SVC is right, in general about Communism. But I would add that older workers bring to work something the younger ones lack, experience.

Sure some 21 year old kid could TRY to do SVCs, or my former jobs, but there is so much "institutional knowledge" that goes into many positions that it would be a disaster.

Using me as an example, I have firefighting, paramedic, construction management, riverine, aviation and explosives safety experience coupled with 4 degrees and experience working in very challenging locations (like Iraq, Afghanistan, Kuwait & Romania).

SVC has designed multiple hugely successful games (Starfire & his SFU for example) AND built a company from scratch. Good luck trying that, kid.

Experience helps to DO work that is complex or specialized, but also in mentoring new people so they can be the next generation of efficient workers. Apprenticeships are the classic example.

Just like the "Deep State" civil service workers. While we all have experience with how frustrating they can be, they hold specialized knowledge you just can't ignore. True story, many years ago Kentucky & Indiana were fighting over some work on the river locks next to Louisville. They didn't want to give up "Ownership" of the River and the taxes on the caisson stuff. My dad called the USACE to determine where the boundary line was. He got hold of the local expert, who sent him to talk to the guy in charge of the Midwest historical records. After going deep into a rabbit hole of more and more specialized survey map people he finally found the guy that had the ORIGINAL maps of the boundaries laid out when Kentucky got statehood in the late 1700s. He told my dad where to find the "Brass" that everything was measured from. Which my dad paid a surveyor to find and use. Turns out something like 98% of the river being fought over was Kentucky's. Win for dad. This was MILLIONS of dollars for his client.

By Steve Cole (Stevecole) on Wednesday, November 27, 2024 - 09:19 pm: Edit

At various places in Texas and Oklahoma there are a dozen or more steel or brass plaques with my engineer license number on them which say "this is the key control spot marked on the drawings for this site" and it's the point that the whole refinery or pipeline or station is measured from. All of those trace back to similar plaques left decades earlier by other engineers or surveyors. In one case I had to go back to a pin set by a Spanish conquistador in the 1700s.

Similarly, there is a half-inch steel pipe driven into the asphalt just east of the ADB office which was set by a great engineer (Ted A.) I knew when I was a Boy Scout which marks the border between ADB and Rumors Bar. Ted is still alive (in his 90s) and I see him once a year at the engineer society dinner. A great man. Once I was called for a civil jury (I'm banned from criminal cases because I was in the military police) and was looking forward to being jury foreman (as it was a case about property boundaries and drainage, things engineers know all about) until I heard that Ted was the expert witness for one side. I had to ask for a private meeting with the judge so that my explanation of why I could not be on the jury did not taint the jury pool.

By Steve Cole (Stevecole) on Friday, December 06, 2024 - 04:10 pm: Edit

Armor: T-55s Fade Away
December 6, 2024: Since early 2023 Russia has been moving ancient T-54 and T-55 tanks out of storage for use in Ukraine. The 36-ton T-54 was the first post-World War II tank. It used a 100mm gun and a four man crew. Introduced slowly in the late 1940s, it became more numerous during the 1950s. A major upgrade, the T-55, was introduced in 1958. About 100,000 T-54/55 tanks were built from 1948 to 1981. Two-thirds of these were T-55s. When the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991, Russia inherited over 10,000 operational T-55s and a few T-54s. The best of these were put into storage and there are believed to be over a thousand of these tanks still available.
Nearly all modern T-72/80/90 Russian tanks were destroyed or worn out in Ukraine during the early 2022 battles. Russia brought 600 T-62s out of storage to meet the needs of troops in combat and these tanks also suffered heavy losses.
These tanks were from the early 1960s. T-55s are easy to use and robust. They are adequate for supporting infantry although there is a shortage of 100 mm tank gun ammunition. The T-55 also has 7.62mm and a 12.7mm machine gun, for which there is plenty of ammunition. The T-55 is vulnerable to the simplest anti-tank weapons like the Ukrainian RPG anti-tank rocket or the American M72 LAW.
FYEO

By Steve Cole (Stevecole) on Friday, December 06, 2024 - 04:11 pm: Edit

Murphy's Law: Wagner Woes
December 6, 2024: The Russian Wagner Group mercenaries are shutting down operations in Ukraine and concentrating on its Africa operations. This came about because Vladimir Putin had to settle a dispute between the Russian generals in Ukraine and Wagner’s boss over who deserved credit for some minor victories in Ukraine. Putin sided with the generals and ordered the Wagner Group to concentrate on Africa. Wagner Group is a profitable international operation that reports directly to Putin. The Wagner Group was sent to Ukraine because the Russian army needed help, not competition and criticism.
FYEO

By Paul Howard (Raven) on Saturday, December 07, 2024 - 03:09 pm: Edit

What is happeng in Syria??

