Easily the most terrifying headline I've ever read, even for a 'Daily Mail' article

[Siwsan]

Seriously - probably hyperbole but I'm feeling in need of an Ativan, or two, right now.

Furious Putin prepares to use 'father of all bombs' as brave Ukrainians hold up advance: West warns Russia could use terror weapon that vaporizes bodies alongside a massive Amphibious assault as invaders run into fierce resistance in Kyiv

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10552743/Furious-Putin-prepares-use-father-bombs-brave-Ukrainians-hold-advance.html

[Ocelot II]

1. It's the Daily Mail.

[Siwsan]

3. Yea - but the problem is that Russia does have that sort of weapon

From the article:

Thermobaric weapons - also known as vacuum bombs - are high-powered explosive that use the atmosphere itself as part of the explosion. They are among the most powerful non-nuclear weapons ever developed.

A thermobaric bomb dropped by the US on Taliban in Afghanistan in 2017 weighed 21,600 pounds and left a crater more than 300 meters (1,000 feet) wide after it exploded six feet above the ground.

Thermobaric weapons were developed by both the U.S. and the Soviet Union in the 1960s. In September 2007, Russia detonated the largest thermobaric weapon ever made, which created an explosion equivalent to 39.9 tons.

[Hortensis]

19. :) Yes, but it's the Daily Mail. Skip the DM, skip the Ativan.

When I'm intrigued by headlines like that, I look their subjects up in journals known for stultifying adherence to facts and scrupulous word use. Drug of choice, strong coffee.

[Siwsan]

22. Too late in the day for strong coffee. I settled for a glass of Merlot

Almost time to feed the boys, and then I might indulge in some fish & chips.

[Hortensis]

24. Lol, good. Merlot will do it for me also.

And fish and chips, though my husband has a standing order for Popeyes whenever he passes within 5 miles.

[Siwsan]

27. I confess I have never eaten food from Popeyes.

And there's one not too far from me. Every time I drive past it I think, hmm I should try that place. Then the chicken sandwich craze hit and I had to navigate past the traffic backed up onto the highway. What was up with that???

Maybe soon......................

[Hortensis]

44. Lol, never tried it. I've managed to compartmentalize the

calories of the plain chicken away and am very careful not to open that door again. Even mentioning it...!

The pieces have gotten smaller over the years, used to be bigger than other chains, but if you ever try it ask for spicy. That's what's really different. Our son and DIL think it's heresy to not get their Cajun fries or at least the biscuits, but we usually head home with a bucket of spicy dark and have it with a salad.

[Nixie]

29. I hear you about the DM, but TFG has made anything

believable. And Putin seems to be the same type of psycho as t-rump.

I saw that headline and cringed, too.

[BlackSkimmer]

21. In the last week, I've seen links from the Enquirer, the Daily Mail.

And today, even the Sun.

I guess standards have changed? Somehow I’ve missed the announcement.

[Siwsan]

23. Nah - I usually browse TDM for the British entertainment news but I have to get past the headline

I watch a British soap that airs about 2 weeks after it does in the UK. I am impatient and always on the hunt for 'spoilers'. I also browse The Sun.

[BlackSkimmer]

36. I read most of them. I enjoy it. Junk food for the brain.

I just know they used not to be considered approved sources for DU.

Again, I missed the announcement.

[Siwsan]

37. Funny thing is, they have gotten the jump on stories.

I can't cite a specific, right now, but I do remember them being very fast on running some significant ones.

[BlackSkimmer]

39. You're absolutely right. The Enquirer with John Edwards. I remember people here trying to discount i

it, but they were right on.

They broke that story wide open. I give them kudos for that.

Since then, not so much.

TMZ is another gossip outlet I believe. I’d never link to it, but I’ve never seen them wrong that I can remember. They seem to have great sources.

[Nixie]

30. I think there was an overreaction to that Enquirer

link. The text in the OP explained that they were laughing at the headlines about Kamala.

[Cheezoholic]

2. Just saw this

Last edited Fri Feb 25, 2022, 08:16 PM - Edit history (1)

I apologize, I don't believe those are nukes but they could be heavy medium range missiles that could be fired on Ukraine from Russian soil with large conventional warheads.

Link to tweet

[Siwsan]

4. I'm going to Trader Joe's, tomorrow, and plan to stock up on COMFORT FOODS!!

Kind of silly, though, because when I get stressed I lose my appetite.

Maybe I'll buy one of those massive bottles of bubbly, and see if they sell any really, really long straws.

[Walleye]

8. I'm already planning on going to the dispensary tomorrow for a couple of bottles of tincture

I’m getting that “what the hell do I care, we’re all gonna be blown up tomorrow” attitude I had in my youth To your health

[Siwsan]

11. I've got some of that, too

I was making SUCH progress in lowering my anxiety level.

My little furry boys are going to get tired of me asking for comforting cuddles.

[Walleye]

13. Yep don't know what I'd do without the felines

[BlackSkimmer]

26. Please don't worry.

I walked my pooches today as usual. Fed the ferals. Talked to my chickens.

My bff in the UK did the exact same thing. We both later talked how it must be in Ukraine.

This war is horrifying, but don’t give fear power over you.

My father lived as a child in London during the Blitz. Spent many nights in the Underground. Mom was growing up in Wales and saw an oil depot bombed in the early days, then later many close calls.

Stay calm. Carry on.

