Posts by Robert Cooper9

So, what’s the big deal about a year of sanctions? We sit here complaining because things got a little pricier for six months—it's all just high drama. But people seem to forget the long-term fallout from those sanctions and the WAR itself. I mean, if the Kremlin supporters haven't noticed yet, this war is taking lives—mostly young men. We're looking at roughly 100k dead and three times that many wounded (which is an incredibly expensive burden to sustain), not even counting the refugees whose numbers we can't even track. How many more will fall? It's anyone's guess. Basically, their entire demographic potential is being flushed down the drain—we're talking about the same number of families devastated, or children who will never be born to rebuild the nation and drive it forward. Who is going to help them? They'll be digging themselves out of the hole they created for decades. Sure, Ukraine has suffered too—they have massive casualties—but who is going to help them? Well, I assume they'll get much better support from the West than we ever did, so I figure they'll get back on their feet faster. So, "good luck" to the idiots trying to be self-sufficient and recover; for us, the only consolation is that Russian oil and gas will likely be way cheaper after this is over—because the war will end whenever it ends.

Nancy Gomez26 said:And I'm sure Kassym-Jomart Tokayev will give them a warm welcome once they roll that missile into Baikonur for the launch... at which point everyone can just wrap themselves in chocolate and hope for the best.

Honestly—total fools—they actually believe those "nuclear threats." 🙂)

I honestly think they’re terrified of even attempting a launch—it’s not like an S-300 where one stray missile causes minor damage. They’ll likely feel forced to launch from Baikonur just to ensure that if things go sideways, they don't end up causing too much collateral damage on their own "friendly" side.😉)

Jessica Peterson2 said:Sojg: We wiped out half the Ukrainian army while only losing 5,937 soldiers.
If that’s actually the case, then why on earth are they calling up 300,000 reservists?

If his own son were among those "only" 5,937, he'd be talking a whole lot differently... honestly, I just hope life gives him a reality check—God help him.😢

feralnomad35 said:For me, the whole thing has always felt gross, mostly because of the crowd here in America that backs them up.

The most obnoxious, greedy, and dishonest bottom-feeders I know have always been the ones cheering for the Russians.

Honestly, you just can't align yourself with that kind of energy.

That being said, I’ve always had this huge dream of taking a long train journey across Russia.

I don't think the Russian people themselves are bad people, not by a long shot. But that disgusting scum running the ruling elite is just as repulsive as the crowd here in the States that supports them.

Exactly—I agree that Russians are fine people, but they simply have to fight for democracy. They need to oust those psychopaths who have terrorized both their own citizens and the rest of the world for decades. Once they go through a period of true catharsis and enlightenment—realizing they are just a normal nation like any other (unlike some of our neighbors claiming to be an "elect people" or all being Mexicans—just nonsense)—then the world will welcome them with open arms, provided they actually have something meaningful to offer. I look forward to that day, but until then... 🤦

Until then, glory to Ukraine! Glory to the heroes!

Morgan Wright5 said:If the Gulf Coast and its waters are truly being devastated, then I would argue it is tourism doing the damage, rather than industrial facilities.

I'll wrap up this little detour from the main topic—tourism isn't the villain here, but the unchecked, unplanned sprawl and concrete jungle certainly is. Even industry follows that same messy pattern. And let's not forget how much local input is ignored these days—hardly anyone asks the community anymore. When you advocate for cleaner, more efficient technology, they label you an enemy of progress—only to turn around and spend massive amounts of our tax dollars on outdated tech. Honestly, if you don't actually live in the area we're discussing, it's hard to take your judgment as objective. I'd love to see what you'd think if you had lived near the old coking plants back in the day. I once visited the B. Kidrič plant in Ptuj, where they modernized the bauxite furnaces—one section was still using the old setup... and the difference was night and day. If projects were handled with that kind of care, nobody would be complaining. Anyway, let's get back to the actual topic.

The state of the Gulf of Mexico says it all—take Urinje, for example. That decommissioned refinery is a massive headache, and the modernization efforts have been subpar at best; every single shipment seems to leave behind more black sludge. Then you have Plomin—a gorgeous little spot in a stunning bay—sitting right next to the old coke plant in Bakar, plus the Omišalj Terminal handling derivatives and Cheniere Energy's LNG. It’s constant. The coastline is just devastated, and the tech being installed is cheap and outdated... honestly, those are the core reasons people are so frustrated—we have to remember, actual people live here. Oh, and I almost forgot about the power plant in Urinje—it works sporadically at best—not to mention that refinery sitting right in the heart of downtown Rijeka until recently. As for what my colleague on the forum is saying—it feels like someone arguing they can fight fires in downtown Los Angeles while standing in a suburb like Jakuševac. If this is handled properly—with some actual consideration for the local residents—there shouldn't be an issue. And finally (just so we're clear, I'm not from Omiš)—I truly wonder how they manage to survive on tourism given the current state of things, let alone the real estate prices. Beyond just diversifying energy sources, we need to scatter those "eyesores" and polluters away from our beautiful coast. Speaking with a bit of local patriotism here—the Gulf of Mexico is just completely trashed.

