Random Thoughts. The Return.

[paul carruthers]

I'll never understand the thinking about Pearl Jam being the band of the 90s--or whatever they were being touted as during their heyday. Even Flow was a pretty good song, but the rest of it, I'll just pass & put on some STP....

[BobDobbs]

59 minutes ago, paul carruthers said:

I'll never understand the thinking about Pearl Jam being the band of the 90s--or whatever they were being touted as during their heyday. Even Flow was a pretty good song, but the rest of it, I'll just pass & put on some STP....

Hey now, thems fightin words buddy 😉 

IMO their first album, Ten, was pure genius and far more grunge than Nirvana ever was. Nirvana seems to get the title as the band who started Grunge and its nonsense. Nirvana was Punk with shades of Rock but mostly more Punk. Pearl Jam, Soundgarden, Alice, Mudhoney, Screaming Trees...they were Grunge.

Ten was released three months before Nevermind and Ten was just as popular as Nevermind. Though I do agree Pearl Jam never came close, not even a little, to matching the brilliance of Ten. BTW, I love STP as well, great group.

Peace Yo!

[Walter]

2 hours ago, paul carruthers said:

I'll never understand the thinking about Pearl Jam being the band of the 90s--or whatever they were being touted as during their heyday. Even Flow was a pretty good song, but the rest of it, I'll just pass & put on some STP....

Yeah, I got so burned out on their first 3 albums I still can't listen to them. STP were always our band from that era. Mrs W and I saw them whenever they would come around, at least 10 times. 

[chillumpuffer]

Ten is a very good album. Though I haven't listened to it for 20 years or so.

[1975NQ]

Ah, the 90s. I liked both PJ and STP. I actually liked Vs a lot more than Ten and played it a bunch when it came out, Went and saw STP at some music festival in 2001, and they were great. Scott Weiland was doing the Bowie thing to perfection. 

Never listen to either band anymore tbh, but I think both of them were all-time great vocalists. Eddie Vedder has made me tear up on some songs here and there, that guy is just a flat out amazing singer.

Edited March 21, 2022 by 1975NQ

[redrum]

6 hours ago, Stryder1978 said:

CHEERS to Dolly Parton who stated that she did not want to be nominated for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, stating that that would be akin "to putting AC/DC into the Country Western Hall of Fame.  JEERS to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame who replied that the ballots are already out, so the nomination stays! 

2 big reasons to vote her in. 

[SteveAJones]

14 hours ago, BobDobbs said:

Hey now, thems fightin words buddy 😉 

IMO their first album, Ten, was pure genius and far more grunge than Nirvana ever was. Nirvana seems to get the title as the band who started Grunge and its nonsense. Nirvana was Punk with shades of Rock but mostly more Punk. Pearl Jam, Soundgarden, Alice, Mudhoney, Screaming Trees...they were Grunge.

Ten was released three months before Nevermind and Ten was just as popular as Nevermind. Though I do agree Pearl Jam never came close, not even a little, to matching the brilliance of Ten. BTW, I love STP as well, great group.

Peace Yo!

All of those groups were the bane of my existence. It was music to kill yourself by and it's no surprise that some of the biggest grunge stars did just that.

[rm2551]

 

[redrum]

1 hour ago, SteveAJones said:

All of those groups were the bane of my existence. It was music to kill yourself by and it's no surprise that some of the biggest grunge stars did just that.

Lot of truth in that. The 60's weren't much different. 

[BobDobbs]

9 hours ago, rm2551 said:

 

But, but, but...Steve said Russia would easily take Ukraine in two weeks???

I guess Ukraine never got Steve's message 

BTW, Mr. Putin. Tick, tick, tick. That is the noise of the clock marking off the moments before your intelligence service decides it's time for a new boss. 

[cryingbluerain]

4 hours ago, BobDobbs said:

But, but, but...Steve said Russia would easily take Ukraine in two weeks???

I guess Ukraine never got Steve's message 

BTW, Mr. Putin. Tick, tick, tick. That is the noise of the clock marking off the moments before your intelligence service decides it's time for a new boss. 

