If Russia succeeds in occupying Ukraine completely it will take an immense amount of resources to subdue the population, I don’t see why this will be any different than Iraq. Given the current resistance it might even be impossible for Russia to simply occupy Ukraine and extract its resources, this is also probably the reason why they have tried to sue for peace multiple times.

Putin is a moderate in Russian politics, and it is relevant because it means there are ways to negotiate with him.

How does this argument work, the military spending of the Nazis was insane in the build up to the war, up to 40% in 1939, no such numbers in Russia. Even now it’s just estimated at 10% and they clearly need all of it just to fight the war in Ukraine. How are they ever gonna steamroll Nato with those numbers, there is no tangible proof that they are planning for this.

The Putin is Hitler mantra also doesn’t make any sense, he has been a moderate (all be it an authoritarian) politician for decades, and now he suddenly is the rebirth of Hitler. Just looking at his politics he’s clearly not a fascist.

We’ve been sold that Ukraine can win this war militarily, and the collective west can cripple the Russian economy with sanctions alone. Now that this turns out to be complete BS, they (a subset of western politicians) are looking for a way out, and clearly their preferred way is further escalations. So now they are selling us even more BS to justify this.

A leaked draft of the UNRWA report detailed an interview that gave a similar account. It cited a 41-year-old detainee whe said that interrogators “made me sit on something like a hot metal stick and it felt like fire,” and also said that another detainee “died after they put the electric stick up” his anus.

So they are raping people to death…

It already was after Iraq, but now they dragged it upstairs to throw it out of the window again, just to make sure it’s really dead.

100% agree, no longer being oil dependent would make the middle east a saver place (as well as having many other advantages).

But even the green revolution needs cheap labor, recourses, and rare-earth metals. Countries that do not want to play game and want to nationalize key industries for instance, will be coerced financially or militarily by greater powers (be it the West, China, or Russia).

So the idea of one country being worse than the other is not really relevant and moreover a known strategy for getting war support. I am happy that I don’t live in Iran or Saudi Arabia, but escalating conflict with either of them will not improve anybody’s life. Look at Syria or Libya.

Remember kids: Iran is the bad Middle East autocracy and Saudi Arabia is the good Middle East autocracy.

US foreign policy has always been and will always be interest based rather than value based, but they will use moral arguments and threat inflation to drum up support for their misadventures abroad.

Ben-Gvir: It’s time for a true solution to Gaza.

Biden:

He said there was overwhelming support in part because they lost control of the narrative on Israel, the only addition to the headline needed is to add the word:

… ban partially intended to ….

If Romney is so afraid of people loosing track of the “realities” on the ground maybe they should consider banning cable news next.

What a hill to die on. They banned Russia; it would have been such an easy and consistent decision to ban Israel too, especially when they started deliberately starving Palestinian civilians. Can’t wait for the PR response the moment this Genocide becomes officially recognized, “wir haben es nicht gewusst“ 2.0

Now don’t criticize Biden, don’t you know he is literally running against Hitler.

(Yes I know Trump is worse than Biden, and no I don’t advocate for not voting)

One option is to put a reverse tariff on Haiti, this way you stimulate their export economy regardless who is in charge. In general an economically stable and growing country also tends to be more politically stable.

Edit: a more realistic scenario is that France gives a bunch of money with the condition it is spend on French weapons or other French export products. So in actuality a hidden subsidy for the French economy, this is also how Germany ‘compensated’ for the holocaust to Israel.

Biden is creating lots of blue-collar jobs at the crocodile-tear factory.

I wouldn’t care if it looked like a giant cock and balls if I had a dedicated high-speed-rail station in my city. It also looks like it has serious capacity with three separate approaching rail corridors.

They might be extreme protesters, but the gist of the article still stands. I live in Berlin and visit the Netherlands often, the silence in Berlin on this issue (compared to the Netherlands) is honestly chilling. You hardly see any protests or statements of support for Palestine, and the only protest I saw (a remembrance for the flower massacre) was rounded up by the police within minutes.

On top of that I’ve heard way worse statements at the farmers protests a few months ago, but no articles on how they get the full police-state treatment.

Someone I know is slightly mentally challenged, always had trouble at school, but is super precise and methodical. They are now a very valued employee at a forensics lab, doing something that most people are not capable of.

What do they think will happen if they destroy all infrastructure and institutions, the only result will be a more violent, more numerous, and more effective resistance. Either they see it as an acceptable price for this orgy of violence, they are to stupid to realize this, or their plans are a lot darker than what we are currently seeing.

It’s very annoying that I can’t find the source anymore but I read that despite making up 1% of the population, in Germany up to a third of all people accused of antisemitism in the past months were Jewish.

Source: https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2024/feb/11/denouncing-critics-of-israel-as-un-jews-or-antisemites-is-a-perversion-of-history

Property rights are kinda a big deal in The West. Plus capital from less savory regimes brings in much needed liquidity in western markets. Ceasing this capital will make it less likely that The West is seen as a safe haven for investment from those kinds of countries. On the long term this might even cause a parallel financial system to arise, which would be very bad news for the US and it’s reserve currency.

I thought the ineptness with which the climate crisis is handled made me loose faith in the status quo. But this is just incredible, in the literal sense of the word. Watching the west openly support, what looks more and more like an active genocide, with words and with weapons. It makes my fucking blood boil.

With the full support of the country I’m from and the country I’m living in. Disgusting.