Amanda Hughes37 said:As far as I can tell, the official story is that people were just protesting, hungry and thirsty, exercising their right to protest—even if it meant blocking half the street. Meanwhile, the police, who have been treated like idiots for years, haven't even been allowed to carry real ammunition... anything beyond that is speculation.
Go 🤣 ići Doro. I won't even bother arguing with those soccer-obsessed morons; they're more stubborn than any religious zealot.🙂
Joshua Myers432 said:That’s 19th or 20th-century thinking. Modern warfare has evolved; it spans everything from economic warfare to cyber strikes.
In reality, we can all agree that the actual war is being fought between Russia and Ukraine—a nation armed with NATO equipment and receiving every possible bit of NATO support, just without the boots on the ground. Even the training for Ukrainian soldiers is happening within NATO countries.
That’s just using the word "war" metaphorically. It isn't anything new; the technology has just changed.
People have always used economics, propaganda, or whatever else was at hand to fight for dominance, whether between individuals or entire groups.
Language is fluid, but I'd argue we should still reserve the literal definition of "war" specifically for physical, armed conflict.
Andrew Ross4 said:And what exactly is the problem with that?
The era of the nation-state is over. Humanity as a whole is moving toward corporate control. As individuals, we rely on corporations to deliver our gas, electricity, water, and so on. You buy the things you need to survive from corporations, not from the government.
When someone like Elon Musk drops billions on Twitter—billions that could arguably end world hunger or stop the war in Ukraine overnight, billions that dwarf our entire GDP... well, some of us are smart enough to see it.
So, honestly? I'd much rather have cheap gas and electricity and live like a normal person than pay ten times more just to uphold certain ideals.
Dreaming about some "green transition" while pushing millions of people into poverty... only someone completely lacking empathy would do that.
Corporations can only hold sway in a democracy. They certainly don't run things in Russia.
He paid less than our total GDP for Twitter, let alone several times over.
World hunger isn't solved by throwing money at it; that's just naive rhetoric.
In the long run, climate change has the potential to drive more people into hunger than the cost of moving away from fossil fuels ever will.
In that case, MMA could actually be a solid choice. You should go check it out, but from what I’ve gathered, unlike some traditional martial arts, they don't ignore physical conditioning, which is definitely a big . I’m not sure what anyone could find fault with any of those activities 😁. I was at the soccer match 😁. Honestly, it doesn't matter much; the kid will just pick whatever he likes eventually. From my perspective, having a good coach and a quality gym matters more than the specific style at this age, if you ask me 🤔.
I just don't get why she prefers judo over boxing. If you train recreationally and aren't taking full contact to the head every single day, it’s probably the safest option on this list—not counting soccer, of course. At my age (45), I stick to striking mostly to minimize injuries, which tend to be worse in grappling arts. In striking, you risk getting hit in the head, but if you avoid that, there isn't much else. You might catch a broken nose or a jaw, or very rarely a rib, but usually without permanent damage. It's much more likely to happen in football, and I'd guess hockey too. Grapplers, on the other hand, often end up with chronic issues in their joints, necks, spines, or hips .
Believe what you want. Physical training is fine, but Krav Maga feels like a modern version of Wing Chun practiced by people in tactical gear.
Take this with a grain of salt since I’ve never actually stepped foot in a class; I've just spent some time watching videos from back home and abroad.
From what I've seen in those clips, every instructor who actually seems to know what they're doing comes from a combat sports background—think Judo, BJJ, kickboxing, that sort of thing. Meanwhile, training sessions led by "pure" Krav Maga instructors look pretty terrible. By that, I mean guys training at a local gym usually have better basic strikes, like a decent jab, after just two weeks of boxing.
That’s just my impression, but looking at interviews with former instructors available in English, it seems like a marketing franchise. People jump into it because it sells well, but there's zero guarantee of quality control. You get instruction that ranges from mediocre to downright bad.
The whole approach—avoiding competition and skipping free sparring because the techniques are supposedly "too dangerous"—is exactly how traditional martial arts became ineffective.
For that same reason, it’s hard to judge value if someone doesn't have a foundation in combat sports. With sports clubs, you just look at their tournament results. You don't need obscure myths about ninjas or Israeli commandos, and you don't need to rely on internal belt hierarchies or instructor ranks. Even in sports like Judo or BJJ where belts still exist, I don't think a serious athlete takes them too seriously.
It seems more logical to find a solid sports club than to hunt for a Krav Maga gym with an instructor who has a sports background but lacks proper training methods.
