Posts by rowdyraven112

Dana Robinson4 said:We're talking about compressed natural gas (CNG) versus this cooled-down version, which is what we call LNG.

Maybe he meant they're all made from the same basic gas anyway. Could be Russian gas for all I care. ☕

Gerald Chavez7 said:What a load of nonsense 🤦... it’s going to be an uphill battle for the pro-Putin crowd over the next few years. Europe is ramping up both renewables and nuclear energy, while Russian gas supplies just keep shrinking year after year.

Speaking of nuclear energy and the West. Look at Italy. The Montalto di Castro nuclear plant. Construction started and they finished the facility in 1988. Not long after completion, Italians head to the polls in a referendum and vote to scrap nuclear energy entirely. That finished plant never even went online. Just hundreds of millions of dollars dumped into a concrete tomb. Berlusconi tried to jumpstart Italy's nuclear potential once, but after the Fukushima disaster, the Italians went back to the ballot box and voted 94% to suspend all nuclear activity indefinitely in 2011. So, Italy stays hooked on gas. ☕

As for renewables? Think about the scale. To meet domestic needs, you'd need a cube of solar panels measuring 100x100x100 meters. And in 50 years, what then? You'll have an ecological time bomb sitting there that you have to figure out how to dump somewhere. ☕

Wind turbines were welcomed with open arms initially, but go down to rural Texas or the Midwest and ask the locals what they think now. You might be surprised.

In my view, nuclear plants are the ideal solution, but I’m skeptical—especially if the contract to build them goes to Joe's crew of train robbers. Given the intense aversion to nuclear energy, it's hard to see another one being built. ☕

So we're stuck with coal, gas, and hydro. Since we've entered this era of extreme climate shifts—if you haven't noticed, it hasn't rained in months—reservoir levels have plummeted, forcing us to lean on coal and gas plants. We're running low on Russian coal and no alternative has surfaced yet (I haven't checked how many months of reserves we actually have left). As for gas, government reports say we have maybe six months left, and still no backup plan. Not to mention LPG is way more expensive than natural gas.

Sure, gas will be available, but the distributors won't give a damn about empathy; they'll sell to the highest bidder, and that certainly won't be America. That's why the populist Viktor Orbán visited Vladimir Putin to cut deals; he doesn't care about Ukraine. They call Orbán a populist, but maybe he just negotiated fixed, cheaper oil and gas prices with Putin, which explains why gas is cheaper in Canada. For us, a massive price hike is coming on April 1st because the companies distributing energy to households took out loans last month just to cover payroll. I'd offer a conclusion here, but I assume you're smart enough to draw your own.☕

hollowdriver13 said:I mean, sure, but the Russians are using their armor like complete idiots. It feels like they've been playing too many Western video games. Honestly, the NLAW is perfect for street fighting—it has that soft launch feature so you can fire from inside a building, plus it’s a fire-and-forget system. It also features both top-attack and direct attack modes, and the target acquisition is faster than a Javelin (which is why its range is shorter at 800m compared to 1.6 miles).
Unfortunately, Memphis didn't have anything remotely close to those high-tech "toys."

And they didn't. We had axes, shovels, and grenades. And it was never enough. The question was always why Ukrainians need so much more? Because it’s never enough.

This new generation, trained on Call of Duty battlefields, thinks a single rocket or bullet just magically finds its way to the first Russian tank or soldier they see. ☕

You see posts where a tank gets taken out instantly in an open field, especially if the operator has clear sight and a second team is providing cover. But you see videos from inside cities where taking one out isn't exactly child's play unless you're using an armed drone.

hollowdriver13 said:That was an RPG-7, which is basically ancient history—just like the T-72 itself. It’s pretty obvious why it struggles against a system that's 40+ years old.

Check out what happens when they actually get hit by modern anti-tank weaponry. In this one, it's a Stugna-P, a locally made piece of tech from Ukraine; the turret just gets blown right off the chassis instantly. ☕

https://twitter.com/JimmySecUK/statu...50332772933636

Then you’ve got the heavy hitters too, like Javelins, NLAWs, and Panzerfaust 3s...

The tank is gone. Operator had enough time to brew and drink a coffee. ☕

When a tank is in a city, you don't use a Stug; you use the stuff I just mentioned. You fire, you pop out, and you hope for the best. In urban combat, hitting a moving target is damn hard, especially if they have support. Ask the Memphis defenders how many rounds they had to dump into a single tank. Don't talk to me like I'm playing Call of Duty.

Mark Clark6 said:A nation requires funding, and an army demands its share. It is an absolute necessity. But one must ask: what is the true price of a lost war?
What is the true price tag on national survival?
What is the true price of liberty?
What is the true price of admission to the Western world, if one seeks a life that possesses even a modicum of human dignity?

