Posts by casualtiger2

Just another possibility—though, obviously, don't hold your breath on this one.
If Putin falls by autumn and Russia tries to play nice just to ease those sanctions and get the country back on its feet,
they might start pumping twice as much gas through Nord Stream 2 at half the price!?

Bryan Booth82 said:Honestly, it’s nothing more than a pathetic attempt to mask a complete and utter systemic collapse.

If you ask me, that very move holds a massive part of the answer right there in plain sight.

Best,

I get that, but what actually happens if they just... don't open it?

What kind of impact does having a closed-off Russian stock market actually have on their economy?

Amy Diaz222 said:bold: 👍

So, this specific "...$126 billion..." figure—not $125 or $130, but precisely $126.0342681 billion snatched from the oligarchic filth in Russia—🙂 /

—is being used as a metric for what... 😵

Basically, if these crooked—yet somehow "Western"—oligarchs managed to swipe a few billion from the thieving Russian oligarchs

—then I guess that counts as "satisfaction." 😵 🤣

Right, I forgot you don't speak German (and even if you did, would you actually get the point?), so here’s the translation:
"The reason is the Crash on the Russian stock market (MOEX index -33 percent) along with the collapse of the Russian State currency Ruble (-25 percent against the USD). Consequently, the billionaires lost more money in a single day than they had gained throughout the entire year so far."

Grund dafür ist der Crash am russischen Aktienmarkt (MOEX Index -33 Prozent) sowie der Absturz der russischen Staatswährung Rubel (-25 Prozent gegenüber USD). Die Milliardäre haben somit an nur einem Tag mehr Geld verloren, als sie bis dato im bisherigen Jahresverlauf hinzugewinnen konnten.

Alright, now it's your turn—tell me about our "Western oligarchs" and the decaying West...

300 Billionaires: The price tag of the invasion for the Russian super-rich
According to Forbes, Russian oligarchs have watched $126 billion vanish since February 16, 2022.
Maybe they should run the numbers themselves—might find a cheaper alternative to this mess.

bluemason3 said:I’m probably not smart enough to weigh in on Switzerland or the impact of CB Russia sanctions.🤔

In the short term, specifically this last part, it could be a real headache for Russia and offer some decent help in the current situation.

But it could also mess up relations down the road, calling Switzerland's neutrality into question and potentially hurting its core economic sectors. By making CBs feel less "untouchable," it might just push other countries to diversify away from Western financial markets, which would make any future sanctions much less effective against them.🤔

Just my two cents, though. Do we have any actual macroeconomists on here? 😁

Everything you're saying holds water, especially since they clearly spent a long time weighing their options before acting.
At the end of the day, most people are standing with Ukraine, so politicians basically had no choice but to respond.
Personally, I’m glad they finally stepped away from their usual pragmatism (which, granted, is usually pretty useful)
just to sacrifice a little cash and comfort.
There isn't really room for "neutrality" right now while kids are hunkering down in shelters.
The only real shot at lasting peace in Europe is finding a way to get that madman out of power.

Switzerland has officially adopted all the sanctions agreed upon by the European Union.

Now Switzerland is freezing Russian accounts too.

Gary Wilson said:"Wars don't just start on a Wednesday," or so the saying goes.
You have to take Russ at his word.

It’s all just Western propaganda and fake news anyway.
I'm sure Putin won't touch Ukraine.

If we don't stumble upon another solution, here’s my question.
What are your thoughts on Patanjali's Yoga Sutras from a philosophical standpoint?

I, 2: yogaś citta-vṛtti-nirodhaḥ.
Yoga is the cessation of the "fluctuations of the mind" (citta-vṛtti).

I, 3: tadrūpa-avasthānam.
Only then—when those mental fluctuations settle—does "the Seer" (draṣṭṛ) reside in
their own true nature (svarūpa).

I, 4: vṛtti-sarūpya-antarātra.
Otherwise, "the Self" just ends up identifying with those mental fluctuations (vṛtti).

