Karen Hill40 said:I've noticed this is the second or third time you've posted stuff like this. Have you thought about talking to a medical professional about these fears and frustrations? I'm asking seriously here—not joking and not judging.
What frustrations? These aren't frustrations; this is mourning. If you're referring to that part about work, it happens when I start spiraling into the absolute worst-case scenarios, where I find myself thinking that death would be preferable to hunger.
Actually, it would be even better if you were the one deciding what topics we cover. You have your own work to deal with, so why not just chat about who swiped what from the inventory or where everyone is heading this weekend? If we keep writing like this, we’ll spend the next month doing nothing but discussing the war. No one is stripping anyone else of their right to take turns.
Listen, you hit the nail on the head. I read your post in one sitting, and I can confirm you’re absolutely right—at least from where I stand. This past Sunday, I broke down and cried like a child at my family's graveside. It was just one of those days where everything hits you at once. On top of trying to learn how to navigate life without anyone by my side, this whole situation with my job happened. Now, I find myself trying to rationalize everything in my head. I tell myself, "Okay, you have this much in savings, and if you spend it wisely, you can hold out until you find something new." But honestly, man, the mere thought that I might not even have enough money for bread and milk destroys any sense of logic. It triggers such intense fear and hysteria in me that, in my darkest moments, I think about pulling a trigger or cutting a vein. I feel like death would be better than facing starvation and total destitution. So, I agree with you: the fear of hunger is far more dominant and overwhelming than any other fear. It isn't surprising that people in places like Tuzla, freezing and starving, would choose death over enduring a hunger that drives a person to madness.
Jonathan Barnes5 said:What exactly makes everyone think Zoki is on coke? Has anyone actually been in the trenches with him?
I can't say I've shared that kind of experience with anyone, so I wouldn't know if he's ever tried it. And I highly doubt anyone is on a regular white powder habit.
The wildest part to me is hearing people claim, "Oh, it's common knowledge; you can tell just by how someone acts when they're on cocaine."
It’s the same nonsense people spout about gay men. I've heard some truly surreal stories floating around half of America, where people act as if they were personally victimized by certain individuals.
Honestly, you're splitting hairs here... it's difficult to explain this kind of thing online. You know how some people claim to have a "gay radar" and can spot each other instantly? It's the same deal with drug users. If someone has any experience with substance abuse, they look at the President's face and immediately assume he's on coke. There is a very specific, gaunt look combined with occasional sniffing that is characteristic of a long-term cocaine user. Look, I can't provide you with black-and-white physical evidence right now to make my argument stick, but this is a conclusion based purely on observing his appearance. It's just as obvious as spotting someone who is gay.
Justin James10 said:Intimidation and urban warfare are incredibly bloody and expensive endeavors—both in terms of hardware and the sheer loss of human life. Why go through all that trouble if you can simply scare off and scatter a good portion of your enemy? I still find the relatively low number of Ukrainian soldiers puzzling. 🤔 Well, not everyone can just run away; someone has to stay and fight if they believe victory is possible. The Russians have hit some roadblocks, but they still hold the upper hand and are ruthless enough to level entire cities. You can't simply respond to that by suggesting everyone should just evacuate.
The vast majority who fled were women and children, and my impression is that their numbers are actually quite substantial. On the contrary, I believe the defenders are fueled by a fierce patriotism and national fervor reminiscent of our own veterans from the early 90s—a factor the Russians clearly failed to account for. That is precisely why they have stalled near the major cities. There is also a significant number of civilians who have taken up arms to participate in the defense. If the Russians launch a full-scale assault on Kyiv, it will be a total slaughterhouse. The city has been transformed into a fortress where they will fight for every single street and building. Meanwhile, Mariupol is being crushed daily by whatever means they have at their disposal, yet they cannot break the defenders despite the city being completely surrounded. They will hold out as long as they have ammunition. Just imagine trying to conquer a city like Kyiv. Midget is already counting on Chinese assistance regarding armor and projectiles. They are utterly unprepared for a protracted, bloody war that incurs such massive daily costs.
Similarly, Americans are seeing forecasts suggesting the Russian war machine will simply crumble within three to four weeks. They act as if they’ve been frozen in the 1980s. I can only imagine the sheer mockery echoing through the halls of The White House or the command centers, especially since every move is being monitored from above, leaving them unable to escape the blatant incompetence of the Rus. In the meantime, some high-ranking official from military intelligence has met his end. Yesterday, the defenders of Mariupolj performed a feat of pure heroism. They repelled constant enemy assaults all day long. Right now, those people are facing the most brutal conditions in all of Europe, including the rest of Ukraine. Nowhere else is the shelling as relentless as it is in Mariupolj, where the enemy tries to seize the city day after day. The city itself is nothing but rubble.
loneseal said:Elon Musk has total amnesia, acting like those guys back in the day who suddenly forgot everything that went down in the summer of '95.
