#Manpower Middle East

[alliance00]

Manpower Solutions in the Middle East: Partner for Expert Manpower Middle East Services

For top-notch manpower in the Middle East, contact Alliance Recruitment Agency. We provide both on-board and remote staffing solutions for various industries worldwide. Our expertise ensures you get the right talent tailored to your specific needs. Let us help you build an exceptional team.

[mgcounsultinggroup]

How Does Executive Search in the Middle East Drive Business Success?

Executive search has been the lifeline of business growth in the Middle East, allowing firms to find the best talents suited for strategic objectives. As the Middle East continues to experience the boom of economic transformation through diversification and large-scale projects, having the right executives is an absolute requirement in order to navigate these market complexities. In this article, we explore how Top Executive Recruitment in the Middle East works and why it is a key driver of business success.

What Makes Executive Search in the Middle East Unique?

Executive Recruitment Specialists in the Middle East face a unique challenge due to the region’s distinct business environment—a blend of traditional values and modern innovation. Executive Search in the Middle East plays a critical role as the region serves as a global hub for industries such as oil and gas, technology, healthcare, and construction. However, the key challenge lies in identifying executives who can seamlessly bridge local cultural expectations with international business practices.

Cultural fit is a defining feature of Senior Executive Search in the Middle East. Employers prioritize not only technical expertise but also candidates who deeply understand the nuances of doing business in the region. This includes knowledge of local regulatory frameworks, market dynamics, and cultural sensitivities.

Why Is Executive Search in Such High Demand?

The demand for Executive Recruitment Specialists in the Middle East is being fueled by several factors:

1. Economic Diversification

Governments across the region are shifting focus away from oil by investing in renewable energy, tourism, technology, and education. These industries require visionary leaders capable of achieving ambitious goals.

2. Global Competition

As the Middle East continues to attract international businesses, there is growing demand for executives who can lead multicultural teams, foster innovation, and compete on a global stage.

3. Talent Gaps

Despite the growth in the local talent pool, there remains a shortage of specialized skills in many key industries. Executive search firms play a critical role in sourcing international talent to fill these gaps.

How Does Executive Search Work in the Middle East?

The process of Senior Executive Search in the Middle East typically follows these steps:

1. Understanding Client Needs

Search firms begin by consulting with clients to determine their leadership requirements, organizational goals, and cultural values. In the Middle East, this process often involves ensuring a candidate’s background aligns with the company’s long-term vision.

2. Sourcing Candidates

Drawing from global networks, executive search specialists identify candidates with the necessary expertise. Given the talent shortages in some industries, international recruitment is often essential.

3. Screening and Assessment

Candidates undergo rigorous evaluation through interviews, psychometric tests, and reference checks. Special emphasis is placed on their ability to manage cultural differences and build relationships within the region.

4. Final Selection

Shortlisted candidates are presented to the client, who makes the final decision. Executive recruitment specialists may also assist with salary negotiations and onboarding to ensure a smooth transition.

Industries That Benefit Most from Executive Recruitment

1. Technology

With the rise of smart cities, fintech, and digital transformation, the technology sector is a major focus for Top Executive Recruitment in the Middle East. Companies need leaders who can drive innovation and implement cutting-edge solutions.

2. Healthcare

Governments across the region are investing heavily in advanced healthcare systems, increasing the need for executives skilled in hospital management, medical research, and public health policy.

3. Energy

While oil and gas remain significant, renewable energy is rapidly gaining prominence. Executives are needed to manage the transition to sustainable energy sources while maintaining profitability.

4. Finance

The financial sector is undergoing a shift due to the rise of digital banking and regulatory reforms. Executive leaders must navigate these challenges while driving growth and innovation.

How Executive Search Addresses Talent Challenges

Executive recruitment firms in the Middle East overcome the region's talent challenges by:

Leveraging International Networks: Drawing from global talent pools to find candidates with the right blend of skills and experience.

Succession Planning: Identifying high-potential talent within organizations to prepare for future leadership needs.

Providing Market Insights: Offering valuable insights into salary trends, industry demands, and competitor strategies to aid decision-making.

Why Should Businesses Invest in Executive Recruitment?

Partnering with Executive Recruitment Specialists in the Middle East offers several benefits:

Time Efficiency: Recruitment firms streamline the process, enabling businesses to focus on their core operations.

Access to Top Talent: By leveraging extensive networks, search firms identify candidates who may not be actively seeking new roles but are a perfect fit.

Risk Mitigation: Rigorous vetting processes reduce the risk of making a costly hiring mistake.

Strategic Alignment: Search firms ensure candidates align with the company’s long-term goals and vision.

Conclusion

Executive Search in the Middle East is far more than a hiring solution—it is a strategic driver of business success. Executive recruitment specialists play a vital role in enabling organizations to thrive by identifying leaders with the ideal mix of skills, experience, and cultural understanding.

As the region continues to grow and diversify, the demand for exceptional leadership will only increase. Businesses that invest in Top Executive Recruitment in the Middle East gain a competitive edge, ensuring they are well-positioned to navigate the complexities of this dynamic market and achieve sustained success.

[ajeetsgroup]

Are you looking for Skilled Workers from India, Nepal, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, and the Philippines?

[charminglygrouped]

One of the major legacies of the British control of India was the planting of peoples of Indian origin all over the British Empire, including Britain itself. India was considered to be a reservoir of cheap labour. After African slavery was legally ended in 1833, ‘indentured’ labourers were recruited from India to work on plantations in Mauritius, Guyana, Trinidad, and Jamaica. This was slavery in a new guise: many laboured under conditions no less degrading than slavery. Thereafter wherever need arose, Indian labour was employed. Indians worked in the plantations and mines in Ceylon, Malaya, Burma, South Africa and Fiji. Indian labour provided the manpower to build the East African Railway. Indian sailors worked the British merchant navy. Indian soldiers not only helped to maintain the British Raj in India, but were used as cannon fodder overseas in colonial wars of conquest to extend its frontiers.

Indians were brought to Britain too. They did not come as ‘indentured’ labourers, but the principle of cheap labour applied here as well. Many Indian servants and ayahs (nannies or ladies’ maids) were brought over by British families returning from India. Indian sailors were employed by the East India Company to work on its ships. Some of these servants and sailors settled permanently in Britain.

One of the results of the policy of introducing western education in India was that, from about the middle of the nineteenth century, many Indian students began arriving in Britain, some on scholarships, to study law or medicine or to prepare for other professions. Some came to take the exami­nation for entry into the Indian civil service since this exami­nation could only be taken in London. Some Indian students settled in Britain after qualifying, to practise as doctors, lawyers or in other professions. Some Indian business firms opened branches in England. Nationalist politicians came to London, the centre of power, to argue the cause of Indian freedom. Indian princes and maharajahs visited England, not only as guests of the Crown on formal occasions, like the coronations, but also to pay their ‘respects’ to the monarch or for pleasure. London, as the metropolitan capital, attracted many visitors from India. Exhibitions of Indian arts and crafts were displayed in England too. The Asian presence in Britain therefore goes a long way back and forms a prelude to the post-independence migration of Asians to Britain.

