China's aggression is changing the nature of sovereignty.

[Strangelovesurfing + 737]

On 12/4/2021 at 12:17 AM, Andrei Moutchkine said:

Russia is already largely out of your banking system. And? Your dick is too short to enforce a no fly zone anywhere near Russian borders. You don't believe it yourself, do you? Try, and you won't have much of an an airforce left.

Russia can't even enforce a no fly zone next to Putin's black sea palace. I see the B52 flights off his front yard are giving him the willies. Then again his frightened nature is well known.

There's a guy who looks confident in his immune system. 

[Andrei Moutchkine + 828]

3 hours ago, Strangelovesurfing said:

Russia can't even enforce a no fly zone next to Putin's black sea palace. I see the B52 flights off his front yard are giving him the willies. Then again his frightened nature is well known.

There's a guy who looks confident in his immune system. 

It is not "Putin's palace" but a bunch of computer-generated imagery of no consequence.

The no flight zone belongs to Krasnodar region FSB, which is also responsible for the local chapter of the border guards/Coast Guard. They've got some kind of presence on the beachfront underneath.

I am pretty sure there were no B52's there. Because that would be violating Russian airspace and they could have gotten themselves hurt. The small no-flight zone is mostly there for drones. The organization guarding Putin is called the FSO and is most similar to US Secret Service. They also can make no-flight zones, but theirs are usually found at Putin's actual residences, not computer-generated ones.

What is wrong with wearing a full face respirator in the red zone, where they are known to be infectious Covid patients? I think it is stupid of politicians to make such visits at all, yet many of them did nonetheless.

Edited December 7, 2021 by Andrei Moutchkine

[frankfurter + 562]

On 12/4/2021 at 6:02 PM, Boat said:

Sounds like fear propaganda. In my opinion I would cut Russia out of the banking system period. If they mess with the Ukraine I would introduce Russia to air domination like with Iraq. Nothing flies. Time for the world to pick sides and allies. We don’t have to deal with each other. But don’t be land grabbing. That ended with WWII and were the alpha dog who’s in charge of world peace.

Excellent. Displays your ignorance clearly.

[frankfurter + 562]

Returning to the title... what is the threat from China exactly?  Has China a military base, armed with 100,000 soldiers and nuclear weapons, anywhere near the USA?  Has China bombed and invaded any country in the past 50 years?  Has China formed any military alliance with any country anywhere?  Do the Chinese consume more, pollute more per capita than the Americans?  Do the Chinese force all countries in the world to buy crude and gas in CNY and no other currency? Has China funded any separatist, any terrorist groups in America?

[Boat + 1,324]

3 hours ago, frankfurter said:

Returning to the title... what is the threat from China exactly?  Has China a military base, armed with 100,000 soldiers and nuclear weapons, anywhere near the USA?  Has China bombed and invaded any country in the past 50 years?  Has China formed any military alliance with any country anywhere?  Do the Chinese consume more, pollute more per capita than the Americans?  Do the Chinese force all countries in the world to buy crude and gas in CNY and no other currency? Has China funded any separatist, any terrorist groups in America?

You might consider catching up with current events. Unlike other countries you can Google US sanctions on countries and find a list with dates. Amazing stuff eh?

[Eyes Wide Open + 3,555]

8 hours ago, Boat said:

You might consider catching up with current events. Unlike other countries you can Google US sanctions on countries and find a list with dates. Amazing stuff eh?

You play or watch far to many video games/movies. Sanctions only have teeth when there is a price to be paid.

China/Russia are no longer bound by those constructs of law. How this all plays out is being written day by day. 

When the current Democratic party and the embedded beaurcrats covertly ended Trumps Presidency a example was set for the world to see. Like it or not the world is a free for all right now.

Good for thee and not me....will not P layout well on the world stage. With that being said perhaps you might rally your woke comrades, and of course Bernie and the gang. I am quite sure XI/Putin will be all ears.

S.Korea scrambles fighter jets as China, Russia aircraft enter air defense zone

https://www.reuters.com/world/skorea-scrambles-fighter-jets-china-russia-aircraft-enter-air-defense-zone-2021-11-19/

Edited December 7, 2021 by Eyes Wide Open

[Strangelovesurfing + 737]

14 hours ago, Andrei Moutchkine said:

What is wrong with wearing a full face respirator in the red zone, where they are known to be infectious Covid patients? I think it is stupid of politicians to make such visits at all, yet many of them did nonetheless.

