[psmith2.0]

Yeah, I’m into suspense and tension/unease. The slasher/gore stuff isn’t scary, or even interesting. The Shining and parts of The Silence of the Lambs genuinely scared me more than some idiot in a hockey mask or fedora/striped sweater ever did. The very first Halloween scares me. Very little gore/blood, but lots of creeping, leering suspense and buildup. Modern horror is often CGI gore and annoying “jump scares” (all that James Wan stuff). That’s not scary to me. Creep me out and get under my skin with dread, tension and the lingering threat of something possibly happening…things being inexplicably “off” or not quite right. THAT’s what scares me. Not random-ass “BOO!!” or people bleeding out of their eyes or whatever.

[Ryan]

Originally Posted by psmith2.0 Yeah, I’m into suspense and tension/unease. The slasher/gore stuff isn’t scary, or even interesting. The Shining and parts of The Silence of the Lambs genuinely scared me more than some idiot in a hockey mask or fedora/striped sweater ever did. The very first Halloween scares me. Very little gore/blood, but lots of creeping, leering suspense and buildup. Modern horror is often CGI gore and annoying “jump scares” (all that James Wan stuff). That’s not scary to me. Creep me out and get under my skin with dread, tension and the lingering threat of something possibly happening…things being inexplicably “off” or not quite right. THAT’s what scares me. Not random-ass “BOO!!” or people bleeding out of their eyes or whatever.

I thought the most recent season of Stranger Things did a really good job with this. I normally don't like horror because slasher-gore and jump-scares are dumb, but ST brought a crazy amount of suspense and tension to the show with the Vecna story line that was properly scary.

[709]

Originally Posted by drewprops Meanwhile, in Russia: Wagner's private army was allegedly attacked by Russia, resulting in many deaths, potentially prompting a showdown between the private army and the Kremlin.

This is a very spicy turn of events. News is saying that 25k Wagner troops are within 200 kilometers of Moscow and closing. Yikes.

[kscherer]

Edge-of-the-seat thriller-scarry?

Mother Lode!

Suspense, thrill, claustrophobic, and creepy as hell!

[kscherer]

Originally Posted by 709 This is a very spicy turn of events. News is saying that 25k Wagner troops are within 200 kilometers of Moscow and closing. Yikes.

It's amazing how quickly your stupid can turn stupid.

Russia is not going to fair well from this. Either with a general coup/rebellion unseating the unseat-able Putin, or Putin being able to dislodge himself from the stupid he created and keep the egg off his face. Either way, there is no outcome where Russia comes out of this smelling like anything other than week-old turds.

I've been watching this guy since early in the war, and it's a very nice take.

[psmith2.0]

Couldn’t all happen to a nicer, more deserving guy.

[drewprops]

Prigozhin has already turned his troops back.

I think he bit off a WAY bigger chunk of attention than he realized he would get.

There's no walking this back.

He'll have a target on his back from now on.

This really did seem to expose Russia's deep problems. Those folks are really jammed.


...

[drewprops]

From Phillips Payson O'Brien at The Atlantic:

"For now the question of whether Prigozhin will benefit from all of this planning remains. Reports have emerged that Putin has been forced to cut a deal with Prigozhin, brokered by Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, to call off the Wagner Group. The details are still emerging, but the plain fact that Putin was willing to settle after calling Prigozhin a criminal earlier in the day is telling. If he agrees to sacrifice Shoigu and Gerasimov, that will be even more significant—and a triumph for Prigozhin. But if, after the Wagner Group’s withdrawal, Shoigu and Gerasimov are still in place, all of Prigozhin’s planning might have been in vain. In that case, he will soon have to start making new plans—if he wants to stay alive."


...

[Frank777]

Given the gigantic world interest in the Titanic sub story, I imagine multiple companies are already at the planning stage of sending a drone down to the site of the Titanic and offering an immersive 3D AR/VR experience of the wreckage.

I imagine the tours will begin to be available in early 2024.

[psmith2.0]

Include naked Kate Winslet and I’m there.

The best part of that impossible-to-sit-through (for me) flick.

[drewprops]

Sorry, I just got y'all's Titanicfest confused with the Russian Revolt and imagined Kate Winslet on the front of a tank...


...

[psmith2.0]

We all did.

[drewprops]

So Prigozhin blinked.

Putin got the President of Belarus to negotiate with Prigozhin, whose "long planned" effort against Moscow seemed to fizzle like a man emerging from a drunken decision.

