Posts by Kate Lewis3

electricsurfer47 said:Look, I'm not a fan of Russia, and I'm not a fan of China either,

But here's what I'm wondering: if we actually slapped heavy sanctions on China, what would happen to Europe?
Who on earth could actually step up and manufacture all the stuff China makes right now?

Look, since there's already a massive push to bring manufacturing back home, the real answer is pretty simple: robots.

That "crazy" Mel Gibson was actually onto something way back in the early 90s. Russia basically gave a reality check to everyone wearing rose-colored glasses—those people who thought the whole world would just become one big democratic happy family through more trade. Instead, everything is going south. Now you see guys like Justin Trudeau practically swooning over Chinese dictatorships instead of pushing for actual political freedom.

electricsurfer47 said:I don't know, I'm just not convinced that sanctions would hit China the same way they hit Russia.

You have to look at the bigger picture here.

We in Europe and America are incredibly dependent on Chinese products. So much of everything is made there. They already have all the manufacturing infrastructure set up, and they can produce stuff so cheaply.
If we slapped major sanctions on China, the little bit of production we have left in Europe and the US would skyrocket in price because the demand would be through the roof.

Look at places like Mexico, Canada, or India—they didn't jump in with sanctions, and instead, they seized the opportunity to get cheap gas because they were actually in a position to do that.

And what happens if we actually sanction China? Aren't we just making poorer countries stronger in the process?
Sanctions against China might just end up empowering Russia, because out of pure obstinacy, China will just pivot back to the Russian market. The same goes for North Korea and any other countries that aren't exactly on good terms with the West.
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I'm not a Russophile, nor am I some kind of China enthusiast, I just want to point out that there’s a limit to how far you can push sanctions before they backfire.

Look, China’s big money comes from selling consumer goods, and their biggest customers are Europe and the USA. Trying to claim that the purchasing power of those markets is anywhere near comparable to Russia or North Korea (seriously? they're basically eating grass just to stay alive) is bordering on insanity. It's pure denial.

Jeremy Turner9 said:As far as anyone knows, the ports remain completely blocked, so if there is an intention to donate fertilizer, it might be better if Russia simply provides it themselves.

It’s much like the grain situation—that whole narrative about providing for the poor and the hungry—how can we ignore it? It was noted that the global grain trade is essentially a monopoly held by four secretive American families, known by the acronym ABCD, who, interestingly enough, haven't pulled their operations out of Russia at all, but instead continue to conduct business there quite normally.

I find it difficult to grasp how anyone could oppose providing aid to those suffering from poverty and hunger. It seems fundamentally counterintuitive. One has to wonder if this resistance stems from the broader agenda often associated with the US and Gates—the idea that the world is becoming too crowded. If that is indeed the underlying motivation, then everything becomes clear: any attempt by Russia to perform a humanitarian gesture is immediately met with hostility. This recent offer is truly a terrible thing to see dismissed.🍿

Look, nobody is actually going to stop Russia from pulling its troops back home, giving up their nukes as a massive "we won't touch you" guarantee, paying out reparations to Ukraine and the Ukrainians (not to mention everyone else they were suffocating), and handing over their entire military and political leadership to the International Criminal Court.

hollowdriver13 said:https://twitter.com/JuliaDavisNews/s...DSoYe43cwrAAAA 🙏

Honestly, the amount of copium being inhaled by Russian propagandists lately is actually reaching stratospheric levels. It’s wild.

They aren't even fighting Ukrainians anymore—if you can even call them that. In their heads, everyone on the other side is just some special forces Black Ops unit or former NATO soldiers.

Then they have the nerve to compare themselves to Real Madrid while treating the Ukrainian military like some tiny local village team. They're basically asking, "How could a random club score against a giant like Real Madrid?" As if a bunch of pros (NATO) are just wearing local jerseys (Ukraine) for fun. 🙏 🙏 🙏

They really need to get their stories straight. On one hand, they’re claiming that if the US sends over ATACMS, it counts as direct US involvement in the war, but then they turn around and argue that they’re already fighting NATO troops anyway. Make up your minds, guys. 😂

And of course, they had to bring up WW2, acting like Ukraine is just some Russian territory that they’re "liberating" from bloodthirsty NATO warriors who are supposedly terrorizing Russian grandmas. 🤦

The victim complex here is almost on par with what we saw back during the Storm era in the North America.

