BruceVC

I think he is the first British person killed in the military conflict in Ukraine . It was on Sky News so it must matter

https://news.yahoo.com/british-man-killed-second-missing-150026787.html?fr=sycsrp_catchall Sad news, a British man has been killed in Ukraine People like him from all countries will be remembered as soldiers who lost their lives in the fight against tyranny and in support of the Ukrainian people. A brave and honorable man

That cant be true....can it? Thats one of the funniest things I have ever heard because it just represents perfectly some of Russia's citizens indifference and callousness

Thanks Elerond, thats a much better response to Darks point than I could think of

I was hoping you werent going to say that ....its a good point and I need sometime to do some research. Let me back to you about this

Oh I think I understand your point, are you concerned with the way Russian assets and Russian companies have been targeted and or sanctioned by the West and their allies. Its a simple criticism to the term " weaponization of the dollar " Is that you mean and if so yes I agree some of the sanctions may seem unfair and extreme but individual countries can enforce these types of sanctions legally For example in the US the decision to freeze Russian Central Bank using dollars I am sure had full Congress approval so its not illegal

What do you mean by " Russia didnt attack any countries or seize the assets " ....they invaded Ukraine and decided to unilaterally recreate the borders of a sovereign country Thats why their are Western sanctions against them, what do you mean by "unilatteral decision to ban trading"

Yes I agree, Putins War has demonstrated the Ruskies cant be trusted with legal documents or rather to honor them. The latest example of this is cutting energy to Poland and Bulgaria because of demands they must pay in Rubles but the agreed on, Russian signed legal document, says only $ and Euros are accepted currency The West should seize and auction all Russian Oligarch assets they can and give the money to Ukraine to assist and ameliorate the terrible suffering of the Ukrainian people

I have been following this on numerous international news channels, the killing of Ukrainian civilians and abuse of Ukrainian captured soldiers is much worse and widespread than I thought Some of the Russian military are acting in a more barbaric and inhumane way than I could have ever thought possible Their is definitely a case of War Crimes to be answered to on a myriad of different examples

Im not surprised the US economy contracted by 1.4%. The world has faced for 2 years unhelpful economic global lockdowns, global inflation from these lockdowns and then Putins War So yes I dont expect many countries GDP globally to grow in the next 2-3 quarters?

I was about to ask you what you mean but yes Im guilty of tautology, I should have said " Their have historically within the Russian Empire been some of the worst examples of pogroms against Jews seen anywhere in the world " Well spotted

Yes their was when the " evil, Western, Capitalist" countries were fighting the Nazi But if the Nazis had won WW2 their would only be the Third Reich and their ideology and no more " evil, Western, Capitalist " countries left because everyone would have acquiesced to their views And I dont consider the Nazi view of the world to be remotely similar to the current ideology of Western countries which are based on Constitutional Democracies Thats what I meant by no more " evil, Western, Capitalist " ideology

Absolutely agree, the contribution the likes of Robert Oppenheimer made towards ensuring the Allies victory is immeasurable because if the Nazi had developed Nukes first their appalling ideological views would be what we would all be living under No BLM and other social protests would be tolerated and their would be no " evil, Western, Capitalist " rhetoric because the views of minorities and SJ activists dont exist in the Nazi world view

Who do you typically vote for in Oz elections? I dont know much about the Oz political parties left or right leanings so if you can explain your reasons that would be great...just a summary, not too much detail

Russia has always had a love\hate relationship with Russian Jews and their important contribution towards the country Their have historically within the Russian Empire been some of the worst examples of pogroms against Russian Jews seen anywhere in the world https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pogroms_in_the_Russian_Empire And I read a fascinating book called "Stalin and the Scientists " which discusses the important scientific role Russian Jews made towards the technological advancements of the USSR but still they were treated really badly within the Soviet leadership structures, I recommend this book to understand this reality that existed within USSR https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stalin_and_the_Scientists But nowadays Russia under Putin is rife with all forms of bigoty and its institutionalized in certain cases. And whats different about the bigotry you see in Russia compared to Western countries is their is no free media to hold people accountable or raise visibility and the Russian government doesn't care about it

Were you surprised by the war crimes committed by the Russian army in Ukraine? Im taking about the mass rape, bombing of civilian buildings and execution of hundreds\thousands of civilians with their hands tied behind their backs Or were you not surprised ?

He was executed by the new Iraqi government in 2006 and their was lots of fake news around this like he was found hiding in a hole in his underwear. But Im surprised anyone would feel aggrieved by how he was treated or arrested. Saddam Hussein was responsible for the deaths of tens of thousands of Iraqis, Iranians and Kurds during his dictatorship. He used chemical weapons against the Kurds and Iranians. Our sympathy should be for his victims https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Execution_of_Saddam_Hussein

Great answer Gorthfuscious , I was just checking because you not an Oz citizen yet and you dont want to be seen as opposed to the Oz political system. We can now tick that box on your application form.....you passed

@Gorth do you support the Oz system of mandatory voting?

GD thats a good point, what would you do then?

More Americans came out to vote in the 2020 election than any other as far as I remember....but at the least it was 60% or so of the total population Americans can vote by post and vote weeks in advance in many states under certain circumstances. Voting is not hard in the US despite what you may believe. It just requires some effort

Geez, no need to shout and get so mad at me I was just saying the Wests economy hasnt crashed and Russia is about to enter dark economic times in the next 2-3 quarters , dont blame me...blame Putins War

I absolutely support mandatory voting. In many Western countries you have this voting apathy and basically where people get a public holiday to vote but still refuse to vote But you will find these same people complaining about inequality. If you dont vote you shouldnt complain about the reality of the state of your country In SA we only have 55% of people who vote and 60% of young people simply dont bother to vote yet its often the young people who are most entitled and demand jobs and policy changes

Welcome back Dark " waves" Ive missed your comments . No need to worry, we still not seeing the collapse of the US economy and the EU By the way did you read this link, this is the coming reality for the Russian economy. This should concern you immensely https://english.elpais.com/economy-and-business/2022-04-19/russias-central-bank-says-that-the-economy-will-plummet-in-the-second-trimester-and-putin-is-ignoring-the-warning.html

This is exactly what I would expect from the EU sanctions due to Putins War Its for security reasons I imagine, how do you know we can trust that Russian tree? Maybe it says " I am doing a tree training exercise " and suddenly ...BOOM !!! It invades the garden next door and then says its not a tree invasion but merely a " special root operation " Its best for everyone that all Russian trees are disqualified because we just cant trust them