Originally posted by Syntonic
Now in recent decades you have people like George Soros who has tried twice I believe to cripple Russias economy buying up the currency and devaluing it.
What? That makes no sense. That's not how currency markets work. One cannot buy up a currency and then devalue it. That's not possible.
He also does not say in that interview that he has tried to cripple any economy. He literally says he tried to convince the US government to help the Russian economy in the late 90s and that he lost $2 billion betting on the Russian economy.
I won't try to defend everything Soros has done over the decades, but he has donated billions of dollars to charities and has tried to better the world. He's not trying to hurt the Russian people.
itsamemario
Voldemort ZLadinsky has been thinking he was getting tactical support from me; Turns out, me being Death and all, he was talking to ANne Frank who hat teamed up with some of the higher-up Nazis, just walking them into slaughters... ITs ing hilarious! ITs Anne Franks war... Pretty sure she was behind the radioactive leak from the sarcophagus that got all the soldiers stationed around Pripyat (or is that the name of that indian porn star?) all ghoulified and radioactive. HIlarity ensues. This is gonna hit the fan HĊĊĊĊĊĊĊRD. Just wait until Biden and Merkels involvment will be uncovered - Its ALL recorded in nearly every energy being in the universe. Not the end of the world, just the end of the 1 per centers.
Midlothian
u ok hun
itsamemario
quote:
Originally posted by Midlothian
u ok hun
no they borged me while i was getting christian as a 33 and 4 5ths of age and tried to hook me up with illuminati since i was a theologian who got visited by not only the holy spirit but by jesus and the father himself and was given office and authority. said i was "walking with God like Noah and Enoch" and Jesus got all his followers to follow my life, unbeknonst to me.... You know youre famous, for sooomething, when cars stop outside your house, the driver pops out and goes to the kids door and says "okay, come on, lets go see Alf Einar":.. the god dang jews tried to join me in their mafia, and are now using my face to edit people into jeeeeewwwwwww shape, after they scopolomined me into giving them my soul... and I get the punishment..
WASHINGTON DC LIES BETWEEEN MARYLAND AND VIRGINIA--- TAKE AWAY THE -IA IN VIRGINIA AND WHAT DO YOU GET? VIRGIN MARYLAND:... ANd there you go...
THankfully Yeshua bar Yosef is back in Gamblers Anonymous, but not before losing a bet to me...
Alf Einar
Aleph Ayin R(esh)
Lord of Lords and King of Kings
Motherfuccccckkeeeeeeeers!!!!! :toothless
JEO
Another brilliant source for Lira to cite.
Maybe Roger would've needed that education after all.
Lira
JEO
I think Putin's looked much more healthy recently. Wishful thinking on our part to think he'd throw his spoon in the corner anytime soon.
What do y'all think of the recent Ukrainian developments? It seems they've regained quite a lot of ground, but can this really be a turning-point in the war (edit: for the better)? I'm a bit pessimistic. I don't think the Russian mobilization will necessarily change things much, but I do think the humiliation Putin's suffered now will push him to even more desperate measures, like a tactical nuke that was even mentioned here before.
SYSTEM-J
I actually think it is a turning point, although I'm not sure where that turn leads us. It was obvious within a couple of months that Russia could not "win" the war in its original definition: the complete occupation of Ukraine. Since then Russia has been steadily reducing its own stated objectives, but the counter-attack in the north east and the subsequent attempt to illegally annexe the captured territories turned things in the other way: Russia is now fighting a defensive war to hold the territory it has gained. And at present it's losing that war.
The mobilisation isn't going to change anything. It might actually make things worse. Russia's problem is that its forces are poorly trained, poorly equipped but especially that they are poorly motivated. Shambolically drafted conscripts are not going to solve any of those problems. Let's be clear: Russia's recent losses are because its ground forces are being routed, not destroyed. Their morale is collapsing so completely in combat that they are fleeing the battlefield. Their troops don't want to fight. Numerical superiority cannot overcome that.
