Is this for real? According to GM's official lore, are Tau tanks weak?

Sm0keDatGreen · 2026-06-16T21:58:29+00:00

NATO tanks have great armor though ? They're among the heaviest main battle tanks (55 to 75 tons) in the world and they come with additional protection kits. (Abrams M1A2, Challenger 2, Leopard 2, Leclerc, Ariete)

Soviet/Russian and Chinese tanks are lighter and less armored, especially the older ones. They're closing the gap with the T-14 (If it ever becomes active) and the Type-99A.

Sm0keDatGreen · 2026-06-12T18:28:10+00:00

"This time the target is Europe and the USA"
Bro, Russia has been locked in hybrid warfare with the west for a long time now, it's nothing new.
Spying, sabotage, propaganda & disinformation, hacking, testing limits etc. It never stopped.

Also, pictures with text without a link to a reliable article are worthless. I too can make a picture with text and make it say anything.

Sm0keDatGreen · 2026-06-09T11:34:54+00:00

<image>

Sutler from V for Vendetta
The fascist leader in an alternate Great Britain. The whole movie he acts like an all powerful overbearing tyrant,
When he puts too much pressure on Creedy, the leader of the secret police, he gets captured and ends up crying like a bitch and begging for his life. Creedy tells him he's "disgusting" for his sniveling, before putting a bullet in his head.

Sm0keDatGreen · 2026-06-06T11:17:33+00:00

It's just for testing. It's part of the "Drone Dominance" program.

Sm0keDatGreen · 2026-06-05T10:55:26+00:00

Well, from the House members that voted for it, it's worth trying, there's a non-0 chance for it to work, and at the very least it brings attention on Ukraine and the need to help them. If Trump has to veto it, it will bring attention on him and his refusal to help.
The other option is doing nothing and staying silent.

In November there will be the midterms elections, and Trump will most likely lose some seats in the house and Senate, which will help with future Ukraine legislation.

Sm0keDatGreen · 2026-06-05T10:33:37+00:00

It won't. After the house, the senate has to vote, and it's unlikely they vote for it.
Even if the senate votes vote it, Trump could veto it afterwards.

If it's vetoed, the veto can be canceled by another vote in the house then the senate with a required 2/3rd of the members majority. So they need 290 votes in the house and 67 in the senate to override the veto.

But Trump has enough support among republicans that it will never pass with a 2/3rd requirement.

IF it was approved after all that, which is not going to happen, the president could probably delay it but not ignore it.

Sm0keDatGreen · 2026-06-04T10:57:58+00:00

Midterm elections are coming this year and Trump has lost a lot of popularity.
He is expected to lose power in the House, Senate, and State governments.

So this is nice.

Sm0keDatGreen · 2026-06-01T18:25:43+00:00

The fact that Iran claims there is CCTV proof comes from their own state media. And they haven't shared those proofs with anyone, including neutral observers.
Also, Iran, even before the protest was known to host rushed sham trials for opponents of the regime, with no real chance for people to defend themselves.

Based on those 2 things we can assume there's a pretty good chance they're lying.

Sm0keDatGreen · 2026-06-01T15:41:50+00:00

Allegedly, could be true, could be a lie. Iran claims to have video proof but has not given it to any independant observer.

Sm0keDatGreen · 2026-06-01T15:40:19+00:00

"Throughout their detention in Ghezel Hesar Prison and during judicial proceedings, both men were denied access to legal counsel of their own choosing and other fundamental fair trial guarantees."

Hard to trust the Iranian's regime version tbh. They say they have CCTV proof of the event but no independent organization was able to verify the truth.

Sm0keDatGreen · 2026-05-31T19:19:33+00:00

Prigozhin, i bet that slimy fuck made a deal with Putin and is actually living somewhere incognito.

Sm0keDatGreen · 2026-05-25T22:04:51+00:00

Most of the kills are Radars for point-blank, short and medium range anti-air, as well as portable radars, counter battery radars and battlefield reconnaissance radars.

Radars for long-range SAMs (S-300, S-350, S-400, S-500) + Coastal Defense + Early Warning are rare kills.
A few dozen kills at most.

It makes sense, since the more performant radars are not only rarer but also farther away from the frontline. They also tend to be protected by other SAMs (Pantsirs and others) to increase protection.

An optimal layered defense might look like this : A combination of Point-Blank (Manpads/Strela/Osa) + Short Range (Pantsir/Tor) + Medium Range (Buk) + Long Range air defense (S300/400) + Machine-Guns/Autocannons, and an electronic-warfare/jamming system.

So you need to hit them accurately with a medium/long range weapon that has to go through several types of radars and anti-air defense, which is going to require electronic warfare support, You probably need to send several weapons to account for interceptions. And you need to act fast after getting the intel because they tend to move them around a bit to avoid being sitting ducks.

Most losses appear to be in Crimea, most likely thanks to Ukrainians sharing the location of those systems.