Two weeks?  Gen. Milley and our esteemed IC said Kyiv would fall in 3 days if Russia invaded.  Where did they get their info from, Alex Vindman?

Intel is only as good as its honesty. 50 intelligence officials said Hunter's laptop was Russian disinformation.

[BobDobbs]

1 hour ago, cryingbluerain said:

Two weeks?  Gen. Milley and our esteemed IC said Kyiv would fall in 3 days if Russia invaded.  Where did they get their info from, Alex Vindman?

Intel is only as good as its honesty. 50 intelligence officials said Hunter's laptop was Russian disinformation.

Actually, it was Vindman in an interview who said Ukraine would NOT fall as expected but would fight and if the country were taken, would mount an aggressive insurgency.

Here, let me help you with that as your information sources are obviously flawed.

Col. Vindman: ‘We’re getting ready for a second offensive’ (msnbc.com)

[rm2551]

3 hours ago, cryingbluerain said:

Where did they get their info from, Alex Vindman?

Wasn't he one of the only voices that more accurately predicted the Ukrainians would fight and it would not at all be as one sided as all (most) of the other pundits were saying? - and yes, including intelligence services in the west. I'd say maybe they should have listened to him a bit more.

There was intel failure in they failed to recognise the position Ukraine was in and how they had been aware of and preparing for Russian aggression for a few years (see the advisors interview years before, he pretty much laid out exactly what come to pass, quite amazing). The IC did however, have it right when they repeatedly stated Russia was about to invade.

The big question now is - is Vlad cornered enough that he will escalate to chemical or tactical nuke? NATO are correct not to provide "red lines" as they are a red flag to a bull, but it may well be (and should be) the undeclared red line. If Putin escalates to that level, I think NATO is all in. Not to directly attack Russia, but attack any foreign unwanted troops in Ukraine. Get out of Ukraine or face NATO attack while there. Then shit gets real. US top brass who have direct connections to Russian top brass then need to agree there is no point on destroying the world - orders or not. Not very reassuring.

I don't think it is wise to let Putin keep drawing the boundaries of this conflict. Sooner or later there needs to be parameters imposed by the west. As dangerous as that is.

Edited March 23, 2022 by rm2551

[redrum]

4 hours ago, cryingbluerain said:

Two weeks?  Gen. Milley and our esteemed IC said Kyiv would fall in 3 days if Russia invaded.  Where did they get their info from, Alex Vindman?

Intel is only as good as its honesty. 50 intelligence officials said Hunter's laptop was Russian disinformation.

They said that when the Marines invaded Peleliu.

Officer: Why, you'll just walk in.

Colonel Puller: You think so? Why don't you join me on the beach tonight for dinner at 5 o'clock?

Sep 15, 1944 – Nov 27, 1944. Length of the battle. On Peleliu, Marine casualties were 1,336 killed and 5,450 wounded while the 81st Infantry Division suffered 1,393 casualties including 208 killed in action.

 

[SteveAJones]

11 hours ago, BobDobbs said:

But, but, but...Steve said Russia would easily take Ukraine in two weeks???

I guess Ukraine never got Steve's message 

BTW, Mr. Putin. Tick, tick, tick. That is the noise of the clock marking off the moments before your intelligence service decides it's time for a new boss. 

I said anywhere from a couple to a few weeks. Bear in mind he went easy on them the first two weeks. There is no doubt Russia will take Ukraine.

[BobDobbs]

21 minutes ago, SteveAJones said:

I said anywhere from a couple to a few weeks. Bear in mind he went easy on them the first two weeks. There is no doubt Russia will take Ukraine.

Your floundering Steve and oh so wrong. One of two things will happen here and one is not Russia taking and holding Ukraine. 

Either his intelligence service takes him out (Putin is already starting purges, they may have nothing to lose); or, he crosses the line and either uses chemical weapons or accidentally gets too close to Poland and NATO gets involved to the point of very possible nuclear war.

You could not have been more wrong on this if you tried. Old Vlad wrote a check he simply cannot cash, the only question now is how much the bounced check fee will be.

