The article linked below is a quick read. Caitlin, as his her wont, hit this one over the fence, out of the ballpark, across the river, and into the next county:

https://caitlinjohnstone.com.au/2023/10 ... o-believe/

The scenario is getting muddled somehow, probably my fault. Nobody invaded anybody in 2014. There was possibly a coup in 2014, depending on who you ask, but definitely leadership in Ukraine changed from pro-Russian to anti-Russian, and the Russians say that the US facilitated or encouraged that chan...

The USA has been a wonderful influence on the world in terms of things it has done domestically, modeling representative government and capitalistic free markets as examples to other countries, and developing fantastic technologies in agriculture, industry, medicine that have helped to raise living ...

No, there's more to it than that, which I will mention below. But I will say that the NATO missiles would be enough in my view, for one reason, which is I'm more than convinced of what the US response would be if a foreign power was trying to put missiles in Canada or Mexico pointed at us. Other tha...

No, I don't mean an abrupt action. I mean a slow action developing over 30 years just as the Ukraine situation has developed over the last 30 years, and Russia has tried many, many times to talk Ukraine out of it and has told the West that missiles in Ukraine are a red line that shouldn't be crossed...

yankees60 wrote: ↑Wed Oct 04, 2023 6:00 pm

stuper1 wrote: ↑Wed Oct 04, 2023 5:57 pm By the way, this is fun, I'm learning a lot about how this game is played. Much appreciated.

How are you defining the game?

That's probably the funniest post of all right there. Thank you, Vinny, you're always able to lighten up the mood around here.

I'll be happy to answer straight out, except very sincerely I'm not clear on what your question is. You said "Is there anything else?" Could you please clarify that for me? Anything else what?

Dualstow, What would the US do if say China and Canada were developing a close relationship and it was beginning to look like Canada would allow China's nuclear-tipped missiles into Canada pointed at the US? A lot of people like to point to the Cuba missile crisis when thinking about that question. ...

By the way, this is fun, I'm learning a lot about how this game is played. Much appreciated.

Ok, well good luck to Ukraine in trying to defeat Russia. And good luck to Taiwan in trying to defeat China. I wish them well. I have my doubts that Israel going up against Egypt and Japan going up against China in the 1930s (when Japan was quite strong and China was in the middle of a civil war I g...

Ah, ok, thanks for explaining. So calling someone a Putin apologist is not an at-the-man argument? I believe you that there's thousands of Western media articles claiming that Putin said that he is chomping at the bit to expand the Russian empire. I don't believe that if we read his actual words, yo...

Um, yeah, there were some technological imbalances in those examples that tilt the other direction here. But anyway, I wish the Ukrainians and Taiwanese nothing but the best sincerely. I hope they make the very best of bad situations. What is it like to be 100% certain about everything, even when y...

Please point me to a speech where he’s indicated a desire to expand the Russian empire. I’m not aware of any. I’m sure it’s easy to find Western pundits who claim he’s said such things, but I’m unaware of any speeches where he’s said such. As to your veiled fallacious argument (is that called an ad ...

Um, yeah, there were some technological imbalances in those examples that tilt the other direction here. But anyway, I wish the Ukrainians and Taiwanese nothing but the best sincerely. I hope they make the very best of bad situations.

You are very welcome. I am happy to help. You see one difference between me and the Rand guys is I don't have anything to sell, so I am able to give you the simple, unvarnished truth, which is that a relatively small country next to a huge country has no fighting chance. The Rand guys have two aims:...

Ok, I'll explain it to you like you're five. Russia won't be losing this war with Ukraine. Russia is a huge powerful country right next to a smaller, much less powerful country. Russia won't lose this war. Therefore, Russia won't feel it needs to use nuclear weapons. Do you feel better now? I hope y...

The point is that the nuclear threat has been on the table all along. Any time you're messing around on the borders of a nuclear power, the nuclear threat is in play. That goes for the US border as well, of course. The US downplayed the nuclear threat early on in the Ukraine conflict because it suit...

Why is any of this a surprise? People are evil. Evil people do evil things. Every attempt to create heaven on earth has failed since man's first attempt to be like God. Why get in a dither over things you can't control? A complete waste of time, talent and energy in my opinion. The idea is that if ...

After my second shot of 5 hour energy, I'm back with more great thoughts. Here's how the Taiwanese should run a referendum on whether to make a deal with China or pursue full independence: 1. All people who will be fighting at the front lines in event of war, and their mothers, should get full votes...

Well either they knew that pushing NATO right up to his borders wouldn't cause him to use nuclear weapons or else they didn't care if a lot of Ukrainians got incinerated with nuclear weapons. I'm not sure which is worse. That's my unbacked claim about how their thinking must have gone. It's simple l...

Don't worry about that; that's just ridiculous propaganda. Russia has no need to escalate anything. They are doing just fine right now slowly grinding down the Ukrainian forces. I mean the point about nuclear weapons has always been on the table from the beginning of this conflict. Does the US have ...

Not true. Taiwanese are good. Mainland Chinese are bad. I read it in the New York Times, so it has to be true. If you disagree with me, you need to go to a reeducation camp. And to your earlier point, so you are saying that the Ukrainians and the Taiwanese get to decide for America how we spend our...

By the way, of course as a people we do love Taiwanese people as we love almost anyone (not Russians though or mainland Chinese, both of which are unredeemable ethnicities). Taiwanese isn't an ethnicity. The mainland and Taiwan are the same people, ethnically. I thought the same was basically true ...

Not true. Taiwanese are good. Mainland Chinese are bad. I read it in the New York Times, so it has to be true. If you disagree with me, you need to go to a reeducation camp. And to your earlier point, so you are saying that the Ukrainians and the Taiwanese get to decide for America how we spend our ...

It probably doesn't sound like it, but I do feel sorry for anyone in Taiwan. I should say almost anyone. I don't feel sorry for any Zelensky-type leaders in Taiwan who might lead them down the garden path to very likely destruction, all the while knowing that those leaders and their families can boa...