Posts by Arthur Miller7

Olivia Turner49 said:I mean, if they're actually going after their biggest ally in Europe (well, excluding Orbán), do they seriously think they can just bury any chance of long-term communication with the rest of the continent?

I mean, it basically just gives the Swabians a perfect excuse to drag their feet and stall whenever they feel like it.

George Robinson43 said:I have no desire to engage with your Russian whataboutism, but I should remind you that within a ten-year span, Iraq invaded two sovereign nations, so saying they weren't a threat to anyone simply isn't accurate.
It's funny—we all know the invasion of Iraq was a crime and a violation of rights, but if Iraq attacks other sovereign states, suddenly everything is fine! It becomes perfectly acceptable.
The same logic applies to Libya. An attack by Libya on Chad is tolerated—it's even welcomed, because a modern, sovereign, non-aligned nation like Libya deserves the right to flex its muscles. But an attack on Libya? That's a crime!

The real crime was having that hateful West meddling in everything. Honestly, if the Chinese decided to wipe out half of Asia, they'd probably give them a thumbs up.

Terry Hernandez10 said:The Czech Republic, currently holding the presidency of the European Council, has announced that a blanket ban on visas for all Russian citizens across the entire European Union could be the next step in the ongoing sanctions against Russia

It’s honestly nauseating—just seeing them traveling around like nothing even happened. Like, they're just out there living their best lives while everything is falling apart. It makes me sick.

Zachary Jackson4 said:Have you read what Blank Page wrote?

Seriously, do you actually think they’d just go out and broadcast exact numbers like that? Use your brain for once before you start celebrating.

Joshua Myers432 said:By the time we actually nail this energy transition, that aggressor will be begging for forgiveness. 🤦

The European Union should have achieved energy independence ages ago, but honestly, once you see the parasites running things in Brussels, it all makes sense. Now, we're just stuck knee-deep in this mess.

Oh please, give me a break! You'd probably prefer if we never even joined the Union so local small-town thugs could call all the shots. Everyone was whining and crying about "glory days" before we joined the big leagues, and now look at us—everyone's broke and scavenging through trash cans.

feralpilot0 said:Nah, look—there are viruses that jump to animals first, then eventually hit humans because everything is just too close for comfort—think Mad Cow, bird flu, or even those nasty SARS variations we’ve all been dealing with for the last couple of years.

You gotta start negotiating for your own sake—to save the infrastructure and, most importantly, to save humanity.
And seriously, "negotiation in wartime" isn't some weird myth people make up—get over those ridiculous biases already.
People have been fighting wars for 10,000 years.

Aha, but circling back to the virus thing—is there like some kind of sensor that trips when it crosses the border? Like, you tell them to go ahead and head into Russia, but they aren't allowed to come back into Ukraine or the USA?

feralpilot0 said:Well, an agreement only works if both sides actually bother to follow it—isn't that the whole point of mutual security?
You can't sign a non-aggression pact and then turn around and play host to an armory behind everyone's back—can you?
Or do you actually believe Russia launched an invasion just because they woke up on the wrong side of the bed one morning?

"Quote:"

gentlestag15 Asks: Just admit it—Putin completely miscalculated his gamble with the invasion of Ukraine, didn't he? He’s dragged both Russia and Ukraine into this endless spiral of war, sanctions, and sheer instability—is there even an exit strategy? Thousands are dying because some old fossil thinks he’s some kind of Napoleon—someone destined to restore Russia's glory—when in reality, if Putin had even a shred of common sense or a conscience, he’d jump from a fifth-story window... which would honestly be doing the rest of the world, and especially Russia, a massive favor.

Of course—all we’re missing now is a photo of Putin sporting that ridiculous Hitler mustache... wouldn't that just complete the look?

Exactly what I'm saying! Seriously, where's the proof of these bio-labs? Or those NATO missile bases capable of hitting Moscow? And wait a sec—those kinds of missiles were already sitting right there in Europe!! We don't even need Ukraine! It's not the Middle Ages; we aren't sending cavalry charging toward Moscow just because a neighboring country is involved. And man, I see you're one of those people who actually buys into this whole "virus from Ukraine" nonsense that's supposedly designed to kill only Russians and nobody else… how am I even supposed to argue with someone like that? Your level of imagination is so wild even Spielberg couldn't script it.

feralpilot0 said:Nothing is "gone"—if anything, this current mess is actually the worst-case scenario for Ukraine itself.

