War college sounds fun!whiterock said:"Nations have no permanent friends, only permanent interests."Doc Holliday said:There are no real rules in war.whiterock said:If they don't, Russia will pour in money to build an anti-war movement and Ukraine then would have a war on two fronts.Doc Holliday said:
Hmmm🚨BREAKING
— Sam Street (@samstreetwrites) June 20, 2022
🇺🇦Ukraine has permanently banned the opposition party. pic.twitter.com/8pKoucpJ9n
The British model of "War Cabinet" would be a wiser position to take, but however you dress it up, an existential war requires total commitment to the war, so long as there are bullets to fire.
Russia is insane, but I don't trust Ukraine. I don't trust our politicians dealing with Ukraine.
Hate to be blunt, but the bottom line: Ukraine is just a tool to bleed Russia right down to the last Ukrainian.
WWIII has already started. Ukraine is just the first set of barricades. Putin has made it very clear what he wants, in a great power context. So we arm Ukrainians to the teeth to slow down the Russian machine, which is headed for Bucharest, Budapest, and Warsaw. We support the fight now because of those three, only the Poles can truly be trusted to put up a Ukrainian level of commitment to resist. And in each of those three conflicts, our sons & daughters will be facing the arty.
My daughter arrived CONUS Friday PCS for a one-year Pentagon gig, then off to a war college (which one TBA). Kinda glad she's out of theater for a while.
She called Putin Big Daddy Vladdy. Because he controlled her schedule 24/7.
Quote:
Frankly, the democratic procedures and elections in Europe and the forces that come to power look like a front, because almost identical political parties come and go, while deep down things remain the same. The real interests of people and national businesses are being pushed further and further to the periphery.
Such a disconnect from reality and the demands of society will inevitably lead to a surge in populism and extremist and radical movements, major socioeconomic changes, degradation and a change of elites in the short term. As you can see, traditional parties lose all the time. New entities are coming to the surface, but they have little chance for survival if they are not much different from the existing ones.
The attempts to keep up appearances and the talk about allegedly acceptable costs in the name of pseudo-unity cannot hide the main thing: the European Union has lost its political sovereignty, and its bureaucratic elites are dancing to someone else's tune, doing everything they are told from on high and hurting their own people, economies, and businesses.
It's hard for western liberal worldview to appreciate how "old" is Russian worldview. The things driving Russian decisionmaking in some cases go back 1000 years. That leaves the liberal order no choice but to engineer the failure of the current Russian state. Grinding up the Russian army is a prerequisite for that, and turning Ukraine into a quagmire is the proximate opportunity.Doc Holliday said:War college sounds fun!whiterock said:"Nations have no permanent friends, only permanent interests."Doc Holliday said:There are no real rules in war.whiterock said:If they don't, Russia will pour in money to build an anti-war movement and Ukraine then would have a war on two fronts.Doc Holliday said:
Hmmm🚨BREAKING
— Sam Street (@samstreetwrites) June 20, 2022
🇺🇦Ukraine has permanently banned the opposition party. pic.twitter.com/8pKoucpJ9n
The British model of "War Cabinet" would be a wiser position to take, but however you dress it up, an existential war requires total commitment to the war, so long as there are bullets to fire.
Russia is insane, but I don't trust Ukraine. I don't trust our politicians dealing with Ukraine.
Hate to be blunt, but the bottom line: Ukraine is just a tool to bleed Russia right down to the last Ukrainian.
WWIII has already started. Ukraine is just the first set of barricades. Putin has made it very clear what he wants, in a great power context. So we arm Ukrainians to the teeth to slow down the Russian machine, which is headed for Bucharest, Budapest, and Warsaw. We support the fight now because of those three, only the Poles can truly be trusted to put up a Ukrainian level of commitment to resist. And in each of those three conflicts, our sons & daughters will be facing the arty.
My daughter arrived CONUS Friday PCS for a one-year Pentagon gig, then off to a war college (which one TBA). Kinda glad she's out of theater for a while.
She called Putin Big Daddy Vladdy. Because he controlled her schedule 24/7.
Agreed, WW3 has started. Take a look at Putins speech last week and he makes it clear that he thinks there's no end game to negotiating with the west from decades of the western elite and establishment being essentially incompetent world police for ill gotten gains. https://www.adamtownsend.me/putin-speech/
I think it's an accurate criticism of the west, but very hypocritical for him to act like he and oligarchs aren't doing the same in Russia.Quote:
Frankly, the democratic procedures and elections in Europe and the forces that come to power look like a front, because almost identical political parties come and go, while deep down things remain the same. The real interests of people and national businesses are being pushed further and further to the periphery.
Such a disconnect from reality and the demands of society will inevitably lead to a surge in populism and extremist and radical movements, major socioeconomic changes, degradation and a change of elites in the short term. As you can see, traditional parties lose all the time. New entities are coming to the surface, but they have little chance for survival if they are not much different from the existing ones.
