Russia Ukraine: War soon?

[Jeff]

Not even close to the casualties Soviet Union had. Look it up.

I know the numbers, but my statement is still true.
 

[beej]

No need to declare captured Russian equipment

 

LOL. To have a sense of humor like that in times like these, is straight up courage.

[Dan_AKA_ROY23]

She is so incredibly insightful!

Saw that on Twitter (text, not the audio). I thought it must have been a joke.

What is the context, I wonder? Was she speaking to a classroom of children?? 

[RobertELee]

Saw that on Twitter (text, not the audio). I thought it must have been a joke.

What is the context, I wonder? Was she speaking to a classroom of children?? 

Well it's a Radio Morning Show called the Morning Hustle. A show that focuses on things like what 50Cent had to drink at the club, what Rihanna was wearing onstage, and the meaning behind the lyrics to Dr Dre's songs. 99.9% of their content is literally "Black People" if you read their social media content. So like typical, Kamaltoe had to talk down to them.

[gcode]

A good bit of that has to do with the rather obvious mental deterioration in one Vladimir Putin. It's been obvious for a while that something was off with him. Multiple parties are talking about it now, but what brought it home for me was his meeting with Macron at the ultra-long table. While this was, no doubt, in part a way of snubbing him, there was something more to it. Then came the night he castigated a major cabinet member of live television — not a bright thing to do in the current return to the politburo level of operations. Then came is tirade against the Ukraine and justification for his actions. That was when a LOT of people began comparing notes and sharing concern over his mental well being. When the photo came out of him using the ridiculously long table to meet with his own defense leaders, well... While unconfirmed, it seems he doesn't like to have anyone who is not part of his innermost circle behind him these days, or to let any such even close to him. Given that he is quite familiar with concealed weapons that can induce apparent heart attacks, much less spray nerve agents, the close thing is understandable. As for behind him, he is also quite familiar with leadership at various levels committing suicide by shooting themselves in the back multiple times.

Vladimir and the Ukraine

[Jeff]

Uranian/Ukrainian... what's the difference?
The DumbSmit former VP doesn't know.

[Dan_AKA_ROY23]

I thought I heard the long table was Putin paranoid of covid? 

[Dan_AKA_ROY23]

Well it's a Radio Morning Show called the Morning Hustle. A show that focuses on things like what 50Cent had to drink at the club, what Rihanna was wearing onstage, and the meaning behind the lyrics to Dr Dre's songs. 99.9% of their content is literally "Black People" if you read their social media content. So like typical, Kamaltoe had to talk down to them.

Makes sense now. (thanks)

[Jim at Gentex]

Saw that on Twitter (text, not the audio). I thought it must have been a joke.

What is the context, I wonder? Was she speaking to a classroom of children?? 

Yeah, the context is when you are addressing woke liberals, or anyone under the age of 5, you need to speak slowly and use small words. 

[RobertELee]

Looks like there may be some activity the US military is keeping track of in Kaliningrad. I've never seen a drone scanning this area before.

[RobertELee]

[gcode]

How Green Delusions started WW3

How has Vladimir Putin—a man ruling a country with an economy smaller than that of Texas, with an average life expectancy 10 years lower than that of France—managed to launch an unprovoked full-scale assault on Ukraine?

There is a deep psychological, political and almost civilizational answer to that question: He wants Ukraine to be part of Russia more than the West wants it to be free. He is willing to risk tremendous loss of life and treasure to get it. There are serious limits to how much the U.S. and Europe are willing to do militarily. And Putin knows it.

Missing from that explanation, though, is a story about material reality and basic economics—two things that Putin seems to understand far better than his counterparts in the free world and especially in Europe.

Putin knows that Europe produces 3.6 million barrels of oil a day but uses 15 million barrels of oil a day. Putin knows that Europe produces 230 billion cubic meters of natural gas a year but uses 560 billion cubic meters. He knows that Europe uses 950 million tons of coal a year but produces half that.

The former KGB agent knows Russia produces 11 million barrels of oil per day but only uses 3.4 million. He knows Russia now produces over 700 billion cubic meters of gas a year but only uses around 400 billion. Russia mines 800 million tons of coal each year but uses 300.

That's how Russia ends up supplying about 20 percent of Europe's oil, 40 percent of its gas, and 20 percent of its coal.

The math is simple. A child could do it.

The reason Europe didn't have a muscular deterrent threat to prevent Russian aggression—and in fact prevented the U.S. from getting allies to do more—is that it needs Putin's oil and gas.

[crazy^millman]

Sorry I had to add these from the Article.

While we banned plastic straws, Russia drilled and doubled nuclear energy production.

As the West fell into a hypnotic trance about healing its relationship with nature, averting climate apocalypse and worshiping a teenager named Greta, Vladimir Putin made his moves.

While Putin expanded Russia's oil production, expanded natural gas production, and then doubled nuclear energy production to allow more exports of its precious gas, Europe, led by Germany, shut down its nuclear power plants, closed gas fields, and refused to develop more through advanced methods like fracking.

The numbers tell the story best. In 2016, 30 percent of the natural gas consumed by the European Union came from Russia. In 2018, that figure jumped to 40 percent. By 2020, it was nearly 44 percent, and by early 2021, it was nearly 47 percent.

For all his fawning over Putin, Donald Trump, back in 2018, defied diplomatic protocol to call out Germany publicly for its dependence on Moscow. "Germany, as far as I'm concerned, is captive to Russia because it's getting so much of its energy from Russia," Trump said. This prompted Germany's then-chancellor, Angela Merkel, who had been widely praised in polite circles for being the last serious leader in the West, to say that her country "can make our own policies and make our own decisions."

The result has been the worst global energy crisis since 1973, driving prices for electricity and gasoline higher around the world. It is a crisis, fundamentally, of inadequate supply. But the scarcity is entirely manufactured.

Europeans—led by figures like Greta Thunberg and European Green Party leaders, and supported by Americans like John Kerry—believed that a healthy relationship with the Earth requires making energy scarce. By turning to renewables, they would show the world how to live without harming the planet. But this was a pipe dream. You can't power a whole grid with solar and wind, because the sun and the wind are inconstant, and currently existing batteries aren't even cheap enough to store large quantities of electricity overnight, much less across whole seasons.

In service to green ideology, they made the perfect the enemy of the good—and of Ukraine.

[Tim Johnson]

Ukraine is sitting over same oil pool that Russia pumps from under it's land. Maybe a decade ago (or more) Putin was threatening war with Ukraine over "stealing" his oil. If oil is Russia's main source of revenue and Ukraine is also pumping "his" oil then Putin may be feeling threatened by his loss of money and power. With loss of money and power he also becomes more vulnerable to assassination. Like any king his goal is to ruthlessly lessen that vulnerability to as little as possible.

[gcode]

Putin is a true believer
He called the collapse of the USSR one of the greatest tragedies in the history of the human race
and he's been working to restore it ever since
First Georgia, then Crimea, now Ukraine.  The Baltic states will be next
This is the start of WW3