— Rozina Visram, Ayahs, Lascars and Princes: Indians in Britain, 1700-1947 (London: 1986), pp. 9-10.

[mapsontheweb]

The dioceses from the 13th century.

« L’Occident médiéval », Joël Chancelier, Belin, 2021

by cartesdhistoire

The term "diocese" (from the Greek "dioikesis", meaning administration) originally referred to an administrative subdivision in the Roman Empire. The Church adopted this civil framework to organize its own administration, first in the East from the 2nd century, and then in the West from the 4th century. By the 6th century, the diocese came to denote the territory under the authority of a bishop.

Following the Fourth Lateran Council of 1215, the bishop became the local instrument subject to close scrutiny by a global institution. He was tasked with ensuring adherence to canons, orthodoxy, and liturgical ceremonies. The reduction in the autonomy of bishops was offset by tighter control over the diocese. However, this control gradually acquired a territorial dimension. The bishopric, originally a responsibility for souls, evolved into a jurisdiction over a delimited territory, reshaping the geography of Christianity based on physical locations. This transformation was also evident in the progressive territorialization of secular powers. In the West, it established a connection with the original space: identity and governance, previously reliant on personal relationships, now also depended on a geographical location that linked taxation, jurisdiction, and territoriality.

In territorial affairs, the Church paved the way for the State by providing the manpower and administrative framework necessary for implementing two key practices that fueled its power during the later Middle Ages: surveying and direct taxation. Furthermore, it presented a model of spatial domination based on territorial sovereignty rather than feudal control.

The configuration of dioceses reflects their historical formation. They tend to be small and numerous in Italy and Provence, while being much larger in newly Christianized areas of Central and Northern Europe after the year 1000.

[winterpinetrees]

Okay yeah I’m still thinking about logistics. I am aware that lord of the rings is whimsical and I don’t care.

There must be so many people in Rivendell. It’s the Last Homely House, the last decent place before you go off into the deep wilderness. It’s at the bottom of a valley in the middle of nowhere. They aren’t getting everything imported. Elrond must have a full sized settlement there to produce most of the food, even if we are assuming that preserving magic makes it an easy place to live. Rivendell is a refuge too. It’s home to Elrond, his family, a significant number of Noldor like Glorfindel, and who knows how many wanderers. Elves don’t die of old age, and in the Third Age they don’t get murdered particularly often either, so I have to imagine that the population is large and just keeps growing. I don’t get the sense that many travel across the sea until after Sauron falls, and there really isn’t anywhere else for them to go. Lothlorien, maybe? There’s got to be thousands of people in that valley, supporting the Last Homely House and keeping the forces of darkness at bay.

More than that, it’s a huge place fit for the most powerful people in Middle Earth. Rivendell can easily accommodate Bilbo’s entire party in the hobbit and all of the visiting diplomats for the Council of Elrond. Do you have any idea how much manpower (elf power?) it takes to keep a place clean, well-lit, and functional without modern technology? It takes an absurd amount of work. There is nothing in the legendarium that I’m aware of to suggest that elves use magic as a labor saving tool. That means that people are doing all of that work by hand.

Are there elven servants in Rivendell? What about in Valinor? In the Silmarillion, we only ever really read about noble bloodlines, and in LoTR, elves are kept very mysterious. There’s craftsmen who make silmarils and magic rings, but who is forging gear for the average soldier? We know that there are a whole lot of average soldiers. Lord of the rings is a story of battles between armies. Is there upward mobility in an undying land? Whoever is cleaning clothes in Valinor, have they been doing that since the age of the two trees?

Maybe Valinor is more equal than that. Maybe in a place where everyone expects to live forever, they’ve found ways to share the load. But they did have a high king, long ago, and Feanor uses the argument that the elves should go to Beleriand to find freedom and treasure. He’s not a reliable narrator, but it’s something I’ve been thinking about.

What must it be like to be one of the other Noldor? To be a common elf and go east seeking freedom and adventure, only to find suffering like you cannot imagine? To watch that land sink beneath the ocean, to see Numenor be corrupted and fall, to fight Morgoth and Sauron and Sauron again? To finally leave it all behind as everything, even Rivendell and Lindon and Lothlorien, fades? Or maybe you die in combat and spend an eon in the halls of Mandos before reawakening in Valinor. Either way, you’re back!

And someone needs to do the laundry.

[whencyclopedia]

Battle of Bir Hakeim

The defence by Free French forces of the remote desert watering hole of Bir Hakeim (Hacheim) in Libya, North Africa in May-June 1942 during the Second World War (1939-45) is one of the most heroic episodes in French military history. Although ultimately unsuccessful, the defenders, which included units of the famed French Foreign Legion, held out for 15 days against four German and Italian divisions commanded by no less a figure than General Erwin Rommel (1891-1944).

The Axis forces attacked Bir Hakeim because it was part of the Allied Gazala Line defences, which protected the approach to the vital port of Tobruk. When finally overwhelmed, 2,700 Free French troops from an original garrison of 3,700 still managed to escape Bir Hakeim to fight another day. Meanwhile, Rommel defeated the rest of the Allied forces at the Battle of Gazala and captured Tobruk in June 1942, his greatest victory in North Africa.

French Foreign Legion, Bir Hakeim

Leonard Chetwyn - Imperial War Museums (CC BY-NC-SA)

The Western Desert Campaigns

In the first years of the second year of WWII, the Allies, then principally British and Commonwealth forces, were especially keen to protect the Suez Canal from falling into enemy hands, that is into the control of the Axis powers Germany and Italy. North Africa was also strategically important if either side wished to control and protect vital Mediterranean shipping routes. The island of Malta was crucial in this role, and holding the island fortress (then in British hands) was another reason to control potential airfields in the North African desert. Finally, North Africa was, at this stage of the conflict, the only place where British and French troops could fight a land war against Germany and Italy. After the embarrassing debacle of the Dunkirk Evacuation and the humiliating Fall of France in 1940, any military victories at all would be a vital morale boost to the Allies.

For all of the above reasons, a series of desert battles ensued, which are collectively known as the Western Desert Campaigns (Jun 1940 to Jan 1943). At first, the British Eighth Army faced poorly equipped Italian forces, but these were soon considerably boosted by German troops with superior armour, weapons, and training. From January 1941, the Axis forces in Africa benefitted from the considerable command abilities of General Erwin Rommel, a man who had already gained a reputation as a master of fast armour tactics during the Fall of France in 1940. Rommel first commanded the specialised Deutsche Afrika Korps (DAK) and proved his worth by capturing El Agheila in March 1941 and then Mersa Brega on 1 April. By July, Rommel was in overall practical command of all German and Italian forces in North Africa, although he was still technically under the ultimate authority of the Italian high command. Two victories against Allied offensives in May and June (code-named Brevity and Battleaxe, respectively) were followed by defeat in a third offensive in November, code-named Crusader. Rommel's two persistent problems were insufficient manpower and lack of supplies (especially food, fuel, and ammunition), but by January 1942, this situation improved significantly, and the German general, ignoring his orders to emphasise defence, went on the attack.