In my opinion, the best foundation is a solid base in locally established combat sports—Judo, maybe BJJ, wrestling, boxing, Muay Thai, or MMA. Self-defense oriented skills should be an upgrade later on, not the primary starting point.
fadedranger162 said:Going a bit off-topic here, but this whole "threat to international peace and security" thing got me thinking. It’d be interesting if we just made it a standard rule to seize all assets from these cartels, killers, arms dealers, and anyone else playing ball with them. Why wait for a crisis?
There’s actually been an agreement for a long time. The US has its own protocols, and there have been various European Union level agreements dating back to the 90s. I’m not entirely sure how effectively they’ve been integrated into individual national laws.
Another thing is that criminals go to great lengths to hide their tracks, so you need hard evidence first. It's a different story when you're dealing with military commanders or political backers; it’s much harder to mask a war campaign or the connections behind it.
Plus, with sanctions, things usually just get frozen—at least, that's my assumption. With criminal activity, the goal is actual seizure. At least, that's what I assume happens.
Fun fact—studies on Navy SEAL training have shown that former water polo players actually have the highest success rate. They tend to finish the program at a much higher percentage than everyone else. Apparently, the biggest hurdle for most candidates is just staying in shape; most of them get weeded out because they can't handle the physical demands. 😳
On top of that, India seems to be following Orban’s lead, if not Putin's footprint.
Fortunately, despite all the fascist-leaning extreme right-wing pressure and political dominance, the electoral system generally functions well enough. Unlike Russia, they had enough time to become truly established. That said, nothing is invincible in the end, and the rise of clerical fascism—which is likely at its strongest today outside of Islamist nations—is definitely cause for concern.
As for the brain drain, I’m not entirely sure how bad the situation really is. Plenty of people are leaving, sure, but there’s also this massive societal emphasis on STEM. Back in the Nehru era, policy put a huge premium on higher education, which is why they stand much better here than in lower tiers. Compared to China, that's actually one of the hurdles in developing industry and a skilled basic workforce. On the flip side, they've pushed hard to develop higher ed, and in this society, doctors and engineers are ranked ten levels above everything else; every parent's dream is to have a kid in one of those fields. So, they’re dealing with an exodus, but probably a hyper-production phase too.
At the same time, as the economy has strengthened, we're seeing hints of a reversal. Some emigrants, or even their children, have started heading back to India to find opportunities in a fresh, promising market. It’s far from a total trend reversal, but it says something.
Corruption is obviously a nasty issue. Beyond that, the biggest headache might actually be the deficit in primary education rather than the brain drain, along with the sheer complexity of a society split by hundreds of local languages, scripts, religions, castes, and clans. While the religious right-wingers currently dominating politics and public life try to build an orthodox Hindu platform to force homogenization, I’m skeptical about how successful that can be long-term in a country that is arguably the largest melting pot in planetary history within a single state identity. Americans are just little kittens compared to this melting pot. Though, it's certainly working for them in terms of staying in power.
Still, by pure scale—both population and economy—they serve as a buffer zone for China, despite all the flaws.
We need to find the sweet spot before we swing too far toward helping too much or not enough.
The long-held assumption was that prosperity and democracy were inseparable—that opening up an economy would inevitably pave the way for political freedom. It turns out it’s not that simple. Instead, we ended up with dictatorships that are both wealthier and better armed. Look at China: they played the long game, developed their economy, and then doubled down on a version of authoritarianism even more intense than anything under Mao Zedong. Sure, showing their true colors might lead to economic stagnation in the long run, but that could also trigger aggressive military moves. Fortunately, Russia hasn't managed to build a real economy, which makes isolating them much easier.
Dealing with nation-states feels a lot like dealing with psychiatry. You can offer help if someone actually wants it, or you can perform a forced hospitalization if they're too unstable to care for themselves (think of the occupation of Germany or Japan). Even then, for any long-term progress to stick, there has to be some internal desire for change.
Then you have the ones who still think they're perfect and everyone else is the problem. They only cooperate just long enough to snag some sick leave or score cheap psychoactive drugs to sell on the street. There's no helping those people.
On the flip side, you have outliers like Somaliland. Despite being unrecognized and lacking major economic partnerships, they maintain a more functional democracy than some recognized entities that receive massive amounts of foreign aid and influence (though that doesn't mean things aren't messy or that clan identity isn't a factor).
Since economic cooperation hasn't proven to be a reliable driver for reform, I'm stuck wondering which approach is better: providing aid and potentially fueling an adversary, or isolating and impoverishing them until a strong, visionary internal movement emerges to build something new.
I’d probably put my kid into wrestling if he shows an interest. Honestly, for most people, the only real fights they’ll ever encounter are during pre-puberty—assuming those even still happen these days. That’s where wrestling is actually useful.