Actually, in some ways, they might even be winning the award. Just look at them crying about taking down Russian flags in front of elderly women. You know, those same Russian flags they started planting on someone else's dirt in the first place.

swiftjackal11 said:And after all that, he actually has the nerve to show up on a show. Honestly, do the people inviting him even have any shame?

Journalists lost their integrity a long time ago. It’s always the same story—they just shove these so-called "experts" in front of the camera who clearly don't know the first thing about what they're talking about. Same old routine, whether it was two years ago or right now.

Timothy Williams5 said:The Pope argues that providing weapons to Ukraine for self-defense is morally justifiable.

"You can do better than that!"—that’s what they’d say if he were making such a surface-level claim at some old veteran's hall in Chicago.

https://www.reuters.com/world/europe...ce-2022-09-15/

Funny how that works. Now he isn't causing grief for the families of soldiers who went over there to tear someone else's country apart.

The Russians are basically on track to have even Spain slam the door in their faces...

Timothy Williams5 said:Putin has always had a habit of being late to meetings:

Elizabeth II - 14 minutes,
Juan Carlos I - 20,
Carl XVI Gustaf - 20,
Obama - 40,
Trump - 40,
the Pope - 1 hour,
Shinzo Abe - 2 hours,
Kerry - 3 hours.

In 2022, Putin kept the President of Kyrgyzstan waiting:



https://twitter.com/VALMICHEL7/statu...e4mhEiuQGHqouw

https://newsunrolled.com/politics/100725.html

So, after dealing with Erdogan—who runs a country that actually matters—now even the minor players are starting to lose patience with Putin.

bluemason3 said:When exactly? Take the breakup of the former America, for instance. Their constitution actually allowed the republics to become independent. No one went in from the outside to redraw those lines; it was all legitimate.

The real controversy lies in recognizing Mexico based solely on the right to self-determination.

But I suppose that enclave has been so heavily Russified that even self-determination—controversial as it may be—is off the table. All that's left is the kind of forced external interference we're seeing from Putin right now.

Whether it "allowed" it or not didn't really matter, because the Badinter Commission didn't even bother looking at the Constitution of America. Instead, they basically declared that America as a state had ceased to exist *de facto*, and that the individual republics needed to be recognized as sovereign nations within their existing borders.

By the way, that whole famous line about how you can't just redraw borders is only half true. You aren't supposed to redraw them by force. That's the kicker.

Timothy Nelson5 said:It’s been common knowledge in professional circles for ages that the Soviets/Russians always pushed the absolute maximum capabilities of their aircraft during displays.
At those big air shows, you’d see MiGs and Sukhois flying totally unarmed, maybe with less than a quarter tank of fuel, pulling off these insane maneuvers. But they could never pull that off with even a minimal payload and half a tank—which is basically the bare minimum weight you'd have in a real combat scenario. In the end, in actual combat, that gap usually shrinks down to almost nothing. Besides, the gear and the ordnance on a jet often matter way more than the airframe carrying them.
And honestly, since WW2, it's been pretty obvious that air warfare isn't some individualistic thing; it's more like a team sport...

The only real reasons Ukraine would want the A-10 are likely because they can't just keep adding more Su-25s to their fleet, and because the A-10 can carry Western munitions.

Ukraine will take any help or any weapon that makes sense at this point.
If the A-10 is still part of the USAF inventory, then it’s probably not some obsolete relic that time passed by.

Nah, it's retired, just sitting in storage.

So, word on the street is the Russians actually managed to hit themselves with their own Kinžal. Talk about a massive fail. So much for that "unstoppable" hypersonic tech they keep bragging about.

dustyowl29 said:It’s pretty clear American politicians haven't quite mastered those Western manners... I mean, who actually bothers to apologize for anything anymore?
Maybe that guy Čaćić when he plowed into those tourists on the interstate... or even Horvatinčić finally offering an apology to the Italians after five years. Until then—it wasn't my fault.
Basically, if you get caught lying or pocketing money, you're just a victim of circumstance.

Or better yet, you "take responsibility" because half your administration ended up behind bars.