Putin looked weak enough; negotiating with the rebel would have been too much.

The rebel is off to Belarus (to await getting whacked?).

The son of the previous Chechnyan leader offered up his hee haw gang to help push Prigozhin out.

Where is Russia's actual fucking military?

Are all of their armies on a for-hire basis now? It certainly seems that way - warlord mechanics.

Doesn't it seem that a display of power might be necessary from Putin now, to retain his political control of the country?


...

[PB PM]

Russia is starting to look like early 1900-1950s China.

[Yikes!]

Originally Posted by drewprops So Prigozhin blinked. Putin got the President of Belarus to negotiate with Prigozhin, whose "long planned" effort against Moscow seemed to fizzle like a man emerging from a drunken decision. Putin looked weak enough; negotiating with the rebel would have been too much. The rebel is off to Belarus (to await getting whacked?). The son of the previous Chechnyan leader offered up his hee haw gang to help push Prigozhin out. Where is Russia's actual fucking military? Are all of their armies on a for-hire basis now? It certainly seems that way - warlord mechanics. Doesn't it seem that a display of power might be necessary from Putin now, to retain his political control of the country? ...

Much more to this story than we know at this time. Something is up. Seems to me the US knows It’ll be an interesting week. Very telling that neither Putin nor Prigozhin has Resurfaced

[drewprops]

Here's an informed take on it by Tatiana Stanovaya, a senior fellow at the Carnegie Russia Eurasia Center. (@Stanovaya on Twitter)

Below is a brief description of Prigozhin's mutiny and the factors that contributed to its outcome. We, as observers, initially missed important details due to the scarcity of information and lack of time for in-depth analysis. Here's the perspective that currently seems most plausible: 1️⃣ Prigozhin's rebellion wasn't a bid for power or an attempt to overtake the Kremlin. It arose from a sense of desperation; Prigozhin was forced out of Ukraine and found himself unable to sustain Wagner the way he did before, while the state machinery was turning against him. To top it off, Putin was ignoring him and publicly supporting his most dangerous adversaries. 2️⃣ Prigozhin's objective was to draw Putin's attention and to impose a discussion about conditions to preserve his activities - a defined role, security, and funding. These weren't demands for a governmental overthrow; they were a desperate bid to save the enterprise, hoping that Prigozhin's merits in taking Bakhmut (that's why he needed it!) would be taken into account and the concerns would catch Putin's serious attention. Now it appears that these merits helped Prigozhin to get out of this crisis alive, but without a political future in Russia (at least while Putin is in power). 3️⃣ Prigozhin was caught off-guard by Putin's reaction and found himself unprepared to assume the role of a revolutionary. He also wasn't prepared for the fact that Wagner was about to reach Moscow where his only option remained - to "take the Kremlin" - an action that would inevitably result in him and his fighters being eradicated. 4️⃣ Those in the elites who were able reached out to Prigozhin with offers to surrender. This likely added to his sense of impending doom. However, I don't believe any high-level negotiations took place. Lukashenko presented Prigozhin with a Putin-endorsed offer to retreat on the condition that Prigozhin would leave Russia and Wagner would be dissolved. 5️⃣ I don't think Prigozhin was in a position to make demands (such as the resignation of Shoigu or Gerasimov - something many observers expect today. If that happens, it will be due to another reason.) After Putin's address in the morning of June 24th, Prigozhin's primary concern was to find an off-ramp. The situation would have led to inevitable death in merely a few hours. It is possible that Putin has promised him safety on the condition that Prigozhin remains quietly in Belarus. I stand by my previous assertion that Putin and the state have been dealt a severe blow (which will have significant repercussions for the regime). However, I want to emphasize that image has always been a secondary concern for Putin. Setting optics aside, Putin objectively resolved the Wagner and Prigozhin problem by dissolving the former and expelling the latter. The situation would have been far worse if it had culminated in a bloody mess in the outskirts of Moscow. And no, Putin doesn't need Wagner or Prigozhin. He can manage with his own forces. He's now certainly convinced of that. I will disclose many more details in my bulletin to be issued tomorrow evening.

...

[Yikes!]

I’m far from an expert but that take seems incredibly dumbed down and skips over seemingly significant aspects of what happened with no explanation for them (preparations for this starting weeks ago, the extreme hyperbole of prigozgin during those 36 hours, the easy march towards Moscow, the attack on Wagner, etc). Just doesn’t add up.

