Phil Landmeier @shuttersparks@social.cleverlibre.org

@lauren How's the wind over in them thar parts? Did it materialize?

@snarkysteff Yeah, I'm sure that's true with English as the lingua franca of the world these days. But it's a personal thing with me to learn the local language because all kinds of ethnic and cultural stuff can only be unlocked if you speak the language fluently with idioms.

I'm sure I'd manage at first with English and Italian but I'd be very focused on learning Albanian ASAP. It would be a new challenge.

@snarkysteff Last time I studied good places to emigrate to, Albania topped the list. The biggest negative is that my multilingual skills that enable me to pick up related languages is useless. Albanian is not related to any language I speak or any other language for that matter.

@davidtoddmccarty Ran a search on #iceland and several candidates popped up. Not sure what you're looking for but those could be a start.

@Saffo Yiddish has a word for this: chutzpah.

@lauren I don't believe you. You keep posting the same photo.

@VPS_Reports The media is not liberal. That's a myth that I remember going back to the 1960s.

@dcreemer The FT-450D? It's small. Not as small as the TS-50 and Icom-706 I used to have, but it's small compared to to a serious HF rig. So the few buttons it has have to be multi-purposed. A radio with a larger front panel has room for a lot more controls. Also, knobs are better than buttons.

Also, I like radios with a RIT knob. Even my tiny QRP radio has that. But the 450 doesn't.

I've never been clear on what the intended audience is for the 450. Who is this radio designed for? I don't get it.

@dcreemer Hah, yeah, I'm old school. No smart or connected devices in this household. Better to buy appliances that are 20 or 25 years old and maintain them yourself. You can get good deals on appliances at thrift stores. No need for a $2000 refrigerator that breaks in three years. Get one for $50 and keep it going with parts you can buy on Amazon for cheap.

@dcreemer I've been looking at Xiegu radios as possibly my next radio. Although when I get sufficiently annoyed with the FT-450D I may revert to my Kenwood TS-570D for a while and then decide.

And yes, I realize that the FT-450D is really intended to be a mobile HF radio. It's not really meant to be used as a primary radio. Sigh.

@ScottLucas They won't withdraw. They'll have to be driven out. And if that's the case then the sooner we get to it in earnest, the better. Ukraine is suffering terribly from an unjust invasion.

The Russians must be driven out with overwhelming force that does as much damage as possible. It's the only thing the Russians understand. If you play "nice" they laugh at you. Keep that in mind.

Also keep in mind that Russia is a paper tiger with an economy the same size as Spain's.