Ranxerox

I'm reminded of a lyric from a song
"it's a one time thing, it just happens a lot"

It's very Jack Kirby.

I intend to continue wearing my mask while on night patrol because discovery of my Secret ID may adversely affect my ability to be taken seriously at my day job.

When we first meet Thor in his debut movie, he's been living what amounts to an extended childhood. Over the 1,500 years of his life he's always been privileged, never known failure, never had to suffer the consequences of his actions. (We've learned that humans can live that way for at least seven decades.)   He defined himself as a warrior, a prince, a hero, but in the end he failed at all those things. Over the span of a decade he lost his power (albeit temporarily), lost his lover, lost his whole family, lost all his closest friends, lost his home, and lost the weapon that was like a part of him. He failed to protect his people, and lost most of them. He failed to save half the people in the entire universe. That so overwhelmed him that he lost the will to do anything but eat and drink and play video games, becoming a mental and physical mockery of who he was.
 
I don't care how long you've lived, if all that doesn't prompt deep soul searching, I don't know what could.

World Central Kitchen Restaurant in Ukraine Hit by Russian Airstrike

@unclevlad
 
Well, I wasn't thinking about interweaving a lot.
 
Say they're all happening on the same day. 
 
There's some Nick Fury or Amanda Waller figure appearing in all three movies doing the "what the hell is happening" routine, along with the "Get the Joint Chiefs on the phone" and "There's heroes on the scene? Who are they? Well, find the hell out!"
 
I don't really know the superprisons in the DC Universe but say there's
 
Belle Reve Correctional Center which is the ARGUS semi-black site
Arkham Asylum
Blackgate
Iron Heights
Slabside
Jump City
Stryker's Island
 
Pick three of those for the stories you want to tell. 
 
The three movies action all start on the same Breakout Day. Each prison is responded to by a different set of heroes who don't interact with the heroes in the other movies since they're busy at different prisons in different cities. Whether each movie in-world time lasts hours or days will vary.
 
In each movie, each hero becomes aware of the problem and makes their way to the nearest prison break.
 
In one movie, for example, Beast Boy lands next to a bystander or guard and asks them what's going on. The guy points off down the street saying that several people in costumes just ran down that way. In the distance you can see people in costumes, broken windows, flipped cars, downed power lines, etc. They appear to be arguing about how fast to flee versus how much destruction they're going to do along the way. People who are fans of the comics ought to be able to pick out who several of them are by the costumes.
 
As Beast Boy turns back to the guy, he's blindsided by Solomon Grundy and the fight's on. As he's struggling with Grundy, other costumed villains continue to stream by, with the occasional one taking a potshot at him and distracting Grundy.
 
Robin, Cyborg, Speedy, Raven, and Kid Flash appear individually as the fights go along.
 
Starfire shows up. No one recognizes her because she's newly arrived on Earth and one of the heroes engages her thinking she's a villain. Robin eventually figures out she's not on the list and she's recruited to their side.
 
That group of heroes never make it inside the prison. They end up chasing some villain or villains who Robin considers to be particularly dangerous then get repeatedly sidetracked by responding to police reports of various levels of desperation. They put down those villains as they pop up but some get reported as escaped again because the heroes can't guard them until the prison authorities who can contain them arrive.
 
They end up catching up with Robin's target at the end of the movie and foiling the scheme the guy had started before going to jail. But they don't end up catching him.
 
The movie ends up with the "team" having a mixed record because they weren't organized and were overwhelmed by events. Several of the heroes are frustrated. Robin vows to train them to work together if they'll stick with him.
 
Feel good end to the movie but they'll have to deal with the public and police fallout of their less than stellar record of keeping villains under wraps. And they'll have to watch out for Robin's target if he wants to return.
 
====
 
In the Justice League movie, in contrast, they manage to get to the prison before most of the inmates hit the streets. The fighting is a cat-and-mouse game of working their way through all the various sections of the prison finding villains who are hiding, teaming up, breaking through walls, trying to find their gear, etc.
 
Ends up most of the villains have been sent out as part of a delaying tactic by a mastermind villain who is trying to release the kraken (or Mongol, Mordru, or the uber-powerful villain of your choice).
 
The Justice League ends up with a better public reputation because they can immediately throw their captured escapees into a cell.
 
