US Election November 5th

[ey_tony]

i.e. one despotic regime invading its peaceful neighbour(s)?

The EU has been expanding Eastward for the past two decades or more and has continually poked and provoked the Russian Bear and this is the result.
I don't agree with what the Russians have done by any stretch of the imagination nor do I fall for all the propaganda put out by the West.

Given the way Russia has been treated since their revolution in 1917, they have been treated as public enemy number one by the West.
Historians will tell you that the UK could have granted the Romanovs asylum at the time of the revolution but they refused to in case it encouraged a revolution here in the UK so they hung the Romanovs out to dry. That's British politics for you.

The 'allies' would have been far happier if Hitler had been successful and destroyed the state of Russia after Germany signed their peace pact with them so it's little wonder that the Russians do not trust the West.
The Americans have always spent vast sums undermining anything Russian as we saw in Afghanistan. The Americans and the West fear communism so much and I've no doubt that the CIA was behind the bringing down of the legitimate Ukraine government which was sympathetic to the Russians at the time so let's not overlook the part that the USA and West has played in European politics.

You only have to look to the Middle East to see the undermining that the USA/West was doing during the Arab Spring so I tend not to fall for the propaganda garbage that the West puts out. As far as I'm concerned there's not much difference between Russia and the USA. They both have agendas.

 

[Chris152]

The EU has been expanding Eastward for the past two decades or more and has continually poked and provoked the Russian Bear and this is the result.
I don't agree with what the Russians have done by any stretch of the imagination nor do I fall for all the propaganda put out by the West.

Given the way Russia has been treated since their revolution in 1917, they have been treated as public enemy number one by the West.
Historians will tell you that the UK could have granted the Romanovs asylum at the time of the revolution but they refused to in case it encouraged a revolution here in the UK so they hung the Romanovs out to dry. That's British politics for you.

The 'allies' would have been far happier if Hitler had been successful and destroyed the state of Russia after Germany signed their peace pact with them so it's little wonder that the Russians do not trust the West.
The Americans have always spent vast sums undermining anything Russian as we saw in Afghanistan. The Americans and the West fear communism so much and I've no doubt that the CIA was behind the bringing down of the legitimate Ukraine government which was sympathetic to the Russians at the time so let's not overlook the part that the USA and West has played in European politics.

You only have to look to the Middle East to see the undermining that the USA/West was doing during the Arab Spring so I tend not to fall for the propaganda garbage that the West puts out. As far as I'm concerned there's not much difference between Russia and the USA. They both have agendas.

I just enjoyed the irony of 'above the German tanks captured was a poignant sign saying " history is repeating itself" .'

 

[Jacob]

The EU has been expanding Eastward for the past two decades or more and has continually poked and provoked the Russian Bear and this is the result.

Takes two to tango - post soviet states also choosing to look west?

I don't agree with what the Russians have done by any stretch of the imagination nor do I fall for all the propaganda put out by the West.

Given the way Russia has been treated since their revolution in 1917, they have been treated as public enemy number one by the West.
Historians will tell you that the UK could have granted the Romanovs asylum at the time of the revolution but they refused to in case it encouraged a revolution here in the UK so they hung the Romanovs out to dry. That's British politics for you.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Allied_intervention_in_the_Russian_Civil_War

The 'allies' would have been far happier if Hitler had been successful and destroyed the state of Russia after Germany signed their peace pact with them so it's little wonder that the Russians do not trust the West.
The Americans have always spent vast sums undermining anything Russian as we saw in Afghanistan. The Americans and the West fear communism so much and I've no doubt that the CIA was behind the bringing down of the legitimate Ukraine government which was sympathetic to the Russians at the time so let's not overlook the part that the USA and West has played in European politics.

You only have to look to the Middle East to see the undermining that the USA/West was doing during the Arab Spring so I tend not to fall for the propaganda garbage that the West puts out. As far as I'm concerned there's not much difference between Russia and the USA. They both have agendas.

I tend to agree. USA is world's leading terrorist state in many ways. Sponsoring the Israeli terror as we speak - as is the UK. with our so called "human rights lawyer" PM!
I still think a free Ukraine would be good in the long run.

