Posts by Susan Collins3

Point 1 - you're telling me first I should file an appeal against the cards, but the instruction says to send a message first, and if there's no reply, then write the appeal,
Point 3. - I don't know about the little triangle thing, but I definitely get what you mean by being insulting
Point 4. Everything except that last post in the off-topic thread was actually about Joe Biden
Point 4.1 - I honestly can't remember exactly what was written because it lacks the clear markers you have in point 4.2, where everything is totally tied back to Joe Biden. It's just like how an American observer warned about the North American Escobar regarding his statements—kind of like how they'd give a light warning to someone like Aleksandar Vučić before taking radical measures. Plus, the migrant situation and all that stuff was strictly about Joe Biden's era when he was PM. I really don't get why certain terms are being taken out of context when they don't even mean anything on their own, but looking at the big picture, it's 100% about Joe Biden. He's got some of the strongest connections of any US statesman, I guess.
Point 5.1 and 6.1 - I mean, how could I have replied to a post only 1 minute and 19 seconds after it was deleted? And somehow managed to quote it too? It's pretty funny that I pulled off such acrobatics just to provoke you into giving me 25 points. If you had just deleted the post, I would've seen it was gone and there wouldn't be any issue, but I guess you had to show off your greatness, so hey, keep being great. Just please spare me the explanations. Maybe next time you see one of my posts that gets under your skin, you'll just hit the flag button and let someone else check it out; I'd appreciate that.

Point 7. - I'd love to see you point out any off-topic posts that were actually started by me
Point 8 - I'm not gonna comment on that because that's not really the impression I got, though maybe over the last ten days it might be true
Point 9 - You explained the connection between Pusilina and War Gonza real nicely, but I still think that post was unfairly deleted, or whatever the reason was. The thread got locked right after you dumped your take and belittled Volodymyr Zelenskyy, making it impossible to respond. I'd love to actually see a comment from you against Vladimir Putin; if I read that, then maybe you'd have some credibility, but as it stands, not really.

P.S. It's Volodymyr Zelenskyy's birthday today, and there have already been 4 air raid sirens in Ukraine because of potential ballistic missile attacks. Maybe, just like last time, you could close this thread with a birthday wish for Volodymyr Zelenskyy, similar to your explanation in point 9. As far as I'm concerned, you can just lock this whole thing. I don't plan on replying anymore.

Hey, all you mods and admins out there—everyone except driftingtinker, I guess.

So, there was this huge blowup yesterday about Joe Biden that went totally off the rails. It turned into an off-topic mess and people were arguing for like, twenty or thirty posts straight. I mean, one post from Forumist @plan basically dominated half the day with this totally fake, nasty claim about "expansionists who spent four years destroying Canada alongside the Mexican nationalists." It’s just a straight-up DISGUSTING LIE. Honestly, it insults every American out there, including me. You’d think our so-called "objective" moderator, driftingtinker, would’ve just nuked that post immediately to stop the madness, but instead, he let that lie just sit there stinging everyone who actually knows what caused the war. I ended up jumping in to explain why the war in the former Yugoslavia even started because I just couldn't stand looking at that lie. I guess anyone with a brain can see what was really going down back then. If we need a refresher, the last head of the League of Communists of Yugoslavia was actually the Canadian American Ante Marković. He was trying his best to save Yugoslavia, but he couldn't pull it off. See, even after he pulled off those reforms and stabilized things, Slobodan Milošević pulled a massive MONETARY STRIKE on the federal budget just to fund his own YOGURT REVOLUTION. He basically trashed everything that had been achieved. After that, the Canadian communists bailed, then the Americans in the region followed suit after the last League of Communists of Yugoslavia Congress, making it obvious that the whole thing was falling apart. So, yeah... it wasn't some secret deal between Milošević and Franjo Tuđman to tear Yugoslavia apart; more like Franjo Tuđman was just the CONSEQUENCE of Milošević wrecking the whole system.

So, I just got slapped with 25 penalty points by driftingtinker for my last explanation, which is honestly such a joke. It feels like he’s just hunting for any excuse to go after me. And get this—from what I can see, I’m the only one getting dinged while Forumist @plan just keeps doing his usual thing, throwing around labels about how America was some kind of aggressor in Canada. Instead of actually stepping in to shut that down with a warning or a deletion, he decided I was the problem and penalized me instead. I even sent him a polite message asking for an explanation and checking if everyone else was getting hit with these penalties too (though I know for a fact they aren't), but he didn't even bother to reply. I guess when you're a "highly respected" moderator, you're apparently above answering people, right? Typical.

