Ukraine

[mhughes0021]

well, in this case, you. You are assuming that all republicans back Trump.

So in the last election a majority of republicans voted for someone other than trump? I apologize...thats news to me. I must be the crazy one.

 

[tinselwolverine]

So I was wrong about this part, that Russia wouldn't actually invade. But everything else I wrote seems pretty accurate.

When it comes to fighting wars, looks like tank battalions are still more effective than tweets and social media marketing campaigns. The Russians appear to be firmly in charge, and it's just a matter of how suicidal the Ukrainians feel. Are they going to fight on until their cities are all rubble? or settle with the Russians now, and accept the loss of some territories and giving up on NATO and closer political ties with the US/EU?

Looking back at Ukraine's whole EU/NATO misadventure, going back to 2014, this clip comes to mind (Flounder would be Ukraine, and Otter would be the United States):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JTF2j0OWUi8

Is Putin even willing to negotiate for just some territories?

Likely Ukrainian fighters will depart from the cities to the countryside, and engage in guerrilla warfare tactics against the occupying Russian forces.

Could go on for a long damn time.

Maybe twenty years.

Putin?s Waterloo.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=gK5IKEgt7e4

 

[Michchamp]

Is Putin even willing to negotiate for just some territories?

Likely Ukrainian fighters will depart from the cities to the countryside, and engage in guerrilla warfare tactics against the occupying Russian forces.

Could go on for a long damn time.

Maybe twenty years.

Putin?s Waterloo.
...

I think the end game here is going to be similar to what Russia did to Georgia (the country, not the state) in 2008, after we started pushing NATO membership there: permanently occupy/annex some regions, and force the government to drop their ties to the US/NATO arms sales and alliance. But this might be on a larger scale. Assume at a minimum Russia annexes the territories it had more or less already seized before this started (Crimea), plus the two provinces in the East of Ukraine that are near enough 100% ethnically Russian and where they've been fighting since 2014 (Donetsk and Lugansk). They'll probably take more for their trouble.


Another one of Putin's demands/goals is to "De-Nazify" the country, which means they plan to kill/imprison everyone who's a member of some of the Ukrainian units that preach Nazism (like the Azov battalion). That will certainly be brutal.


I don't think the Ukrainians are prepared to fight out a guerilla war; certainly not one that lasts for 20 years. Some points I've heard are that the country is really not "guerilla war" kinda terrain; a lot of wide open farmland and steppes.

Plus, it's not like the Russians are fighting on the other side of the world, like we were in Vietnam, Iraq, Afghanistan, etc. This is right next door, they have extensive ties to Ukraine, and their languages are mutually intelligible.


If there is a guerilla campaign, expect the Ukrainian far-right/Nazis - who know their only alternative if they want to survive is to flee the country or fight on - to be the only ones fighting it. There aren't that many of them, and they're mostly in and around some specific cities (e.g. Mariupol - which the Russians have subjected to a seige).

 

[sggatecl]

For him to even actually have said this demonstrates a remarkable degradation of cognition by that time.

To listen to his speech now, as opposed to then, demonstrates how the deterioration has progressed.

We have fucked ourselves.

We fucked ourselves electing the last guy, then turning around ?fixing? that fuck up by electing this guy.

DeSantis and Republitards better nad up and take on Trump if that old asshole runs again.

Sign me up.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=UXA--dj2-CY

I don't think DeSantis is allowed to be nominated on account of him not being 60+ years old. /s

In all seriousness, the dude is in his early 40s. Would be incredible to have someone with full cognitive function in the White House, even if I don't agree with the guy on much.

 

[sggatecl]

have you not seen the video of Biden bragging about holding Ukraine hostage by withholding loan guarantees until they fired the prosecutor who was investigating the Ukranian gas company that was paying his son Hunter a massive salary as a board member that Joe was taking half of?

That's real power, and he was just the vice president at the time.

Pretty sure I did during the Hunter Biden scandal that rocked the nation. I'll be honest, I avoid listening to Joe speak as often as possible. It's been mind blowing how we elected possibly the two most inarticulate presidents in my lifetime back to back. They make W sound like a great orator by comparison.

