Paul Kern12 said:The Chinese are being pragmatic; they aren't going to sabotage their own interests. Unlike Europe—which seems to have shot itself in both feet.
I'm with you on the first part. China is a superpower playing the long game—investing heavily in science, education, tech, and just generally leveling up their people.
They know exactly what kind of price tag comes with attacking another sovereign nation.
And honestly, any kind of aggression has to be way too expensive—for both the East and the West.
I’m not even talking about how "strong" the ruble is—just how expensive it's become.
The Russian government recently pulled the plug on public reporting regarding foreign trade, tax revenue, and the national budget. What exactly are they trying to hide?
Nobody’s really broken down why Russia would want such a rock-solid ruble when their whole economy lives or dies by exports—logic says a weaker currency would be much better for them.
It's the same deal in the US—an overpowered dollar eats into profits, so it’d actually be a win if it weakened a bit.
Jessica Peterson2 said:It appears I fall into that category of "wise guys," because I’m going to maintain that the very concept of communism was inherently anational. A massive collection of communists, secret police, prison guards, and low-level thugs—many of whom were of Jewish, Georgian, Ukrainian, Armenian, and so on, descent—held the reins, while the Russian ethnicity itself still lacks any distinct entity within the Russian Federation today.🙄 P.S. Glory to Ukraine!
Thanks for the textbook demonstration of Russian liberalism there. Basically just Nazism with a fresh coat of makeup.
Jack Hill2 said:So you're going to play dumb and ignore the fact that at least ten of Putin's "enemies" have been poisoned?
At the same time, you talk trash about the "unfree West," where people can write whatever they want without fearing for their lives. Well, here you are, spewing Kremlin propaganda right here, which suggests you don't feel threatened. You aren't worried that the US government will throw you in prison for fifteen years because you aren't following the party line. You don't watch what you drink, and you aren't afraid of crossing the line. If you were in Russia spreading Western propaganda so openly, you'd know you wouldn't stay free for long...
Go ahead, send me a link to a Russian forum where I can show up and say whatever I want. It's a democracy, after all—shouldn't be that hard? It doesn't have to be a forum; any group or social media platform that isn't under total state control would do...
Just imagine if a populist movement took over the US government, funded by, say, Russian banks—which slice of American society would end up profiting?
Nancy Gomez26 said:Of course they won't recognize them. Kazakhstan—much like Mexico—is positioning itself to be the primary middleman for imported goods flowing into the Russian Federation, which is currently suffocating under seven rounds of sanctions. It’s a calculated dance. By playing this way, they can dodge another nineteen rounds of sanctions if the pressure increases.
I think you might have mixed up Belarus and Kazakhstan. I get why you'd feel that way about the first one, but not really for Kazakhstan. Either way—show me the source.
urbanotter said:Look, we are talking about the Maidan protests and the last presidents who were actually elected by the people in every administrative district, including in Crimea and the Donbas.
The actual topic at hand is the sanctions that the West and the Americans have slapped on Russia. It makes me wonder why everyone is suddenly screaming about blackmail now that the Russians have throttled the gas supply, when they were the ones shouting from the rooftops that they wouldn't touch a drop of Russian gas. People are strange; first they complain because they can't go, and then once you finally let them, they act like they don't even want to be there anymore.
Where did "Jugović" come from? What am I supposed to be? My family records clearly state my heritage, and I assure you, there isn't a trace of your bitterness mixed into my history.😉
DzonziBG said:they pushed us right into a death trap back in '41, and then that famous guy Cecil goes—well, you aren't gonna be living there much longer anyway...
Better a pact than a war? I honestly didn't think you were one of those types...
Jeremy Turner9 said:Cutting off gas supplies is essentially Putin's absolute last resort; if they manage to fill their storage facilities and the European Union survives the winter, he loses his leverage entirely. He’ll have nothing left to bring to the negotiating table because the USA has effectively sidelined him, and there is simply no intention of engaging in a direct military confrontation with them...
The Euro is facing unprecedented pressure following these new measures: a total collapse of the Eurozone has shifted from a theoretical fear to a very real possibility. While the Euro faced significant turbulence between 2012 and 2014, those challenges didn't come with the added weight of a global pandemic and an active war.
It seems that any major crisis puts the Eurozone on the precipice of disintegration.
Editors know exactly which headlines drive the clicks and the cash.
With the average age climbing—China actually just overtook the USA in this regard—it’ll be interesting to see how they have to overhaul their whole pension system.
Anyway, back to the topic: Russia decided to stop publishing its trade data and budget spending—and get this—tax revenues plummeted by more than half in May compared to April.
hollowdriver13 said:It’s funny, really. I can't stand the West, yet here I am saving in their "sinful" currency. I claim to dislike the West, but my son is out there making his living over there... 🤔
I say I hate the West, but I’m out here buying Swiss investment gold.... 🤷
bluerider63 said:We don't even need to bring Hitler into this; it's enough to point out how Putin probably watched those American interventions—which were really just invasions of sovereign nations—and saw how effectively they worked, so he decided to play Uncle Sam himself. He learned just how expendable lives can be, especially over in places like Iraq, when you're hellbent on hitting a specific target.
Spot on. Putin and Dick Cheney are cut from the exact same cloth—both belong in handcuffs.
The thing is, nobody's out here defending Dick Cheney, yet Putin seems to have a whole fleet of lawyers ready to go. Though, honestly, calling them fans might be more accurate.
I just went through the official Kremlin narrative—straight from Vladimir Putin's own mouth. You quoted their line above. Whether you actually realize that or not doesn't really matter, but what you're reading lines up perfectly.
The Russian Federation President's addresses regarding: - the recognition of the DPR and LPR on February 21: English, Russian - the invasion of Ukraine on February 24: English, Russian
Thanks for playing spokesperson, but I’d rather just read kremlin.ru myself. Gotta go to the source.