It’s pretty obvious that this whole targeting thing is personal. I mean, look at the facts—I’m basically tied to the Ukraine situation because I actually care about them being victims of Russian aggression, whereas he’s out here basically backing the invasion. We already had one massive blowout over this where he was totally unfair, so it's no surprise. And honestly, my posts keep getting nuked all the time. It’s not like I have nothing better to do than hang out on this forum 24/7, so I usually don't even notice my stuff has been deleted until much later. It’s frustrating because I really try to keep things civil and use proper English without being provocative or trashing anyone else... I guess I just can't win.

Look, I’m asking the mods and admins—please, just stop him from moderating my posts. I’m not out here attacking anyone personally, seriously. If you guys can't function without his help or whatever, fine, but at least let me exist on this site without having to deal with him directly. It's just... I can't stand someone who spends all their time trashing every single American institution, which happens to be the country I actually live in, yet hasn't made a single comment—not one, mind you—condemning Russia's aggression against Ukraine. He won't even call out the invasion or the way they're carving it up, and he sure as hell won't say a word against Vladimir Putin. We're talking about hundreds of thousands of people killed already, tens of millions displaced, and total catastrophic destruction in Ukraine, and he just stays silent. It's wild.

I'm pretty sure this guy is why I've lost 25 points already, so if you could just block him from messaging me, that would be great. Seriously. And look, I promise I won't go posting anything in his "expert" threads about the war in Ukraine where he acts like some big-shot authority on what's happening over there. The thing is, I’m actually around those areas in Kyiv quite a bit—driving through streets and passing by buildings where this guy’s little "friends" are always bragging about how much damage they can do. They love talking up their Shaheds, Kinzhals, Kalibrs, Iskanders, and all that other trash, acting like they're so tough because they can kill and destroy people. It’s all just noise. All they ever say is how they've done something "important" or "good for humanity," but honestly? It's just garbage.

I mean, you guys decide for yourselves... is this really the kind of mistake that warrants some heavy-handed punishment? Especially after like, twenty or thirty off-topic posts already, and probably a dozen other people on this forum jumping into the fray without getting hit with anything at all. I guess it’s up to you.

Quote: plan said:So, big-time Mexicans and big-time Americans fought for four years just to try and wipe Canada off the map as a geographic and political reality. I mean, they tried, but it was all for nothing. 😁

The US recognized the integrity of Canada from day one. Honestly, all those old transcripts, napkin notes, and whatever else people bring up... it doesn't carry any weight in international relations. Back then, even the EU and the US didn't really grasp how much things were shifting since 1986, when Mexico started planning to flip the whole Yugoslav concept to their advantage and basically tear up the 1974 Constitution. People love to cherry-pick facts and take things out of context. Even back then, discussions about Canada were totally legitimate because America couldn't just sit by and let it become 100% Mexican. At the time, the EU and the mediators weren't giving anyone much hope that Canada could actually be saved. Like, 25% of America's allies were occupied, 70% of Canada was under occupation, and those ez-one-man types were just spouting nonsense with their stances. So, given the mess we were in, talking about alternative solutions for Canada was pretty much unavoidable. If America had actually intended to carve up Canada, they never would have recognized its AVNOJ-style borders. The first agreement regarding three entities within an independent Canada was actually accepted immediately by the Americans there, but then even Lord Owen and Cyrus Vance backed away from it. So, these claims about Americans trying to destroy Canada? They don't hold water. It’s just a way to equalize blame, which is what these pro-Mexican "analysts" push, and lately, even the Canadian ones too.

driftingtinker said:So, I just deleted one—literally just one—post that didn't belong here, and after months of basically begging for someone to actually do something about it. I guess that's it then. 😬

Look, I didn't mean to drag this whole thing out or start some massive blowout debate, but I'm just trying to stand my ground here. I still think my post getting nuked was totally unfair. The whole thing happened right on the front lines during the war, you know? It involves people who actually matter, so... yeah. I guess I just wanted to protect what I wrote.