I'm looking for some deep dives here—parallels with established philosophies or even just your own personal experiences. 🙂
Feel free to pivot toward spirituality, too; I'm open to anything.
Yoga is rooted in Samkhya philosophy—basically a dance between spirit (purusha) and matter (prakriti).
Still, at its core, it's primarily a psycho-physiological discipline—almost anti-philosophical in a way.

Since I’m rarely around the philosophy boards anyway—just a ghost in the machine, really—I'll leave the next topic selection up to Harold Doyle3.

Man, you’ve really been going off on these forums lately.
You already know this isn't doing you any favors. 😍
Just go back to your little fantasy world—or whatever you call that "reality" of yours.

Carl Rivera43 said:Is it just me, or is life getting a little too heavy on the quick fixes?

Why does it feel like the good stuff is so rare, {while the half-measures or the real heartbreaks seem to stick around forever}?

I don’t know, I kind of get the feeling that by chasing all these tiny, temporary distractions, we end up hitting what people call—life saturation. Basically, we're just burnt out on this way of living.

It really hurts, honestly. That sense of emptiness in my love life... I'm not trying to be bitter, but sometimes it's hard not to feel a bit envious.

How do you actually go about finding lasting goals {instead of just settling for temporary comforts}?

Human evolution is wired this way—it’s just how we function.
Every once in a while, someone might rise above the general baseline, but that baseline is essentially defined by three specific energy centers—the ego level. In those realms, things like your "temporary fixes," "life burnout," "envy," and "romantic emptiness" (along with plenty of other thought-emotions) exist.
Your first "lasting goal" could be ruthless introspection—really identifying your own evolutionary stage, specifically your emotional-mental-energetic makeup.

A second "lasting goal" would be raising your energy or consciousness to at least the heart level.
Your motivation can go one of two ways: either pure desperation from being sick of your current life, or a burst of momentum and joy because you caught a glimpse of something beautiful or felt love for a moment.

There are endless techniques and paths; there's no single recipe. And despite the general consensus on this forum that everything is an illusion—that we're all already enlightened and don't need anything except realizing we're already "there"—I'd still suggest sticking to classic self-development paths (like yoga). It requires long-term, gritty work—which is usually where all the theorists and spiritual seekers trip up. If you show up here in a few years and nothing has changed, then you're part of the majority.

gun VIOLENCE ARCHIVE 2021
Maybe we should just rename this thing—something like "Weapon Culture and US Gun Laws"?

High school shooting in the US; three students killed, six others injured

I know I’m just spinning my wheels here, but I figured I’d throw this out there:
List of countries by intentional homicide rate

Number of intentional homicide victims per 100,000 people.
74. USA - 5 (Back in 2018—it's almost certainly higher now)
173. Switzerland - 0.6

The Swiss disarmament initiative group

disarmament initiative
Back in 1989, the initiative pulled about 35.6% of the vote (and while more Swiss people have likely leaned toward disarmament since then, they probably haven't hit that 50% mark yet).

What they actually managed to pull off, though, is strict control over weapons exports—especially when it comes to conflict zones.

hiddeneagle98 said:The thing is, even though most Swiss folks own guns and love hitting up the shooting ranges, they still have their own specific gun culture; when you look at the number of firearms per capita, they're right up there at the top. They even host shooting competitions for kids between 13 and 17, like the local youth festivals.

Here is some insight into how the gun culture works over in Switzerland:

https://www.businessinsider.com/swit...to-use-a-gun-3

From the perspective of other European Union nations, the Swiss appreciate firearms at a level pretty similar to Americans. It’s just that Americans might be a bit more primitive in their obsession.

At the end of the day, the violence we see in the USA isn't a result of gun laws or the right to bear arms; if anything, it’s probably the other way around. Switzerland is the perfect proof of that point.

