Posts by electricsurfer47

Edward Brooks81 said:My son had a traditional cast last year. He didn't go swimming, but let me tell you—those plaster casts start smelling pretty terrible after a little while. And you can imagine how much fun it is trying to keep an arm clean when you can't actually wash it properly.🙄
With the plastic version, you can actually wash it. They put a thin layer of gauze underneath so it dries quickly. You just wipe it down and maybe hit it with a hair dryer for a bit.
It’s definitely lighter and way more comfortable.

Wait, what does that mean exactly?

And does the regular plaster cast also have gauze or a bunch of cotton padding between the skin and the cast?

Melissa Rivera5 said:What are you even rambling about? You think 300k professional NATO soldiers would be deployed without any equipment? I guess you're getting them mixed up with the Russians and sending guys out in half-broken gear.

He was talking about the Russians, look at the quote. If they've already burned through so much gear in Ukraine, do they really want to send over the tiny bit of decent stuff they have left?

hollowdriver13 said:The real question is, can the Russians actually churn out another 300k PROFESSIONAL soldiers to even stand a chance against those NATO numbers?...😁

I mean, I probably can, but what’s the point of giving them all this gear? All they're gonna get out of it is a one-way ticket to a grave or a prisoner-of-war camp.

Bryan Booth82 said:The single biggest blunder would be for NATO to sit on its hands and refuse to get actively involved in this conflict, yet based on how the current situation is unfolding, I fully expect them to intervene sooner rather than later.

lp

It looks to me like Belarus is gearing up for war. If NATO doesn't step in, we're going to be in real trouble.

https://m.facebook.com/story.php?sto...00077364894090

swiftjackal11 said:As long as Putin and his inner circle of 20 oligarchs have billions—and we're talking US dollars here—sitting in their accounts while the working class struggles, $667 there's really nothing to discuss.

Could you elaborate on that a bit?

Did you actually watch the video?

I really hope you gave it a look, because the guy breaks down exactly what Russia did to prop up their currency and how they kept everything from totally collapsing.

Basically, if some foreign investor decided to put money into Russia, they might make a profit, but getting those funds back out is another story entirely.
And then there’s the whole situation with foreign currency. There were all these restrictions put in place, and now I honestly don't know where the Oligarchs are stashing their dollars or euros if their overseas accounts are frozen. I wonder if an Oligarch can even flee Russia, grab a different citizenship just to live abroad, and eventually find a way to unfreeze their assets.

swiftjackal11 said:McDonald's is killing it right now. Honestly, their food has never tasted better. If they ever lifted those sanctions, the dollar would be unstoppable.😵

Check out this video.



So, tell me... do you really think Russia can actually pull off being successful on its own? Like, purely within its own borders, without any help from foreign investors?

placidtiger142 said:Maybe there’s a fix, but it would take some seriously nasty maneuvering, massive deals, and insane willpower.

Hand over a slice of territory to the Russians just to stop more young and old Ukrainians from getting slaughtered, BUT...

Make sure the price tag is absolutely astronomical. The West needs to strike a secret deal, give the Ukrainians every single guarantee that everything destroyed gets rebuilt within two years, and then isolate Russia so hard they won't even show up on a Western compass anymore.

I’m not talking about an Iron Curtain—I mean a wall like the one in GOT.

Pull all the tech out. All the goods, all the manufacturing. No visas for anything that leans toward the West. Basically, make both the Southwest and Northwest completely off-limits to them.

No cars, no software, no tech... don't sell them a damn thing. I mean none of this "symbolic sanctions" nonsense, but literally...

Here’s what you asked for, but because of that, you don't exist to us anymore, and we don't exist to you. You’ve got China and India and a whole lot of nothing else.

They didn't send that turbine to China or India for repairs; they sent it to Germany and Canada.

The Ukrainians can hand back the territory; who cares what they do with it? They're the poorest people in Europe. They wouldn't be able to rebuild it even in 150 years, and generations would just die from hunger and disease while the world forgets them in a heartbeat. The war is over. You got your land back, now go screw yourselves, we've got our own problems to deal with.