 

[martin45]

I do wonder is Trump suffering from some form of dementia. His bizarre stories seem to be getting worse:

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/article/2024/aug/09/donald-trump-willie-brown-helicopter-story

 

[RobinBHM]

It is a really stupid thing to be doing, Ukraine will lose this war or we will all lose everything because russia is not going to lose

Putin is a brutal Imperialist dictator, if he is allowed to take Ukraine he will just wait a while to rebuild his military and then restart his Imperialist ambitions which include a lot of the region including Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia. Putin will definitely want to join up with Kalingrad

If the West dont support Ukraine now it will just cost us all more in the future

How do you know Russia is not going to lose, its not exactly doing well, its military power has been massively reduced and in 2 years it still occupies 50,000 sq KMs less of Ukraine than it had in Mar 2022



the really stupid thing was the West not giving everything Ukraine needed back in 2022 so they couldve pushed Russia back before they had a chance to build significant defences

 

[RobinBHM]

The EU has been expanding Eastward for the past two decades or more and has continually poked and provoked the Russian Bear and this is the result

framing Putin as the victim is Russian propaganda

Its funny how Trump is a Putin supporter

 

[RobinBHM]

I do wonder is Trump suffering from some form of dementia. His bizarre stories seem to be getting worse:

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/article/2024/aug/09/donald-trump-willie-brown-helicopter-story

yesterday he was claiming that the state of California allow abortions up to and after birth

 

[JSW]

yesterday he was claiming that the state of California allow abortions up to and after birth

Got a link for that? This I have to see (read) to believe!

 

[Blackswanwood]

Got a link for that? This I have to see (read) to believe!

 

[sploo]

Also people here questioned why it was when starmer met biden that he could see nothing wrong with him, some said it might be just a diplomatic stance, others said maybe a case of grovelling to help the anglo american relationship but now it seems starmer has no ability with social interactions or people skills, almost a touch of autism showing so to him biden was perfectly normal and they were on the same page.

I rather suspect it was diplomacy. Can you imagine the reaction if a head of state met the head of another (large and influential) state and said "yea, the bloke certainly seems like he's well on his way to becoming a dribble painter".

 

[sploo]

yesterday he was claiming that the state of California allow abortions up to and after birth

I recall an episode of Family Guy where Peter Griffin was suggesting to a friend (who ended up with an unwanted child) that he should get an abortion... of the already born child. The joke obviously being that the Griffin character is supposed to be really dumb... because of course no one would ever suggest such a thing in the real world.

Ahem.

 

[Chris152]

https://www.nbcnews.com/health/heal...e-claims-late-term-abortion-debate-rcna159460
Quite simply, he's talking nonsense again.

 

[Spectric]

How do you know Russia is not going to lose, its not exactly doing well, its military power has been massively reduced and in 2 years it still occupies 50,000 sq KMs less of Ukraine than it had in Mar 2022

We do not think like the russians, russia will not even consider losing because it is just unacceptable and they know they can resort to chemical, biological or nuclear to ensure they force ukraines hand to negiotate or surrender, the issue is us in the west because there is a point where escalation goes to far and someone misreads a situation or over reacts and things then just spiral out of control. Think Cuba where it almost went wrong and we can thank this guy for our existance today.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vasily_Arkhipov

The outcome of this all going wrong should in a sensable world have caused leaders to get people round the table and de escalate the situation rather than feeding the conflict with weapons because the arms industry is so profitable in the states.

 

[sploo]

The outcome of this all going wrong should in a sensable world have caused leaders to get people round the table and de escalate the situation rather than feeding the conflict with weapons because the arms industry is so profitable in the states.

That's true, but I don't think Putin has really shown himself to be a rational operator in recent years. My guess is that they'll (finally) get themselves into a position where they can claim some sort of "victory" and will consolidate what they've got. Ultimately it's all about image, and Putin's standing at home (because clearly he's completely destroyed his standing on the world stage, and exposed the Russian military as severely under prepared for modern warfare).