The attempts to keep up appearances and the talk about allegedly acceptable costs in the name of pseudo-unity cannot hide the main thing: the European Union has lost its political sovereignty, and its bureaucratic elites are dancing to someone else's tune, doing everything they are told from on high and hurting their own people, economies, and businesses.
Putin's speech doesn't sound like a declaration of war so much as a more articulate version of Trump. How strange that you often note the decline of globalism yet still think the liberal order can and should impose itself on every part of the globe.whiterock said:It's hard for western liberal worldview to appreciate how "old" is Russian worldview. The things driving Russian decisionmaking in some cases go back 1000 years. That leaves the liberal order no choice but to engineer the failure of the current Russian state. Grinding up the Russian army is a prerequisite for that, and turning Ukraine into a quagmire is the proximate opportunity.Doc Holliday said:War college sounds fun!whiterock said:"Nations have no permanent friends, only permanent interests."Doc Holliday said:There are no real rules in war.whiterock said:If they don't, Russia will pour in money to build an anti-war movement and Ukraine then would have a war on two fronts.Doc Holliday said:
Hmmm🚨BREAKING
— Sam Street (@samstreetwrites) June 20, 2022
🇺🇦Ukraine has permanently banned the opposition party. pic.twitter.com/8pKoucpJ9n
The British model of "War Cabinet" would be a wiser position to take, but however you dress it up, an existential war requires total commitment to the war, so long as there are bullets to fire.
Russia is insane, but I don't trust Ukraine. I don't trust our politicians dealing with Ukraine.
Hate to be blunt, but the bottom line: Ukraine is just a tool to bleed Russia right down to the last Ukrainian.
WWIII has already started. Ukraine is just the first set of barricades. Putin has made it very clear what he wants, in a great power context. So we arm Ukrainians to the teeth to slow down the Russian machine, which is headed for Bucharest, Budapest, and Warsaw. We support the fight now because of those three, only the Poles can truly be trusted to put up a Ukrainian level of commitment to resist. And in each of those three conflicts, our sons & daughters will be facing the arty.
My daughter arrived CONUS Friday PCS for a one-year Pentagon gig, then off to a war college (which one TBA). Kinda glad she's out of theater for a while.
She called Putin Big Daddy Vladdy. Because he controlled her schedule 24/7.
Agreed, WW3 has started. Take a look at Putins speech last week and he makes it clear that he thinks there's no end game to negotiating with the west from decades of the western elite and establishment being essentially incompetent world police for ill gotten gains. https://www.adamtownsend.me/putin-speech/
I think it's an accurate criticism of the west, but very hypocritical for him to act like he and oligarchs aren't doing the same in Russia.Quote:
Frankly, the democratic procedures and elections in Europe and the forces that come to power look like a front, because almost identical political parties come and go, while deep down things remain the same. The real interests of people and national businesses are being pushed further and further to the periphery.
Such a disconnect from reality and the demands of society will inevitably lead to a surge in populism and extremist and radical movements, major socioeconomic changes, degradation and a change of elites in the short term. As you can see, traditional parties lose all the time. New entities are coming to the surface, but they have little chance for survival if they are not much different from the existing ones.
The attempts to keep up appearances and the talk about allegedly acceptable costs in the name of pseudo-unity cannot hide the main thing: the European Union has lost its political sovereignty, and its bureaucratic elites are dancing to someone else's tune, doing everything they are told from on high and hurting their own people, economies, and businesses.
"It would be a mistake to assume that at a time of turbulent change, one can simply sit it out or wait it out until everything gets back on track and becomes what it was before"Sam Lowry said:Putin's speech doesn't sound like a declaration of war so much as a more articulate version of Trump. How strange that you often note the decline of globalism yet still think the liberal order can and should impose itself on every part of the globe.whiterock said:It's hard for western liberal worldview to appreciate how "old" is Russian worldview. The things driving Russian decisionmaking in some cases go back 1000 years. That leaves the liberal order no choice but to engineer the failure of the current Russian state. Grinding up the Russian army is a prerequisite for that, and turning Ukraine into a quagmire is the proximate opportunity.Doc Holliday said:War college sounds fun!whiterock said:"Nations have no permanent friends, only permanent interests."Doc Holliday said:There are no real rules in war.whiterock said:If they don't, Russia will pour in money to build an anti-war movement and Ukraine then would have a war on two fronts.Doc Holliday said:
Hmmm🚨BREAKING
— Sam Street (@samstreetwrites) June 20, 2022
🇺🇦Ukraine has permanently banned the opposition party. pic.twitter.com/8pKoucpJ9n
The British model of "War Cabinet" would be a wiser position to take, but however you dress it up, an existential war requires total commitment to the war, so long as there are bullets to fire.
Russia is insane, but I don't trust Ukraine. I don't trust our politicians dealing with Ukraine.
