Patrick, actually there is a lot of AI assistance. For example, a drone may use AI to identify potential targets and point them out to the operator. It may also have AI-assisted terminal targetting. So if the signal gets jammed in the last 30 seconds or whatever, AI takes over.

By Jeff Anderson (Jga) on Tuesday, February 17, 2026 - 11:01 pm: Edit

Back some thirty or so years ago, Tom Clancy put his name behind a series of non-fiction books. Armored Cav, Marine, Fighter Wing, and others.

In the book, "Submarine," he did make the blanket statement that, while the Navy was perfectly fine with history majors flying airplanes (something which, by the way I'm fine with as well; those who learn from the mistakes of history are less likely to repeat them), the Navy wants engineers to command Subs; in particular, they want nuclear engineers.

I've long accepted what was written in those books at face value, but I've also been getting cynical in my old age, and do wonder if what was in there was really good information or if there might have been a touch of propaganda or deliberate misinformation there.

By Mike Erickson (Mike_Erickson) on Wednesday, February 18, 2026 - 05:00 am: Edit

>> I mean if the drone controller is in or very near the combat zone, the range cold be relatively short {say 10 to 25 kilometers).

I read an article about this a few years back. It explained that the fiber optical cable used by the Ukrainian military for drones was extremely thin and light, and was sold in spools of around 10km. The spools were light enough for small-medium sized drones, but too heavy for the smallest ones. Larger drones usually are longer ranged and leaned more into autonomous operation. Most of the FO spools were manufacturered in China. Supposedly, 10-12 km was the maximum usable length.

In some heavily contested areas of Ukraine, the landscape is supposedly littered with used FO strands from drones.

--Mike

By Robert Russell Lender (Rusman) on Wednesday, February 18, 2026 - 08:00 am: Edit

I tend to wonder how often things like trees and buildings and such would get in the way of a fiber strand and break it in mid flight.

I know Ukraine's landscape is extremely flat, but it's also got a lot of obstacles along a drones flight path and I imagine a several KM plus drone flight would leave that FO strand likely to snag something and break.

By Steve Cole (Stevecole) on Wednesday, February 18, 2026 - 02:50 pm: Edit

Wire-guided torpedoes store the wire inside the torpedo so it lays the wire as it moves rather than dragging miles of wire.

I don't know that drones can carry enough cable to lay it as they go along. I humorously imagine a cable suspended by multiple helium-filled balloons.