The British Eighth Army, which was composed of a range of British, British Empire, and Free French troops, was commanded by Lieutenant-General Neil Ritchie (1897-1985). The overall commander of Allied troops in the Middle East was General Claude Auchinleck (1884-1981). Unfortunately, at this stage of the Western Desert Campaigns, the British Army was poorly equipped, poorly trained, and poorly led. In contrast, "Rommel's force was numerically inferior, but his troops were more professional, better led, and thoroughly steeped in the cooperation of all arms" (Dear, 992).

General Rommel on Campaign

Imperial War Museums (CC BY-NC-SA)

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[religion-is-a-mental-illness]

==

Not only did white people not invent slavery - slavery existed for thousands of years before anyone travelled far enough to encounter other races - but it was Europeans who invented the principled opposition to it: abolition.

For most of its long history, which includes most of the history of the human race, slavery was largely not the enslavement of racially different people, for the simple reason that only in recent centuries has either the technology or the wealth existed to go to another continent to get slaves and transport them en masse across an ocean. People were enslaved because they were vulnerable, not because of how they looked. The peoples of the Balkans were enslaved by fellow Europeans, as well as by the peoples of the Middle East, for at least six centuries before the first African was brought to the Western Hemisphere.

Before the modern era, by and large Europeans enslaved other Europeans, Asians enslaved other Asians, Africans enslaved other Africans, and the indigenous peoples of the Western Hemisphere enslaved other indigenous peoples of the Western Hemisphere. Slavery was not based on race, much less on theories about race. Only relatively late in history did enslavement across racial lines occur on such a scale as to promote an ideology of racism that outlasted the institution of slavery itself. 

Wherever a separate people were enslaved, they were disdained or despised, whether they were different by country, religion, caste, race, or tribe. The Europeans who were enslaved in North Africa were despised and abused because they were Christians in a Moslem region of the world, where they were called “Christian dogs.” Race became the most visible difference between slaves and slaveowners in the Western Hemisphere. As distinguished historian Daniel J. Boorstin put it: “Now for the first time in Western history, the status of slave coincided with a difference of race.” To make racism the driving force behind slavery is to make a historically recent factor the cause of an institution which originated thousands of years earlier. This enshrinement of racism as an over-arching causal factor accords far more with current instrumental agendas than with history.”

-- Thomas Sowell, "Black Rednecks & White Liberals"

The first country to abolish slavery was the United Kingdom in 1807. They then spent their time, money, manpower and political capital on convincing other countries to do likewise.

Nowhere was this more dramatically demonstrated than the West Africa Squadrons, which spent almost 60 years forming the Blockade of Africa, patrolling for, boarding and seizing slave ships.

Today, the largest populations of slaves in the world are located in countries in Asia, while the highest percentage of slaves per capita are found in MENA - the Middle East and North Africa.

The horrors of the Atlantic voyage in packed and suffocating slave ships, together with exposure to new diseases from Europeans and other African tribes, as well as the general dangers of the Atlantic crossing in that era, took a toll in lives amounting to about 10 percent of all slaves shipped to the Western Hemisphere in British vessels in the eighteenth century—the British being the leading slave traders of that era. However, the death toll among slaves imported by the Islamic countries, many of these slaves being forced to walk across the vast, burning sands of the Sahara, was twice as high. Thousands of human skeletons were strewn along one Saharan slave route alone—mostly the skeletons of young women and girls. These skeletons tended to cluster in the vicinity of wells, suggesting the last desperate efforts to reach water. Slaves who could not keep up with the caravans, often because their feet had swollen from walking across the hot sands, were abandoned in the desert to die a lingering death from heat, thirst and hunger. In 1849, a letter from an Ottoman official referred to 1,600 black slaves dying of thirst on their way to Libya. On another route, it was said that someone unfamiliar with the desert might almost be able to find his way just by following the trail of skeletons of people and camels.

Widespread loss of life began with the initial slave raids. As late as 1886, an Austrian who was an apologist for slavery nevertheless reported “Negro villages are burned, all the men killed, and their women and children are taken on months-long, terrible marches.” The march from slave-gathering areas, like the region around Lake Chad, across the Sahara Desert to the Mediterranean Sea took about three months and often only the strongest survived. Other slave routes to Islamic countries were over water, but this meant risking interception by the British Navy, and that in turn often meant that slaves were thrown overboard to drown rather than being allowed to remain on board to be discovered as incriminating evidence. The trans-Saharan caravan route was the most deadly, however. It has been estimated that, for every slave to reach Cairo alive, ten died on the way. Nor was Cairo exceptional. Missionary explorer David Livingstone, among others, estimated that several slaves were captured for every one that reached the Mediterranean alive.

Women were particularly vulnerable—and were more in demand than men. They brought higher prices in the Islamic countries, where they were widely used as domestic servants or as concubines. Ethiopian women sold for higher prices than Negro women, and white women from the Caucasus brought the highest prices of all. A special danger to men and boys was castration, to produce the eunuchs widely used in Islamic countries for work in the harems. Because the operation was forbidden under Islamic law, it was usually performed early—and often crudely—before reaching areas under the effective control of the Ottoman Empire. An estimated ninety percent of the men or boys died from the operation, though some groups of slave traders were sufficiently skilled to have much lower mortality rates. Eunuchs brought far higher prices than other slaves.

Dead and dying slaves were a common sight in the wake of a slave caravan. David Livingstone said that the “common incidents” of the slave trade that he had seen were “so nauseous that I always strive to drive them from memory.” For example: “One woman, who was unable to carry both her load and young child, had the child taken from her and saw its brains dashed out on a stone.” It was not only the Christian missionary Livingstone who was shocked by the brutality of Arab slave raiders and traders. So was Mohammed Ali, the ruler of Egypt, who was a battle-hardened military commander.

-- Thomas Sowell, "Conquests and Cultures"

The fact is that the percentage of students meeting the level of NAEP Proficient for U.S. History resides only in the teens. Not only is this a failure of the curriculum, but as we've seen, many teachers aren't so much "educators" as they are activists. So, literacy as far as World History can only be worse from there.

[ Source: NAEP Report Card: U.S. History ]

No wonder they're cheering on the terrorists.

