hockeydork

Nice. If only it could have been captured and used against the Russians

Thanks dude, appreciate it. I also didn't send a video so who knows, maybe they trashed it based on that.

I didn't get a confirmation either, mine went in last minute tho.

My consolidated take as well: - All boring vehicles, commuter cars, minivans, school buses, taxi cabs, trains, need to be electric. - The backbone of our electrical grid to power these should be as much wind & roof top solar (where it works) as we can put in the ocean/on houses and as high as we can put it so where the wind blows more constant. Supplement this with nuclear plants on cloudy days/low wind. Have an app that informs people based on weather projections when will be a good time to charge their commuter/program their dishwasher/laundry machine to run. - Nuclear power plant also powers dozens of desalination stations, thus making drought on the coasts no big deal (interesting point by lumberjackaxe, if you can get an abundance of electricity, this could be made more feasible). - Petroleum power is reserved for aircraft, plastics, racing enthusiasts (could likely make do with ethanol) AND shipment of energy in times of crisis. Things like aircraft are unique in that they are likely to need fossil fuels for a very long time. It is impossible to send electricity made by a wind turbine on a ship to a disaster zone. This is what frustrates me most when discussing alternative energy, people automatically assume you hate fossil fuels. I believe they need to be preserved for uses where there is not really an alternative. Battery powered airplanes are a distant pipe dream. Hydrogen powered one seem like a really bad idea (kaboom). -Marine vessels should use some sort of clean hydrogen made from nuke/solar/wind. Large ships have the ability to safely store it and bunker it like LNG. - Instead of having politicians argue and push for different sources not based on their merits, but based on jobs in their districts, some sort of transfer program is enacted. I.E for every 1000 wind turbine technician jobs added, coal miners have the ability to receive training into the new field & a job slot free of charge.

Don't you wish you could buy them all a beer?

I think we need a dedicated energy thread.

Hell of a lot easier...and cheaper... to hit em when their on the ground eh?. I just googled an rpg-7 rocket.......a whopping 200-500 a round. Loads cheaper than a stinger.

I don't think they discouraged American energy, I think your letting your political bias bleed into it. They def ill timed it tho, at least in NY. Big projects take time, a big error in NY at least was closing Indian Point nuclear plant point BEFORE the offshore was ready to go, in which case I concur with you was pure stupidity. So now we are stuck in an in inconvenient transition point with no alternative. I think Germany maybe petitioning to keep one of their nuclear plants running.

We should be pillaging Europe to get them as many of whatever it is as possible than. Clearly the Russians do not own the skies.

If anybody played any part in stinger program/development, hats off to you. Quality work on display.

100 percent, imperative US flag does not enter combat in Ukraine. Right now Russian soldiers feel like they are killing their neighbors, because they are. We do not need to excite them at the prospect of killing Americans. There are alternatives. What people fail to understand is that fossil fuels came first, thus they had zero barriers to entry and society was willing to bear whatever the required infrastructure cost was to get them going, because it was literally pay it or keep lighting your house with candles. Anything after them has had to compete with the fact that there is an already an established market player. We all have different opinions on what should be done but: * The US could tap more domestic fossil fuels, fact. * The US could reassess building more modern nuclear plants, fact. This could be considered an act of national defense, no different that a nuclear submarine, an Abrams tank, or an Arleighburke . We're at economic war with Russia. * The US could leverage its production capacity to accelerate offshore wind development, which right now is hindered due to lack of large enough ships to install the turbine at sea. Again, this could be considered an act of national defense, no different that a nuclear submarine, and Abrams tank, or an Arleighburke . We're at economic war with Russia. Take your pick, I don't care. But I'd rather suffer economic pain now than lose a limb in 20 years. Money is replaceable, you can work hard to make more. No amount of work will get your limb or life back. If Russia gets Ukraine without having their economy collapsed, your son or daughter will end up fighting them 20 years down the road. It's like getting a college degree, crushing them now is a long term plan, med school loans suck at first but they do eventually pay out when your buying your brand new Cirrus. We need to go all in on isolating them from the Western economy, not half way. Half of a med school degree is useless.

You might be right. I'm not gunna say you aren't calling it right. But my three engineering degrees make me approach problems from a non political view. We put dudes on the moon before we even had computers. Don't tell me we can't figure out how to make electricity without Russian natural gas. Maybe I'm the minority, maybe nobody will care in three months. But than thats how we got into this sitiation in the first place, isnt it? For me, what's right is right, the politics is just background noise. My sister is going to look at wood stoves this weekend, so the gen pop is still paying attention right now.

Michael McCaul interview on CNN was execllent. I still think putting Polish Migs with Ukranian pilots in the sky is a terrible idea do to the lopsided advantage the Russians have in the air. You've got Ukranian troops on the ground who have been operating under "shoot at anything in the air, probably ain't ours". You guys would know the answer, how likely is friendly fire going to be if the transfer occurs?