I walked through a hospital with many COVID patients and only wore a cloth mask, no space suit required and I'm just fine. What's Putin so scared of? Isn't he the guy wrestling lions, tigers, and bears?

At least Putin's upright and walking, Joe Biden can't even stay awake 😴.

Edited December 7, 2021 by Strangelovesurfing

[Andrei Moutchkine + 828]

1 hour ago, Strangelovesurfing said:

I walked through a hospital with many COVID patients and only wore a cloth mask, no space suit required and I'm just fine. What's Putin so scared of? Isn't he the guy wrestling lions, tigers, and bears?

At least Putin's upright and walking, Joe Biden can't even stay awake 😴.

Is this supposed to prove your bravery? It doesn't really. The germs interpretation capacity for your offensive posturing is limited, at best.

Putin is an elderly dude who still enjoys camping outdoors with his bosom buds from his boyscout troop in St. Petersburg. The rest is Photoshop.

 

[Andrei Moutchkine + 828]

11 hours ago, Boat said:

You might consider catching up with current events. Unlike other countries you can Google US sanctions on countries and find a list with dates. Amazing stuff eh?

Perhaps because most other countries are not engaged in economic terrorism like yourselves? Nobody cares about your sanctions anymore. Keep undermining the attractiveness of the US financial system and the greenback by weaponizing them and see them turn into toxic waste though. Fun fact - in 2020, the total of EUR transacted over SWIFT exceeded that of USD for the first time.

https://ecfr.eu/publication/meeting_the_challenge_of_secondary_sanctions/

Being some kind of EU official, is unnecessarily polite. I'd call it, "meeting the challenge of Podunk jurisdiction extended in lieu of international law"

[Starschy + 211]

Swift sanctions would be a Desaster for the European banking system and not for the Russians. Because they have a Swift Alternative in place since 2015. Tested with 400 Russian Clients mostly Banks. Turkey is not EU will you exclude them from Swift. Looholes in series.

The second part will be that deliveries to Iran will multiply and for sure Swift will loose Millions of transactions and overview will fail. Banks in mid-east and Asia could jump to the Russian System.

[footeab@yahoo.com + 2,191]

17 hours ago, frankfurter said:

Returning to the title... what is the threat from China exactly?  Has China a military base, armed with 100,000 soldiers and nuclear weapons, anywhere near the USA?  Has China bombed and invaded any country in the past 50 years?  Has China formed any military alliance with any country anywhere?  Do the Chinese consume more, pollute more per capita than the Americans?  Do the Chinese force all countries in the world to buy crude and gas in CNY and no other currency? Has China funded any separatist, any terrorist groups in America?

• List: Countries invaded/conquered by China:
• USSR/Russia,
• Mongolia,
• Kyrgyzstan, 
• Japan,
• Vietnam,
• Tibet,
• India,
• Bhutan,
• Myanmar,
• Laos,
• Yunan,
• Philippines
• Could argue for just about every single country on an ocean whose fisheries have been scalped recently...

IS there ANY country China has not invaded/taken territory from on its borders?  I do not think they have invaded Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, or Afghanistan as most of that border was set up by the USSR who said cross it and we NUKE YOUR ASS after China tried.

[footeab@yahoo.com + 2,191]

3 hours ago, Andrei Moutchkine said:

Perhaps because most other countries are not engaged in economic terrorism like yourselves? Nobody cares about your sanctions anymore. Keep undermining the attractiveness of the US financial system and the greenback by weaponizing them and see them turn into toxic waste though. Fun fact - in 2020, the total of EUR transacted over SWIFT exceeded that of USD for the first time.

https://ecfr.eu/publication/meeting_the_challenge_of_secondary_sanctions/

Being some kind of EU official, is unnecessarily polite. I'd call it, "meeting the challenge of Podunk jurisdiction extended in lieu of international law"

https://www.ecb.europa.eu/pub/ire/html/ecb.ire202106~a058f84c61.en.html

From the horses mouth: "The share of the euro across various indicators of international currency use was close to historical lows, averaging around 19%.

As for payment... When you have to make 2X-->4X transactions for the same product, In/Out, and often between countries inside the EU... it does look impressive...

Here is reality: USD will fall by the idiots in Washington continuing to print more money and go into debt.  How all financial empires fall every single time. 

PS: All monetary empires keep increasing market share until a precipitous collapse.  British, Spanish, etc. 

