Posts by Nicole James

Alright, Kadyrov has been effectively tamed. But the real question remains—just how much longer will his Chechens stay loyal and keep dying for Putin's personal obsessions?

What are your thoughts on the likelihood of the Chechens turning against Russia and declaring independence once again? It seems to me that any separatist movement is bound to face this kind of reckoning eventually, perhaps even within the century.

Jose Clark2 said:I suspect these megalomaniacal theories simply aren't grounded in reality. Even fifty Putins couldn't pull this off. It's pure fantasy. In my view, his actual objective is Ukraine—if not bringing it back into the Russian sphere of influence, then at least securing part of it as a buffer zone, keeping Ukraine out of NATO. Ultimately, Ukraine's pivot toward NATO is what triggered this Russian reaction. It's the red line Putin has been talking about for fifteen years.

Did Ukraine actually join NATO back in 2014 when Putin started the occupation?

Putin envisioned Ukraine as his own little puppet state—a place where, much like in Belarus, he could dictate exactly how everything functions. Once that plan fell apart and his lapdog Yanukovych crawled back to his master, he decided to pursue his objectives through military force instead.

bluewalker6 said:Is "technologies" really the right way to frame it?

Quincy:

The consequences of these sanctions haven't even fully hit yet. If this war drags on past the end of summer, Russia will be completely wiped from the long-term planning of major corporations for next year—they'll become nothing more than write-offs on a balance sheet, making everyone think twice before ever attempting to touch that market again.

Besides, most of those companies have enough cash reserves to absorb the blow—any losses on their balance sheets from abandoning the Russian market will be absolutely negligible.

The Russian economy is pretty pathetic to begin with, so it's not like the market is going to miss them too much.

And even if they actually had those nuclear missiles, what then? Would they just launch a handful at Russia and face nothing but a completely scorched earth in return?

darkdriver said:Totally.
RH is actually a perfect example of how adopting European Union standards can finally drag a country out of the absolute gutter of kleptocracy and cronyism.
Tell me I'm wrong.

Compared to the countries within the Russian sphere of influence, we’re practically living in science fiction.

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.

In other words, they should have just accepted a Russian puppet regime that would slowly dismantle democracy and eventually integrate Ukraine into some version of Putin's Greater Russia, much like their neighbors in Belarus...

The fact that people chose a pro-Western president immediately after and met the Russians with such fierce resistance proves just how much the Maidan movement was a genuine grassroots movement rather than something purely manufactured.

jadetinker85 said:Russia is running into trouble with Ukrainian partisans. How many years has this insurgency been going on now? 🤔

Where's Joe?

Matthew Young35 said:The real issue is that they have absolutely no intention of leaving.
And they’ve got about six or seven thousand "perfect" excuses ready to go.

They don't have six or seven thousand. Let's be realistic—nuclear projectiles require constant, highly specialized, and expert maintenance to remain viable. It has become painfully obvious that the Russians can barely manage to maintain the tires on their own trucks, let alone complex weaponry. While they undoubtedly possess some functional nuclear capabilities, it isn't anywhere near the level they constantly boast about. If they actually made the decision to launch an attack against NATO, it would effectively mean the end of Russia, one way or another.

hollowdriver13 said:It’s the exact same playbook Russia is running across Africa. You only have to look at the Wagner Group pulling gold out of Sudan or their presence in Mali—where civilian killings have spiked by 600% since they showed up—to see what's actually happening. But people love to gloss over that because it ruins the convenient narrative that the "evil" West is the only one exploiting Africa while the Russians and Chinese are just big, peaceful humanitarian heroes.😵

If we're being honest with ourselves, we should probably admit that the Russians and Chinese are just as much—if not more—imperialistic than the West. Honestly, they might even be worse at it, mostly because they don't have to deal with any kind of public outcry or pressure to respect basic human rights.

Hardly "equal." If Putin or Xi had even a tenth of the influence that America possesses, we wouldn't even be allowed to speak openly about liberal democracy anymore.