[SteveAJones]

8 minutes ago, BobDobbs said:

Your floundering Steve and oh so wrong. One of two things will happen here and one is not Russia taking and holding Ukraine. 

Either his intelligence service takes him out (Putin is already starting purges, they may have nothing to lose); or, he crosses the line and either uses chemical weapons or accidentally gets too close to Poland and NATO gets involved to the point of very possible nuclear war.

You could not have been more wrong on this if you tried. Old Vlad wrote a check he simply cannot cash, the only question now is how much the bounced check fee will be.

NO ONE is going to get into a nuclear war over Ukraine. No one is going to go to war with Russia if the action gets too close to the border with Poland. Russia takes a little more of Ukraine with each passing day, and they offensive has been relatively light compared to what they are capable of. It's clear Putin's first plan was not to go scorched earth, but the longer this drags on the greater the likelihood that he opts to bomb it back to the Stone Age.

[redrum]

New Guitar$

 

[rm2551]

4 hours ago, SteveAJones said:

NO ONE is going to get into a nuclear war over Ukraine. No one is going to go to war with Russia if the action gets too close to the border with Poland. Russia takes a little more of Ukraine with each passing day, and they offensive has been relatively light compared to what they are capable of. It's clear Putin's first plan was not to go scorched earth, but the longer this drags on the greater the likelihood that he opts to bomb it back to the Stone Age.

I 95% agree with this Steve. Laying siege to all major cities and crushing all resistance though is not a winner longer term as sanctions will be biting a LOT more, and information leaks into the population via the younger "hip" Russians and the mothers who sooner or later will be getting the news of their sons deaths will bite HARD. Both sides do NOT want this to drag on for months as it is a disaster for both sides. Obvious disaster for Ukraine, and disaster for Russia in terms of longer term damage Putin wreaks on Russian society and what he views as his "great power and standing" in the world - which was already a thinly veiled joke mostly propped up by the west being soft and stupid (in regards to him). Still, the most likely scenario IMHO.

He is going to need to go to plan B - which will be turn the entire country into Aleppo and declare victory. Setting Ukraine back generations to rebuild, saving face (lying outright about how the mission was completed successfully) and saving his own power, and essentially kicking the can of Russian expansionism down the road to the next chump who takes power. So pretty much like you say.

My hunch is though (my 5% different view...), he is just to detached and paranoid (the dictators curse) and will mis-calculate - make a move that is not acceptable, shifting emphasis from the west from not declaring red lines to announcing they crossed it and the game changes. This move will be going the tactical nuke or chemical weapon, or just a significant military blunder. The west will call his bluff, directly assist Ukraine. Not attack Russia itself, but attack invaders in Ukraine. The west will sell this as not an escalation of their making, and make it clear this was Putin's choice. It will be in Putin's court to deal with. I don't believe he'll then go the full nuketard. Or more accurately, his orders would be disobeyed and he would be "removed" from office if he tried.

But who knows, it's fun armchair quarterbacking, but most likely this will play out not like anyone imagines.

The biggest takeaway for me from this event is NATO and even the domestic US political sphere really was far more united, and very quickly. I don't think anyone saw that. This really does seem to cut through as a basic good vs. evil story for the most part. That won't continue, and is way over simplified, but in essence, not wrong. Nato has taken 2 good steps forward instead of 1 step forward and 2 steps back as they usually do you could say.

Oh, and it really doesn't look good for those that only saw strength and "leadership" in the man. Those clowns are all silent thank fuck.

[Stryder1978]

NATO is a paper tiger.  I have no idea why Vlad the Invader feared Ukraine joining the alliance....NATO is all talk and no action as they've clearly shown in this conflict!

[cryingbluerain]

16 hours ago, BobDobbs said:

Actually, it was Vindman in an interview who said Ukraine would NOT fall as expected but would fight and if the country were taken, would mount an aggressive insurgency.

Here, let me help you with that as your information sources are obviously flawed.