By Steve Cole (Stevecole) on Wednesday, February 18, 2026 - 02:50 pm: Edit

Morale: Russian Soldiers Exploited And Brutalized
February 18, 2026: Families of Russian soldiers have been complaining about the harsh treatment their sons, fathers, husbands and brothers have received while fighting in Ukraine. Nearly 2,000 of them describe wrongdoing in the ranks that is largely hidden from the Russian public because of a ban on criticizing the military and the eradication of independent media.
The complaints of severe abuse appear to be most concentrated in units with troops recruited from prisons and or those detained for criminal activity. Russia relies on these soldiers to avoid a broader draft that could generate opposition to the war. Allegations of these abuses were described as soldiers being sent to the front despite debilitating medical conditions like broken or missing limbs, advanced cancer, epilepsy, severely damaged vision and hearing, head trauma, schizophrenia and stroke complications.
Released prisoners of war were sent back into combat. Russian officers threaten their own soldiers with a bullet in the head so often that these murders are called zeroing out those unwilling to advance against the Ukrainians.
This should not be surprising because Russia operates differently, especially when at war. Some of the differences include barbaric treatment of Russian soldiers by their officers, and brutal conduct by Russian soldiers when dealing with enemy prisoners or civilians going about their business. So far there have been over a hundred cases of Russian officers killing their own troops for refusing to fight. This is called zeroing out unfit, rebellious or disliked soldiers. The Russian government explicitly condoned and encouraged these punishments early on in the war. Russian leaders also ignore Ukrainian or NATO complaints about Russian mistreatment and murder of Ukrainian civilians. Russian leaders regard this atrocious behavior as an example of how Russia is different from the decadent West and will eventually triumph because Russia is willing to do things the decadent Westerners abhor and avoid.
Despite international condemnation and criticism, Russian bad behavior continues. For example, earlier this year soldiers of the Russian 61st Naval Infantry Brigade committed atrocities by attacking civilians with drones to terrorize people in southern Ukraine. The victims were often going about their daily routine but, if they were out in the open, they were targets for these frequent drone attacks. The attacks were also on ambulances, which were supposed to have some immunity from attack. The Russians ignored that and killed ambulance drivers, medics, and passengers. Before this terrorism ended over 200 civilians were killed and hundreds more wounded.
In 2023, a year after the invasion, Russian soldiers were accused of numerous atrocities and war crimes in Ukraine. Reports via the Russian internet described numerous Russian war crimes against civilians in Ukraine. Many Russian commentators admit that the war in Ukraine is lost and want Putin held accountable for the heavy cost in men, money and prestige. Ukraine will be demanding prosecutions for war crimes and compensation from Russia for damages and numerous atrocities.
Most Russians criticize their own military. There are many reasons, and most stem from the poor treatment of conscript soldiers.
The Russian military was unpopular for the one year conscripts mainly because of the brutal treatment they received. This was not getting better, and hazing incidents constantly increased. This is a serious problem. There were a lot of reasons for not wanting to be in the Russian Army, but the worst of them was the hazing of new recruits by soldiers who had been in a few months longer. It was thought that this sort of thing would speed the demise of conscription in Russia once the Cold War ended in 1991. It didn't.
The government found that, even among the higher quality contract/volunteer soldiers, the old abuses lived on, and most of the best contract soldiers left when their contracts were up. This was because of the brutality and lack of discipline in the barracks. The hazing was most frequently committed by troops who had been in for six months or so against the new recruits. That extended to a pattern of abuse and brutality by all senior enlisted troops against junior ones. It was and is out of control.
This hazing originally developed after World War II, when Russia deliberately avoided developing a professional NCO corps. It preferred to have officers take care of nearly all troop supervision. The Soviets failed to note that good NCOs were the key to developing effective soldiers. They felt that officers were more reliable, as they were more carefully selected and monitored. The NCOs that did exist were treated as slightly more reliable enlisted men but given little real authority.
Since officers did not live with the men, slack supervision and discipline in the barracks gave rise to vicious hazing and exploitation of junior conscripts by senior ones. This led to very low morale and a lot of suicides, theft, sabotage, and desertions. The hazing has been one of the basic causes of crimes in the Russian armed forces, accounting for 20 to 30 percent of all soldier crimes. This also produced a suicide rate that is among the highest in the world. Poor working conditions in general also mean that Russian soldiers are nearly twice as likely to die from accidents or suicide than American soldiers. Long recognized as a problem, no solution to the hazing has ever worked.
Conscription itself, and the prospect of being exposed to hazing, led to a massive increase in draft-dodging. Bribes and document fraud were freely used. Few parents or potential conscripts consider this a crime. Avoiding the draft was seen as a form of self-preservation long before the massive casualties of the current war began.
The Russian lack of sergeants was difficult to fix. Just promoting more troops to that rank, paying them more, and telling them to take charge did not work. Upon looking at how Western armies did it, the Russians noted that those foreign armies provided a lot of professional training for new NCOs and more of it as the NCOs advanced in rank. But this was a long-term process, and it was known that it would take years, perhaps decades, before benefits could be felt.
All this is in sharp contrast to the old days. When the Soviet Union dissolved in 1991, it had five million troops in its armed forces. Throughout the 1990s it was just a million in Russia. As a result of these personnel problems, Russian efforts to reform and upgrade its armed forces failed. The basic problem was that few Russian men were willing to join, even at good pay rates. Efforts to recruit women and foreigners have not made up for this. The Russian military has an image problem that just won't go away. This resulted in the period of service for conscripts being lowered to one year in 2008. That was partly to placate the growing number of parents who were encouraging and assisting their kids in avoiding military service.
All this came after more than a decade of reforms in the armed forces, particularly the army. Poor discipline, low morale, and incompetent performance are all legacies of the 1921–1991 Soviet era. Russian commanders, envious of the success of all-volunteer Western forces, had long studied their former foes and decided to adopt many more Western military customs. For example, one reform ordered that Russian troops would not be confined to their barracks most of the time. In the Soviet era, conscripted troops were treated like convicts, and their barracks were more like a prison than the college dormitory atmosphere found in troop housing for Western military personnel. Russian conscripts were now free to leave the base on weekends and work only a five-day week. Things like this helped a bit, but not enough.
Russia has tried to change public attitudes toward the armed forces by publicizing all the new changes and programs. But word got around that most of these efforts failed. Blame that on the internet. Polls consistently show that most military-age men do not want to serve in the military, and the main reason is the hazing and prison-like conditions in the barracks. Then Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022, and manpower problems became even worse due to escalating corruption and massive casualties. After the Ukraine War is over there will be more efforts at reform and all these efforts might someday succeed.