Hate to be blunt, but the bottom line: Ukraine is just a tool to bleed Russia right down to the last Ukrainian.
WWIII has already started. Ukraine is just the first set of barricades. Putin has made it very clear what he wants, in a great power context. So we arm Ukrainians to the teeth to slow down the Russian machine, which is headed for Bucharest, Budapest, and Warsaw. We support the fight now because of those three, only the Poles can truly be trusted to put up a Ukrainian level of commitment to resist. And in each of those three conflicts, our sons & daughters will be facing the arty.
My daughter arrived CONUS Friday PCS for a one-year Pentagon gig, then off to a war college (which one TBA). Kinda glad she's out of theater for a while.
She called Putin Big Daddy Vladdy. Because he controlled her schedule 24/7.
Agreed, WW3 has started. Take a look at Putins speech last week and he makes it clear that he thinks there's no end game to negotiating with the west from decades of the western elite and establishment being essentially incompetent world police for ill gotten gains. https://www.adamtownsend.me/putin-speech/
I think it's an accurate criticism of the west, but very hypocritical for him to act like he and oligarchs aren't doing the same in Russia.Quote:
Frankly, the democratic procedures and elections in Europe and the forces that come to power look like a front, because almost identical political parties come and go, while deep down things remain the same. The real interests of people and national businesses are being pushed further and further to the periphery.
Such a disconnect from reality and the demands of society will inevitably lead to a surge in populism and extremist and radical movements, major socioeconomic changes, degradation and a change of elites in the short term. As you can see, traditional parties lose all the time. New entities are coming to the surface, but they have little chance for survival if they are not much different from the existing ones.
The attempts to keep up appearances and the talk about allegedly acceptable costs in the name of pseudo-unity cannot hide the main thing: the European Union has lost its political sovereignty, and its bureaucratic elites are dancing to someone else's tune, doing everything they are told from on high and hurting their own people, economies, and businesses.
Yep, a little of the "chicken or the egg" paradox.Robert Wilson said:
Ukraine is doing as well as it is because it is a proxy NATO nation and has been for a while. We've done a good job training their troops and are sending them tons of goodies.
That's also possibly why Putin invaded, but I digress.
If that is true then its a disaster.Doc Holliday said:War college sounds fun!whiterock said:"Nations have no permanent friends, only permanent interests."Doc Holliday said:There are no real rules in war.whiterock said:If they don't, Russia will pour in money to build an anti-war movement and Ukraine then would have a war on two fronts.Doc Holliday said:
Hmmm🚨BREAKING
— Sam Street (@samstreetwrites) June 20, 2022
🇺🇦Ukraine has permanently banned the opposition party. pic.twitter.com/8pKoucpJ9n
The British model of "War Cabinet" would be a wiser position to take, but however you dress it up, an existential war requires total commitment to the war, so long as there are bullets to fire.
Russia is insane, but I don't trust Ukraine. I don't trust our politicians dealing with Ukraine.
Hate to be blunt, but the bottom line: Ukraine is just a tool to bleed Russia right down to the last Ukrainian.
WWIII has already started. Ukraine is just the first set of barricades. Putin has made it very clear what he wants, in a great power context. So we arm Ukrainians to the teeth to slow down the Russian machine, which is headed for Bucharest, Budapest, and Warsaw. We support the fight now because of those three, only the Poles can truly be trusted to put up a Ukrainian level of commitment to resist. And in each of those three conflicts, our sons & daughters will be facing the arty.
My daughter arrived CONUS Friday PCS for a one-year Pentagon gig, then off to a war college (which one TBA). Kinda glad she's out of theater for a while.
She called Putin Big Daddy Vladdy. Because he controlled her schedule 24/7.
Agreed, WW3 has started. Take a look at Putins speech last week and he makes it clear that he thinks there's no end game to negotiating with the west from decades of the western elite and establishment being essentially incompetent world police for ill gotten gains. https://www.adamtownsend.me/putin-speech/
I think it's an accurate criticism of the west, but very hypocritical for him to act like he and oligarchs aren't doing the same in Russia.Quote:
Frankly, the democratic procedures and elections in Europe and the forces that come to power look like a front, because almost identical political parties come and go, while deep down things remain the same. The real interests of people and national businesses are being pushed further and further to the periphery.
Such a disconnect from reality and the demands of society will inevitably lead to a surge in populism and extremist and radical movements, major socioeconomic changes, degradation and a change of elites in the short term. As you can see, traditional parties lose all the time. New entities are coming to the surface, but they have little chance for survival if they are not much different from the existing ones.
The attempts to keep up appearances and the talk about allegedly acceptable costs in the name of pseudo-unity cannot hide the main thing: the European Union has lost its political sovereignty, and its bureaucratic elites are dancing to someone else's tune, doing everything they are told from on high and hurting their own people, economies, and businesses.
