mtn said:fasted58 said:Did Lindsey Graham just call for the assassination of Putin ? WTF
About time that dude showed some balls and said something that wasn't incredibly dumb.
Sure would be nice if politicians could generally STFU, nevermind before they say something stupid...
mtn said:fasted58 said:Did Lindsey Graham just call for the assassination of Putin ? WTF
About time that dude showed some balls and said something that wasn't incredibly dumb.
I think the whole world would be happy, including the majority of Russians, if Putin permanently stopped breathing. The problem is dead people have a bad habit of becoming martyrs and a symbolic rallying point for those of like minds. I'd rather see him hauled in front of the Huage then put behind bars in super max (does the international court have a super max? I honestly don't know where they keep peeps tried and sentenced there?) with no outgoing access to the media for the rest of his sorry ass life while getting newspapers outlining how his ill gotten fortune is being redistributed as reparations.
Like all the ones shouting to remove Russian products from shelves. They don't make much, White House already slapped a massive sanction, and the things they are already paid for, so you're just trying to look good for the primaries.
In reply to GIRTHQUAKE :
Come on, we've done so well at keeping this non (US) political. Why throw that E36 M3 out? The sanctions ARE working, look at the instant effect on the Russian economy. Some people just can't bear to say anything good, correction, non negative, about the other side.
This is an idea many of us have tossed around, though honestly it's badly written and short on details: https://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2022/03/04/fighting_tigers_in_ukraine_erik_princes_rejected_lend-lease_air_force__147288.html
My son asked if Ukraine could afford to have Blackwater type companies come in as a professional assist.
I didn't have an answer.
With the Russians actually attacking a nuclear power plant, I felt this was appropriate.
Just a reminder, we are the first mammals to wear pants.
QuasiMofo (John Brown) said:My son asked if Ukraine could afford to have Blackwater type companies come in as a professional assist.
I didn't have an answer.
It's my understanding that our Nato friends have quietly made these arrangements. Russian solider statements mentioned the surprising amount of non-ukranian defenders they encountered. There are also a number of pictures of US and EMEA Merc types headed in and positing on social media. All unofficial of course but I think this is a brilliant way to put a finger on the scale without crossing the line and being directly involved.
In reply to 84FSP :
I thought Triple Canopy (Academi/Blackwater) had a pretty self sufficient air corps already.
02Pilot said:Rather than attempting to find the right analogy, allow me to offer a generic scenario that may help to think about policy options (and that's really what this is all about). I'm going to radically simplify the scenario for clarity. All countries mentioned share borders.
Country A is a dictatorship that has lost power, status, and territory in recent decades through a combination of non-war circumstances. It is still militarily powerful, but its economy is in bad shape. Current leadership wishes to arrest, and if possible reverse, the decline, while retaining power. It sees the realignment of Country B as potentially threatening its hold on power.
Country B was formerly part of Country A, but is now independent. It is the smallest of the three countries, and has limited resources. It was politically aligned with Country A previously, but recently shifted its orientation to Country C.
Country C is the strongest of the three countries, and has a liberal democratic, market-based system. It has steadily grown in recent decades, largely at the expense of Country A, and wishes to continue this trend by aligning with Country B. Though it has substantial military power, it has not shown a willingness to use it.
If you were in the position of Country A's leadership, what would you do to achieve your objectives? What options do you have available? What are your alternatives?
Economic and political treaty with the three countries designed to help each other and eliminate losing territory of any of them. Start from there, negotiate to something acceptable for all.
Don't fight for a bigger piece of the pie. Double the radius of the pie so your slice is bigger. Then cut up the pie into other slices and sell those slices to other people.
stroker said:mtn said:fasted58 said:Did Lindsey Graham just call for the assassination of Putin ? WTF
About time that dude showed some balls and said something that wasn't incredibly dumb.
Sure would be nice if politicians could generally STFU, nevermind before they say something stupid...
He's human click-bait. Says anything to get attention, but there's nothing of substance behind it.
GIRTHQUAKE said:In reply to Boost_Crazy :
I think that's pretty decent, but I'd like to add something-
China's mindset is one of payback, and it's felt nationwide. They refer to the ages when the West addicted them to Opium until the defeat of the Kuminotang as "The Years of Shame", and consider their toppling of the West's power to be an already foregone conclusion- that this century is a mere lead-up. Even though reality of china's finances and birth rate says otherwise, that nation will absolutely wait more than 100 years for this. Their nation is one that didn't see serious external conflict for thousands of years, so they think in terms of thousands of years. TOTALLY agree on Taiwan tho; China is running in overdrive to try and prop up the image that Ukraine is little more than a "Western Puppet".
I'm two pages behind, I can't spend all day on the internet, but how did the west create addicts to a drug from their own region of the world?
That's like saying I'm an alcoholic because there is a liquor store down the street. That doesn't add up, to me anyway.
