Posts by Sam Alvarez4

Arthur Watson4 said:Drafting up a list of enemies just like Sheldon

😂
I just hope they can push out updates fast enough, 24/7...

George Robinson43 said:Here is some insight from Russian sources:
Poll: A whopping 71% of Russians believe they will win in Ukraine, with a massive majority backing the war.

Yesterday, Gallup released data from a study regarding the perception of the Russian "special military operation in Ukraine":
- The vast majority of Russians trust the Russian military (84%). In fact, one out of ten (10%) does not. Furthermore, 70% of Russian citizens surveyed believe there is a high probability that the military operation will be a success for the Russian troops.
- 71% of Russians support the decision to carry out the "special military operation" in Ukraine. One in five people (21%) quite strongly opposes the military action, while 8% remain unsure.

It is clear that the people stand behind the war. We need to push for even tougher sanctions.

The most important takeaway from your link:
''Since this is a government agency, it's entirely possible these figures are just part of Russian war propaganda.''

Spain has officially joined the fray by seizing villas and yachts belonging to Russian oligarchs.
And honestly, those oligarchs are hitting a massive wall right now trying to move any money through Spain...

Roughly 80,000 Russians are struggling to transfer their funds in Spain due to the sanctions...

William Gonzalez3 said:Honestly, this frantic race between organizations and institutions to purge anything remotely connected to Russia feels about as intelligent as renaming French fries to "Freedom Fries"—just one of those mindless interventions we've seen from Americans before.
The last thing I read was that restaurants are even pulling Russian salad from their menus.

And yeah, I think it's starting to feel more like hysterical Russophobia than actual economic sanctions.

What you're describing is typical for the USA.
Europe isn't out here promoting Russophobia... unless you're equating Putin and Russia as one and the same. But that’s a whole different debate altogether!

The Italians are finally getting down to business...
The FBI has the list of oligarchs right in their hands: check ✓.

Oligarch Savchenko’s estate, worth $3 million: check ✓.
The 'Lady M di Mordaschov' yacht belonging to oligarch A. Mordashov, valued at $65 million: check ✓.

Russian oligarchs, freeze the Lady M di Mordaschov yacht: estimated value $65 million

Anthony Hill5 said:This is 100% propaganda. Is it not entirely implausible that those whose entire occupation is spitting on everything Western would choose to spend their fortunes buying property in Western nations?

Well, Solovyov is the textbook definition of that...

Lake Como update: Italian authorities just seized two villas belonging to oligarch V. Soloviev, worth about $8 million.

Russian oligarchs lose $8 million villas on Lake Como

Honestly, we should be seizing every single villa and yacht they own across all of Europe... let those Putin supporters know they aren't welcome anywhere.

Here is how the Spanish are handling it:

13:49
The first plane loaded with offensive gear for Ukraine has taken off...
It’s currently en route to Poland.
Once there, the Ukrainians will meet them near the Polish-Ukrainian border to take delivery of the shipment.

The first plane carrying offensive military equipment for Ukraine has departed from Albacete
As the Minister of Defense, Margarita Robles, explained, these Air Force planes will fly all the way to Poland, where they will hand over the cargo to Ukrainian authorities near the border.

This is a direct bilateral contribution from Spain, completely separate from any existing EU funds...
The European Commission's decision regarding the use of those funds for weapons and military hardware actually came later.

jadetinker85 said:Yeah... zero effort being put into lowering the tension.

The only way to actually de-escalate is through a coordinated effort to send Ukraine everything they need to defend themselves.
Which is precisely what the EU is doing right now...

That’s exactly why those federal funds were unlocked—to prevent these kinds of messes from happening...
Now everything is being funneled through those oversight committees.

The American media outlets have spent days chasing stories that were already published everywhere else.
Just copying and pasting from the Daily Mail isn't journalism... it's not even close.

Some good news at last to bring a bit of order to this shipping mess...

The European Commission will coordinate an investment of $450 million for combat weapons and $50 million for non-lethal equipment

The EC is coordinating $450 million for combat arms and $50 million for non-lethal military gear for Ukraine.
It’s the first time the EU has bought combat weapons for a single country—a massive shift in policy!

This comes from an EU fund set up last year that has mostly just funded training for military personnel in places like Mali, the Central African Republic, and Botswana.

The budget for 2021-2027 sits at around $5.69 billion.

Each country gets to decide what to buy with their portion of the funds, though everything is coordinated through the EU.
Shipping methods and logistics remain confidential to avoid any potential Russian retaliation...

Three countries—Austria, Ireland, and Malta—are sitting out the main implementation, though they are still chipping in for non-lethal gear.

P.S.
Outside of the EU fund, via bilateral agreements, every nation can still send whatever they deem necessary. They just have to foot that bill from their own budgets.

As the sanctions really start to bite, Russian oligarchs are scurrying to hide their yachts...
One thing’s for sure, that much is certain.

Russian billionaires are moving superyachts to the Maldives as sanctions tighten

Nicholas Watson said:But haven't you been complaining about the state of this forum nonstop?

Don't you see that the quality of discussion on any topic depends entirely on the people actually participating? In terms of comment quality, this forum is miles ahead of the political boards...
It's not a moderation issue at all.

Come on...

Personally, I don't quite get why the 'War in Ukraine' was moved over to Politics.

While it was still under the World News section, the discussions stayed at a decent level...
But ever since it shifted to the Politics subforum? It’s been a total disaster, to put it mildly.

And then you have people trying to dump photos and maps right into the middle of all that chaos. 🤦
Has anyone here ever heard of using links?

Please include links for photos and maps, just like everyone else is doing. Otherwise, this thread is going to look like a messy scrapbook...