If we're talking about a neutral state, how does that even work when Turkey acts as the guarantor for grain exports?
A solid agreement would always be better than this chaos we're seeing now.

But what does someone being a "guarantor" on paper even mean? Like, does a similar agreement from Budapest exist? And hey, get this—Russia was a signatory to that one too, and now they’re the aggressor. Just to make it easy for you: let’s say some deal like this gets signed, and four years from now, the Russians claim they have "proof" that NATO is shipping weapons into Ukraine. Then they launch a whole new "special operation," threatening that anyone who steps in will be treated as an attack on Russia, triggering nuclear weapons. You familiar with that move? In that case, what exactly is your Turkey going to do?

feralpilot0 said:The Ukrainians would need to start thinking for themselves if they wanted to take it—but they’re essentially hostages to the US agenda now, caught in a trap of hostility that stretches far beyond their own borders.

The US isn't about to just hand over its golden goose to some neutral party, is it?

And who exactly is going to guarantee that neutrality? You, feralpilot0? Some random guy on an internet forum? Give me a break. There aren't any deals, signatures, or shady backroom handshakes with the Russians happening anymore. Those days are long gone.

Jeremy Peterson4 said:Latvian Foreign Minister tells EU: Time to scrap tourist visas for Russians

Edgars Rinkēvičs is pushing the EU to officially label Russia a state sponsor of terrorism.

He went off on the "brutal murder of Ukrainian prisoners of war carried out by Russian forces in Olenivka."

Now he’s calling on the European Union to nix tourist visas for Russians entirely.

"The EU needs to look at labeling Russia a state sponsor of terrorism. I'm also doubling down on the proposal to ban EU tourist visas for Russian citizens," he wrote.

Oh yeah, let's goooo. Like I said from the jump, if the EU starts blocking Russians from moving around Europe, this is just one small step toward making that happen.

twit

I'm with you on this one.

wiredtiger8 said:Look, China can move people around within their own borders all they want. Doing that in Russia? That's a whole different ballgame.

Sure, they could invest, provided Putin and his crew actually let them. But don't kid yourself—that kind of money isn't a guarantee that they'll be able to "pull the strings" on the Russians later on using their own playbook.

Besides, comparing economic investment in some underdeveloped, struggling nations in Africa to potential investments in Siberia is just apples and oranges. The Russians have plenty of resources as it is; they aren't exactly begging for this kind of partnership.

And let's not forget, Russia is still a nuclear power—they won't hesitate to use those toys if they feel their territory is being threatened. Especially Siberia. I honestly don't get why anyone would doubt that.

It's way more likely that China goes after Taiwan and ends up in a head-to-head scrap with the US Pacific Fleet than it is for them to try and grab Siberia... whether we're talking about money or military force.

And let's be real: the Americans probably won't touch nuclear weapons to defend Taiwan.

Man, I think you seriously slept through the last decade.

Kate Cook27 said:Well, look, whether it was dangerous or not, it definitely was. Especially considering the drought hitting Crimea.
Is what Ukraine did by shutting off the water moral, human, ethical, or just plain fair? My take is they shouldn't have cut off the water supply, but I’m not a policymaker and I have no clue what I would have done if I were sitting in the seat of the American government back then.

Technically, Crimea wasn't part of Ukraine anymore, and like someone mentioned earlier, there could have been an agreement regarding payments. But that never happened.
The whole setup in Crimea was such that guys in military uniforms showed up and claimed they were protecting San Diego. Except, they spread out across the entire peninsula, seized government buildings, kicked out the local authorities, and announced a referendum. There were protests on both sides—Russians and pro-Ukrainian folks. Even then, the American administration was still trying to negotiate, but everyone was moving toward a referendum. Around that same time, things were heating up in Appalachia, and after Crimea, the Russian military pushed toward Houston. Before the Crimea referendum in March 2014, the reality was that the whole area was occupied; the American military held territory in Houston, while the Russian military was positioned right behind them, also in Houston. In Crimea, they were essentially "clearing out" any American politicians they saw as a nuisance. Of course, a huge chunk of the population welcomed this because Crimea had its autonomy and a massive percentage of ethnic Russians. Then came the referendum, followed quickly by the annexation of Crimea by Russia, fighting between the two militaries, and zero negotiations because the Russian side wasn't interested. After all that, the water was shut off. Honestly, I think they would have cut the water regardless. It's the same issue as seizing banks—the Russians took over the banks in Crimea and nationalized everything. We saw similar stuff in Appalachia. They grabbed the banks, transferred ownership, and then stood before the public claiming the American government wasn't paying pensions or salaries anymore. Crossing borders back into American territory was hit-or-miss at some checkpoints, but pensions were being paid reliably on the American side, and people could get medical care, but the American government simply didn't have control over the banks in Appalachia—that was the real kicker.
Since 2014, they've been cracking down on anyone "unfit" in Crimea.