Should we simply surrender and hand everything back to Russia within their sphere of influence? I might actually be open to that proposition if someone could point to just ONE nation that has truly benefited from a marriage with Russia. Just one single example...

We’re handing out stuff bought with OUR tax dollars like it’s free. America didn't cause the crisis in Ukraine, yet we're throwing money away just to kiss up to powerful leaders. ☕

Do we even have enough for ourselves while we're tossing money around? Or are we just banking on NATO to bail us out? When the shit hits the fan, those big players will look out for themselves first. If we get lucky, fine. If not, we're on our own. ☕

Look at Canada. They aren't giving it away. Look at Israel. They aren't giving it away. Turkey sells their support. Nothing is free. ☕

Brenda Murphy3 said:Honestly, over here in the States, parts of the US military logistics teams are working around the clock on this—basically handling the whole pipeline for getting weapons to Ukraine... except nobody's actually reporting on it.

Oh sure, and the working class is going to foot the entire bill. ☕

They're buying 4th-gen jets, they're buying Bradley fighting vehicles. The Prime Minister is only even thinking about getting a Patriot missile system just so he can act tough. For Christ's sake, the average salary is $70,000. We've got the money, if we want to spend it. ☕

casualtiger2 said:That’s 13,000 anti-tank rounds—not even counting what they already have in stock.
Why on earth do they need that many when Russia doesn't even have that many tanks left?

There’s footage from Mariupol showing Ukrainians hitting a tank. It took four missiles just to stop it. And that's not an isolated case. Fine, go play Call of Duty. In that game, you can just blast a tank with a rocket launcher on the first shot and be done with it.☕

slysurfer77 said:Well, if it is Russophobia, surely there's a reason behind it, right?

A madman running a nation decides to go out and conquer a sovereign state—all while making incredibly serious threats with his military against everyone in sight. It’s almost surprising that people are feeling a bit uneasy.

https://www.dw.com/en/bulgaria-spu%C...iju/a-55007729

Sound familiar? All that’s missing is a Bulgarian invasion of North Mexico, though it might actually happen. I haven't heard anyone from the European Union step up for North Mexico besides Milanović. His speech after the invasion was telling. ☕

And even when that windbag Milanović told the European Union, Bulgaria, and Greece to back off, Plenković was busy apologizing to Bulgaria and Greece for letting them screw over North Mexico. The Republican Party claims they’re being "consistent" with their policy. I can't wait to see those weaklings start apologizing to Russia for invading Ukraine. ☕

I bet certain European Union politicians played the same game with Ukraine—setting conditions they knew were impossible to meet. And now what? They send flowers and well-wishes just to help them survive one more day. ☕

Since the beginning of time, powerful nations have dictated terms to the weak. Look at us. We had to sign an agreement with Canada allowing some arbitration to decide things about OUR own territory. What do you call that if not an invasion of sovereign land? ☕

Who knows what we'll demand from Canada, Mexico, Mexico, or Albania. Probably nothing from Albania. Maybe lifetime free ice cream. ☕

Douglas Davis4 said:While the Chinese and Russians might claim they invented the internet, Facebook, and all this modern tech,
it’s actually the brilliant minds in the garages of democratic nations who are truly inventing tools to improve life, producing incredible music, and making great films.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assembly_(film)

Given all the Hollywood bullshit out there, I'd say this is a pretty solid film. It captures war much better than Saving Ryan, in my opinion. The Chinese just don't know how to make a good movie... 🤦

The music is probably good too. They have their own versions of Britney Spears and Taylor Swift, but I'm sure they have their own Dua Lipa and Elton John as well. It's just a difference in branding.

neonheron9 said:Seriously, this guy is such a clown... it's already been denied.

The whole explanation is disgusting. They won't play anything upbeat because of what's happening in Ukraine.

And it's not like 15,000 kids are dying from starvation instead of disease all over the world right now. I honestly doubt this war will even come close to matching those numbers in total casualties.

I saw the French detained a ship. This has become a global joke involving the major powers. Just a bunch of world-class losers on both sides. And yet, I see people on this forum eating up this garbage and enjoying it. ☕

Dragan said:Anyway, I just hope Grandma and Little Red Riding Hood make it out okay, and the wolf gets what's coming to him.
It’s wild how many fans of Putin, Trump (or maybe Erdogan if we were looking at Turkey), and their ilk exist here in the States (probably the same crowd that viewed Marshall as some great, hated dictator). 😢

Look, Josip Broz was a dictator. Period. What are you even talking about? ☕

Truth is, people haven't realized it yet, but we're living under a dictatorship too. Laws aren't passed through actual consensus in Congress; they're pushed through by a bunch of yes-men raising their hands without even reading the damn bills. Let's call it what it is: a democratic dictatorship.

kandraxII said:The main architect behind the famine was Lazar Kaganovich, originally from the Kyiv region.
There was an enormous number of Ukrainian soldiers and officers in the Red Army—proportionally, they actually outnumbered the Russians. Ukrainians constantly pointed this out whenever people tried to give all the credit for defeating Adolf Hitler solely to the "Russians."