Joshua Myers432 said:The smartest move would actually be to declare neutrality and rush an amendment into their constitution stating they will never join NATO.😁

What kind of nonsense is this "EU troops" idea?🙏

And will that actually get them Crimea and the Donbas back?

Steven Bennett5 said:From what we can see, the Russians have definitely achieved their strategic goals so far:

They've effectively pushed Ukraine away from any consideration of joining NATO or even the EU for a long time.
The fighting is happening on Ukrainian soil.

The forces prepared for the assault—maybe around 150,000 to 170,000 soldiers—simply aren't enough to "conquer" a nation of this size. But clearly, that isn't the goal here.

The aim is to squeeze Kyiv, to pressure that comedian and his boxer buddy to back down and save their people and their country.
The goal is to get Ukraine—either this current administration or likely whoever follows—to sign an unconditional agreement to remain militarily neutral.

You don't actually need to "occupy" all of Ukraine to achieve any of that!

Secondly, nobody really has reliable intel from the ground right now, which, unlike American or Western interventions in places like Iraq or Syria, is a relatively new factor.

It would be naive to fall for the nonsense on our mainstream news outlets claiming the operation is failing just because it’s only day three.
Operations like this aren't planned to last only three or four weeks.
Even in Chechnya (the second war, which the Russians won), it didn't wrap up in five or six days...
The Russians probably haven't even deployed their second or third waves of assault forces yet.
Will they actually march into the center of Kyiv and hold it under siege? Honestly, who knows.

As for casualties, of course there are losses on both sides. This is a war, not a ballet recital!

A 2-3% loss rate in an offensive operation of this scale is practically expected—if you assume there are 150,000 Russian troops involved, you can do the math yourselves.

Back home, during Storm, we had over 120 dead. Just near Turin by Karlovac, we lost about 10 people to mortars during the first attempt at a breakthrough. And generally speaking, those 120 or so people were killed by an enemy that often wasn't even putting up a decisive defense! They were mostly retreating.
Now, try putting that into the context of this current offensive operation!

All Putin has actually managed to do up to this point is turn the entire world against him. Aside from Lukashenko, Assad, Venezuela, and Cuba...

Dennis Davis8 said:Petro Poroshenko stands there in front of a CNN camera acting like some kind of legendary hero—it’s honestly a joke. Just a total soap opera.
---
If you look at the secret Jewish agenda laid out in The New York Times, the whole goal becomes crystal clear: they’re trying to establish a second Jewish state, which explains why the political chaos in Ukraine is spiraling the way it is. Basically, there's this push to reclaim an ancient homeland. They've got full backing from the US, with Victoria Nuland pulling the strings from within the State Department. The US is essentially telling Vladimir Putin to back off and just let Russia maintain its historical ties with that people—ties that lead straight to modern-day Israel. Even Obama basically went on the record admitting that the regime change in Ukraine was orchestrated; Yanukovych was forced out under intense pressure from the CIA, the CIA, and Israel just to clear a path for the Jewish billionaire Petro Poroshenko. According to the reports, Jewish money and military hardware are flooding through Ukraine while the local Ukrainian Christians—the non-Jews—get slaughtered and wiped out, all while their property gets snatched up by Jewish oligarchs. Everything else? It's just theater for the masses who don't know any better.
https://hamdocamo.wordpress.com/2016...-ne-zna-nista/

Francišković, leading the charge? 🤔

Keith Morgan10 said:Look, they’re going to end up as subjects one way or another. It’s just something nobody wants to admit out loud.

America paid in blood to avoid being subservient, yet today, that freedom mostly exists on paper.
I can somewhat understand the perspective of a smaller nation like ours, I guess... what can a country of just a few million really do? But Ukraine? If a nation of 40 million had the guts and the sense, they could be a major player on the world stage.
But it seems like they've always preferred being under someone else's thumb. So, they'll probably end up as subjects regardless—whether it's to the Russians or the Americans.

I'd much rather be a respected power under an American boot than under a KGB boot!

vividtiger72 said:They’ll probably aim for some sort of autonomy for the Donbas, but Crimea? Not a chance.

But honestly, do you really think there's any way they can ever get Crimea back?

Not Crimea, that ship has sailed...
But allowing any further fragmentation of Ukraine is out of the question. Nobody is going to let that happen. It would just open a massive Pandora's box...

Joseph Clark95 said:If you look at how things played out in Syria and then compare it to what’s happening in Ukraine, it becomes painfully obvious what "the West" actually means when they talk about "democracy."
The constant stream of propaganda and fake news being pumped into the airwaves—and the endless denials that follow—isn't just noise. It's a calculated media war designed to shape public opinion and justify their colonial ambitions.

Between the staged scenes on Snake Island, the convoys of charred remains coming out of the Azov region, and the actual reality on the ground...

Ukraine is doing everything in its power to drag the whole of Europe into this conflict, but more importantly, they want to pull the neutral Ukrainian population along with them.
To pull that off, they need civilian casualties. They need those classic propaganda pamphlets—think of the chemical attack narratives used in Syria—and an army of internet trolls to flood the web with lies.

Putin’s biggest challenge here is resolving this crisis without sacrificing neutral Ukrainians and actually returning Ukraine to the Ukrainians.
It’s a localized conflict that is costing the Russians lives, but if this turns into a full-scale confrontation, we’re looking at a massive restructuring of borders—maybe even a literal takeover of Ukraine, depending on how many Ukrainians decide to side with Russia.

And predictably, the usual script from Ukraine: "We’ll retake Crimea, we’ll liberate Donbas, we’ll defend Kyiv."
Crimea is Russia, Donbas is Russia. Let's just keep watching...

Well done 🙏.

So well known.
The only difference: this was about carving up America.