally been targeting civilians this entire time.

Massive Ukrainian drone strike against Russian military installations in Crimea and Russia itself, including a refinery

The Kremlin says it downed 100 drones but The Kremlin says a lot of things, and not very truthfully.  Eyewitness footage shows drones successfully hitting their targets at least some of the time, and I believe that over the Kremlin.

What we know for sure is that Russia's Tuapse oil refinery has been hit badly enough to force an emergency shutdown.  We also know that the Russian port of Novorossiysk and occupied Sevastopol were also hit - Sevastopol was hit badly enough for authorities to introduce rolling blackouts.  Also, a Russian weapons manufacturing plant at Tula

Ukraine strikes back:

Targets in Crimea, especially Belbek airfield, have been hit multiple times over the past few days.

QuoteA pair of MiG-31 fighter jets were "destroyed" and an S-400 air defense system was damaged after Ukraine attacked the Belbek military airfield close to the western Crimean city of Sevastopol overnight between Tuesday and Wednesday, independent Russian outlet Astra reported on Thursday, citing anonymous sources in Crimean emergency services.

Partisans saw the ammo go up.  Fun fact: partisans saw it go up last time as well.  Top notch security, lol.

QuoteEarly on Wednesday, Russia's Defense Ministry said its air defenses had intercepted 10 U.S.-provided Army Tactical Missile System (ATACMS) missiles over Crimea overnight.

Oh, I bet they did.

*points to Family Feud style board renamed for copyright reasons into something that roughly translates to "Familial Dispute" in Cyrillic*  Is "intercepted ATACMS" on the board?  *buzzer sounds and a giant red X appears on the screen*  Zelesnkyy clan, you have a chance to steal...is "direct hit" on the board?  *dings*



Now, I'm not a military guy and I can't say I know for sure what this image means, but I'm pretty sure those missiles hit.  And very precise hits, too.  I'm also pretty sure that planes aren't supposed to be black.

Quotetwo MiG-31 fighter jets, an Su-27 aircraft, and a damaged MiG-29 fighter jet

Yikes.  Not a good day to be a Russian pilot.  Or maybe a fantastic day because no plane means not getting shot down.  I guess it depends on one's perspective.  And proximity to those strikes.

If Christians would read their Bibles they'd see that Adam didn't become "a living soul" until he could breathe.

Maybe not for not too long.

While it remains a divisive issue (chosen by Republicans for precisely that reason, as a sort of wedge issue for religiously-minded Democrats and a way to rally their own theocratic base) pro-choice is a popular position - especially among democrats - while illegal-in-any-cirumstances has nose-dived.  Additionally, corporate interests are taking note that their new hires don't want to relocate to forced-birth states.  And as we have seen, it's possible for Democrats to run on abortion and win.

So I wouldn't say we're stuck with this anymore than we're stuck with gay marriage bans or the anti-net neutrality fiasco.  But it will take a lot of effort and lot of time to restore abortion rights.  Meanwhile, red states are trying their hardest to get people to feel used to varying levels of theocratic rule (that's not hyperbole - anti-abortion law is literally justified with religious reasoning) and powerless to do anything about it.

As always, it's a battle of hearts and minds as well as a battle for the ballot.  Everything may change depending on which faction out-mobilizes which.

Though I agree that leaving it up to the courts was a huge mistake and Democrats made a huge tactical error in being too slow and ineffectual in appointing judges.  This left powerful court positions to far-right activists.  And we're going to be stuck with that problem for a very long time.

Quote from: Unbeliever on May 16, 2024, 11:06:34 PMI just watched a movie called Oblivion, with Tom Cruise and Morgan Freeman! It was pretty damned good, kind of a cross between Top Gun and Star Wars.

Quote from: Cassia on May 14, 2024, 06:42:41 PMThe Enemy Below....free on YT

Thrilling sea chase. Curd Jürgens and Mitchum, both excellent. Always liked Red Oct. I can tell they looked to this classic for inspiration.

I found it on Utube and watched The Enemy Below last night. I vaguely remember seeing it back in the 50s at the theater. Hunt for Red October has got to be somewhere on my top 5 favorite films. I own it, and can't say how many times I've watched it. It is a well crafted story with an unparalleled cast.

Quote from: Hydra009 on May 17, 2024, 12:35:57 PMThanks Obama: 17% of Americans mistakenly believe Biden ended Roe VS Wade abortion rights

Other than pay lip service to protecting women's rights, the Democrats have done little to protect a woman's right to choose. But given our polarized leadership, it's doubtful they could have. This is a the work of the Supreme Court, and I'm guessing Democrats are happy to have it out of their hands. Although, leaving it to the court system appears to be biting them in the ass. So it's back to dark alleys and coat hangers, probably for a long time.

Quote from: ferdmonger on May 11, 2024, 08:36:43 PMI'm having trouble wrapping my head around the fact that entire states are actually going to vote for Donald Trump for president.  What the actual fuck.   

Yes, from the New York Times, the information I'm getting looks like it's going to be Trump for another four years, and I'm curious what kinds of shenanigans he's got in mind to get another four after that. I don't believe a conviction for any crime is going to affect his chances.

Supreme Court Justice, Alito, is flying a flag upside down and has some kind of a "Stop the Steal" slogan on display at his house. So much for impartial justice in our legal system.

Is 17% thinking it is biden's fault is a messaging error?

The other dude brags about being the one who did it.

Those 17% are willfully ignorant.

Why are the Democrats so bad at messaging!?