[memories-of-ancients]

The Non-German defenders of the Atlantic Wall,

In 1942 Germany began construction of the Atlantic Wall in order to defend its territorial conquests from a possible Allied amphibious invasion.  The wall consisted of various fortifications, mines, tank barriers, mortars, artillery pieces, machine gun nests, pillboxes, and bunkers, and was designed to fend off a beach landing. On June 6th, 1944 Allied forces landed on the beaches of Normandy and quickly overran these defenses.  Thousands of German soldiers were captured, but surprisingly many of those captured were not German at all.

At the very beginning of the war Germany upheld its Nazi belief in pure Aryanism, believing themselves to be the superior super race. However as the war dragged on, that sentiment gave way as casualties grew, manpower shortages worsened, and it was becoming clearer that Germany was losing to the Allies. Both the Wehrmacht and the SS began to accept foreign volunteers with many of these foreign troops being sent to garrison the defenses of the Atlantic Wall.  These soldiers came from all over Europe, the Middle East, and Asia.  

The reasons for volunteering were varied, some political, many as a necessity for survival.  By far the most numerous foreign volunteers were those from the Soviet Union. Some volunteered because they were disgruntled with Soviet rule, for example the Russian Liberation Army which joined the Wehrmacht to oppose communism in Russia. However most volunteered as an alternative to spending the rest of the war as a POW.  Soviet POWs were treated terribly during the war. Often the Germans dealt with Soviet POWs by erecting open air prisons in which thousands would be confined. Thousands would be forced into the prison, where they would be exposed to elements, given little food, and basically be left to die of starvation, disease, or exposure.

During the war, around 3.5 million Soviets prisoners would die in these camps or in concentration camps. For many Soviet POWs, service with the German Army was the only way to avoid such a horrible fate. Typically, these troops were often not very reliable in combat as they were not very motivated to sacrifice life and limb for their conquerors. In some cases they proved to by a grave liability, such as the case of a battalion of soldiers from Georgia which manned the Atlantic Wall defenses on the Dutch island of Texel, who in 1945 openly revolted against the Germans.

One notable extreme was the Indian Legion, also known as the Azad Regiment, which consisted of volunteers from India who believed that a German victory would secure India’s independence from the British Empire. 

As well as many thousands of foreign volunteers, there were also many thousands of foreign conscripts who were forcibly made to serve in the German Army.

By far the most numerous conscripts were Polish.  Before World War I many parts of Poland had been a part of Prussia, and later the German Empire. When Germany re-conquered these territories they considered many of the people living there to be ethnic Germans.  As such, they were considered full citizens of the Reich and thus were subject to German draft laws.  Many still believed themselves to be German and thus were willing to fight for the German cause, however many spoke Polish, had adopted Polish customs, and identified themselves as Polish. Regardless, refusing to obey the draft laws could result in serious consequences, not only for the individual but his family as well. Around 500,000 Polish were conscripted into the Wehrmacht, with many serving on the Atlantic Wall. Like the Soviets, the Polish also were not the best soldiers for Germany as they were often unwilling to fight for their taskmasters. Around 85,000 would defect to the Free Polish Forces during the Normandy invasion and subsequent advance to Paris. In addition to Polish Troops, a number of Czechs considered ethnic Germans would be conscripted as well. In the 1998 film Saving Private Ryan this is demonstrated in a scene in which two "German" soldiers are surrendering to a pair of American soldiers. The Americans mock them before gunning them down. What many viewers may not relize is that they were not Germans, but Czechs, and were shouting in Czech that they were Czechs who didn't kill anyone, and just wanted to surrender.

By far the most interesting extreme in this instance were a group of Koreans who were captured by American forces during the D-Day invasion. For three decades Japan had occupied Korea, and the men were forcibly conscripted into the Japanese Imperial Army. In 1939 Japan attempted to invade the Soviet Union through Mongolia, but were badly beaten at the Battle of Khalkhin Gol. The Koreans were captured and sent to the gulags, but with the German invasion of the Soviet Union, were then forced to join the Red Army and fight on the Eastern Front.  They were then captured by the Germans, conscripted into the German Army, and forced to man the defenses of the Atlantic Wall at Normandy.

Overall, one in six defenders of the Atlantic Wall were not German. Nothing demonstrates the diversity of these defenders more than the photo below of a group Wehrmacht soldiers captured during D-Day

Front Row (from left to right):  a Yugoslav; an Italian; a Turk; Polish

Back Row (from left to right): a German; a Czech; a Russian who was forced into the army when the Nazis occupied his town; and a Mongolian.

[gothicprep]

two things I’ve been meaning to comment on: the redlettermedia video on the death of movie theaters, and The Usual Suspects of z-rate youtube movie critics blaming furiosa’s failure at the box office for being too girlboss. I promise i’ll tie these together in a way that makes sense.

there are a lot of reasons why theaters aren’t doing great right now. the biggest one is attendance, and how it hasn’t bounced back since lockdown. this has been exacerbated by a lack of product in the marketplace, driven by the wga and sag strikes. this isn’t anti-labor union sentiment on my part. I want to be extremely clear about that. it’s not a comment on the negotiations. just an objective statement about how two large guilds striking = less movies = less butts in seats. I’m surprised the rlm guys didn’t consider this.

but there are two salient other things to bring up with what’s going on with the box office rn specifically.

one of them is that movies are still performing in the way you’d expect them to in the box office rn, relative to other seasons. furiosa is a great example of this. fury road, commercially speaking, was not a big hit. furiosa had a higher budget. and mad max movies tend to stand on their own. no further proof of this exists than most americans thinking that the road warrior was the first mm movie, because WB really shat the bed on the distribution for the original. they’re highly tethered to the anxieties of when they came out. the pre-apocalyptic nature of mad max dials in on what kept people up in the 70s. the road warrior is evocative of OPEC and middle east/oil anxieties. thunderdome confronts our 90s fears of tina turner. fury road deals in environmental collapse, right down to how the manpower in the citadel is imagined. Furiosa breaks from this format in a few ways. max not being in it is the obvious one. the other is that it’s so reliant on fury road that its end credits contain a supercut of the movie. this is unusual for a prequel, at least in its extent.

this all to say, there’s no universe where this movie made a lot of money. it was never going to happen. contrary to what some may tell you, it was never a girls get it done thing. i know furiosa was great, but you need to remember that critic and general audience reception are very different things. if you’re someone who likes to talk and write about movies, you’re in a place that’s closer to critic brain than you are general audience brain.

If you had a normal release schedule for, say, may, this would be sort of a nothingburger. but remember – marvel movies have pretty much always dominated may. marvel is in sort of a weird position rn post infinity war, and there was no marvel movie to come out in may.

the second one is more related to the strikes. haulted production is a temporary hiccup. within a year, things should normalize a little. think of it like the recovery period after a surgery. something is wrong. you get it fixed. but there’s a time period after that where you can’t do much of anything. in the end, you come out healthy. your strength may be diminished, but you move on. we’re in the recovery period rn. perhaps theaters are a dying business, and this is one of those situations where you carry on but are a bit weaker. but it’s recovery. not death.

ah well, those are just my thoughts on it.