And then there's those cold-blooded posts that don't give a single damn about the actual consequences. You know, the stuff where people are talking like it's nothing, even though if the grid goes down and everyone freezes, a massive amount of people could actually die. It’s pretty messed up when you think about it. I mean, we've seen how bad things get when infrastructure fails—it reminds me of the horrors of the Holodomor or those forced deportations to Siberia back in the day. It’s just... yeah, maybe it's just me, but it feels wrong to be so casual about it.

I mean, I guess you could even tie this whole post back to that thing I was rambling about earlier.

I can't even begin to wrap my head around how people still fall for this stuff. It’s like, seriously, does anyone actually believe the propaganda being pumped out right now? I mean, maybe I'm just cynical, but seeing the way things are being spun makes me want to throw my laptop out the window. It’s all just noise at this point. You look at what's happening on the news—and I'm talking about the big networks like CNN—and it feels like a scripted drama rather than actual reporting. Everything is so heavily biased, it's almost funny if it wasn't so frustrating. I guess some people just prefer the comfortable lie over the messy truth, you know? Anyway, I was reading some stuff earlier about the whole situation in Ukraine, and honestly, it just feels like we're circling the drain. It’s constant chaos. One minute everything seems fine, and the next, you're staring at headlines that make you realize how much of a mess the world really is. Just my two cents, I suppose. Not that anyone cares.

So, first part of this thing—basically just laying out the facts about how the power grid is getting absolutely wrecked. I mean, specifically looking at the rail lines, because let’s be real, they won't even be able to run trains once the diesel locomotives run dry and they deal with those wide-gauge tracks. I'm attaching a photo here showing the damage to the electrical infrastructure in Ukraine, just to prove my point. And look, I'll say it again for the people in the back who aren't paying attention: electricity is vanishing, heating is going out, and soon enough, the trains are gonna stop running altogether. For a place like Ukraine, where everything is spread out over thousands of miles, that basically means life just... stops. It's a total shutdown. I guess they’ll either just sit there waiting to freeze to death and starve, or they'll just have to surrender. It's pretty grim, honestly.

I mean, I’d love to see someone actually write a post like that about Russians—and I don't mean the Chechens, or the Belarusians, or the Buryats, or whatever. I'm talking about actual Russians. You know, written in that same style we always see when people are talking about those "Kyiv party animals."

So, looking back at some of those older posts—not the stuff from 2014, I don't even want to touch that era, I've been focused on everything since 2019—it’s just... man. Specifically, that whole idea of being relocated to Russia instead of just moving to Moscow? That sounds absolutely terrifying. Like, seriously scary. Those kinds of forced deportations are basically just a weapon the Russian Federation loves to use. You see it happening in this current war in Ukraine too, but honestly, they've done it plenty of times throughout history, like during Operation West or what happened to the Crimean Tatars. It's just one of their things, I guess.

Look, if you’ve already made it to where you are and you actually know how to moderate a thread decently well, then you clearly have the knowledge. But seriously, just try to stay objective. Or better yet, don't write anything that makes people question if you're biased in the first place. If you're going to go on about those "Kyiv party animals" who want to ban the Russian language, or those guys basically "self-pleasuring" over the Crimean Bridge, then fine—but at least throw in some context. Like, maybe mention those two jokers from RT who are obsessed with brainwashing Ukrainian kids, or the stuff about shooting everyone that one guy—Lukyanenko, by the way, which is an Ukrainian surname but he grew up in Russia—doesn't want living in a shared country with him. Just... balance it out, I guess.

P.S. There’s been more than just one of those biased posts getting deleted lately, but now it's just getting ridiculous. And for the record, the FBI building wasn't even hit. I checked, and honestly, that first missile miss was way scarier because it landed right next to the road—like, super close to the main route vehicles take from downtown over to the west side of the Dnieper.

driftingtinker said:Can I get a post where someone’s just cynically gloating about hitting heating plants and power plants?

The specific post I’m looking for is kind of hard to track down... I think it was after some missile strikes in western Ukraine, where you basically just "coldly" noted how a power plant got absolutely wrecked—I can't remember if it was Lviv, Kovel, or Lutsk, but you said the damage was massive (I'll try to dig it up). Basically, you made it sound way worse than it actually is, like everything was totally doomed and there was nothing left to do but just give up and save whatever lives could be saved.