Edited December 8, 2021 by footeab@yahoo.com

[Andrei Moutchkine + 828]

2 hours ago, footeab@yahoo.com said:

https://www.ecb.europa.eu/pub/ire/html/ecb.ire202106~a058f84c61.en.html

From the horses mouth: "The share of the euro across various indicators of international currency use was close to historical lows, averaging around 19%.

As for payment... When you have to make 2X-->4X transactions for the same product, In/Out, and often between countries inside the EU... it does look impressive...

Here is reality: USD will fall by the idiots in Washington continuing to print more money and go into debt.  How all financial empires fall every single time. 

PS: All monetary empires keep increasing market share until a precipitous collapse.  British, Spanish, etc. 

I was referring to this

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-11-19/euro-tops-dollar-as-payments-currency-for-first-time-since-2013

Maybe it is not mutually exclusive and both USD and EUR share is dropping outside of SWIFT?

What is 2X -> 4X? There isn't really a difference in domestic and international SWIFT traffic. Most "reputable" countries use it for everything.

The https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spanish_dollar was the most widely accepted coin ever. Legal tender in US till 1857, anything called peso today, but also  yen and yuan. (fully portable variety, with no imbiber shit)

 

[footeab@yahoo.com + 2,191]

3 minutes ago, Andrei Moutchkine said:

I was referring to this

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-11-19/euro-tops-dollar-as-payments-currency-for-first-time-since-2013

Maybe it is not mutually exclusive and both USD and EUR share is dropping outside of SWIFT?

What is 2X -> 4X? There isn't really a difference in domestic and international SWIFT traffic. Most "reputable" countries use it for everything.

The https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spanish_dollar was the most widely accepted coin ever. Legal tender in US till 1857, anything called peso today, but also  yen and yuan. (fully portable variety, with no imbiber shit)

 

Lets see, take word of the ECB, or Bloomberg... yea

READ my LINK, from the F'ing ECB to inform your lazy ass who said the exact OPPOSITE as "news" propagandists....

2X???   🙄   EUR countries exchange into  USD(1X), buy(1X) and Sell in USD outside their border before exchanging into EUR once back inside border.  The Conversion of exchange from EUR/USD therefore gets shown as transactions TWICE.  Likewise a huge number of INTERNAL commodities inside the EU, get exchanged in USD to EUR crossing internal borders between member countries, and therefore 4X.  Then we have the happy habit that many loans, commercial/federal in the EU are in USD, which continually get rolled over showing as transactions in SWIFT even though in effect they are internal transactions.  All such transactions in the USA for instance do not get shown, just as internal EUR exchanges are NOT shown. 

Rome's/Byzantium Solidus was dominant for ~700 years+++ until debasement leading to rise of the Italian city states.  Spanish Dollar was on top for~? 200 years?  British Pound was on top of world finance for a good 150+ years.... So, USD has been going for??? ~100 years?  When it will totter off into the dustbin of history?  Who knows.  It will.  Put your eggs in multiple baskets. 

[frankfurter + 562]

11 hours ago, footeab@yahoo.com said:

• List: Countries invaded/conquered by China:
• USSR/Russia,
• Mongolia,
• Kyrgyzstan, 
• Japan,
• Vietnam,
• Tibet,
• India,
• Bhutan,
• Myanmar,
• Laos,
• Yunan,
• Philippines
• Could argue for just about every single country on an ocean whose fisheries have been scalped recently...

IS there ANY country China has not invaded/taken territory from on its borders?  I do not think they have invaded Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, or Afghanistan as most of that border was set up by the USSR who said cross it and we NUKE YOUR ASS after China tried.

bro, you are warped.

[Andrei Moutchkine + 828]

8 hours ago, footeab@yahoo.com said:

Lets see, take word of the ECB, or Bloomberg... yea

READ my LINK, from the F'ing ECB to inform your lazy ass who said the exact OPPOSITE as "news" propagandists....

2X???   🙄   EUR countries exchange into  USD(1X), buy(1X) and Sell in USD outside their border before exchanging into EUR once back inside border.  The Conversion of exchange from EUR/USD therefore gets shown as transactions TWICE.  Likewise a huge number of INTERNAL commodities inside the EU, get exchanged in USD to EUR crossing internal borders between member countries, and therefore 4X.  Then we have the happy habit that many loans, commercial/federal in the EU are in USD, which continually get rolled over showing as transactions in SWIFT even though in effect they are internal transactions.  All such transactions in the USA for instance do not get shown, just as internal EUR exchanges are NOT shown. 

