Russo-Ukrainian War 2014-23 and Invasion

[garbon]

Does it really matter how the Romans used the term, if everyone understands what is meant by it today?

"Deci" is right there in the word.

I understand that language is flexible and meanings change over time, but part of that process is resisting boneheaded changes.

https://www.merriam-webster.com/words-at-play/the-original-definition-of-decimate

[grumbler]

Not one English-speaker in 1,000 could tell you that a decibel is one-tenth of a bel.  Decimate has come to mean almost the opposite of the original Roman meaning (in modern English, a grouping that lost 1/10 of its number would not rise to the level of "decimated."

[OttoVonBismarck]

I lived through the last decade of the Cold War as an adult and can remember a good chunk of the 1970s confrontations as well, but I've never been more nervous about the international situation than now.

From talking with older friends, I think the only other time people will have been more nervous about world conflict would have been during those dark days of October 62.

Yeah, 1962 was definitely the closest to outright war with the Soviets, although there are consistently some people who think we were actually never further from nuclear war than that timespan. When Kennedy ordered Strategic Air Command to put the B-52s on continuous alert, and we were basically fielding something like 1/8th of SACs planes continually in the air within almost instant-strike range of the USSR, and all the ICBMs were on high alert, the Soviet response was actually the biggest freeze in place of their nuclear force for the entirety of the Cold War. In that moment they seemed to recognize they were in a Mexican standoff, and their response was to essentially take no action whatsoever that could be interpreted as preparing for a nuclear response.

Paradoxically our closest to nuclear war was probably during a period of lower U.S. alertness where the Soviets and Americans may have more easily had a cascade of mistakes with their nuclear forces leading to a nuclear exchange.

[Jacob]

Article - history of the US' program of arming Ukrainians with Javelins: https://www.audacy.com/connectingvets/news/inside-the-deadly-javelin-anti-tank-program-in-ukraine

[mongers]

Interesting uninaminity amongst a a wide range of UK papers this morning, the Financial Times, the Sun and the Guardian all lead with this photo on their front pages, it features a father grieving over the body of his teenage son, killed in Mariupol.

[Syt]

Waking up to headlines of "Nuclear Power Plant on Fire" was not what I was expecting today. 

Fortunately it seems to have been a side building and the fire under control, but damn. Talk about a jolt to get the circulation going.

(When skimming articles it seems they had already begun the shutdown process before fighting reached the site. How long does that take? I recall in my old job in Germany we had a project at a copper mill to refurbish their blast furnaces - it took weeks for the thing to cool off enough to send people in there; and even then the conditions were brutal - full body gear & helmet/mask, still unpleasantly hot, plus the welding in combination with slag/residue still inside could lead to smoldering fires beneath the mass's surface. Our guys were recompensed with an extra EUR per hour. )

[Zanza]

I think shutting down a nuclear power plant just means you put the control rods into the reactor to reduce the fission process so that it does not sustain itself anymore. That process is very fast. But I think you would then still have to actively cool the plant, using external energy, for many years. I guess Brain can explain it.

It is not comparable to a blast furnace, where once you stop adding coal, it dies down by itself without further ado.

[The Brain]

It depends. Reactor design, core history... And at some point you still want to keep cooling the core but if you don't the fuel will at least no longer melt down.

The reactors here are VVER, a type I'm not very familiar with. And I don't know to what extent they have been modernized since construction with regards to cooling, filters, etc.

[jimmy olsen]

Heard on NPR that the two parties met and agreed on humanitarian corridors for people fleeing. 

I believe it they mean it after they've let people pass unmolested.

[Admiral Yi]

Spot price of wheat is up 40% per BBC.

I definitely noticed an increase in the price of bread at my supermarket.

[celedhring]

So, our FA minister just said that NATO is going to discuss intervention and no-fly zone. 

I suppose it's just sabre-rattling?

[Syt]

So, our FA minister just said that NATO is going to discuss intervention and no-fly zone. 

I suppose it's just sabre-rattling?

I hope they discuss why it's a bad idea at this point?

[Threviel]

So, our FA minister just said that NATO is going to discuss intervention and no-fly zone. 

I suppose it's just sabre-rattling?

I hope they discuss why it's a bad idea at this point?

if Putin is insane it's a possible nuclear holocaust. If he's not insane it might be the right move, slows the war down and buys time for western nations to start arming Ukraine with western weapons for real. Might drag the war on for a few years and completely ruins Russia. And it would probably be a better deal for the Ukrainians too.

[Tamas]

At this stage it should be clear to all NATO leaders that from a selfish point of view direct intervention (such as a no-fly zone) is unnecessary and counterproductive. I find it highly unlikely that Russia will be in any shape to seek further conquests after militarily defeating Ukraine. They will have suffered large losses, their economy will be in ruins, and they will have the largest country in Europe and its hostile, armed population to pacify.

Instead of burning us all up in nuclear holocaust, they should strive to rebuild the iron curtain on the current west-east border - increase military spending, and deploy sizeable garrisons in the Baltic States, Poland, Hungary   (this will have a second purpose of keeping Orban honest) and Romania.

[Syt]

I guess depending on what back channel discussions are happening, I could see this ending with a divided Ukraine, with an Eastern part demilitarized and de-nazified under Russian control and the Western part under NATO protection.