Posts by feralhawk45

Kate Cook27 said:But I wasn't actually talking about some wounded volunteer from America who doesn't have a contract, where they're being treated, or who's footing the bill. I was specifically talking about those two guys I know for a fact are in the Ukrainian military, have active contracts, live in Ukraine, and were sentenced to death after being labeled as mercenaries.

Why are you even paying attention to posts like that? Haven't you realized he's just looking for a reaction, and not just from you.

@placidtiger142
So that's how it plays out, old friend... looks like you'll have to pack up and move your whole life again. Trade Germany for Russia, I guess. At least there, you won't be sweating the price of natural gas.

analogbear70 said:They should have learned how to balance things out and avoid getting dragged into this mess. Unfortunately, we live in a world where freedom and democracy exist mostly on paper. Despite all international laws and regulations, the strong simply trample the weak and expect their interests to be respected. It’s the same story whether you look at Israel and interventions in Syria, the USA and its various global interventions, or Russia and what is likely the most reckless form of aggression in recent history. The seizure of Crimea and the separatism in the east followed the Maidan protests, which were largely driven by NGOs. To be clear, none of that justifies Russia's aggression; it's just the unfortunate reality of our world. When you live next door to a bully, you shouldn't fall for being egged on by another bully, because they'll end up taking it out on you instead. Comparing this to my own country's history doesn't work—we weren't being funded or armed by the West; we were essentially left to fend for ourselves. Furthermore, America wasn't some massive military powerhouse of three or four major forces like the myths suggest; it was quite hollowed out from within. And the leadership back then wasn't even fully committed to complete independence until the war actually started gaining momentum.

What should America have done to avoid the war in '91?
When someone's entire platform is built on attacking you, denying your right to exist, and trying to force you back under their thumb... your only real option is to fight back. There is no "balancing" act in that scenario.

I miss the days when I was living in Moscow during the USSR era, selling my used Levi's for about $2,500 at the official exchange rate. That little transaction was worth three entire Russian engineer salaries back then.

Noah Diaz said:Russia is one of those incredibly rare countries that is truly self-reliant in almost every sense.

During the Cold War, they manufactured everything under the sun—from sewing needles to space stations. Frankly, talking about sanctions against them feels a bit ridiculous. For instance, they won't just jump on a Boeing or an Airbus; they'll simply stick to their own Boeing or Lockheed Martin models.

And Bushman is self-sufficient too.

@George Robinson43... I used to get more action in a single day back in the old days than I do in an entire year now. God, those were the days.
Now, on a serious note... how are we supposed to live without microchips? How do you maintain all this electronics embedded in basically every product we own (I don't think there's one in my toilet, though)? If 40 million Russians are living like they're in the Middle Ages, then 70 million Russians are interacting with some kind of electronic device every single day.

I’m genuinely struggling to wrap my head around how a country with such lagging tech infrastructure can claim to be self-sufficient (Mario Lugorec on n1). Aside from vodka, what exactly are they producing entirely on their own? Even their nuclear weapons with modern guidance systems aren't truly homegrown.

I’ve been reading urbanotter, and I honestly can't wrap my head around his logic. I can't pin down his stances, his biases, or even where he actually stands on anything...
Maybe he's just a troll.

Back in October, I was lecturing about how gas prices would hit $5.00 by 2022, and potentially soar past $6.75 by 2023. War wasn't even on my radar back then. I was focused on Seattle and the push for decarbonization across the European Union and the rest of the developed West. My whole point was posing a question: how exactly will they force citizens and economists in the developed world to abandon fossil fuels behind closed doors?
I felt the sting of the 1980s oil crisis myself, and honestly, I didn't view it as some grand tragedy.
Ever since February 24th, you've been asking... does any of this actually have anything to do with this war?
A bit off-topic... sorry.

rowdyraven112 said:Interesting. Turkey blocked a Russian ship carrying grain because it’s hauling exactly 7 tons of Ukrainian wheat ☕
I was looking at our farmers' yields... we're talking 5-6 tons per acre minimum. So, the Turks probably stopped that ship on orders from the West just over one single acre of Ukrainian grain (or so the Ukrainians claim). ☕

We can worry about whether people will starve in the areas where that grain was headed later. Besides, people in Africa and the Middle East aren't exactly top of mind right now—they're basically branded as terrorists from birth anyway, so Biden supporters don't care. Nobody's going to scream if they die. ☕

You missed three zeros. That's 1,000 times.

loneskipper3 said:Look, no one serious in Germany actually wants to "drift away from the USA" just to "flirt with Russia"—that’s a bit of an oversimplification, isn't it? It’s more that Germans favor maintaining decent relations with Russia, primarily for economic reasons. It isn't just about their own bottom line; there's also the matter of regional stability within Russia itself. Besides, culturally and ethnically speaking, Germany is essentially one of the foundational pillars of the USA and an inseparable part of the West.

