Русский корабль - иди нахуй

[BabaYaga 15,302]

2 minutes ago, Goredho said:

There is a general perception that America is a country divided and China has upped its probing of Taiwan while vocally backing Putin.

[Dahobbs 17,625]

30 minutes ago, TurkeyChew said:

This is why a segment of the population were disgusted with NATO and other alliances and accords and wanted out or a more limited role; America ends up funding (in money, supplies, people, etc.) and paying the lion share because the rest of the body politic are, as you said, varying degrees of flacid.

Its like America always has to do 90% of the group project but everyone else who barely shows up or helps gets the A and thinks they are smart.

In this instance America is saying, someone else lead and y’all do the work, I’m going to sit back and either a) Europe doesn’t really care about Ukrainians and see them as others/Russians/outside of la familia or b) they are as spineless and financially compromised as we’ve always thought they were.

To me this is a black eye on globalism and shows you why you should have sovereignty built around your national strengths, so you have the autonomy and integrity to do what you want.

I'm quite certain we don't want Germany building its sovereignty around national strength again. We've seen that song and dance a few too many times. 

[phdhorn 6,224]

16 minutes ago, NeverMarryAStripper said:

How will we know when to unplug our computers?

I know - now we won't have to wait 54 minutes on a phone line, then get "Lexi" with a heavy Indian accent, to give us her 3 minute preplanned speech before we even get a word in, then tell us that "perhaps our computer needs to be unplugged, can you hold while I check on this?" then come back 3 minutes later and says that "the problem is that your computer needs to be unplugged, I will send you a document on it, are there any other questions?" and then say thank you and goodbye, and then a request for a 56-question survey.

How will we ever live without that?

[BabaYaga 15,302]

1 minute ago, Dahobbs said:

I'm quite certain we don't want Germany building its sovereignty around national strength again. We've seen that song and dance a few too many times. 

Too late.  Their War Council has already assembled

[South Austin 52,521]

4 minutes ago, Goredho said:

There is a general perception that America is a country divided and China has upped its probing of Taiwan while vocally backing Putin.

It's not a perception.

[BehoId, The Underminer! 11,669]

2 minutes ago, Dahobbs said:

I'm quite certain we don't want Germany building its sovereignty around national strength again. We've seen that song and dance a few too many times. 

 

"Now, I'm not sure how many of you are history buffs . . ."

[Brisketexan 105,161]

I'm quite certain we don't want Germany building its sovereignty around national strength again. We've seen that song and dance a few too many times. 

Fully do so? No. Have them fucking aligned with our adversary for cheap stupid energy? We should have them avoid that.

It's not a perception.

Nope. We have been purposefully weakened by relentless propaganda assaults by adversaries who do not have our best interests in mind. We should stop that shit.

[The Dog 44,066]

4 minutes ago, Dahobbs said:

I'm quite certain we don't want Germany building its sovereignty around national strength again. We've seen that song and dance a few too many times. 

Yeah I was going to say I'm just fine with Germany sitting on the sidelines.

[Dbeasy 15,073]

Putin remaining free to travel under the sanctions is just a way to kidnap him somewhere ala Santa Ana.  The CIA plot crystallizes. JK

[JerrysJheriCurl 977]

DJIA at +1.74%

[Cheeseweasel 26,438]

4 minutes ago, South Austin said:

It's not a perception.

9-11 wasn't long ago. We rally when we need to. It might be time.

[DefinitelyNotHollywoodColt 12,301]

Just now, Cheeseweasel said:

9-11 wasn't long ago. We rally when we need to. It might be time.

time for what? i got a poll for that. put your vote out there.

[BabaYaga 15,302]

1 minute ago, Cheeseweasel said:

9-11 wasn't long ago. We rally when we need to. It might be time.

I don't want another 9-11, but I damn sure want another 9-12 when we came together

[tokamak 6,432]

22 minutes ago, BabaYaga said:

IF these numbers are accurate.  A big IF, this is what seems to be happening to the Russian war machine in Ukraine and WHY no further escalation is needed from the West

12-year-old tokamak definitely paused it on that molten robot titty. Not my proudest fap. Not my least proud, either.

[Cheeseweasel 26,438]

3 minutes ago, DefinitelyNotHollywoodColt said:

time for what? i got a poll for that. put your vote out there.

Keep your pole to yourself, man.