Col. Vindman: ‘We’re getting ready for a second offensive’ (msnbc.com)

Yeah, knock me over with a feather, the Boy Scout of impeachment fame who is now working on his cable news merit badge banging the drum for a wider war in Eastern Europe.  So wake me when he takes responsibility for helping elect a potato brain coward puppet to tempt Putin with weakness.  More than likely all going according to plan to distract us from the failure of Afghanistan, Wuhan Flu/Lockdowns, the economy. They desperately need a win so wag the dog even if it means the possibility of WWIII.

[cryingbluerain]

13 hours ago, redrum said:

They said that when the Marines invaded Peleliu.

Officer: Why, you'll just walk in.

Colonel Puller: You think so? Why don't you join me on the beach tonight for dinner at 5 o'clock?

Sep 15, 1944 – Nov 27, 1944. Length of the battle. On Peleliu, Marine casualties were 1,336 killed and 5,450 wounded while the 81st Infantry Division suffered 1,393 casualties including 208 killed in action.

 

Yep, and who can forget the hubris of the planners of the ill-fated Operation Market Garden:

"It was quite simply a very bad plan right from the start and right from the top. Every other problem stemmed from that.”
― Antony Beevor,  "Arnhem: The Battle for the Bridges, 1944"

[BobDobbs]

25 minutes ago, cryingbluerain said:

Yeah, knock me over with a feather, the Boy Scout of impeachment fame who is now working on his cable news merit badge banging the drum for a wider war in Eastern Europe.  So wake me when he takes responsibility for helping elect a potato brain coward puppet to tempt Putin with weakness.  More than likely all going according to plan to distract us from the failure of Afghanistan, Wuhan Flu/Lockdowns, the economy. They desperately need a win so wag the dog even if it means the possibility of WWIII.

DING DING DING!!! 

You win the award for most uniformed, idiotic comment today! Man, your avatar is 100% spot on 

[BobDobbs]

3 hours ago, Stryder1978 said:

NATO is a paper tiger.  I have no idea why Vlad the Invader feared Ukraine joining the alliance....NATO is all talk and no action as they've clearly shown in this conflict!

NATO is anything but a paper tiger, the problem is, according to people who know Putin, is Putin has lost his mind. How exactly do you handle a nuclear power with a head of state openly threatening nuclear war? According to sources Putin is suffering from both cancer & Parkinsons and he gives zero shits. That's the problem. How do we do the right thing without potentially starting a nuclear war? What we have been doing is the smart but slow path. Putin is becoming more unhinged by the day and now he is arresting members of his own intelligence service...those are the people who actually keep him in power. If they lose confidence or fear Putin, Putin will be erased and replaced, plain and simple. NATO is playing the long game hoping Russia will get rid of Putin and then sue for peace.

[Stryder1978]

11 minutes ago, BobDobbs said:

NATO is anything but a paper tiger, the problem is, according to people who know Putin, is Putin has lost his mind. How exactly do you handle a nuclear power with a head of state openly threatening nuclear war? According to sources Putin is suffering from both cancer & Parkinsons and he gives zero shits. That's the problem. How do we do the right thing without potentially starting a nuclear war? What we have been doing is the smart but slow path. Putin is becoming more unhinged by the day and now he is arresting members of his own intelligence service...those are the people who actually keep him in power. If they lose confidence or fear Putin, Putin will be erased and replaced, plain and simple. NATO is playing the long game hoping Russia will get rid of Putin and then sue for peace.

I couldn't agree less!  There is no unified coalition against Putin's aggression by NATO.  Just words.....well, if he uses chemical weapons, well. if he invades a NATO country....etc.  A unified, show of force while he was piling up troops along the border would have given him pause.  But no, all he got from the West was words and weak sanctions that he was warned about well ahead of time so Vlad the Invader and his rich cronies could adjust their finances to avoid the brunt of those.

And if Vlad was insane enough to start WWII, it wouldn't last long judging by how well he's doing against just Ukraine's military might!  And no, I don't think nukes would be involved.

BTW, I thought Russia got rid of all their chemical weapons per the Chemical Weapons Convention Treaty by 2017 and it was just the USA that still had 6% of it's stockpile left!