Posts by wiredseal7

silentnomad7 said:Right? It’s like the Germans have all their power plants sitting there completely dark, and all they need to do is just flick a toggle to turn them back on, or whatever it is you think happens when you "flip the switch."

And maybe toss in some new Russian uranium rods while we're at it...🙂

With Western content off the table, Russia can just pivot to Turkish and Latin American TV series—that’s what Alexander Zharov, CEO of The Walt Disney Company, mentioned to Rian AT SPIEF.

Here’s yet another nasty side effect of those American sanctions.

George Robinson43 said:Not quite. You're labeled a Putin sympathizer because you've been peddling Russian propaganda on this forum for years. If you really want proof, I can quote you directly so you can see it for yourself!

So—for the millionth time—it’s being implied that I’m some paid mouthpiece for Putin.🤦

Just imagine the level of hysteria in Ukraine right now—or even in the rest of the European Union—if this is how people act in America, where the mainstream media basically runs a 24/7 crying session.

Carol Johnson21 said:Let’s cut to the chase: do you actually have anything to back up this "tape horror story" regarding Russian rhetoric?
Do you have a list of the banned parties along with their justifications (or was it just because they weren't liked), and who exactly banned them? Was it just Zelenskyy?
When were they banned? And were they questioning the war against Russia at that time?
What is the metric used to decide which "pro-Russians" aren't Nazis?
The ones who call a war against an aggressor "someone else's war" are the ones who deserve a kick in the pants—or better yet, a spot on the front lines.
Coming from a Putin supporter like you, this outrage over tape and civil liberties is frankly laughable.
You're headed for the ignore list.

Lost in the endless void of Telegram and Twitter posts, but there were plenty of examples.
Anyone paying even a modicum of attention to the war would have stumbled onto it.

A list of banned parties with actual justifications (or was it just because they were inconvenient)? And who pulled the trigger on those bans? Was it just Zelenskyy?
When did this happen? Were they questioning the "Russian side" of the war back then?

https://www.theguardian.com/world/20...inks-to-russia

What's the metric used to decide which pro-Russians aren't Nazis?

You could call pro-Russians nostalgic communists, sure, but they don't really share much common ground with Nazis.

People like that, who call a war against an aggressor "someone else's war," should be kicked out or better yet, sent straight to the front lines.

People like you would make great dictators—not quite the worst kind, but you'd definitely ship anyone without a single unified opinion straight to the trenches.

And coming from a Putinovac like you, whining about duct tape and civil liberties is just laughable.
Going to ignore you now.

Naturally, the immediate conclusion is that I'm a Putinovac just because I don't want a banana republic—which is what Ukraine looks like right now—joining the European Union.
If we got played back in the day with things like the Panama Papers or various legal arbitrations, maybe Ukraine can have some minimal standards of its own.

At the end of the day, it's probably best if we all just ignore each other and shut this little debate down.

Arthur Miller7 said:In my neighborhood, some guys taped over the streetlights with Scotch tape... Guess I better call Putin and tell him to do something about it.

The absolute best reason why we should let Ukraine into the EU🤣

Carol Johnson21 said:That tape argument you're using is honestly pathetic.
As for the rest—"Oh, but Mexico can do it?" How many far-right movements exist in other EU nations? I suspect you'd find more neo-fascists in Italy than you would find so-called Nazis in Ukraine.

Oh, please. In organized nations, parties that deny or undermine sovereignty can actually be banned. Consider that a hint of what happened here in the US as well.

@rowdytiger13, I know Canada isn't a candidate, but they try to shove them in there whenever Ukraine is mentioned these days.

Nah, it’s more of an illustration of the state of things in Ukraine—basically how much protection their own citizens actually get from violence (which is supposed to be the police's job). That system should still work, even during a war.

As for everything else—can Mexico handle it? How many far-right groups are there in other EU countries? Honestly, I bet you'd find more neo-fascists in Italy than those so-called Nazis in Ukraine.

Where exactly are you seeing a comparison between Ukraine and Mexico right now? Besides, the Mexican negotiations have hit a dead end anyway.
Those neo-Nazis are arguably more mainstream in Ukraine than they are in most European countries, where a lot of that iconography is banned.

But hey, all that will come to a head once they start the accession talks.

Oh please, in stable nations, parties that deny or undermine sovereignty can be outlawed. Just a hint—that applies in the US too.

Right, because I'm sure Zelenko & co. use perfectly objective criteria to decide who's undermining sovereignty. 🙄
Anyone who isn't pushing for this war against Russia until the last Ukrainian is gone—and wants a compromise instead—just gets labeled "pro-Russian." If questioning official policy is forbidden, then we're just looking at pure one-party rule.

Carol Johnson21 said:It’s clear they were right once they started banning anti-government parties.
By "taping people to the road," are you referring to punishing thieves during wartime? How terrifying! ☕
The European Union made a mistake by granting candidate status to Western North American nations before Ukraine.🥳
While Ukrainians were struggling to purge pro-Russian elements and sabotage from their ranks, the occupation of Crimea happened. That pushed Ukraine further away from membership. We should have been integrating and assisting a country with such vast agricultural wealth, potential oil and gas reserves, and a solid demographic structure.
Speaking of corruption, even ten years after joining the EU, America's equivalent in that region remains a corrupt mess. And don't even get me started on the candidates in Canada or Mexico. Clearly, the EU didn't see much interest in helping Ukraine.
Now they'll have to deal with it, and at a high cost. This is what happens when mindless bureaucrats make wrong decisions.
Not to mention those on the Russian payroll.