[mgcounsultinggroup]

The Benefits of Using a Professional Staffing Solution in the Middle East

In today's fiercely competitive business landscape, organizations find it increasingly difficult to recruit and retain the correct talent in the Middle East. From booming technology, construction, oil and gas, healthcare, and finance sectors, the growing demand for talented professionals is driving companies to proactively develop innovative hiring strategies. Professional staffing solutions have turned out to be an effective tool in this regard.

1. Access to a Larger Talent Pool

Professional staffing solutions in the Middle East give businesses access to an immense talent pool, locally as well as internationally. Recruitment agencies have established networks of qualified candidates across various industries, thus enabling them to source professionals who possess the specific skills and expertise that organizations require. For example, a business that wants access to niche skills in fields such as renewable energy or advanced technology can take advantage of a Staffing Solution Middle East. These agencies are aware of the regional and international markets and can ensure that the business connects with highly qualified individuals who are culturally aligned.

2. Save Time on Recruitment Process

With growing industries, companies cannot afford to delay on key positions in the Middle East. Hiring the right talent might be a time-consuming and multi-stage process that could start with advertising job openings, evaluating applications, interviewing candidates, and onboarding new hires. Professional staffing agencies, however, utilize advanced tools like applicant tracking systems (ATS) and AI-driven candidate matching in order to automate and streamline these processes. Staffing solutions decrease time-to-hire because they find qualified candidates in less time and allow the business to focus on its core operations.

3. Cost Effectiveness

Internal recruitment is often a costly affair. Advertising, background checks, training, and hiring the wrong candidate can be costly. This is mainly because professional staffing agencies assume all hiring responsibilities-from sourcing candidates to negotiating salaries. Moreover, these agencies may provide temporary or contract staffing services to facilitate cost-cutting on long-term commitments, especially for short-term projects or seasonal work. Employing the skills of staffing professionals, organizations in the Middle East can reduce the costs of recruitment while still acquiring the best talent available.

4. Industry Expertise

Staffing agencies bring industry-specific expertise to the table. They are knowledgeable of the patterns, pains, and opportunities in hiring and recruitment during different sectors, so they can develop solutions that fit the needs of each. For instance, construction or oil and gas sectors in the Middle East tend to require individuals with specific skills or even certifications. Staffing companies are aware of these requirements and can access such professionals, guaranteeing a better match between the role and organization.

5. Flexibility in Workforce Management

Professional staffing solutions provide high flexibility in workforce management. With it, businesses can scale up or down rapidly depending on the demand of the project at hand, market fluctuations, or seasonal demand. The benefits of temporary staffing solutions are more apparent where demand is seasonal, as with hospitality and retail businesses, whereby the demand for services is always seasonal. This is an important argument to ensure that the company does not incur unnecessary labor costs but instead remain efficient.

6. Improved Candidate Quality

Professional recruitment agencies have a methodical checking process for allowing only the crème de la crème to be offered to employers. This often includes skill assessment, reference checks, and verification of background, giving an added layer of quality. For businesses in the Middle East, where competition is high over skilled professionals, this will ensure that new hires meet job requirements and align with organizational goals. High-quality candidates contribute to increased productivity and long-term success.

7. Focus on Core Business Activities

Staffing can be a time-consuming activity, and away from time and focus from other significant business activities. Companies outsource the hiring to the professional agencies, enabling them to focus on core functions and relying on the experts to deal with all such chores in the fast-paced Middle East market. Thus, companies remain competitive while remaining agile, and their internal resources are better optimized.

8. Compliance with Local Labor Laws

Labor standards for the Middle East are quite diverse, with different countries having different laws and regulations. It can be challenging for businesses to know all that is involved with employment practices within the region. Staffing agencies are knowledgeable about local labor requirements to ensure all recruitment and employment practices in the agencies meet all local regulations. This minimizes the risk of a legal issue and keeps companies' hiring practices ethical.

9. Employer Branding

A credible employer brand is the means through which talent attraction would occur. Professional staffing firms help improve employer branding by presenting the organization as a company one would really like to work for, with all the strengths, culture, and growth opportunities associated with such a workplace. This is especially crucial in the Middle East, where, often highly specialized, business are fighting each other for talent. A good employer brand attracts quality candidates and helps retain them.

10. Provision of Specialized Skills

Some sectors in the Middle East, including technology and finance, demand the niche skills and expertise from candidates. Professional staffing companies specialize in sourcing the appropriate talent for special roles, ensuring businesses get the right fit for special positions. Their expertise in sourcing talent for hard-to-fill positions positions organizations to maintain their competitive advantage in sectors that spearhead economic growth in the region.

Conclusion

The benefits of a professional staffing solution are undeniable in the Middle East: access to a wider pool of talent and cost savings in terms of time, improved candidate quality, and compliance with labor laws. Staffing agencies indeed extend much-needed support to enterprises across industries. With the constant growth and development in the Middle East, only more skilled professionals will be required. Organizations can break through their recruitment challenges by leveraging the know-how and expertise of professional staffing firms and potentially reduce costs.

[ajeetsgroup]

Top 10 Recruitment Agencies in Mumbai

[dr-spencer-reids-queen]

Paradise: Part Two

Pairing: Spencer Reid x Female!Reader

Word Count: ~2.2k

Summary: Spencer finally meets your parents, but it doesn’t go as well as you thought it was going to go. Are you a bad girlfriend for letting your dad treat him that way, or is it completely out of your control?

Warnings: canon violence, canon language, canon talk of death, methods of kill

Author’s Note: I do not own anything from Criminal Minds. All credit goes to their respective owners. If there are any warnings that exceed the normal death/kills from the show, I will list them. If you’ve seen the show, then it’s the same level of angst unless otherwise stated

x

A small-town diner will have a lot of gossip that filters through, so it's the best place for information. You walk in with your two coworkers, and you're overwhelmed by the amount of people that are inside. This place is very busy for a place that's in the middle of nowhere.

"Be right with you," one of the waitresses says as she passes by you.

"It's not even lunchtime yet," Derek mutters to you as you three take a seat at the bar counter.

"The sign said people will travel for miles for Flo's Donuts," you shrug.

"Sorry to keep you waiting." The same waitress who passed you by is now behind the bar. Her name tag says her name is Betty. "Would you like a dozen to share?" You take out your badge and show it to her, and she realizes how serious this is. "Ooh. FBI."

"Ma'am, we're trying to trace the steps of a couple that may have been here a few days ago," Derek says.

"Darlin', I've waited on eighty-seven folks since we opened this morning. Somebody would have to come through here doing cartwheels on fire for me to remember."

"Would you take a look anyway, please?"

You take out the photos of the latest victims and show them to her.

