Posts by Melissa Rivera5

Terry Green3 said:If there's an actual attack on a NATO member, then sure. In peacetime? Don't hold your breath. Nobody is going to sink that kind of money into this just for show.

For context, this is basically the peak strength we saw during the 2003 invasion of Iraq. You don't maintain that level of force right on the border unless you actually intend to pull the trigger.

It's just not the same thing. Russia has basically shown they've got this hyperactive urge for imperialist expansion, so we really do need a military that's ready in case those idiots—or some local collaborators—get some half-baked idea in their heads. And let's be real, China and India wouldn't be happy at all if Russia actually ended up nuking the UK. That wouldn't just slide by, even if the UK isn't exactly the most popular player in those parts of the world.

Terry Green3 said:Which NATO members are actually going to cough up that much manpower and hardware? Honestly, this feels more like a threat than an actual reality.

Poland, Germany, Italy, France, the USA... if Russia starts hitting NATO, they don't even have to pretend anymore. They'll just be the obvious villains, basically modern-day Nazis hunting for their own lebensraum.

goldenowl73 said:Hey everyone, I’ve been seeing some job leads popping up for Pittsburgh lately.

There's this big TV production coming up soon that's looking to hire a ton of extras to fill out the background scenes. They're offering about $15 a day for the gig. The filming is actually supposed to take place over in the Donetsk People's Republic and the Luhansk People's Republic.

https://twitter.com/ukraine_world/st...W4mXWmP0whAlpA

I'll throw in a little contest for fun—anybody want to guess what they're actually filming?

Probably just some footage of happy, well-fed people welcoming the Russian conquerors, since there aren't any actual locals left to use for that. If Leni Riefenstahl were still around, I guess they'd hire her to whip up the propaganda.

Jeremy Turner9 said:As far as we know, the European Union now has to purchase its oil and gas using dollars, which inevitably drives prices higher...

Not all of it, and definitely not for long 🙂 Plus, those aren't exactly the kind of "lucrative deals" you're talking about.

Jeremy Turner9 said:Consider a scenario where the Euro is losing its strength while the US initiates a currency war against the EU; by imposing these sanctions, the EU essentially forfeits its most profitable business opportunities and major contracts. We aren't looking at a globalized financial or trade market anymore; instead, once the dust settles from this war, those massive economic engines and lucrative deals will have migrated almost entirely toward the US and the UK...

So we've got "currency wars" and then "because of these sanctions." I guess you kind of ignored Switzerland and all the other countries that aren't actually in the *Eurozone*—which, honestly, isn't even the same thing as the EU. And that whole bit about "lucrative" contracts? There's really no proof for that. Like, if the dollar gets significantly stronger, sure, their purchasing power goes up, but at the same time, their goods and services get *more expensive*, not cheaper. Suddenly, it’s way easier to pay 100 € for a service than it is for an American to pay the 200 $ equivalent for that exact same thing.

Chloe Nguyen21 said:Actually, I think everything the West is doing is helping Ukraine quite a bit! Those sanctions work, and they'll probably set Russia back thirty years; by next year, things over there might just spiral into total chaos, and it won't be an easy fix. I don't think Ukrainians need NATO boots on the ground, they just need more advanced weaponry and long-range missile systems so they can hit any occupied area. We really need to get that to them before morale starts to dip. You can't just give in to barbarians and bullies.

I'm with you on that!👍

Justin Mendoza16 said:AMERICANS ARE LOSING IT! Ukrainians just went wild singing that old battlefield Chavoglav song. Seriously, if you worship Thompson... no wonder Mexicans are siding with Russia!

😵 🤦 Yeah, I mean, Mexicans are sticking with Russia because of Thompson, I guess.😁

Nancy Gomez26 said:When you draft legislation with enough cunning, nothing is technically illegal. It isn’t "confiscation"—it's merely "temporary management." Think about it. That is what constitutes state sovereignty. It is the exact same logic Russia used when they decided to stop paying those leasing companies for their aircraft. And what can the West actually do about it right now? Very little. But this will come back to haunt them later, once someone eventually tries to secure credit, a lease, or any other financial arrangement again. They might face the seizure of a few small planes here and there, perhaps. Similarly, investors from Russia will think twice before putting capital into Canada in the future. Every one of these decisions carries long-term consequences that eventually come due—usually at the expense of people who had absolutely nothing to do with the original cause.