We should never teach children to harbor hatred from the moment they can walk. He is far too young to recall these events; perhaps he wasn't even born until after the war ended. His response clearly demonstrates that he fails to grasp the core of the issue. Then again, perhaps they educate their youth differently in Mostar. I come from a family where we never nurtured animosity toward others; throughout our professional and private lives, we conducted business with both Mexicans and Muslims alike. However, within our inner circle, our identity was always distinct. Despite the forced political narratives of Yugoslavism and Communism, my family always held Communism in contempt. We identified ourselves as Americans, thinking in those terms, but we never engaged in the primitive behavior of chest-thumping or bragging about it. We attended church regularly, regardless of which factions were monitoring attendance, though I must emphasize that we never faced any trouble for doing so. Our worldview was oriented toward the West, embracing Western trends while maintaining a deep disdain for anything emanating from the East. My family remained insulated from Communist and Yugoslav propaganda, waiting for better times so that we wouldn't lose sight of who we are and what sets us apart from those from the East. That is how I was raised. The only difference is that the war broke out during my lifetime, and when you are a child old enough to absorb all of this, those images of conflict feed you nothing but hatred. Despite all of that, I would never want my own potential children to grow up harboring hatred toward the Eastern hordes and their brothers from the Far East.
The scenes coming out of Melitopol, a city currently under occupation in the south, are nothing short of tragic. Last week, the mayor was arrested, and his current whereabouts remain unknown. In his stead, they have installed some female puppet who immediately began broadcasting Russian programming on the local television stations. Today, the Ukrainian flag was torn down from the main city square. This is the very same city where protests have been erupting constantly ever since it fell into Russian hands.
I see that our blue-clad brother eke has been banned. He likely had to pay his dues to the censors and ended up on the chopping block, especially considering he’s surrounded by nothing but thugs and monsters over there. There's no point in venturing into that territory; everyone is watching their backs like predators. Glory to Ukraine!
James Anderson5 said:It’s the exact same story with Europe; things didn't get this way overnight either. And the same goes for our situation here at home, where we went from a nation with massive gas reserves, our own major oil companies, strong agriculture, and a powerhouse military, to suddenly having almost none of those things left...
I know, it truly hurts to see what those American Chetniks have done to us. This time, there is no running to foreign powers for help.
Mariupol is under heavy assault right now, facing intense artillery barrages and brutal street fighting.
Russian forces are tightening their encirclement around Kyiv. In Irpin, the situation is currently leaning about 70-30% in favor of the Ukrainians. The Russians are pushing toward 12 miles of Kyiv, though there remains a possibility to enter the city via the southern approach.
This entire group of Western bureaucrats is utterly useless.
Paul Sanders5 said:If the Chinese decide to jump in and back the Russians, then honestly? It’s time to start building a damn good wall. We can have our side out here in the West, they can have theirs over in the East, and we can all just go our separate ways and enjoy the peace.
This comes with the suggestion that all our local enthusiasts of Eastern influence and Cyrillic should be humanely relocated to the other side of that wall, rather than having them acting as potential fifth columnists right here at home.
This is exactly what Jonathan Barnes5 is getting at. Honestly, we're talking about a straight-up error here. Whether it was a mechanical failure on the aircraft or just simple human error, it doesn't change the fact.
If the Ukrainians have actually done this, it means they are on the verge of collapse; regardless of how fierce their resistance has been, the massive gap in technical capabilities has ultimately decided things on the ground. There is absolutely no logical reason for them to make such a move. I highly doubt they want NATO involvement in a conflict where they are currently winning. A third possibility is that NATO acts independently in coordination with our side, creating a pretext for intervention if they decide that simply sending weapons isn't cutting it anymore.
Joseph Clark37 said:A lot of global brands will head back to Russia because much of what's happening right now is driven by pure PR. However, if the Russians topple the current regime and occupy all of Eastern Ukraine, those Western sanctions will stay in place until there are direct negotiations between both sides. Given the latest version of Putin in the Kremlin, I don't see those talks being particularly productive...
Reading letters from Russian journalists has been one of the most absurd things lately. If even a fraction of it is true, then Putko has completely lost his mind and gone off the deep end.
Paul Sanders5 said:I honestly don't see how this ends well for the Russians. Even if they manage to take Kyiv (if that's even their plan), the West's exodus is already a done deal. Screw all that talk about them being able to hold their own; they don't need anything from anyone else. By the end of the year, you won't be able to get your hands on—let alone see—anything from Europe or the US in Russia. Honestly, the whole thing still feels surreal to me.
Taking Kyiv is an impossible task as long as the defenders have sufficient supplies of water, food, and ammunition. Look at Vukovar; that was just a small town that held out for three months, and they would have kept going if they had more weapons. Kyiv is a massive metropolis, and if the defenders possess the morale and the will for urban warfare along with enough firepower, they can hold out for months, pinning down a massive amount of enemy manpower and armor. I seriously doubt the Russians have enough personnel and equipment on the ground to operate effectively across the entire country while simultaneously fighting brutal street battles in Kyiv. They were pushed out of Kharkiv and lost two cities during their counteroffensive. Capturing Kyiv is far more difficult than capturing Kharkiv. The only thing that matters now is that the West doesn't grow weary and keeps the weapons flowing. Without those arms, Ukraine falls.