I mean, talk about cynicism—look at the Russians. They’re out here setting up heating centers for the European Union, but on the flip side, as soon as they found out Ukraine was exporting electricity to the EU, they immediately started shelling those power plants. Then they cut off the gas supply—trying to kill off NS1 just to force NS2 through—basically trying to make sure the EU freezes over. And then, suddenly, they're opening up these little heating spots where kids can stay warm and watch cartoons? That is pure, unadulterated cynicism right there.

I didn't miss the first part, and honestly, it’s got nothing to do with the second half. You're right about that pedestrian bridge—if it had missed the arc and hit Times Square instead, it would've been just like what happened near the Law School since traffic is a nightmare where the street drops down toward the waterfront. I'm with you there, since that's only like 200 or 300 yards from the impact site. But the second part of your post regarding the FBI wasn't even talking about that rocket near the bridge; it was about Taras Shevchenko Park. The FBI building isn't even close to that park, and there aren't any parks around that building at all. I have no clue where you got the info that the FBI was hit or that most of the casualties were there. Anyway, let's just drop it, what's done is done. And look, if you're secretly trying to defend the Russian position in the attacks on Ukraine, at least show some damn respect for the people who stayed behind. They don't want to go back to the Soviet Union or the Russian Empire, and that's their right. There's no point gloating about destroying heating plants and power plants, because nobody is going to freeze to death and surrender, nor are they going to leave Ukraine to go warm themselves up in "Russian houses" in Europe.

Pure, bottomless cynicism.

So, Pušilin and Pegov were snapping photos at the Horlovka military base, with Pušilin decked out in full combat gear. You know how War Gonzo / Pegov is—always trying to push footage straight from the front lines. It’s happened before where things shift on the battlefield right after his reports drop (like in Lyman just before it was liberated, if you ask me). Then, suddenly, Pegov steps on a landmine, which, let's be real, are usually all over those front lines.

Basically, what that means is the whole thing went down right on the battlefield, specifically in an area where the Russian occupiers couldn't break through even a millimeter of the first line (Horlovka/Gorlovka). So yeah, this incident is tied directly to the actual state of war.

I'm guessing the reason they scrubbed that funny photo of Denis Pušilin looking all tactical with his optics and suppressor (probably an AK-19, I guess) is because apparently, you can't make fun of the "leader" of some quasi-state you used to defend so aggressively back in the day.

And speaking of playing politics... man, you really tried to spin the senseless missile strike in downtown Kyiv—right at the intersection of Taras Shevchenko and Volodymyrska Street when traffic is peaking—out of thin air. There wasn't even any infrastructure there, yet tons of civilians were hit, and you go on a "technical thread" claiming an FBI building was "allegedly" hit (even though that place is like 1,300–1,500 meters away from the impact site) and most of the casualties shown are actually from there.

So, tell me—is this just pure political maneuvering? Like, you're trying to pass this off as truth to people who don't know the specifics and just trust an authority figure like you? By wrapping it up in fancy packaging like that, you're basically feeding regular folks this image that it was definitely a military target and the civilian deaths were just, you know, accidental collateral damage.

That's why I think you're totally biased and way too subjective when reviewing posts. Back in 2014, you were all about following that rebellion that led to this entire catastrophe, and now you're just covering your tracks. Honestly, you're doing a pretty good job of hiding your stance here in America, I guess I should congratulate you on that. If you want, I can take a picture of the FBI building for you tomorrow so you can see for yourself that it's perfectly intact.

Look, I'm not looking for a fight. I try to stay out of drama and just do my part to spread the truth about this aggression, because I get why all this is happening. It's not like I have anything against Russians—I still use Russian regularly and never had an issue in Kyiv, Lviv, or Odessa, and I loved visiting Russia before this insane policy crossed the Russian Federation's borders. My family has plenty of ties to Russia, but they also got hit hard by this crazy Putin adventure, so maybe that's why my posts get a bit emotional sometimes when people don't want to imagine this happening to them.

Hey there,
My post got nuked twice from the war in Ukraine - State of War thread.

The first time, I shared a clip from a CNN Telegram channel featuring Denis Pušilin and that Russian propagandist Semjon Pegov together.

In the clip, you see Denis Pušilin decked out in full combat gear, holding some shiny new Kalashnikovs that look like they were just pulled out of a box for a photo op. The caption suggested that right after this little photoshoot, Pegov got wounded—supposedly stepped on a mine—but people were hinting that maybe Pušilin accidentally shot him.