[58Sunliner]

5. Shit.

[regnaD kciN]

25. I assume NATO has quite a few of them...

…along the Russian border with Romania, Hungary, Slovakia, Poland, and the Baltic states.

[NickB79]

33. No. NATO doesn't do mobile launch systems for our nukes

Air launch, sea launch and missile silo launch. Very few of our nukes are battlefield tactical.

And we don't base any nukes that close to Russia's border.

[Nixie]

31. Holy crap!

[sarisataka]

41. Highly doubtful those are ICBMs

Firstly they would not be effective against Ukraine. The 'I' stands for intercontinental, they are extremely long range weapons.

2nd it is very hard to believe Russia would be moving nuclear weapons with so little security around them.

Lastly is that Russia has a great variety of missiles in their inventory. Most of them are not nuclear and built for shorter ranges than half way around the world.

[Cheezoholic]

45. I agree. Those kinda look like

The infamous SCUD launchers MSM so loved back in the early 90's

[liberalla]

48. O.M.G. I can't believe they would use that on Ukraine!

[RussBLib]

52. and if they do?

I guess we still sit on the sidelines, because they didn't attack a NATO country.

[BlueIdaho]

6. Will the Russian Military pull the plug on Putin?

I know it sounds unlikely but there might just be a few sane generals left in the chain of command.

[lagomorph777]

7. We need to help Ukraine drop a bomb on that bomb.

We probably have intel and weapons that could make it happen. Preferably inside Russia.

[BlackSkimmer]

28. Yeah, hoo-yah!

More violence!

[radius777]

46. +1. It's a zero sum game.

Putin will never be appeased.

He basically is the modern day version of Hitler - who was appeased for years until confrontation was inevitible.

[Jilly_in_VA]

10. It''s the Daily Wail, after all

However, my spousal unit suggested last night that Vlad wanted Chernobyl so he could make "dirty bombs", which is plausible, I suppose.

[Siwsan]

12. I put NOTHING past him

This is just a frightening, stressful, anxiety filled time.

[Cheezoholic]

17. Drop 5 or 6 2k pounders

just in the dirt around Chernobyl and you've got a dirty bomb

[Wingus Dingus]

14. Psychological warfare? Make Ukraine surrender with threats of The Big One.

If this is deployed, then that means Putin believes the situation is an unexpected shit show and he's desperate to salvage it. The physical damage would of course be immense, but the fallout from the optics would be worse. His whole point was that Ukraine really deep-down belonged with Mother Russia--bombing them to the Stone Age doesn't seem very motherly.

[Siwsan]

15. Maybe that's why he calls it the 'father of all bombs'

[Ghost Dog]

32. Wow! So the Daily Mail was a Russian trojan horse all the time!

That explains a lot. It vehemently supports Johnson and his Totty, sorry, Tory party too, as do Russian oligarchs. So there you have it.

[Jerry2144]

16. War freaking sucks

The typical person, no matter the nationality, pays the price for the chest-thumping of some petty, piss-ant, putrid tyrant. Whether the people are on the side of freedom and the common person or conscripted into being on the usurper. You know Putrid Putin will not personally pay any price for this pointless war. But people who would rather just wake up in the morning, go earn a living, then come home to a warm, safe home at night will pay the price he will not. I wish I lived on the alternate Earth where everyone has this basic right to live free from fear for their lives or survival.

[radius777]

47. It's human nature, we're violent chimps,

and I'd rather that the chimps on the side of freedom win.

[Jerry2144]

49. I am just so ready for us

To evolve and become better. There are some good people in this world. Those who help the helpless, rescue those in need, reach out to improve the lives of those who need it, regardless of nationality or even species. But we’re the minority vilified by the conservatives

[Dial H For Hero]

50. That's not how evolution works.

[Jerry2144]

51. maybe not the right words

but the meaning is valid

[Dial H For Hero]

18. It's a thermobaric bomb that supposedly has four times a yield of our own MOAB.

It’s never been used in combat, though, and the yield is disputed. Russia claims it has a yield of equivalent of 44 tons of TNT going off at once, which in terms of sheer blast approaches the power of the smallest tactical nuclear weapons.

To put this in perspective, it’s about 1/300th as powerful as the bomb dropped on Hiroshima (13 kilotons, quite small by modern standards).

[Siwsan]

20. I think it's the word 'vaporize' that triggers me

[Dial H For Hero]

35. Military ordnance has been doing that for over a century.

A 2,000 lb bomb will vaporize anyone close to it when it goes off. This simply does so out to a greater distance.

[NickB79]

34. A bomb of that size can't be delivered by missile

You need a heavy bomber or modified cargo plane.

[sarisataka]

38. I am not sure even if Tsar Bomba

Is still in their inventory as an operational weapon.

One thing Russia definitely does not want however is to detonate a 50 megaton weapon, or 100 if they care to dial it to the Max, with themselves right in the path of its extremely nasty fallout cloud.

Further reading, oops, shows he was talking about thermobaric weapons. Those are conventional however if used on a city would create devastation on par with a small nuke. That would push any tentative allies away.

[Siwsan]

40. Hopefully Putin will prove to be spewing bluster.

He's a maniacal misanthrope, though, so who knows

[Dial H For Hero]

42. Tsar Bomba was only tested, it never went into production.

Far too heavy to be practical.

[sarisataka]

43. Thanks, I did not have my reference handy

And could not recall if they built a couple as ultimate doomsday weapons or if the test was so terrifying the Soviets were afraid to build more