Russia's invasion of Ukraine: Part 5

And that’s why we stay steady...

Terry Green3 said:Exactly. I'm watching the situation in Italy with concern, and I'm wondering how much Joe Biden will have to cave just to stop Donald Trump from gaining more traction in France.
As for Americans who take to the streets and shut down the whole country just because their favorite cheese got a price hike, I don't exactly trust them.
I also find those leftists in Greece pretty suspicious; they have a knack for sparking chaos on the streets in no time.

I'm certain it'll all start boiling over with the Italians first, and then the unrest will spread to France and Greece.
I really hope I'm wrong.

I’m also betting on the Italians being the weakest link. They used to have the strongest communist party in Europe, and I notice a pretty strong anti-American trend there—basically, if America supports it, they’re automatically against it (not that everyone is like that, obviously). According to some polls, a third of them think, "this isn't our war" or "we don't want trouble because of some Slavs somewhere over there." My wife and I were debating this the other day with an Italian friend who insists we shouldn't be meddling in a war in a non-European country.🤦
I deal with Italians constantly, and the idea that they know how to fight or make things complicated is a total myth; it's always just a dose of cowardice and empty philosophy.🕺

Sandra Harris2 said:It’s funny how much the Russians seem to care about maintaining Nord Stream, when they could be using that energy to upgrade their military hardware instead.

Gas prices dropped today, sitting at around $1.20 per therm.

There’s even talk about putting a ceiling on gas prices—an idea the Italians pushed back in June that apparently now has broader consensus within the EU.

During his appearance at the World Economic Forum in Italy, Zelenskyy confirmed that Ukraine is capable of increasing its electricity exports to Europe (according to recent reports from the Italians).

Can anyone drop a link for this?

The Russians are trying to play their last ace, but it’s a losing move.

They'll end up empty-handed... the leverage just isn't there anymore.
🐔

electricsurfer47 said:Can anyone drop a link for this?

If you're talking about exports (I caught it on the news):
https://it.marketscreener.com/notizi...ntent=20220902

Elizabeth Wells2 said:The Russians are trying to play their last ace, but it’s a losing move.

They'll end up empty-handed... the leverage just isn't there anymore.
🐔

Between the Botox and the mushrooms, that guy's lost his mind.

Well, they finally shut off the gas. Word is the European Union is going to be sweating bullets over this one. Honestly, they really need to make up their minds—do we want to break a sweat or just freeze? 😁
I almost hope they never turn it back on toward the European Union. They can deal with the consequences over there...

As long as Americans, Brits, and Pole2 are standing shoulder to shoulder with Ukraine, they don't have to worry about anyone pulling the rug out from under them.

William Cooper11 said:As long as Americans, Brits, and Pole2 are standing shoulder to shoulder with Ukraine, they don't have to worry about anyone pulling the rug out from under them.

That’s the exact same thing Afghans said, and before them, the South Vietnamese. ☕

Joshua Myers432 said:That’s the exact same thing Afghans said, and before them, the South Vietnamese. ☕

Do you honestly think the Ukrainian military operates like the Union or the South Vietnamese army?
Or do those Russian fridge thieves strike you as being as fanatical as the Taliban or the Viet Cong?

William Cooper11 said:Do you honestly think the Ukrainian military operates like the Union or the South Vietnamese army?
Or do those Russian fridge thieves strike you as being as fanatical as the Taliban or the Viet Cong?

I wasn't talking about the Ukrainian or South Vietnamese militaries. I was talking about the ones sitting there acting like they own the place. 🍿

The Russians strike me as a far more serious force than these amateurs, though I wouldn't exactly dismiss the ARVN either—they were anything but an unserious outfit.

Joshua Myers432 said:I wasn't talking about the Ukrainian or South Vietnamese militaries. I was talking about the ones sitting there acting like they own the place. 🍿

The Russians strike me as a far more serious force than these amateurs, though I wouldn't exactly dismiss the ARVN either—they were anything but an unserious outfit.

If Russia didn't have all those old Soviet stockpiles of weapons and ammo, they would've been stripped bare in Ukraine within a month—just like how they got picked clean in the north back in March.
That’s the whole truth about the Russian military today, in a nutshell.

Joshua Myers432 said:That’s the exact same thing Afghans said, and before them, the South Vietnamese. ☕

Furthermore, one must consider that the Afghan people are by no means a homogenous group like the Ukrainians, nor do they possess the general level of education seen among Ukrainians. Is it not utterly preposterous, if not downright laughable, to attempt any meaningful comparison between Afghanistan and Ukraine?

William Cooper11 said:If Russia didn't have all those old Soviet stockpiles of weapons and ammo, they would've been stripped bare in Ukraine within a month—just like how they got picked clean in the north back in March.
That’s the whole truth about the Russian military today, in a nutshell.

Look, if things were different—if North Vietnam hadn't had support from the USSR and China—the American flag would be flying over Hanoi right now. But they did have that support. It’s the same deal here: Russia has decent weapon reserves, sure, but even those aren't infinite.

Anthony Hill5 said:Furthermore, one must consider that the Afghan people are by no means a homogenous group like the Ukrainians, nor do they possess the general level of education seen among Ukrainians. Is it not utterly preposterous, if not downright laughable, to attempt any meaningful comparison between Afghanistan and Ukraine?

You’re the one making that comparison, not me. So you're the one being unserious here. I was just commenting on those guys over at the local diner. It's all the same crowd.

Joshua Myers432 said:That’s the exact same thing Afghans said, and before them, the South Vietnamese. ☕

I’ve got a much simpler theory on this one: the US is going to keep backing Ukraine's flank for as long as it takes. Honestly, they're already way too deep in it. Plus, if Ukraine loses now, everyone would see it as a massive failure on the part of the West, and losing that kind of geopolitical soft power would be way too expensive to swallow.

Sean Reed3 said:Well, they finally shut off the gas. Word is the European Union is going to be sweating bullets over this one. Honestly, they really need to make up their minds—do we want to break a sweat or just freeze? 😁
I almost hope they never turn it back on toward the European Union. They can deal with the consequences over there...

Zelensky is offering up electricity from the Ukrainian nuclear plants to the European Union to help cut down on how much gas those power plants have to burn.
I'm looking at the list of reactors Ukraine actually has right now, and looks like there are only about 6 left in the areas they still control https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nucl...wer_in_Ukraine

Not really sure how much of a difference that's actually going to make for the European Union.

hollowdriver13 said:I’ve got a much simpler theory on this one: the US is going to keep backing Ukraine's flank for as long as it takes. Honestly, they're already way too deep in it. Plus, if Ukraine loses now, everyone would see it as a massive failure on the part of the West, and losing that kind of geopolitical soft power would be way too expensive to swallow.

I have an even simpler, more accurate theory: they’ll support them only as long as it serves their own interests. It could look like the way we’ve backed South Korea for decades, or they might just dump them to the wolves tomorrow. If I had to put money on it, though, I’d say the support continues for a long time. The real question isn't whether they'll help, but whether that help will actually be enough.

Russian trolley model manufacturers 🙏
The 🙏 🙏 🙏
background image on the box is wild.
https://twitter.com/iAmTheWarax/stat...C8tYzrzrorAAAA

I’m really hoping those parts can be detached from the model too 🕺

Joshua Myers432 said:That’s the exact same thing Afghans said, and before them, the South Vietnamese. ☕

That comparison is a bit off. To me, the Russians in Ukraine are playing out exactly what Americans went through in Vietnam. We all know how that story ended for the US—except this time, the war is much closer to home for Russia than it ever was for America.