Look, the EU and the USA cough up a few billion, and they rebuild the people in Ukraine until it looks like Dubai. In exchange, the EU gets to grab a little bit of Ukraine's natural resources, but at least people won't be dying and living in rubble and dust for the next century or two.

One small American state hasn't been blown to bits yet, but what's gonna happen to Ukraine when it's nothing but ash?

Basically, screw the Russians. Give them the middle finger while letting them think they actually won. Let them build the walls, pave the roads, lay the sewers, and run the phone lines, but ban them from everything else. Like, you go straight to jail if we catch you selling a smartphone to a Russian.

Why am I saying this?

Because what are those poor Ukrainians gonna do? Kick the Russians out in a year or two and take back Crimea?

What are they supposed to do with a massive stretch of territory that's just ashes, inhabited by people barely surviving??

Ukraine can't get back what existed before the invasion because it's gone. Russia wiped it out. So, you might as well give it to them since it isn't what it used to be. Before February 24th, a square meter was worth a fortune; now, it's worth negative 300. Who wants anything there?? Not even a scavenger would want to pick through that. But listen, we aren't talking about going back 50 years—man, it's gonna be worse than some remote village in China with 14 people living in it.

A bicycle should be a luxury item; let them kill each other over a bike.

What kind of power plant? Wooden wheels, my foot.

Keep it simple and civil. I have nothing against them, but I'm not selling you anything.

These guys trashed a fifth of the country, and now they want people to bleed for years just to get it back? For what? Rubble? Nothing but rubble...

Sent from my iPhone 12 using Reddit

Okay, let's play out a scenario where Ukraine actually gets everything back.
In my opinion, we shouldn't even think about lifting sanctions until Russia sits down and strikes a deal with Ukraine to pay for all the damages. I mean, seriously, those sanctions should stay put unless there's actual compensation involved.

This one’s for all the Russophiles out there, or honestly just anyone curious about how Russia manages to keep the ruble so strong—looking at both the pros and the cons.
The guy in this video breaks everything down really clearly and goes into a lot of detail

Feel free to share this on Facebook.

analogbear5 said:Europe is still buying Russian oil—no real plans to cut it off entirely.

As for stopping gas imports? Nobody’s even thinking about that.

We're moving toward alternatives, don't worry. It's definitely not going to be easy, but it's something we have to do.

Donna Wells2 said:The momentum is clearly on the Ukrainian side.
Day by day, the Russians are weakening.
They are losing trained, professional personnel at a rapid pace, and their weaponry is second-rate compared to Western tech anyway.
Their biggest loss might actually be the fact that the NATO alliance has been revitalized and further strengthened by the inclusion of Finland and Sweden.
The other member states are arming themselves at high speed, creating a force far more formidable than anything we saw before this started.

One big issue, though, is that none of the NATO members have endless stockpiles of equipment. Most of them haven't focused on defense for a long time; they kind of let things slide or cut budgets because military spending wasn't exactly a top priority.
So now, it's tough for NATO countries to donate weapons if they don't have a way to replace what they send out.

But look, the NATO alliance really needs to jumpstart a joint effort to produce newer, more advanced equipment. That way, they can replenish what members are using and still keep the supplies flowing to Ukraine. There isn't really any other way around it.

Moving away from the main topic for a second.

What ever happened to that massive chip shortage we were dealing with right before things kicked off with Russia??? Over in Europe, you had car manufacturers basically forced to halt production because they couldn't get their hands on the chips needed to actually build the vehicles. I even wear hearing aids myself, and I noticed the hearing aid manufacturers were feeling the squeeze too—they couldn't get enough chips for chargers or those little Bluetooth components that let you stream sound.