Anyways, holding loans hostage and being the guy 'responsible' for another country invading their neighbor seems pretty different. Although, I'm sure Obama would appreciate Biden taking a bunch of blame off his shoulders for things that happened during his presidency. Maybe we can blame Joe for all the drone strikes or we can start calling it 'Bidencare'.

 

[tigermud]

 

[biggunsbob]

Anonymous and what they are trying to do.

https://www.dazeddigital.com/politi...-russia-ukraine-hack-anonymous-conflict-putin

 

[tigermud]

Instead of opening up Americans energy sector again Buck admin considering going to Iran, Saudi Arabia and Venezuela to beg and deal

pure insanity.

 

[Spartanmack]

Instead of opening up Americans energy sector again Buck admin considering going to Iran, Saudi Arabia and Venezuela to beg and deal

pure insanity.

"I'll take 'What else can I do to ensure my party gets routed in the midterms' for $1,000, Blossom."

 

[tinselwolverine]

"I'll take 'What else can I do to ensure my party gets routed in the midterms' for $1,000, Blossom."

I totally love her.

I would pick her for my hall pass.

I know, right?

I could pick anyone - Angelina Jolie, Katy Perry, the one with the phat wet puss?

Nope.

Blossom.

I mean now 47 year old grown up Blossom, not the little girl who played the character who sang ?The Wind Beneath My Wings.?

No shit - I was listening to her podcast last night with Nikki Glaser.

 

[Michchamp]

Instead of opening up Americans energy sector again Buck admin considering going to Iran, Saudi Arabia and Venezuela to beg and deal

pure insanity.

It's odd. Over the last year, I've read pretty regular criticisms, like THIS one, or THIS one of Biden's administration being no less favorable to oil & gas drilling than Trump, if not MORE favorable.

Maybe the reality is this country uses more oil and gas than it has, and despite having 20 some years to "reduce our dependence on foreign oil" under BOTH democratic and republican presidents, we're never actually going to do the things necessary to do this because our oil companies are more powerful than we understand or will admit, and so we're just going to continue on the way we're going until we eventually collapse, because there's simply NOT ENOUGH oil and gas within our borders, and so unless we reduce our DEMAND, increasing our supply to meet that demand is not realistic?

remember after 9/11, we needed to "reduce our dependence on foreign oil" and we had an extremely PRO-oil drilling Republican administration for another 7 years, and still never even took basic steps to doing that?

 

[Michchamp]

I totally love her.

I would pick her for my hall pass.

I know, right?

I could pick anyone - Angelina Jolie, Katy Perry, the one with the phat wet puss?

Nope.

Blossom.

I mean now 47 year old grown up Blossom, not the little girl who played the character who sang ?The Wind Beneath My Wings.?

No shit - I was listening to her podcast last night with Nikki Glaser.

I generally trust your judgment on matters like this, but I'm wondering now if maybe you should get your vision checked.

 

[Spartanmack]

It's odd. Over the last year, I've read pretty regular criticisms, like THIS one, or THIS one of Biden's administration being no less favorable to oil & gas drilling than Trump, if not MORE favorable.

Maybe the reality is this country uses more oil and gas than it has, and despite having 20 some years to "reduce our dependence on foreign oil" under BOTH democratic and republican presidents, we're never actually going to do the things necessary to do this because our oil companies are more powerful than we understand or will admit, and so we're just going to continue on the way we're going until we eventually collapse, because there's simply NOT ENOUGH oil and gas within our borders, and so unless we reduce our DEMAND, increasing our supply to meet that demand is not realistic?

remember after 9/11, we needed to "reduce our dependence on foreign oil" and we had an extremely PRO-oil drilling Republican administration for another 7 years, and still never even took basic steps to doing that?

yeah, it makes you wonder how we increased production by 2.5x from December of 2008 (158mm barrels) to December of 2019 (400mm barrels) and becoming a net exporter of oil for the first time in generations without ever taking basic steps to increase oil production and reducing our dependence on foreign oil.

 

[Michchamp]

yeah, it makes you wonder how we increased production by 2.5x from December of 2008 (158mm barrels) to December of 2019 (400mm barrels) and becoming a net exporter of oil for the first time in generations without ever taking basic steps to increase oil production and reducing our dependence on foreign oil.

we drilled more. but it's never enough...

why are we exporting then if we need to reduce our dependence and how come the answer is always to shovel more money at the oil industry, not, like reduce the need to use oil?