One little trick you can try is taking some plastic wrap and laying it right over the shell—then just put a piece of paper on top and wrap it tight. That way, when you go to grab your sample, you can just hope everything slides right off the plastic smoothly...

restlessmason54 said:Ultimately, time is going to reveal exactly what we already suspect: just how much economic resilience Russia actually possesses against external pressures and those heavy-handed sanctions, contrasted against the glaring fragility—and frankly, the blatant dependency—of the European Union's economy.

If you listen to the trolls haunting this thread, Russia should have completely imploded financially ages ago; yet, despite all their predictions, that big bear is holding its ground remarkably well. It’s really just a matter of waiting for the very same countries that tried to squeeze them through sanctions to start feeling the pinch and looking for ways to ease up.😉

And let’s be clear, the fallout is going to be a two-way street.

Holding its ground well? Based on which specific metrics, exactly?

wiredseal7 said:It feels like there's a new package of sanctions being cooked up every single day. Europe is basically playing poker with Putin—thinking they can bluff him into backing down (not likely)—but all they're doing is burning bridges with Russia and sabotaging themselves in the process. And honestly, do we even need to mention how the USA is practically rubbing its hands together because they finally managed to "decouple" Europe from Russia? Now they just need to come up with a similar playbook for China, leaving us stuck in the middle like some second-rate province.

Speaking of sanctions, they've been throwing them at everything under the sun for the last eight years—mostly led by the USA—and now the cat's out of the bag. People have realized this is just a tool for submission, a way to slowly but surely squeeze everyone into a corner.
And now that they actually need them to work, they don't. No matter what the new world order looks like after this mess, it's obvious that sanctions need to be governed by international law—used as a serious, last-resort measure before you cut diplomatic ties or go to war. Not just used for policing tiny countries that get in the way or slapping companies that grew too big for their boots (looking at you, certain Chinese firms).

The Americans decoupled Europe from Russia? Are you joking, or just trying to farm engagement points here?! Russia is carrying out an act of aggression against a friendly nation specifically because that country refused to play along with Putin's delusional dream of a new Soviet Union and started moving closer to the West. Russia essentially branded itself as the enemy.

coppercyclist17 said:And hey, when you had a runny nose back in the day, did you suddenly start worrying you had polio?

What on earth does that have to do with me calling this coronavirus illness a cold based on the most common symptoms?

coppercyclist17 said:So, according to the New England Journal of Medicine

The most common symptoms being reported are: runny nose, headaches, fatigue (both mild and heavy), sneezing, and sore throats.

Am I losing my mind here, or is the whole world just totally hypnotized and freaking out over what feels like a regular old cold? Honestly, the craziest part is that you apparently need three doses of some drug just to participate in society because of a runny nose or a headache. And natural immunity... I mean, who even cares about that anymore? 😵

Those would essentially be the most frequent symptoms of the illness. That tiny 0.5 percent of those infected who suffer lasting damage won't be listed among the most common symptoms.

Lisa Barnes5 said:Let me beef up this post by adding a news article

Assuming the experts are right here—we're looking at a weaker strain that doesn't mess with people who already have natural immunity. And if we assume there are at least 600,000 such people in a US city of 3.8 million, I guess I don't see any point in even talking about mandatory vaccinations. It feels like it just undermines their natural defenses and puts their health at risk.

"Jeopardize natural immunity?" Seriously? Which anti-vax website did you pick that phrase up from?

Hmm, it feels a bit excessive to me—I think I’ll check in with my colleague first.

For the time being, we’re just holding onto the hope that the vaccine maintains its efficacy. Beyond that, we have several new treatments on the horizon—medications specifically designed to bypass these mutations entirely. Regardless, we are definitely in a much stronger position now than we were previously.

neonowl67 said:I’ve been scrolling through this thread before bed, and it’s frankly absurd to see people acting all upbeat while dealing with a runny nose. It makes me wonder if I should actually bother calling my doctor; I've been caught in the rain since yesterday and now I'm dealing with a persistent nasal drip and some light congestion this morning. My temperature is normal, and I haven't felt any fatigue or other symptoms yet...

They aren't exactly specific symptoms, but given how things are right now, I'd probably at least take a quick test before heading out into public.

Just a bit of off-topic chatter and some personal deep dives into the forum members here.