Rome's/Byzantium Solidus was dominant for ~700 years+++ until debasement leading to rise of the Italian city states.  Spanish Dollar was on top for~? 200 years?  British Pound was on top of world finance for a good 150+ years.... So, USD has been going for??? ~100 years?  When it will totter off into the dustbin of history?  Who knows.  It will.  Put your eggs in multiple baskets. 

ECB probably knows of all the EUR and Bloomberg only of SWIFT.

Not all trade needs a conversion to USD, you know? If I ever find myself exchanging EUR to USD and back, again I sure as fuck go and procure an account which lets me keep my balance in USD.

Like what commodities would that be? Serious commodity traders use currency pairs directly. That is, EUR/USD and USD/EUR rationals. This scheme allows you to split the spread down the middle with the guy on the other side, bringing the FX costs down to 0.0

I live in Austria, where all the mortgages are in CHF.

You shouldn't compare gold and silver directly. The best ever gold coin the

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Écu

Supposed to have the 2017 purchasing power of 24 EUR or 30 USD. Or 4.5g of gold's worth. The  EUR was supposed to be named the European Currency Unit as a word play on. What was the euro before? Apparently a, rat-like critter featuring an empy purse? (ssp. of wallaroo) A lot of Australians are like that, did you know? Totally broke. It is all downhill for EU from thee.

Beautiful story, on how France got rich from paying the reparations from Napoleonic wars just the right way. Also, the Revolution. See

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

The scam got so good that even the Swiss and the Dutch discovered their inner Chicanos and joined in! BTW, it just so happens that the solidus was also about 4.5 gram of gold. However, the ultimate hegemonic .

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

which is really the ultimate Imperial coin of the Hegemony. Starting at 1.0 for Caesar 's Rome, through the British and all the way through to Uncle Sam  Check out this beautiful table:

Gold content and price comparison

Name	Gold content	Julius Caesar Aureus
Julius Caesar Aureus	8.18 grams	1.000
Nero Aureus	7.27 grams	0.889
Caracalla Aureus	6.55 grams	0.800
Diocletian Aureus	5.45 grams	0.667
Constantine Solidus	4.55 grams	0.556
British Sovereign	7.32 grams	0.895
USA Eagle 1837–1933	15.05 grams	1.839
USA Gold Dollar 1849–1889	1.51 grams	0.184
USA Gold Eagle 1986–present	31.10 grams	3.802

Due to runaway inflation caused by the Roman government's issuing base-metal coinage but refusing to accept anything other than silver or gold for tax payments, the value of the gold aureus in relation to the denarius grew drastically. Inflation was also affected by the systematic debasement of the silver denarius, which by the mid-3rd century had practically no silver left in it.

So, it does not actually appreciate, like the Ecu. Very few precious metal coins ever do. It does lose value, but very very slowly so, being accessible to the special cronies. At the same time, regular small silver coin got debased by the factor of about 300.000x

The USA Gold Eagle is likely the end of the road. They do not scale the same way with respect to ounces vs dollar nominals. So, you've got to choose, whether you believe in gold being priced in dollars, or mass units. Which one do you believe better? You know what's up with that? (it's a cliffhanger

You may also notice that the Evil Empire was not too bad up until about Constantine. The British obviously broke it! A coin like that was supposed to represent a laborer's monthly wages or suit of fine clothes. worthy of aristocrat through this time. Do you actual believe this? I mean, wasn't Rome one giant piijama party? Most expensive thing you could get was still a bedsheet, only colored in way expensive purple ink, supposedly in limited supply. So, you see it was a special privilege afforded to citizens only to wear a bedsheet inside Rome.

So, if I had to purchase an outfit, could I wear a

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

to a Senate hearing? Categorically, no! Only if invited and in a company of "honorary guard" of 12 lichtors (the guys with the Nazi paraphanalia) What do we learn?

1) There are bread and circuses for VIPs too. No point to aspiring one of them.

2) The ultimate purpose of representative democracy is usurping all the power for yourself, followed by massive self-enrichment. Romans were the last ones honest about this.

3) Listen to the good advice the Hegemony gives. Than, do everything exactly the opposite way around.

[Andrei Moutchkine + 828]

On 12/8/2021 at 5:05 AM, footeab@yahoo.com said:

Lets see, take word of the ECB, or Bloomberg... yea

READ my LINK, from the F'ing ECB to inform your lazy ass who said the exact OPPOSITE as "news" propagandists....

