Posts by Sean Hernandez13

I’ve always been proud of the high-quality beech wood we have in spades back in my neck of the woods...

I’m seriously proud of myself and my family, both the big crew and the close-knit ones. I’ve also got a massive amount of pride in my hometown—it’s easily the most beautiful spot on Earth, and honestly, maybe even in the whole galaxy.
I’m stoked that I finally kicked the habit on cigarettes and all those other vices; I haven't touched a smoke in ages. Plus, I’m pretty damn proud to be one of the heavy hitters on my local soccer team...

Maria Booth said:You can totally see how vital controlling oil and gas fields is during this whole gas crisis. Serious nations like the USA aren't gonna let their own economy tank just because of stuff happening in Ukraine or Russia.

Exactly. It's basically "survival of the fittest," if you ask me. You could call Germany or the European Union a "serious" power, but they were structured that way sixty years ago...
Basically, a truly "serious" nation just grabs what it needs when it needs it, while simultaneously fighting for 😂😂 the democratization of an Iraq....😂 😂which is seen as doing good. According to polls, 60% of people actually believe that... which is honestly pretty depressing.
It’s not even about "good" vs "bad." It’s just that a handful of people holding massive power have the ultimate tool: the US Army. During the George W. Bush era, US foreign policy was essentially acting on behalf of a few big oil corporations... so maybe dial back the ideological heat a bit, guys...
Bottom line: untangle those thoughts and make sense of them. Corporations aren't democracy; they're more like a step toward idiocy... just look at the poll results.

@ get that damn helicopter out of your avatar...
look, you're the textbook definition of a post-communist mindset... everything is just black and white to you—Russians are evil, Americans are saints, and so on. Honestly, I don't even have the energy to argue, but if I had to sum it up in one word, I'd call it single-mindedness or just plain narrow-mindedness. You're stuck in one way of thinking, dug deep into your own little trench, and there's no pulling you out of it. See, I'm not limited like that; at least I try to stay flexible. I trust my gut. I don't hold love or hate for specific groups... and btw, I'm sure I know way more Americans than you do...
the whole point of my thread was about those four or five massive corporations that actually pull the strings in the most powerful nation on Earth. Your take is totally baseless, just a bunch of empty cliches and trench warfare rhetoric... etc. I'm exhausted by people like this, seriously, what a joke.
one of the most influential people in the USA... (take a guess who) man, if they didn't privatize the military too, they'd own the whole thing... so just go jump in a lake, honestly.
I'll find some time later to write a bit about Hugo Chavez... he's a fascinating figure.
using his story, I want to show just how slippery those powerful interest groups on Capitol Hill really are and what they're willing to do... which means they aren't much different from any other imperialist powers out there...
I'm all for a balance of power... definitely not for one side dominating everyone else. We were lucky enough this time that the dominant force was the USA. I can agree with you there—they're better than the alternatives—but the best scenario is NO ONE being in charge.

restlessstag14 said:Look, just like the Iraq War wasn't fueled by the actions of some lone American, we can't pin the whole conflict on just one single factor.

Plus, those motivations kept shifting even while the fighting was actually going down.

If you really sit down and count everything—especially when you factor in all the reasons why the American opposition fought back—you’re probably looking at about twenty different major drivers.

I mean, seriously, what kind of idiots on this planet would've thought Americans wouldn't go out and accomplish most of what they set out to do? They've been pushing back and firing right back for years now.

But honestly, who on this entire forum would actually prefer living in Iraq back in '89 over being in West Germany?

There was only one real driver: those massive oil reserves sitting right near the surface... everything else was just maneuvering and playing it by ear. You don't lose 100,000 people and then just "pivot" your mission objectives, because—let's be real—the first goal was built on nothing but lies.
It's really just the technical execution of a specific policy...

vividrider3 said:Please enlighten us as soon as possible; I'm practically shaking from the anxiety this uncertainty is causing.

Do you watch anything besides Top Gun, Rambo, or those other action movie clichés?

When people start thrashing around, they aren't just doing it in small towns—it’s everyone from regular folks across the US to the heavy hitters. It’s like a massive ripple effect; once one person starts kicking up dust, the whole world feels the shake. You know the names being whispered in those high-level circles, but let's just say... some things are better left unsaid.