The story over here is always going to be the latter. I have my doubts. But we will never know.Redbrickbear said:Yep, a little of the "chicken or the egg" paradox.Robert Wilson said:
Ukraine is doing as well as it is because it is a proxy NATO nation and has been for a while. We've done a good job training their troops and are sending them tons of goodies.
That's also possibly why Putin invaded, but I digress.
Would he have invaded if Ukraine had not become a defacto proxy of US-EU-NATO....or was Russia always going to invade one day no matter what and being a US-EU-NATO proxy was the only choice for Ukraine.
China is very happy to sell Russia stuff, buy its oil at a discount, and watch it be degraded politically and militarily. China pretends to be an ally to Russia, but China is self interested and shrewd. China will subsume Russia or vast portions of Russia in the next decade.Redbrickbear said:If that is true then its a disaster.Doc Holliday said:War college sounds fun!whiterock said:"Nations have no permanent friends, only permanent interests."Doc Holliday said:There are no real rules in war.whiterock said:If they don't, Russia will pour in money to build an anti-war movement and Ukraine then would have a war on two fronts.Doc Holliday said:
Hmmm🚨BREAKING
— Sam Street (@samstreetwrites) June 20, 2022
🇺🇦Ukraine has permanently banned the opposition party. pic.twitter.com/8pKoucpJ9n
The British model of "War Cabinet" would be a wiser position to take, but however you dress it up, an existential war requires total commitment to the war, so long as there are bullets to fire.
Russia is insane, but I don't trust Ukraine. I don't trust our politicians dealing with Ukraine.
Hate to be blunt, but the bottom line: Ukraine is just a tool to bleed Russia right down to the last Ukrainian.
WWIII has already started. Ukraine is just the first set of barricades. Putin has made it very clear what he wants, in a great power context. So we arm Ukrainians to the teeth to slow down the Russian machine, which is headed for Bucharest, Budapest, and Warsaw. We support the fight now because of those three, only the Poles can truly be trusted to put up a Ukrainian level of commitment to resist. And in each of those three conflicts, our sons & daughters will be facing the arty.
My daughter arrived CONUS Friday PCS for a one-year Pentagon gig, then off to a war college (which one TBA). Kinda glad she's out of theater for a while.
She called Putin Big Daddy Vladdy. Because he controlled her schedule 24/7.
Agreed, WW3 has started. Take a look at Putins speech last week and he makes it clear that he thinks there's no end game to negotiating with the west from decades of the western elite and establishment being essentially incompetent world police for ill gotten gains. https://www.adamtownsend.me/putin-speech/
I think it's an accurate criticism of the west, but very hypocritical for him to act like he and oligarchs aren't doing the same in Russia.Quote:
Frankly, the democratic procedures and elections in Europe and the forces that come to power look like a front, because almost identical political parties come and go, while deep down things remain the same. The real interests of people and national businesses are being pushed further and further to the periphery.
Such a disconnect from reality and the demands of society will inevitably lead to a surge in populism and extremist and radical movements, major socioeconomic changes, degradation and a change of elites in the short term. As you can see, traditional parties lose all the time. New entities are coming to the surface, but they have little chance for survival if they are not much different from the existing ones.
The attempts to keep up appearances and the talk about allegedly acceptable costs in the name of pseudo-unity cannot hide the main thing: the European Union has lost its political sovereignty, and its bureaucratic elites are dancing to someone else's tune, doing everything they are told from on high and hurting their own people, economies, and businesses.
The last two world wars were disasters for humanity as well.
And if Putin thinks he is in some grand war with the West then he is going to find out that Russia (with an economy the size of Italy) and a population in demographic decline (rates similar to Japan) that he is in no position to win that against the US-EU.
He will also find that even China is not willing to fight the US-EU on his side militarily...vs just keep selling him guns and material for cash.
He would get clobbered in such a war.
Exactly, they are happy to make money off Russia (while also getting the satisfaction of giving the U.S. hegemon headaches) but in no way are they going to fight a world war for Putin.He Hate Me said:China is very happy to sell Russia stuff, buy its oil at a discount, and watch it be degraded politically and militarily. China pretends to be an ally to Russia, but China is self interested and shrewd. China will subsume Russia or vast portions of Russia in the next decade.Redbrickbear said:If that is true then its a disaster.Doc Holliday said:War college sounds fun!whiterock said:"Nations have no permanent friends, only permanent interests."Doc Holliday said:There are no real rules in war.whiterock said:If they don't, Russia will pour in money to build an anti-war movement and Ukraine then would have a war on two fronts.Doc Holliday said:
Hmmm🚨BREAKING
— Sam Street (@samstreetwrites) June 20, 2022
🇺🇦Ukraine has permanently banned the opposition party. pic.twitter.com/8pKoucpJ9n
The British model of "War Cabinet" would be a wiser position to take, but however you dress it up, an existential war requires total commitment to the war, so long as there are bullets to fire.
Russia is insane, but I don't trust Ukraine. I don't trust our politicians dealing with Ukraine.