FYEO

By Steve Cole (Stevecole) on Wednesday, February 18, 2026 - 02:52 pm: Edit

Information Warfare: Baltic Sea Cable Cutting
February 18, 2026: Last December a cargo ship in the Gulf of Finland severed a vital telecommunications cable using the ship's anchor. The ship was traveling from Russia to Israel. Finnish special operations personnel rappelled onto the deck from a helicopter and took control of the ship. The ship was held for nearly a month in an effort to discover what was going on.
About the same time Latvian police investigated a ship and its crew docked at the port of Liepaja to determine if the ship had anything to do with damage to an underwater telecoms cable running in the Baltic Sea from Latvia to Lithuania.
Baltic Sea nations are alarmed after several power cable, telecom link and gas pipeline outages occurred since Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022. As a result NATO nations have increased their presence with warships, maritime patrol aircraft and seagoing drones.
The year began in 2025 with a fiber optic cable between Latvia and Sweden being damaged by parties unknown. Over the last few years more than a dozen Baltic Sea underwater cables have been damaged or cut. These cables can be repaired in a few weeks, but local Coast Guard officials consider most of these incidents deliberate and that makes them criminal.
NATO countries are alarmed at the amount of damage done to underwater power and communications cables. Worse, when the culprits were identified, they were always Chinese and Russian ships. One of these ships was boarded and searched. Evidence of cable cutting was found. Chinese and Russian officials continue to profess surprise and ignorance of these acts of sabotage. Worse, all this is not new, it’s been going on for some time under the designation of Hybrid Warfare.
It’s not only Russia in the Baltic Sea that is doing this. China recently revealed a new seabed mining and salvage ship that can send small manned or robotic submarines down to depths of 3,000 meters. While this vessel is ideal for what it was designed for, it can also be used to tamper with or cut enemy undersea cables in wartime. Chinese merchant ships are suspected of dragging their anchors along the seafloor to cut cables in the Baltic Sea.
The United States and European nations were alarmed at the recent spate of so-called accidental severing of underwater power and communications cables. The culprits were Chinese and Russian ships that were in the areas when the cables were cut. One of these ships was boarded and searched. Evidence of cable cutting was found. Chinese and Russian officials continue to profess surprise and ignorance of these acts of sabotage. Worse, all this is not new, it’s been going on for some time.

