Divemedic

Yeah, Stalemate

Joe Blow decides to call me stupid for stating that the Ukraine/Russia war is a stalemate. Normally, comments attacking me like that wouldn’t make the blog, but Joe is a long time commenter and has earned a bit of grace. He just needs some facts.

The fact is that Russia only controls 19% of Ukraine, and about a quarter of that was the territory in the Crimea that was taken a decade ago. The fact is that the front lines have been largely in the same place for the past three years. This is where the lines were in November of 2022:

Now look to see where the front lines are now:

Nearly two and a half years later, and there is virtually no difference. In fact, in terms of territory held, there have been no gains since the first year of the war.

You can see that the Russians made huge gains in the initial two months of the war, then Ukraine won back some territory within six months, then the lines have remained virtually stable since. That’s called a stalemate. In the meantime, over one million lives and half a trillion dollars have been lost, and for what?

I see absolutely no US national interest in this war. None. The “oh, we need to defend Ukraine or the Russians will take over Europe like Hitler did” is simply a weak imitation of the domino theory, a stupid holdover from the Cold War that has been used as justification for every stupid useless war that the US has been involved in for the past 80 years.

There is not a reason to spill a single drop of American blood, nor waste a single American dollar on a war that simply isn’t our problem. Let Europe worry about this one. I don’t think that Russia is going to go to war with the European Union unless the EU keeps beating war drums and trying to start one. We need to stop letting France, Britain, Russia, and Germany drag us into the wars that they have been fighting in Europe for over 1,300 years. If they want to keep fighting, let them, but there is no reason for us to be involved.

The fact that members of the EU have been refusing to allow US military units to purchase supplies is beyond the pale. For example, a Norway company recently refused to allow a US submarine to purchase diesel fuel for their backup generator, and called for other companies to do the same. The Norwegian government quickly backed away from this boycott, which is good for the EU, because if I were Trump, my first step would have been to pull all nuclear weapons from EU bases. All of them. It’s something that is quick and easy to do, and sends an unmistakable message to the EU: our military cooperation with your country can disappear overnight, if you want to fuck around.

The US is NATO and the EU has been taking advantage of the US security guarantee to increase social spending while ignoring defense. The number of main battle tanks in EU member states has decreased from 15,000 in 2000 to 5,000 today. The US has 4,657 main battle tanks in NATO territory, meaning that the US is 50% of NATO’s military strength. Even THAT statistic is misleading. Italy, for example, has about 200 Ariete tanks, but only 50 of them are fully operational, with the rest of them being in various stages of disrepair. If this is typical of NATO member states, the US forces in Europe make up 80% of the entire NATO force. What do we get in return for that?

This is why the EU has so much money to spend on social programs. The US military has 100,000 troops in Europe. That equals ten percent of our entire military, costing the US about $200 billion a year. What do we get in return for that?

The message being sent by Trump is unmistakable- the days of Uncle Sugar being exploited are over. The EU can screw around with Russia, but at the end of the day, they don’t have the forces to take on a large war.

By Divemedic, ago

Ukraine Thoughts

In the entirety of the biological world, the strong seek to prey on the week. Every living thing in the world is in competition with other living things for food, shelter, and someone with whom to make offspring. Similarly, throughout recorded history, weaker nations have been conquered by stronger nations. That’s just how life works.

If you are the leader of a weaker nation, you need to seek the protection of a strong ally, or a coalition of allies who together are strong enough to fend off an aggressor. For the past 80 or so years, that ally has been the United States. The nations of the world have turned to the US and begged for help from the US time and time again. The US has responded by lending out its treasure and the lives of its sons and daughters over and over again, largely without ever asking for or receiving anything in return. Many of the nations receiving that help have then criticized and bad mouthed the US the entire time they were receiving handouts.

It hasn’t just been other nations. The citizens of the world keep coming here, sneaking into our country, accepting handouts, then badmouthing the country the entire time. The American people are tired of it. We are no longer willing to be your bitches. So we have elected Trump.

Trump is the embodiment of a business ethos- you want our help? What is in it for us? The only thing that Ukraine and Zelensky have to offer us is mineral rights. Zelensky doesn’t want to do that. Trump has him over a barrel- you grant us mineral rights, and we will help you by securing a peace deal. Refuse that deal and continue the war, you are going to do it without our blood and treasure. That’s just how it is. We are under no requirement to fight the wars of the entire world.

If Ukraine can’t accept those terms, they are free to ask the European Union, the UK, or Canada. When those nations pledge their help and can’t deliver it, the US will be happy to come to an agreement to loan them some money on terms that both nations find acceptable. No more free rides.

With that being said, the reality is that Ukraine can’t win against Russia without outside help. Even with all of the help they have been given, the best that Ukraine has done is fight to a bloody 3 year long stalemate. At this point, Ukraine has been given nearly $400 billion in aid over the past three years, including $120 billion in weapons. That places Ukraine in 6th place for military spending worldwide in terms of real money, and as a percentage of GDP, Ukraine is spending three and a half times as much as any other nation.

I have heard Europeans call the US every name in the book because we won’t just give them our money. Whatever. Every time you insult us, the cost of our help should increase. Show some gratitude and come to a deal or fuck off.

