The Russia-Ukraine Situation

[snickersnack]

I'm having a bit of a hard time grokking this. It seems like Putin has made the same kind of error that the US did when invading Iraq. E.g. "we'll be greeted as liberators." There were a lot of expectations that led to poor strategic choices.

I have a friend who thinks that this is all part of the WEF's master plan.

When I was in high school, I was on the debate team, and I had heard stories of the prior year's debate topic. This was CX debate, and there was a universal "resolution" that the students debated. You'd either be for or against at each match up, so you had to have a prepared argument for either side (and have crates and crates of counter arguments that you'd have to lug around). The prior year, the topic was something like "X should be the new foreign policy with Russia." Our school's affirmative platform was (no shit): invade and take over. That's what my classmates had debated the prior year. So, I learned a hell of a lot about Iraq that year.



Edit: almost forgot: Budmo!

 

[Leopold Stotch]

I have a friend who thinks that this is all part of the WEF's master plan.

Who's WEF?

When I was in high school, I was on the debate team,

Haha

Jk, we're all a bunch of freaky nerds up in here.

On a side note, like, have a lot of the news outlets started to "question" Putin's sanity/mental state? Starting to call him "irrational, less calculating," and while it could be true. . . I can't help but wonder if this is media manipultaion trying to get the word out that he's unstable and something is wrong with him because if we knew he was sane and making mistakes with his military and killing civilians, it would just be too much for us to handle? Make him look less than perfect? Make him look more human and less god-like? Or maybe HE'S putting this out to find a mole in his agency? Or because he thinks he's so perfect and calculating, the fact that things are going wrong, well, this simply can't come from a rational guy like Putin? Idk.... I know I'm rambling at this point but I can't help but question this. He could be totally whacko. Something's not sitting right with me.... Is anyone else feeling this way?

 

[Dredd]

There's been a rumor going around for months that Putin was diagnosed with Parkinson's Disease sometime last year. We'll never find out if that's true or not so speculating is likely pointless. I'm happy to write him off as simply being a bloodthirsty tinpot imbecile.

Also, the ruble is now worth less than 1 US cent. People can starve I guess but Vlad will get his cool puppet government in Ukraine (or whatever the hell he thinks he's doing).

 

[Leopold Stotch]

Damn. Less than a penny??? Damn.

 

[snickersnack]

@Leopold Stotch The WEF is the World Economic Forum. I don't know much about it.

Like @Dredd, I think that speculating on Putin's health or mental state isn't really useful. It may well be that he's intentionally acting in a way that makes others suspect that he's unstable as that may help him in negotiations. He knows how to bluff and he knows how to intimidate, so it could be an act.

 

[Glurin]

@Leopold Stotch The WEF is the World Economic Forum. I don't know much about it.

Basically it's an annual gathering of the ultra super rich to discuss worldwide financial policy agendas under the guise of altruism. They're the ones pushing "The Great Reset".

Short version, they are attempting to reset the global economy and society with the goal of reshaping it into something they fully own and control. If you want anything, you'll have to rent it from them. Houses, cars, bicycles, clothes, anything. In their own words, "You will own nothing and you will be happy." They get to decide what your needs are and they get to determine if you're worthy of having them satisfied. For your own good, of course.

The Great Reset involves things like the managed decline of the U.S. and other first world nations, devaluation of currencies (ie. inflation), buying up massive amounts of real estate along with retail and commercial properties, ESG and social credit scores, digital IDs (to track you and absolutely everything you do)... Basically just picture your favorite dystopian future with a full blown fascist elite ruling class controlling everything.

It absolutely is a conspiracy, but the problem is it's not a theory. They're quite open about it even as they lie right to your face and say that's not what they're doing.

As far as how this relates to Russia's invasion of Ukraine, I haven't seen anything to that effect yet. I suppose it's possible, but at the moment I think it's more likely that it's just Putin being a ****.

 

[Talga Vasternich]

Putin definitely sensed weakness in the western world or wouldn’t have attacked. He certainly wouldn’t be targeting civilian areas if he thought the fight would be brought to his doorstep.

It’ll be interesting to see what NATO and western European countries will do if Biden sticks to his statement from last night’s State of the Union address and will not send soldiers from the USA to fight against Russia. Without the USA to do a lot of the militaristic heavy lifting, we’re looking at a NATO force that is lacking in equipment to fight against a large, modern military. They got too used to conflicts involving opponents/aggressors who were out-manned, out-gunned, and were lacking in technology.

I heard a particularly stupid warmonger say NATO enforce a no-fly zone vs Russia over the Ukraine and that it could be easily done. Apparently he's really cool with a lot of pilots getting killed and maybe NATO airbases getting hit by missiles and bombers in retaliation.

Worst case scenario…

 

[Noodle]

Putin sensed weakness in the West because Trump eagerly knelt before him and actively tried to destroy NATO and has continued to support him. His mindless lemmings have only just now started to realize the impact on them. The neofascist death cult that used to be the US republican party is being exposed on a global scale.

 

[Glurin]

Oh don't give me that crap. You know damn well Trump is not the one who is making the West weak right now. Stop parroting CNN propaganda.

While Russia is busy invading Ukraine and the world is coming to the brink of total nuclear war, both the U.K. and the U.S. are currently, as in right now, today, focused on what really matters. Making sure our intelligence agents and military officers are using the correct gender pronouns.

(No, I'm not kidding. I really wish I was, but that's exactly what they are doing.)

I'm not saying Trump, Obama, or Bush are blameless, and we could even go even further back than that, as this conflict has been a long time coming. But Trump hasn't been in the office for over a year. Trying to put all the blame on him is pathetic and disingenuous at best.

