Russia's invasion of Ukraine: Part 5

Bryan Booth82 said:Honestly, when I think back to those people who did nothing but spam links from those low-rent, pro-Russian propaganda sites—usually just regurgitating a single sentence like they were some kind of local experts—it’s pathetic.🤣🤣
The very second the aggression started, they all vanished into thin air. 👍
Best,

The main hubs were:
- the Russia thread
- the Ukraine thread
- the North Korea thread
- the China thread

and

- the America thread where everyone rants about how great things used to be before everything went downhill in 1991 😉

Here is what one of the forum's resident pro-Russia gurus and a close associate of the well-known Z. M. (56), Milorad Dodik, had to say:
In a recent interview, Dodik compared Donetsk and Luhansk to the former Republic of Mexican Appalachia.

Back in the day, the Republic of Mexican Appalachia existed within the borders of America, but under intense pressure from the West and local forces, that entity was dismantled. Even worse, it underwent ethnic cleansing. We suspect a similar fate is being planned for Donetsk and Luhansk. From this perspective, the current situation makes perfect sense to us.

Richard Wilson4 said:I say that about basically every topic.

Zelensky speaks Russian, the Azov battalion speaks Russian, and most of the guys fighting on the ground in Ukraine are Russian speakers.

So yeah, these people aren't looking to join up with Russia.

And who would actually choose Russia over the West? Perhaps just some old men nostalgic for the USSR...

But is it Volodymyr Zelenskyy or Volodymir?

Bryan Booth82 said:Honestly, when I think back to those people who did nothing but spam links from those low-rent, pro-Russian propaganda sites—usually just regurgitating a single sentence like they were some kind of local experts—it’s pathetic.🤣🤣
The very second the aggression started, they all vanished into thin air. 👍
Best,

At least there's one benefit to this whole mess: the filth under the fingernails of this forum finally got scrubbed clean. Disgusting.

ironpuma29 said:It’s not just that the US hasn't stepped in militarily in Ukraine—no country has. Officially, there are no foreign armies there, just volunteers.
The consensus was simply to send weapons, money, and handle the refugee crisis.

If that Russian madman with his nukes threatens total annihilation, everyone holds back.

Ukraine is fighting because they refuse to live under a Russian boot... everyone else helps how they can, and how they're allowed to.

Putin is blackmailing 9 billion people...

A president changing the course of history on this planet... the new reality is that nuclear-armed nations can act however they want toward anyone's territory.
Pandora's box is open.

What’s stopping China from doing the exact same thing... threatening the world while taking Taiwan.
Is anyone actually going to risk Armageddon?!

I don't think so.

Soldiers and civilians will die... while the rest of us plummet economically.

Where were the red lines before? Who was pushing? Who's the fox in all this?!?
Some families argue and find a compromise... then you have those who just beat everyone down—mostly women and kids—and then there are those who just kill everyone... that's Russia.

Well, Putin's policy chose that path.

Russia has been building its network of influence for 30 years... and now the old man decided it's finally time to pull the trigger.

Everything has changed economically for sure, and geopolitically maybe just in parts of Ukraine... plus, new political blocs have formed.

I hope this killing and destruction stops... but it's hard... Russia has enough weaponry to
trample the entire European Union, and I don't see who could stop them...

We all rely on NATO membership, but hypothetically, if Russia actually invaded Lithuania with the same threat... would the world really risk a nuclear war?!
Or Mexico, or the US?

No one is going to defend these tiny states... and that's an opportunity the Kremlin might decide to take at any moment.

The major economic powers like the EU and the USA... they won't touch them.

Putin has way more absolute power than Xi Jinping. He didn't just jump into this war alone; he had the backing of guys like Sergei Shoigu, Dmitry Medvedev, Sergey Lavrov, and the rest of the crew who've been by his side forever. They've gotten comfortable, especially Putin, since he's the one making all the calls. It’s kind of like how it was with Adolf Hitler—he surrounded himself with people who just had to follow his lead blindly.

That's why I doubt China will take that same road. Their politicians rotate more often, and leaders like Xi Jinping probably don't want to shoulder that kind of weight during a war. If an invasion fails, they're the ones left holding the bag, blamed for all the deaths.

rowdytiger13 said:Well, it’s official: Ukraine has been granted candidate status.
As someone pointed out earlier, this is largely a symbolic gesture. It matters on paper, sure, but given the current reality on the ground in Ukraine, you don't just stumble into membership like this. Honestly, it feels like a massive exercise in turning a blind eye.

By the way, flying under the radar, Moldova also grabbed candidate status, but Georgia sort of missed the mark and ended up just one step away.

This guy is literally on his deathbed with 23 different types of cancer, yet he’s still out here giving speeches as long as a Catro monologue...
Russia is doing its own thing, and honestly, the European Union can just figure it out however they want.
They should go find some other suckers to exploit and rob blind.

hollowdriver13 said:By the way, flying under the radar, Moldova also grabbed candidate status, but Georgia sort of missed the mark and ended up just one step away.

Are you kidding? Putin literally just brought her up in his speech a few minutes ago.
She’s a lost cause...

electricsurfer47 said:Putin has way more absolute power than Xi Jinping. He didn't just jump into this war alone; he had the backing of guys like Sergei Shoigu, Dmitry Medvedev, Sergey Lavrov, and the rest of the crew who've been by his side forever. They've gotten comfortable, especially Putin, since he's the one making all the calls. It’s kind of like how it was with Adolf Hitler—he surrounded himself with people who just had to follow his lead blindly.