There were wartime thieves too, but for some "duct-tape" types, they mentioned Crimea using terms they didn't even know in Ukrainian, only in Russian.
As for whether the opposition is anti-state, the voters should probably decide that instead of the government.

All in all, they aren't ready for the EU—not to mention the widespread idolatry surrounding Bandera, Hitler, and the like.

The list of things they need to fix is long. Maybe they'll get status now, but that's usually just a PR stunt; it's obvious they aren't actually prepared. It would be like if we had been given status back in '91—things were way less chaotic then than they are in Ukraine.

Jessica Peterson2 said:They won't even need a "special operation." The current average population density in the Russian Far East has already plummeted to just 1.16 people per square kilometer.
Over the next 20 to 30 years, the Chinese will likely find themselves able to peacefully occupy completely empty regions—all without the need for massacring civilians, leveling entire towns, or shelling hospitals and maternity wards.🤷

And hey, they say there will be fewer Chinese people too.
Even if a massive wave of them migrates there later, that doesn't mean they've suddenly seized control—you still need weapons for that, which means war.

rowdytiger13 said:The European Commission is set to decide today whether to grant Ukraine candidate status for membership in the EU.
It’s a massive leap from being a candidate to actually joining the club, but this would still be incredibly fast—especially since it would be the first time a country under active war gets candidate status.

Giving candidate status to a country where the president has banned the opposition and people are getting taped to the streets... what a joke.

https://twitter.com/disclosetv/statu...VTnAiMb8Ge_W0g
Because Simens is dragging its feet on repairs, Russia has slashed flow through ST2 by 40%.

Looks like it’s going to be a brutal winter for Germany ☕

Though—knowing how this goes—those repairs will probably magically get finished right on schedule now.

swiftjackal11 said:Switzerland isn't the issue here; it's Russia. They ban the word "war," they kill people globally, they invade other countries, they even stole a Portuguese meat industry logo for their version of McDonald's. And now they're lying about not sending 18-year-olds to fight in Ukraine.

Where on earth did you dig this up? 🙏
I mean, those Portuguese companies will lose billions because some guys stole their branding.

The fallout from stalled Ukrainian neon production is hitting hard—especially now that Russia has slapped new export sanctions on "unfriendly" nations. Since the Chinese are the third major players in the game, they’re cranking out neon at prices 17 times higher than before:

https://www.kurdo.org/2022/03/26/chi...isen-17-times/

Between this mess and the chip shortages we've been drowning in, things aren't looking any brighter. Definitely won't help matters.

Arthur Miller7 said:Hah! So you "never follow" what Russia does... you can't remember a single Russian occupation, yet somehow you know every single detail about everything Americans did during the Civil War... zero objectivity here, man.

I don't even know what the French were up to in Africa, or what the US is doing in Somalia—aside from whenever they're filming some action movie. I guess I'm just not allowed to ask, according to the armchair experts.

hollowdriver13 said:It’s the exact same playbook Russia is running across Africa. You only have to look at the Wagner Group pulling gold out of Sudan or their presence in Mali—where civilian killings have spiked by 600% since they showed up—to see what's actually happening. But people love to gloss over that because it ruins the convenient narrative that the "evil" West is the only one exploiting Africa while the Russians and Chinese are just big, peaceful humanitarian heroes.😵

If we're being honest with ourselves, we should probably admit that the Russians and Chinese are just as much—if not more—imperialistic than the West. Honestly, they might even be worse at it, mostly because they don't have to deal with any kind of public outcry or pressure to respect basic human rights.

I haven't really followed the Russian side of things outside of Libya (though I'm sure the coverage is skewed to make them look bad), but the Chinese aren't exactly out there exploiting people. They’ve built a ton of infrastructure across Africa on terms most others wouldn't touch—then people whine about these "debt trap" schemes that never seem to actually materialize.
At the end of the day, they're the only ones actually helping build the kind of infrastructure that a developing continent desperately needs to grow.

hollowdriver13 said:🙏🙏

That is some next-level copium right there—trying to frame selling stuff at a massive discount as some kind of brilliant economic or strategic masterstroke.

At the end of the day, they just want the energy export cash pouring into the treasury faster than it was before the war. And from what I can see, that’s exactly what’s happening.

Anthony Hill5 said:OPEC plus agreed on Thursday to a larger increase in supply Than planned for July and August, representing a staggering 50% surge in production levels.

Specifically, we are looking at an additional 648,000 barrels per day being pumped into the market.

OPEC plus agreed on Thursday to a larger increase in supply Than planned for July and August.