So, here’s what I'm wondering about now. Since a huge chunk of car makers and tech companies pulled out of Russia, does that mean there's finally more chip supply available for everyone else left in the market??? Maybe those sanctions actually ended up helping the European Union and the rest of the world by freeing up those missing chips.

scumbag said:NO, we didn't just fight a war with Mexico; NATO basically used us like pawns to push their own anti-Mexican agenda, just like how they're using Ukraine right now to serve their anti-Russian goals. I mean, otherwise, why would they have even fought us in the first place?

Nothing new there, really. It’s just typical for a people who act like subordinates—basically descendants of those famous Austrian lackeys who were out there greeting Hitler with flowers.

So, here's a question: why did NATO attack Mexico back in 1999?

What do all these mass graves tell you?
I mean, look, between 2001 and 2010, over ten mass graves were discovered, and yet Mexicans still insist that NATO attacked them just to hit their anti-Mexican targets.

What would have happened if NATO hadn't stepped in? There wouldn't be anything left of the citizens in Mexico.
And you guys are still trying to deny the massacres at Ovčara and Srebrenica.

dustytiger8 said:Well... no... that's just not how it works.

A thick slab of concrete is basically just a target for a bunker buster. Just Google "bunker buster bomb" if you don't believe me. A single BLU-109 is plenty to take out a bridge; it can punch through two feet of reinforced concrete without breaking a sweat.

If they manage to blast a hole in the top, they’ll probably just patch it up fast with some heavy steel plating or quick-setting concrete.

The structural support pillars are the real targets here. You need the right kind of ordnance for that—something that doesn't just punch a hole through them, but actually splits them right down the middle.

And you'd have to account for both the rail lines and the highway traffic separately.

Bryan Booth82 said:I honestly don't get it—why aren't the Ukrainians making a serious attempt to damage or completely take out that bridge connecting Crimea to Russia?
Hitting that target would be the single most powerful move possible to actually boost morale on the ground.

Maybe they’re just holding that card in reserve... waiting for the exact right moment when it matters most.🤔

Word is that Russia has sunk something like $19 billion into that infrastructure, so if they were to suffer some major damage or a total shutdown at one or more points... man, that would hurt them where it counts.

Best,

Just look at photos of the bridge. It's mostly massive concrete. I mean, what are they even supposed to hit? It'd just leave tiny little holes in the slab. The bombs they have right now can knock down simple stuff, like houses or small buildings, but that's about it.
The Ukrainians need bunker-buster missiles—stuff that can actually punch through thick layers of reinforced concrete—but the US isn't providing those yet.

gentlerider7 said:All he'll have left is Alexander Lukashenko.

Even he won't last very long this time... nobody is going to step up to defend him against the protesters.

Nancy Gomez26 said:It appears I was mistaken regarding Kazakhstan's role as a loophole for bypassing sanctions against the Russian Federation. At least for the moment.

The smartest move for Europe would be to seriously evaluate constructing gas and oil pipelines from Kazakhstan via a route crossing the Caspian Sea, Azerbaijan, and Georgia, then running under the Black Sea toward Romania or Bulgaria—or perhaps through Turkey. However, an undersea route seems more prudent. A joint venture between Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan could work.

From what I can tell, though, that kind of thing moves at a snail's pace. You're always stuck dealing with permits and land rights and all that stuff... it takes years. Could they speed it up? I don't know. Europe really needs solutions sooner rather than later, especially within this year.

I've been watching this video, and honestly, manufacturers aren't just hiking up prices... they've been playing games for the last two months.

It’s not just about the cost; they're actually shrinking everything. Shrinkflation is everywhere. A gallon of milk isn't really a full gallon anymore, but they keep the same size container so you don't even notice until you're pouring it.

They've even done it with butter—making the sticks smaller while raising the price. And because it's so expensive now, they've started putting the butter in those little plastic security boxes to stop people from shoplifting.

Then there's this other video where you can see how much color is missing from the packaging. Manufacturers are switching to plain white wrappers with fewer pictures and tiny logos just to save on ink.