Hate to be blunt, but the bottom line: Ukraine is just a tool to bleed Russia right down to the last Ukrainian.
WWIII has already started. Ukraine is just the first set of barricades. Putin has made it very clear what he wants, in a great power context. So we arm Ukrainians to the teeth to slow down the Russian machine, which is headed for Bucharest, Budapest, and Warsaw. We support the fight now because of those three, only the Poles can truly be trusted to put up a Ukrainian level of commitment to resist. And in each of those three conflicts, our sons & daughters will be facing the arty.
My daughter arrived CONUS Friday PCS for a one-year Pentagon gig, then off to a war college (which one TBA). Kinda glad she's out of theater for a while.
She called Putin Big Daddy Vladdy. Because he controlled her schedule 24/7.
Agreed, WW3 has started. Take a look at Putins speech last week and he makes it clear that he thinks there's no end game to negotiating with the west from decades of the western elite and establishment being essentially incompetent world police for ill gotten gains. https://www.adamtownsend.me/putin-speech/
I think it's an accurate criticism of the west, but very hypocritical for him to act like he and oligarchs aren't doing the same in Russia.Quote:
Frankly, the democratic procedures and elections in Europe and the forces that come to power look like a front, because almost identical political parties come and go, while deep down things remain the same. The real interests of people and national businesses are being pushed further and further to the periphery.
Such a disconnect from reality and the demands of society will inevitably lead to a surge in populism and extremist and radical movements, major socioeconomic changes, degradation and a change of elites in the short term. As you can see, traditional parties lose all the time. New entities are coming to the surface, but they have little chance for survival if they are not much different from the existing ones.
The attempts to keep up appearances and the talk about allegedly acceptable costs in the name of pseudo-unity cannot hide the main thing: the European Union has lost its political sovereignty, and its bureaucratic elites are dancing to someone else's tune, doing everything they are told from on high and hurting their own people, economies, and businesses.
The last two world wars were disasters for humanity as well.
And if Putin thinks he is in some grand war with the West then he is going to find out that Russia (with an economy the size of Italy) and a population in demographic decline (rates similar to Japan) that he is in no position to win that against the US-EU.
He will also find that even China is not willing to fight the US-EU on his side militarily...vs just keep selling him guns and material for cash.
He would get clobbered in such a war.
What really makes this a war is that sanctions against Russia didn't pan out. Initially they hurt their citizens, but now the ruble is the strongest currency in the world this year. Russian businessmen view sanctions as manageable and even a blessing in disguise. We can't fight an economic war against them as a means to crush their military advances.Redbrickbear said:If that is true then its a disaster.Doc Holliday said:War college sounds fun!whiterock said:"Nations have no permanent friends, only permanent interests."Doc Holliday said:There are no real rules in war.whiterock said:If they don't, Russia will pour in money to build an anti-war movement and Ukraine then would have a war on two fronts.Doc Holliday said:
Hmmm🚨BREAKING
— Sam Street (@samstreetwrites) June 20, 2022
🇺🇦Ukraine has permanently banned the opposition party. pic.twitter.com/8pKoucpJ9n
The British model of "War Cabinet" would be a wiser position to take, but however you dress it up, an existential war requires total commitment to the war, so long as there are bullets to fire.
Russia is insane, but I don't trust Ukraine. I don't trust our politicians dealing with Ukraine.
Hate to be blunt, but the bottom line: Ukraine is just a tool to bleed Russia right down to the last Ukrainian.
WWIII has already started. Ukraine is just the first set of barricades. Putin has made it very clear what he wants, in a great power context. So we arm Ukrainians to the teeth to slow down the Russian machine, which is headed for Bucharest, Budapest, and Warsaw. We support the fight now because of those three, only the Poles can truly be trusted to put up a Ukrainian level of commitment to resist. And in each of those three conflicts, our sons & daughters will be facing the arty.
My daughter arrived CONUS Friday PCS for a one-year Pentagon gig, then off to a war college (which one TBA). Kinda glad she's out of theater for a while.
She called Putin Big Daddy Vladdy. Because he controlled her schedule 24/7.
Agreed, WW3 has started. Take a look at Putins speech last week and he makes it clear that he thinks there's no end game to negotiating with the west from decades of the western elite and establishment being essentially incompetent world police for ill gotten gains. https://www.adamtownsend.me/putin-speech/
I think it's an accurate criticism of the west, but very hypocritical for him to act like he and oligarchs aren't doing the same in Russia.Quote:
Frankly, the democratic procedures and elections in Europe and the forces that come to power look like a front, because almost identical political parties come and go, while deep down things remain the same. The real interests of people and national businesses are being pushed further and further to the periphery.
Such a disconnect from reality and the demands of society will inevitably lead to a surge in populism and extremist and radical movements, major socioeconomic changes, degradation and a change of elites in the short term. As you can see, traditional parties lose all the time. New entities are coming to the surface, but they have little chance for survival if they are not much different from the existing ones.