Interesting video on Putin, oligarchs and their relationship to soccer as well as other dictators.
z31maniac said:GIRTHQUAKE said:In reply to Boost_Crazy :
I think that's pretty decent, but I'd like to add something-
China's mindset is one of payback, and it's felt nationwide. They refer to the ages when the West addicted them to Opium until the defeat of the Kuminotang as "The Years of Shame", and consider their toppling of the West's power to be an already foregone conclusion- that this century is a mere lead-up. Even though reality of china's finances and birth rate says otherwise, that nation will absolutely wait more than 100 years for this. Their nation is one that didn't see serious external conflict for thousands of years, so they think in terms of thousands of years. TOTALLY agree on Taiwan tho; China is running in overdrive to try and prop up the image that Ukraine is little more than a "Western Puppet".
I'm two pages behind, I can't spend all day on the internet, but how did the west create addicts to a drug from their own region of the world?
That's like saying I'm an alcoholic because there is a liquor store down the street. That doesn't add up, to me anyway.
History Matters "clif notes" video - Part 1
The "century of humiliation" part is somewhat noteworthy.
In reply to Mr_Asa :
Not an unreasonable approach, but with decades of water under the bridge, it's awfully difficult to convince the country that's lost out that you have their best interests in mind. At the outset, well, that's a different story.
Mr_Asa said:02Pilot said:Rather than attempting to find the right analogy, allow me to offer a generic scenario that may help to think about policy options (and that's really what this is all about). I'm going to radically simplify the scenario for clarity. All countries mentioned share borders.
Country A is a dictatorship that has lost power, status, and territory in recent decades through a combination of non-war circumstances. It is still militarily powerful, but its economy is in bad shape. Current leadership wishes to arrest, and if possible reverse, the decline, while retaining power. It sees the realignment of Country B as potentially threatening its hold on power.
Country B was formerly part of Country A, but is now independent. It is the smallest of the three countries, and has limited resources. It was politically aligned with Country A previously, but recently shifted its orientation to Country C.
Country C is the strongest of the three countries, and has a liberal democratic, market-based system. It has steadily grown in recent decades, largely at the expense of Country A, and wishes to continue this trend by aligning with Country B. Though it has substantial military power, it has not shown a willingness to use it.
If you were in the position of Country A's leadership, what would you do to achieve your objectives? What options do you have available? What are your alternatives?
Economic and political treaty with the three countries designed to help each other and eliminate losing territory of any of them. Start from there, negotiate to something acceptable for all.
Don't fight for a bigger piece of the pie. Double the radius of the pie so your slice is bigger. Then cut up the pie into other slices and sell those slices to other people.
The mentality, though: If someone else has a big piece of pie, that is pie that you could be having but don't, and that chaps all the ass.
QuasiMofo (John Brown) said:Thinking out loud.
Globally one trend I despise is "cancel culture". In my opinion it has created a space where a person (entity, company, et al) are punished for missed steps and teachable errors.
We are about to witness a temporary change in my opinion on this.
The one thing that 21st century leadership is truly not prepared for is the retribution of a globally sourced cancel culture. The Oligarchs are starting to see it come into view but the politicians are far too self absorbed to be bothered by it.
The west has come together on the side of Ukraine and God help those that feel that Putin is righteous in his actions, this new world will make their existence very complicated.
I think this is the biggest impact from the entire war. When I heard sanctions, I thought to myself "How much will that really help?" The world has really come together to make it difficult on Russia and it's awe inspiring to see. Granted, Russia is still somewhat self sufficient and there's always the nuclear option, but I hope the globalization of our world today will prevent any World War scale of combat forever.
-Rob
I had a good discussion with some folks about the topic of "Could Russia Be a Top 10 Economy If Not For Putin and Oligarchs?"
I got some interesting responses, most notable is the theory of "The Resource Curse" - that countries heavy on natural resources actually struggle for stability moreso than countries with few natural resources.
The general idea is that Russia may always struggle because its resources are "the easy button" and those who control them will control the economy, control politics, and limit growth or outside investment.
rob_lewis said:QuasiMofo (John Brown) said:Thinking out loud.
Globally one trend I despise is "cancel culture". In my opinion it has created a space where a person (entity, company, et al) are punished for missed steps and teachable errors.
We are about to witness a temporary change in my opinion on this.
The one thing that 21st century leadership is truly not prepared for is the retribution of a globally sourced cancel culture. The Oligarchs are starting to see it come into view but the politicians are far too self absorbed to be bothered by it.
The west has come together on the side of Ukraine and God help those that feel that Putin is righteous in his actions, this new world will make their existence very complicated.
I think this is the biggest impact from the entire war. When I heard sanctions, I thought to myself "How much will that really help?" The world has really come together to make it difficult on Russia and it's awe inspiring to see. Granted, Russia is still somewhat self sufficient and there's always the nuclear option, but I hope the globalization of our world today will prevent any World War scale of combat forever.
The Western world has come together. The world's two most populous states, both nuclear powers, one a rising potential regional hegemon, have most decidedly not come together with the West.
AAZCD-Jon (Forum Supporter) said:stroker said:mtn said:fasted58 said:Did Lindsey Graham just call for the assassination of Putin ? WTF
About time that dude showed some balls and said something that wasn't incredibly dumb.
Sure would be nice if politicians could generally STFU, nevermind before they say something stupid...