My social media feed is filled with people from Poland, Canada, and the Czech Republic who are calling the US bullies and other names because we won’t go to war with Russia on Ukraine’s behalf. There are also tons of lefty Americans demanding the same. To those of you who are aren’t American- pressure your own country to go to war with Russia. To those of you who ARE American, put your money where your mouth is:

By Divemedic, ago

Retail Therapy

I recently had a bad day at work. I got home a couple of hours late, well after midnight. Let’s just say that I wasn’t happy with either my employer or the family of one of my patients. I played hooky the next day and called in sick, and that is something that I have only done 3 or 4 times in the past decade.

While I was running around doing things that I wanted to do and enjoying my impromptu vacation day, I happened to wander into a store that was well stocked stocked with ammunition. I overheard the salesman at the gun counter trying to sell a 9mm handgun, and the customer was full of questions. The salesman made a comment about 10mm being the new hotness that they can’t keep ammo in stock for, but 9mm was plentiful.

That was when I recalled that I have been thinking about adding 10mm to the stable for the last few years. So I did it. I bought a Smith & Wesson M&P 2.0 in 10mm with the 4.6 inch barrel, the thumb safety, and the optic slide cut. Smith and Wesson doesn’t make a compact 10mm, so we went with the full size and the optics cut. I was sort of forced into the thumb safety because the store didn’t have a pistol in stock without one.

Since it was an impulse buy, I hadn’t done any research and didn’t know if I got a good deal or not, but it cost me $620. I didn’t want to look, just in case I got screwed, but it looks like I didn’t do poorly. MSRP on this one is $679, and there is a promotion running right now where Smith and Wesson will send you a rebate in the form of a free green dot reflex sight.

At any rate, I went to buy some ammo to go with it, and the only 10mm they had was FMJ. I had to stop at a different farm supply store to get defense ammo. I bought a few boxes of Hornady Critical Duty 175gr FlexLock hollow points. I will do a post comparing ammo in different calibers soon.

When I was checking out, the clerk told me that they can’t keep ammo or baby chicks in stock. She told me that it is as bad as during COVID.

At any rate, a new caliber means new magazines, laying in a stock of ammo, and I will need to get some kind of aftermarket sights to go with the green dot. It will keep me busy for a bit. I will take it to the range shortly, but for now, I will place it in the safe next to all of its new friends.

Now I have handguns in the following calibers:

.22LR, .38Spl, .380ACP, .357 Magnum, .357Sig, .40S&W, .45ACP, 9x19mm, and 10mm.

The disclaimer: I don’t advertise, and receive nothing for my reviews or articles. I have no relationship with any products, companies, or vendors that I review here, other than being a customer. If I ever *DO* have a financial interest, I will disclose it. Otherwise, I pay what you would pay. No discounts or other incentives here. I only post these things because I think that my readers would be interested.

By Divemedic, ago

BLEG

I once bought some hard to find parts from an online firearms dealer that usually has hard to find parts. The company had a logo that looked like a country boy or hillbilly. I can’t remember the name of the company. I seem to remember that it has something in the name like junior or sonny.

If anyone knows of a company like that, please let me know.

By Divemedic, ago

Tulsa Cop Shooting

This is a great video of a police shooting from February 2023. Police responded to a local bar for a reported domestic violence incident as well as a hit and run. When the officer arrived, the female victim pointed out her assailant, who wound up being her boyfriend. I won’t describe what happened next, you can see it for yourself. I do marvel at how every shooting video seems to have a screaming woman in it. Righteous shoot, in my opinion.

The idiot tried drawing on a person who already had him at gunpoint. The cop dumped 10 rounds into him, moved to an area of semi-cover behind a vehicle, then executed a tactical reload, all while keeping the guy in his sight. Great tactics.

By Divemedic, ago

Incompetent

A man is involved in an incident that involves a police officer being shot and another man killed. The court rules that he is incompetent to stand trial, so they let him go. Nine years later, he stabs two police canines before being shot and killed by police.

I understand why you would rule that someone is incompetent to stand trial. What I don’t understand is why that means the crazy person is free to go out and kill again. A video review of the man’s shooting is here:

By Divemedic, ago

Blew Away Tranny

A tranny by the name of Graham Bain decided to go nuts and began chasing and ramming people in their cars. One man’s car was disabled by the runaway nutjob after it was rammed several times with his daughters inside. The victim produced a gun and told the tranny to stop. The dude who looks like a lady put his car back into gear in order to ram our armed citizen. The armed citizen shot the drive tranny in the abdomen, who rammed the victim’s car anyhow.

Crazed Faggot

I just wanted to see how many times I could fit the word ‘tranny’ into a single paragraph. The story is found here. Note that the story purposely leaves out the fact that his a delusional crazy man.

By Divemedic, ago

Busted

I have the rest of the story of the armed feral negro queens Amish Canadians who were trespassing on the property of and kicking the dog of their neighbor. The story is out of Pittsburg, California and the two Canadians involved are a mother, Lagashia Williams, and her daughter, Graciela Amar, both from Oakland.

It turns out that they had parked a car on top of some of the landscaping, to which the homeowner and neighbor, Albert Lopes, too exception. He said something to the pair and the daughter responded by retrieving a firearm from the car. During the argument, the mother told the daughter to kick the dog and the complied. The dog was kicked so hard, it flew through the air, receiving liver and leg damage, as well as a ruptured spinal disk. The man setup a GoFundMe that has raised $18,000 to cover the dog’s medical expenses.

This shit really pisses me off. People should be able to enjoy their property, and that includes letting your useless little ankle biting dog run free upon it. At no point should you have to worry about bands of armed marauding negros tread upon it while threatening you with violence. In a just world, you would be permitted to shoot them and mount their heads upon pikes as a warning to the others.

By Divemedic, ago