The attempts to keep up appearances and the talk about allegedly acceptable costs in the name of pseudo-unity cannot hide the main thing: the European Union has lost its political sovereignty, and its bureaucratic elites are dancing to someone else's tune, doing everything they are told from on high and hurting their own people, economies, and businesses.
The last two world wars were disasters for humanity as well.
And if Putin thinks he is in some grand war with the West then he is going to find out that Russia (with an economy the size of Italy) and a population in demographic decline (rates similar to Japan) that he is in no position to win that against the US-EU.
He will also find that even China is not willing to fight the US-EU on his side militarily...vs just keep selling him guns and material for cash.
He would get clobbered in such a war.
At a 16% interest rate, yeah. The cost of capital over there though.Doc Holliday said:What really makes this a war is that sanctions against Russia didn't pan out. Initially they hurt their citizens, but now the ruble is the strongest currency in the world this year.Redbrickbear said:If that is true then its a disaster.Doc Holliday said:War college sounds fun!whiterock said:"Nations have no permanent friends, only permanent interests."Doc Holliday said:There are no real rules in war.whiterock said:If they don't, Russia will pour in money to build an anti-war movement and Ukraine then would have a war on two fronts.Doc Holliday said:
Hmmm🚨BREAKING
— Sam Street (@samstreetwrites) June 20, 2022
🇺🇦Ukraine has permanently banned the opposition party. pic.twitter.com/8pKoucpJ9n
The British model of "War Cabinet" would be a wiser position to take, but however you dress it up, an existential war requires total commitment to the war, so long as there are bullets to fire.
Russia is insane, but I don't trust Ukraine. I don't trust our politicians dealing with Ukraine.
Hate to be blunt, but the bottom line: Ukraine is just a tool to bleed Russia right down to the last Ukrainian.
WWIII has already started. Ukraine is just the first set of barricades. Putin has made it very clear what he wants, in a great power context. So we arm Ukrainians to the teeth to slow down the Russian machine, which is headed for Bucharest, Budapest, and Warsaw. We support the fight now because of those three, only the Poles can truly be trusted to put up a Ukrainian level of commitment to resist. And in each of those three conflicts, our sons & daughters will be facing the arty.
My daughter arrived CONUS Friday PCS for a one-year Pentagon gig, then off to a war college (which one TBA). Kinda glad she's out of theater for a while.
She called Putin Big Daddy Vladdy. Because he controlled her schedule 24/7.
Agreed, WW3 has started. Take a look at Putins speech last week and he makes it clear that he thinks there's no end game to negotiating with the west from decades of the western elite and establishment being essentially incompetent world police for ill gotten gains. https://www.adamtownsend.me/putin-speech/
I think it's an accurate criticism of the west, but very hypocritical for him to act like he and oligarchs aren't doing the same in Russia.Quote:
Frankly, the democratic procedures and elections in Europe and the forces that come to power look like a front, because almost identical political parties come and go, while deep down things remain the same. The real interests of people and national businesses are being pushed further and further to the periphery.
Such a disconnect from reality and the demands of society will inevitably lead to a surge in populism and extremist and radical movements, major socioeconomic changes, degradation and a change of elites in the short term. As you can see, traditional parties lose all the time. New entities are coming to the surface, but they have little chance for survival if they are not much different from the existing ones.
The attempts to keep up appearances and the talk about allegedly acceptable costs in the name of pseudo-unity cannot hide the main thing: the European Union has lost its political sovereignty, and its bureaucratic elites are dancing to someone else's tune, doing everything they are told from on high and hurting their own people, economies, and businesses.
The last two world wars were disasters for humanity as well.
And if Putin thinks he is in some grand war with the West then he is going to find out that Russia (with an economy the size of Italy) and a population in demographic decline (rates similar to Japan) that he is in no position to win that against the US-EU.
He will also find that even China is not willing to fight the US-EU on his side militarily...vs just keep selling him guns and material for cash.
He would get clobbered in such a war.
Well its artificially high because Russia stopped accepting anything other than Rubles for payment, but sanctions really haven't done enough damage to curtail their behavior.He Hate Me said:At a 16% interest rate, yeah. The cost of capital over there though.Doc Holliday said:What really makes this a war is that sanctions against Russia didn't pan out. Initially they hurt their citizens, but now the ruble is the strongest currency in the world this year.Redbrickbear said:If that is true then its a disaster.Doc Holliday said:War college sounds fun!whiterock said:"Nations have no permanent friends, only permanent interests."Doc Holliday said:There are no real rules in war.whiterock said:If they don't, Russia will pour in money to build an anti-war movement and Ukraine then would have a war on two fronts.Doc Holliday said:
Hmmm🚨BREAKING
— Sam Street (@samstreetwrites) June 20, 2022
🇺🇦Ukraine has permanently banned the opposition party. pic.twitter.com/8pKoucpJ9n
The British model of "War Cabinet" would be a wiser position to take, but however you dress it up, an existential war requires total commitment to the war, so long as there are bullets to fire.