Valid and you could be right. But I'd like to think the American people aren't that short sighted. That maybe we can use this moment as motivation to drive a new generation of hard working do gooders who are willing to sweat to ensure we remain the beacon of hope for people who dont wanna live under dictatorships.

Wtf are we even arguing about anymore? Everyone has a subjective opinion of how much they care about the current situation. About any situation. However society is a collection of all of these subjective opinions, and society moves as on the majority of those opinions, or at least it's supposed to. Helodude you are free to not care about sanctioning Russia, buying Russian oil vodka, etc. But the vast majority of us on here do care. F*ck Putin, I dont care if gas goes to 6 a gallon. Go carpool.

The individual (consumer) only has power up until a certain point. You could want to buy an American computer all you want, but if none are manufactured, you're going to have to buy what's available. This is what ratner is getting at. I went through this a few years ago when Craftsman stopped making American tools. I bought as many USA ones I could find before they went to asia. I did find another manufacturer, SK, which is USA, they are more expensive but I pay it anyways. But if SK didn't exist, I'd be SOL unless the government did something to collectively force US manufacturing of tools. What a lot of people fail to forget is that the US makes a lot of money off selling things to China. Ever seen how popular Buick is over there? Trade is good economically for both countries. However as we are seeing, those benefits may be short term if the state you are trading with turns beligerent. Imagine you had a neighbor you hated because he beat his wife, but he really needs to borrow your pressure washer, and you really need to borrow his weed wacker. What do you do? You could both go buy your own additional weed wacker and pressure washer. That'll be bad for both of you economically, but than youd be free to tell him to stop beating his wife. Pros & cons to both arguments.

Its the perceptions of it. Vlad would be able to point at the sky and say "look look, I was right, Americans are attacking the homeland. " Play right into his homeland PR campaign. Disaster. Better off giving them better SAMs.

Scary for sure and that would really suck no doubt. But like all things in life we have to accept the possibility of being wrong, we have to make decisions to the best of our ability with the info we have. I could get hit by a meteor walking to my car, but I don't wear a motorcycle helmet everytime I go outside. Vlad has shown he is not a selfless person. A selfless person wouldn't be worth 70 billion, mostly stolen from the Russian people. They wouldn't have look at me propaganda, and live in a ridiculous mansion. They wouldn't start a war that serves no purpose for the citizens of Russia, other than to distract the population from their leadership failures. They wouldn't attempt to rule Russia forever. He is selfish. Selfish people most likely won't nuke themselves. He'd be buying a guarantee that history would show him as the worst ruler of russia. We need to be calm. We need to keep the American flag off of the battlefield. We need to keep the Ukrainians supported, armed and fed in their fight for freedom. Time is an element of battle. It is on our side, he dug himself a hole when he invaded and Ukrainians didn't embrace him. If he surrenders he'll seem weak and that'll be his end, per his own standards. If he continues, the Russian people will end his reign. He is most likely done either way, patience on this one.

Just saw this which kinda aligns with my current observation of the situation. Let's not forget Putin cares about himself, he can rattle the nuke button but deep down he's scared and knows that that'll be the end of mother Russia forever. He's scared shitless. Which is why he's thrashing around Bashi, dudes shitting himself sitting at 12 foot long tables and all. Putin can call them an act of war all he wants. Nobody cares, I think we'll see the end of him soon if the Russian people have anything to say about it. Imagine the American military killing Canadiens. F*ck that, this is going to boil over internally for him. How many Russian intelligence officers want this to be their legacy?

Never underestimate the power of a people fighting for their home and their freedom. If I was a Russian officer, my motivation would be rock bottom for this conflict.

FLEA, I get your point about Russia having legitimate security concerns. And that we should understand them and incorporate them into our strategy. But you have to see man that sooner or later, freedom was going to clash with tyranny. This war was unavoidable, it was going to happen eventually somewhere because Russia is a totalitarian police state wearing a "we have free elections" sticky note on its forhead. Dictators are never safe unless they control everything and everyone. Let's run a hypothetical, which I agree is a hypothetical and pure speculation. But hear me out. Russia invades Ukraine, they take it fast, minimal bloodshed because the Ukrainians were too scared to fight. Now the Russian border is jammed right next to Poland. Is Russia going to disarm and chill because it has a buffer now? No, their regime will always be threatened when a democracy is on their doorstep. And unless they can stretch all the way to the Atlantic, they'll be threatened. They're going to continue on the path of military strength until they think they can contest the next country. This conflict was going to happen, now or in 10 years, there were no off ramps. The only off ramp was the Russians installing a government that didn't lie to its people constantly, deal in deception, oppression and assassination, and basically ensure the rest of the world could never trust it. If you wouldn't turn your back to Putin in an elevator, that tells it all.

No, but I respect them for stepping up as opposed to letting us fight the biritsh with sticks in our underwear.

You are correct. I like to think with enough stingers dispersed widely the Ukrainians can set up there own no fly zone below 10k. Also can we not count them out, we just need to make sure the weapons are getting to them.