Accepting it's very quick moving and complex (Anti-Syrian Kurds are disliked by Turkey and it seems the main Anti-Syrian group (HTS) was associated to Al-Qaeda/ISIL - but they did break away from them, but are still considered by the West as Terrorist groups - although some other groups may well have always been seperate to ISIL).

The speed of the Syrian collapse seems to be similar to what happend in Iraq and Afganistan.

Will the West be happy with HTS to be in power - as it seemms there is very little to stop them now?*

* - Latest update is that Assad may or may not have fled.

By MarkSHoyle (Bolo) on Saturday, December 07, 2024 - 03:19 pm: Edit

What is happeng in Syria??

You could surmise, this is one reason Iran didn't really want Hezbollah to go up against the IDF....
Now they are not available to support Syria....
No doubt Iran's plans for the region will be hampered....
Can't dismiss the timing of the whole thing....

By Paul Howard (Raven) on Saturday, December 07, 2024 - 03:28 pm: Edit

Mark

That might be part of it - was Hezbollah anti-HTS (or just Pro-Assad)??

Like the original collapse that happened in Iraq/Afganistan etc - do we want HTS to win??

(Assad isn't nice, but better the devil you know....?)

By Mike Erickson (Mike_Erickson) on Saturday, December 07, 2024 - 05:13 pm: Edit

Hezbollah is a Shia proxy force of Iran, which is also Shia. Assad's religious faction in Syria is the Alawite minority, which is a branch of the major Shia sect of Islam.

HTS are Sunni.

Hezbollah would follow the orders of Iran, which would translate into assisting the pro-Iran Assad regime, which is also religiously compatible with Iran. This makes up the "Shia Crescent" from Iran through Iraq (which is about 60% Shia), into Syria, and then into Hezbollah occupied Lebanon.

So are HTS the good guys? They are considered a terrorist organization by the US Government. They have, at least for now, indicated they do not want to have a conflict with the US.

If HTS was to win and Assad falls, who knows what the new regime would be like. It might be a Libya-like situation, where an experienced, ultra-violent political strongman like Assad might really be necessary to have some kind of order.

Or perhaps we might hope that the Sunni HTS forces prevail against Assad, and a new Sunni government comes into existence in Syria. Perhaps they might be more moderate, and be more aligned with the Sunni Egypt-Jordan-Saudi Arabia-Gulf States against Iran?

Or perhaps Assad falls and it just turns into an extended, ultra-violent free for all? This is the ME after all. Who really knows?

--Mike

By MarkSHoyle (Bolo) on Saturday, December 07, 2024 - 05:57 pm: Edit

The Kurdish situation could be compared to the American Indian....
There are groups spread throughout the regions, wanting actual control over their future, they are harassed by the Turks, Iranians, Iraqis etc...
Syria, controlled by Kurds, could result in a solution to several countries issues with them...
Though also a significant loss of population....

Borders in the area, were drawn up by the British and French without any regard to the different Tribes located there....

By Jessica Orsini (Jessica_Orsini) on Sunday, December 08, 2024 - 04:01 am: Edit

Syria: The opposition has taken Damascus; the Prime Minister has asked to meet with them to set up a transition government while calling for free elections. Bashar al-Assad is widely reported to have been fled, and there are various reports that the IL-76 he was likely on took unusual maneuvers and loss of altitude before vanishing from radar.

It very much looks like Russia and Iran just lost a key ally (and Russia their repair station in the Med).

By Paul Howard (Raven) on Sunday, December 08, 2024 - 04:07 am: Edit

Syria

Well 1 week ago we had modest advances, 12 hours ago to reach the outskirts of Damascus and now the Syrian Government has fallen.

Al-Assad might be on the way to UAE??

Fingers crossed the new Syrian Government is like Modern Turkey... and not Modern Afganistan?

(noting Turkey is far from ideal..... but, beggers can't be choosers).

CLearly Iran is the loser - will the Israeli's** and West be happy with the new Government - time will tell.

** - Interesting comment on the News I am currently watching - they mentioned the 'Unwritten rule' beteen Al-Assad's Former Syrian Government and Israel - there was no direct action against each other - they may not have liked each other but from the Commentators comments was they accepted each other (better the devil you know....)?