FYEO

By Steve Cole (Stevecole) on Thursday, February 19, 2026 - 01:47 pm: Edit

Infantry: New Ukrainian Ground Combat Drone
February 19, 2026: This year Ukraine developed the 4x4 wheeled Zmiy Droid 12.7 ground robot. Weighing about half a ton, the Zmiy chassis is built to survive drone attacks and anti-personnel mines. Zmiy is controlled by a remote operator using the onboard video camera while the vehicle moves and to detect enemy targets to fire on with the 12.7mm machine-guns. Ukraine has developed and put into service several ground combat drone vehicles. Ukrainian troops use these drones, including Zmiy, with increasing frequency as operators and unit commanders become more familiar with these weapons and what they can do. The primary mission of Zmiy is reconnaissance and replacing soldiers during combat situations.
Last year Ukraine began equipping their combat brigades with ground based combat and transport robots in addition to drones. The ground robots come in different versions. Some are used for planting and removing landmines. Other drones advance along the ground while firing remotely controlled machine guns. These systems can fire accurately at moving targets during the day and at night. There are also drones for transporting supplies to the front lines and carrying casualties back to first aid stations and field hospitals. The growing number of Ukrainian drone systems were developed based on reports from the front line troops. Those ideas were quickly put to use because of wartime urgency.
In 2024 Ukraine created a new branch of their military, the Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Force. This is in addition to the Ukrainian Air Force that consists of manned aircraft. This Drone Force does not control the drones Ukrainian forces use regularly but instead contributes to developing new drone models and organizing mass production for those new models that are successful. Such drones have been an unexpected development that had a huge impact on how battles in Ukraine's current war are fought. Drones were successful because they were cheap, easily modified, and expendable.
Both Russian and Ukrainian forces were soon using cheap quadcopter drones controlled by soldiers a kilometer or more away using First Person Viewing or FPV goggles to see what the video camera on the drone can see. Each of these drones carries half a kilogram of explosives, so it can instantly turn the drone into a flying bomb that can fly into a target and detonate. This is an awesome and debilitating weapon when used in large numbers over the combat zone. If a target isn’t moving or requires more explosive power that the drones can supply, one of the drone operators can call in artillery, rocket, or missile fire, or even an airstrike. Larger, fixed wing drones are used for long range, often over a thousand kilometers, operations against targets deep inside Russia.
These small drones are difficult to shoot down until they get close to the ground, and the shooter is close enough, as in less than a few hundred meters, away to successfully target a drone with a bullet or two and bring it down. Troops are rarely in position to do this, so most of these drones are able to complete their mission, whether it is a one-way attack or a reconnaissance and surveillance mission. The recon missions are usually survivable and enable the drone to be reused. All these drones are constantly performing surveillance, which means that both sides commit enough drones to maintain constant surveillance over a portion of the front line, to a depth, into enemy territory, of at least a few kilometers. Ukrainian drones have pretty much ended Russian motorized transport with 20-30 kilometers of the front lines.
This massive use of FPV-armed drones revolutionized warfare in Ukraine, and both sides are producing as many as they can. Ukrainian drone proliferation began when many individual Ukrainians or small teams designed and built drones. The drones served as potential candidates for widespread use and mass production. This proliferation of designers and manufacturers led to rapid evolution of drone capabilities and uses. Those who could not keep up were less successful in combat and suffered higher losses.
One countermeasure that can work for a while is electronic jamming of the drones’ control signal. Drone guidance systems are constantly modified or upgraded to cope with this, and many use multiple modes of communications. Most drones have flight control software that sends drones with jammed control signals back to where they took off from to land for later use. The jammers are on the ground and can be attacked by drones programmed to home in on the jamming signal. Countermeasures can be overcome and the side that can do this more quickly and completely has an advantage. That advantage is usually temporary because both sides are putting a lot of effort into keeping their combat drones effective on the battlefield.
Western armed forces, after a century of trying, still cannot get the air force people up there to come down and get a much needed reality check on what is happening down below where battles and wars are decided. Meanwhile the proliferation of surveillance and armed drones have in many cases replaced conventional air forces, at least for operations close to the ground and requiring more urgency to find and attack targets.


