Ireland did it in 2005. I don’t remember the cost being an issue at the time. I mean obviously it cost some non trivial amount but I don’t recall any Hullabaloo about it. Wikipedia page doesn’t mention the cost.

I initially thought this was going to be an onion article, but here we are. Class.

I’ve been trying to find some inkling of positivity for Europe in the Trump win and us getting up off our collective arses to more quickly ramp production capacity and closely aligning on collective defence is the biggest win I can see coming from it.

Macron has already come out and said it in as many words.

Ah the UK and EU are inexorably intertwined. Don’t stress too much. We’re still best buds.

Europe has been fucking pumping money into Ukraine. Now we need to start pumping arms in. It is ludicrous to imagine that this hasn’t been prepared for. The only question is whether our arms production capacity will be enough or ramp up quickly enough.

Financially absolutely. We do not have the military industrial complex to replace the armaments that the US has been providing however.

I’m sure Ukraine has been preparing for this eventually but I really fear for them and the medium term consequences for us all if Putin gets his way in this war. :(

Well that’s fucking terrifying. Project 1997.

Jesus Christ that last thought hadn’t even entered my head. I can’t see Poland or the Baltics putting up with that though.

FML.

And don’t forget his impeachment over Ukraine too. He is going to fuck them hard. I really hope Europe can pick up the slack on arms production quickly.

A king won’t though. That’s why they’re gone. Another dodge.

There are about two people on here who wouldn’t say “fuck Henry Kissinger”.

What a massive load of shite. The fucking smell of boot polish off your breath is disgusting.

Jog on.

Second best navy in the black sea.

I think they organised other routes for logistics so it became less strategically important than it was earlier in the war.

Still though…I really want to see it gone. It’s a nasty symbol.

C’MON BABY! FUCK THAT BRIDGE UP!!!

Very. US troops obviously have lots of experience fighting insurgency style and ridiculously good hardware, logistics etc. but Ukraine have very hard earned experience in near peer conflict with drones and so on.

Soldier for soldier, Ukraine probably has the best troops in the world right now for the kind of conflicts that are unfortunately looming.

I think this is a bug in Lemmy. Saw someone else mention it recently. I believe a fix is coming.

Fuck the 155th Naval Infantry Brigade. All my homies hate the 155th Naval Infantry Brigade.

Yeah I can see that perspective. It depends a lot on the city I suppose.

You gave me pause for thought and I suppose I just like being in nature more. :)

Oh, Berlin and Amsterdam are also stand out cities. Yeah maybe I like them more than I think I do.

It’s hard to understand the absoluteness of the stranglehold that the government has there without visiting. Cameras everywhere tracking everything. Little police booths everywhere to remind you. Even inter-city travel by high speed train requires an ID check. You cannot own your own car in the larger cities without a car license that you must apply for annually. All messaging apps are unencrypted and monitored. etc etc

Not a huge city lover because I find a lot of them very samey but New York and Hong Kong are incredible places.

Last time I was there was before COVID and I wonder how much of it’s vibrance has been sucked out since. 40 minutes north, Shenzhen is drab and lifeless by comparison.