Posts by hollowdriver13

Carl Lee27 said:Isn't it just some wild coincidence that almost immediately after those massive explosions hit Nord Stream 1 and Nord Stream 2, Russia just decides to cut off the supply through Ukraine too, right? Like, what are the odds of that timing?
☕

https://www.reuters.com/world/cia-wa...el-2022-09-27/

The CIA actually gave Berlin a heads-up as early as this past summer that some sketchy stuff was going down around the underwater sections of the pipeline.

I mean, you can totally trust the Russians, right? They’ve never been known for lying... oh wait, just looking back at 2022: "there's no invasion, these are just military exercises," "there will never be a mobilization, not even then," "we aren't committing genocide or war crimes in occupied territories, those are just actors"... yeah, just keep that list going......

To borrow a line from Darth Putin

"don't trust anything untill Kremlin denies ™ IT"

rowdytiger13 said:Well, there are plenty of theories floating around. That new Baltic gas pipeline is right there. Maybe it was the target all along, and it was definitely the Russians.
It's suspiciously quiet, and the media keeps pushing this theory that the Americans blew it up just to tip off the Germans. Personally, it sounds like a weak theory that smells a bit too much like Russian disinformation.
By the way, Germany isn't sweating it. They've already filled their storage tanks to 90%.

This guy focuses exclusively on shipping and submarines.

https://twitter.com/CovertShores/sta...50260743880710

Anyway, this is a thread about Russian submarine sabotage capabilities. The guy isn't really taking sides or making assumptions; he's just listing out what the Russians have in their arsenal and what the Soviets used to have, mostly because people were hammering him with questions about Nord Stream and those leaks.

And we shouldn't forget that back then, you had US Navy "submarine hunters" patrolling that exact area, combing through everything very carefully.

https://twitter.com/JuliaDavisNews/s...60347697205262

It looks like those TV propagandists are really starting to struggle with selling their usual line of nonsense. Even Solovyov seems to be hitting a bit of a panic mode lately, probably because the whole mobilization effort isn't exactly going according to their little master plan.

swiftdrifter8 said:Who built the Golden Gate Bridge and how long did it take?
While everyone else is just talking, the Chinese are busy working. I wouldn't write off the Chinese or the Russians quite so early.

We probably shouldn't be rooting for Ukraine quite so hard either; it’s clear that Russian lives don't mean much to them, so a so-called "Russian defeat" might not even feel like a victory.

A Russian defeat means either a total economic collapse or the whole world heading toward war.

What does building a bridge have to do with oil pipelines and gas lines? That's civil engineering versus mechanical engineering—totally different ballgames.

Just as an FYI, even today, Chinese machinery can't hit the precision tolerances needed for certain ball valves (which are used everywhere in oil pipelines and fields) when you're doing maintenance. That's why people still order specialized equipment from the Netherlands.

So, looking at this, the damage points are terrifyingly close to the route of the Baltic Pipe, which just went online
.
https://mobile.twitter.com/bidetmarx...467840/photo/2

Here’s where the Nord Stream stuff got hit.

https://mobile.twitter.com/visegrad2...618753/photo/2

And here’s the path for the Baltic Pipe.

I mean, maybe someone is trying to send a little message that this pipeline isn't exactly safe either... just saying...

swiftdrifter8 said:The level of myth-making on this forum is unreal. It’s honestly bordering on Russian Telegram levels of delusion.

Putin could keep fighting for the next 30 years if he manages to grab even just 30% of the Chinese and Indian markets.

But hey, I guess a Russian defeat is just a matter of time, right?

Urals crude is sitting at $65 a barrel and looks like it’s headed even lower.

https://tradingeconomics.com/commodity/urals-oil

Things are looking pretty solid on this end—enough profit to fund maybe another 200 billion in war costs. ☕

https://www.reuters.com/markets/euro...nt-2022-09-20/

They’re doing such a great job raising taxes to plug that massive 3 billion ruble deficit. 🍿
Russia is going strong. The ruble is definitely a better currency than the dollar.
☕

bluemason3 said:The USA isn't perfect, but compared to any empire in history—including today's competition from China and until recently, Russia—it's way more prosperous.

