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rm2551

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Posts posted by rm2551

  1. On 8/16/2023 at 9:59 PM, chillumpuffer said:

    @Reggie29 @slave to zep @rm2551

    "Waltzing Matilda, Waltzing Matilda. You'll come a Waltzing Matilda with me. And we sang as we watched as we put 3 past the Aussie Girls, You'll come a Waltzing Matilda with me"

    :bravo:Lionesses.

    Well won. You were (and are) clearly the better team. Just like Spain is to your girls. 😜

  2. 20 hours ago, hummingbird69 said:

    I just want to say to anyone here who thinks biden is innocent of the charges being leveled against him that if any ONE just one of those charges had trumps name on it you'd all be screaming he's guilty!  Admit it you know it's true.

    I 100% agree with this. If for no other reasons than the odds you'd get. :drinks:

  3. No rain here either. The bindii clovers are spreading far and wide across the front lawn rather early this year, need to get the poison out and go over it.

    High 20's and even a 30c (80-86f) predicted for the remainder of this week. Summer is banging on the door even though it's not even Spring yet!

  4. On 8/1/2023 at 5:08 PM, redrum said:

    I love my fossil fueler. 

    DUEL MOVIE TRUCK-2.gif

    That's the sickest movie. "Duel" I think...

    The scene where the mechanic (servo - attendant?) recommends he get a pipe for his radiator, and he dismisses this as a "cash grab" - and the part that plays in the movie is unreal.

    Bill Collins used to host a "Midday Movie" here every Sunday when I was a young kid and when he ran this he highlighted there were cars with crosses through them on the bumper (door?) of the truck, but only AFTER the movie, and I missed it. Bill Collins pissed me off that day. LOL!!!!

     

  5. On 7/20/2023 at 5:04 PM, SteveAJones said:

    Is that new material? It kills! You need to be doing comedy clubs. Ukraine is a globalist slush fund that will be abandoned in yet another cut and run exit two seconds after the decision is made that there is nothing more to skim and steal. You can bank on it.

    I do not discount that will come to pass.

    On 7/20/2023 at 10:08 PM, JohnOsbourne said:

    What?  NATO IS attacking Russia, what's insane is to think otherwise.

    I disagree.

    On 7/20/2023 at 10:08 PM, JohnOsbourne said:

    Obviously, the point is why the US entered into a security arrangement with them in the first place.  No national interest depends on it, and it's simply delusional to think the US is a noble force for good in the world.

    I hope it is. There is nothing better so far. it's far from perfect, and I think the British parliament system is superior functionally speaking, but none better than the US overall.

    On 7/20/2023 at 10:08 PM, JohnOsbourne said:

    If so, then you really have no other argument and you've conceded the central point.  If Mexico's sovereignty is contingent on what the US deems as critical to American interests, then there is no basis for losing your shit over Russia vis-a-vis the Ukraine.  Unless of course, all the moralistic bluster is just cover for US imperial expansion.

    "If Mexico's sovereignty is contingent on what the US deems as critical to American interests" - this is where we differ. It may well be, but should it be?

    That is the only question.

    Should it be?

    US imperial expansion is very interesting from every angle.

  6. On 7/17/2023 at 9:58 PM, JohnOsbourne said:

    Obviously, Ukraine as such posed no threat to Russia, it was Ukraine as a NATO member - and hence US proxy state - that posed a threat.  As Steve pointed out, that fear has been justifiably borne out by the US/EU determination to fight to the last Ukrainian.  Let me ask:  how is the Russian position here any different from what the US would do if China tried to form a military alliance with Mexico?

    Ukraine as a NATO member only threatens Russia because it inhibits their aspirations of expansion. NOT because they actually fear NATO will all of a sudden decide to attack Russia. It is insane to think NATO could attack Russia. Their whole organisation is based on security, not aggression or conquest. And they are made up of the usual overly bureaucratic western countries that have to justify their actions to their free presses.