It's a strange kind of "love." I've met hundreds of Swiss people—both professionally and personally—but not one single person ever talked to me about this passion,
let alone showed off their collection (not even counting public carry).
1. After WW2, anyone who finished military service was required to take their service weapon home—it was based on the idea of national self-defense against foreign threats.
For 99.99% of Americans, the idea that they'd need a gun to defend themselves against their own government is just absurd; maybe except for those extreme anti-vaxxers, far-right types, or leftists nowadays.

That's really what drives the stats on gun ownership and this supposed "love."

2. For quite some time now, fewer and fewer veterans are actually taking their service weapons home (which, by the way, has to be kept under lock and key, separate from ammunition).

3. Knabenschiessen is more like a carnival target shoot where you win a toy than some deep expression of firearm passion.

4. Even hunters supported adopting stricter European Union-style regulations on private gun purchases, which passed easily in a referendum.

5. You won't find guns in any regular store, nor is there any flashy advertising.

6. There is no such thing as a Second Amendment regarding gun rights in Switzerland.

Switzerland: So Many Guns, No Mass Shootings

Switzerland’s Responsible Gun Nuts Pt. 2

PS
It's true—and honestly a bit worrying—that there's also been a spike in handgun requests here. 😢

I wouldn’t trade the sense of security I feel walking around Europe—especially in Switzerland—completely unarmed, for a hundred pistols.
I don't have the official stats on hand, but I'm certain that here, maybe less than 0.01% of people are walking the streets armed (aside from the police, who are practically invisible), and honestly, that's incredibly reassuring.
But it seems like Americans are a uniquely dangerous and twisted bunch—given they have the highest incarceration rates in the world and suffer so much from gun violence.
Even with their massive faith in God.

Kevin Ayers - sweet Deceiver

This track always puts me in a better mood.
Ayers was a founding member of Soft Machine in the mid-1960s, and was closely associated with the Canterbury scene. He recorded a series of albums as a solo artist and over the years worked with Brian Eno, Syd Barrett, Bridget St John, John Cale, Elton John, Robert Wyatt, Andy Summers, Mike Oldfield, Nico and Ollie Halsall, among others.

Elemental - romantika
I'm not sure how big they are, but they've got a really nice energy about them.

French latino - Historia de UN Amor Melanholija pur
Pure melancholy.

The Devil's Daughters w/ Danny B. Harvey - "Blue Moon of Kentucky"
If you actually concentrate, you might even hear some silence—the band plays well enough and the girls' vocals aren't half bad. 😍

Quincy:

There was this guy living on the coast—just a simple life. He’d head out to fish in the mornings, sell his catch, spend some time working on himself, and then wrap up the day sitting by the beach with his wife and kids, sipping wine and playing guitar. - One day, an American businessman rolls up. He spots the guy fishing, walks over, and asks if he can offer him some advice. - The guy says sure, so the businessman tells him: "I can help you scale this up fast. You'll boost your sales, buy a few more boats and rods, hire a crew... eventually, you could move to a major city, start a corporation, and end up running a global empire out of New York City." - The guy just looks at him and asks, "How long is that going to take?" - "Oh, maybe 20 or 25 years," the businessman replies. - The guy: "And then what?" The American: "Then you get to fish in the morning, work on yourself in the afternoon, and spend your evenings by the beach with your family, drinking wine and playing guitar."

Missing the punchline here:
The guy: "Funny enough, I actually started that exact project 25 years ago!" 😍

I usually just ask myself, "Do I actually need this?" Since the answer is "No" about 99.9% of the time, I just move on. 🙂

The trick is staying away from all those flashy ads and only hitting up the stores when there’s something genuinely essential on the list.

There’s no magic formula for successful mixing.
Besides, mixing isn't even healthy.
Everyone should just stick to their own lane.

To me, my God, my country, my tribe, my family, my favorite football team, my own opinions, and even my haircut...
matter way more than her God, her country, her tribe, her football team, her opinions, and her haircut...
Simple as that, right?