1 hour ago, wyote said:

The East isn't ready for the big time yet and they know it -- especially if India moves firmly in the West's direction, which seems increasingly likely. Russia has kneecapped itself and even before that it was a shrinking country with a GDP smaller than Canada's. China's not getting any younger either. For the foreseeable future, they will have to content themselves with stuff like charm offensives, the belt and road initiative, and sabotaging ASEAN. 

I think India has a better chance of being a long term trade partner with Russia than China. Though this Ukraine move may force Russia to more tightly embrace China now.

On 11/30/2021 at 1:00 PM, Dave Moss said:

Russia’s invasion of the Ukraine is kind of a lost cause at this point.  Taiwan is a different matter entirely.  China should f around and find out.

China is already the leading world power but they're being wisely cautious about wielding that power so far.
If we can't stand up to Russia there's no way we'll stand up to China.

And it doesn't matter who sits in the oval office or what kind of economic clout you imagine we still have.
For all their faults, both China and Russia have been meritocracies, with their resources and policies
controlled by iron-handed rulers. The US and its Western allies are plutocracies controlled by  
(often idiotic) nepotists and self-serving media pundits, divided by tribalism.

We've been lucky to be protected by geographical distance but that's no longer a big factor.
As crazy as it is, our biggest "war time" asset would be the tens of millions of armed citizens
who'd make occupying our country nearly impossible. Unless they were hypnotized by tiktok.

2 hours ago, lynched1 said:

This is what the world is rallying around. Push the Fing buttons or bring on the asteroid.

 

I don't think you have to fetishize Ukraine to root for them full throated.  This is like rooting against the Cowboys.  Who gives a F what you think about the other team.  F Putin, seriously F that dude and his 20th century barbarity and F anybody who even wants to make this a debate.

 

I used to think everyone rooted against the knot zees and their ilk (Putin is their ilk).

Imagine my surprise the past few years.

2 hours ago, DaEagles4Life said:

Russia is going full NK at this point. 

BBC, Bloomberg, CNN just pulled out 

A Sky News team was ambushed and shot at several times even after identifying themselves as journalists. I wonder if that has anything to do with it 

4 hours ago, JohnSnowsHair said:

 

"let's find a way to blame teachers and not fund managers for this"

Was this before or after the gas hike?

 

This doesn’t seem good - I read this as saying flights within Russia may be in jeopardy. 

14 minutes ago, Thrive said:

This doesn’t seem good - I read this as saying flights within Russia may be in jeopardy. 

Did they word it wrong or can they see into the future?

9 minutes ago, Mike030270 said:

Did they word it wrong or can they see into the future?

I think they're just saying the second level insurance policies aren't going to be renewed come March 8, which means those planes are unlikely to fly at least internationally.

If the lessee is a non-Russian entity, which I presume it is, I have no idea what mechanisms they might have to recoup the plane itself should Russian airlines attempt to fly planes within Russia - which presumably would be a gross violation of the lease.

I don't actually know anything about this stuff but it sounds about right

1 hour ago, eaglegenius said:

China is already the leading world power

I don't think this is true. The US economy is at least as big, we have military bases all over the world, and our allies are far more numerous, wealthy, and powerful than China's. It's not really the US vs. China. It's the US + Japan + the UK + Canada + Australia + lots more vs. China.

There can be no true war between the US and China -- we will all die, everyone loses, no one wins. But proxy wars (perhaps in SE Asia) are possible, and in that case (as in Ukraine) the alliances will be very helpful, perhaps decisive. 

China is going to try and dominate through economic strength more than military. 

On Ukraine, this is a very NSFW conversation between Ukrainians and Russians in radio:

Language is Russian presumably but English subtitles

 

 

 

1 hour ago, eaglegenius said:

China is already the leading world power but they're being wisely cautious about wielding that power so far.
If we can't stand up to Russia there's no way we'll stand up to China.

And it doesn't matter who sits in the oval office or what kind of economic clout you imagine we still have.
For all their faults, both China and Russia have been meritocracies, with their resources and policies
controlled by iron-handed rulers. The US and its Western allies are plutocracies controlled by  
(often idiotic) nepotists and self-serving media pundits, divided by tribalism.