====
 
In the Freedom Fighters movie, the prison in near Washington DC. Some of the villains get into their heads that they want to go to the Pentagon and seize control of the US's nuclear weapons.
 
So they rampage through DC while only having a vague idea of where the Pentagon is.
 
The heroes have to wrangle villains, protect national monuments, protect a few politicians, etc.
 
And have a final showdown in the heart of the Pentagon where the villains find out that the nuclear weapons aren't controlled by the Pentagon.
 
The team gets good press though having had to deal with the not-so-bright end of the villain spectrum. The team picks up political support and somewhere along the way gains a clue as to who might have engineered the event.
 
====
 
I don't know, just spit-balling. The movies all start on the same day. But in different cities, prisons, heroes, villains, etc. They're more tied together by timing than with any character interaction.

In the latest round of brilliant strategy, Putin lost the flagship of the Black Sea navy to a nation without a navy.
 

Verbal aphasia makes it very difficult to communicate effectively.
 
For me it isn't very predictable. 
 
Sometimes I say precisely the opposite of what I mean to say and don't notice. Sometimes I notice and correct myself.
 
Sometimes I use the wrong word (often a completely unrelated word) rather than the right word. Sometimes I notice and sometimes I don't.
 
If I tell a story about three different people, I'll use their names interchangeably throughout the course of the story which makes it almost impossible for anyone to figure out what happened.
 
Sometimes I forget a word that I'm going to say in the middle of a sentence and also forget every possible synonym for it. My record for forgetting words and synonyms was around 45 minutes when my niece's apartment burned and I was trying to tell my wife what happened. 
 
I forgot my niece's name, the word "niece", my brother's name, the word "brother", my sister-in-law's name, and the term "sister-in-law". That flustered me so much that I couldn't get out the word "fire" even though I remembered it. My wife ended up asking me if it was an emergency that she had to deal with right then and when I communicated it wasn't, she had me go sit down until I regained my command of the language enough to not be frustrated.
 
I can't imagine what kind of hell that must be for an actor who depends on his verbal communication skills to get paid appearance fees and land roles.

Two British Iranians have been released after detentio in Iran for a number of years and are finally back in Britain
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-60775180

Any other day of the year, it would be the Emerald Archer, but on St. Patty's Day it can only be Sean Cassidy.
 

Any other day of the year, it would be the Emerald Archer, but on St. Patty's Day it can only be Sean Cassidy.
 

Wait, so Elon Musk is now a genius billionaire with access to his own satellites who can defeat KGB agents with his bare hands?
 
Hmmm....
 
To the Muskmobile!!!

In other news, there's a place that executes more people than Texas.
 
Saudi Arabia executes a record 81 people in a single day

William Hurt Dies: Oscar-Winning Actor For ‘Kiss Of The Spider Woman’ Was 71

All of this graphically illustrates why it's essential for any nation that wants to project its power beyond its own borders, to have friends and allies in the global community. It pains me to think how frustrating it must have been for his defense and security advisors to try to explain that to Donald Trump.

War new roundup
 
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Mastercard shuts down in Russia, including such cards issued in partnership through Russian banks.
 
Visa "in coming days" will be shutting down cards issued from foreign banks from working in Russia and from Russian banks from working outside Russia. But not cards issued from Russian banks from working inside Russia.
 
(Russia, on the other hand, claims card will continue to work inside Russia because their banking system doesn't necessarily have to connect with Visa/Mastercard in order to authorize transactions. Though that seems, if true, open to widespread credit card fraud.)
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/mar/05/visa-and-mastercard-will-both-suspend-operations-in-russia
 
That was one thing Zelenskiy specifically asked for when speaking to US senators yesterday and it appears both companies responded (at least to some extent).
 
====
 
Russia detains an additional 2575 protesters Sunday bringing the total number of people arrested since protests began to over 10,000.
 
Approximately 800 protesters in Moscow and 750 in St. Petersburg managed to protest and avoid being arrested (presumably because the protesters outnumbered the policemen significantly).
 
Police used cattle prods and beat protesters with batons. I saw no reports suggesting protesters were being violent.
 
====
 
The Red Cross confirmed that Russia isn't honoring the "humanitarian corridors" in Mariupol and continue shelling the city while preventing civilians from evacuating. And preventing medicine, food, and water from coming into the city.
 
