“90 day wonders” or “2 weeks training”.

[woodbutcherbower]

"We Brits will never forget the help given to us by the USA in our greatest time of need"

That may be true but I think we (the US) should have offered a hand much sooner.

We stood on the sideline until Japan forced our hand. If that hadn't have happened
what would have transpired in Europe over the next six months would have been a
completely different story.

Maybe true Bob - but  dates and timescales don't matter. Your countrymen ultimately dug us out of a deep, deep hole and we'll never forget that. You were there for us = we'll always be there for you. Many US and Canadian citizens repeatedly comment at how welcoming and hospitable the UK is to them whilst they're here on vacation - this historical debt of gratitude is one of the main reasons why. But also because we know that our beer is way better than yours and we feel kinda sorry for you.

Greetings from over the pond.
Kevin

 

[Vtshopdog]

Injecting some (possibly woodworking related) levity:
What's everybody's preferred varnish to withstand nuclear fallout??

Please excuse my off-brand sense of humor, couldn't resist....

 

[luvmytoolz]

Injecting some (possibly woodworking related) levity:
What's everybody's preferred varnish to withstand nuclear fallout??

Please excuse my off-brand sense of humor, couldn't resist....

One of the old type finishes with as high a lead content as possible!

You know, like the old shoe polishes that stunk of god knows what chemicals that we used to use! ;-)

 

[Ron B]

I appreciate this forum because it lets you read the views of people from all around the world.  And although Montgomery may not be my favorite General, Churchill is definitely my favorite leader of that era. 

To add to the building-of-wood part of this forum, I believe (and I am sure someone will tell me if I am wrong) that the British Mosquito bomber was a wooden airplane. Aluminum and steel were in short supply but wood was readily available.  While the Germans were bombing the airplane factories, the piano manufacturers were building airplanes in their shops. I guess that is would make it a Stealth (manufactured) bomber. 

 

[luvmytoolz]

Speaking of Alu, it always amazes me that aluminium was at one point more valuable than gold or silver!

Like many of the bitcoin afficianados I suspect, it must have been soul crushing for some of the very early Alu collectors when the manufacturing processes improved making it infinitely cheaper to produce.

 

[Gregor]

I read yesterday that Russia is planning...
It seems like Putin wants to...

The first that dies for a war is the truth, after that the funerals of many humans begin... The first thing on the way to peace that needs to be buried are the lies, only then the dying of humans can end.

Please do not believe everything you read or see on television.
You are being lied to, on an unfathomable scale.

 

[Ron B]

Gregor: I need to write that down.  I learned they were lying to us every night with Walter Cronkite when they displayed the US/Viet Cong casualty scoreboard up each night-even I knew that was not right because by those numbers all the VC were already dead.  Then all the reporting on the Vietnamese Boat people, then after that was no longer news, it was just dropped, even though they were still floating out there in the China Sea. 

On another note:  The very top of the Washington Monument is topped by a pyramid made of aluminum, the new and valuable metal it was at the time the monument was built.  I think I read that in a Jules Vernes  book back in the 1960's-probably the Earth to the Moon and trip around it book.

 

[Bob D.]

"But also because we know that our beer is way better than yours and we feel kinda sorry for you."

LOL, you got me there. I hope that mutual friendship between our countries never fades.

 

[Peter Kelly]

From what I've read it's very grim over in Russia at the moment, it's widely reported that they are conscripting the very young and the very old, and everyone inbetween. Talk is they have provisions in the legislation to conscript a million or more, and give them all 2 weeks training.

It also seems people who have been protesting the war are also being served in bulk with conscription along with other dissidents and prisoners.

Clearly just cannon fodder.

[attachimg=1][attachimg=2][attachimg=3]https://www.kommersant.ru/gallery/5581706?from=doc_multimedia#id2273903

Less than cannon fodder.

 

[Bob D.]

Looks like a propaganda photo to me. Not your typical Ivan being sent to the front.

 

[rst]

Blessing the troops...Russian orthodox church is pretty much an arm of the government.

 

[semenza]

Starting to creep ...................................

Seth

 

[mino]

Blessing the troops...Russian orthodox church is pretty much an arm of the government.

TLDR:
Your observation is completely off. You cannot use the Western societies' prism to interpret the dynamics in the Russian society vis-a-vis religion or even war. Theirs is more of a "warrior/surviver" society which does not operate on money as the primary driver. Religion has a different role - a much broader one.

--------------
I.e., no more than the Gov is "an arm of the Church". As in: Neither. They /are expected to/ act like partners by the society at large.

In Russian culture /this goes for whole of Rus' cultural space, not just the Russian Federation of today/ the role of the church is to support the society in times of need. Whatever the source of the threat/danger is.

Any religious organization that fights the "society's" /i.e. the majority's/ position is eventually weeded out by it.

So in the same way the priest blessed the soldiers, do the Imman's of the place in their way etc. etc. Basically any religious group which would not support the society /society is equaled with state there/ would be shunned and lose its followers eventually.

This is actually simillar in the West, just not so pronounced since, e.g. in the US, "the state" and "the society" are seen as way more separate compared to the view in Russia.

For an anectode though, remember how lately even the Pope was shunned for not supporting the war drive ...

A good example is how most people in US did not see that - by insulting Putin - Biden openly insulted /as in personally, from their perspective/ like 90% Russians ... that level of identification of one with the society and the society with the state is not present in the West of today. So even scholars often fail to see and understand it. And then derive wrong conclusions ...

 

[Bob D.]

and the creep goes on

 

[woodferret]

Oh come now, a historical/cultural analysis is considered creep, while effectively promoting western misconceptions is not.  Might as well lock this thread now.

 

[semenza]

The difference is that now politics, politicians, and religion, are being brought into the discussion about Russian troop call ups. Pretty much unavoidable, I guess.

Seth