Posts by Arthur Miller7

bluebison8 said:No, we don't need to regress to those dark ages. However, I am firmly in favor of a Europe possessing a unified, powerful military—one capable of telling Russia, the USA, and China to back off and stop trying to exploit the continent for their own agendas.

Man, they couldn't even agree on basic phone chargers. Seriously, how long did it take them just to figure out the COVID certificates? And even then, everyone was just doing their own thing anyway. Why on earth do you think the EU is going to be cohesive without some kind of police force to keep them in line? How are they supposed to stand up to a giant like China or the USA if they can't even get their act together at home?

bluebison8 said:That’s nonsense. For most of history, Europe has been the biggest predator on the block.

The only reason they look so pathetic now is because someone convinced the fools living there that the USA exists solely to protect them. We've essentially made ourselves helpless and useless.

Keep in mind, Europe still has the UK and France, both nuclear powers. History proves that when people from the European continent actually decide to get moving, they can handle just about anything.
It’s just that the Globalists don't like that. They prefer a weak, submissive Europe that they can manipulate however they see fit.

Europe has been a total heavyweight throughout history... you're spot on there. If you're feeling nostalgic for the days when everyone in Europe was constantly at each other's throats, well, that's not my vibe. Without a cop on the beat, Europe would probably just fall apart and tear itself limb from limb, just like you've pointed out so many times with their crazy history.

gentlerider7 said:Real Russophiles are almost non-existent, but then you've got a decent number of folks who just swallow conspiracy theories whole—you know, the whole "Soros is behind everything" or "New World Order" nonsense. Those types will unconsciously just gulp down whatever Russian narrative comes their way about Americans being the ones instigating the war.

And don't even get me started on the whole COVID disaster. Seriously, the media was already busy embarrassing themselves with total stupidity back then, and now we’re stuck in this absolute circus where they just lie to our faces. It’s just like the COVID era—they only show one side of the story, acting like those bombed-out hospitals and theaters were real when it was clearly just some edited montage crap...

bluebison8 said:If the leadership there were different, they’d just be vassals to the USA like most of the world. They’d end up looking more like China, where the average person doesn't live quite so comfortably.
Their sole purpose would be making the US elites even wealthier.

Or they’d become a larger version of the disaster that is Ukraine. A handful of oligarchs and a massive population of poor people, while the kids of the US elite collect government payouts for "protection"—which is really just nothing at all. It's global-scale organized crime.

So, I guess you're saying Spain, Sweden, Iceland, Norway... are all just US vassals too? Is it just a few rich oligarchs and everyone else starving over there?

urbanotter said:I don't follow what's happening in Canada, and frankly, I don't care since I get my fuel in America.

But things are looking a bit different over here.

Here is a quick timeline of gas prices in America: Just two years ago, we were paying only $2.75

https://www.nytimes.com/news/business/economy/gas-prices-trends/

About a year ago, I was picking up diesel for about $4-$1.75/gal, but now it's climbed to $3.25

So basically, it's the government's fault, not the war or the sanctions. If that's the case, why is the paycheck in America $1667 and why aren't these sanctions actually hitting people where it hurts? Or why do retirees have such a measly $567 pension? Is that because of sanctions too? And why is the wage in Iceland $21 $0.00 just for washing dishes? This price hike isn't going to help most people—it’s more like it’ll push pretty much everyone onto the streets, if you ask me.

hollowdriver13 said:Back in 2005, Russia started playing those heavy-handed economic games with Ukraine, basically using gas supplies as a way to squeeze them. ☕

That’s pretty slick of you, pulling that specific paragraph about economic pressure out of thin air just to keep the momentum going. Nice move, though—keep it coming.

I don't think he survived that comeback.😁

wiredseal7 said:Your words sound pretty good right now. But here comes the "but." Pre-season isn't a true metric for the whole season—the crowd profile is different. California and San Francisco don't represent the entire coastline; those spots attract high-end travelers. Maybe they won't care about the costs.

A season can look great one day and pivot overnight if conditions shift—tourists are fickle people. I highly doubt that doubling fuel prices compared to pre-war levels wouldn't hit the Czechs, Poles, Slovaks (or even Canadians traveling abroad) who all flock to Florida—where I spend my summers myself. We're about to get a real test of that theory, especially when it comes to that legendary Czech frugality.😁

I also read that Germany isn't dropping their train pass to $9 a month (from $90 or whatever) to discourage driving. It's a pretty clear signal of what they expect from this deal.

I honestly don't get your point. Are you trying to say none of them will travel anywhere? Because if they aren't driving to the States, then where? Are they just gonna drive somewhere else? Or skip the trip entirely and stay home? For the third year in a row? Yeah, right. Either they'll drive and just suck it up because gas is expensive everywhere, or they'll just fly since flight prices are still relatively cheap. What's the third option? Train? Bus? If they want to get to the US, they'll find a way. Teleportation??

Paul Kern12 said:Just ask the retirees how well they were doing back in the day and what they expect now. They probably were scavenging through trash bins out of sheer boredom.

