No one is talking about this? They annexed, wars over? Stonks to the moon?:lawl:

Compared to my anti-war stances on Iraq twenty years ago, I have mostly stayed out of this one. Don't like Putin and his invasion, don't like the war mongering establishment in the West, and people with Ukrainian flags on the social media seem to have monumentally bad takes on any subject.


This interview was an interesting listen. He poses a fair question. For all the fear of Trump having the nuclear codes and starting WW3, why are we so gung-ho to risk a nuclear war under Biden?

NATO is fast tracking Ukraine's application to NATO. Russia annexed Ukraine region and will defend it with nukes. Ukraine is part of NATO ... kaboom.

It was nice knowing all of you ... see you on the other side.

Not to downplay what’s going on but I’ve been in Europe for 2 weeks now, Germany, and now Ireland, and I’ve watched the news in the mornings and when bored

There isn’t nearly the amount of fear mongering here then there is by the North American media. They talk about the pipelines etc. but there’s zero talk of this back and forth Nuke threat etc.

I wouldn't say the N.American media is fear mongering -- it's just that Europe has these daily living / daily operational type of issues happening with the oil & gas shortage, and the associate massive hikes in energy bills and such, that their natural attention would fall more on those issues first.

IMO, even if Ukraine hasn't been officially accepted into NATO yet, if Russia were to use some sort of nuke on Ukraine, NATO is still going to act -- Biden / Blinken have basically said as much. It's hardly fear mongering because it is what any generally reasonable person would expect if they have some familiarity of what is happening.

For those who don't know who Dave Smith is.

I don't think anyone in Russia is dumb enough to use nukes. They would rather kill Putin then see the end of Russia.

I think Putin is being Putin trying to flex his strength he's always flexed. He's not going to use nukes, the only thing he has is trying to scare the world with them but say what you want he's a smart man and knows exactly what would happen if he did use them. I could honestly see him get assassinated before he has a chance to push the button.

yes this dude gotta go. last thing we need is for him to go batshit crazy start using tactical nukes, and for biden to play world police and retaliate.

Those days are long gone and american military reach isnt what it used to be.

We only need 1 person in Russia to be dumb enough for the nuke to happen, and given how the war is playing out, I have every reason to believe that Putin is either selectively taking in only the information he wants to hear, or he is being fed a stream of misinformation and half-truths that causes him to come to the wrong conclusions.

Assuming that Putin is only trying to flex -- but where will that get him? US and NATO have repeatedly indicated that use of nuclear weapons will not be tolerated. If US/NATO doesn't make good on its words, the next thing you know is -- China is gonna issue a nuclear threat to take over Taiwan; Fat Boy Kim is gonna issue a nuclear threat to take over Seoul; Iran is gonna issue a nuclear threat to have US lift its sanctions. US and the Western World absolutely cannot allow that to happen, so the only choice US/NATO has is to make good on its word with Russia.

As Ukrainian forces continue to drive back Russia troops, the only card left in Russia/Putin's pocket is the nuclear option. He needs a win of some sort before he can declare an end to the military operation. Otherwise, I don't even know how a man with his ego can look straight into the mirror and be OK with it, let alone the backlash he faces from within Russia.

In theory, the fighting should die down a lot, if not completely stop, during the winter months. Potentially, I can see how US/NATO might use that opportunity to press Ukraine into accepting a ceasefire, while tossing a bone to Russia with some sort of easing sanction type of deal (that would still severely cripple Russia's economy). It is far from ideal for everyone involved, and I'd say Ukraine is at US/NATO's mercy since the only reason Ukraine is winning the war now is because of the amount of support they have received from NATO.

Nukes are all the flex you need. Americas time as this global police force is over.

If China wants to take Taiwan they will. Eventually Russia will take what they want want Ukraine based only on wearing them down.

No one is going to push buttons from adversaries. The second one tactical nuke drops its like you thought 9/11 changed the world? We’re gonna be a completely different place the second that Nuke lands, and no one wants to be the reason for that happening

is there any remotely accurate count of the numbers russia still has in these regions? how much longer can they last, winter or not. what are these poor fuckers even eating these days?

im truly terrified for the younger kids.