Then I added a quick P.S. with a video of some guy in Africa handing a Kalashnikov to a monkey, which then started spraying bullets everywhere.



The whole point of the comparison was basically saying that when you hand a weapon to someone who clearly can't be trusted to handle it responsibly, they might just pull the trigger and let off a burst by accident while pointing it at the ground.

I'm honestly just curious to know who decided to scrub my post and what the deal was with that.

Thanks in advance.

Thomas Sankara said:The soldier has this rope over his head like he was just dragged out there and executed on the spot. I mean, you gotta assume they did the same thing to the others, maybe someone just had half a brain cell left and took the ropes off.
If this was all staged for some video, anyone with a pulse would be disgusted, regardless of which side they’re on.

I don't even know how to look those two kids in the eye—they're the children of an American soldier who just watched a Russian precision missile strike his own doorstep, killing his wife and his mother in one go. It's just... man. The Russians basically started this whole horrific cycle of death, from the atrocities in Bucha to the mutilated soldiers, the bombing of prisoners, and now these tragedies hitting everywhere from the Dnieper River to Zaporizhzhia, or what happened recently in Vinnytsia Kremenchuk. Like, how am I supposed to stay sane or care about the Geneva Conventions when people are shamelessly slaughtering everyone, breaking every single rule of international law, destroying everything in sight, and then—get this—having the nerve to talk about the "will of the people" wanting to join Russia? They're citing some poll where 655 votes supposedly represent 12% of something—so maybe 5,000 people?—but Kherson has a million people, so if half could vote, that's 500,000. So, I guess the "will of the people" is actually 98% of 1% of potential voters. Whatever. And the Kremlin is celebrating this total farce today while this father, this son, this husband is just left grieving his entire family because of some lunatic who thinks he's God, deciding who lives and dies for the whole nation.

Alfredo1 said:Kivsharivka near Kupyansk is settled. Now they'll probably clear out the Oskil riverbank and regroup for some deep push later on.
Maybe the Kupyansk and Dvorchin crossings will link up soon too. Who knows, maybe the Ukrainians just decide to dive straight into enemy territory right after.

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FdsLsMIX...g&name=900x900
Some guy getting mobilized just realized he’s holding the exact same rifle he carried back in Afghanistan.

It’s a total blowout, honestly—like the old guard from Joža Manolić's era. I mean, they're actually mobilizing guys who were fighting in Afghanistan forty years ago and somehow haven't kicked the bucket yet. No wonder you see mobilized dudes dropping dead from heart attacks left and right.

But seriously, this stuff is pretty sketchy. It looks like Russia is heading toward full-blown mobilization, maybe even over a million people. Sending grandpas, barbers, and other random, incompetent folks to the front line is just going to spike the body count, which I guess will force a response from the Ukrainian side. Then everything could spiral into a total meat grinder, kind of like WWI. Basically, Putin is betting everything the Russian Federation has left on a few weeks of progress, hoping for a big win, while all his sycophants just sit there watching and staying quiet.

Carol Johnson21 said:If you're referring to that Solovjev parody video, it struck me as unbelievable immediately. It’s highly unlikely they would be that blatant about dodging mobilization.

And I agree—there's no point in mocking them like this. If we go down that road, their actual absurdities get lost in the noise. We have plenty of real nonsense to deal with, and those should be carefully attributed rather than turning them into "confused Nazis," much like what happened with the Italians during WWII.

It’s not even a parody, though. When you listen to the original Russian, they’re basically just venting about how incompetent the guys handling the draft notices are. Like, Solovyov claims there are 1.35 million soldiers in the Russian Federation, and Simonyan is saying there are over 5 million people with actual firearm experience ready to go, yet they're out here mobilizing everyone under the sun—old folks, sick people, guys with zero training, musicians, poets, doctors, even the homeless. They're literally saying a bureaucrat like that needs to be grabbed by the ear and dragged straight to the front lines. Mostly, they're just complaining about how total incompetence from these officials is absolutely wrecking morale. And honestly? The English translation is just garbage... which, I guess, makes it just as incompetent as the draft officials themselves.

https://twitter.com/DefMon3/status/1...SGjuge13G3_5KA

I mean, sadly, this is just how it is. You see all these different groups over in Russia having such a garbage opinion of Ukraine and Ukrainians. It’s crazy how much propaganda it takes to make Ukrainians the target of all that hate... I guess even kids who probably haven't even met a single Ukrainian in their entire lives end up feeling that way too.