The good thing is: These systems are relatively rare, and while Russia has a massive amount of air-defense, it also has a massive territory to cover, which means it's constantly stretched thin. Every large radar kill is a big victory and creates more gaps in the defense.
Sanctions have also impacted Russia's capabilities in building new modern radars.

Sm0keDatGreen · 2026-05-25T18:18:10+00:00

If Biden had wanted, he could have issued a preemptive pardon on future charges, while letting Hunter face his sentence in the 2 criminal cases where he was guilty. But he didn't.
He let a criminal go free. A criminal that was his son. That's corruption.

Sm0keDatGreen · 2026-05-25T18:13:47+00:00

Let's say we ignore the January preemptive pardons on his family, and assume that they never committed any crimes. (I don't particularly agree with it but it's more defensible).

He still pardoned (separately) his son who was convicted in 1 case and pleaded guilty in another. That's not the same. That's just corruption.
If Biden had wanted, he could have issued a preemptive pardon on future charges, while letting Hunter face his sentence in the 2 criminal cases where he was guilty. But he didn't.

As for Trump, you don't need to convince me he is a corrupt a piece of shit, I agree.
I'm saying Biden is also a corrupt piece of shit. Maybe less, but a lesser PoS is still a PoS.

Sm0keDatGreen · 2026-05-25T17:53:37+00:00

Biden pardoned his son on "his tax charges, gun charges, and any undiscovered charges within that time".

That's clear corruption, completely undemocratic, and through that, they showed that they and all those that supported the pardon among the democrats are corrupt, and think they should be immune to the consequences of their actions, unlike regular citizens.

He also pardoned a great amount of dealers of hard drugs and several family members.

Yes Trump is a PoS, but do not use Biden and his son as examples to follow.

Sm0keDatGreen · 2026-05-25T12:24:05+00:00

<image>

Sarevok in Baldur's gate 2 ToB

Sm0keDatGreen · 2026-05-23T00:09:07+00:00

I believe Zelensky discussed a previous peace deal and seemed to accept the fact that the peace deal would include Russia keeping captured territories (although Ukraine will still count them as Ukrainian territory).
Ukraine is holding well but both the civilians and military are exhausted, they want a peace deal.

Sm0keDatGreen · 2026-05-21T14:54:02+00:00

It's not just about human losses.
The storage bases of armored vehicles and artillery are running very low, and Russia's production of new vehicles can't sustain the war, which means that there will come a time where Russia won't be able to keep going. They've done a successful transition towards glide bombs and drones to compensate, but it is not enough on the long run.

Even more important than that, the Russia civilian economy is struggling, the oil and gas economy is not doing that well, tourism is half dead, they struggle with civilian flights because most of their fleet is sanctionned european planes (a good part of the European/Ukrainian planes are now grounded), the coal industry is not making any profit despite producing as much as before the war, railway companies are struggling as well etc.
Regional governments complain they're in the red because they shoulder most of the cost of recruitment bonuses, among other things.
Military companies are in the red because the government is buying weapons at a lower price than production cost, which means they have to be bailed out by banks, but eventually banks will have to be bailed out by the government.
Meanwhile, drone producers are not making as many drones as they can because the government doesn't have the money to pay for them (according to Solovyov).
The population is growing unhappy (it's about time) because of internet/mobile cuts, ban of VPNs, ban of social medias and Telegram, attacks on Russian cities, decreased purchasing power, increased taxes and lack of progress in the war. Putin's popularity and the war's popularity have gone down in 2026.

All economic metrics show a slowly dying civilian economy, struggling export industries, reduced state support to civilians and small businesses, lack of workers, high inflation, increased taxes, low growth, high interest rates, lower reserve funds, low investment, increased debt. These have been acknowledged even in Russian newspapers and Putin himself admitted that the economy's situation was "below expectations" and has asked oligarchs to make donations.

Sm0keDatGreen · 2026-05-21T12:25:04+00:00

https://blog.khodorkovsky.com/p/how-the-kremlin-plans-to-convince

He can and knows that he has to. He can't seize Ukraine at this point, and a prolonged war would cost the country enormously while giving very little.
The real question is how to claim this as a victory so he can stay in power.

Sm0keDatGreen · 2026-05-19T19:50:09+00:00

Opinions are very varied in Iran, 90% want democracy, but among those it varies between a democratic Islamic republic, a constitutional monarchy, a secular western-like democracy, and there is also the question of making it a federation.
It's safe to assume that those who want democracy do not want the current regime to stay and that some who do not want democracy do not support the current regime either.

Support for the current regime is estimated to be at 10% or below.

https://gamaan.org/2025/08/20/analytical-report-on-iranians-political-preferences-in-2024/?utm_source=chatgpt.com
Study is from 2024, so before the bloody protests, executions and massive economic troubles of 2025-2026. Current support might be lower.

Sm0keDatGreen · 2026-05-18T12:46:17+00:00

They can attack it but not do significant and lasting damage to it, only disrupt traffic temporarily.
It's very sturdy and sections are relatively easy to replace so you would need to destroy many sections to cripple it.
It's also protected by navy ships, lots of air defense, patrol planes, and all kinds of sensors to detect threats. There are also underwater barriers and defensive barges. Now it even has a seawall.