    I do take your point on the Mexico analogy though. Cuba is the living example.

    On 7/17/2023 at 9:58 PM, JohnOsbourne said:

    It is completely irrelevant what the Ukraine or Baltics "want".  The US is under no obligation to provide these (largely fake) countries any kind of security guarantees.  Again, what US interest depends on having a military alliance with ex-Soviet entities?

    Well, the US as part of NATO does have obligations for the baltic states (being they are in NATO) - but apart from that, I'd say the US interest is what it has always been - help others who want to have systems and societies based on freedoms, liberty and rule of law somewhat in line with how "the west" does things instead of the old failed dictatorships and kleptocracies they have had - and no longer want. And apart from that (since that really doesn't respond directly to what you say) the specific backing of Ukraine is no more than stopping a far bigger aggressor attacking a sovereign nation in what is likely to be the first of many from Russia - again - as stated by Putin himself in his love letter to the old empire that he has decided must be restored. His adventures in Georgia, Chechnya and the Crimea seemed to be a test to see what reactions they would provoke. He wrongfully assumed no interventions would be forthcoming when he invaded Ukraine. He was wrong.

    I get that you guys see a lot more wrong with this than I do, that's fine. For me it is simply a good idea to back up a fairly new country that is trying to throw off the shackles of the old communist system which they no longer want and move toward the west. Toward a better way. Russia says no. Well it isn't their decision to make. Good that we are helping Ukraine. I think that is a trait of the west that should be admired. God knows there are plenty of misguided self-interest moves the US and the west make at times that are despicable. But I do concede, that does not rise to obligation necessarily. But I do believe it serves the interests of the US/West because we promote our values as the better form of Government. Not just talk, but to actually back up others.

    I hope Ukraine get every inch of their land back. Fuck Putin's Russia. It's a mafia run hell hole from all accounts.

    The sexualization of children comment I'll leave alone except to say that would be a +3 hours at the pub with a few brews to sort through that mess.

  7. 22 hours ago, JohnOsbourne said:

    for absolutely no valid reason

    Putin made his reasons perfectly clear to the nation before the invasion in his love letter to the old empire and a few interviews he gave.

    Ukraine posed no threat to Russia except for the invented one of NATO on the doorstep. And yeah, that should not be defined as "the reason" as Russia knows full well Europe do not want to attack or invade Russia. NOT A CENTIMETER. Never has been or likely will be and doesn't need to be. Putin knows it doesn't matter except for the security of those former Soviet Republic states that do not want what the Russian system offers. There is no "threat" to mother Russia. They just don't want that. Seems they want democracy. Probably for similar reasons Steve says. it's just a better way.

  8. 6 hours ago, SteveAJones said:

    Generally speaking, Democracy is an inherently superior form of government because war is reserved as a last resort. Of course, not in Ukraine where a corrupt and discredited US political administration continues to wage an illegal proxy war without the consent of the governed.

    I'm not sure you fully understand NATO Article V, the cornerstone principle of which is that an attack on one NATO member nation is an attack upon all of them. 

    At it's core, this conflict is about the globalists waging a proxy war against Putin/Russia. They want Putin/Russia out of the way so they can further pursue their global government ambitions. Ukraine serves only as a globalist slush fund and as a battleground to test next generation weapons technology. Russian & Ukraine already co-existed peacefully. It was the West's push to extend NATO membership to Ukraine that provoked Putin/Russia to invade.

    This is a US proxy war because war is being conducted without the consent of the governed. There has been no declaration of war issued by the US Congress. It is demonstrably false and intellectually disengenuous to assert "all modern wars are proxy wars and have been for 50 years". 

    Zelensky is a snake oil salesman who shows his true colors as a tyrant each time the international community does not give him his way.   

     

    I understand the NATO charter and article 5. That's the entire attraction for all former eastern block nations who don't want what they had in the past.