It’s also a solid foundation if he decides to move into MMA, Judo, or BJJ later on. It builds a good physique, develops strength, and teaches practical skills.
Whether he's too young or what the injury risk might be is really a question for the gym and the coach. It all depends on how they run their programs.
Every combat sport carries its own set of risks. Generally speaking, with grappling sports, you’re looking at cumulative injuries to the spine and joints. You have to pay attention to that and do your homework; the issue with cumulative damage is that you often don't realize there's a problem until it's too late.
Drew Moore5 said:Look, unlike many other theosophists, Leadbiter actually had genuine insight into the astral plane, which was widely recognized. However, that doesn't apply to Devahan, which operates on an entirely different level. The astral plane is essentially a realm of images that sit behind reality. Devahan, on the other hand, is a realm of sound behind reality. Even if his description of Devahan isn't perfect, I suspect he would agree with that distinction. Honestly, Devahan can't really be described systematically; you can only approach it through certain outlines or principles.
To recap: Leadbiter was an Anglican priest who joined the Theosophical Society, got kicked out, then got let back in, eventually becoming a bishop for the so-called Free Catholic Church in Australia. He was also initiated into Freemasonry during that time.
He faced accusations regarding teaching boys assigned to him about masturbation. Without passing judgment ourselves, we should look at the consensus of his contemporaries. A significant number of Theosophical Society members, including Annie Besant, pushed for his expulsion. And he was expelled. We won't dwell on the specific accusation from one boy regarding his sexuality, but the fact remains: Besant, who basically ran the Society, eventually changed her mind and allowed him back in. Aleister Crowley wrote in 'The Equinox' that he was a "senile sexual maniac."
Then there's Krishnamurti, which is a whole different story. As the son of a Theosophical Society member (convenient, right?), he was intended to be the vessel for some sort of Messiah, though nobody was quite sure which one. After a few years, he walked away and headed to Australia. Once Krishnamurti matured, he tried to reject the labels people forced upon him, but it was a losing battle. He practically had no choice. Fortunately, Krishnamurti himself was a decent person, even if his personality was crushed under a massive burden.
Since your avatar is the Ukrainian flag, it suggests that your emotions are driving your logic. That’s not necessarily a catastrophe at your level—that's how most people operate. But it becomes dangerous if those emotions push you toward action (like changing an avatar, for instance), because emotions are the easiest things to manipulate.
I’m talking more about para-masonry—groups that borrowed Masonic rituals and structures but weren't part of any legitimate, traditional organizations. They were just doing their own thing.
Honestly, most of them are barely serious. They feel more like low-level social clubs than anything deep. It doesn't seem fair to lump them in with those hallucinogenic, fraud-filled cult circles run by theosophists.😁
Russia might not be South Korea yet, but they aren't China either.
They just don't have the hardware or software tech to pull this off, especially since their young, educated talent is fleeing the country. If they actually go dark, they won't be able to maintain anything remotely close to international standards. I’d guess they'll end up sliding at least a decade behind current tech levels, and that gap will only widen as long as things stay this way.
As for the economy—forget about it. Any revenue tied to online activity or the broader IT sector is basically going to evaporate once they lose touch with global markets.
I can't help but wonder how much Russia will actually be able to honor their existing contracts and delivery schedules. Between the heavy sanctions and the way they're draining their own military resources just to keep the war going, I have my doubts about whether they even have anything left to deliver.
The current pride flags fell apart way faster than expected. For the last month, they were basically held together by duct tape once the cracks started showing, but today, they just split right down the middle.
It could be anywhere in the EU.
Roughly 5'11" to 6'7". It’s ideal to use some OMCOM from the lower end for securing it to the floor, especially if you’re under 130 lbs, though it isn't strictly mandatory. Empty.
velvetbadger11 said:There are reports circulating that these Australian armored vehicles are actually driving right over minefields—I wonder if they're somehow neutralizing them on the fly, but if this turns out to be true, it's quite an impressive feat; it would mean all that Russian mining was essentially for nothing. Here is the detail:
Australia has also stepped up by announcing the shipment of heavier weaponry, specifically donating their Bushmaster light armored vehicles. These units are designed to protect against mines and small arms fire, and they have the capacity to transport up to ten soldiers at speeds of up to 62 miles/h.
It’s not exactly a technological miracle. The whole point is just to bump up the odds of the crew surviving if they hit a mine. It isn't a 100% guarantee—usually, people still end up injured. You just lose the vehicle instead of the people inside.
It's not like you're planning to cruise through a minefield on purpose. It's more about minimizing casualties when you run into an ambush or stumble upon an unmarked mine by accident.