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South Korea will implement export controls against Belarus for “effectively supporting the Russian invasion of Ukraine”, Seoul’s foreign ministry said on Sunday, Reuters reports.
 
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The Ukrainian military is reporting that Russia has suffered losses of more than 11,000 military personnel since the invasion began. A total of 285 Russian tanks and 985 armored combat vehicles were also reported to have been destroyed as well as 109 artillery systems, 44 aircraft and 48 helicopters
 
(A day or two ago, US officials said they trusted the Ukrainian numbers when it came to their announced Russian loss numbers.)
 
 
====
 
the Ukrainian Embassy in Washington has said 3,000 US volunteers responded to the Ukraine’s appeal for foreigners to join the “international legion” to help fight the war.
 
A few days ago, Ukraine estimated 16,000 foreigners had already signed up,  mostly from former Soviet Block countries (where it's easier to cross borders and get to Ukraine quickly).
 
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A prominent member of the Brazilian right, Arthur do Val, a São Paulo congressman  and former supporter of Brazil’s rightwing president, is facing calls to resign after he was exposed in leaked offensive audio messages about the Ukrainian refugees.
 
In one recording, the politician says:
 
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Moody's downgraded Russia's credit rating again from "junk" to "pre-default".
 
It's unknown at this point whether Russia can make the upcoming March 16th interest payment on their national debt which is owed to foreigners. Or if they'd be willing to pay if they could.
https://dcweekly.org/2022/03/06/moodys-downgrades-russias-credit-ratings-to-pre-default/
 
====
 
Some people are posting photos of extensive flooding of an urban area saying that it is Kiev and was a deliberate flooding from a nearby reservoir designed to keep Russian trucks and armor from being able to advance. No independent confirmation that the photos are real. But likely an effective tactic if true.
 
It's been three days since US government sources first characterized the convoy as "stalled".
 
 
====
 
 
This could be simple self-preservation. The Ukrainians claimed to have killed the commanders of three of the four sections the Russian army has as their command structure for the invasion.
 
====
 
Japan plans to supply Ukraine with defense equipment, such as bulletproof vests, gloves, tents and helmets (all things listed on Ukraine's wish list supplied to the EU).
 
Japan has long banned exports of all defense equipment.
 
This is in addition to the recent $100 million in humanitarian assistance and $100 million in loans for military use.
https://www.asahi.com/ajw/articles/14563974
 
 
 

News roundup
 
====
 
South Korea to honor sanctions. They export a lot of semiconductors.
 
https://en.yna.co.kr/view/AEN20220228005951325?input=red
 
====
 
Anonymous claims to have attacked and disabled railways in Belarus. And claim they will continue to keep the rail system disabled as long as the Russian aggression continues.
 
Russia has been depending on that rail system to supply troops in its invasion corridor where that 40 mile long convoy is now stalled out.
 
====
Ukraine has received a new batch of Turkish Bayraktar TB2 attack drones (the kind which they'd used to destroy convoys in the first couple of days of the war).
 
https://www.aerotime.aero/articles/30352-ukraine-says-it-received-new-batch-of-bayraktars-from-turkey
 
Last year, the Ukrainian air force was known to have had 6 of them. But it had ordered 48 more and 12 new control stations for them from Turkey.
 
That article says that the Ukrainians had upped the count of the ones they'd received to around 20 (presumably talking about "by the time the war began"). 
 
So apparently the rest of their order has at least started to arrive.
 
They're really small, and really cheap, compared to a US-made Reaper drone. (The Bayraktar TB2 production cost is estimated at $1–2 million dollars but I couldn't find information on what Turkey is charging Ukraine per drone.) It's also supposed to be able to take off and land on roads rather than needing an airport. 
 
< singing >
Send in the drones.
Where are the drones?
Don't bother, they're here.
 
====
 
Ukrainians are listing used Russian tanks on EBay. There was a T-72 listed with a Buy It Now price of $400,000 before Ebay took the listing down.
 
Nice propaganda move but the delivery charge is likely prohibitive.
 
And I doubt EBay will let any listing stay up long since selling active military hardware has to violate their terms of service.
 
====
 
Ukraine and Russia conducted their first prisoner swap yesterday.
 