And who exactly is this "nobody"? Are we talking about the people living in Germany, the German public, or just the old guard in German politics?

Kate Cook27 said:Yeah, the big stories on the world stage were ISIS and Syria. The US wasn't stepping in much, and as for Europe? Angela Merkel was basically asking why anyone would bother arming Ukraine. Everyone was chasing peace, but it never really stuck. You had Minsk 1 and Minsk 2, but those territories stayed occupied—leaving zero hope for getting back into those cities.

German politics since the days of Gerhard Schröder has been all about pivoting East—drifting away from the USA and playing a little flirtation game with Russia. Angela Merkel just took that playbook and perfected it. The payoff at the time? A massive economic boost for Germany and total economic dominance within the European Union.
I'm trying to dig through my memory for even one move by Angela Merkel that wasn't basically handing favors to Vladimir Putin and Russia.

rowdytiger13 said:Sure, those lazy EU politicians and bureaucrats, practically swimming in Russian money, figured Putin wasn't crazy enough to launch a full-scale, long-term invasion. God forbid they had hoped it would all wrap up in three days.
Now everyone is paying the bill, though there is a certain irony in watching everyone scramble to distance themselves from Russian cash.
This was necessary. A painful amputation. Thanks, Putin; they never would have done it themselves.

I can't shake the feeling that the West handed Putin a window of opportunity to wrap up his business in Ukraine—maybe seven to ten days. That’s likely why they call it a "special operation." If he actually pulls it off, it would validate everything he's saying and suggest he has massive support within the Ukrainian people. Let's not forget that the West even offered to evacuate Zelensky & Co. out of there.
Zaheb hit the nail on the head. Zelensky & Co. held their ground, and the Ukrainian people put up a hell of a fight. But the Russians blew right through that grace period, and now we’re all stuck dealing with the fallout.
Don't get me wrong here—I am firmly on Ukraine's side. I truly believe the West needs to step up and provide them with every bit of support they need.

Jeremy Peterson4 said:Yeah, respond with what exactly? 🤣

They can just point to whatever Russia pumps out of their territory and claim, "Moscow has nothing to do with it."

Honestly, this whole line of thinking—that the Russians are somehow invincible or "humane" just because they haven't finished conquering all of Europe yet—really gets under my skin. It’s just more Eastern propaganda.

Melissa Rivera5 said:I mean, because it actually does depend on him. He’s the one who kicked off this whole insane invasion with all that Nazi rhetoric, so he could pretty much stop it right this second if he wanted to.

Given where the lines are drawn right now?

Why is there this widespread assumption that the end of the war in Ukraine rests solely on Putin's shoulders?
The moment Putin finally calls a truce, the finger-pointing will start immediately, blaming the USA, the EU, and NATO for everything else.

@Vlado2020
Where does Israel actually test its nuclear weapons? Oops... maybe they don't even have them... or maybe they do.

Sandra Harris2 said:Bingo.
My husband sent him links to statements from the Press Secretary, Antony Blinken, and even the Russian ambassador to Canada, but the guy just claimed he wouldn't read such aggressive, pro-Western propaganda.

People decide what the truth is before they even start looking, then they only follow sources that validate their own delusions.

hollowdriver13 said:https://twitter.com/RadinaCNN/status...78704296148993
View on twitter

Putin: "We’re speeding up the integration of Belarus with Russia"

Honestly, it sounds like he's just frustrated that Lukashenko isn't jumping into the war headfirst. Plus, let's be real—the Belarusians have already tried to push back against Russian boots on their soil a few times, only to be "persuaded" otherwise by force. It feels like he's decided to just grab whatever he can get while he still has the chance, before it all slips through his fingers.

Imagine if Lukashenko fires a nuclear missile at Ukraine or Poland on Putin's orders, then Putin just shrugs and disavows him, cleans house, and installs some other puppet. Would that kind of tactic even work for them?