[BehoId, The Underminer! 11,669]

1 minute ago, tokamak said:

12-year-old tokamak definitely paused it on that molten robot titty. Not my proudest fap. Not my least proud, either.

not great, not terrible

[Immaculate Vibes 114]

 

[DigglerontheHoof 21,204]

4 minutes ago, Cheeseweasel said:

9-11 wasn't long ago. We rally when we need to. It might be time.

I still believe this is the case.  

To paraphrase an old redneck patriotic song.  "We may have done a little bit of fightin' 'mungst ourselves but you outside people best leave us alone..."

[52-80 19,191]

work-friend shared that there were lots of choppers pushing close to center of kiev.  russians are really trying to break through.  a lot of the concentration now is from the northern end, from belarus, whereas the first wave were concentrated from east and south. 

he tried to donate at blood bank but they were completely full.

[BabaYaga 15,302]

Fuel dump/depo?

[Nicole44 22,067]

I know Zelenskyy won’t leave or back down and I’ve said I respect him (in awe of him) but this is just heart wrenching as groups are working their way there. Even if they are behind on their objectives so to speak Kyiv will fall soon…

[Brisketexan 105,161]

4 minutes ago, BabaYaga said:

I don't want another 9-11, but I damn sure want another 9-12 when we came together

Good luck with that.  We are still dealing with a threat that killed 300X more Americans than died on 9/11.....and the process of dealing with that threat only divided us further.  We have the expected mouthpieces stating admiration and empathy for our madman adversary as we speak.

We are irreparably broken on this.  I wish we weren't, but we are.

[Immaculate Vibes 114]

Not just high readiness. Very high readiness. 

[DefinitelyNotHollywoodColt 12,301]

6 minutes ago, BabaYaga said:

I don't want another 9-11, but I damn sure want another 9-12 when we came together

what, specifically, do y'all want?

[USNALonghorn 5,078]

2,800 lost on one day is WWII level shit. If the Russians have lost 25% of that figure, they’re severely underperforming.

 

The entire Second Chechen War claimed about 4000 Russian troops.

 

They lost 15000 during their 10 years in Afghanistan.

Edited February 25, 2022 by USNALonghorn

[BabaYaga 15,302]

1 minute ago, Brisketexan said:

Good luck with that.  We are still dealing with a threat that killed 300X more Americans than died on 9/11.....and the process of dealing with that threat only divided us further.  We have the expected mouthpieces stating admiration and empathy for our madman adversary as we speak.

We are irreparably broken on this.  I wish we weren't, but we are.

Poll to formally change Briskets name to Eeyore?

[Brisketexan 105,161]

1 minute ago, Nicole44 said:

I know Zelenskyy won’t leave or back down and I’ve said I respect him (in awe of him) but this is just heart wrenching as groups are working their way there. Even if they are behind on their objectives so to speak Kyiv will fall soon…

Zelensky's job is to stand, fight, and probably, die.  That's how Ukraine ultimately wins -- force Murderous Autocrat Putin to kill women, children, and the duly elected government of Ukraine (including jews, for fuck's sake) to impose his will.  Make Russia a pariah state, AND galvanize the Ukrainian resistance around the cause and its martyrs.

This may be why he was born -- to die in this fight.

[GabrielsHorn 2,186]

 

[BabaYaga 15,302]

1 minute ago, DefinitelyNotHollywoodColt said:

what, specifically, do y'all want?

[SimonBolivar 10,958]

 

[DefinitelyNotHollywoodColt 12,301]

Just now, BabaYaga said:

articulate your position. try it. what do you want us to do?

[troph 24,879]

47 minutes ago, TurkeyChew said:

This is why a segment of the population were disgusted with NATO and other alliances and accords and wanted out or a more limited role; America ends up funding (in money, supplies, people, etc.) and paying the lion share because the rest of the body politic are, as you said, varying degrees of flacid.

Its like America always has to do 90% of the group project but everyone else who barely shows up or helps gets the A and thinks they are smart.

In this instance America is saying, someone else lead and y’all do the work, I’m going to sit back and either a) Europe doesn’t really care about Ukrainians and see them as others/Russians/outside of la familia or b) they are as spineless and financially compromised as we’ve always thought they were.