Weapons: Expanded Ukrainian Weapons Arsenal
February 19, 2026: Ukraine currently produces about 70 percent of the weapons it uses in its war with Russia. The weapons used when the war began four years ago have worn out and replaced by American and European weapons. Over the last three years Ukraine has gradually been replacing all the foreign weapons with Ukrainian designed, developed and manufactured systems. These included Bohdana truck mounted 155mm artillery. This replaces several European versions and currently accounts for nearly half the self-propelled artillery systems in service. Ukrainian-made 82mm and 120mm mortars are now standard. Ukraine also developed its own artillery fire control system that handles drone operations as well. Ukraine is still developing its Marta 155mm howitzer to replace the American British designed M777.
While the U.S. sent many artillery spotting radars, Ukraine developed a system where custom drones can sport targets and guide attack drones to the target using a laser designation, which is more difficult to jam. Ukraine also developed terminal guidance systems for drones that used the Fire and Forget approach. Long range drones are equipped with a target recognition system using images of the Russian factory buildings or airfield layout for the missiles to home in on. This is a virtually unjammable system. Drones can also locate targets for artillery and transmit the target GPS coordinates to the artillery fire control system, which automatically assigns the target to the artillery system that has the range and available ammunition to do the job. This process takes less than two minutes.
By 2023 Ukrainian military production was accelerating. This began with essentials like uniforms, small arms and ammunition. At that point Ukraine had a million men and women in the military and Ukrainian production of military goods was accelerating. By 2025 Ukraine was producing 40 percent of the weapons, equipment and munitions it required. This includes over 200,000 drones a month, more than ten times what was being produced a year ago. That number rose to five million drones in 2025 with a goal of 20 million in 2026. Ukraine pioneered the use of drones as well as their development and manufacturing. Ukraine exported drone technology and drones to its NATO allies. Ukrainians are the world’s foremost experts on drones and that is something the Russians have been unable to match.
FYEO

By Jessica Orsini (Jessica_Orsini) on Sunday, February 22, 2026 - 10:34 am: Edit

Pres. Trump has announced ordering a hospital ship to Greenland to provide humanitarian medical aid. As USNS Mercy is in drydock in Mobile, Alabama, the deployment is presumable for USNS Comfort, which is anchored off of Norfolk.

It unclear why the order has been given, as Greenland has not reported any health emergency; both the Danish and Greenlandic prime ministers have stated that while the unexpected offer is kind, there is no need.

By Steve Cole (Stevecole) on Sunday, February 22, 2026 - 12:08 pm: Edit

How many Marines will fit in that ship?

By Jessica Orsini (Jessica_Orsini) on Sunday, February 22, 2026 - 12:36 pm: Edit

Considering that it has a capacity of 1,000 beds and is normally sporting a crew of 1,200 (military and civilian combined)? A lot.

By Steve Cole (Stevecole) on Sunday, February 22, 2026 - 01:42 pm: Edit

Sounds like a Marine Expeditionary Unit (minus the tank platoon). Probably no artillery but mortars would not be a problem. No need for anti-tank. Maybe extra snipers. Lots of ECWS gear. I'm sure a hospital ship has cargo holds full of sheets available for rapid winter camouflage. Don't hospital ships have a few helos? Sounds like a plan.

An MEU is normally an infantry battalion, engineer platoon, tank platoon, artillery battery, logistics company, and a few minor odds and ends.

OPERATION NORTHERN THUNDER

I will get working on the Star Fleet Marines scenario right away.

By Jeff Anderson (Jga) on Sunday, February 22, 2026 - 01:42 pm: Edit

Dumb Civvie WAG, but Mercy and Comfort have a second mission; winning the hearts and minds.

Could the ship be being deployed as a demonstration of, "If you ever DO have an island wide medical emergency, look at what we can send to you without having to get permission from Copenhagen?"

Again, just a wild guess...