 

[tinselwolverine]

I generally trust your judgment on matters like this, but I'm wondering now if maybe you should get your vision checked.

She is very beautiful in many many ways.

Damn you are shallow.

You are the kind of person who gives our gender a bad name.

 

[tigermud]

It's odd. Over the last year, I've read pretty regular criticisms, like THIS one, or THIS one of Biden's administration being no less favorable to oil & gas drilling than Trump, if not MORE favorable.

Maybe the reality is this country uses more oil and gas than it has, and despite having 20 some years to "reduce our dependence on foreign oil" under BOTH democratic and republican presidents, we're never actually going to do the things necessary to do this because our oil companies are more powerful than we understand or will admit, and so we're just going to continue on the way we're going until we eventually collapse, because there's simply NOT ENOUGH oil and gas within our borders, and so unless we reduce our DEMAND, increasing our supply to meet that demand is not realistic?

remember after 9/11, we needed to "reduce our dependence on foreign oil" and we had an extremely PRO-oil drilling Republican administration for another 7 years, and still never even took basic steps to doing that?

Issuing permits and actually getting out of the way to make it feasible are 2 different things.

We've gone from a 4 percent surplus of domestic oil and gas production to a 4 percent oil and gas deficit.

Ten Steps Biden Could Take Right Now to Secure American Energy Independence.

As gas prices continue to rise to record highs, the disastrous consequences of President Joe Biden?s war on American energy have come into full focus. After the United States achieved energy independence and became a net energy exporter for the first time in almost 70 years under President Donald Trump, Biden soon erased all that progress in a matter of weeks with a slew of ill-advised executive actions.

But even as the White House attempts to blame Russia for soaring gas bills, Biden has all the tools at his disposal to ease Americans? pain at the pump. Here are 10 measures he could announce right now to restore energy independence and cut U.S. reliance on oil supplies from our chief adversaries.

https://amac.us/ten-steps-biden-could-take-right-now-to-secure-american-energy-independence/


I could forgo #10 I think that is to blame for quakes and sinkholes need to be real careful there. 1-9 would be a good start.

 

[Spartanmack]

I totally love her.

I would pick her for my hall pass.

I know, right?

I could pick anyone - Angelina Jolie, Katy Perry, the one with the phat wet puss?

Nope.

Blossom.

I mean now 47 year old grown up Blossom, not the little girl who played the character who sang ?The Wind Beneath My Wings.?

No shit - I was listening to her podcast last night with Nikki Glaser.

Are you sure you're not confusing her with Punky Brewster? She was actually pretty hot as a young adult. I don't think I could be in a room with Nikki Glaser for more than a couple minutes and I'd definitely choose her over Blossom at any point of ages 18-47.

 

[Spartanmack]

we drilled more. but it's never enough...

why are we exporting then if we need to reduce our dependence and how come the answer is always to shovel more money at the oil industry, not, like reduce the need to use oil?

we drilled more and we developed cheaper more effective technologies (like advancements in fracking) which allowed us to drill in previously uneconomical areas. We're not net exporters at the moment but to me a much better question is why aren't we going nuclear instead of caving to the climate change chicken littles and their pipe dream of going to solar and wind in the next decade?

 

[tigermud]

we drilled more and we developed cheaper more effective technologies (like advancements in fracking) which allowed us to drill in previously uneconomical areas. We're not net exporters at the moment but to me a much better question is why aren't we going nuclear instead of caving to the climate change chicken littles and their pipe dream of going to solar and wind in the next decade?

One downside to nuclear is armies hold them hostage in times of war.

 

[Michchamp]

I think I get where we're going...

we need even less environmental protections and red tape... oil companies should just be allowed to drill wherever they want (which they pretty much are already) without even having to go through the motions of filing suits to condemn land for wells and pipelines, or compensate the land/mineral rights owner (unless they're another oil company of course).

If you wake up one morning, and an oil company has drilled a well in your front yard, and destroyed your property to find and pump oil - without even having to notify you or compensate you - that's a good thing. That's where we need to be as a country.

THEN we'd have energy independence.