"Huh! Well, I'll be. I do remember them."

"Were they doing cartwheels?"

"No, but I was. The lady left me a $10 tip for breakfast two days in a row. Nice couple. Are they in some kind of trouble?"

You don't want to give too much away, so you keep it sweet and short. Since the Gallens were here, then that means they were staying somewhere close by. Sherwood is a town that's on the east side of Lake Tahoe near the California state line. This area has over three hundred hotels, motels, and resorts. Penelope sent over every single phone number and address to everywhere the couple could have stayed.

Instead of going to three hundred businesses, you have to narrow down the list. Then, you'll be able to go door to door and show pictures of the Gallens in hope someone knows who they are. This process could take days or even weeks, but you don't have the manpower to make it go by faster.

At this point, what choice do you have?

It took all night to narrow down the list, so you had to pick this up the next morning. Everyone had been up late working on the list, so when you walk into the station the next morning, you see takeout containers everywhere.

"Morning JJ," you greet with a yawn.

"Sorry for the wake-up call."

"It's fine. I'm always tired," you wave her off.

"It looks like we've got a possible missing person," JJ says. "Ian and Abby Corbin were in Reno for the weekend. They were supposed to be home yesterday in San Luis Obispo. They could've driven right through Sherwood. They've already been missing a night. His mom's looking after their two kids."

"Call me when everybody gets here," Hotch says.

JJ turns to the table where all the take-out containers are, and she grimaces in disgust.

"What is this? Left-over Kung Pao chicken? That's disgusting." She picks up the containers and tosses them in the trash, and she notices the sheriff staring at her. "What?"

"The smell of Chinese food makes you sick, but you don't even flinch when you look at those pictures?"

JJ looks uncomfortable by his comment, and you're quick to jump in.

"JJ is the toughest woman I know."

"Thanks," she whispers to you.

"Here, eat this. This should help with your sickness."

You hand over a good snack that her baby boy will enjoy. She smiles and takes the snack gratefully. Soon, the rest of your team gets to the station, and the Sheriff gathers his men for the profile.

"Ian and Abby Corbin have already been missing for over twenty-four hours, which means we may only have until tonight to find them. According to their families, they left Reno yesterday and were planning on stopping somewhere for the night. They didn't use a credit card. Unless they travel with a lot of cash, the room wasn't too expensive," Hotch begins.

"They were not traveling on the interstate. That eliminates over half of our previous search," Emily adds. "It sounds like we're looking for somebody who works the night shift at a back road motel, and we think he's most likely in his early to mid-thirties."

"Why is that?" the sheriff asks.

"Abducting couples is an ambitious task, and this guy's had time to perfect his skill."

"He could be older."

"Don't get hung up on his age. That's the hardest thing to predict," Rossi says.

"What we do know is that females take extensive beatings from him. That, combined with the sexual assault, tells us he's a violent anger excitation rapist. A sexual sadist like this can't get off unless he's torturing and watching the effects on his victims," you state. "That part of the torture is psychological. This is another reason he takes couples. Chances are he forces one to watch his power over the other."

"Because only the women suffer sexual torture, he's likely a malignant misogynist. This typically stems from an extreme hatred towards a woman who was relentless in her psychological and physical abuse," Emily adds.

"How do you know the dad wasn't the abusive one, and he's just continuing the cycle?" the sheriff asks her.

"Only a woman could make him hate women this much. The idea of the 'terrible mother' is best illustrated in world mythology by the negative aspects of the great mother. Instead of nurturing her children, she destroyed him, and given this upbringing, it's highly unlikely he'd ever been in a relationship let alone been married."

"Since he works in the service industry, he's forced to deal with a lot of people. So, he can probably hide his aversion to women until he gets them behind closed doors. With that said, we shouldn't rule out anyone with prior offenses toward women."

"Given the amount of time he spends with his victims," Hotch says, "he requires a great deal of privacy. He may even utilize an ATV to get away from the accident sites, so the property may back up onto an off-road trail. We should therefore concentrate on the most remote motels first. Thank you."

It's time to go door to door asking managers if they had seen the missing couple. There are too many properties to double up, so you have to go alone. After a dozen people have told you they know nothing of the missing couple, it's already sundown. Everyone has been working their asses off, and it seems like you're not getting anywhere.

You make it back to the police station when everyone gets through their list. No one has any good news, and you're about to collapse from how tired you are. Hotch is still out, and you're about to call him and ask if you can take a break when you get a call from your mom.

"Hey, mom. Did you get my message?"

"I did, sweetie. Your father and I are in town right now. Could I steal you away from your job for dinner?"

"Let me ask. Send me the address, and I'll let you know if I can or not."

"Okay, sweetie."

You quickly hang up on her and get Hotch on the phone. He's not too particular about you leaving, but since your parents are down the road at a local restaurant and you've finished with your list, he allows you to go. If he needs you and Spencer, then all he has to do is call, and you'll come right back.

"Spencer, let's go," you say and grab your jacket.

"Where are we going?"

"To dinner with my parents. We won't be long in case Hotch needs us back."

"Meeting the parents, huh? Good luck, man," Derek says and pats him on the shoulder.

You two take one of the government cars and head over to the restaurant, and your parents stand when they see you enter.

"Mom! Dad!" you grin and give them both a hug. Your dad holds you for a tad longer than your mother, but you don't think anything of it. "I'd like you to meet Spencer Reid, my boyfriend. Spencer, this is my mom and dad, Julie and Joey."

Your dad immediately stiffens up, and you look at him to see his eyes seething red with anger. He's trying to hide it, but you can see the underlying threat in his eyes.

"Be nice," you whisper to him before taking a seat in the booth with Spencer next to you, and your parents across from you.

"Spencer, it's nice to finally meet you," your mom says with a smile.

You wanted nothing but to enjoy dinner with your parents, but you can feel the tension in the air even without your abilities.

"It's nice to meet you too, Mrs. Y/L/N."

"So, how did you two meet?" your dad asks.

"We met at work. I had just started and he helped me learn the ropes. It wasn't until about seven or eight months after we met that we started dating." You think about Lila Archer, and how he was smitten with her. Man, that seems like so long ago. "He's a doctor, you know."

"Y/N," Spencer blushes.

"Really?" your mom asks.

"Yeah. He has three PhDs, three Bachelor's degrees, and specializes in statistics and geographical profiling. He's very smart," you grin proudly.

"You're in love with him, aren't you?" your mom asks.

"I am."

"You're too young to be in love," your dad snaps.

Your dad stares at you with an unreadable expression on his face. He looks at Spencer and holds his utensils with a grip so hard that his knuckles turn white.

"Dad, I can feel your anger. What is the matter?" you sigh.

"Nothing," he shrugs.

Your mom places a hand on his shoulder, but he shrugs her off. You're not sure what's causing this behavior, but you try to ignore it. Even after the food comes, your dad still holds a sour look on his face.