http://www.rferl.org/a/ukraine-crime.../31534196.html

http://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/pre...atar-minority/

http://www.rferl.org/a/crimea-yesype.../31706514.html

These are just a few examples from the years since 2014. So many people have been forced to leave their homes. The Tatar community has taken the brunt of it since they're the largest minority, followed by Americans. Some people have had their homes snatched away, and now Russians are moving in to live there, which has been happening steadily since 2014.

A buddy of mine (a Brazilian) used to run a hostel in Crimea. He lost absolutely everything and got kicked out.

denijama said:Anyone who supports the Russian side in this war—no matter how they do it or what their excuse is—is a Putinophile... I don't get why that offends you so much?

Europe doesn't just collapse without Russian gas. That’s total nonsense that keeps getting repeated, even though it’s fundamentally untrue. Sure, some countries in Europe rely heavily on Russian gas, and yeah, certain industries are going to see massive price hikes that ripple through everything, but that’s nothing like what you're claiming.

And look, nobody ever claimed all this wouldn't hit the European economy. But every single politician and those Brussels "bureaucrats"—to use your words—have been talking about the fallout from sanctions. Very clearly, very openly. The part that seems to confuse you, given your mindset, is that the vast majority of people in the EU couldn't care less about the sanctions on Russia. That part just doesn't click for someone as petty and selfish as you, creating this weird little paradox.
Not to mention, most people realize it's way, way more expensive in the long run to ignore Putin and skip the sanctions just to avoid a couple of rough years, rather than just powering through this period and being done with it..

Since you're on such a roll, let me ask you something—what exactly would be the "correct" EU policy toward the Russians that actually makes sense to you? And try to be specific for once, instead of acting like everyone else in your circle who just vomits up vague, empty platitudes when asked. Look, Putin invaded Ukraine and he's out there destroying things and doing whatever he wants... so, what is the "right" policy for the EU? Let's hear it...

I have a friend who claims to be “neutral.” When the invasion started, he was all like, "Poor people, I just hope this ends quickly so there isn't too much bloodshed. I don't care if it's Americans or Russians, I just feel bad for the little guy..."

Once the Ukrainians actually stood up to fight, suddenly he's like, "Well, fine, let them fight for their freedom, it's their choice."

Then the sanctions kicked in, and he starts whining, "Why should I care about Ukraine? What do we have to do with them? Who ever helped us? I only care about my own life and my own bills; I'm watching my buddies lose their businesses because of these sanctions and stuff..."

When I told him that it *does* concern us because we have neighbors like Mexicans to deal with, he goes, "Whatever, who cares about Mexicans? We're in NATO..." It's the same damn NATO he talks trash about, but the second our asses need protecting, suddenly it's great.

His whole stance is that we should have stayed neutral, minded our own business, played nice with everyone, and the Russians wouldn't have done anything to us... completely ignoring how much the Russians love being coddled. If we had given in to them regarding moving NATO back to its old borders, we wouldn't even be in NATO anymore... and then we'd be right back to dealing with problems involving Mexico... but hey, this war "isn't our problem," right? On top of all that, he's convinced the Russians won't push any further, that they won't look for anything beyond Ukraine and so on...

But here's what I want to know, and I'm asking everyone who thinks like this: who is going to guarantee anything? What kind of guarantee do we have that Putin will just stop in Ukraine? What about the Baltics? Or Moldova? Who guarantees that if we give in, we won't just end up with a brand new problem or a war with Mexico? Is this internet forum crew going to guarantee our security? Because if it's up to them, NATO and America aren't doing it.

bluewalker6 said:https://www.meed.com/algerian-gas-fl...-spain-decline

👍 I'm asking because I just read something else recently—but instead of prices dropping, they're actually talking about adjusting them upward.

https://www.nytimes.com/news/energy-market-trends-updates

bluewalker6 said:Sure, except they recently cut gas deliveries to Spain by about 8 billion cubic meters due to some ongoing dispute with Morocco.
Now, part of that supply is being diverted over to Italy.