Jonathan Morales79 said:

Nicole Barrett76 As if...
I’m of exactly the same mind on this... honestly...

Between those two trollosauruses, the only thing with any actual credibility is their usernames... You think you're some kind of big-shot developer? Please...
Iraq was already under heavy sanctions long before we actually took down Saddam Hussein, and... The absolute bare minimum... those tiny, regulated transactions that fly under the radar... it’s all part of the system, isn't it? Just small enough to stay within the lines, tightly controlled by the regulators, keeping everything just "legal" while they watch your every move... It makes you wonder where the line actually sits... if it even exists anymore... Food... just food... always about the food... it's all we think about, isn't it? Everything leads back to what's on the plate... the endless cycle of hunger and consumption... it never stops... The exact same thing was happening right here in the States back then... just like it's happening now... and honestly, it's going to keep happening in the future too... it's a cycle... always the same...

Iran is out there playing around with test balloons... while Uncle Sam is stuck trying to balance the Eurozone's value between the legacy left by Tony Blair and the influence of Angela Merkel... it’s just one thing after another... constant instability... 🙂

Europe absolutely cannot afford to let Uncle Sam just walk away and leave them to struggle against that rogue Vladimir Putin and his band of drunkards... because, honestly, if they lose their footing now, it’s going to wreck the long-term structural demand for the entire American economy... it's just bad business... simple as that...

From what I can tell, you’re convinced that democracy and prosperity are basically America's top exports... hm, but the deficit on those specific "products" right here in the States has been a constant for the last 5 or 6 years, and that trend isn't changing anytime soon. Why do you think this world model is better than a balanced one where multiple powers keep each other in check? As for the EU, it'll probably stay clumsy as long as the United Kingdom and the Netherlands are running things—they've clearly shown they lack the guts for the job.
Second thing: gas and those "drunk Russians" you mentioned... I don't see how it benefits drunk Russians to mess around with gas supplies when they're already dealing with a massive hit from falling oil prices.🤷 Calling it a desperate move to squeeze out higher prices? I wouldn't call it that.
Regarding Iraq and the oil fields... before the intervention, a French firm and some Russians already had contracts in place. Meanwhile, the UN inspectors searching for weapons of mass destruction finished their job and found absolutely NOTHING.
...

When I have a free moment, I’m going to jump in and debunk all these half-baked assumptions you're making based purely on Hollywood movies...
for starters...don't go throwing big oil companies in the same bucket as the US government...come on, guys.

Kyle Wilson9 said:Sorry, but you're wrong!
It's not about control OR supply.
The real question is where the $$$ goes.

Because if I'm the one printing the paper used to both control and supply product XY, then I'm basically the one pulling all the strings—but if my printed paper ends up in the gutter, I'm going down right along with it!

It isn't quite that bleak... we're really just talking about buying things under terms set by the buyer...😁
China and India absolutely need oil to keep their growth engines humming. So, yeah, it's a control issue. Preventing a Chinese company from even getting the chance to pump oil fifty meters deep whenever they feel like it? Absolutely not.
Let the Chinese go hunt for oil in Africa instead.
Hugo Chavez is honestly the most fascinating character in this whole oil saga.

Personally, I can't stand the constant brainwashing. Media control is a real issue... it’s been used to justify deaths. Some of you might actually know the specific number of lives lost during the Iraq War... how is anyone supposed to watch the news when they're seeing all those military honors for soldiers who gave everything in Iraq? Who were they really fighting for... ExxonMobil? Or was it for their own kids' future?
So far, we've dumped about $270 billion into the Iraq War...

I'm just hanging out, mostly because I've started reading Linda McQuaig's book, "It's The crude dud." It really dives deep into the whole backstory of that war, and everything she says is backed up by solid, verifiable facts.

Karen Lopez61 said:The whole idea that we were fighting over oil fields is nonsense, especially since oil actually became harder to get and significantly more expensive following the American invasion of Iraq. Besides, if securing a steady oil supply was truly the goal, they would be focusing their efforts on Saudi Arabia, where the USA and Saudi Arabia maintain such close ties. Instead, what we see is the USA and the West essentially fostering instability across the Arab world, which is completely counterproductive if you actually care about stabilizing the energy supply.