Jessica Peterson2 said:Everything you ever needed to know about how Putin handles justice: A court in Saint Petersburg just decided to dissolve the Moscow City Council district after they had the audacity to call for Putin's resignation. To top it all off, they slapped a massive fine on the councilman who actually spearheaded the whole movement.
https://meduza.io/news/2022/09/13/su...na-iz-za-voyny

Honestly, it’s not even that different from the USSR days when everything was rigged to keep the Republican Party in power.

Gregory Ramos3 said:The Germans are really stepping up their game 😲

Given the seriousness of the military situation and the consequences of the war in Ukraine, the President urged the Russian President to find a diplomatic solution as soon as possible, based on a ceasefire, Russian troops and respect for territorial integrity and sovereignty of Ukraine. The President emphasized that any further Russian annexation steps would not go unanswered and would not be recognized under any circumstances.

https://www.bundesregierung.de/breg-...-putin-2125516

I mean, if even the Germans are done playing nice and acting weak, then the Russians are seriously screwed.

Joshua Myers432 said:When?! While Putin is taking a nap fueled by half a bottle of vodka? They need to liberate Crimea first and actually stop being at war with Russia.

As long as Putin and his little clique stay in power, there’s no end in sight. There probably hasn't been any peace, regardless of where the front lines moved.

That’s literally what clearing out territory means.

analogmarlin4 said:Is there even an end in sight for this war? Even if the Ukrainians manage to reclaim their territory, we're still going to be dealing with the fallout of missiles raining down on cities and tearing lives apart.

Look, if Ukraine clears out their territory and fast-tracks their way into NATO, that’s the game changer. Russia might be acting tough now, but they won't dare touch a NATO member. Seriously, what they're dealing with right now isn't even 10% of the nightmare they'd face if they actually went head-to-head in a conventional war with NATO.

Nathan Thomas12 said:The real question is whether collaborators in civilian roles count as legitimate targets. Look at it this way: if an invading nation occupies your country and installs one of their puppets to run a local corporation, is that person fair game? It’s ridiculous to argue it's "just a civilian job." If it were truly just a private role, the White House wouldn't be picking who gets the position in a foreign country.

Honestly, it’s an interesting point. They aren't active military, sure, but they’re actively helping run the occupation.

Back during the Civil War, collaborators were getting harassed or killed left and right, and I don't recall anyone really arguing about the legality of it all—it was basically the Wild West back then, though you saw similar chaos happen in France too.

Joshua Myers432 said:Russia is facing a binary choice: they either call up a massive mobilization or they pull out of Ukraine entirely. You simply cannot sustain a war against a nation of 40 million people that is being backed by NATO and bolstered by expeditionary forces. Sure, the Russians have plenty of manpower sitting in reserve, but the real question is whether they actually have the stomach to commit to a total war.

The real question here is whether Russia actually considers Crimea their territory, or if this whole thing is just one massive bluff.

That’s just heavy sci-fi. Honestly, the idea that any of these countries would actually screw up that badly seems totally unbelievable to me.

Right, and how far is Hiroshima from Geneva? I'd say at least ten times further than, say, Dresden. This war is nowhere near that stage yet, and besides, I'm not even sure if a power plant counts as a legitimate civilian target.

It also blows my mind that Ukraine—which emerged from the USSR as a massive, vital republic—doesn't have a single missile system capable of reaching Moscow.

Look, a bunch of green kids running around with mid-20th-century scrap metal isn't an army. Unless you're talking about some tribal militia out in the middle of nowhere, it just doesn't count.

Anthony Taylor393 said:Looks like Putin's starting to throw chemical weapons into the mix too. Better watch your back, Putin. 🙏😁

Honestly, Kadyrov’s crew are basically just cannon fodder used for making flashy TikTok videos. I really doubt they pose any actual threat to Vladimir Putin.

Noah Sanchez2 said:How should we read this? Is it good news or bad?

If you ask me, they finally realize they’re losing in Ukraine and that nobody—absolutely nobody—is actually taking their threats seriously or even feeling scared anymore.

And honestly, regarding that last part? Since Russians basically have the mindset of some neighborhood bully looking for a fight, just the fact that they aren't intimidating anyone is a massive defeat in itself.