Old men playing at war games, social media fucking up people's brains, one after another environmental/climate disasters, food modified with shit that causes cancer... the list goes on and on.

fuck it all! go live your lives. live for today, dont hold back. who the hell knows whats going to happen

Allowing Russia to keep illegally annexed land wouldn't be enough of "tossing them a bone" as it is, you want to ease sanctions as well? That'd be like giving a bully at school a reward for punching the small kid.

Fuck that, sanctions should be kept until territory is returned, otherwise they should stay indefinitely. Let the price they pay for taking that land be them going back into the economic stone age.

Yes sanction them if they don't follow your countries views. Are they gonna sanction Canada because of the natives? Is the us gonna sanction themselves for taking away women's abortion rights? Sanction Iran cuz of women's rights? :ahwow: o wait you can't they're already sanctioned.

Let's see how badly Europe freezes over the winter. Easy talk if it doesn't affect you.

Nice reply, does that come with some coherency?

You should know his replies absolutely never will.

Launching a nuke takes more then one person pressing a red button. You would think one person in the chain of command would be smart enough to think launching a nuke is not a good idea.


The US is still by far the most powerful military in the world. China will never take Taiwan. Sooner or later the people of Russia will get fed up with the war and turn on Putin.

China will talk very strongly about Taiwan, but they know the only way to claim it is peacefully. That is WHY they talk about it so strongly. What do people expect them to do, nuke what they consider their own land? An island invasion with the support of the US Navy would be practically impossible, even if every military in the world worked together to attempt it.

In the foreseeable future at least until the semiconductor manufacturing world changes dramatically, US along with the rest of the Western World have a strong interest in ensuring that Taiwan doesn't fall into Chinese hands. Not only is Taiwan a critical part of the First Island Chain, it is also the manufacturing juggernaut for advanced semiconductor manufacturing. I recently read that Taiwan accounts for ~60% of the world's semiconductor manufacturing, but in addition to that figure, it also manufacturers ~90% of all the advanced semiconductors (below 7nm). This IP along with the economic impact it carries mean the West is not going to let China claim the Island nation without a fight, be it figuratively or literally.

It is less of a matter of rewarding the bully for punching a small kid. Instead, it has more to do with the West being concerned for themselves on energy costs, economy, internal stability, etc. Also, it may or may not allow Russia to keep the illegally annexed land under a ceasefire proposal.

On a personal level, I am of course all for having / forcing Russia return all the illegal annexed land back to Ukraine. At a practical level on the world stage, however, world leaders may or may not be interested in that. Crimea was illegally annexed in 2014 as well, and the West slapped a bunch of sanctions on Russia too. But did they stop trading with Russia? Much of Europe continued to buy energy products from Russia to provide it with the financial resources that it had prior to the Ukraine war.

World politics is a dirty business. The ceasefire scenario I described is merely something that I see as a potential possibility. And even if it were to go through, the West is still gonna want to lay on those sanctions to keep weakening and crippling Russia. It'll be kind of like how US sanctions have dramatically crippled Iran.

Exactly. Military means against your own people is idiotic. Even if they were to unify through force then what. You would have leveled that place to the ground all advantages in incorporating another province would have been lost. Not to mention the international consequences.

Stupid Pooh bear is just like Putin. All ego. Fuck Taiwan, leave that shit alone. Hes got so many internal issues I don’t know why he even bothers with this rhetoric. But fuck you USA for stirring this dumb fuck bear up unnecessarily. If your policy is that of one China, then stop fanning the flames of strife.

when trump took power and he started flexing his nuke power, i heard an interview on the radio that stuck with me. they were interviewing a former high up military guy from the US and asking them about checks and balances when it comes to launching a nuke. the guy said the system is not designed for checks and balances, it's designed for expediency. pretty scary stuff.

this world is going to shit and we're all just along for the ride.

my wife wants kids but why put them through the pain and suffering that's coming?

pretty bleak outlook i know but can you argue that fact?

The flip side of the argument is, of course, since we are all just along for the ride, you and your wife might as well just carry on in the manner that you would have been doing anyway (to act on your family plans), and deal with whatever comes your way when it comes.

Have kids and a family. They might turn out to be people who make a huge difference in this world. We can't give up and let the bad people take over. I'm assuming you and your wife are good people. We need more good people.

/sermon