James Phillips92 said:When people fight against building a Cheniere Energy terminal, you have to look at their actual reasoning. Sure, they'll spin these tales about how it'll mess with ocean temperatures or drive away certain fish species—but let’s be real, that’s just noise. Now we can see the true motivations behind their opposition to LNG.

Look, my friend—just to be brief—of course nobody is against diversifying our energy sources, but to flatly dismiss legitimate concerns as "stories for the naive" is almost rude. I am all for exploring various energy options, truly—but have you ever actually been out by the Omišalj Terminal? To start with, the crew there was sourcing bottom-of-the-barrel equipment—much like that decommissioned refinery over in Urinj—which leads to nothing but headaches later on. That terminal was so incredibly noisy it was unbearable; they claimed nothing could be done about it, yet they eventually ran an emergency procurement to upgrade the gear (I actually know someone who worked on the impact studies—they were completely ignored in favor of "politics" over expertise). Once they finally upgraded the equipment, the noise levels dropped by half. Furthermore, the Gulf of Mexico region is already overburdened with various—more or less failing—energy plants, so no one can imply that our opposition is some kind of paid agenda or nonsense. If you want to suggest putting the next LNG plant in Omiš, Makarska, or Vodice... well, then you might find some real animosity toward those solutions.

Jason Roberts2 said:Give me a break, man. It doesn't matter where it was cooked up or what country it happened in; what matters is whose damn company it is, because since Germany basically gutted its own pharma industry, I’m pretty sure some American conglomerate just bought the whole thing out.
The second thing is, even if the factory is sitting on German soil, if you own the company, it isn't a German factory—it's yours.

Am I wrong?

I happened to work for two German pharmaceutical companies once—one with about 350g of history and the other around 60-70g—including Bayer (which also owns Monsanto), etc. All these firms handle everything from their own base chemicals right through to the final products. There are hundreds of smaller biotech outfits out there... and let me tell you, pharmaceutical R&D is incredibly painful—it takes forever and costs a fortune—so even the giants end up teaming up. It’s not centralized like it used to be; instead, projects move all over the world just to develop one specific component. To make a long story short, it should be obvious what the biggest expense is at the end of the day: knowledge and patents. In fact, one of the small firms I worked for was responsible for about 80% of the global market share for liquid crystals and nearly all reflective dyes (think road signs and license plates)... so the claim that they don't have their own tech is honestly laughable. If you stripped away their patents, they wouldn't be able to catch up that quickly—not even with reverse engineering—unless they just stole the projects.

more said:the quality of Russian equipment—I mean, how can everything produced since the USSR be like this?

https://twitter.com/Osinttechnical/s...28411255496704

Man, that guy is absolutely unhinged😉)) —if you let him loose in a trench at night, he’d probably take them all out with his bare hands... I bet they keep him on a leash in his unit just to be safe🙂))

Kate Lewis3 said:From what I’ve gathered through the grapevine, this isn't even high-end gear. It's just some low-budget stuff made by local shops in the Midwest that folks around there wear for work.

Look, there's no denying the Russians are innovative—you watch their makeshift builds on YouTube and they're full of ideas—but man, this is ridiculous. They basically took hoods off old garden tractors, stitched them into tent fabric, and called it a day. It's a joke. A standard 7.62mm round will punch right through that at 150 meters—going straight through body armor and an APC alike—yet they're out there loaded up with old paddles, just praying they don't get hit.🙂)

If we look past the immediate struggle of just getting through one more winter—and think about a real long-term strategy—bringing Ukraine closer to the EU makes perfect sense. The potential there, from the mineral reserves to the Donbas region, could essentially jumpstart the entire European economy and finally break our long-term dependency on those unpredictable Russian oligarchs. Instead of panicking over a single season, we should be focused on helping them reclaim what was stolen, rebuilding everything, and preparing for future production. I truly hope to see Ukraine become as prosperous as Poland in the near future—that would bring massive benefits to the whole European Union. And man, I’d love to live long enough to see what their cooperation with Russia looks like down the road! 😀

wiredseal7 said:War reparations? Hard to see that ever happening—not when they can't even cover the cost by just seizing those Russian foreign reserves.
Look, I’m not against it. Once the Americans and their client states finish paying out all the damages to Iraq, Afghanistan, Mexico, Syria, Libya, and everywhere else they’ve torn apart, maybe it’ll finally be Russia's turn.