    At it's core, Russia invaded a sovereign state. That is it. You can define this as a proxy war for the US, I don't disagree, but it is what it is solely for the action of Russia invading it's neighbour. And ok, all wars are not proxy wars, BUT - geopolitics leverages/takes advantage of/uses the conflict to advance self interest without doubt in any/all conflicts. Just as you assess the US is doing here.

    I agree to disagree about Zelensky. I reckon he is a legend leader and will go down in history as such. Time will tell.

  9. 4 hours ago, SteveAJones said:

    The early stages? Half of those countries have been NATO members for nearly 20 YEARS now.

    Yeah, I reckon Putin was not overly concerned with that. His ambition was made clear.

    4 hours ago, SteveAJones said:

    This conflict is strictly and solely about all of the Biden Administration's saber rattling about Ukraine also becoming a member of NATO. Putin was not going to stand for NATO membership being extend to the border of Russia.

    Incorrect. Ukraine did not want to be part of the Russian way of life. They looked to the west. For right or wrong, better or worse, they looked west. they wanted something different. At the core, that is what this conflict is about. Everything else is just dressing.

    4 hours ago, SteveAJones said:

    Conflict could have ended in less than a month, with Russia carving out a slice of Ukraine

    Why is that a desirable or acceptable (from the perspective of a "western" view) outcome? Might makes right?

    4 hours ago, SteveAJones said:

    illegal proxy war against Russia

    Illegal? Not sure what you mean. All modern wars are proxy wars. it's part of war. Has been for +50years.

    4 hours ago, SteveAJones said:

    Zelensky is every bit the dictator that Putin is.

    Far out.

    4 hours ago, SteveAJones said:

    For anyone to suggest this unnecessary war is in defense of democracy is simply absurd.

    I don't get that. It is exactly what it is about. Ukraine wants to be Ukraine. Not Russia.

    So put it this way, what is Zelenskyy/Ukraine trying to defend? Russia invaded. They were not invited. What else is there?

    Cheers.

  10. 16 hours ago, cryingbluerain said:

    Can we drop the charade that Ukraine is the lynchpin of the democratic world without which all democracies will crumble under the jackboot of Putin's Russia?

    I was unaware of such a charade. Sounds ridiculous. Lynchpin of the democratic world. 🤣

    What I'd say is a far more reasonable take is a lot of eastern Europe would have been at risk if Russia absorbed Ukraine in the early stages. Moldova, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania possibly Poland and/or Romania... Old mate Putin was looking for empire restoration. Nothing less.

  11. The mouse spiders that weaved mad webs in the trees were the most feared where I lived. Even though they were smaller than the huntsmen's which were scary ass fuckers, the thought of walking though a web with a mouse spider near the middle was the ultimate nightmare.

    I had a huntsmen spider crawl up between my legs driving home from work one time. Ended up on the median strip, jumping around like a maniac. Not nearly as bad as walking into a web with a mouse spider just relaxing.

  12. 2 hours ago, SteveAJones said:

    EIGHT YEARS AGO the United States national security strategy for Ukraine was established as:

    • Backing security commitments to allies: “We will support partners such as Georgia, Moldova, and Ukraine so they can better work alongside the United States and NATO, as well as provide for their own defense.”  
    • “Working with Europe to improve its energy security in both the short and long term.”
    • Imposing significant costs on Russian aggression through sanctions and other means, and confronting Russian propaganda with the truth.
    • “Keep[ing] the door open to greater collaboration with Russia in areas of common interests, should it choose a different path — a path of peaceful cooperation that respects the sovereignty and democratic development of neighboring states.”

    How's that working out for us? We've wasted $75 BILLION DOLLARS in aid for what? No one knows, because there is purposefully no federal oversight on how those dollars are spent.

    The Ukraine is little more than a globalist's wet dream: a multi-international slush fund.

    OK Steve, so: "How's that working out for us?"....

    Pretty well.

    Back democracy. That's what I'd say.

    Cheers.

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