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#21
Enigmas of the Mystical / Re: Psst...Hey, Martok!
Last post by JasonPratt - Yesterday at 09:24:05 PMI believe a lot of things, but I fail to believe humans are invulnerable to those fangs.
#22
Current Events / Re: So... Arnold
Last post by FarAway Sooner - Yesterday at 08:21:39 PMTo be clear, all moral belief systems rest in certain, faith-based assumptions. I might even go so far to suggest that atheism largely amounts to putting one's Faith first and foremost in empiricism. I used to consider myself an atheist, until a friend asked me what I thought of Faith. In the process of explaining to her that I didn't have Faith, I realized I did have, but that my deity was of a different flavor. 20 years after that, I finally was comfortable to put a name to that Faith, although I still have trouble living up to the lofty standards of that Faith.
But I digress. It's fair to argue that ideologies tend to be one- or (at best) two-dimensional, whereas less ideological belief systems can live across all sorts of different dimensions, with different weightings and different intersections.
I'm hardly original in claiming that our values are much less our sense of taste--developed differently in each person, but with some common ground for most of us, and largely applied by instinct rather than by rational, empirical thinking. There's a whole school of modern psychologists who have largely confirmed that in the last 20 years or so.
But I digress. It's fair to argue that ideologies tend to be one- or (at best) two-dimensional, whereas less ideological belief systems can live across all sorts of different dimensions, with different weightings and different intersections.
I'm hardly original in claiming that our values are much less our sense of taste--developed differently in each person, but with some common ground for most of us, and largely applied by instinct rather than by rational, empirical thinking. There's a whole school of modern psychologists who have largely confirmed that in the last 20 years or so.
#23
Current Events / Re: Russia's War Against Ukrai...
Last post by GDS_Starfury - Yesterday at 08:16:24 PM #24
Current Events / Re: Russia's War Against Ukrai...
Last post by FarAway Sooner - Yesterday at 06:03:12 PMI'd be curious to know if anybody, on either side, has any hard numbers on how often tanks are fighting tanks. My recollection from Zaloga's Armored Thunderbolt is that a detailed analysis by the US Army suggested that tanks accounted for about 15% of all enemy tank kills in Western Europe from 1944-1945.
Anti-tank guns accounted for the most, with hand-held anti-tank weapons accounting for as many tank kills as enemy tanks. Mines, artillery, and other means were all significantly less common. I've got to think that ratio is even more tilted towards hand-held anti-tank weapons in the Ukraine war.
One of Zaloga's primary conclusions was that most historical evaluations of the Sherman relied upon an evaluation of one-on-one tank clashes, where it came out a definite loser to either the Panther or the Tiger. The Sherman sported arguably the best medium-caliber HE round of the war, and given that tanks on both sides fired many more HE shells than AP shells, it really misvalued the Sherman's contribution to focus on the tank-vs-tank match-ups.
That's not to say that more modern, better-maintained tanks won't outperform the Russian tanks, but that it's harder to evaluate how they'll be used against mixed-arms formations in fixed positions. I hope I'm being too pessimistic here.
Anti-tank guns accounted for the most, with hand-held anti-tank weapons accounting for as many tank kills as enemy tanks. Mines, artillery, and other means were all significantly less common. I've got to think that ratio is even more tilted towards hand-held anti-tank weapons in the Ukraine war.
One of Zaloga's primary conclusions was that most historical evaluations of the Sherman relied upon an evaluation of one-on-one tank clashes, where it came out a definite loser to either the Panther or the Tiger. The Sherman sported arguably the best medium-caliber HE round of the war, and given that tanks on both sides fired many more HE shells than AP shells, it really misvalued the Sherman's contribution to focus on the tank-vs-tank match-ups.
That's not to say that more modern, better-maintained tanks won't outperform the Russian tanks, but that it's harder to evaluate how they'll be used against mixed-arms formations in fixed positions. I hope I'm being too pessimistic here.
#25
Current Events / Re: Russia's War Against Ukrai...
Last post by FarAway Sooner - Yesterday at 05:51:28 PMQuote from: Windigo on Yesterday at 05:00:47 PMI sense a little bias in that article....
nonetheless I do agree with most of their assertions, not that I am anything but a very bad armchair general with a lot of Ukrainian and Polish friends.
I'm in the same camp as you. It's an interesting read, but many of the conclusions hinge on trusting the Ukrainian statements about Russian casualties. It also relies on the assumption that the Russians can't keep throwing bodies at the Ukrainians until they've taken 1,000,000 casualties. The casualty ratio that article cites for infantry loss about matches the ratio of military fatalities in the Russian defeat of Nazi Germany in WW2.
While all of the ideas articulated there are popular assertions in the expert groupthink that predominates in the West these days, I'll be a bit more wary of the fog of war until I see the Russians making more than one or two tactical retreats.
#26
Music, TV, Movies / Re: Jukebox Playlist
Last post by Pete Dero - Yesterday at 05:12:06 PMAnd some more New Wave
#27
Current Events / Re: Joining a new club or meet...
Last post by Windigo - Yesterday at 05:02:29 PMQuote from: Silent Disapproval Robot on March 11, 2023, 09:51:38 PMMy normal behavior usually gets me reported to the authorities or at least tossed out of the Waffle House at 2am.
Their facial recognition software will also block you from entering their other locations too
#28
Current Events / Re: Russia's War Against Ukrai...
Last post by Windigo - Yesterday at 05:00:47 PMI sense a little bias in that article....
nonetheless I do agree with most of their assertions, not that I am anything but a very bad armchair general with a lot of Ukrainian and Polish friends.
nonetheless I do agree with most of their assertions, not that I am anything but a very bad armchair general with a lot of Ukrainian and Polish friends.
#29
Current Events / Re: Russia's War Against Ukrai...
Last post by Gusington - Yesterday at 04:39:39 PM^Heh 'offensive-smensive'
#30
Music, TV, Movies / Re: Jukebox Playlist
Last post by Gusington - Yesterday at 04:33:47 PMYes please.