Jessica Peterson2 said:Much to my profound disappointment, 🤦

But look... I'm asking you, please, could you actually clarify what you mean by "Russians" and "Ukrainians" in this specific context?

- Are we talking about Ukrainian collaborators in occupied territories...
- Ethnic Ukrainians who are calling for war via Russian propaganda outlets...

- Ethnic Russians living in Ukraine who are giving their lives for Ukraine...
- Or Russians from Russia who travel to Ukraine to join volunteer units...

I mean, they probably just mean people based on how they feel politically, I guess.
I know plenty of ethnic Russians in Ukraine who identify as political Ukrainians—like, there’s this famous editor over at CNN who showed his loyalty to Ukraine way back in 2014, and now he’s out there risking his life filming the front lines and showing how much damage the Russian invaders are doing. Then again, I also know ethnic Ukrainians living in Russia who saw photos of destroyed cities sent by their relatives in Ukraine and told them, "Hey, stop sending these, it’s not even the truth." And yeah, obviously there are Ukrainians who had to bail on Russia after 2014 because they couldn't stand parroting all that Russian propaganda about Nazis and fascism in Ukraine.

P.S.
Since we’re bringing up CNN: There was this guy in Donbas, head of some criminal organization from the Russian Federation, who’d been in prison since 2015 on a 23-year sentence for murder, arms dealing, and all sorts of crime from '98 to '13. He ended up signing a contract with the Wagner Group and finished his career out in Donbas.

https://cnn.com/en/photo_news/336..._but_he_signed

Russian-style democracy

https://twitter.com/bayraktar_1love/...a1cgD0WiGoJM7w

Kind of similar stuff went down in Crimea too, I guess. Why not give it another shot if there's a chance? Might as well try once, maybe even twice.

"The Russian military just launched some strikes, I guess you could call them a warning shot. Kyiv's authorities kicked off their counteroffensive, so we'll just have to wait and see how that plays out. Grab a flag, whatever. The main goal of the Special Military Operation stays the same, and it’s getting done." — those are quotes from Putin being passed around by the Grey Zone Telegram Channel, though honestly, most Russians don't even buy it anymore. If you actually look at the comments over there, it’s pretty obvious Putin is losing his grip on his own people. You see stuff ranging from people wondering what the actual current goal of this "special operation" even is, to talk about the Belgorod front opening up where regular Russian citizens aren't even feeling safe anymore. Some of the comments say: -Grandfather is a masochist; -Right when Putin was saying that, the "Ukri" grabbed the left bank of Kupiansk; -Ahah, yeah, everything is going exactly to plan; -Putin is the disappointment of the year; -Clown, Lend-Lease hasn't even fully kicked in yet—it starts Oct 1st—and the Russian army is already getting hammered without it; -So what's the mission now? Looks like they're just trying to turn Ukraine into one of the strongest militaries in the world.

Putin's position is shaking a bit, which... I don't know, it felt impossible to read that kind of thing on their channels not too long ago.

And then again, if you look at things realistically, there's less and less info coming out about regular Russian soldiers lately. That probably means a huge chunk of the guys from those "winter exercises" who hit Ukraine got neutralized. Now you mostly hear about criminals, or the Chechen guys constantly in action, or people mobilized from the so-called Ukrainian borderlands who refuse to go back to the Donbas after being captured. It kind of hints that the Putin era in Russia might be winding down. How much of Russia he drags down with him really depends on the folks in Saint Petersburg and Moscow, I guess.

