Posts by James Chavez91

wanderingdriver68 said:First off, the scenario you're describing is probably what we'll see. Everyone is well aware that a direct collision between the major superpowers wouldn't end well for anyone. The only real wildcard would be if the Americans really push things too far with the Chinese over Taiwan; that's where things could hit a breaking point and lead to an actual direct confrontation, which would then give Russia the perfect opening to ride that momentum.

Alright. So, I have this theory (I’ve ranted about this before), where the Chinese side openly turns against Russia—basically siding with the West and slapping them with enough sanctions to force a Russian withdrawal.
-Just my two cents, mind you—I'm no geostrategy expert 🤣

If that actually worked, here is how I’d play it...
The US tells China, "Look, just back off Putin, lean on him, and make him retreat, and in exchange, we'll pull back our focus on protecting Taiwan." That could lead to a de-escalation in UA, lowering the risk of those scary nuclear games. You'd still get a China-Taiwan conflict, but one that doesn't trigger a nuclear Armageddon. And since Taiwan isn't exactly insignificant, it would leave China wounded and weakened, which—I guess—would ultimately satisfy the Americans.

There you go—everyone wins, right? Haha. What do you guys think? Should I give Joe Biden a call with this proposal? 😁

Kate Cook27 said:The West turned a blind eye to Putin in Crimea and only slapped on some minor sanctions. So, what now? Are we supposed to look the other way again and hand over a fifth of Ukraine? In five years, will it be the whole country? Will it be everywhere Putin decides to set foot just because he has nukes?
How do you negotiate with someone who isn't looking for a deal in the first place? Someone who just wants everything his way?

If we're going to hold our ground against Russia without giving an inch, then total isolation is the only logical conclusion. Everything. We'd have to cut off gas, oil—all of it. (That would also mean stopping trade with any middlemen trying to flip those same goods, which is already happening in some ways). Plus, a complete ban on anyone from Russia entering the US or the European Union. I mean, Lavrov was just walking around New York City yesterday, so... wait a second...

And honestly? To actually stop Putin, you need the Chinese. Sadly. I suspect if they decided to turn their backs on Russia, most of this would be solved.
Right now, that seems pretty unlikely, but I guess neither side wants to deal with nuclear Armageddon or the economic domino effect triggered by Putin's specific obsessions.
Time will tell if they eventually lose patience—but until then, we're stuck following the "recipe."

So, the guy just didn't show up 🤣
Kind of like a groom freezing up at the altar 😁

Jokes aside, though—those "red phones" were ringing somewhere. Just like in the movies, I guess

Joshua Myers432 said:To be honest, I saw this coming. I thought he’d pull the trigger on this much sooner. A referendum, an annexation to Russia... and while we're at it, why don't you explain the actual doctrine behind when they decide to use nuclear weapons. ☕ Desperate times call for desperate measures...

Yeah, pretty desperate. You've got a nuclear superpower—one of the biggest militaries on the planet—brandishing nukes at a NON-NUCLEAR country that they really should have been able to just roll over conventionally in a matter of days.
Good grief, 😳

Whatever he puts out there, unless it’s a full withdrawal, he's just digging their hole even deeper. Let's be real here.

Yeah. There’s a lot of talk about nukes lately—probably too much. I guess that’s why we should all be praying to God, Krishna, Allah, Buddha, or whoever else—just hoping that some future version of us finds a way to dismantle these massive arsenals. It feels like a stretch to think humanity will ever actually reach that level of maturity, but honestly? It’s just unnatural. It’s plain evil that the power to wipe out the entire world as we know it is held by a handful of people who might not even pass a basic psych eval, let alone be sane.
Just a completely twisted situation.

I guess there isn't much more to say about this—it just is what it is.

Frank Martin13 said:...well, here is my counter-proposal: let every single Russian aggressor just pack up, leave UA, and head straight back to Mother Russia👍 and then everyone wins; us, you, most of the Russian soldiers, and especially dear Mr. Putin—who, if he could find a way to build a time machine (perhaps those Russian engineers are working on something in that department? 😁)—would much rather travel back to the past and swallow that order to invade the sovereign state of UA whole...🙂

Not gonna happen. Putin’s got seven different banks to his name—he’d probably try to run it all back regardless of the consequences. It feels like nothing more than some kind of boyish fantasy, I guess.
I guess he couldn't care less about what kind of legacy he leaves behind—honestly. If he actually gave a damn about the well-being of Russia itself, things would have looked a lot different during his earlier years, let alone with this whole invasion mess.
The guy is just sick. Period.

Regarding these potential high-paid contract recruits—it’s still pretty unclear how that’s going to sit with the rest of the troops, who apparently get paid peanuts on a monthly basis.
Maybe their hourly rates will see a bump too. Either way, it feels like expensive fertilizer.