 

[Glurin]

It’ll be interesting to see what NATO and western European countries will do if Biden sticks to his statement from last night’s State of the Union address and will not send soldiers from the USA to fight against Russia. Without the USA to do a lot of the militaristic heavy lifting, we’re looking at a NATO force that is lacking in equipment to fight against a large, modern military. They got too used to conflicts involving opponents/aggressors who were out-manned, out-gunned, and were lacking in technology.

We have indeed gotten overconfident lately. And by "we" I mean the entire western world. For example, I saw someone point out the other day that we are actually at a disadvantage when it comes to anything involving space, such as satellites, because we got it in our head that we would just always be superior at it. This "superiority" coming despite the fact that our manned space flight tech hasn't advanced much since about 1980 and we went and retired the shuttle program with nothing to replace it with so we ended up relying on the Russians.

As far as NATO is concerned, the thing is it has to be an impassible line in the sand or it doesn't work. Ukraine isn't in NATO, so there's really not much we can do militarily in that area without triggering a much larger conflict. But if Russia puts one toe into NATO territory, the response must be swift and brutal. Anything less and you encourage Putin further.

 

[Leopold Stotch]

@Glurin you gotta admit that Trump saying Putin is a "genius," is "smart," and "savvy," (and maybe even said or implied that America should go the same to Mexico?? I don't remember correctly) is a little bit off-putting. Even some of Trump's biggest ass-kissers aren't doing that.

 

[Glurin]

Oh I do agree it's off putting, although there is some missing context involved. But again, he's not the one in the Oval Office right now.

 

[Noodle]

Oh don't give me that crap. You know damn well Trump is not the one who is making the West weak right now. Stop parroting CNN propaganda.

While Russia is busy invading Ukraine and the world is coming to the brink of total nuclear war, both the U.K. and the U.S. are currently, as in right now, today, focused on what really matters. Making sure our intelligence agents and military officers are using the correct gender pronouns.

(No, I'm not kidding. I really wish I was, but that's exactly what they are doing.)

I'm not saying Trump, Obama, or Bush are blameless, and we could even go even further back than that, as this conflict has been a long time coming. But Trump hasn't been in the office for over a year. Trying to put all the blame on him is pathetic and disingenuous at best.

You really expect anyone with two or more brain cells to believe that the US and UK are ignoring Putin's invasion to focus on gender pronouns? You're completely impossible to take seriously. Pathetic.

 

[Glurin]

No, I expect anyone who isn't mindlessly addicted to the anti-Trump kool-aid (ie. not you) to not dismiss it out of hand.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/ar...-privilege-avoid-using-words-like-strong.html

https://freebeacon.com/biden-admini...s-pronoun-training-for-all-levels-of-service/

 

[Glurin]

Back to the topic at hand, French PM Macron apparently just had himself a lengthy phone call with Putin. His assessment after that call is "The worst is yet to come." According to Macron, Putin informed him point blank that the diplomatic talks are going to go nowhere because it is and always has been his intention with this invasion to completely take over Ukraine.

In addition, Belarusian President Lukashenko, aka Putin's "sidekick", showed off a battle map indicating that Putin also plans to scoop up Ukraine's neighbor Moldova. The map also included a smaller map of the U.S. and Canada, though no battle lines were drawn on them. Europe was also featured, presumably detailing the positions of NATO forces.

 

[snickersnack]

Oh don't give me that crap. You know damn well Trump is not the one who is making the West weak right now. Stop parroting CNN propaganda.

While Russia is busy invading Ukraine and the world is coming to the brink of total nuclear war, both the U.K. and the U.S. are currently, as in right now, today, focused on what really matters. Making sure our intelligence agents and military officers are using the correct gender pronouns.

(No, I'm not kidding. I really wish I was, but that's exactly what they are doing.)

Do you think that pronoun usage requires so much overhead that it'll hamper modern militaries, or do you just mean that Putin thinks that?

 

[Noodle]

Keep in mind Glurin is the guy who said not a single person has died from COVID, and that human activity has had zero impact on the climate.

 

[Glurin]

Do you think that pronoun usage requires so much overhead that it'll hamper modern militaries, or do you just mean that Putin thinks that?

It's certainly not helping the perception that we have become weak. It's also causing unnecessary and harmful discord among the troops.

And as far as actual overhead is concerned, ordinarily I might say no, but considering the woke gender list is over nine thousand entries long and growing every day, it just might require a whole new government agency to keep track of all that nonsense.

 

[Glurin]

Keep in mind Glurin is the guy who said not a single person has died from COVID, and that human activity has had zero impact on the climate.

You sir, are a fucking liar.

EDIT:
Ok, now that I've taken a moment to breath, I'll clarify for the sake of everyone else, but I'm leaving what I said about you being a liar because you are. I said Covid deaths were being over reported, which they were, and that the data was being manipulated, which it was and still is. And as for the climate, my position was and continues to be that the story you get from bureaucrats and alarmists is bullshit. That doesn't mean everyone pumping out car exhaust won't cause smog. It means all these people screaming that we're all gonna die in less than twelve years (which they've been saying for the last twenty or thirty at least) unless we ban breathing and give them more money are full of crap.

 

[snickersnack]

It's certainly not helping the perception that we have become weak. It's also causing unnecessary and harmful discord among the troops.

And as far as actual overhead is concerned, ordinarily I might say no, but considering the woke gender list is over nine thousand entries long and growing every day, it just might require a whole new government agency to keep track of all that nonsense.

Good. To quote someone: all warfare is deception. When you are weak, you must appear strong. When you are strong, you must appear weak.

It sounds like this whole "woke thing" is good for the US military if all of our foes are flummoxed by it. Do you think they are?

Edit: I didn't really respond to your second paragraph. I'm thinking about it.