2X???   🙄   EUR countries exchange into  USD(1X), buy(1X) and Sell in USD outside their border before exchanging into EUR once back inside border.  The Conversion of exchange from EUR/USD therefore gets shown as transactions TWICE.  Likewise a huge number of INTERNAL commodities inside the EU, get exchanged in USD to EUR crossing internal borders between member countries, and therefore 4X.  Then we have the happy habit that many loans, commercial/federal in the EU are in USD, which continually get rolled over showing as transactions in SWIFT even though in effect they are internal transactions.  All such transactions in the USA for instance do not get shown, just as internal EUR exchanges are NOT shown. 

Rome's/Byzantium Solidus was dominant for ~700 years+++ until debasement leading to rise of the Italian city states.  Spanish Dollar was on top for~? 200 years?  British Pound was on top of world finance for a good 150+ years.... So, USD has been going for??? ~100 years?  When it will totter off into the dustbin of history?  Who knows.  It will.  Put your eggs in multiple baskets. 

Forgot to mention that there is such a thing as a cashless SWAP, for which SWIFT has some kind of special messages.

That is, you will hardly ever find two banks moving in both directions of a pair at once. As in swapping their USD/EUR position for EUR/USD one at some par value. No spread, no transactional fees and very often nothing to report to the taxation authorities. This is entirely obvious to any banker, because they use 2 different kinds of simultaneous plus/minus sign anyway. Say, debit, credit, black and red.

Whenever TV news in Russia show USD or EUR losing value to ruble, they always display it in red, like it is was a bad thing. This arises from simply aping authoritative Western sources like Bloomberg.

Edited December 24, 2021 by Andrei Moutchkine

[Andrei Moutchkine + 828]

On 12/7/2021 at 2:25 AM, Strangelovesurfing said:

Russia can't even enforce a no fly zone next to Putin's black sea palace. I see the B52 flights off his front yard are giving him the willies. Then again his frightened nature is well known.

There's a guy who looks confident in his immune system. 

Did you know that most of the plate armor the Romans issued had an exaggerated pattern imitating ripped abdomen, like a Batman suit. Hi, King Leonidas, is it you. Obviously something for somebody feeling insecure in the presence of all the artwork depicting Olympic Gods? Or seeing through the Empire being cheap cheap cheap for its GI kit? Evidence favoring the second includes them never stopping to produce most of their helmets and gladiuses (basic recruit swords) from bronze. Much easier to mass produce than steel. The regulation gladius was sufficiently dull and unwieldy as to be useless in the hands of anybody with no formal military training. This is where the word gladiator comes from. Most were actually cast in a free-for-all competition where they all got the same kit as legionaire recruits. If you survived, you could retired and be awarded with a wooden sword. Or you could stay an indentured slave of the circus you worked for, till you paid of the better kit their works catalogue offered. Also, glam.

So, you are being obviously envious of Grandpa Pu's situational awareness. I don't see this in any of your leadership. As a rule of thumb, does the representatives of the Hegemony always speak with a twisted tongue. Best interpretation is the opposite of what it seems. US military does that a lot. Whatever they are dissing most, is what they actually envy.

You are also still taking damage from the early formative years when you were trying to imitate the Brits. For example, this

a

This be battleship Iowa firing a broadside. Who is this supposed to impress? Certainly not a near pear competitor like Bismark or Yamato. They could probably do it for a few hours, till, by a freak accident a shell bounces around and hits one of the participants ammo stores. I call this genre of naval warfare "Monte Carlo corrugation of iron board"

What I personally see a bunch of cretins, who devolved to the level of the Ottomans in the age of sail. Back when was the going rules of symmetric great power competition, also British such that everybody would built the largest ships they could out of wood and than they would all stand behind each other and fire "broadsides" as it was before the rifled artillery capable of indirect fire. With "attack surface" being same on both RX and TX side, was the winner invariable one with the most wooden ships and dispensable recruits. Which were near always the Brits. What if they were not? Than, the Brits suddenly forget this gentlemanly art of broadside and do what they they did at Trafalgar. Which, IMHO, is still subpar. There was an obvious way to kill everybody else while taking no damage, but the British knew of it. It wasn't ready yet.

Back to the Turks. This is an artistic interpretation of Russian brig Mercury taking out two Ottoman ships of the line / largest battleships while taking very little damage to itself by getting itself surrounded by the Turks. The Turkish captains obviously had a problem. Nobody told them how to fire anything less than a full broadside. Which was mostly hitting the other Turk. A brig is a type of warship than is even lower in rank than corvette. They still had some residual oars and could move a little bit with no wind.