"Okay, seriously, what is your problem?" you ask, tired of his shit.

"Nothing. I'm fine." You glare at him, and he mutters something under his breath that you hear as clear as day. "Spencer isn't good enough for you."

You slam your utensils down on the table with a loud clang, and Spencer stays silent next to you.

"I love him, Daddy. That should be more than enough. We need to get back. Call me when you have a better attitude. Come on, Spencer."

You two slide out of the booth, and you toss down some money for the meal you know they were going to pay.

"I'm sorry, Spencer," you say when you get into the car.

"Don't be."

Still, you can't help but feel bad. You head back to the station, and when Derek sees the sad look on your face, he wants to question it. Spencer shakes his head at his friend, and Derek holds his tongue for now.

"Where are we at?" you ask, eager to get back into the case.

"Garcia found a connection between a motel handyman and Rebecca. They went to high school together. So, I thought maybe he was connected to other victims. It turns out he's not, but there's something else that all of the women have in common. Rebecca was found in a bra, a t-shirt, a skirt, and flip-flops. Johanna was found in a dress and sandals, and Melissa was wearing a bra, tank top, and jeans. None of them were wearing underwear."

"How do you know it was taken?" Spencer asks.

"Because they all packed it in their bags, but none were wearing it during the collisions. He leaves his victims in a car without their underwear and waits for them to be hit. A violent collision of metal against flesh. It's like the accidents are the final rape. This sexual aspect didn't show up overnight. This is something he's been building up to."

"So, this guy sees these collisions as some kind of rape?" The Sheriff asks.

"We know that an underwear fetish typically begins in adolescence with peeping in neighbors' windows. When that no longer satisfies them, they'll burglarize homes and start taking the object that arouses them."

"If they get away with that long enough, they become more confident. Then the object becomes the woman wearing it. That's when rape can occur. The one constant is they always take the underwear as a souvenir."

"Is it possible a pervert like this has ever been arrested?"

"There's a good chance a serial sex offender with an underwear fetish has been caught before."

"Right again, Agent Hotchner," Penelope says.

You didn't even know she was on the phone with the rest of the team.

"What is it, Garcia?"

"For the last two days, I've been searching through ViCAP for similar rapes and murders in cases that are still open. That has yielded me with diddly squat. So, I regrouped. I looked at some pictures of baby pandas. I went back in and I started searching for similar rapes and murders in cases that had been solved.

"Five months ago, this guy named Clint Barnes is convicted of five rapes that have been thirty miles away in Selbyville. Now, what's interesting, and by interesting I also mean icky and sad and wrong, is that Mr. Barnes only stole the undergarment of his last victim and she was beaten in exactly the same manner as our current victims. She was the only one who died," Penelope explains.

"The first four showed no sign of torture?"

"According to statements made by the survivors, yes. There were some questions about his performance. Things like, 'Did you enjoy it?'"

"That sounds like a power reassurance rapist. That doesn't fit his last crime at all," Spencer says.

"The last victim wasn't his. It was our unsubs."

"I'll push a rush through the DA's office," the Sheriff says.

With him asking the DA for the files from Selbyville, they come pretty quickly. He must know the DA for it to come that quickly.

x

Follow my library blog @aqueenslibrary​​​​​​​​​​​ where I reblog all my stories, so you can put notifications on there without the extra stuff :)

[phoenixyfriend]

Suggested topics to call your reps about today, 2/5/24!

I’ve been doing two subjects per call recently; one is almost always about the events in the middle east, and then one is domestic policy. I’m including a bit of verbiage you can use as basis for what you say (if you agree with me), for a few of these.

BOTH SENATE AND HOUSE:

Foreign Policy: Reinstate funding for UNRWA. While the claims made by Israel that employees of the relief agency were involved in Oct. 7th are troubling, this arm of the UN is currently providing food, water, shelter, and medical care to the 2.3 million displaced peoples of Gaza. It is especially disturbing and concerning that the many children of Gaza, who are already suffering due to this conflict, are now having this support revoked.

Warn Congress to reaaaaally think about whether a strong response to the incident in Jordan, currently attributed to an Iraqi group backed by Iran, if we're truly looking to avoid a wider regional war as claimed. There is already growing unrest in Yemen and the threat of another civil war, fire between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon, and now the situation with the Islamic Resistance. Caution them against an overreaction of the kind that the US has a tendency towards.

FOR THE SENATE: Urge your senator to put their support behind Bernie Sanders and his motion to restrict funding to Israel until a humanitarian review of the IDF’s actions in Gaza has been completed. Cite it as Senate Resolution 504 if your Senator is right-wing enough to react negatively to the mention of Sanders by name. NOTE: This resolution was TABLED by the Senate on 1/16, but it is being brought back in as conditions continue to escalate.

FOR THE HOUSE: Urge your representative to put their support behind Rep. Rashida Tlaib’s petition for the US government to recognize the IDF’s actions in Gaza as ethnic cleansing and forced displacement, and put a stop to it. ALTERNATELY: recommend that they support House Resolution 786, introduced by Rep. Cori Bush, Calling for an immediate deescalation and cease-fire in Israel and occupied Palestine.

.

DOMESTIC POLICY, BOTH BRANCHES OF CONGRESS:

Border policy is currently being hotly debated and negotiated. A very strong policy in favor of the Republican party is the status at the moment. Even some democrats are in favor of it due to small border communities being ill-equipped to handle large numbers of migrants, and states usually removed from the situation getting migrants bussed in from Texas despite telling Texas to knock it off. Despite some Republicans saying that they have gotten everything they could want out of the current deal, the party at large is refusing to pass it as the politics of the debate are more useful to the coming election than actually passing policy. This is also causing delays in passing the federal budget.

I... don't actually want to tell anyone WHAT to think of the border policy since I do not have any real knowledge on the budget impacts and resources dictating the actual problems (nor the racism or xenophobia, that part is obviously bullshit). I can recognize that too some degree, there is a genuine issue of manpower and budget restriction impacting the ability to house and process immigrants.

However, DREAMers are not being considered in the current deal, the delays in the deal are impacting the federal government and threatening a partial shutdown, and people are STILL getting hurt and even dying at the border.

I would focus on protection for DREAMers, chastising the Republicans for deliberately delaying the budget in order to use the border as a reelection premise instead of actually working on the policy they claim to want (emphasize that they are going to lose votes for focusing on reelection at the expense of their people), and protection for children, parents with those children, and nonviolent migrants in general.

[mariacallous]

More than two-thirds of the Russian tanks that Ukraine’s military has destroyed in recent months have been taken out using first-person-view (FPV) drones, a NATO official told Foreign Policy, an increasing sign of Kyiv’s reliance on the unpiloted aircraft as it awaits more artillery ammunition from the United States and other Western countries. 