 

[Inspector]

https://www.nbcnews.com/health/heal...e-claims-late-term-abortion-debate-rcna159460
Quite simply, he's talking nonsense again.

What do you mean again? He doesn't speak anything but nonsense.

Pete

 

[sploo]

What do you mean again? He doesn't speak anything but nonsense.

Pete

It's a weird one isn't it; because in any sort of rational world, a person in his position (prominent personality, vying for a top political role), making a clearly false insinuation about something as serious as post natal termination would be a career ending error. These days we just shrug it off as another gaffe.

 

[ey_tony]

Takes two to tango - post soviet states also choosing to look west?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Allied_intervention_in_the_Russian_Civil_War

I tend to agree. USA is world's leading terrorist state in many ways. Sponsoring the Israeli terror as we speak - as is the UK. with our so called "human rights lawyer" PM!
I still think a free Ukraine would be good in the long run.

I don't think we're actually far apart on this one.
Probably the biggest threat to world stability was when the Soviet Union broke up leaving only the USA as the true remaining superpower. Prior to that they kept each other in check (detente) but since then the USA has operated more or less unrestricted as we saw when they along with the UK conducted an illegal war based on lies which literally destroyed a sovereign nation and effected regime change which itself is illegal. Their actions also led to the deaths of hundreds of thousands of innocent people.

How Bush and Blair have avoided being charged with war crimes I will never know! When people start harping on about Putin being a monster, they should perhaps look toward their own former leaders first.
They have made an utter mess of the Middle East and if it wasn't for Putin they would have destroyed Syria too.
I'm not a fan of Putin or the regime of Syria by any means but I don't trust the West or its propaganda any more than I do the Russians or the Chinese. They all have agendas.

 

[Terry - Somerset]

Most major international challenges of the last 30 years have been handled poorly, even assuming that all players have acted with good intent:

• invasion of Kuwait - protect oil supply and moral imperative. Ejection of Iraq was right, but a failure to finish the job lead to more than a decade of conflict and the rise of terrorism
• support of the "Arab Spring" to liberate millions from authoritarian and corrupt governments was laudable but empty - more bloodshed, civilian trauma but no long term change
• Syria - a failure of any dialogue with Russia has lead to a violent long lasting conflict. Assad remains as Russia defend their influence and access to the region.
• collapse of the Soviet Union and the accession of much of the former eastern bloc to EU and NATO is understandably seen as threatening by Putin.
• the current Israel Gaza conflict evidences the inability of the international community to resolve a problem lasting seven decades

The West has consistently failed to properly engage with Russia, albeit diminished by the break up of the old Soviet Union, still aspire to engage on the global political stage.

The same mistakes are being repeated with the emergence of China as a world economic and military superpower. Their increasing influence creates tensions - the West needs a proper dialogue to agree mutually acceptable solutions to Taiwan, access to scarce minerals, etc..

What strategy will likely produce the best result for "me" - long term stability, freedom from conflict, economic well being, capacity for self determination.

• allowing Russia to take Ukraine would threaten Europe. I do not expect Ukraine to win - but like Afghanistan, Russia may decide to retreat or agree a "minor" territorial settlement
• US support for NATO, Ukraine, Palestine solutions, seem safer in democratic hands (Harris, Walz) than an unpredictable Trump who sees world issues through a prism of "America first"
• I would much prefer "my" future to be determined by "Western" leaders. They are far from perfect, but infinitely preferable to the very brutal and corrupt Putin leadership.

 

[Jacob]

......
I've lived an awful long time and I've yet to meet a true socialist...most who claim to be so would faint if they actually lived in a truly socialist country.

Depends on what you think socialism is.
You seem to be spooking yourself with some particular definition of your own making! A lot of people do this - it saves having to think about things.

You know when socialists are in charge as they always use the law to suppress any objections to policies.

Examples? What did you have in mind?

 

[Chris152]

Depends on what you think socialism is.
You seem to be spooking yourself with some particular definition of your own making! A lot of people do this - it saves having to think about things.

Examples? What did you have in mind?

It's just a sweeping dismissal of socialism, equating it with failed/ totalitarian 'Communist' states as tho they were the same thing. As you know, of course