Russia is insane, but I don't trust Ukraine. I don't trust our politicians dealing with Ukraine.
Hate to be blunt, but the bottom line: Ukraine is just a tool to bleed Russia right down to the last Ukrainian.
WWIII has already started. Ukraine is just the first set of barricades. Putin has made it very clear what he wants, in a great power context. So we arm Ukrainians to the teeth to slow down the Russian machine, which is headed for Bucharest, Budapest, and Warsaw. We support the fight now because of those three, only the Poles can truly be trusted to put up a Ukrainian level of commitment to resist. And in each of those three conflicts, our sons & daughters will be facing the arty.
My daughter arrived CONUS Friday PCS for a one-year Pentagon gig, then off to a war college (which one TBA). Kinda glad she's out of theater for a while.
She called Putin Big Daddy Vladdy. Because he controlled her schedule 24/7.
Agreed, WW3 has started. Take a look at Putins speech last week and he makes it clear that he thinks there's no end game to negotiating with the west from decades of the western elite and establishment being essentially incompetent world police for ill gotten gains. https://www.adamtownsend.me/putin-speech/
I think it's an accurate criticism of the west, but very hypocritical for him to act like he and oligarchs aren't doing the same in Russia.Quote:
Frankly, the democratic procedures and elections in Europe and the forces that come to power look like a front, because almost identical political parties come and go, while deep down things remain the same. The real interests of people and national businesses are being pushed further and further to the periphery.
Such a disconnect from reality and the demands of society will inevitably lead to a surge in populism and extremist and radical movements, major socioeconomic changes, degradation and a change of elites in the short term. As you can see, traditional parties lose all the time. New entities are coming to the surface, but they have little chance for survival if they are not much different from the existing ones.
The attempts to keep up appearances and the talk about allegedly acceptable costs in the name of pseudo-unity cannot hide the main thing: the European Union has lost its political sovereignty, and its bureaucratic elites are dancing to someone else's tune, doing everything they are told from on high and hurting their own people, economies, and businesses.
The last two world wars were disasters for humanity as well.
And if Putin thinks he is in some grand war with the West then he is going to find out that Russia (with an economy the size of Italy) and a population in demographic decline (rates similar to Japan) that he is in no position to win that against the US-EU.
He will also find that even China is not willing to fight the US-EU on his side militarily...vs just keep selling him guns and material for cash.
He would get clobbered in such a war.
a pretty thin reed, counselor.Sam Lowry said:Putin's speech doesn't sound like a declaration of war so much as a more articulate version of Trump. How strange that you often note the decline of globalism yet still think the liberal order can and should impose itself on every part of the globe.whiterock said:It's hard for western liberal worldview to appreciate how "old" is Russian worldview. The things driving Russian decisionmaking in some cases go back 1000 years. That leaves the liberal order no choice but to engineer the failure of the current Russian state. Grinding up the Russian army is a prerequisite for that, and turning Ukraine into a quagmire is the proximate opportunity.Doc Holliday said:War college sounds fun!whiterock said:"Nations have no permanent friends, only permanent interests."Doc Holliday said:There are no real rules in war.whiterock said:If they don't, Russia will pour in money to build an anti-war movement and Ukraine then would have a war on two fronts.Doc Holliday said:
Hmmm🚨BREAKING
— Sam Street (@samstreetwrites) June 20, 2022
🇺🇦Ukraine has permanently banned the opposition party. pic.twitter.com/8pKoucpJ9n
The British model of "War Cabinet" would be a wiser position to take, but however you dress it up, an existential war requires total commitment to the war, so long as there are bullets to fire.
Russia is insane, but I don't trust Ukraine. I don't trust our politicians dealing with Ukraine.
Hate to be blunt, but the bottom line: Ukraine is just a tool to bleed Russia right down to the last Ukrainian.
WWIII has already started. Ukraine is just the first set of barricades. Putin has made it very clear what he wants, in a great power context. So we arm Ukrainians to the teeth to slow down the Russian machine, which is headed for Bucharest, Budapest, and Warsaw. We support the fight now because of those three, only the Poles can truly be trusted to put up a Ukrainian level of commitment to resist. And in each of those three conflicts, our sons & daughters will be facing the arty.
My daughter arrived CONUS Friday PCS for a one-year Pentagon gig, then off to a war college (which one TBA). Kinda glad she's out of theater for a while.
She called Putin Big Daddy Vladdy. Because he controlled her schedule 24/7.
