What do you want Ukraine for anyway? It would be like Wal Mart attacking a local corner shop just cos the owner used to work for them.
The Death of Stalin. A reminder it's one of the best comedies ever.
One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn. Perhaps the best book I've ever read. Have food and warmth handy because It will make you feel cold and hungry..A 3D experience.
It's approaching the time when Putin has to decide to either show his hand or fold.
Remember your old algebra lessons, arsenal. "Let X equal the unknown number"Originally Posted by arsenal
Ukraine has a whopping 10 month rainy season (and I though Thailand was bad), with the average rainless period beginning December 28 and ending February 17. That being the case, Putin will probably start slowly and incrementally moving his troops away from Ukraine's border in later February. I wouldn't expect a fast and immediate withdrawal because that would cause him to lose even more face than he's already lost.
Military guys hate performing assaults in the rain, e.g., limited visibility for sniper shots, vehicles get bogged down in mud, roads wash away without warning, drains troop morale levels, and it just slows them down more in general...where hard dry ground is much the preference.
I think Putin scrambling for a photo op with Xi the other day pretty much sums it up. It's all about "perception". His bluff gets called by NATO, and for that fact, the rest of the free-world,...Germany stands firm on retracting the pipeline contract...China remains neutral, and the straw that broke the camels back was when the Central Banks in London whispered a hint that Russian Oligarch money ($$Billions) stashed in London banks could get sanctioned if Putin were to attempt to attack a friendly nation. He has no viable options. His hand is already folded.
What will be interesting to see is what happens to Ukraine's eastern border over the next 3 years. It's no longer the border between two countries. It's the border between Putin's delusional empire and the rest of the free-Europe.
My Russian friends in Chicago often talked about their frustrations with the lack of progress regarding the standard of living for Russian people under Putin's rule. I hope for the sake of the Russian people that the next leader after Putin focusses more on "the people" - and less on building more and more weapons to one day rule the world. It's about time Russia joined the rest of the modern world - and left these Flash Gordan search & destroy tactics to the authors of comic books.
For the record, I have close Russian friends that I grew up playing hockey with who are wonderful people, as are their families. So Moses please don't take anything I'm saying personally. Believe me, I've cast more stones at U.S. politics than you probably have, so don't think I'm brainwashed and/or closed minded, because I'm not. I'm fed up with all of it...don't trust anything that comes out of a politicians mouth, and find myself perfectly content spending my life separated from this destructive nonsense - preferring to spend my days drifting the shores of a third-world Asian country searching for clams and sea shells - and getting laid at night.
Andy (February 6th, 2022), arsenal (February 6th, 2022), goji (February 6th, 2022), Ruthrieston (February 7th, 2022), snotface (February 6th, 2022)
Some posts unrelated to this thread have been moved here :
https://sawatdeenetwork.com/v4/showt...men-in-Bayern!
If you believe anything that Boris Johnson says you might as well believe everything that Putin says.
Ruthrieston (February 7th, 2022)
I "believe" in facts. Since 2014 - all 7 years - Ukraine demands to declare Russia aggressor at each UN General Assembly. No once UN voted for that because Ukraine can't show any proof of that. Occupation of Crimea is that UN declared. UN Red Cross still calls what is going on the East of Ukraine "military noninternational conflict" - i.e. civil war. No proof exists what Russian military parts participate in it. No proof for 7+ years, almost 8.
Looks like Russia has secret weapon: as soon as phone camera targeted any Russian military, phone's battery becomes discharged less than in 1 sec. and nobody is able to film or to take a picture of Russians on Ukrainian ground.
Also looks like Russia has special masking umbrellas - for 7+ years no one satellite show images of Russian military parts on Ukrainian territory. Near borders - a lot of pictures, on territory - no one.
OSCE Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine monitoring conflict since March 2014. There is no one report about Russian soldiers.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OSCE_S...ion_to_Ukraine
Bali (Indonesia), Cambodia, Myanmar, Philippines, Thailand, Vietnam and Laos: gay guides and companions http://siamroads.com
I'm not that sophisticated in politics that other members of the board I presume but before the Crimea crisis rate of russian ruble to thai baht was 0,9. Now it is 2,3. My main question why I should pay double of the same pleasures and who is responsible for that?
"Looking for evidence? Trust us, Biden administration says"
Feb 5, https://apnews.com/article/coronavir...c49fdbb5f91c45
WASHINGTON (AP) — When President Biden’s administration was asked for evidence to back up dramatic claims about national security developments this past week, it demurred with a simple rejoinder: You’ll have to trust us on that.
No, they would not reveal what led them to say they knew that Russia was plotting a false flag operation as a pretext to invade Ukraine. No, they would not explain their confidence that civilian casualties were caused by a suicide bombing rather than U.S. special forces during a raid in Syria.
The administration’s response took a particularly caustic turn as spokespeople suggested that reporters were buying into foreign propaganda by even asking such questions.
The lack of transparency strained already depleted reserves of credibility in Washington, a critical resource diminished over the decades by instances of lies, falsehoods and mistakes on everything from extramarital affairs to the lack of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq.According to a CNN/SSRS poll conducted in December, only 34% of Americans said Biden “is a leader you can trust.” Another 66% said they “have some doubts and reservations.”
Bali (Indonesia), Cambodia, Myanmar, Philippines, Thailand, Vietnam and Laos: gay guides and companions http://siamroads.com
NATO was formed as a military alliance against the Soviet Union and continues to exist against Russia.
You may be too young to remember the Cuban Missile crisis, but that was just as much about Cuba’s proximity to the United States, as it was about missiles.
The Ukraine, Latvia or Lithuania don’t need to be part of NATO, based on why NATO was formed…nor does the world need a war over it.
Surfcrest
https://www.nato.int/wearenato/why-w...o-founded.html
Remember the shooting down of MH17, civilian flight with loss of 298 passengers and crew. The special masking umbrellas and phone battery dischargers don't seem to have been working to conceal the Russian BUK surface to air missile launcher that shot the plane down from Ukranian territory.
The responsibility for investigation was delegated to the Dutch Safety Board (DSB) and the Dutch-led joint investigation team (JIT), who concluded that the airliner was downed by a Buk surface-to-air missile launched from pro-Russian separatist-controlled territory in Ukraine.[6][7] According to the JIT, the Buk that was used originated from the 53rd Anti-Aircraft Missile Brigade of the Russian Federation[8][9] and had been transported from Russia on the day of the crash, fired from a field in a rebel-controlled area and returned to Russia afterwards.https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malays...ines_Flight_17On 28 September 2016, the JIT gave a press conference in which it concluded that the aircraft was shot down with a 9M38 Buk missile fired from a rebel-controlled field near Pervomaisky (Первомайський), a town 6 km (3.7 mi) south of Snizhne.[126] It also found the Buk missile system used had been transported from Russia into Ukraine on the day of the crash, and then back into Russia after the crash, with one missile less than it arrived with.[1][2] The JIT said they had identified 100 people, witnesses as well as suspects, who were involved in the movement of the Buk launcher, though they had not yet identified a clear chain of command to assess culpability, which was a matter for ongoing investigation. The Dutch chief prosecutor said "the evidence must stand before a court" which would render final judgement.[1] During the investigation, the JIT recorded and assessed five billion internet pages, interviewed 200 witnesses, collected half a million photos and videos, and analysed 150,000 intercepted phone calls.[126][228] According to JIT head prosecutor Fred Westerbeke the criminal investigation is based on "immense body of evidence," including testimonies of live witnesses who saw the Buk launcher, primary radar data, original photos and videos.[229]
Dodger (February 7th, 2022)
Posting Permissions
Reply With Quote