I was a a big fan of flight sims in the late DOS-era and I was reminded of one that was quite a hit at the time, Su-27 Flanker by SSI (1995). Anyway, here is a thread on how current Russian views on Ukraine existed well before anyone even knew who Putin was. /1 🧵 SSI was one of the biggest names in PC RPGs, being the company that had the Dungeons & Dragons license for much of the 80s. But it was also arguably the biggest name in wargaming. Su-27 came at a time when hyper-realistic flight sims were having a golden era. /2

We really need to a better job at promoting the use of discretionary median income to judge the prosperity of countries using GDP metrics. Discretionary = income after taxes and also after basic needs (health, education, transport, etc). /1

https://twitter.com/SpecialPuppy1/status/1615081752661315584

A significant chunk of US income goes into consuming private services that in other countries don't count as a GDP-measurable transaction because they are public. These usually offset paying higher taxes because public provision is almost always cheaper. /2

Latest post is up. Unlike most of my writing this one is a bit personal: I'm done with the left, specifically the online/Western left. Trying to be a part of this community has been nothing but a waste of my time and has carried personal consequences. /1 progressum.substack.com/p/a-breakup-le… I'm not going to detail the reasons in this thread, read the piece and find out why my disillusionment with this "movement" has become too much. But if you guessed AMLO and Ukraine had something to do with it, you are absolutely right. /2

Feel part of the reluctance to send modern NATO tanks to Ukraine is partly due to the fear that they will be destroyed in an environment that is far more lethal than any war NATO has ever faced. These are Turkish Leopard 2s... in Syria. #Bakhmut #UkraineWar /1 🧵 Every major modern tank war fought by NATO thus far has been against vastly inferior armies, with monkey model Soviet tanks, in large open environments, and with air supremacy. These M1s in Iraq is not going to get ambushed by a guy with an ATGM anytime soon. /2

Surprised at how defense has the advantage in modern mechanized land warfare? You shouldn't be. Almost every technology and tactic being used to today traces its origins to the 1980s AirLand Battle doctrine which was designed to blunt a Soviet invasion of Western Europe. /1 Throughout the Cold War, the Soviet Union and its Warsaw Pact allies enjoyed a huge numerical superiority over NATO in both men and equipment. It was widely believed until the 1970s that the Soviets would win a purely conventional war. /2

It's been exactly three months since I made the bold claim that Russia was not going to win the war. This was a day and a half after the "special military operation" had begun. I continue to stand by that tweet but this war is far from over. /1 🧵

https://twitter.com/raguileramx/status/1497123410899394563

To be clear, I still believe Ukraine has won, in the sense that Russia's initial objectives of regime change and demilitarization, and the ulterior goal of cultural genocide, are unachievable. Ukraine will remain a sovereign state for the foreseeable future. /2

War thoughts: was thinking whether the Russian army was too "tank-heavy" in terms of having way more tanks that it could support relative to the size of its army. There is a case to be made from this chart I just made: #Ukraine️ #UkraineRussianWar #RussianUkrainianWar /1 🧵 Every soldier manning a tank is a soldier not being used for any other element of warfighting. Sure, your armored spearheads might look frightening on paper, but then don't be surprised if they get bogged down quickly and are poorly coordinated. /2

War thoughts: Ok, let's do some basic math regarding the odds of Russia being able to capture a major Ukrainian city like Kyiv, Kharkiv, or Odesa. Spoiler: they are not good #UkraineRussianWar #RussianUkrainianWar /1 🧵 Let's start with what has happened so far: Russia DID attempt to capture Kyiv and Kharkiv on Feb 26/27 and failed. This was done by small, highly mobile units of elite troops (VDV, SOF, Spetsnaz) /2

https://twitter.com/nexta_tv/status/1497642231284523010

Quick war thread: Want to know what Russian aircraft was shot down merely by looking at the camo of the wreckage? (Assuming it doesn't end up as pulverized as this one of course). Allow me to show you: #UkraineWar #UkraineRussianWar #RussiaUkraineWar /1 🧵 Most Russian planes have some variation of a three-tone blue camo. If the tone is blue-green, acquamarine-ish, it's 100% certain to be a Su-34 ground attacker. No other aircraft uses this scheme. /2

War thoughts: Manpower-wise Ukraine and Russia are probably roughly matched right now on the ground, maybe even with an Ukrainian edge. However, Russia has an edge in terms of how many of those men are organized into maneuver units #RussiaUkraineWar #UkraineRussiaWar /1 What does this mean? Ukraine needs to pick and choose where its maneuver units stand and fight, which can't be across the whole front. Hence why Russia can make deep incursions where there are gaps in Ukrainian defenses. /2

A lot of people see the figures for destroyed Russian equipment and think "but Russia has hundreds/thousands of tanks, vehicles, aircraft etc". It might seem like this is just a tiny fraction of an overwhelming force but let me explain why it is significant /1 🧵 For a military unit, say a Russian Battalion Tactical Group (it's main maneuver formation), to fight effectively it needs to maintain some degree of cohesion among its combined arms forces /2

En vista de la explosión de rabia de nuestra comentocracia derechista (perdón, "liberal") sobre el supuesto fracaso de la #vacunacion en México, abro hilo para que entiendan el problema y porqué el problema no es el gobierno sino las farmacéuticas: #VacunaCOVID19 1) México, al igual que muchos países del mundo incluyendo los países ricos, estableció contratos con múltiples farmacéuticas en el otoño del 2020 cuando se abrió el proceso de pre-compra de vacunas.