Over in Russia, they still have American products and stuff from the European Union lying around, but that'll only last until the warehouses run dry. And you bet the prices are going up on whatever is left.

Every Russian in these videos knows the ruble is being artificially propped up; everyone realizes this kind of pricing can't last forever. Even the YouTubers there are walking on eggshells. They won't call the military operation what it actually is out of fear, so they use weird euphemisms like "the situation" or "that situation." Some are finally brave enough to call it a war, though.

Sent from my unknown using Reddit

mladovino said:From what I can see, Russia is just being aggressive, leveling everything and destroying Ukraine. As for where the West is attacking Russia... well, that’s just your opinion...

Yeah, there's this constant effort to pin the blame for the war in Ukraine on the West. But honestly? All Russia needs to do is stop. Just pull the troops back. And Putin should be held accountable for all of this. It feels like that's exactly why he won't quit this insane war.
It's like Putin got way too comfortable having all this power and now he's acting just like Hitler. From what I can tell, he's going so far that he'll keep fighting until the very last Russian soldier is gone if that's what it takes.

@Kocar

Look, whether you like it or not, Zelenskyy was legally elected president. Period. You can't just judge his entire presidency based on some comedy sketch he did years ago. That’s not how this works.

But here's the real question: if a leader starts driving the country straight off a cliff—doing the exact opposite of what the people actually voted for—what then? Didn't Yanukovych get a fair shot to call for new elections to see if the people of Ukraine still backed him?

He didn't take that chance. Instead, he just kept doing exactly what Moscow told him to do.
If anyone is responsible for things spiraling out of control during the Maidan protests, it’s Yanukovych.

ironpuma29 said:It’s not just that the US hasn't stepped in militarily in Ukraine—no country has. Officially, there are no foreign armies there, just volunteers.
The consensus was simply to send weapons, money, and handle the refugee crisis.

If that Russian madman with his nukes threatens total annihilation, everyone holds back.

Ukraine is fighting because they refuse to live under a Russian boot... everyone else helps how they can, and how they're allowed to.

Putin is blackmailing 9 billion people...

A president changing the course of history on this planet... the new reality is that nuclear-armed nations can act however they want toward anyone's territory.
Pandora's box is open.

What’s stopping China from doing the exact same thing... threatening the world while taking Taiwan.
Is anyone actually going to risk Armageddon?!

I don't think so.

Soldiers and civilians will die... while the rest of us plummet economically.

Where were the red lines before? Who was pushing? Who's the fox in all this?!?
Some families argue and find a compromise... then you have those who just beat everyone down—mostly women and kids—and then there are those who just kill everyone... that's Russia.

Well, Putin's policy chose that path.

Russia has been building its network of influence for 30 years... and now the old man decided it's finally time to pull the trigger.

Everything has changed economically for sure, and geopolitically maybe just in parts of Ukraine... plus, new political blocs have formed.

I hope this killing and destruction stops... but it's hard... Russia has enough weaponry to
trample the entire European Union, and I don't see who could stop them...

We all rely on NATO membership, but hypothetically, if Russia actually invaded Lithuania with the same threat... would the world really risk a nuclear war?!
Or Mexico, or the US?

No one is going to defend these tiny states... and that's an opportunity the Kremlin might decide to take at any moment.

The major economic powers like the EU and the USA... they won't touch them.

Putin has way more absolute power than Xi Jinping. He didn't just jump into this war alone; he had the backing of guys like Sergei Shoigu, Dmitry Medvedev, Sergey Lavrov, and the rest of the crew who've been by his side forever. They've gotten comfortable, especially Putin, since he's the one making all the calls. It’s kind of like how it was with Adolf Hitler—he surrounded himself with people who just had to follow his lead blindly.

That's why I doubt China will take that same road. Their politicians rotate more often, and leaders like Xi Jinping probably don't want to shoulder that kind of weight during a war. If an invasion fails, they're the ones left holding the bag, blamed for all the deaths.