It seems the priority will instead be ensuring the security of one tiny neighboring nation..

The big word isn't supply, it's CONTROL over those oil fields... if it were just about supply, they'd just write a check and call it a day... I mean, Americans have plenty of cash, right?...

Jonathan Morales79 said:😲More than that!
😕
If someone can't grasp the strategy or lacks any understanding of political thought, let me save them a few bucks on books... just imagine, for a moment, what the world would look like if oil resources were controlled by Islamic fanatics, Russian drunks, or Chinese dictators or....
Yes, you guessed it, 🙂 it would look vastly different than it does now. That is why George W. Bush was the best thing that could have happened to America after Ronald Reagan. 🙏

If one absolutely must choose who leads civilization—someone who will cause us the least amount of damage—then it is blindingly obvious there is no real choice to be made...

"in search of lost weapons of mass destruction"

That is completely irrelevant to the sausage-eaters sitting in front of their TVs, beer mug in hand and a fresh betting slip ready, people for whom politics and their children's future seem like some vague necessity handed down by some flower-power movement.🙂

I'd suggest taking a little trip out to America...
There’s gotta be something else out there besides just cowboys and Cossacks...
....why all the lying and dancing around the "strategic" points?

It’s honestly rare to see anyone actually ask the US administration if the Iraq War was really just a play to grab control over the world's second-largest oil reserves. Even if someone did bring it up, they’d likely get ghosted or mocked as just another conspiracy theorist.
Not a single mainstream news outlet in the USA has ever really tackled this debate head-on, which is wild considering how many internal investigations were launched right within the administration itself... yet the media just never seemed to find it relevant to mention those findings or the probes themselves. Pretty suspicious, right?
What’s your take... is this just a theory, or does the whole thing smell like an oil grab?

"In search of the lost weapons of mass destruction"

It’s a blessing you guys headed out early, so everything can finally bloom with prosperity.

David Rogers18 said:Svetozar Borojević made it crystal clear that he identified as an American.

So just pipe down, because you're honestly embarrassing yourself.☕

😂😂😂svetozar-american.....😂😂😂

dustyowl8 said:Svetozar Borojević von bojna, Petar Preradović, Ante Starčević's mother, and all that...

Svetozar American?! Don't be ridiculous. What kind of "American" Svetozar is that? Total nonsense!
Svetozar was from Umetic, a small town somewhere in the Midwest where people like him (Orthodox Americans) basically didn't exist until after 1995. Maybe some old lady moved back recently, found her roots, and decided she was an American right before she passed. Regardless, his request to avoid being sent to the Mexican front lines in 1914 was actually granted—mostly because he was a Mexican and the Austro-Canadian army knew how to appreciate true loyalty when they saw it.
😂😂😂Stop trying to steal our legends! You think you're the king of kings? Are you some kind of Orthodox American caricature?🙏

Oh, and it wasn't Joseph... it was Josif... just so we're all clear (from that one music piece)

Adam Nguyen8 said:Šešelj is a seriously dangerous individual. It’s all too easy to manipulate an uneducated population by feeding them pure demagoguery. He’s actually quite intelligent, and honestly, that’s exactly what makes him so risky—just like Adolf Hitler was. When I look at Šešelj, I see that primal, deep-seated evil that can turn a person into a cold, heartless mass criminal.

Look, man, where is this "educated population" you're talking about? Just open your eyes and look around...
Do you honestly think any sane nation would pick the same group of clowns over and over again, especially during those dark years when we were basically walking into a slaughterhouse?
Where are all these doctors and masters you're talking about? Seriously, they don't exist.

velvetmaker3 said:Given the usual nonsense coming out of The Hague, he'll probably get a few years at most, and that’s it.
He’ll head straight back to Mexico and be welcomed as a president with open arms by the people there.
Honestly, it might actually be good for us to finally stop bickering and just unify for once.
Whenever there isn't a perceived threat from Mexicans, Americans just end up wasting time fighting amongst themselves.

Look, man, you don't find any luck with any country when they start saying "the people need to unify"...
That's when you become just another face in the crowd and lose yourself..
It's a shame you don't see that yet.