BruceVC

Are you guys doing a "discuss the event " with your students so they understand this invasion, I would love to hear what the kids think and it aligns to the Cold War with the reality of Russia and this Ukraine crisis? So the US involvement is history in the making. And when I say event I am not suggesting you should change the curriculum of the current history subjects, dont worry I am talking about that " discuss the event " you arranged where you discussed how the US had killed those Afghans in an accidental drone strike or something similar (I dont remember the exact details )

This has been a very informative post and I wish you had explained this earlier when I asked. I realized I didnt know part of your history with him because I do read your posts and I do remember most of them because I have a semi-photographic memory and its helpful most of the time. But sometimes its a little frustrating because I see some patterns in your posts when we having random chats and these patterns aren't necessarily intentional so I realize its because I dont know your history and now I understand. I dont have these types of connections to Putin and Im interested And you also right about other comments like " its easier to negotiate and understand Russia than China " and thats absolutely right This invasion doesn't change that And Gorth I hold you in high regard and I would be shocked to hear you use Comrade words like " champion of Democracy " ....

The likelihood of Putin ever using nukes is 1% or so but the reality is you will feel anxiety because its something that is real and then what doesnt help in the media coverage is headlines like " Nuclear plant: How dangerous was the attack and what is the risk in Ukraine " https://www.bbc.com/news/world-60609633

If you guys are looking for any advice or coping mechanism around how the nuclear holocaust threat is causing anxiety let me know. I have had PTSD twice and I know thats not what you experiencing but its symptoms can be similar And something else, I have never known the 3 of you to share the same reasonable concerns and anxiety. Its normal and the fact you mentioned it is a good step, you must accept it because it is something real and dont think its silly

@Gorth Putin has now passed this law to persecute anyone in the media for negative or false news ....I think its time we both acknowledged that Putin doesn't believe in any Democrat principles and is a tyrant

Dark can you quickly explain something, are all the Slavs in the East European countries from the same Slavic group ? And are the Slavs in Russian the same as the Ukrainian ?

NATO is definitely out the question but do feel the pressure on Western countries to do more, I have stopped watching on DSTV for while because its a little depressing I have wondered for any years how you can remove Putin because he is not good for Russia and the right thing to do is let the Russian people have a better leader. I couldn't think of anything reasonable but he has created his own problems

I have learnt a lot about Trump now and what motivates him and how he can be used to push through certain agendas but the thought of him for another 4 years its not something I want to experience again. The Trump presidency had some good policies like the trade war with China to confirm how China can be challenged and the tax cuts had some good outcomes But I dont think Biden should stand for another term, I would support Hilary Clinton? I think she was treated very badly last time and she deserves it after everything she has done for the US Would you support her?

Its just raises the reality of how most of the world thinks and even though Putin may not care its never nice to see how many countries dont you support you and they dont agree with the Russian facts. I feel sorry for normal Russian citizens and Ukrainians who really have friendships Sarex would you accept EU membership without any prerequisites?

I can understand how all Ukrainians must be feeling but their are several things NATO cant do and this keeps getting asked in the media and its makes NATO uncomfortable They cant enforce a no fly zone because this may lead to direct confrontation with Russia. What about the Ukrainians surrendering to avoid further bloodshed ? Let the sanctions do their job I realize it sound like a cowardly choice but you can get the country back later, the West is behind Ukraine and they will be supported ?

Gorthfuscious I had a feeling you were going to call me out on that...I was really expecting it But what I mean is I dont support politicians who lie around corruption or self-interest at the expense of the country but this was a harmless lie about people in Downing Street who all had to work together the whole time of the pandemic while the rest of us sat safely at home. Many people in his team got sick and Im sure some died because this was before vaccines in 2020 So let them have a party together, why do other people care unless you were also forced to work and can you tell me that no one from that group ever broke the rules ? The UK media is always very harsh and critical of their politicians if things go even slightly wrong and you presented with an opportunity to attack the current PM. Its the same as most of the media support around UK sports teams, if they lose 1-2 games in a cricket, rugby or football match the targeted team suddenly comes vilified and criticized from all sides