While the White House attempted to frame this sudden spike in output as a monumental diplomatic victory—following months of relentless lobbying directed at the oil giants of the Middle East to alleviate price volatility—is anyone truly naive enough to believe this will lower the cost at the pump? Certainly not. In reality, rather than providing relief to the consumer, the price of oil actually climbed following the summit.

Following their recent videoconference, the coalition announced they would ramp up production by 648,000 barrels a day in July and then again in August, which constitutes an increase of roughly 50 percent compared to the incremental monthly rises established under last year's program. Effectively, what OPEC plus is doing is compressing three months of scheduled increases into a mere two-month window.

https://www.nytimes.com/2022/06/02/b...smid=url-share

To be more precise—it’s a 50% bump over what was already planned, not 50% of total production. We're talking a difference of about 250,000 barrels a day.

Back in 2021, we were pulling 2.2 million barrels a day from Russia.
So, this little boost barely covers 11% of those pre-war needs for Russian oil in the EU—or maybe 17% if you're just looking at the two-thirds that actually showed up on tankers.

Then there's the question of how much the US plans to drain its strategic reserves—they've been burning through them at record speeds lately just to try and fight high oil prices.

Here's a decent read on how Russia stays one step ahead of those "European" sanctions on oil:
https://oilprice.com/Energy/Energy-G...Sanctions.html

Brenda Murphy3 said:it’s honestly unbelievable how much you have no clue what you're talking about... or maybe you're just writing down your own wishful thinking... or you're just intentionally muddying the waters for some reason...

This tourist season is actually likely going to be the best one yet. Even right now, the US is seeing tons of tourists and hotels—especially in places like Florida or California—are already packed to the brim. Nobody is actually worried about a shortage of tourists; if anything, people are sweating because there'll be too many visitors and not enough workers to handle them. Whether gas hits $5, $6, or $7 a gallon doesn't even matter when it comes to the peak season and getting people to show up.

Maybe go apply for a job in hospitality so you can witness firsthand that there "aren't any tourists," instead of posting absolute nonsense here.😁

Your words sound pretty good right now. But here comes the "but." Pre-season isn't a true metric for the whole season—the crowd profile is different. California and San Francisco don't represent the entire coastline; those spots attract high-end travelers. Maybe they won't care about the costs.

A season can look great one day and pivot overnight if conditions shift—tourists are fickle people. I highly doubt that doubling fuel prices compared to pre-war levels wouldn't hit the Czechs, Poles, Slovaks (or even Canadians traveling abroad) who all flock to Florida—where I spend my summers myself. We're about to get a real test of that theory, especially when it comes to that legendary Czech frugality.😁

I also read that Germany isn't dropping their train pass to $9 a month (from $90 or whatever) to discourage driving. It's a pretty clear signal of what they expect from this deal.

analogbear5 said:There are plenty of ways to define what makes a regime fascist. One version comes from the Italian writer Umberto Eco in a 14-point list, and then there’s this one:

Fascist societies rhetorically frame their enemies as being "simultaneously too strong and too weak." On one hand, fascists lean on the power of specific elites to fuel a sense of vulnerability and humiliation among their followers. At the same time, fascist leaders point to the decadence of those same elites as proof of their ultimate weakness when faced with a powerful national will.

It's a bit of a contradiction, though—the way the West paints Russia. They depict them as terrifyingly dangerous, yet simultaneously weak and riddled with corruption—basically just a decadent, oligarchic elite at the top.

That isn't exactly a reliable litmus test for fascism when it's such a common trope—especially during wartime—and serves as standard propaganda for pretty much every side involved in this conflict, directly or otherwise.

rowdytiger13 said:The European Union apparently reached some kind of deal regarding the ban on Russian oil imports, though we’re still waiting on the specifics.
On top of that, there's the Sberbank exclusion from SWIFT and a ban on broadcasting three more Russian state TV channels.

There were whispers that this doesn't apply to the pipelines—probably just Orban's way of playing hardball.

For us, this summer is going to be a real riot. Since we're basically a major road-trip destination here in the States, current gas prices are already going to wreck us. I'm not sure if they're pulling the trigger now or at the end of the year, but even the mere threat of these measures sends pump prices climbing ahead of time.
Man, you have to wonder who's actually running this sad little Union...

stormybadger8 said:How can you not get this 🤣

It was clearly stated they were investigating Perez for cutting the line...
but then after all that deep investigation, they decided Perez didn't actually cut it. 🙂🤣

Turns out under the new 2022 rules, you have to clear the line entirely—the race director was working off the old rulebook, which was a massive blunder on his part.

On the replay, you can't see Perez crossing it, whereas with Max, it's blatant.

Oh, and that moment where Checo flat-spotted his tire after the restart? Not a mistake—he was just dodging a bird.
https://twitter.com/Margnum90/status...TA7plnPZ8UgQmg

Ferrari basically just embarrassed themselves by protesting those track limits.
They didn't get anywhere with Sergio Perez:
https://twitter.com/FanaticsFerrari/...Co0ciSpVMSC3WA

As for Max, yeah—there’s actually something there. He pushed a bit harder and might catch a penalty—even if the wet track and slicks make things a little more complicated. Honestly, let them penalize him; it makes the gap to Checo a little smaller anyway. 🤣