Look, seniors have been paying their dues for twenty years—or since back when they actually had jobs and were earning their right to retire. Not trying to lecture anyone here, seriously, I don't care, my own mom is $567 if I remember correctly. Unfortunately, that's just how the system works and it's a nightmare to change now. We have to help them as much as humanly possible.

BUT—and this is a big but—then you get to the people working right now, like this friend of mine who works as a waitress and pulls in $2000 but is officially registered at minimum wage. She doesn't care right now, she's doing fine. But when she eventually hits retirement age and realizes it wasn't exactly genius to work for minimum wage while taking the rest under the table... well, then suddenly it’ll be Ukraine's fault, Bill Gates' fault, COVID's fault, or the U.S. government's fault...

To make a long story short, those same retirees should have been thinking about their future and what their check would actually look like while they were working. But people don't bother to educate themselves—they're clueless, they don't care (back then), whatever... just like that waitress I mentioned earlier.

wiredseal7 said:There were whispers that this doesn't apply to the pipelines—probably just Orban's way of playing hardball.

For us, this summer is going to be a real riot. Since we're basically a major road-trip destination here in the States, current gas prices are already going to wreck us. I'm not sure if they're pulling the trigger now or at the end of the year, but even the mere threat of these measures sends pump prices climbing ahead of time.
Man, you have to wonder who's actually running this sad little Union...

Flight tickets are still sitting there at 10 bucks. If they stop flying, they stop flying. People will just figure it out somehow.

dustyowl29 said:Germany and France—the industrial powerhouses—are actually the ones in deep trouble.

Look, I’m telling you, I’m staring at two cruise ships right now packed with German tourists. Seriously, even before the pandemic, we wouldn't see two cruise ships a day hitting my city. Over in Paris, the cafes are absolutely swarmed with locals. People are traveling. Honestly, after being stuck in lockdown for two years, people just want to live their lives. They want to actually *do* things. Whether they'll start whining about everything in six months? Who knows. But right now? Nobody’s complaining. I mean, I see protests against the Russian aggression, sure, but I haven't seen anyone out there protesting the cost of living yet. We are nowhere near that "Western collapse" everyone keeps predicting.

dustyowl29 said:Americans are already feeling the squeeze of poverty. It’s hitting people all across the US, plus folks in places like Romania and Bulgaria too. If these sanctions keep getting extended, we’re looking at a total collapse into misery—literally starvation territory.
Even the wealthier nations—Germany is struggling big time with the drop in living standards, and France isn't far behind. Even here in the States, people are losing their minds because gas prices have spiked by 50% in just the last three months.
Long-term? This whole situation is completely unsustainable.
We're talking economic contraction, skyrocketing unemployment, and prices that just won't stop climbing. Eventually, politicians will be forced to back down just to avoid social unrest and total chaos—not to mention trying to save their own skins for the next election cycle.

Look, I respect every nation's right to sovereignty, but let’s be real: if it wasn't for help from the West, Ukraine would have been halfway conquered by now. Everyone is getting exhausted by this—Americans, Russians, and the rest of the world dealing with the fallout.
I’m expecting negotiations to start soon, along with some easing of those sanctions. We need oil back under $100 and gas prices returning to something resembling normalcy.
Europe simply isn't ready to live without Russia yet. That’s something they should have been planning for since 2015—not suddenly trying to scramble now, and certainly not at the cost of wrecking their own economies.

Man, I don't even know how to respond to that. I literally just got back from Paris—there were like 70,000 Englishmen at the Champions League final, people were paying over $3,000 black-market for tickets! The city was absolutely packed with tourists. I live in Iceland and nobody's complaining; gas is around $2.20 and people are traveling like crazy. Iceland is chronically short on tourism workers—just the other day the news said we're missing 9,000 people... German cruise ships are rolling in every single day. Even in Dublin, the airport was pure chaos—people waiting three hours, over 1,000 people missing flights. To me, this doesn't sound like a crisis or poverty to me at all.

Oh, sure, they aren't "hurting" Russia—that’s what everyone says. But let’s be real here: we all pretty much expected them to buckle instantly, right? We thought sanctions would just choke off their ability to fund this whole war machine, but—surprise, surprise—that hasn't happened yet. So now everyone's whining, asking if the sanctions were even worth it. Personally? I still say they were. Even if they end up hitting us in the ass later, it's better than nothing. Without any sanctions at all, it would have been way easier for them to pull off this "special operation." My big fear is that while the sanctions are necessary, they might not actually be enough to stop this madness
In short: the sanctions are still doing their job, they just didn't produce the immediate knockout blow we wanted.

brightheron64 said:Actually, you absolutely can. You pin that demon down while he's still on his back, you don't give him a second to breathe, let alone stand up... and come after you again.

That whole idea of a "deservedly slow death" feels like a tired cliché from some James Bond film where the villain is left to fade away, only to somehow manage to wreck everything anyway at the very end...

The general global population—and I say this gently, but many couldn't even point to Moscow on a map if their lives depended on it—happily swallows the narrative that sanctions will slowly wither Russia away. They fail to realize they are dealing with a nation that transitioned from feudalism and a brutal autocracy (essentially total destitution under the Tsars) into another form of struggle—communism—and was then handed a version of "progress" and democracy by Putin himself, leading to a lifestyle where things like BMWs, iPhones, Adidas, and Nestle became the standard norm...