Yes I trust him on most things but not when he says " we didnt have parties during Covid " But he played a huge and constructive role in getting the UK out of the EU and the Conservatives won that vote overwhelmingly that made BREXIT easier so clearly many people in the UK use to trust him as well To be fair to Boris Johnson I think he gets unfairly criticized on certain things like the parties

I am glad you posted this because I agree with almost everything they say and the reality of Russias technical default is guaranteed. I must apologize and take back what I said when I suggested " zerohedge cant be trusted " because these articles confirm they can with certain views and predictions Tyler makes I would disagree that the oil price is definitely going to get to $150-$200 but its possible but we cant say its certain I hope you accept my apology and I hope we still getting married when I come to Poland for a visit

I thought it seemed incomplete because you should realistically also remove Venezuela and Iran from that list until their current political reality change And now that you mentioned this they also ignoring the US. Thanks for the important feedback, I was sent this and I was sharing it so I need to let people know its incomplete

@Elerond and others Here is an interesting image of where the EU can source new energy from once it starts removing itself from dependency of Russian gas and or other energy

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/russia-ukraine-ruble-sanctions/ https://www.cnbc.com/2022/03/01/russia-stock-etfs-continue-plunge-with-stock-market-closed.html I have decided to not update this thread on a daily basis with another reality of the damage done to the Russian economy because its too much data. I will do it on a weekly basis But latest news is the Ruble is now worth less than 1 cent to the $ and the Russian stock exchange was closed for another day yesterday to prevent the mass selling we will see once it reopens

They also have a military presence in several African countries where they currently propping up the government of Mali which was involved in coup. This coup in Mali has been criticized by African leadership but nothing has really been done about. Its easier for the AU to condemn racism on the borders of Poland and Hungary than to deal with the actual problems on the continent that lead to the citizens of about 10-12 Africans countries living in failed states and having no future....but at least these countries dont have racism http://saharareporters.com/2022/02/04/russian-mercenaries-supporting-mali’s-military-government-they’ll-worsen-situation-–-us

https://www.bloombergquint.com/markets/russia-bonds-now-junk-set-to-reel-from-central-bank-sanctions And this financial article says the war chest is $1 Trillion and $300 billion is stored in foreign exchanges So we dont know for certain its true size and how much is in $ But we do know for sure the Russian economy is crashing and the $ sanctions on the Russian central bank means it cant trade in $ which has additional unprecedented and deep long term consequence. To quote from the link He estimated that about $300 billion is held in foreign-exchange swaps and deposits in foreign banks, and could be potentially trapped by sanctions. That may further restrict the country’s ability to access funds. Sanctioning central bank reserves can turn a surplus agent into a deficit agent overnight,” Pozsar wrote in a separate note Sunday. “The Bank of Russia has neither Treasuries to repo with the new FIMA repo facility, nor dollar swap lines with the Fed, and if its assets are frozen, it can’t raise dollars to provide for its domestic banks.”

Please tell me she was at least hot?

I wish the Russians were still like that and cared about the deaths of civilians, I wonder why they changed like how they killed brown people in Syria?

Thanks, so I was wrong. We have still been killing each other since WW2, my mistake

Yes Bosnia and Kosovo count, you right But Im not saying millions of dead Africans and Asians dont count. Those are separate wars to this Ukraine invasion

Really, when was the last war between Europeans ?

No their is a split and people who arent sycophants of Trump

Dont take him seriously, Zora is just repeating some exaggerated false narrative that has nothing to do with most peoples concern about this invasion Their were maybe 3 reporters who made stupid comments like " I cant handle seeing white people with blue eyes killing each other " .....WFT ?? Thats one of the dumbest things I have ever heard of and its historically inaccurate. We have been killing each other for the last 2000 years and only just stopped after WW2 I have watched literally dozens of journalists covering this invasion and no one has said anything even remotely like that because this is not about that. The reaction is about Putin and how he has gone too far and thats what this is about...its not about " white people getting bombed instead of brown people "