I don't know if Ukraine has the combat power to retake and hold everything it's lost. But I can realistically envisage a scenario where the Russian army collapses completely as an effective combat force.
As for the use of tactical nuclear weapons, the Institute for the Study of War pointed out the following yesterday:
quote:
The Russian military in its current state is almost certainly unable to operate on a nuclear battlefield even though it has the necessary equipment and has historically trained its units to do so. The chaotic agglomeration of exhausted contract soldiers, hastily mobilized reservists, conscripts, and mercenaries that currently comprise the Russian ground forces could not function in a nuclear environment. Any areas affected by Russian tactical nuclear weapons would thus be impassable for the Russians, likely precluding Russian advances. This consideration is another factor that reduces the likelihood of Russian tactical nuclear weapons use.
In other words, a waste of time except as a weapon of pure terror.
_Ocean_Drive_
I find the term 'tactical' nuke, an oxymoron. There is nothing 'tactical' about a nuke; it's a brute-force indiscriminate WMD. Safe to say that if Russia did use it, Large swathes of Russia would be molten glass and this conversation null and void.
In any case, I think he'll croak or be assassinated before too long. The only scary thing is, if he is suicidal or genuinely does have something terminal, and doesn't care if he takes the rest of the world with him. 'That' is a scary prospect.
Incidentally, if anyone is a keen reader, I strongly suggest Bill Browder's books, particularly the latest one - 'Freezing Order'.
JEO
There's been some interesting, albeit perhaps quite unrealistic, speculation about what the "power vacuum" followed by the possible total collapse of the Russian military would lead to. Some see China using the situation to their advantage, which I also think is definitely gonna happen. Surprisingly many see Russia disintegrating into lots of smaller countries, which I guess is based on the assumption that it's mostly been the illusion of Russia being a military superpower that's held the tattered giant together. Realistically, I think there are one or two small areas that could break into their own independent countries, were there to be a total collapse. I don't think many of the areas that used to be something else than Russia have many non-Russians left there to drive this sort of change, but who knows?
quote:
Originally posted by _Ocean_Drive_
I find the term 'tactical' nuke, an oxymoron.
I did too, but prompted by what you said, I read about the term on Wikipedia and I guess it makes sense to differentiate a "battlefield nuke" from one that has a broader strategic purpose, like destroying military-industrial facilities far behind enemy lines.
I don't see him being assassinated though, and I've given up on the hope that he's just going to up and die all of a sudden. What I think is going to happen is that some hard-liner is going to oust him the Russian way, and we'll actually end up "missing" Putin. Putin will have a semi-dignified exit and his successor is responsible for paving his way into a trouble-free time for the rest of his life.
SYSTEM-J
From my perspective, when I talk about the military "collapsing", I mean more in terms of being able to carry out combat ops. The US military was on the verge of doing the same in Vietnam. Morale was so low that refusal to follow orders and open insurrection were commonplace, until the US was forced into face-saving withdrawal.
Tactical nuclear weapons certainly exist, but until now their use has been entirely theoretical, because the assumption is generally that the other side would be part of a nuclear pact and so their use would turn into a full blown nuclear exchange. It's a sign of how pathetically Russia's army is performing that they're even talking about having to resort to nuclear weapons to win a conventional shooting war against a much smaller country.
Lira
quote:
quote:
Originally posted by JEO
Do you really want to see Russia collapse? I'd be more cautious with wishes like that." Just spare me from the world-hugging already when the subject is Russia. Half of Europe's been waiting for this cancer to go into remission for centuries, and your anti-US isn't helping at all.
quote:
Originally posted by JEO
Realistically, I think there are one or two small areas that could break into their own independent countries, were there to be a total collapse.
[...]
What I think is going to happen is that some hard-liner is going to oust him the Russian way, and we'll actually end up "missing" Putin.
Oh, look who's spouting "anti-US " now. And missing Putin, really? Add quotes all you want, but if you're going to act all indignant, at least have some consistency.
Or better yet, just go back to posting unrelated YouTube videos to make yourself feel better. You're definitely in a position to judge Roger Waters' education, as shown here