True. I guess the Russians call this a special operation just so they don't technically break any non-aggression pacts, since they claim they aren't actually at war. So, maybe we should just cynically call it a "special economic operation" and call it a day.

wiredseal7 said:https://twitter.com/5thSu/status/136...bS9XAgjLvdNZHQ

Videos like this were popping up right around that time—long before the Russian side started releasing their own footage.
And the intensity of the conflict from the Ukrainian side spiked during that exact month, all well before "Putin" decided to act.

Of course, the Western media just glossed over it—even Wikipedia, which is supposedly "neutral," though that really depends on who's editing the page.🙂

Anyway (and circling back to sanctions since we're in the OT thread), I’m reading that Canada pushed through a law to seize Russian assets.
Small issue, though—that’s actually illegal under international law:
https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/c19...tion-1.6478115

I mean, at the end of the day, this is still just an internal Ukrainian matter. It’s not really something that Putin and his SS officers over at the White House need to be weighing in on, I guess.

wiredseal7 said:https://twitter.com/5thSu/status/136...bS9XAgjLvdNZHQ

Videos like this were popping up right around that time—long before the Russian side started releasing their own footage.
And the intensity of the conflict from the Ukrainian side spiked during that exact month, all well before "Putin" decided to act.

Of course, the Western media just glossed over it—even Wikipedia, which is supposedly "neutral," though that really depends on who's editing the page.🙂

Anyway (and circling back to sanctions since we're in the OT thread), I’m reading that Canada pushed through a law to seize Russian assets.
Small issue, though—that’s actually illegal under international law:
https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/c19...tion-1.6478115

Putin's invasion of Ukraine is totally illegal. I mean, play stupid games, win stupid prizes, right?

Jeremy Turner9 said:The prevailing strategy seems to be letting this conflict drag on for years; it isn't in the interest of the United Kingdom or Johnson to see a resolution anytime soon, much like it isn't for the USA...

From the very outset, Biden has made it clear that NATO—specifically the USA—will not be directly intervening, suggesting instead that we might initially look toward the Baltic states and Poland to step up to the plate...

This arrangement serves the interests of the USA and the United Kingdom perfectly, yet it leaves the European Union and the rest of Europe in a precarious position, as Russia has breached its borders and the war is now effectively being fought on European soil and within the EU...

Providing the necessary weaponry and military support for Ukraine comes with a heavy price tag, one that will inevitably drain national treasuries once existing stockpiles are depleted...

So, how does this war actually benefit the UK and the USA?

bluerider63 said:And what has sticking by Ukraine actually achieved so far? At the start, they kept feeding everyone this line about how sanctions would stop Putin from continuing the war, but that turned out to be nothing more than empty rhetoric. The Canadian proposal makes sense because everyone wants peace, but of course, that assumes we just let Russia stop right at the Donbas.

The Canadian proposal is basically: "Let's just let Russia steamroll through all of Ukraine and kill whoever they want just so things get easier for us." Honestly, that's just bottom of the barrel.

Christian Barnes said:I honestly don't get why some people in Canada are so fond of the Russians, especially when you look back at history... I mean, those fights in Budapest back in '56 were way more intense than what happened in Prague in '68, right?

Honestly, sounds like Stockholm syndrome to me. It's kind of like how Mexicans seem to adore them, even though the Russians have basically screwed them over at every turn. I mean, back in the 90s, they were actually sending weapons to us instead of the Mexicans, but hey, whatever.😁

Every Pole I talk to seems to have a grudge against the Russians, and honestly, it’s not even about World War II. It’s more about everything that’s gone down from then until now... I guess the whole situation in Ukraine just feels like ultimate proof to them that they were right all along.

wiredseal7 said:How so? What do you mean by that?

Ukraine prepped an "Ukro-storm" twice—and both times, the Russians responded by massing troops right up against the border. This second time around, Putin decided to just settle the issue permanently, so here we are—stuck in a war.

Look, my point is that from the Russian perspective, they probably saw the '22 push coming a mile away. Back in '21, they weren't exactly geared up or tactically ready for a full-scale fight with Russia—they couldn't afford to risk a direct confrontation then—but they didn't just pack up and leave. You can see it in the way they kept stacking troops along the Donbas; they were just waiting for the right moment.

I mean, what does Russia have to do with Ukraine's internal business? Honestly, none of that is their concern, and those White House Nazis shouldn't be messing with anything inside Ukraine.