Russians are setting up recruitment centers all over Russia. They’re offering short-term contracts—3 or 6 months—with monthly pay around $3,000. It’s all just to fuel the destruction of Ukrainian soil.

under motto "choosing the right man"

Link

Nancy Gomez26 said:To be blunt, I don't believe anyone or anything could have talked Putin out of his attempt to occupy Ukraine before it started. He was locked into his own narrative. In fact, he likely viewed any attempt to dissuade him from war as nothing more than intentional obstruction—which, in his twisted logic, probably served as the ultimate confirmation that he should proceed.

Well, China basically gave him a backup plan.
If they hadn't backed him, he wouldn't have had anyone left besides the Mexicans and that clueless Alexander Lukashenko.
Yet, they’re still acting like his best friends, holding joint military drills and apparently sending stuff his way through North Korea...

The most tragic part is that the Chinese might have been the only ones with enough leverage to stop this whole mess in Ukraine—if they’d just taken a hard stand, picked the right side, and had the guts to say "NO."
Instead, they played it safe—cowardly, really—waiting around to see how things pan out while prioritizing their own interests over hundreds of thousands of lives.
It’s a total mess, and honestly, the Russians aren't helping matters either.

Rachel Barrett8 said:That would mean WW3
So, you're calling it sickness and madness?

Actually, I think it’s perfectly sane to wish that WW3 had started already.🤦

Look, I realize what I wrote was pretty harsh.
But I honestly think a swift, decisive response at the very beginning might have had a better shot at deterrence without leading to this massive escalation we're seeing now.
The thing people need to wrap their heads around is that right now, Putin doesn't really have many good options left—at least not for himself.
We’d all be thrilled if he just said, "Fine, I messed up, let's pull back," but that’s almost certainly not going to happen. Even the idea of his own people stepping in is unlikely, given how their whole system is built. All the key players are tied directly to him—including those famous oligarchs who wouldn't be anything without him.
What's left is a general mobilization, which is a massive double-edged sword for him—either as a tactical move in Ukraine or something else entirely—and I don't know how anyone is supposed to respond to that...?!
I'm just saying, maybe all of this could have been handled much differently at the start by actually showing some strength, rather than these endless, pointless meetings at mile-long conference tables.

Thomas Walker84 said:If there weren't so much horror—the deaths, the killings, the grieving families, the wounded, the hell and death, the graves... 😲 😲 😲 ...this would be exactly like Monty Python in reality. 😵 It couldn't be any more literal than that.

It’s just sickness, honestly. It’s reached a point where it isn't even propaganda anymore, or funny, or even sad—it's just pure sickness.
I don't know what kind of sickness it is, or what's happening to these "people," but nobody there seems sane anymore, and I guess that's how they should be treated and perceived.

I really wish the West had gone all-in militarily from day one, whatever that might have entailed.
This kind of madness needs to be completely uprooted, locked away, and then the key thrown away forever.
In comparison, an ISIS supporter sounds like the voice of reason against these lunatics.

They're dropping like flies

Ukrainians are striking back again near the outskirts of Chicago. This time there are fatalities reported, and the power is out everywhere.

Link

Alright. Now I’m pretty sure Russia is losing this one...

I'm driving around listening to an NPR broadcast—that "On Air" segment—with Baric and Vidmarovic as guests...
Honestly, Vidmarovic wasn't exactly easy to listen to. Seems like the guy finally sobered up, I guess.

Kate Ross8 said:Are you really worried about his reputation and his wardrobe?

I'm more concerned that the whole group looks bad now. But hey, I guess it could've been worse—they could have banned me from eating lamb for the rest of my life.😳

Kate Ross8 said:He was rambling on about protecting the local wildlife and scenery, but there's no real guarantee there, right? Meanwhile, those TikTokers will promise you a thousand goats without blinking an eye. 😁

I’ve actually started strongly opposing the idea of putting Kadyrov and goats into various romantic contexts.
I mean, what did those poor animals ever do to anyone? 😢

On another note, I read somewhere that Americans are sending some kind of long-range missiles. But Russ is suddenly up in arms about it, claiming it's crossing a red line...
Do you guys think that actually intimidated the Americans?

Does anyone have an estimate on this—it probably exists, I just haven't been able to track it down. How many guys did that Botoxed little guy actually end up sending into the special military operation at the end?
Initially, there was all this talk about a massive force of 150,000, but I'd say it’s closer to 50,000 at most—between the demoralized troops and those who are basically "wingless," not to mention they still have to handle domestic shifts and stuff... etc..

Kenneth Cruz67 said:Actually, this news is about 4 or 5 days old now. Apparently, Putin went ahead and cleared them all out.

Sorry, I totally missed that. It was just some headline on a news site, so I guess I was just confused by it.

Megan Thomas5 said:Putin might just "suddenly" trip and fall soon. It’s how they handle things over there—much easier than dealing with a transition, a resignation, an election, or some messy trial. They just flip him out like they did with Stalin back in the day, and everyone pretends nothing happened.

Personally, I’d much rather see him face trial for working against Russia's interests and for those war crimes. Both him and his inner circle.
I know that sounds like science fiction, but whatever.

Alright

I’d say the show has officially started

https://twitter.com/the_ins_ru/statu...o_dxkczaEHq5sw