And honestly, don't even put Mexico in that same category—it feels a bit underhanded to lump them in with the others. They owe billions in war reparations for years of destruction, looting, and massacres... which makes what they received on their own soil over those three months look tiny by comparison. They don't owe anyone anything; if anything, they are the ones who owe the most.

Thomas Walker84 said:In reality, there isn't much of a choice. When a city is under heavy attack like this, defenders have to find somewhere to regroup. If there aren't enough dedicated military bases available, they have to use public buildings. Of course, those places would be cleared out first so civilians stay safe and away from the area. It also has to be a space large enough to hold them; it’s not like they can just bunk up in someone's empty apartment...🤔

This should be crystal clear to anyone who’s actually been there—you take cover behind a structure or use it for protection if one is available. But it’s a different story entirely when they start shelling buildings that aren't even on the front lines and are likely filled with civilians. The Russians shell a city, hit a five-story building with a massive caliber round, and then claim it was a "military target"—honestly, they must be on something strange over at the Kremlin. On the actual line of combat, the reality is different: civilians will die if they stay, yet because they are often patriots staying behind to support the troops, you almost have to grant them military status just to make sense of it.

Given that they’ve been committing these kinds of atrocities systematically since the war began, it's obvious their military is completely worthless. That’s exactly why they’re doomed—while we actually prosecuted individuals on our side who committed such crimes, losers like them don't care about the means because they have no intention of staying; they just want to destroy and massacre... it’s a direct path to their own destruction, though they aren't aware of it yet. We learned that lesson the hard way during the Civil War, and one day, they too will be wailing over their fate. A military worth its salt is disciplined—not this shameful mess. That guy will get what's coming to him—there’s no way he escapes—and I truly hope he finds hell itself when he finally stands before God.

Timothy Williams5 said:My dear casualtiger2, if we could just wave a magic wand and erase Ukrainian and American nationalism, Ukrainians would be living under a Russian protectorate this morning, and I’d be crossing some border line through places like Kavlovac or Vivovitica just to get to a major US city. Dubrovnik would probably be under Kusturica's thumb, and we'd likely be seeing mass executions scattered across the American landscape.

The truth is, that surge of national identity was exactly what allowed them to repel the invaders.
I can empathize with people who argue that all forms of nationalism are identical—thinking that someone singing about wiping out a local gang here is the same thing as someone singing about liquidating a different gang halfway across the world. It isn't.

It seems like the media, the church, and the politicians have completely brainwashed you, though I suppose some of our own "intellectuals" worked quite hard to convince us of that too (like those ridiculous edits showing Franjo Harmon and Slobodan Maddox sharing a bed). They wanted us to believe they had some secret pact to start a war just so they could loot an innocent population. Sure, why not.

If you can find any empathy for Ukraine's resistance against the creation of Great Russia, then you should be able to understand exactly what was happening back in 1991 during the collapse of America.

A simple test for you: just look up the nationalist rhetoric coming out of the former America between 1985 and 1990. You won't find anything comparable in the old American territories—no weird pilgrimages to Lazarev's remains, no obsessive glorification of the Battle of Mexico, and no nonsense about "all Mexicans in one state."

We should respect and celebrate the people who stood their ground against aggression.
If you don't believe me, go ahead and ask the Ukrainians what they think, and tell them you want to strip away their sense of national identity. See how that goes.

I second this entirely!!!!🙂

First off, thanks to Lina for sharing those little "insider tips." I still firmly believe that Ukraine will reclaim its territory—even if it takes thirty years—and it’s even possible they might choose to return on their own terms (though I pray that long-term scenario never actually happens). They were cast out decades ago through sheer devastation, destruction, looting, and displacement. It's a pain we've felt firsthand here in America. What I want for Russia is that the cost becomes so devastating they won't recover for centuries—so that, much like our own "neighbors," they spend their time whining over every little thing and rewriting their own alternative history. Let this drag on long enough for their people to finally reset and break under the pressure of the villains ruling them—perhaps leading to another October Revolution. By then, Ukraine will likely have evolved into a modern democracy and can finally choose its own path.