To me this is a black eye on globalism and shows you why you should have sovereignty built around your national strengths, so you have the autonomy and integrity to do what you want.

except that for all of humanity, one country has ruled. some with allies, some without.  In the modern world that has been the US, prior to that the seas were held by various European factions, fighting all the time.  Now we have seen the greatest prosperity and peace time in Europe that has been seen in 3-4 lifetimes.  I have very little issue with NATO or the US role in NATO. Yes improvements can be made, but we are likely to avoid WW3 simply because the US is the world leader.  We should stay that way for as long as we can, and we should strengthen NATO as much as we can.  Nationalism is very dangerous, it opens up an infinite number of pathways to conflict, where coalitions, allies, NATO, free trade and other aspects of Globalism protect us.  yes Globalism has harmed Germany, but they FAFO with Russia they get cold winters.  Pick better global partners, we've been telling you that.  Nationalism is NOT the answer, in fact it's what has caused this invasion to begin with.

[Nicole44 22,067]

3 minutes ago, Brisketexan said:

Zelensky's job is to stand, fight, and probably, die.  That's how Ukraine ultimately wins -- force Murderous Autocrat Putin to kill women, children, and the duly elected government of Ukraine (including jews, for fuck's sake) to impose his will.  Make Russia a pariah state, AND galvanize the Ukrainian resistance around the cause and its martyrs.

This may be why he was born -- to die in this fight.

Understood. It’s just heartbreaking…

[Brisketexan 105,161]

4 minutes ago, BabaYaga said:

Poll to formally change Briskets name to Eeyore?

Fair.  If you want to change it "Eeyore, but sadly correct more often than he's been wrong," I'd entertain that request.

[Murfdogg21 4,413]

6 minutes ago, Immaculate Vibes said:

Not just high readiness. Very high readiness. 

Oh great, the French will lead the military assault. What time is the unconditional European surrender scheduled?

[52-80 19,191]

5 minutes ago, DefinitelyNotHollywoodColt said:

what, specifically, do y'all want?

principled actions: e.g. if you threaten sanction, then go whole ho;  no exemptions and asterisks.

[ShaggyBevo RIP 3,868]

52 minutes ago, Handcruser said:

I’m sure their document to join is hot off the printer and ready to go. All they need to do is “sign here”.

PDF and Docusign.

[phdhorn 6,224]

4 minutes ago, Brisketexan said:

Zelensky's job is to stand, fight, and probably, die. 

Agree w' the first 2, maybe not the last.  He's proving to have a lot of guts, and winning the population over big time (soooo much unlike many of his goofy predecessors, er the ones not poisoned).   I think it would be a real morale shatterer if he's killed.  I hope he accepts exile and continues to be seen.. a huge motivation for the people.  He's already proven himself to me.

[ShaggyBevo RIP 3,868]

53 minutes ago, StruggleBus said:

If the US had another draft, I'm curious if male hipsters would be considered eligible. 

Just call it the Hemingway experience and they'll be there in droves.

[hookemATL 11,789]

1 minute ago, ShaggyBevo RIP said:

PDF and Docusign.

link has expired.  please resend. 

[troph 24,879]

51 minutes ago, phdhorn said:

Part of this is a not-yet-had conversation in here about the deep-seated, centuries-old nationalistic tendencies among European countries to think and do stuff that largely isn't perceived/understood by Americans.  I'm no Europolitik expert (though I did sleep in a Holiday Inn) but I've traveled enough in Europe to know that there exists these unspoken nationalistic tendencies, driven by almost ancient zeitgeists.  And though the younger generations might seem to be less autonomous in their world views, I think a lot of it still comes into play even for them.  I.e. when I said to my Hungarian grandmother in 1989 that Eastern Europe (and Hungary) was finally (sorta anyway) free, the first thing she said is, "those goddamn Romanians are going to try to take us over!" and she had been in the USA for 60 years at that point.  I don't think it's just racial or ethnic hatreds (though that's part of it), I think some of it is some sort of self-identity or something.  This might explain in part why Germans don't seem to be too worked up about all this, or even that Ukranians weren't all that outraged before the invasion (I heard a lot of "Russians are our cohorts, they won't attack us") etc.  It's a conversation that isn't easy to pinpoint, but sometimes Euros act "weird" to Americans (never mind vice-versa), hence the Italian P.M. sending out that "well, except for ..." memo.  I think Putin knows this sense of fierce European autonomy and gambled that that, not NATO, would be the ruling sentiment.  Perhaps he was somewhat right, I don't know.  But I think Europe sort of fatalistically doesn't see this as shocking as say we do.

Now if they go into a NATO country, all bets are off, and Russia will cease to exist while inflicting little damage back - unless somehow they get China onboard militarily, which I don't see at all at least now. IMHO about all this, anyway...

yeah, and I get not letting Central European armies develop, that could be a recipe for disaster in that nationalistic way, my problem is the lack of strong rhetoric, lack of strong resolve on sanctions and mostly because of the business ties to Russia.  I don't think we need Germany to spend 50% more on their military budget, as much as we need them to sit down and shut up and say what we tell them to say when European sovereignty is at stake.