By Jeff Wile (Jswile) on Sunday, February 22, 2026 - 02:16 pm: Edit

A quick Google inquiry resulted in:

Quote: “ Yes, Greenland faces several significant health and medical challenges, including a high prevalence of obesity, diabetes, and cardiovascular diseases due to dietary shifts. Other major issues include high rates of smoking-related conditions like COPD, infectious diseases such as tuberculosis, and a very high suicide rate.
National Institutes of Health (.gov)
National Institutes of Health (.gov)
+4
Key health issues in Greenland include:
Chronic Diseases: A rapid rise in obesity and diabetes is a major concern. Cardiovascular diseases are as common as in European populations.
Lifestyle-Related Illnesses: High consumption of sugar and processed foods, combined with reduced physical activity, has increased chronic, non-communicable diseases.
Mental Health: Greenland has an exceptionally high rate of suicide.
Infectious Diseases: Tuberculosis remains a significant public health challenge.
Healthcare Access: Due to extreme weather and remote geography, medical facilities are limited outside the capital, Nuuk, often requiring air evacuation for serious cases.
Environmental/Cold Risks: Hypothermia and cold-related injuries are risks.
National Institutes of Health (NIH) | (.gov)
National Institutes of Health (NIH) | (.gov)
+5
While primary care is available, specialized care is centralized, and many healthcare workers are brought in from Denmark.”

Denmark has been complaining for decades about the expense of providing economic, medical, social and other services to Greenland. Emergency Air Transport for critical care, in a harsh environment such as the Arctic is not trivial.

The opportunity to access first world level medical care, and just as important, have it arrive in a sea port or harbor near where most of the population resides will no doubt compare favorably to the system used by the government.

This may be controversial, but it is entirely possible that waiting lists for medical treatment indigenous people in Greenland might well exceed the average wait time for similar services for medical treatment in Denmark.

This is exactly the kind of illustration that trump has done many times in the past. (I would list some examples, but seeing actual things The President has accomplished in the past might cause certain critics to have their own medical emergency…)

By Robert Russell Lender (Rusman) on Sunday, February 22, 2026 - 03:22 pm: Edit

Can't imagine the presence of a single hospital ship would make any appreciable difference in the Greenlandic diabetes and obesity cases.

By Jeff Wile (Jswile) on Sunday, February 22, 2026 - 03:53 pm: Edit

Robert,

Ordinarily, I would be in full agreement with you.

That said, since the population in question is something on the order of 57,000 (some of which are Danish nationals residing currently in Greenland, and intend to return to Denmark at some point in the future,) the arrival of a fully equipped medical vessel, almost certainly equal or superior to the normal medical facilities found in any average city of 60k could be expected to dwarf the existing medical facilities available in Greenland.

And this is even before we have identified the nature of Greenland’s health care system.

Is it likeCanada’s health care system? Do you know there are Canadian citizens traveling to united States hospitals to get access to medical services to avoid waiting lists and delayed care?

I doubt that it is based on the free market, given the long standing complaints of Danish bureaucrats objecting to having to authorize medical services. Given Their meddling in the Greenland birth rates, is it a unreasonable question to ask if they are rationing health care access?

I do not have all the answers, but given the indifference exhibited by Danish government officials, it is a fair question to ask.

By Paul Howard (Raven) on Sunday, February 22, 2026 - 04:33 pm: Edit

Greennland Health issues

If you Googled pretty much any Western Nation - those health issues would come up.

I remember reading 30-40 years ago that due to the Spread of Western Food In Japan, the usual good health of the Japananesse was being erroded - but I think they did dodge the worst issues. (Rice ad Fish probably saved them)

Alas 'Western' Health has too issues.

1) Too much food - we just don't go hungary any more (outside a small number of people who do go hungary)

2) Processed and salt/sugar. When was the last time you made food from scratch? All those pre-made sauces may help in some areas....

So - you eat 'expensive rubbish' - rather than pulses, fruit, veg or the healthly meats/fish....

... and it does all go wrong, health wise.

By Dana Madsen (Madman) on Sunday, February 22, 2026 - 04:51 pm: Edit

It was reported yesterday that a US submarine, I didn't see the name, surfaced off the coast of Greenland and requested a medical evacuation for one of the sailors on board. A Danish patrol ship sent a Seahawk helicopter to airlift the sailor and transport him (her?) to the capital of Nuuk for treatment at the hospital.