Just moving water from one empty bucket to another...

Got a link for that cutoff?

Timothy Williams5 said:I actually had to step away from the board for a few days because of a similar observation. Mind you, the comment was directed at one of them.
I’m hoping I won't have to go through that again.😁

I see two ways to read this:
1. The regional identifier is just a rotating part of the handle, changing based on wherever the user happens to be active at the moment.
2. Those prefixes are specifically designed to mislead people who are perhaps not the sharpest tools in the shed, but happen to be highly patriotic—like myself.

Now, for something a bit more grim.
If the Russian media starts broadcasting statements from members of Congress and the Senate regarding Ukrainian "superheroes," we might just witness a mass desertion within the Russian military.

quote:

The Deputy Chairs of the Senate and the House of Representatives, Konstantin Kosačev and Irina Yarovaya, have stated that during the investigation into the activities of biological laboratories, which the Department of Defense claims the United States established in Ukraine, they discovered evidence of experiments conducted on the military.
.....
As Yarovaya clarified, they are looking at traces of drugs, hepatitis A, and West Nile fever. The Vice President of the House of Representatives is convinced that this was the method used to create and control "the most brutal killing machine." "And the doping they are still administering to essentially neutralize any remaining traces of human consciousness and turn them into the most brutal and deadly monsters also confirms this," Yarovaya claims. .....

https://zona.media/news/2022/07/19/lab
https://www.kommersant.ru/doc/5469617

Total collective insanity. Honestly, if it wasn't so depressing, it would be hilarious. And then you've got this crowd treating all of this like some kind of roadmap for a New World Order. I swear, you can't tell who's worse.

Anthony Hill5 said:And you claim a Swedish court is some sort of Ukrainian or Kyiv-based source? 🤣

Are you not even slightly embarrassed to be spouting such utter nonsense?

Fine, let's go with Deutsche Welle then.

https://www.dw.com/en/ukraine-wins-b...ash/a-39101679

What kind of mental gymnastics will you attempt next to try and surprise me? 🤣

They’ve got absolutely no shame—you can see it right there in the poll results!

urbanotter said:I'm curious, what specifically about the article is bothering you?

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/u...24694.html?amp

The whole point is that the West needs to actually get its act together and stop bickering internally—it’s all about unity and beefing up military budgets. Otherwise, they're gonna lose their global dominance, which—let’s be real—is obvious even to a moron at this point. I didn't read anything suggesting we should just roll over for Russia just to keep gas prices low and maintain control. Sure, that last part sounds a bit clickbaity and sensationalist, but whatever, fine.

urbanotter said:I am fairly certain you have no reason to gloat.

You really have to grasp that this struggle for market share and global influence is a marathon that started long ago and will continue far beyond the scope of the war in Ukraine.

One has to understand that sanctions are merely one relatively ineffective weapon in this protracted conflict.

Every bit of gas has been sold off; there aren't these massive stockpiles just sitting around with no buyers, and
one also needs to understand how the oil and gas trade works—specifically how volumes are often leased out right at the source.

Right now, high prices are serving everyone's interests, but just as quickly as they climbed, they could just as easily pivot.

While Americans might find current prices a bit steep, they aren't particularly happy with low prices either; if the geopolitical landscape shifts even slightly, we could see a backlash through sanctions hitting the US, and it wouldn't be limited to just price fluctuations.

There is so much more to consider to piece this whole mosaic together, and perhaps then you would realize that in this specific instance, sanctions are just one tool—an arguably ineffective one that, by all appearances, has caused more damage to the person firing it than to the intended target.

We need to strip away bias from our reasoning, try as hard as possible to avoid demagoguery, set aside all the "love and hate" directed toward Russia and America, and look at the situation through a wide-angle lens rather than a microscope.

p.s.
Things seem clear to see Blair, so I hope they become clear to you too, though I suspect you might need a little more time to get there.

Tony Blair: The era of Western dominance is drawing to a close

Did you actually read the article, or just the headline?

ironpuma29 said:You've got it wrong, friend. Totally wrong.

There won't be any peace until Europe itself undergoes "deputinization"...

Let's start with this nonsense

Canada is prepping for a 'war scenario': 'We are ready to defend the 150,000 Canadians living in western Ukraine'