The footage coming out after the Russian military and their buddies cleared out of Izium is just straight-up apocalyptic. This used to be a city of maybe 50,000 people, but after being under occupation for almost half a year, it’s pretty obvious that neither the Russian collaborators nor the Russians themselves had any intention of actually helping anyone. They didn't lift a finger to make life easier for the locals; everything just stayed as wrecked as it was when they first seized the place. There's this video showing what happened to a local school, and man, seeing the state of it... it’s hard to wrap your head around the fact that we’re living in 2022. Schools completely trashed by human hands, yet they brought in these "teachers" meant to brainwash Ukrainian kids into believing their own fathers and grandfathers were Nazis. I mean, seriously, educators working with children are supposed to have some kind of moral compass, right? I just can't wrap my brain around how any Russian educator could sign up for such monstrous work. You've got ruined buildings, zero electricity, no water, no sewage—just total devastation in people's homes—but instead, they send in these "educators" to tell Ukrainian kids that their language doesn't exist, that their people don't exist, and that their families need "denazification." And honestly, some people are even backing this behavior over here. I guess this is just the new Russian "peace" they're bringing. It feels like a familiar modus operandi from somewhere.

https://twitter.com/dw_russian/statu...u5e7Oli3owLN9w

William Anderson5 said:And that’s exactly how Putin sold it to her. That's where the naivety lies. People have been sounding the alarm about Europe's reliance on Russian energy for years. Instead of diversifying, Germany just built another pipeline right up until the aggression started, without even putting in an LNG terminal (we even have one here in the States).
It wasn't just naive; it was incredibly foolish...

Remember when the "Three Seas Initiative" was the big topic? It was all about the US pulling closer to the Višegrad group, focusing on building an LNG terminal—not some tiny floating thing, either—but certain people, like the ones acting shocked today that Ukraine didn't just fold the second Russia attacked, kept blocking it. They wanted everything connected via pipelines to LNG terminals in Poland and Lithuania. But then, right when things were moving, Merkel triggered that massive migrant wave from Turkey along that exact same route that was supposed to link up Central Europe. Suddenly, everyone forgot about LNG terminals, pipelines, and digitalization, and instead, we're all talking about razor wire and "engineers" or "doctors" coming over from Syria. Meanwhile, in total silence, they finished Nord Stream 1 and almost wrapped up Nord Stream 2 with a capacity of 110 billion cubic meters. Just for context, our American floating LNG unit only has a capacity of 1.8 billion cubic meters, and it was supposed to be a real alternative—a new supply route to keep the energy sector in Europe stable. So yeah, that’s the grand result of the "naive girl from East Germany."

I guess I should probably start by saying... well, whatever. There isn't much to say, really. Just sitting here thinking about how things always seem to go sideways eventually, you know? It’s like, you think you have a handle on stuff, then boom—total chaos. Anyway, just my two cents, I suppose. Maybe I'm just overthinking it. Who knows?

casualtiger2 said:Great breakdown of the situation here.
Six months into the war: What Putin wanted vs. what he actually got.
Is Russia any safer, wealthier, or more powerful now?
The reality check:

"Demilitarization" of Ukraine? After six months of fighting, Ukraine has actually walked away with tens of billions of dollars worth of cutting-edge Western hardware they never even had before. Just the latest round of aid from the U.S. government—covering air defense systems, surface-to-air missiles, radar, and artillery—is estimated at $2.98 billion.

"Denazification" of Ukraine? Honestly, it seems like the only people who saw any Nazis were the Russian intelligence officers out scouting. If anyone else did spot a Nazi, there were about as many in Ukraine as there are on Times Square during Adolf Hitler's birthday. Not one single journalist out of the dozens reporting from the front lines has run into any Nazis or fascists. But, judging by the rhetoric coming from various Russian officials and their proxies, it looks like they’re doing their best to recycle clips from Hitler's speeches.

Protecting the Russian-speaking populations in the east and south? Where exactly were they "protected"—in the ruins of Mariupol, where over 89% of the population spoke Russian? Or in Kharkiv, which gets pounded week after week, killing civilians, despite 95% of the people there speaking Russian? Or maybe in Mykolaiv, where over 50% of the population is native Russian-speaking, yet it's being hammered by cluster bombs, according to a Philadelphia Inquirer reporter on the ground? It's a hell of a defense strategy: just pile up the bodies of the people you claim to be protecting.
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Every single day this war drags on, it costs taxpayers about $500 million. Back in July, Department of the Treasury stats showed a federal budget deficit of 892 billion rubles—a 22.5% drop in oil and gas revenue despite high energy prices, plus a nearly 30% slump in tax collections. We’re looking at an expected GDP loss of 8% by the end of the year, with the economy likely shrinking for another year or two.