And regarding Katyn and the dismemberment of Poland, do you know who ended up with the pieces taken by the Soviet Union? And who, in the interwar period of the USSR, was the biggest advocate for carving up Poland?

It’s incredibly difficult, practically impossible, to separate the merits and responsibilities of Ukrainians and Russians, at least when discussing the Soviet era. Only idiots and fanatic partisans do that—people who just pick sides, one being the "good guys" and the other the "bad guys," regardless of the facts.

Even Snake Island, where 13 young men died heroically, belonged to Romania until 1945. Most fanatics wouldn't even have a clue where it actually is. It's just a rock.
As for the famine, all these fanatics would claim Joseph Stalin was the one responsible, explaining how he snatched grain from Ukrainians to pay for industrial machinery. ☕

mellowotter17 said:I was hoping I could ask the experts on this thread for a little bit of guidance regarding this recent ruling.
Does this decision apply to loans that have already been closed out—not just unpaid ones, but those that were fully settled through forced collection?
To be honest, I haven't been following this discussion very closely because I've been so caught up in my own personal struggles and worries, but if there is any way I could file a lawsuit now to recover some of that money, it would truly be wonderful.

If the conversion wasn't done, then obviously yes.

Sent from my Samsung Galaxy using Reddit

Given what's going on, I have to post this here. I’m looking for people in the Washington, D.C. area who took out auto loans, paid them off on time, and also went through the conversion process. We're putting together a class-action lawsuit against Bank of America. Since even AARP isn't certain about the outcome due to inconsistent court rulings, splitting the opposing side's legal costs among a larger group makes more sense if we lose. DM me. Thanks!

Sent from my Samsung Galaxy using Reddit

The starting point isn't even my main concern here. I'm assuming the creditor provided the right paperwork when the IRS seized the account—not the deceased person's account, since they aren't around anymore. Technically, the seizure should have been filed against the decedent, explicitly stating the heir is assuming the debt based on the inheritance ruling. That’s Article 32, Section 4 of the Enforcement Act.

By the way, once you receive notice of the seizure from the IRS, you have an 8-day window to file an objection. You also need to include proof of your current residency—like a utility bill or driver's license excerpt—to show that the service of process was handled improperly.
If it's true that you settled the debt before it was handed over to the notary, you absolutely have to file an objection to get the seizure canceled. That's your only shot at getting your money back. If a local county court accepts the objection due to improper service, we're looking at about a year-long process.
If you paid after the seizure was already filed, your only real argument is contesting the unnecessary extra costs, which run about $233 (those finality clauses...). So, again: file the objection.

Guud said:Who can I contact if I think this collection process isn't following the law?

Here’s the deal. I inherited a condo and started paying the utility bills. These bills covered about 10 months—basically how long the probate process took. Nobody was even living in the unit except for an aunt dropping by occasionally, maybe one week out of those ten months. I paid everything on time. No issues at all, except for the HOA fees. I stayed current on electricity, water, trash, everything. There were some interest charges, but they were minor. I would have just sent proof of payment, even though they didn't ask, and called it a day. Everyone seemed reasonable, except for the property manager. They refused to tell me the exact balance because they already handed the paperwork over to a lawyer to start a formal collection action. I told them straight up: I want to pay. There's no need for legal fees. They didn't care about getting the HOA dues settled; they only cared about who was footing the bill for the attorney they hired. I told them again: send me the total for the dues and interest. If I have to cover the legal fees, have the lawyer send me an invoice directly so I can verify if I actually owe it. That shouldn't be their problem. Their response? They won't give me the amount; I should just wait for the legal notice. I went ahead and wired $1000 to their account that same day. I included all the details in the memo and even called them to confirm. Their reply? Don't bother paying, because they're moving forward with the collection anyway just to ensure the lawyer gets paid. They told me to expect a refund. Since they never sent the money back, I assumed they had realized the debt was cleared before filing with the court and everything was fine. Apparently not. They decided to play games—claiming my payment was "unidentifiable" because the debt was technically under the deceased's name while the payment came from mine, despite the clear memo. Now, they're hitting me through the courts. This happened last November. I just checked my bank statement yesterday and saw they seized roughly $667—maybe even less. They pulled about $1,700 from my USD account and $200 from my other account.