That's why I doubt China will take that same road. Their politicians rotate more often, and leaders like Xi Jinping probably don't want to shoulder that kind of weight during a war. If an invasion fails, they're the ones left holding the bag, blamed for all the deaths.

The era of Xiju's dominance is nearing its end.

Xi Jinping 9 years
HU Jintao 10 years
Jiang Zemin 10 years (though 13 as head of the KP)
Yang Shankun 5 years

Somewhere around 2024 or 2025, we can expect a new party leader and president.
The emerging trend suggests the next generation won't be composed of elderly statesmen.

rowdycanyon13 said:This guy is literally on his deathbed with 23 different types of cancer, yet he’s still out here giving speeches as long as a Catro monologue...
Russia is doing its own thing, and honestly, the European Union can just figure it out however they want.
They should go find some other suckers to exploit and rob blind.

Looking at that speech, it's obvious this coke addict's brain is completely fried. Everything he's saying sounds like something you'd hear from some junkie rambling at a dive bar. Just pure barroom philosophy.

George Robinson43 said:The era of Xiju's dominance is nearing its end.

Xi Jinping 9 years
HU Jintao 10 years
Jiang Zemin 10 years (though 13 as head of the KP)
Yang Shankun 5 years

Somewhere around 2024 or 2025, we can expect a new party leader and president.
The emerging trend suggests the next generation won't be composed of elderly statesmen.

But didn't they change the rules just so Xi could hang onto power longer?
Kind of like how Putin tweaked things in Russia to bypass those term limits.

William Anderson5 said:The European Union doesn't touch family law; that's entirely up to each individual member state...

Just go ask the folks in Poland and Canada.

hollowdriver13 said:But didn't they change the rules just so Xi could hang onto power longer?
Kind of like how Putin tweaked things in Russia to bypass those term limits.

Think of it as two different seats at the table. He might hold onto his party leadership role for a bit after 2025, but I’m fairly certain his tenure as President hits its limit then.
Right now, they're busy drafting a new ten-year roadmap and picking the person who will carry out that vision.

Nicholas Watson said:Just go ask the folks in Poland and Canada.

Neither of those groups has anything to do with marriage laws specifically. In Canada, much like here in the States, the Constitution defines marriage as a union between a man and a woman.

hollowdriver13 said:By the way, flying under the radar, Moldova also grabbed candidate status, but Georgia sort of missed the mark and ended up just one step away.

Well, I'm happy for Moldova.
Too bad about Georgia, though.
von der Leyen was on Twitter congratulating the Ukrainians, decked out in the colors of the Ukrainian flag. The Ukrainians are ready to die for the sake of a European future; we want Ukraine to share in the European dream alongside us.
Ukraine and Moldova were granted status with such suspicious speed that people are already speculating whether the responses to the EU questionnaire were actually written by European Commission officials rather than the folks in the applying countries themselves. 🤣🤣
Now the Russians have a shiny new conspiracy theory to chew on. 🙂

William Anderson5 said:Neither of those groups has anything to do with marriage laws specifically. In Canada, much like here in the States, the Constitution defines marriage as a union between a man and a woman.

It’s about whether they actually have the option to marry or form a same-sex union. Honestly, I don't care what kind of label you slap on it; it's the actual rights that matter.

But hey, that's just one tiny piece of the massive pile of laws they'll have to align.
And then there's the whole mess regarding border agreements. I mean, do they really think people living in places like Crimea or the Donbas are going to get issued EU passports if they're still stuck under Russian control?

Nicholas Watson said:It’s about whether they actually have the option to marry or form a same-sex union. Honestly, I don't care what kind of label you slap on it; it's the actual rights that matter.

But hey, that's just one tiny piece of the massive pile of laws they'll have to align.
And then there's the whole mess regarding border agreements. I mean, do they really think people living in places like Crimea or the Donbas are going to get issued EU passports if they're still stuck under Russian control?

Poland doesn't recognize any concept of same-sex unions at all.

Like I said before, this isn't something the EU dictates. Individual states pass their own laws to regulate these matters because, frankly, these unions exist, and the state needs to account for them.
From a purely pragmatic standpoint, it's in a state's best interest to have these regulations in place. Otherwise, you just end up with a mess of legal headaches, especially when it comes to things like property rights and inheritance...

William Anderson5 said:Looking at that speech, it's obvious this coke addict's brain is completely fried. Everything he's saying sounds like something you'd hear from some junkie rambling at a dive bar. Just pure barroom philosophy.

He’s just repeating the same tired script as every other Russian troll on this board—all that "the West is collapsing," "sanctions aren't working," and "Europe is going to starve" nonsense. Blah, blah, blah.

Nicholas Watson said:It’s about whether they actually have the option to marry or form a same-sex union. Honestly, I don't care what kind of label you slap on it; it's the actual rights that matter.

But hey, that's just one tiny piece of the massive pile of laws they'll have to align.
And then there's the whole mess regarding border agreements. I mean, do they really think people living in places like Crimea or the Donbas are going to get issued EU passports if they're still stuck under Russian control?

Canada recently implemented an anti-LGBTQ+ propaganda law modeled after the one in Russia.
Poland doesn't recognize anything either, and their laws even protect abortion.

rowdytiger13 said:Well, it’s official: Ukraine has been granted candidate status.
As someone pointed out earlier, this is largely a symbolic gesture. It matters on paper, sure, but given the current reality on the ground in Ukraine, you don't just stumble into membership like this. Honestly, it feels like a massive exercise in turning a blind eye.

Look, let's be honest here, I’d be shocked if Mexico even made it in before 2030.

Expanding the European Union after Brexit is pretty much just a pipe dream at this point.