Nancy Gomez26 said:Denying a nation’s existence is essentially ideological groundwork—a prelude to seizing 'lebensraum.' The logic follows a predictable pattern: 'You don't actually exist, so you have no need for living space; therefore, we will occupy this territory and establish our own rule here.' It is the rhetoric of those who lack the drive or innovation to build something of their own, preferring instead to advance by plundering what others have built. I can understand—though I certainly do not excuse—someone eyeing another's resources because they face a chronic domestic shortage; that is a purely material motive. Or perhaps it's just petty disputes over where a border lies. But what Putin is doing, utilizing all his vast resources just to seize what belongs to someone else—that is a different level entirely. By destroying Ukraine, he is also squandering the very human resources that Russia is already lacking.

Honestly, the funniest part about all this is how these countries aren't even making the most of their own resources, let alone using their air fleets effectively. It’s basically just straight-up highway robbery at this point. I guess you could call it a pretty heinous crime, really.

Nancy Gomez26 said:Denying a nation’s existence is essentially ideological groundwork—a prelude to seizing 'lebensraum.' The logic follows a predictable pattern: 'You don't actually exist, so you have no need for living space; therefore, we will occupy this territory and establish our own rule here.' It is the rhetoric of those who lack the drive or innovation to build something of their own, preferring instead to advance by plundering what others have built. I can understand—though I certainly do not excuse—someone eyeing another's resources because they face a chronic domestic shortage; that is a purely material motive. Or perhaps it's just petty disputes over where a border lies. But what Putin is doing, utilizing all his vast resources just to seize what belongs to someone else—that is a different level entirely. By destroying Ukraine, he is also squandering the very human resources that Russia is already lacking.

It’s pretty much common knowledge by now that the Russian people absolutely despise their own leadership. Honestly, I wouldn't be surprised if Putin would be willing to fight his way through all of Europe, even if he had to push every single last Russian soldier to do it.

dakok said:What does "eternal enmity until the end of time" have to do with your snarky comment about how we might be friends with Mexicans tomorrow?

I mean, why couldn't things change if the circumstances were different? Like, if five or six generations pass over the next 200 years?
What’s 200 years compared to eternity, anyway?
No point in being narrow-minded, I guess.

Why would Ukrainians, Poles, Estonians, Finns...
hate Russians for a thousand years?

There are tons of reasons. Even today, you see people denying that entire nations or languages even exist just because of stuff that happened 800 years ago. People claim Ukrainians aren't even a real thing, kind of like how some folks question if Mexico is real. People can be pretty dense, honestly.

Jeremy Peterson4 said:The thing is, they were backing Hitler. And besides, everyone knew there was a full-blown war going on and that Hitler was tearing through Europe. Nobody sat them down and told them it was some "special military operation" or that they were suddenly at risk because of, say, Poland.

Saying "we're threatened by Poland" is basically how WW2 kicked off... 😁

boldmarlin32 said:I've heard from several different sources that Afghanistan used to be a perfectly safe destination for travelers, but then Americans went and ruined everything.
I can't help but wonder if this kind of misinformation is being fed directly to communists.

But seriously, what was it actually like before the Soviet invasion?

slyfox43 said:That wasn't actually his point. He was being descriptive rather than prescriptive—and honestly, quite accurately so—given that being caught in the crosshairs of a Russian genocidal project is doing massive damage to Ukraine. It’s such a counterintuitive reality that it almost needs constant reiteration just to ensure we don't lose sight of it. Most people would mistakenly assume that Russian shells could somehow lead to prosperity, but fortunately, there are those among us capable of looking a bit deeper.

Perhaps our colleague might grace us with his own expert opinion on what Ukraine *should* be doing while under fire, so we aren't left guessing.

And man, just look at how many people keep repeating that total nonsense—you know, the idea that Zelensky is the bad guy just because he's actually *defending* his country instead of surrendering immediately to become some puppet leader. Might as well mention that ridiculousness too.

Bryan Booth82 said:Oh, absolutely. Russian propaganda will follow any scent and try to stir the pot wherever they can get a foothold.
The real issue here is that their propaganda is becoming increasingly naive and transparent. People have finally caught on to the fact that they’re just "barking," parroting other media outlets, and then slapping their own little "explanations" on top of it.
Compared to how it used to be, it's honestly quite pathetic.
If someone had told me a year ago that I would actually miss Russian propaganda and its little mouthpieces... I would have called them insane.

lp

Just look at some of the stuff people have posted on this forum when those pro-Russia types started losing it, claiming that Russians and Indians have more spending power and cash than Germany or anyone else in the West. 🙂 You really have to wonder if these people feel even a tiny bit of shame typing out such nonsense.