With much-needed funding and artillery rounds held up in Washington, the Ukrainian military has largely turned to FPV drones to carry out anti-tank attacks. Ukrainian troops operate the drones via a controller and are able to watch the machines’ “suicide” attacks on Russian vehicles through video feeds, which now play on a loop on Ukrainian social media channels on Telegram and other platforms.

In the third year of Russia’s full-scale invasion, FPV drones have become nearly ubiquitous on the Ukrainian battlefield. Many of them can carry 10 pounds of explosives or more, and after nearly 780 days of nonstop war, drone pilots on both sides have gotten plenty of practice. 

“I used to shoot such ‘cinematic’ videos with the help of FPV-drones before the war,” Ukrainian documentary filmmaker Anton Ptushkin posted on X (formerly Twitter) last November. “Now we use FPV to defend our land.” 

But for every success, there are nearly as many blooper reel-worthy incidents. These aren’t the $20 million-a-piece Predator drones that the United States uses to hunt terrorist targets in the Middle East. These are inexpensive off-the-shelf drones that go for $400. They have cheap cameras, making them more difficult to aim at night or in cloudy weather, and they often carry improvised munitions such as grenades or homebuilt bombs, which sometimes detonate midflight. Some are duds. In one video shared on Telegram, a Ukrainian FPV drone gets stuck in the front window of a Russian minivan and doesn’t explode. Others hit Russian quadcopters and tanks that have already been abandoned. “What we’re seeing probably is a fraction of what’s actually happening,” said Samuel Bendett, an advisor at CNA and a member of the think tank’s Russia studies program. “FPV drones have a short range. So even if the Ukrainians lack enough long-range artillery, they can only use a few drones up to 10 kilometers [about 6 miles] because that’s the normal range.”

Analysts tracking the Ukrainian military believe the attacks are having mixed results. Rob Lee, a senior fellow in the Foreign Policy Research Institute’s Eurasia program who last traveled to Ukraine to embed last November, said the overall accuracy of FPV drones is less than 50 percent. It’s an experienced pilot who is going to score a “kill” of a tank—and the soldiers inside—with an FPV drone, not a newbie.

Even those drones that get through Russia’s increasingly sophisticated, if unchic, countermeasures—boxes of signals equipment strapped to tanks—might not deal a fatal blow. “You usually don’t kill a tank the first few times,” Lee said. “It can take 10 or more [FPV drones] to kill a tank.” 

Still, Russia has a good reason to cover up its tanks with camouflage and jamming equipment, Lee said. It is running low on armored vehicles and tanks. If Ukraine keeps attriting at this rate and Russia keeps sending in more tanks to replace the destroyed ones at the rate it has been, the Kremlin could lose its numerical edge in tanks, which could make it more difficult for the Russians to carry out offensive operations in the future. 

But Russia still has more troops. “The issue is that Russia’s getting a lot of manpower,” Lee added.

The all-out use of cheap drones indicates that the Ukrainians are turning to increasingly desperate measures to improvise weapons to fight back the Russian assault, which has moved farther west into the contested areas of Donetsk. Ukraine is using a network of microphones—similar to the one you might find on your iPhone—to sense incoming targets. The microphones are good enough to classify what type of munition is coming in, what direction it’s going, and what trajectory it’s on just by using acoustics. 

And with limited air defense munitions, Ukrainian troops have rigged heavy machines with sensors to shoot down most of the Iranian-made Shahed suicide drones that are overflying their positions. The NATO official, speaking anonymously based on conditions set by the alliance, said Ukraine’s hit rate against Shahed drones with simple machine guns and small caliber weapons is about 80 percent. It’s not a complete fix, though: Ukrainian officials have spent recent days urging the United States to send more Patriot air defense systems. 

And the FPV drones are not a match for artillery ammunition when it comes to keeping up a high rate of fire or for creating explosive effects. They can also be more expensive. “You cannot replace a 155 [mm] shell,” one Ukrainian official said. “It’s like replacing a Kalashnikov with a small gun.” And artillery is immune to electronic warfare. It’s just a bombshell that’s flying through the air. 

The rapid pace of innovation for drones has made U.S. military leaders second-guess big, expensive drone programs. The future, officials think, will be cheap and attritable. 

“I don’t think we could buy a drone and say it’s going to be in our formation for the next 20 years,” U.S. Army Chief of Staff Gen. Randy George said. “We can’t do that.”

It’s not clear how effective they will be in the long term. But like improvised explosive devices in the Iraq War, cheap drones have revolutionized the battlefield—for now.

“It’s possible that any vehicle, any system, any soldier that moves on the Ukrainian battlefield right now can be seen, observed, and ultimately hit with a [unmanned aerial vehicle],” said Bendett, the CNA advisor. “There’s no such thing as just moving around uncontested anymore.”

[morgulscribe]

Sauron as the God King of Middle-earth

I don't think many people consider exactly HOW Sauron came to have such sway over the people of the South and East in the Second and Third Ages. So many people think of him as an evil overlord, who is either ruling over nations of wicked people who have sold their souls to him (both figuratively and literally speaking), or oppressed peoples forced into slavery to a tyrannical master.

However, Sauron is not ruling any of these countries. It is not a case of a nation with superior manpower and/or technology taking over weaker nations and subjugating them. Sauron is one maia who resides in a country slightly larger than Turkey, the northern half of which becomes an inhospitable wasteland whenever Mount Doom erupts for an extended duration of time. The fertile land of Nurn can support a sizable human population, but I do not think that a large enough force could be rallied from the populace to create armies powerful enough to subjugate the peoples of Harad, Khand, and Rhun, while simultaneously assailing the West and protecting Mordor from counter-attacks from all directions.

No, Sauron is not using brute force to intimidate the peoples of the South and East into following him.

He is using religion.

The people of Harad, Khand, and Rhun ally themselves with Mordor because they worship Sauron as a god, not because they are intimidated by his military might. Yes, they fear him, but it is the fear and awestruck reverence with which one regards a deity.

The nations and tribes of the South and East send wagon trains of goods and slaves to Mordor, not as tribute, but as grim tithes to the dark deity whom they worship.

Without his Southern and Eastern allies, Sauron only has orcs and trolls to command, and while they are certainly intimidating, there are not enough of them to subjugate the entirety of the South and East. Plus, orcs and trolls are sensitive to sunlight, which puts them at a disadvantage to humans.

So Sauron's true power comes from the worship of his followers, and not from military might.

I think many times fans regard Sauron as a human dictator. However, human dictators usually come to power by becoming the leaders of countries that already have significant political influence and military strength.

Sauron literally has nothing but himself.

And that is enough, since he is a god, and by nature people want to worship him.

This is why truly defeating Sauron would be so difficult.

Because while individual humans may have a change of ideology and turn away from their original faiths, as a whole humanity prefers to continue worshiping the same deities that their ancestors worshiped.

Kings and warlords may rule for a time, but gods are eternal.