As far as I know, if you settle a debt before the court order is filed, the collection process should stop, right?

What can I do?

First off, you really should have read the posts explaining how certain sections of the Bankruptcy Code favor specific financial institutions and law firms. Honestly, this is a mistake on both sides. Their mistake was failing to direct you to the attorney handling the file, and yours was trying to wing it without talking to someone who could give you solid advice. My first piece of advice would have been to contact the lawyer they hired.
I'll try to keep this brief. During a formal collection, various fees get tacked on that can easily exceed $17 (believe it or not), depending on the size of the debt.
Let's pretend your debt was $1000 and base the math on that principal.
Logic dictates the HOA manager triggered the collection to recover funds, but maybe they moved too fast since the statute of limitations for these fees is five years. When starting a collection, the creditor has upfront costs they have to pay IMMEDIATELY: attorney fees for drafting the petition, notary fees to notarize the documents, and the cost for the final certified copies plus sales tax. For a debt worth $1000, those costs run about $500. Roughly. And they get paid upfront. Then there's also the processing fee from the agency, around $107, which is also paid immediately as a flat fee for executing the judgment.
The creditor's risk boils down to one thing: whether they can actually collect from you.

Your only real move is to head down to the bank and ask them to drop a digital copy of the seizure order onto a USB drive. Check the front page to see exactly when that order was handed over to the notary or the court. If you paid before that date, you might have some leverage, but you really should have flagged that in an objection immediately after getting served. If you never even received the official notice or the paperwork, go find a lawyer. Have them file a private lawsuit against the property management company to force them to reimburse you for every cent this whole mess cost you.
If you paid *after* the order was already filed with the notary? Honestly, just take the L. Live long and prosper, and don't make the same mistake twice.

Look, I'm all for having some kind of penalty for people who dodge their bills, but charging more than 60% of the principal? That’s just highway robbery.

"There’s plenty of case law out there. If you want to dig into the specifics, check LexisNexis for the Bjelovar County district court ruling, Case No. Gž-1019/11."

Awww Brandon Fox9, any chance you could send over a copy of that ruling? I don't have a subscription to that site. 🙂

Now I want to get your take on this too:

A user named Sunny Side Up from the LegalZoom forums, to be precise:

This situation is hypothetical, even if it feels very real!
JP Morgan Chase followed San Diego Zoo guidelines and assigned its claim to Agency B!
Despite that, JP Morgan Chase kept its status as the creditor at the Federal Reserve on the main debtor's account (a corporation) and the co-debtor's account (an individual guaranteeing via a promissory note)! The corporation enters pre-bankruptcy negotiations, while the individual (the co-debtor) asks the district court to stay the enforcement because the creditor (JP Morgan Chase) lacks standing—since the bank refuses to step aside voluntarily!
If and when the court stays the enforcement under Article 32, Paragraph 3 of the current enforcement act, the new creditor B has the right to step into the shoes of creditor A. But they’ll likely lose their place in line and end up at the back of the pack!
That "controversial" Article 32, Paragraph 3 was added during the enforcement act amendments back in September 2014. The big question is: do these provisions apply to enforcements that started before the amendment took effect? Are we talking about retroactivity here? Does that mean new creditor B can't use the promissory note issued before the law changed? Or does it apply since the enforcement itself (say, back in 2012) happened before the law was even regulated this way?

Look, I don't know, KISS... This is just my take because looking at the enforcement act, I don't see a single legal remedy an individual can actually use when the Federal Reserve is handling the seizure. And honestly? We probably won't find out the truth about that for another 4 or 5 years. That’s why I’m suggesting personal bankruptcy right now. If there's a kid involved, child support gets pulled straight from the income source at 50%, leaving only that "exempt from seizure" portion that the judge—acting as the enforcement officer—allocates for basic living expenses. The absolute misery of this law is that the judge is forced to follow through with it for at least a year, even when it's obvious nobody could pay off the debt in five years if they tried much harder.

hollowmason64 said:Hold on just a second... are you actually claiming that the statute of limitations doesn't run at all if the enforcement is logged in the registry? Even if, say, not a single cent of that debt has been collected in ten years? Whether the debtor was totally broke or someone else just jumped ahead of you with a massive claim—it wouldn't matter?

Did I get that right, or am I totally misinterpreting what you're saying?

KISS is where I stand too. As long as the enforcement is on file at the Federal Reserve or a lien is recorded, the statute of limitations tolling kicks in.
Maybe we're wrong. Who knows? But unfortunately, not enough time has passed for anyone to even try starting a statute of limitations proceeding based on these types of enforcements or orders...
I can't find any legal remedy in the enforcement act that would work here.
And I've already given my take on personal bankruptcy if you don't own any assets or real estate.