No country should buy Swiss weapons before they change this policy. The ability to transfer weapons to each other in times of need has proven to be a strategic requirement. https://mastodon.social/
The big problem with Tesla that this article misses completely is that many of Tesla's most enthusiastic customers (like I once was) no longer want to support a person who is actively promoting hateful conspiracy theories and providing nazis and Russians with a platform to disrupt the upcoming U.S. election.
@mike@ac I would say it's priced in with the decline in market share... Which will only accelerate outside the US with the emergence of BYD and other Chinese EV manufacturers.
The European commission might establish tariffs for these Chinese manufacturers (akin to the US). But in order to be effective these might need to be as high as 55%. Which a) is unrealistic and b) shows how cheap EVs might become in the next few years.
Now that Ukraine's shortage of weapons and ammunition is about to get solved, there is increased attention on the two other big problems on the frontline: Lack of fortifications and a manpower deficit.
In this edition of the Logic of War newsletter I discuss these two problems. Since I won't be publishing a regular video on YouTube this week, I decided to make access free for all on this one. https://www.logicofwar.com/ukranies-three-big-problems/
@anderspuck lack of fortifications reminds me also of the French in WWI. They saw the trenches as temporary and didn't want to admit to the public that they would need them for a long time.
Also as far as I know the Ukrainian army expected -at least until the fortification program - their troops to dig and maintain their own trenches. Whilst the russians have their own detachments for it.
Soviet double agent Anthony Blunt may have helped Hitler too
In 1979 the art historian was outed as one of the Cambridge spies recruited by Stalin. Shocking new evidence suggests he may also have passed deadly secrets to the Nazis, Robert Verkaik reports
@kravietz@Loukas There are many myths about a betrayal of the plans for Market Garden.
But they all have been debunked.
And the western Allies, especially the US, simply didn't think Berlin was worth it since it would be divided in surrounded by the Soviet occupation zone anyway.
Their price was the Ruhr (which was also the main reason for Market Garden).
@anderspuck@thejapantimes "No one knows Putin’s projections” for the war, said Alexandra Prokopenko, a fellow at the Carnegie Russia Eurasia Center. "There are rumors and anticipation of an upcoming Russian escalation. They don’t have a crystal ball, that’s why they want to have this money now.”
In #Germany debate escalates about whether the #nuclear phase-out was justified granted its consequences for German economy that are becoming evident now. In the new turn, it is being suggested that the minister of economy Habeck was lied to by his own experts who claimed the phase-out is going to be harmless.^1
At this stage I can only reiterate that since 2011 when the plans were announced hundreds of worldwide climate experts appealed to Germany not to phase-out nuclear, which is one of the few low-carbon and dispatchable sources of energy. Climate scientist James Hansen had been calling German phase-out a “climate crime” and in 2019 hundreds of scientists wrote an open letter to German government asking to reconsider.^2
As I wrote a few years ago, the whole phase-out plan was plagued by cognitive biases, falsified data and excessive optimism about “prospective technologies of future”. The biggest blame however goes to “environmental activists” such as #WWF and #Greenpeace who were absolutely knowingly and cynically lying about both evils of nuclear and benefits of #renewables, convincing many people and pushing the government towards the current failure.^3
@kravietz whilst I partially share your critique on the phase out of nuclear power in Germany, I would like to point out that the reporting is a big nothing burger based on unfaithful reporting of the right wing news outlet Cicero (which is quite close to the AfD). Which apparently could not be bothered with checking the sources
Three #Germany citizens were arrested on suspicion of having worked as foreign agents for #China Ministry of State Security with goal of forming research partnerships with German universities and collect information useful from military and economic point of view.
“Johnson received a key intelligence briefing from [CIA Director], who painted a picture of the dire situation on the battlefield in Ukraine and the global consequences of inaction, according to multiple sources with knowledge of the situation. The briefing left a lasting impression, and Johnson became increasingly convinced the fate of Western democracy was on his shoulders, sources close to him said.” https://www.cnn.com/2024/04/21/politics/ukraine-aid-mike-johnson-house-speaker-israel-taiwan
IMO the change of mind of Johnson was none. Trump's entanglements and the Iranian attacks gave him an opportunity to make moves against Trump (aid for Ukraine) and Biden (splitting of the bill; Biden was opposed against a standalone aid package).
The aid was stalled for so long and it wasn't clear that anything might pass prior to November. Biden simply wasn't in a position to object to the procedure anymore.