Very fast moving - what does the US/UK/UN/EU do?

By MarkSHoyle (Bolo) on Sunday, December 08, 2024 - 08:11 am: Edit

Fingers crossed the new Syrian Government is like Modern Turkey... and not Modern Afganistan?

The previous Turkish government, not the one in power now....

By Jeff Wile (Jswile) on Sunday, December 08, 2024 - 10:04 am: Edit

Russians have abandoned the Tartus naval base in Syria. All ships that were normally located at the base, have sailed.

Ifv the Russians could have made a deal with the rebels, they almost certainly would have.

With Turkey having closed the route to the black sea, the Russians will either have to secure base rights elsewhere, or retreat to Russia. Long way to go to either the pacific or murmansk.

By Jessica Orsini (Jessica_Orsini) on Sunday, December 08, 2024 - 10:32 am: Edit

As an additional happy note, this cuts off the main supply line for munitions from Iran to Hezbollah.

By Mike Erickson (Mike_Erickson) on Sunday, December 08, 2024 - 10:37 am: Edit

>> this cuts off the main supply line for munitions from Iran to Hezbollah

Indeed! It makes life for the Iranians more difficult.

--Mike

By Jessica Orsini (Jessica_Orsini) on Sunday, December 08, 2024 - 11:04 am: Edit

Russia has pulled all of their assets out of the Tartus naval base post haste. They've also pulled out of their leased air base at Khmeimim. This is a Big Deal™, because without those bases, they cannot continue to supply their ongoing efforts in Africa...and that is going to greatly undermine their influence with African regimes that have come to rely upon Russian military material.

By Jeff Anderson (Jga) on Sunday, December 08, 2024 - 04:06 pm: Edit

Just heard a report that Assad has surfaced in Moscow. Apparently, Putin has granted him asylum.

Are pieces falling into place for the upcoming World War III? Is the expected post-Russo-Ukraine War peace deal the equivalent of the Sudetenland or the Manchuria conflict for World War II?

By Jason E. Schaff (Jschaff297061) on Sunday, December 08, 2024 - 05:18 pm: Edit

If you want to attempt analogies (always a dangerous task), Russia vs Ukraine is probably more along the lines of Italy vs Ethiopia / Abyssinia.

By John Wyszynski (Starsabre) on Sunday, December 08, 2024 - 07:59 pm: Edit

The USAF launched air strikes against ISIS targets in central Syria. Want to keep them from aligning with the new government.

The IDF launched air strikes against weapons depots of the fallen Syrian government. Want the new government from having those weapons.

By Steve Cole (Stevecole) on Sunday, December 08, 2024 - 08:17 pm: Edit

There are reports that Iran might invade Syria to restore their proxy government. That would make things very messy, but if they're going to do it, they have only about six weeks to get it done and over.

By Ryan Opel (Ryan) on Sunday, December 08, 2024 - 08:30 pm: Edit

How is Iran going to invade Syria?

By Mike Erickson (Mike_Erickson) on Sunday, December 08, 2024 - 08:49 pm: Edit

Isn't Iraq in between? It's about 1k miles from Tehran to Damascus.

--Mike

By Steve Cole (Stevecole) on Sunday, December 08, 2024 - 09:09 pm: Edit

Nobody said it would be easy. Fighting across Kurdistan would be a nightmare. They could use some kind of air-landing troops, but that's going to be a tough road considering that the proxy government completely collapsed.

By MarkSHoyle (Bolo) on Sunday, December 08, 2024 - 10:13 pm: Edit

Why Hezbollah was so important to Iran....
There was a Hezbollah force in Syria, though it may have moved back into Lebanon when they attacked Israel....
Will be interesting to see how Israel and whoever forms a government in Syria get along....

A decent Kurdish force shouldn't have a big issue with taking over Iraq, doubt the Iranians have allowed the ones there to organize enough to even harass the government....

By Jeff Wile (Jswile) on Monday, December 09, 2024 - 06:50 am: Edit

The Iranians have their own problems.
between the restive population(there are signs that not everyone is happy with the Government mismanagement) plus the Israeli air strikes at various targets (including various air ports) the Irainan army and guards have got to be overly committed to keeping the lid on everything.

The kurdish population in Iran is just one group. FYEO a year or more ago said that Iran was reinforcing its eastern border to prevent Afghanistan incursions. (Who or why that was happening was an open guess at the Time, but the popular answer was drug related.)

Just suggesting that Iran might Want to mess with Syria and Israel. They just might not have the personnel and equipment to do so.