He's human click-bait. Says anything to get attention, but there's nothing of substance behind it.
Find me a career politician that this statement doesn't fit.
bobzilla said:AAZCD-Jon (Forum Supporter) said:He's human click-bait. Says anything to get attention, but there's nothing of substance behind it.
Find me a career politician that this statement doesn't fit.
Jerry Brown? (If you say, "Who?" that's fine.)
Colin Powell?
In reply to pheller :
We were having a little thought exercise last night along those lines. Let's say you and two or three of the other oligarchs got together and found a way to relocate the current leadership to a permanent underground bunker and then took the reins. You'd go out there and immediately bring the negotiators back to the table and offer a 24 hour cease fire. Then turn to the rest of the world and offer to turn everybody back and return to the pre-invasion status in return for all the sanctions to be lifted immediately. Tell the Russian people that the previous administration went awry and caused this mess while they lied to you, but we were looking out for you and fixed the glitch. Sacrifice a few politicians and generals in some of those show trials for which the Kremlin is famous.
Would the world and the Russian people accept that with open arms and get the money flowing back into the country fairly quickly? Would you become the hero of the nation at that point and become president for life and become rich beyond the wildest dreams of even an Oligarch?
rob_lewis said:I think this is the biggest impact from the entire war. When I heard sanctions, I thought to myself "How much will that really help?" The world has really come together to make it difficult on Russia and it's awe inspiring to see. Granted, Russia is still somewhat self sufficient and there's always the nuclear option, but I hope the globalization of our world today will prevent any World War scale of combat forever.
Many of the arguments I've heard is that we actually want the situation of Russia to be moderately self-sufficient so they can still function even with sanctions.
If sanctions were completely limiting and totally crippling, that would likely put Putin's back against a wall where it he could justify extreme reaction. It could turn the Russian people against the west instead of against their leaders.
We want them to hurt *just* enough.
I owe you guys an update, and man what a week it's been! First and foremost, thank you everyone on here who's reached out on this thread, in person, and through e-mail. The outpouring of support has been absolutely tremendous! Dark, Capt, 84FSP, and John, I've got you guys down and if we find ourselves up a certain creek wihtout a paddle, we'll certainly give you a shout! Tom and everyone else, thank you for the tremendously kind words, it was much needed motivation when such things were feeling scarce.
Someone asked for reputable places to donate. The two MAIN places that people are working with locally are the Red Cross (VorosKereszt), and The Order of Malta. Both are well organized and have boots on the ground at the border.
So: No plan survives first contact (and that isn't necessarily a bad thing).
We spent the week gathering and sorting supplies (edit: an enormous amount of supplies!). We had a good plan, and we stuck to it. Our goals were to help these guys get settled, get equipped, and get to the point that they could take care of themselves through their daily lives. What was supposed to happen was a couple week long stretch of spaced out visits while we filled in any gaps that needed filling as they arose, and then we'd move on to those occasional visits we mentioned where we just provided "relief".
Well, the community had other plans. We quite literally got EVERYTHING we needed (in spades). When we rolled in today, we not only stocked the entire kitchen with cookware, cups, plates, and eating utensils, but we had toys for kids, toiletries, cleaning supplies, blankets, bedding, clothes.... THE WORKS. The porter who lives at the building had set up a "community storage" room, and will act as the focal to hand everything out as it's needed (toothpaste, diapers, feminine hygiene products, soaps, that sort of thing). As things go out, we can restock them back in and we've easily got a couple months worth of cash on hand (about $500) to keep things going in that direction.
Right now, the residents are working on setting up the kitchen, and one of the donors brought boxes and boxes of meats and veggies. Basically we ended up lightyears ahead of where we're supposed to be right now, and have a huge surplus with which to donate to the next group that comes in (it's a good place to be!)
Next Monday we have an American doctor that's going to do a walk through of the building just to see if he sees anything that might require his attention. When he does, we're going to use the opportunity to take notes on who exactly is in what room and start making "family boxes" to hand out to the residents. This is progress we thought we wouldn't see for at least a month from now.
With that success (well, mistakes were made but we learned and it's all good), we started a facebook group targeted at organizing the locals in our community. The first invite was sent out 6 hours ago, and we're over 50-members and still climbing. Two families are taking in University Students (about 4 students per family), and we're using some of our surplus items to get them welcome packages (blankets, pillows, room snacks, toiletries, etc).
The SAC program here raised $6000 for local efforts, and not to be outdone the Swedes raised over 15,000 euro and sent a truck load of goodies to the border.
Gotta be honest. I needed this faith in humanity.
I think the best part though, was 3-hours later when I had to stop back by and I got to see the kids outside playing with a (GRM member donated) soccer ball (just chillin in a circle and keeping it in the air). It was the first time I've seen the kids here do anything but stand in a hallway. It was one of those moments where you knew they were feeling like they've rounded a corner and are headed in a more stable direction.
Better times.
Speaking of finances and supporting the Ukrainian defense, there is an incredible amount of Russian money frozen in accounts.
Of course if that money was forcibly removed from accounts it would probably destroy the world banking system.
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