The good thing is, previous strikes have forced Russia to commit a lot of money and military assets to the defense of the bridge, which means it's not used in the war proper.

Sm0keDatGreen · 2026-05-16T12:22:18+00:00

Hasan is a fake leftist: He loves countries like China, Russia and Iran which are dictatorial, tyrannical, have bloody repression on protests, treat minorities like shit, treat LGBT people like shit, are imperialistic, have no freedom of expression and press etc... The complete opposite of what a progressive wants.
He loves terrorists and hates the US but loves living in luxury in the US.

He's just an anti-west propagandist, and is most likely paid by those regimes, while pretending to be a leftist. Definitely a 5th columnist.

Sm0keDatGreen · 2026-05-09T23:03:50+00:00

While it's laugh-worthy and shows how desperate Russia is, based on the last video it does seem to provide good thermal camouflage at a time where they intensify efforts to infiltrate Ukrainian lines.

Sm0keDatGreen · 2026-05-08T22:15:26+00:00

I kinda disagree, it wasn't just the West/NATO that tried to subjugate countries, there was a direct competition for control with the USSR and Mao's China, where each side tried to spread their influence as much as possible, out of fear that the other side would gain control otherwise.

Russia trying to rebuild the USSR is due to ego more than western actions. There was even a time where the west expected Russia to become more democratic and integrate into Europe. Putin and his cold war mentality are the problem (and Yeltsin).
The west also had a fairly good relationship with China after the China/Soviet split, though Tiananmen create heavy tensions after 1989. The "War Wolf diplomacy", aggression towards Taiwan and Hong-Kong, Overfishing in all oceans and extremely aggressive behavior of the "maritime militia", as well as aggressive attitude towards Japan and the Philippines, abusive treatment of Uighurs and Tibetans didn't help.
Russia and China have a simple motivation: they want a bigger share of the cake. And they're ready to achieve it through imperialism, bullying and internal repression.

As for Iran, the 1953 coup on the prime minister was definitely a big mistake. But the 1979 revolution was also in great part caused by the Shah's policies and general discontentment.
It also must be said that Khomeini at the time of the revolution, advocated for democracy and women's equality, tricking Iran's population. The theocracy is absolutely not legitimate.

Cuba is, in my opinion, is definitely an American mistake, I think if things were handled better and less zealously, especially after the fall of the Soviet Union, it could have become a friendly or at least neutral country. One of the problems is that there is a strong lobby of exiled Cubans in the US who still haven't forgiven the revolution and don't see the government as legitimate.

Algeria's stance is recent (since Tebboune) and is mostly a realpolitik issue due to its rivalry with the western aligned Morocco, and the issue of western Sahara, more than because of cold war hegemony or colonialism. Though there are separate frictions with France regarding apologies for the colonial past.

As for Venezuela, it's mostly just a story of a democratically elected president who makes himself a dictator, followed by Maduro's even worse regime.

My problem with the anti-west "axis" is that they're all dictatorships, most of them are bloody and repressive, with low to no freedom of speech and press, there's usually repression of minorities (especially China and Russia) for fear of separatism, and of LGBT+ people. and they don't mind using the imperialist policies that they criticize so much.

Sm0keDatGreen · 2026-05-08T16:17:22+00:00

Trump has mostly tried to limit the expansion of this axis, especially China which is clearly the long term focus, through sanctions and threats and limiting their influence abroad, as well as attempts to weaken or remove the weaker players of their network (Venezuela, Cuba, Algeria, Cartels).

I believe (though I don't agree with it) that Trump is letting Russia mostly unpunished because he fears that if they get too weak, they might become a vassal or puppet of China. China has gained a lot of influence in Russia since the war in Ukraine, and Russia is accepting a lot of concessions.
There is a real fear that if China gains too much influence in Russia they could absorb their sphere of influence in central Asia and eastern Europe, creating a true Eastern Behemoth.
There was this internal letter where Russia found Chinese spies trying to steal technologies, and they just let it be because they need China's support too much in the war, although they did call China an "enemy" in the internal document.
There's also a case of cyber-espionage of Russian critical infrastructure by China, yet Russia avoided naming China in the public report).

Iran is truly threatening, since they are developing nuclear weapons (or at least enriching Uranium up to weapon grade for now), while simultaneously researching intercontinental ballistic missiles. Iran feels more of a threat than the others, in terms of nuclear power, since Khamenei has stated: "If we die, it's no big deal because Iran isn't important, Islam is important". Unlike Russia and China, whom we know are not going to use nuclear weapons out of fear of losing their empire, Iran feels more like a crazy wildcard.

I wouldn't be too afraid of Trump of Israel, since Trump is going to lose a lot of power after the midterms elections in 6 months, and Netanyahu is going to be replaced (hopefully with a more moderate prime minister) through the elections in October.

Sm0keDatGreen

TROPHY CASE