Maybe Pres. Trump just doesn't want to feel indebted? His announcement of the deployment of a hospital ship came about 3 hours after the report of the medical evacuation.

By Jessica Orsini (Jessica_Orsini) on Sunday, February 22, 2026 - 05:20 pm: Edit

There's five hospitals in Greenland for those 57,000 Greenlanders; they've plenty of capacity (and universal health care).

By Jeff Wile (Jswile) on Sunday, February 22, 2026 - 08:11 pm: Edit

For the record, there is a public perception that universal health care IS rationed health care.

Proven by the fact that those people in nations with universal health care, with the ability to do so, do travel to to nations where they can get treated without having to wait their turn.

Just repeating the phrase “universal health care” does nothing to correct the obvious and widely known flaws in the system.

By Jeff Wile (Jswile) on Sunday, February 22, 2026 - 08:16 pm: Edit

A Google inquiry resulted in this :

Quote:” Greenland’s universal health care system faces unique, long wait times for specialized care, often compounded by extreme geography, requiring travel from remote settlements to clinics. Unlike typical urban universal systems, Greenlandic care is limited by resources, meaning specialized treatments may take longer than in the U.S., which generally offers faster specialist access despite higher costs.
Axene Health Partners
Axene Health Partners
+2
Geographic Challenges: Travel from remote areas to medical centers in Greenland can take days or weeks, with weather conditions adding further delays.
System Limitations: Greenland’s healthcare system cannot be directly compared to other European systems, as some small clinics lack resources for complex care.
Comparison to U.S.: While universal systems often have shorter wait times for primary care, specialized, non-urgent procedures can have longer wait times compared to the U.S., where the average wait for a specialist is less than 20 days.
Emergency Care: In both systems, urgent and emergency care is prioritized, though Greenland's, in particular, must manage the logistical challenges of remote, arctic conditions.”

By Jessica Orsini (Jessica_Orsini) on Sunday, February 22, 2026 - 08:44 pm: Edit

So, about that health care thing:

I lived in Germany as a civilian for two years after I left the Air Force. I, like most workers in Germany, received health care under the Allgemeine Ortskrankenkasse (aka "AOK"). It is, for all intents and purposes, universal health care.

Contrary to the scare-mongering, there were no long lines for appointments or treatments, be they routine or emergency (I experienced both). The care provided was thoroughly competent. Dental was included. And out-of-pocket expenses were limited to 10% of prescription costs. The cost: 6% off the top of my gross earnings (i.e. less than most employees are expected to contribute to an "employer-provided" plan in the U.S.).

As to Greenland: of course they face travel issues from remote locations. They're remote locations. People living in various areas of Alaska face the same problem. Seriously, the copy-paste stuff from Google's "AI" (which is of course just a large language model, as we're nowhere close to having actual artificial intelligence at this point) is not overly helpful.

By Steve Cole (Stevecole) on Sunday, February 22, 2026 - 08:55 pm: Edit

Jessica’s, your experience way back when is not consistent with current data. A UK friend waited a year in disabling pain for an operation my wife had scheduled in three weeks. Canadian friends report waits of six to ten months for treatment American friends have had in two or three weeks.

By Jessica Orsini (Jessica_Orsini) on Sunday, February 22, 2026 - 08:59 pm: Edit

The UK is not Germany; the UK's National Health Service has been mired in problems since the days of Thatcher.

By A David Merritt (Adm) on Sunday, February 22, 2026 - 10:36 pm: Edit

Frankly, private health care is rationed, if you have private insurance, the insurance companies can require preauthorization for non-emergency care, and if you are taken to an "outside network" hospital, or if physicians at the hospital are outside network, they can refuse to pay. So the question is not managed health care or not, but who do you prefer to manage it.

Both options have advantages and disadvantages, a well run system generally beat a poorly run one, regardless if it is government run, or private run. Bureaucracies tend to have faceless people making policy that can be very hard to remove.