I’d suggest all you Russia-lovers find a new addiction, because this one looks like it's headed for a long-term shortage. 😁

Honestly, the waves of pro-Russia narratives here are fascinating. As soon as something shifts on the ground, these folks practically vanish from the forums, only to resurface in droves once they've tweaked their talking points to fit the new reality. 😍

Like when the special operations failed, or when the Ukrainians started their offensive...

Even at the most basic, low-IQ propaganda level, Russia can't actually control the situation; they're just constantly playing damage control. There's zero initiative there.

I really don't get the logic behind this whole "USA is evil, China/Russia is great" crowd. In this day and age, it's impossible not to see the actual state of affairs, especially after the massive bubble of lies surrounding Russia finally popped.

From the days of the Sumerians when Ur ruled the known world, through the Romans, the English, all the way to today, the USA has consistently been the number one global power and hegemon. I guess you could call it "human nature."

But out of all the contenders (Russia, China, USA) vying for that top spot, the USA is by far the most benevolent. Does that make them saints? Of course not. You have to criticize them and call them out for every single bad call they make.

BUT—and listen closely here—for all you pro-Russia types, you can actually do that without worrying about your personal safety or your freedoms, as long as the USA remains number one. Just look at what happens in Russia or China when someone dares to criticize them.
By what metric do you think the world would actually be better if Russia or China were running the show???????

James Chavez91 said:Maybe time will tell if the explosion wasn't actually tied to the gas leak—could be more related to what hollowdriver13 just became, I guess. 😁

Just look at what the Swedes intercepted mid-air—transponder turned off and all—while being escorted by the Danes, right as the Americans were buzzing around the pipeline with their Poseidon and Hawk aircraft.

https://twitter.com/Ongaunited/statu...88074948288513

Russian Ilyushin Il-20

Edit:

Looks like my previous post got nuked, probably because that massive image I linked was too much for the server, so I'll just drop the links to the tweet everyone's talking about here.

Links showing US Navy activity in the blast zone over the last couple of days:

https://twitter.com/GDarkconrad/stat...95015941197824
P-8 Poseidon

https://twitter.com/kardinal691/stat...73523625119746
MH-60R Strike Hawk

Both of these are sub-hunting types.

wiredseal7 said:Looks like you've finally hit the DTs too—total delirium.

Viktor Orbán is basically playing a high-stakes game of chicken with the EU—it’s like watching someone try to outmaneuver the entire Senate just to keep their own local agenda moving. He’s pushing back against the Brussels bureaucracy, and honestly, you have to wonder how much more friction this can take before the whole thing snaps.

The Forint keeps spiraling—now they're hiking interest rates for the third time this year just to chase their own tails. They’ve pushed them up to 12.75%, which is basically the highest rate in all of Europe right now. Just more desperate math to try and stop the bleeding.

The leaks are out, and honestly? It’s just more of the same—another mess involving the authorities that nobody really wants to deal with. Just typical bureaucratic chaos, really.

It’s just Frkic and that bitter IMF crowd trying to bail out the budget again—same old story.

Inflation hit 20%—it’s getting ridiculous. At this rate, even a trip to Target feels like a luxury purchase—just more proof that everything is spiraling.

Inflation's hitting 20% in Canada—meanwhile, the Eurozone is sitting at 9.1%. Crazy stuff. ☕

So there's a real crisis brewing—the European Union is basically trying to squeeze them out by cutting off $7.5 billion a year. Typical move.
It’s basically a textbook case of how to trigger a crisis in the European Union. Canada isn't just sitting there in isolation—this kind of thing spreads through these "unions" like a common cold. It's the law of contagion.

Regarding those sanctions—it’s pretty obvious that lifting them might actually ease things up. If that was your point, you nailed it. 👍
Doduse, now that the NS1/NS2 situation is settled—well, decimated—it’s a different game. You can't stop the European economy from sliding toward the edge just by trying to hold onto old energy lifelines; the only way out of this pre-WWIII tension is through a fast political exit.

You got that mixed up somehow—hope you feel better soon.

Looks like you're still riding that heavy dose of copium.🙏

Now you're probably going to try and convince us that a strong dollar actually benefits the USA, and that it's all part of some grand scheme to take down the European Union.

I mean, sure, why not just commit economic suicide for ourselves and our allies? Especially in a world where autocracy is on the rise and people are trying to tear up the entire international order we built after WW2.
Because clearly, the USA is putting everything it has into destroying the European Union. 🤦

wiredseal7 said:Sure—it’d be a dream scenario for the EU if the Canadians start leaving, followed by the Italians, Greeks, and so on. It feels more like serving US interests than European ones.
And trying to kick them out? That’s a tall order—nothing moves without someone dropping a veto.