Ukraine is also offering to release any Russian prisoner whose mother comes to collect him. (Brilliant propaganda move.)
 
https://censor.net/ua/news/3320764/ukrayina_viddast_rosiyiskyh_polonenyh_yakscho_za_nymy_pryyidut_materi_geraschenko
 
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EU has removed RT (Russia Today) from its airwaves and cable. RT is financed by the Russian government and in the US has been forced to register as an agent of the Russian government.
 
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Massive snowstorm forecast for southern Russia and eastern Ukraine over the next couple of days. Russia is forecast to get 10-30 inches with eastern Ukraine about 8 inches.
 
That could impact Russian resupply efforts. And vastly complicate Ukrainian evacuation efforts.
 
====
 
Russian media now accusing Kazakhstan of “russophobia” and “ukrainization”, whatever that is supposed to mean. Not suggesting Russia will attack Kazakhstan but worth pointing out this is exactly how they built up their narrative about “Nazi Ukraine” (journalist Bakhti Nishanov showing tweeted images from Russian media.)
 
Putin publicly asked Kazakhstan's government to join him in the invasion a few days ago but, surprisingly, Kazakhstan refused.
 
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"According to U.S. officials speaking today, ~100,000 Russian troops inside Ukraine (~70% of its entire deployed force) are running out, or have already run out of fuel & food." - Charlie Lister, an expert who's shown up on a couple of US networks
 
====
 
A $1,000,000 bounty for the arrest of Russian President Vladimir Putin was offered to military officers by Russian entrepreneur Alex Konanykhin
https://www.jpost.com/international/article-699098
 
He doesn't live inside Russia at the moment.
 
====
 
U.S. believes Ukrainian troops are targeting Russia's stalled 40-mile convoy of tanks and artillery that is "stalled" miles from Kyiv city center: senior U.S. defense official. - Jack Detsch, a national security reporter
 
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President Pedro Sanchez of Spain in a speech to his parliament promises to deliver offensive weapons to Ukraine.
https://www.bayradio.fm/2022/03/02/pedro-sanchez-announces-that-he-will-send-weapons-to-the-ukrainian-resistance/
 
edit: other sources claim it's to be sending 1,300 anti-tank rockets and 700,000 rounds of ammunition.
 
====
 
The United States has delivered hundreds of stinger missiles to Ukraine this week, including more than 200 on Monday, according to two Congressional officials briefed on the deliveries. - NBC News
 
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The World Health Organization says the first shipment of medical aid for Ukraine will arrive in Poland on Thursday. 
The shipment includes 36 metric tons of supplies for trauma care and emergency surgery that will meet the needs of 1,000 patients. It also includes other health supplies to meet the needs of 150,000 people. - NBC
 
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70% of Russian oil struggling to find buyers
https://censor.net/ua/news/3320763/70_rosiyiskoyi_nafty_boretsya_za_te_schob_znayity_pokuptsiv_financial_times
 
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Bank of China's Singapore operation has stopped financing deals involving Russian oil and Russian companies.
 
At least two of China’s largest state-owned banks are restricting financing for purchases of Russian commodities.
 
(At the same time China is assuring Russia that it stands with them economically, they're pulling back somewhat financially.)
 
European banks Societe Generale and Credit Suisse Group have halted the financing of commodities, it was reported on Sunday. The two banks, key financiers to commodity trading houses, are no longer providing the money needed to move raw materials such as metals and oil from Russia.
 
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/banking-finance/bank-of-chinas-singapore-operation-stops-financing-russian-oil-trades-source
 
====
 
An image from part of that 40 mile convoy (near Bucha in the Kyiv Oblast).
 

And, I think this is the best intermediate-range analysis I've read over the last couple of weeks.

Javelin seemed to think that the spear was a big deal, and just because we never really got to see him us it does not mean that he was wrong.

I'm not buying it.  Is Putin a sociopath?  Sure.  That is pretty much in the job description for being head of the KGB.  However, he is a very, coldly rational person, which is also part of the job description.  It is basic game theory that in order to get any political mileage out of having nuclear weapons, you have to act like that you are crazy enough to maybe use them.  That is what we are seeing, an act.  
 
He is not going to start lobbing nukes just because things go badly in the Ukraine.  Not unless, a major power swoops in and attacks Russian soldiers, and none of them have any plans on doing this.  So, there are currently a thousand things to worry about, but imminent nuclear war is not one of them.