The War in Europe

It's not a pretense. It's not a pretense. And what does that have to do with "The War in Europe"?

I see Putin as a gangster, an opportunist. It isn't about "seeing the future" at all. It's about tailoring the future to suit himself.Wishfull thinking, maybe: The other Russian gangsters will dislike how Putin's war is effecting their crimes and will do away with him.

I asked you what any of that has to do with "The War in Europe". Just answer the question. No stupid ranting required.

I doubt that. He likes the attention but he doesn't like people constantly wanting him to do things. Well, you never tell us why these things might happen - i.e. you have no rationale for your fears. Try to think rationally. But that has never been His plan. Noah had to build his own ark. I think he's itching to find a way out of the mess he's created. He can't show weakness because the other gangsters will stomp him but he can't "win" this war either, not in any real sense.My guess is that he'll pull the same trick as Trump and say, "Well, I accomplished what I wanted to do," (built a wall, made America great again, stopped the Nazis in Ukraine) and try to quietly fade away.(I'm waiting to see what monster raving looney our Canadian Conservative party chooses for its leader-of-the month. So far, it looks like a "race" between a Trump wannabe, a has-been and at least one never-was.)

Well, the Washington Post headline was:

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Neo-Nazis are exploiting Russia’s war in Ukraine for their own purposes

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Nothing about "Ukraine's military".And the article says:

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The would-be militants have been recruited by groups like the Azov Battalion, a far-right nationalist Ukrainian paramilitary and political movement.

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PARAmilitary. Nothing to do with "Ukraine's military".

Stop it. Most of us are NOT optimists. We just see human solutions as the only solutions there are. No.In fact, mandatory solutions won't work because governments are afraid to rock the electoral boat.As always, our salvation is up to us, individually.

As far as I know, the guidelines don't forbid telling a fat man that he's fat or a bald man that he's bald.

As a general rule, it's cheaper to trade than to fight a war. Isn't Putin likely to lose more oil/gas sales due to sanctions than he could possibly gain from Ukraine?You could argue that he's irrational but then why would you suggest rational reasons for what he does?

That's what I'm doing. It's the warmongers who are thinking short-range. Oh, thaaaat's what you call "long-range"? That's conceivably within my lifetime. I was thinking a couple of generations beyond that, say a hundred years. Yeah, they've been saying that for sixty years.But that isn't the problem. The problem is that we need to use less of it. So who knows how using less and having less will balance out? Why? Stop it. I have TOLD you more than once that I am NOT a Marxist.YOU are more of a Marxist than I am. YOU are the one who talks about "class struggle". Did you read my post at all? I didn't say one word about the U.S.Here's the entire post:

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As a general rule, it's cheaper to trade than to fight a war. Isn't Putin likely to lose more oil/gas sales due to sanctions than he could possibly gain from Ukraine?
You could argue that he's irrational but then why would you suggest rational reasons for what he does?

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Respond to the post, not to the fantasies in your head.

I never have. Do you read my posts at all? Seriously, take notes if you have to but stop attributing to me what you pull out of your ass. Don't be silly. The U.S. will never have veto power over anything. Right now, your authoritarians - and that includes you - are the most dangerous (human) force on earth. Next to them, Putin is a saint. We learned a long time ago that your predictions are worthless.

Four other nations have the same power, so I wouldn't call it an actual veto. And it's part of what prevents the UN from getting anything done.

Are you kidding? Have you ever heard of Donald Trump? You guys are a few thousand votes from having him as President for Life. And his Republican henchmen are bending over backwards to make it happen. Stop listening to the voices in your head. I have never advocated that. Helping the poor would do a lot more to preserve the value of the dollar. More taxpayers. That's just stupid. Globalism is a fact. With the present state of communications and transportation, there's no avoiding it. That's your favorite bumper sticker. It's just as worthless as your predictions.You're like Jeb Bush saying, "George is ahead! Stop counting!" Or Donald Trump saying, "I'm ahead! Stop counting!"Luckily for the real world, you don't dictate the time line. When all of the votes are counted, the elction is over. When the jury is in, it's in. If I read the same crap that you do, I might reach the same crappy conclusions.You should try less reading and more thinking.

In 1901, Rudyard Kipling published a book called Kim about a British spy dealing with Russian spies in Afghanistan who were trying to gain access to the Indian Ocean.That's 1901. Nineteen-oh-one.Congratulations on figuring it out more than a century after it became common knowledge.Russians don't change, whether they're Tsarists or Bolsheviks or gangsters.

If you read my posts, you'd know what I have to say - and you'd quit saying silly things like calling me a Marxist or saying I'm trying to escape responsibility or saying I have faith in humanism to solve all our problems or countless other silly things that I've told you are false. There's no need for you to be careful - even if there was anything you could do about it. It ain't gonna happen. The Age of Empires is over. The Russian Empire is fragmented, despite Putin's efforts to duct-tape it back together, and the American Empire is in steep decline. The made-up "nations" of Czechoslovakia and Yugoslavia have split up. There are separatist movements in many nations. Even international organizations such as the UNH are struggling to hold together.Look to a future of more governments, not one government. And nobody is saying it will - which is why nobody is advocating it. It's just your right-wing fantasy bogeyman. The pesky nation is yours.Years ago, I heard somebody explain the difference between Democrats and Republicans: Democrats think everybody in the world wants to be an American. Republicans want to make everybody in the world an American.You do want one world government - but you want that government to be yours. See above. Do you know what the slogan of the Nazi Party was? Deutschland erwache!Which translates as "Germany, awake!" Look at the company you're keeping.We need more fear and loathing of right-wing authoritarians, not less.ABE:
I wrote this before reading jar's Message 543 below yours, so any similarities are coincidental - independent minds drawing similar conclusions.Edited by ringo, : No reason given.

Used to be called "crossing the Yalu." More recently, "a line in the sand."