The West (NATO) seems to be viewing this entire situation through rose-colored glasses, assuming that whatever hurts them must be hurting the Russians just as much. But if you want to see how effective that kind of policy really is, just look at South Korea... which, heaven help us, is still breathing, thriving, and living on nothing but a bowl of rice, all while building up a defense sector so massive that picking a fight with them would be genuinely, perilously dangerous...

South Korea? Yeah, they're breathing, they're alive. But who are they actually fighting wars with? Are they even capable of attacking J. Korea?

Joshua Myers432 said:Russia likely thinks Europe is bluffing, and honestly, they aren't wrong. Europe can't function without Russian gas and oil, and Russia can't survive without the European market. At least not in the short to medium term. Long-term, Europe can find new suppliers and Russia can find new buyers, but building out all that new infrastructure and making those investments takes massive amounts of time and money.

It looks like two cars barreling toward each other at full speed, both waiting to see who blinks first and swerves. Sanctions hit Russia harder, but their population is tougher. Sanctions hit Europe less, but their people are incredibly spoiled.

So here's the real question: just how soft is the American public? You hear all this talk on the news and online about how once shortages actually start hitting, people will be out in the streets protesting everything under the sun, but I'm not so sure. Look at COVID—we were locked down for two years and it wasn't like there were massive riots or governments collapsing or wars in the streets... plus, we know exactly who to blame for that mess. In my opinion, more people have probably shown up to support Ukraine than actually went out to protest during those two years of lockdowns.

rowdytiger13 said:The issue is systemic.
You can’t project optimism if your economy is crumbling. Military might is useless without economic backbone, and as we've seen, Russia's supposed strength is highly questionable right now.
On top of that, people naturally gravitate toward freedom—even if it’s just a shiny illusion—because it’s always more appealing than an obvious dictatorship.
Russia had nothing to offer besides brute force, yet they tried to play at being the USA. If anything, Vladimir Putin was obsessed with acting as the leader for Europe, but to pull that off, you need to lead in almost every sector, not just through sheer aggression.
But Russia isn't even a military leader. They can't impose themselves on Europe because Europe rightfully feels superior. The Russians kept complaining about a lack of respect from Europe, and as that frustration grew, so did the instability in the surrounding regions.
It was only a matter of time before they decided to use the one thing they thought they had left: raw power. Honestly, blaming the West instead of looking in the mirror is laughable; Russia has the capacity to be superior in many ways, but the reason they aren't lies squarely at home.

Everything said here is 👍spot on.

electricstag9 said:Russia might have already hit the point of no return regarding bankruptcy. Because of all the Western sanctions triggered by the war in Ukraine, they’ve been unable to service their dollar-denominated bonds—a situation we haven't seen since the chaotic aftermath of the 1917 October Revolution.

"Essentially, if they fail to meet their dollar obligations by May 4th—once the one-month grace period expires—then according to Moody's definition, Russia is officially bankrupt," Moody's stated in their release this Thursday.

Oh great, so instead of a parade on May 9th, we get total bankruptcy. Guess they can parade their empty pockets around then.

boldotter2 said:Anyway, enough about Ukraine, let's talk a bit about how Russia is arming up...

It looks like the world's second strongest Army!!! has to smuggle in missiles, firecrackers, and all sorts of pyrotechnics through Georgia and Iran.
I guess what kind of 353452453D strategy is that? They sit on all those high-end hypersonic Kinzhals just so they can test out cheap Iranian copies instead. We'll probably never wrap our heads around it. Such an art form, I suppose.

Yeah, right—like all the most advanced weaponry is just hidden away in Iran because they ran out of shelf space and had to burn through the old stuff first...

wiredseal7 said:Nice comparison—comparing a country sitting on the planet's largest stash of natural resources to nations that basically have to beg for their fuel and raw materials just to keep the lights on.

Iran manages to stay afloat despite the sanctions—they've got enough resources to weather the initial storm—but the rest of them were caught totally off guard. Take Syria, for example.

And a good chunk of it hits populated areas—think places like Chicago or northern New York. We aren't talking about some empty stretches of the Midwest where you can risk contaminating the water supply or messing with seismic activity without anyone noticing. We could just do it in the rural heartland—everyone’s already left for jobs in the cities anyway.

Who cares if you've got oil in your own backyard if you've got 500 mobsters living large thanks to Putin while everyone else is barely scraping by?

Kate Lewis3 said:Look, the Israeli Iron Dome is advertised at a 90% success rate, and even then, stuff still slips through the cracks. Ukrainians don't have anything even remotely close to that level of tech.

Ah, okay, gotcha. I just figured I could at least find a way to secure that specific part of things.

Honestly, I was fully expecting them to be able to totally shield Chicago from all those missiles and airstrikes, but then... nothing. I just don't get it—so much stuff is being sent over there, yet Chicago is right near the border and boom, fuel depots gone, then that training center gets hit too. I mean, aren't you supposed to expect that area to at least be a fortress?