[DefinitelyNotHollywoodColt 12,301]

Just now, 52-80 said:

principled actions: e.g. if you threaten sanction, then go whole ho;  no exemptions and asterisks.

i don't think severe sanctions get anything done unfortunately. but i agree, you at least make them as severe as possible.

but @BabaYaga, what specifically do you think we should do? @Cheeseweasel?

[Eastwood 4,394]

Fair.  If you want to change it "Eeyore, but sadly correct more often than he's been wrong," I'd entertain that request.

PrescientEeyore?

[Brisketexan 105,161]

1 minute ago, phdhorn said:

Agree w' the first 2, maybe not the last.  He's proving to have a lot of guts, and winning the population over big time (soooo much unlike many of his goofy predecessors, er the ones not poisoned).   I think it would be a real morale shatterer if he's killed.  I hope he accepts exile and continues to be seen.. a huge motivation for the people.  He's already proven himself to me.

Oh, he shouldn't stand out there with a target on his chest.  He should fall back strategically the best he can.  But she should fucking lead like a motherfucker.  He has impressed in this moment.  Whatever the ultimate outcome, his legacy is a proud and honorable one.

Fuck Putin in the goatass.

[Brisketexan 105,161]

1 minute ago, DefinitelyNotHollywoodColt said:

i don't think severe sanctions get anything done unfortunately. but i agree, you at least make them as severe as possible.

but @BabaYaga, what specifically do you think we should do? @Cheeseweasel?

I'll tell you one thing we need to do: equip Ukrainians abroad with weapons.  I'm sure we have some anti-shipping mines (including satchel-type mines that can be affixed to a ship by divers), and there are some PADI-certified Ukrainians in Spain and the Netherlands who would like nothing more than to sink some oligarch yachts.  Equip Ukrainians abroad to take the fight to the oligarchs.  That's what I think we should do.

[troph 24,879]

46 minutes ago, Don Johnson said:

 

good for us, I don't think I've seen any of those here, maybe one?  the China explosion, can't tell.

[Constant 6,748]

 

[hookemATL 11,789]

2 minutes ago, Brisketexan said:

Oh, he shouldn't stand out there with a target on his chest.  He should fall back strategically the best he can.  But she should fucking lead like a motherfucker.  He has impressed in this moment.  Whatever the ultimate outcome, his legacy is a proud and honorable one.

Fuck Putin in the goatass.

ive heard the guy does PERFECT phone calls as well.  What a badass!

[DefinitelyNotHollywoodColt 12,301]

Just now, Brisketexan said:

I'll tell you one thing we need to do: equip Ukrainians abroad with weapons.  I'm sure we have some anti-shipping mines (including satchel-type mines that can be affixed to a ship by divers), and there are some PADI-certified Ukrainians in Spain and the Netherlands who would like nothing more than to sink some oligarch yachts.  Equip Ukrainians abroad to take the fight to the oligarchs.  That's what I think we should do.

you crazy bastard. i like the way you think.

[phdhorn 6,224]

1 minute ago, troph said:

yeah, and I get not letting Central European armies develop, that could be a recipe for disaster in that nationalistic way, my problem is the lack of strong rhetoric, lack of strong resolve on sanctions and mostly because of the business ties to Russia.  I don't think we need Germany to spend 50% more on their military budget, as much as we need them to sit down and shut up and say what we tell them to say when European sovereignty is at stake.

You make good points for sure, and I don't really know on one level why that wouldn't be tried.  I'm trying to walk a tightrope here, I'm not excusing Euro countries of being too self-centered, but I do know that no other area in the world has such tight-quartered, very different cultural mentalities all squeezed within a very small area relatively speaking, and from millenia of "kill or be killed" I try to understand their point of view, which is something like "preserve us first, or there's nothing to preserve" - and this isn't just IMO but from doing my cultural studies in my academics.  However, I don't know how much the "modern age" has changed this but I do think it's very hard for us to understand why many of these Euro countries say... "well HELL YEAH!  Er, but first, well except for this..." but I do think it has some roots in the geopolitik I mentioned earlier.  I guess the carrot I'm giving them is they've been decimated so much in the last 110 years that it's natural for them to seek their own self-preservation.

I'm not saying it's right, but it's something not intrinsically understood by Americans - in my opinion.  Shrug?