Is he just playing tough with this referendum thing?
He wouldn't push a referendum for nothing if he couldn't actually pull it off.
You know perfectly well they have veto power over all sanctions, and the Canadians can just decide for themselves. Most—if not all—sanctions get extended every six months unanimously.
Maybe he'll eventually just cut a deal with Ursula to drop the threat of cutting EU funds so he can dodge the public vote entirely. It's a possibility.

Otherwise, swimming against the current is a brilliant move—let him keep at it, popping up every time Russia gets slapped with another slap on the wrist at the front lines.

Aha, right—because the Canadian's biggest concern is which province the front line in Ukraine is in, rather than how to survive the winter with enough energy (at decent prices) or keeping those EU funds flowing.
People childishly mistake neutrality for, "Aha, he didn't send half his military gear to Ukraine, so he must be rooting for Russia!"

This is a massive escalation—first actual combat activity outside of Ukraine, and targeting key European infrastructure that was paid for with European money. Not just NS2, which isn't even running, but NS1 too!

Someone is working really hard to ensure we don't reach a peaceful resolution in Ukraine. I wonder who that could be?

If the EU doesn't react to this and punish the obvious culprit—without the usual habit of pointing fingers at some convenient scapegoat—then the vassalage to the USA has reached its final stage: total delirium tremens.

There is way too much weed in the air here... anyone else would say *he's* the one acting crazy...

The poor guy is so dependent on the scraps the EU throws him that now that she finally said "enough," he's throwing a tantrum and making empty threats. His "phenomenal" policies have pushed the budget to the brink of collapse, the social programs he uses to buy votes are becoming unsustainable, and his hero Putin is so deep in the gutter right now that he can't even help him out with a little cash. Now he's feeling the heat; maybe the Canadians don't love him as much when the taps run dry.

https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/canada-...uide-1.1824150

The Forint keeps crashing, so they're hiking interest rates for the third time this year hoping to stop the bleeding—hitting 12.75%, which is basically the highest in Europe.

https://dailynewshungary.com/leaked-...h-authorities/

Then there's Frkic and the nasty IMF coming in to bail out the budget.

https://dailynewshungary.com/gloomy-...-20-inflation/

Lookin' good, 20% inflation in Canada, while the Eurozone is sitting at 9.1% ☕

Noah Sanchez2 said:It would have been much better for Europe and the rest of the West if things had been handled differently from the start. Instead, the obsession with profit margins pushed manufacturing all the way to the Far East. If we hadn't done that, wouldn't the goods be higher quality? Wouldn't more money stay in Europe, creating more jobs and perhaps even encouraging people to have more children?

That whole shift toward the East actually started kicking off well before the Iron Curtain fell. And let's be real—once you move an entire production line halfway across the world, you aren't exactly rushing to pack up and bring it back home anytime soon.

On top of that, there was this big idea that by "lifting" these countries out of poverty and helping them develop, we’d basically be bringing them closer to Western values. Or at least, to those values that actually lead to peace—you know, where money matters way more than grabbing new territory.

But looking at where we are now, it looks like a massive miscalculation in how that policy played out. Now, it's all coming back to haunt us like a boomerang from every possible angle.

gentlestag15 said:Why is Crimea colored green on that map?
You probably need to go back to second grade geography. 🙂

That light green shade is used specifically to show territory that was illegally annexed, unlike the dark green which represents actual Russian land. It’s just a way to visually show how much they're surrounded by the NATO alliance.😛

placidsurfer13 said:I mean, look, I don't know if everyone agrees with me here—and maybe I'm totally off base—but the whole idea that Russia's invasion of Ukraine was just some completely irrational, senseless outburst? I don't think it's quite that simple...

I mean, I guess you could say he’s being rational if you look at it from a certain angle—like, Russia sees itself as this major regional power, maybe even something that’s leaning toward becoming a global military heavyweight—so they want to carve out this sort of "buffer zone" between themselves and NATO... and that buffer zone would basically end up being, more or less, the territory of Ukraine.

