Reminds me of this awesome old tune: Artemis - Elysian Fields

same, spending a lot of time reading those long threads

ah okay, so they're slowly getting there, FF also has potential but I don't know if they can pull it off

Marvel Comics started doing reprints of ROM and Micronauts recently in hardcover, must be some kind of bigger new Hasbro rights deal.. btw I always thought that after people get tired of the MCU their next move would be to make X-Men movies for like 5 years straight

If we look at it in a vaccum, they're buying mostly offensive gear and issuing aggressive statements left and right so I can see how it can look dangerous if interpreted seriously, but this is the Polish government we're talking about so indeed it could just be about money for private interests through local defense contracts. Military flexing and being loud is one thing but actually getting involved in war would be politically unpopular. The total military spend will apparently be around PLN 400-500 billion ($100-120 billion) at the first stage but I don't have a formal source for that. I do find it funny they maxed out the South Korean loan limit though lol.

There are some US hawks writing pieces advocating for a non-NATO European 'coalition of the willing' but I guess that's nothing new, remember how the Bush Jr admin had all these plans for Eastern Euorpe.

Some of the criticism from centrists/socdems/alt-right libertarians is the government hasn't replaced their arms fast enough after giving them to Ukraine (this is also somehow considered an anti-war stance there lol), and also that they should pick less fights with other European allies but officially everyone in government is onboard for these purchases from what I've seen, criticizing the management of but not the decision itself.

The Korea Times - Korea expected to increase defense exports 87% by 2027: FKI [17/07//2023]

South Korea's defense exports came to $17.3 billion last year, almost a six-fold increase from $3 billion in 2020.

South Korea's export of tanks and other armored vehicles to Poland stood at $255 million in the first four months of this year. It already exceeded all of last year's exports of $201 million of the said items.

The Korea Times - Limited policy finance support could impede major export deals with Poland [25/07/2023]

According to sources, Tuesday, Poland reportedly requested more than 20 trillion won ($15.6 billion) in financial support from Korea for the terms of their second defense contract.

Countries ordering large-scale projects often request financial loans to cover insufficient funds, which makes the scale of financial support key to the finalization of contracts. However, due to the limited support capacity of Korean ECAs, this year's negotiations are encountering difficulties.

Rzeczpospolita - Minister Błaszczak's huge loans. Who will pay for the weapons? (in Polish) [31/07/2023]

In 2022 Poland made an order for 1000 K2 tanks, 600 K9A1 self-propelled howitzers, 280 K239 multiple rocket launchers, and 48 FA-50 light combat planes. A portion would be produced in South Korea and delivered over the next 2 years, after that the rest is planned to be built in Poland through a licensing deal.

The article reiterates that the first credit/loan request from Poland was for PLN 36.8 billion ($9.2 billion) and the second one for PLN 62.5 billion ($15.6 billion). Neither administration publicly disclosed these numbers and details about the first loan only came out as a byproduct of a discussion in South Korean parliament. South Korean banks have hit a local credit/loan limit for financing arms sales this year due to the large order and are asking the government to increase it.

TASS - Poland, Ukraine to form joint military unit, says Shoigu [09/08/2023]

Shoigu added that Poland has become the main tool of America’s anti-Russian policy. "The existing risks are connected with the militarization of Poland, which has become the main instrument of the anti-Russian policy of the United States. Warsaw has announced its intention to build, as the Poles claim, 'the most powerful army on the continent.' In this connection, large-scale purchases of weapons from the US, the UK and South Korea have commenced, including tanks, artillery systems, air defense and anti-aircraft systems and combat aircraft," the top defense official pointed out.

early 90s electronic was so authentic and vibe-filled

the 'ghoul to ghoul' communication protocol