Can we expand this approach to Iowa? But of course. The safest place to be fighting it would be right underneath its feet and below. It obviously has a blind spot right next to it / minimum engagement distance. So, my bet would be on something like the classic USS Monitor, a contraption that stays largely submerged under water and only features one or two ginormous guns. There is actually no way to hit it at all without using indirect fire and you've only got to armor the upper deck against it. Two ginormous guns pointed in opposite directions and you can fight and win against Yamato and Iowa at the same time. Alas, that was before the submarines. Today, you can get away with a very little sub featuring the large can opener you can find and surfacing right next to the battleship. Also works against a carrier without visible escorts. Anyhow, this strange paradigm is called the "post-Dreadnaught" battleship, which amounts to only featuring the largest guns you can fit and nothing else. Another set up by the Brits. Do you know what the original Dreadnought was? One of the only two remaining English galleons of the "English Armada" which was dispatched to catch what was left of the "Spanish Armada" which was dispatched to undo the Reformation.  So they did, except this time was the meeting out in the open ocean, mission the Spaniards actually built their ships for. Results. Two beaten up Spanish galleons, aided by Portuguese galleys (ships featuring oars) mop the floor with some 40 English sorta-warships. The only two to get away was the Dreadnaught and Sr. Francis Drake's Revenge. See, those were also no match for the Spanish ships, but faster. Sr. Francis Drake is notable for having convinced the British queen on the virtues of free enterprise and democratic governance that conventional military lacked. Him being a privateer (a well connected pirate) Come to think of this it still hasn't been fixed. How come that the US military is such an undemocratic institution? Shame on you. I think you, being such strong defenders of democracy and freedom, ought to elect all your generals and admirals and hold referendums on who to invade next among the enlisted men. Except for the generals and admirals of novelty gender type. The affirmative action quota stays! What your military obviously needs is more progressive trans-gendered queer leadership. Because diversity is always virtual! Make every bullet a different caliber!

For all his potential failing, does grandpa Pu understand asymmetric challenges. We don't have to play by your stupid rules and fast forward to what you fear most. Unless you don't even know that you really should, if nobody's home. The Chinese, who are new to this whole great power competition activity are doing less well. They are obviously getting themselves lured into engaging the US on arbitrary terms you invented to up-sell what your liabilities are as if they were something good. Like "power projection" (not sure how it works. You pretend that you are going to attack even when you really can't), unsupportable crewing and maintenance requirments of an aircraft carrier fleets (a genre meaningful against WWII Japan doing the same thing) and compromising all kinds of useful properties of your aircraft for just one - stealth. The real usefulness of which is still TBD. IMHO, is any aircraft which does not use a powered radar sufficiently stealth. No AWACS carrying the radar, no stealth. You did pay it back to the Brits, who are now imitating your BS and than some. They got themselves a couple of snazzy supercarriers, banking on EMAILS, the electromagnetic launcher thingy that still doesn't work on the   Ford. However, a fallback to a steam catapult was not in the cards on the account of the barges featuring a fashionable all-electrical propulsion. So, they could not use the carrier version of the F-35 anymore, and had to resort to the porkies, most compromised STOL version thereof, the only useful property of which is not requiring a full carrier in the first place.  Judging from the funny way they lost one, adding the ski ramp like the Soviet-derived carriers actually make  matters worse. It is not possible for a US carrier based jet to roll to a stop and drop into the water at the very end of the runway, because US carriers always launch planes going full tilt into the wind and landing them in the opposite direction. Produces an extra bit  of lift or drag. Britannia obviously rules no seas anymore. The way I see it, as another Turkey. A proud bird looking superficially similar to a condor (glorified vulture) but does not fly. Therefore, does only the real vulture qualify as a "bald eagle"  I mean, lets suppose I've never seen a bald eagle before and you have to explain in your own words, like I was a five year old? Is there much difference to the

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

the local bird I already know? Say, I am from Africa. (The Russian one got two heads, which looks like a severe birth defect. It is tends to be appealing to any aging Empire in decline, ruled by a bunch of inbreeds) Do you know of any other bearded fowl? We could use a domestically Eurasian variety for a makeover. his could position the Russian bird as perceptual alternate source of leadership to your bald bird. See

