Posts by brighthound71

Telomere said:Whoever managed to crack that pipeline, I’m looking forward to watching the total collapse of German industry this winter. Maybe things will finally click for the Germans when they're freezing their tails off and dealing with food shortages. 😁

That’s not going to happen, but hey, hope is the last thing a die-hard Putin supporter loses.

Let's get serious for a second:

Found this solid piece over on Euronews: https://www.euronews.com/my-europe/2...ream-gas-leaks

In short, there's a consensus that we're looking at sabotage; the Danes, the Swedes, the Germans, the Russians, even the Americans—everyone’s acting shocked, claiming nobody actually pulled the trigger. 😁

Interestingly enough, the final paragraph quotes some guy suggesting this was a Russian move just to dodge paying out massive settlements to their old clients.

"Today's sabotage of Nord Stream is a stark reminder of our energy infrastructure's exposure to risks," said Simon Tagliapietra, an energy fellow at the Bruegel think tank. "[The leaks] might well be Russia's way of seeking force majeure and avoiding paying multi-billion damages to its former customers."

Donna Harris11 said:Then there's that Biden statement about destroying NS2—it totally slipped his mind. You can find the video clip on Radek Sikorski's Twitter account.

Look, that statement was made back on February 7th—well before the invasion actually kicked off. He was talking about halting the NS2 project, which, let's be real, worked out exactly as planned. NS2 never even went online.

He didn't say a word about NS1, which had been running just fine, supplying gas until the Russians started whining about some turbine issues and throttled the flow. And now? Now NS1 isn't working either. 😁

Someone mentioned on X—though I can’t seem to track down the specific post right now—that this situation is actually a huge win for the German government. Their logic? Now they don't have to worry about angry mobs protesting over skyrocketing heating bills and expensive gas.
Jaooo, my heart bleeds for them, really. Too bad the pipeline got wrecked.

The vibe coming out of Germany today has mostly been this calm, almost dismissive tone, with officials basically saying, "Relax, we've got plenty of reserves, storage is at 90% capacity." It’s like they just shrugged their shoulders and moved on.

quietcobra21 said:I’ll throw my two cents in too.
This is a war over resources. That Russian excuse about wanting a buffer zone between NATO and the Russian Federation is nonsense. Just look at the map. Why aren't the Russians making an effort to seize territory along the eastern and northeastern borders? Like around Sumy, for example.
The most valuable things Ukraine possesses are the oil and gas deposits in the Black Sea (allegedly a bit less than what Norway has) and the mineral wealth in the Donbas mines. Basically, exactly what the Russians have already seized and are currently holding.
Nobody cares about sunflower fields—not one side or the other. You really think ExxonMobil or Chevron is going to come knocking for concessions on sunflower patches? Americans and Englishmen have burned through a few dozen billion dollars so far. What's that compared to hundreds or thousands of billions in oil and gas? Nothing. The Russians know it too. If they let the Americans and the European Union take those deposits, they can kiss their gas sales to Europe goodbye. There isn't a theoretical chance the Americans and Englishmen will just let Russia annex everything they're holding right now. It means they've raised the stakes and they aren't folding now that they have much stronger hands. They'll keep raising the ante until the Russians fold and try to negotiate a peace treaty just to salvage something. Just look at the weapons being sent to the Ukrainians. About twenty HIMARS batteries changed the entire battlefield. Now imagine if they send three times that amount plus ATACMS missiles. It's not like they don't have them. Anyone who plays poker knows you raise the stakes when you're holding a winning hand...
So... watching how this ends will be interesting. The stakes have been bumped up for now, but there's plenty of room to go higher. Whoever's bluffing is the one who's going to lose.
My take is that the Russians lost this war the moment they sent that first soldier into Ukraine. Putin didn't just bite the bait; he swallowed the whole bucket, and he realized that on the second day of the invasion. But hey, no turning back now...
The Chinese are staying quiet and wise. India is doing the same. Iran sent drones, and in return, they got a partial revolution in the form of women's rights protests. I doubt they'll be sending many more drones. Americans don't make threats; only the person with the weaker hand does that.
Putin might be a decent chess player, but he's a lousy poker player. And this is a game of poker, not chess.

My respects, sir.

Sandra Harris2 said:I really hope Israel interprets this exactly that way.
☕ In the meantime...

Finland greets Russian tourists with the Ukrainian anthem
. I might just try wishing my noisy Russian neighbors goodnight the same way tonight...

🕺

Whether it's the anthem, Chernobaivka, a Pink Floyd cover, or just the whole damn playlist... please, record their reactions. 🎉