[PB PM]

Prigozhin sure didn’t seem to be too worried about Putin in the lead up to all this. Best info I’ve seen about him is that he was one of the people who funded Putin’s rise to power, both likely heavily involved in the drug trade during the Boris Yeltsin years, since both were broke when the USSR collapsed.

[Kickaha]

This group is delivering daily reports on a number of topics, but all seem solid. (They have a specific overall bias being primarily funded by defense contractors, but their reports are exceedingly well researched, documented, a plethora of citations, and logically structured.)

https://www.understandingwar.org/bac...t-june-25-2023

[kscherer]

Pieces Parts

No matter how much money you have, failure to value caution will crush you. Pun intended.

[turtle]

What was that we say about Revision A products?

[Ryan]

Otter who steals surfboards eludes capture by authorities

[PB PM]

There otter be a law.

[Anonymous Coward]

That is a local story for me. I can't find a more detailed story, but the otter is a year old pup whose mother also had similar behavior, and this is very unusual behavior for otters. Otters that remain in captivity are given names, and those released into the wild are referred to by number. Also, this otter prefers blue surf boards. (Detailed as in more information about the otter's mother and history, not just its behavior.)

Here is a video of the otter's antics.

More otter coverage.

[turtle]

Originally Posted by Ryan Otter who steals surfboards eludes capture by authorities

I needed that article this morning.

[psmith2.0]

Poor little guy. I will say this…I’m not gonna be hanging around him in open water, Northern California. It’s all fun and cute until a great white pops up, mistaking me for a slightly larger otter.

“I’m here, I’ll just eat both of ya…”.

Throw him in otter reform school, little thug.

[PB PM]

The chances of a shark attack are about as good as having an otter steal your surf board, so very slim.

[psmith2.0]

I don't wanna find out. You're playing with something they'd prey on in the very waters they exist/hunt. I'm not willing to role that dice. May as well go down to the zoo with some steaks tied around your neck, put on some gazelle horns and jump into the lion enclosure. See how that works out.

I heard on all those "Shark Week" shows, that sort of stuff. "Your chances of being attacked/eaten by a shark are less than being struck by lightning." and so forth.

Okay, fine. But I don't stand out in an open field holding metal roads/pipes during a thunderstorm either.

I don't go out of my way to make horrible, irreversible shit happen. I'm not willing to test those statistics with my leg or half my torso.

Which brings up my second gripe about all those "shark shows" on Discovery and the "new age" of shark coverage/documentaries: "we humans aren't on its menu. A shark may take an initial 'exploratory bite', and we humans simply aren't fat and blubbery like a seal, and it's rare that he continues with us" and all that.

Okay, fine. That doesn't take into account how hungry said shark might be. Yes, I'd prefer a New York Strip, a loaded baked potato and a big chilled Caesar salad. But I've also been known to eat a 99¢ 7-11/gas station hot dog when I've been hungry, so...in the end, I was no longer hungry. That's the only thing that matters.

As for "exploratory bite", from a golden retriever puppy or baby tiger, big deal. Put on some bactine and a Band-Aid and get on with your life. An "exploratory bite" from a 12-foot (or more) great white might mean your leg is torn off, or you have a big 22-30" half-circle missing gap in your torso, with whatever's left of your internal organs spilling out into the ocean. You're dead/fucked either way. At that point, I'd want the thing to come back and finish me up. Make a meal of your McPaul, if I'm that maimed and in shock/agony. Don't leave me there floating/screaming, somehow "relieved" that I'm not a plump, juicy seal and not to his culinary liking.

These shows all say stupid stuff like that as though it's a little superficial nip vs. major, life-altering (ending) trauma to tissue, bone and organs.

"That shark bit my head off, but he didn't mean it. I wasn't a seal and didn't taste good to him, so...whew!"



You're still horrifically dead, intentionally or not, hippie. And floating around the open ocean in a black, shiny wetsuit (and flippers) isn't doing yourself any favors. You kinda brought that on yourself.

[PB PM]

Originally Posted by psmith2.0 Okay, fine. But I don't stand out in an open field holding metal roads/pipes during a thunderstorm either.

What? Don't you know the old saying, no risk, no reward! I guess getting crisped by a lightning strike isn't much of a reward...

[Anonymous Coward]

Some on topic news from the past couple of days:

BBC: Drone photography shows shark and human coexistence in the wild (New York and California).

Ars Technica: Sharks stealing fish from anglers seems to be a learned behavior.

and from a link in the Ars Technics story: The same freshwater sharks are in an Australian golf course pond.