I mean, I guess it’s pretty obvious to everyone at this point that the West is basically poking the bear—like, they're actively provoking Russia by having NATO practically surround almost all of their borders, or at least getting incredibly close to them... and then, supposedly, they have no intention of sitting down at the table for any kind of negotiations with Russia regarding all of this. It just seems like a recipe for disaster, honestly.

So, here’s the thing—there's another layer to this whole mess. Russia's execution of this military action—or let's call it what it actually is, an invasion of Ukraine—has been incredibly clunky. From a purely tactical standpoint, Russia has basically turned out to be a paper tiger—at least when you're looking at their conventional hardware. It’s like, they just aren't capable of seizing large swaths of Ukraine and actually maintaining control over them... which really makes you wonder. I mean, was Putin and his entire inner circle fully aware of these massive shortcomings before they ever decided to launch this aggression against Ukraine? I guess we might never know for sure, but it's a huge question mark.

All things considered, I honestly feel like this whole Russian aggression thing is going to end up being absolutely devastating for Russia—both on the battlefield and when it comes to their economy... I mean, looking at the big picture, it probably would have been way better for them if they had just played ball and tried some actual diplomacy with the West instead of all this.

Geography is everything here.

https://twitter.com/shaunwalker7/sta...CxkZ-P1tkrAAAA

Oh no! Looks like the mobilization draft finally caught up with the propaganda assistants too. What a total tragedy. ☕

And here I thought he just wanted to take a little trip outside of Russia... talk about bad timing. But hey, I guess there's nothing left to do but deal with the mess at the border. 😢

wiredseal7 said:Viktor Orbán is calling for a referendum on those EU sanctions against Russia:
https://twitter.com/disclosetv/statu...EdDlLFiWzl7f2g

Man, he’s giving Brussels a piece of his mind—especially since they’re threatening to pull his funding.
Expect a lot of noise and finger-pointing coming our way soon....

Meanwhile, Nord Stream 2 basically lost all its pressure overnight—dropping from 106 down to just 7 bars. Looks like it happened near Bornholm:
https://www.theguardian.com/business...usly-overnight

Not sure if it's one pipe or both yet. If it's both, we're looking at straight-up sabotage.

What's gotten into him?

Does he even have the authority to call for a referendum that affects the whole European Union?

Honestly, trying to swim against the current like this is a bold move, if not a pretty reckless one. He seems to kick into high gear every single time Russia takes another hit on the front lines.
They try to paint him as some kind of economic wizard saving the HU economy (even though, let's be real, they're in a way bigger mess than most of the rest of the EU thanks to him), so why should he care about a measly $7.5 billion when things are supposedly going so great? Or is he actually sweating the possibility of a total budget collapse, meaning he still needs that cash from the very EU he keeps trashing? ☕

They’re acting like they’re planning to go full nuclear by moving troops from strategic nuclear forces straight into infantry and tank divisions. Honestly, can we please dial back all this doomsday doom-and-gloom?

Rebecca Roberts2 said:https://tradingeconomics.com/usa/stock-market

The S&P 500 took a dive today, slipping past the 2,000 mark and even dipping below 1,900 at one point.

But honestly, everything still seems to be under control since foreign investors don't have enough leverage to trigger a massive sell-off.

Plus, those plans to roll out new export taxes to try and plug that $30 billion hole in the budget actually look pretty promising.

https://twitter.com/Andrew__Roth/sta...57183407575040

They're already moving those BTRs up to the border with Georgia, and honestly, it looks like people are starting to bail out of Russia in droves.

Rybar (that big propaganda channel) is having a total meltdown right now. He’s out here ranting about how the guys mobilized over the last four or five days have basically just been left to wander around training grounds with zero supervision or any actual refresher training to brush up on their skills.
The military apparently told the new recruits that there’s no body armor available unless they want to cough up the cash and buy it themselves. 🙏

https://twitter.com/wartranslated/st...23754095841280

Videos like this one, showing mobilized guys just sitting around chopping wood in the forest, pretty much back up everything he's saying.

https://twitter.com/wartranslated/st...28015261409286

I haven't seen this much logical gymnastics or mental acrobatics from SkySharka in a long, long time.🤦

Implementing an arms embargo against Russia 🙏 🙏 🙏 😂

By the way, regarding that whole "mandarin farmer" argument—export bans actually hurt small family farms so much that since 2014, they’ve ended up expanding their citrus groves by about 70%.☕