Agreed, WW3 has started. Take a look at Putins speech last week and he makes it clear that he thinks there's no end game to negotiating with the west from decades of the western elite and establishment being essentially incompetent world police for ill gotten gains. https://www.adamtownsend.me/putin-speech/
I think it's an accurate criticism of the west, but very hypocritical for him to act like he and oligarchs aren't doing the same in Russia.Quote:
Frankly, the democratic procedures and elections in Europe and the forces that come to power look like a front, because almost identical political parties come and go, while deep down things remain the same. The real interests of people and national businesses are being pushed further and further to the periphery.
Such a disconnect from reality and the demands of society will inevitably lead to a surge in populism and extremist and radical movements, major socioeconomic changes, degradation and a change of elites in the short term. As you can see, traditional parties lose all the time. New entities are coming to the surface, but they have little chance for survival if they are not much different from the existing ones.
The attempts to keep up appearances and the talk about allegedly acceptable costs in the name of pseudo-unity cannot hide the main thing: the European Union has lost its political sovereignty, and its bureaucratic elites are dancing to someone else's tune, doing everything they are told from on high and hurting their own people, economies, and businesses.
The mission the A-10 was designed for is playing out all over Ukraine https://t.co/JxPmlfQLjB
— Task & Purpose (@TaskandPurpose) June 27, 2022
Russia defaulted on its foreign-currency sovereign debt for the first time in a century https://t.co/ShogQXxxBS
— Bloomberg (@business) June 26, 2022
Always amused with the luv many folks have with the A-10.jupiter said:The mission the A-10 was designed for is playing out all over Ukraine https://t.co/JxPmlfQLjB
— Task & Purpose (@TaskandPurpose) June 27, 2022
"It was clear from the onset and confirmed throughout our visit that volunteers played a critical role in the defense of Kyiv, yet their role has not been systematically studied." https://t.co/5yUmDw2I6R
— ArmyTimes (@ArmyTimes) July 6, 2022
Canada2017 said:
In case you haven't noticed ........Russia is continuing to occupy more Ukrainian territory .
Russians have never cared about KIA's ....only victory .Bear8084 said:Canada2017 said:
In case you haven't noticed ........Russia is continuing to occupy more Ukrainian territory .
5% at a great cost and being slowly pushed out of other places...
Canada2017 said:Russians have never cared about KIA's ....only victory .Bear8084 said:Canada2017 said:
In case you haven't noticed ........Russia is continuing to occupy more Ukrainian territory .
5% at a great cost and being slowly pushed out of other places...
Depends on who you ask.Canada2017 said:Russians have never cared about KIA's ....only victory .Bear8084 said:Canada2017 said:
In case you haven't noticed ........Russia is continuing to occupy more Ukrainian territory .
5% at a great cost and being slowly pushed out of other places...
we're a long way from the kind of pressure the Russian people endured under Communism.Oldbear83 said:Depends on who you ask.Canada2017 said:Russians have never cared about KIA's ....only victory .Bear8084 said:Canada2017 said:
In case you haven't noticed ........Russia is continuing to occupy more Ukrainian territory .
5% at a great cost and being slowly pushed out of other places...
Veteran Russian diplomat resigns in protest of Moscow's "aggressive war" in Ukraine
https://www.cnn.com/europe/live-news/russia-ukraine-war-news-05-23-22/h_5182b29b8442cef223575b98e83d1951
Russian citizens continue to protest war with Ukraine despite threat of punishment
https://www.npr.org/2022/03/20/1087766146/russian-citizens-continue-to-protest-war-with-ukraine-despite-threat-of-punishme
How Russians are protesting the war in Ukraine from a totalitarian state
https://globalvoices.org/2022/05/23/google-bucha-ways-of-protesting-the-war-in-ukraine-from-a-totalitarian-state/
We're a long way from The Glorious Patriotic War, too.whiterock said:we're a long way from the kind of pressure the Russian people endured under Communism.Oldbear83 said:Depends on who you ask.Canada2017 said:Russians have never cared about KIA's ....only victory .Bear8084 said:Canada2017 said:
In case you haven't noticed ........Russia is continuing to occupy more Ukrainian territory .
5% at a great cost and being slowly pushed out of other places...
Veteran Russian diplomat resigns in protest of Moscow's "aggressive war" in Ukraine
https://www.cnn.com/europe/live-news/russia-ukraine-war-news-05-23-22/h_5182b29b8442cef223575b98e83d1951
Russian citizens continue to protest war with Ukraine despite threat of punishment
https://www.npr.org/2022/03/20/1087766146/russian-citizens-continue-to-protest-war-with-ukraine-despite-threat-of-punishme
How Russians are protesting the war in Ukraine from a totalitarian state
https://globalvoices.org/2022/05/23/google-bucha-ways-of-protesting-the-war-in-ukraine-from-a-totalitarian-state/
US Senators Meet With Ukrainian President, Discuss Designating Russia As "State Sponsor Of Terrorism" https://t.co/5tgwhXyME2
— zerohedge (@zerohedge) July 10, 2022
Airtight. https://t.co/jc3EiQlCqS
— cdrsalamander (@cdrsalamander) July 12, 2022