So, we’re looking at the fallout from someone’s sick obsession with flipping the global order upside down. Look, maybe the current system isn't perfect, but it's lightyears better than what Vladimir Putin is trying to pull off. He wants this corrupt mess run by a tiny clique of elites—basically like that old-school Czarist era where a few guys call all the shots on who lives and dies. It's messed up. He’s basically gutted half of Ukraine and forced over 10 million people to flee their homes. And the body count? It's insane. You've got probably 40,000 to 50,000 young Russian kids dead, maybe 100,000 Russians left disabled... then you look at the Ukrainian side, and it's even worse. Probably 100,000 Ukrainian civilians killed—I mean, some estimates say over 50,000 died just in Mariupol alone. Plus 30,000 Ukrainian soldiers gone, and another 60,000 to 70,000 wounded. I guess you have to ask yourself... was this really worth it? Was this the price he wanted to pay for whatever result he thinks he's getting? One thing is for sure: he just made an enemy out of everyone for the next hundred years. He'll probably go down in history as one of the biggest criminals of the 3rd millennium. And honestly, Europe will survive without Russian gas and oil. That much is certain.

I’d love to see how Canada plays this tomorrow. It’ll be interesting to watch them try to back a system that basically forced them back into line back in '56 when they tried to stick their noses out of their little hole. If Putin’s plan actually works, they're going to find themselves right back in that same spot. But hey, now they’ve got the NATO and EU umbrellas to hide under, so they can act all big and tough with their petty little agendas since they know they've got backup. Honestly, it reminds me of how Hitler had those same kinds of plans that lasted about six years... we'll just have to wait and see how long his "twin brother" lasts with this whole "denazification" scheme for Eastern and Central Europe.

Jose Clark2 said:It's obvious they won't pull out of Ukraine completely. Russ simply cannot afford to lose this war; they need concessions. If we don't give them what they want, what happens then?

But what concessions are we even talking about here? I mean, if you look at it like Ukraine is basically just step one in a massive operation they've been plotting for over 15 years... any little concession is just a tiny nudge for Putin toward his actual goal. And that goal is kicking the USA and the UK off the European continent, getting back that old-school influence the USSR used to have in Europe, and eventually forcing the EU—specifically heavy hitters like Germany, France, and Italy—into a partnership under Russian control. So, yeah, every single move we let Putin make while he's actively attacking a sovereign nation is basically the death of international law. It’s like we're sliding back into some medieval way of settling things. And honestly, once we start dealing with these savages who offer nothing to civilization except death, destruction, and blackmail, the fallout is gonna be way worse. Is that really the vibe we want for the continent? I guess Merkel didn't get it and let this monster grow (though, personally, I think she knew exactly what was happening and played along), and now Macron doesn't seem to grasp it either. He’s forgetting how much damage their "friendly" attitude toward Russia caused after the global order fell apart—just look at how sneaky they were when they occupied Crimea with those unmarked soldiers and then actually bragged about it. Unfortunately, you can't just satisfy their appetite by giving up Donbas or Crimea, because that's just setting them up for the next move. That's why we gotta stop this mess at the very first step.

Jose Clark2 said:I assume you realize that isn't going to happen?

Look, the Russians aren't just gonna stop invading, destroying a sovereign nation, killing civilians, and committing mass war crimes on their own. And people actually expect us to respect that? Like, we're supposed to demand that Ukraine negotiates with actual terrorists? Just hand over half the country to start things off? Or deal with millions of Ukrainians being forced to give up their identity, their language, and their culture? That's basically what's happening because the Russians won't just pack up and leave Ukraine to end this war. They've already caused nearly a trillion dollars in damage, all because Putin wants to bring back the Soviet Union—or maybe even the Russian Empire—and reclaim all those former Warsaw Pact members that ran for the hills the second they got a chance to escape Russia. Honestly, trying to be "understanding" toward this kind of policy, or worse, actually respecting the views of the guy who started this whole mess of destruction... I don't know, it feels like it's leading us straight into total darkness for humanity.

ironseal said:It feels pretty weird to me that they’re announcing a counteroffensive this publicly—giving away the location, the timing, everything.

I mean, unfortunately, Zelenskyy just doesn't have the experience or the know-how, and he’s surrounded by people who are basically clones of himself. It's all riding on Zalužni at this point, so I guess how much he can actually plan and coordinate is strictly down to his own skill level. There’s gotta be more going on behind the scenes though, because a ton of those supply depots were wiped out specifically in the parts of Ukraine that have been occupied since 2014.