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bald–hairy

Which are the two alternating factions governing Russia since medieval times, giving an illusion of there being any difference. between the two. Works the same as your Republicans and Democrats, which is what enables the US to pretend its got two parties (good) as opposed to one (China or Japan) Ha! Did you know that DPRK had whole four. Is it good or bad? The way I see it, bad. China, insufficiently democratic. DPRK too democratic. USA just perfect. Than how come your Reichadler only got one head? Which means it is healthier than most. Signifying rule of united neocons of every stripe, both left and right of sane. Guns and abortions are the only token issues they categorically disagree upon. Everything else is negotiable, for the right price. I can totally see an unification framework for being simultaneously for abortion and for guns. For everything bestest best! That is, a later-stage American fetus is always OK to abort, but only by the means of a firearm! Preferably, Made in USA! No touching of the expecting MILFs with your mitts, one liability less! More metalworking jobs, less for lawyers. Now, the big remaining issue whether one extracts a fetus while they are still attached to their hosts before you shoot them or do you shoot them while they are still inside their mums? What do you think? Either way works for me.

 

[Tomasz + 1,608]

Nord Stream II was finally accepted. Ukraine is going to be buffer zone outside NATO.

Now Russia must simply calmly wait for the bankruptcy and disintegration of Ukraine.

I think it is reasonable to consider the division of Ukraine between the East and the West sphere of infuence traditionally on the Dnieper river.

With  Kiev in the  Russia sphere zone. The sacred place of Russian Orthodoxy, the so-called Pechersk Lavra, must sooner or later find itself in the Russian mir. 

Gentlemen, it's winter. It is going to be rather a harsh winter in Europe after coldest November in lat 5 years which I hope will finally appeal to the Ukrainians who lack coal gas and electricity.

Ukraine is a Russian mir and the West has nothing to look for there. I recommend the Cuban crisis to amateurs of expanding Western influence beyond rational border. Do you remember a nice war movie cold One bridge to far?

 

PS

Andrei Im reading now Paul Klebnikov work tittle "Goodfather of Kremlin and looting of Russia". A fascinating reading about gangster capitalism of the 90s. It was a bit similar in Poland, but on a much smaller scale.

Edited December 9, 2021 by Tomasz

[Strangelovesurfing + 737]

On 12/9/2021 at 2:12 AM, Andrei Moutchkine said:

So, you are being obviously envious of Grandpa Pu's situational awareness.

Not envious, just not scared of the world. The virus is in the background of our lives and will be from here on out. Get your vaccinations, after that it's all just evolution isn't it?

Putin's situational awareness has:

1. Reinvigorated NATO, a decaying institution with no real Eastern European and no Baltic hard power presence before 2014. Not anymore, Putin's actions have drawn military hardware in his direction. Stupid.

2. Forever lost Ukraine, somewhere around a 80% of Ukrainians had positive feelings toward Russia before the Maidan. Now not so much. Your take on the polling about Ukraine and Russia being one people and having a shared history is misleading. Ukraine and Russia do have a shard history, it doesn't mean Ukrainians want a political union with Russia. Those are completely separate things.

https://www.kyivpost.com/ukraine-politics/poll-shows-41-of-ukrainians-agree-with-putins-one-nation-claim-but-question-was-tweaked.html

3. Allied himself with the CCP which in the years ahead will end up just like 1969. Every Russian knows this, you can see it posted on message boards within Russia all the time. "Remember our real long term enemy is China", or something like it is posted again and again. What's good for Putin isn't necessarily what's good for Russia, this reality will reassert itself in time.

KGB joke "Khrushchev and Nixon are speaking on the phone. Nixon informs Khrushchev the US has developed a computer that can see 200 years into the future. Khrushchev asks "What does it say about the future?", Nixon "I don't know it's all in Chinese"

Edited December 12, 2021 by Strangelovesurfing

[Piotr Berman + 82]

Strangelovesurfin points

1. Putin "reinvigorated NATO".  You mean, rhetoric?  Did it really change?  But now, Europeans are ready to send their tanks and lighter forces to Ukraine by the thousands, would a need arise.  Really?  Poles are the nearest, the government is the loudest, the popular will to "help Ukraine in the time of need" is perhaps weakest (although it is a hard call, Ukrainians, especially "patriotic" once, are less popular in Poland than Russian).  Romanians?  OK, let us go through "serious" countries, hm, perhaps Brits have some appetite to avenge the fate of the Light Brigade during Crimean War, but I would think not.

2. Putin lost Ukraine.  Ukraine is a very polarized country, those that like the idea of taking Donbas back by force (and this is what it is about) do not like Putin, the other support Putin's idea of scaring Ukraine away from this hopeless idea.  Unlike "Westerners", Ukrainians know what the brouhaha is about -- Poles also tend to know.  If anything, Putin may win hearts in Ukraine, but this refers to movements that are not known in the "West" -- changes in the economic situation in Donbas.