We've been lucky to be protected by geographical distance but that's no longer a big factor.
As crazy as it is, our biggest "war time" asset would be the tens of millions of armed citizens
who'd make occupying our country nearly impossible. Unless they were hypnotized by tiktok.

No, they’re not. The US has dollar reserve status, an order of magnitude greater number of nukes, an actual proven logistical system, super carriers, etc etc etc.

This is to say nothing of all of our soft power and influence.

China is gaining ground technologically and militarily but they aren’t our betters yet.

3 minutes ago, JohnSnowsHair said:

China is going to try and dominate through economic strength more than military. 

On Ukraine, this is a very NSFW conversation between Ukrainians and Russians in radio:

Language is Russian presumably but English subtitles

 

They’re going to try to win in all arenas like every great power does. They want to control the pacific and use Africa and South America to project power to the Atlantic, but that’s a long way off.

Russia demands that Google not show footage from the war

 

Thursday, 3 March 2022, 11:11 

Roskomnadzor demanded that Google stop spreading "false political information about Russia's special operation in Ukraine" to Russia through contextual advertising.

Source: statement of Roskomnadzor, RBK

Quote: "Such advertising messages are shown to Russian users of YouTube and contain misinformation aimed at forming a distorted perception of events and the creation of protest moods."

Details: A letter has been sent to the company bearing this demand.

 

 

No word yet whether Russian born founder Sergey Brin told his birth country to "go f*** itself"

9 hours ago, toolg said:

More importantly

Oh sheet!  Both OnlyFans and PornHub have 'pulled out' of Russia?  That's going to cut into a lot of Russian girls' revenue.  Will also hinder the morale of Russian males.

Sort of joking, but I do recall watching a news show about Russia several years ago and it was reported that 1 out of 3 Russian girls of High School age who were part of the poll had admitted to having sex for money. 

 

9 minutes ago, wyote said:

I don't think this is true. The US economy is at least as big, we have military bases all over the world, and our allies are far more numerous, wealthy, and powerful than China's. It's not really the US vs. China. It's the US + Japan + the UK + Canada + Australia + lots more vs. China.

There can be no true war between the US and China -- we will all die, everyone loses, no one wins. But proxy wars (perhaps in SE Asia) are possible, and in that case (as in Ukraine) the alliances will be very helpful, perhaps decisive. 

I’d add a big one to that list to come out of this Ukraine mess… Germany is officially in rearmament mode. They just tripled their defense budget. 

First time since mustache man they are making large increases in military spending. Say what you will about zee Germans historically, no one can deny their military prowess as a people.

1 minute ago, TEW said:

I’d add a big one to that list to come out of this Ukraine mess… Germany is officially in rearmament mode. They just tripled their defense budget. 

First time since mustache man they are making large increases in military spending. Say what you will about zee Germans historically, no one can deny their military prowess as a people.

Those people are gone, the new Germany has been the opposite

1 minute ago, Joe Shades 73 said:

Those people are gone, the new Germany has been the opposite

We don’t need them fully back. Just like 25 percent back. We’ll leave the housing of refugees up to other countries. We just need the Germans to be pissed off at the Russians. 

3 minutes ago, Joe Shades 73 said:

Those people are gone, the new Germany has been the opposite

I know people who have worked with their military, they would disagree. Always raved about Germans and Poles and weren’t blown away by Brits. Anecdotal for sure, but Germans have the right culture and genes to fight. They’re smart, orderly, disciplined, and physically strong as a people.

1 inch of NATO Territory includes the air space as well. A radiation cloud over the EU could very well be an Article 5 violation which would demand a US/NATO response. Scary stuff, if the reactor melted down. One bullet or exploding grenade in the wrong spot could of cut off the electrical supply that runs the whole thing. It's the weak spot of the Nuclear Plant.

Putin is clearly insane. 

There's a lot of videos on twitter that look super fake lol

https://www.theepochtimes.com/before-russias-invasion-of-ukraine-a-decade-of-destabilization_4316990.html

 

Before Russia’s Invasion of Ukraine, a Decade of Destabilization

How top U.S. officials played key roles in destabilizing Ukraine and damaging U.S.-Russia relations

By Jeff Carlson and Hans Mahncke

March 4, 2022 Updated: March 4, 2022