3. Alliance with "CCP".  One should observe that inheritors from CCCP may have affinity to CCP.  More seriously, the fit between Russia and China is better than ever.  Both want trade partners, just in case, that are not separated by trade routes where USA can interfere.  Both have conflict with USA as "designated serious enemies", and both concluded that this tag will not change by mere politeness or realistic concessions.  Recent shifts of economic policy in China made the economies more complementary.  On grand strategy, their needs click -- and both need Iran to maintain a robust, invulnerable position.

Bear in mind that there is no clamor among Chinese population to move to the frigid north -- however warmer it became lately.  If they want minerals, wood, grain etc. from Siberia (and the rest of Russia), they can let the Russians make the bulk of investment and sell.  Hard to think why alliance (a coordination among equals, no "command" like in NATO) would be wrong, or unpopular.

 

[Piotr Berman + 82]

Tomasz: I think it is reasonable to consider the division of Ukraine between the East and the West sphere of infuence traditionally on the Dnieper river.

With  Kiev in the  Russia sphere zone. The sacred place of Russian Orthodoxy, the so-called Pechersk Lavra, must sooner or later find itself in the Russian mir. 

----

This is complicated, and you can look at Belgium: two populations with scarce friendship between them, and yet hard to split.  But there is a rationale: Ukraine sufficiently Russian to be treated very stingily by the West, and sufficiently anti-Russian to loose industries that relied on common supply chains and markets with Russia, and get cold treatment this coming winter.  Too weak to stand alone, and de-facto, friendless.  IMHO, officially neutral Ukraine would be in a much better position, Finland and Austria are doing fine, after all.

Edited December 12, 2021 by Piotr Berman
typo

[ronwagn + 6,290]

On 12/7/2021 at 12:10 AM, frankfurter said:

Returning to the title... what is the threat from China exactly?  Has China a military base, armed with 100,000 soldiers and nuclear weapons, anywhere near the USA?  Has China bombed and invaded any country in the past 50 years?  Has China formed any military alliance with any country anywhere?  Do the Chinese consume more, pollute more per capita than the Americans?  Do the Chinese force all countries in the world to buy crude and gas in CNY and no other currency? Has China funded any separatist, any terrorist groups in America?

China has infiltrated every country on earth and is working against our interests in every way possible. They are burning record amounts of coal while selling the West solar cells and laughing their way to the bank. They have stolen our technology and have the largest army and navy in the world. They are claiming large portions of the South Sea that they have no rights to. They have stolen most of the land they now call China. 

[ronwagn + 6,290]

2 hours ago, Piotr Berman said:

Tomasz: I think it is reasonable to consider the division of Ukraine between the East and the West sphere of infuence traditionally on the Dnieper river.

With  Kiev in the  Russia sphere zone. The sacred place of Russian Orthodoxy, the so-called Pechersk Lavra, must sooner or later find itself in the Russian mir. 

----

This is complicated, and you can look at Belgium: two populations with scarce friendship between them, and yet hard to split.  But there is a rationale: Ukraine sufficiently Russian to be treated very stingily by the West, and sufficiently anti-Russian to loose industries that relied on common supply chains and markets with Russia, and get cold treatment this coming winter.  Too weak to stand alone, and de-facto, friendless.  IMHO, officially neutral Ukraine would be in a much better position, Finland and Austria are doing fine, after all.

Don't forget the Holodomor https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holodomor , and the fact that Finland is preparing for a potential Russian invasion again. https://fotavgeia.blogspot.com/2017/07/how-finland-is-preparing-for-russian.html

[ronwagn + 6,290]

2 hours ago, Piotr Berman said:

Tomasz: I think it is reasonable to consider the division of Ukraine between the East and the West sphere of infuence traditionally on the Dnieper river.

With  Kiev in the  Russia sphere zone. The sacred place of Russian Orthodoxy, the so-called Pechersk Lavra, must sooner or later find itself in the Russian mir. 

----

This is complicated, and you can look at Belgium: two populations with scarce friendship between them, and yet hard to split.  But there is a rationale: Ukraine sufficiently Russian to be treated very stingily by the West, and sufficiently anti-Russian to loose industries that relied on common supply chains and markets with Russia, and get cold treatment this coming winter.  Too weak to stand alone, and de-facto, friendless.  IMHO, officially neutral Ukraine would be in a much better position, Finland and Austria are doing fine, after all.

That just makes it easier for Russia to dominate Ukraine.