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Russia-Ukraine War

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Comments

  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 8,248 ✭✭✭saabsaab


    I note that Putin didn't drink it! Looked at it with suspicion..



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 11,782 ✭✭✭✭Say my name


    The US government warns citizens against travelling to Russia.

    A dope who probably believes in anti establishment of the US and most likely is a Trump supporter falls for a Russian honeytrap. He travelled to South Korea to meet his honey. Then both went to the Russian far eastern city of Vladivostok. Where now she accused him of stealing $112 and now he's received a sentence (could be death sentence, these are all easy to make accidents especially -) in a penal colony of 3 years and 9 months.

    Basically Putin is getting american hostages together for bargaining chips and for trading for people abroad or political enemies or any favours looked for.



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 11,392 ✭✭✭✭Furze99


    Any US citizen and particularly a US soldier stupid enough to enter Russian at this stage, is no loss at all. Should be left to ponder their foolish ways indefinitely.



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 11,782 ✭✭✭✭Say my name


    I'd say 100% she was a Kremlin agent. Maybe he didn't know he was being taken into Russia from South Korea. But doubt it. He would have been waved through no trouble with her at the airport. She could have fabricated a story of needing to get something in Vladivostok and then they would both go to south east Asia or US or wherever.

    Anyway he's now in a penal colony where reports of torture are widespread. A soldier being particularly useful for interogation.



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 11,782 ✭✭✭✭Say my name


    Another thought occurred.

    What if he's offered. Do 8 months of a tour in Ukraine and you will be free to go home.

    There'd be a bit of propaganda dished out of that. For both home and the US.

    "American convict fights for Russia."

    It wouldn't matter to the Kremlin then if he died. Meh was voluntary...

    "American convict killed by American bombs."

    The Russian troll mind is not a nice place.



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  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 13,866 ✭✭✭✭Igotadose




  • Registered Users Posts: 1,002 ✭✭✭ToweringPerformance


    This American guy did a trip to Moscow recently and recorded it for YouTube. Really interesting to see it from a westerners perspective



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 485 ✭✭SoapMcTavish




  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 4,097 ✭✭✭Rawr


    Not even hiding your affiliation now, are you?

    "Oh no! Ukraine is losing ground! Not good!", and then things like this.

    Let's be frank, shall we? You and your ilk support a facist dictatorship that is geared towards the murder & subjugation of anyone how dares to not conform to the current whims of one man. This is monsterous behaviour we have seen time and again throughout history and behaviour like this is the window-dressing that makes the ghost of Joseph Goebbels jump about in glee.

    Do the faces of dead Ukrainian children haunt your sleep? If not…perhaps they should.



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 13,866 ✭✭✭✭Igotadose


    A poster child for 'useful idiot' that guy. No better than F*cker Carslon.

    You can kind of tell reading the comments on the Youtube video, lots of new accounts cheering for RuZZia.



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  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 2,679 ✭✭✭Field east


    pre mobilisation days I assume!!!!!!! The video was definately not made in Ireland - could have been by using AI - because if it was then that street excavated square patch would have been totally surrounded by the required number of metal barriers. It must have been a one-way-street as there was a barrier on only one side of the hole!!!!!!



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 18,702 ✭✭✭✭silverharp


    the main takeaway from all those walking around Russia/Supermarkets is that is that life is pretty normal for them, they still seem to get a lot of imports (European brands), their supermarkets are full and if a brand is missing its just renamed as something else.

    A belief in gender identity involves a level of faith as there is nothing tangible to prove its existence which, as something divorced from the physical body, is similar to the idea of a soul. - Colette Colfer



  • Moderators, Science, Health & Environment Moderators, Society & Culture Moderators Posts: 60,170 Mod ✭✭✭✭Wibbs


    There have been quite a few of these "westerner in Russia(usually Moscow or St Pete's)" vids doing the rounds. Bonus points if it's a Black dude. Attractive young Russian women explaining how Russia is so nice another angle. They always run with the same themes; it's safe, no Gays, no fatties, Traditional©, "Christian". some run with the all White to appeal to that kinda demographic and more latterly "Russians want peace". It's all part of the infowar pushed by Moscow. What I found interesting about Carlson's interview with Putin is how the latter completely missed the opportunity to get more MAGA types on his side and didn't run with the above stuff. Carlson looked surprised too. Well no more than usual I suppose.

    Rejoice in the awareness of feeling stupid, for that’s how you end up learning new things. If you’re not aware you’re stupid, you probably are.



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 8,580 ✭✭✭jmreire


    Moscow is a beautiful city, loads to see and do, you could live all your life there, and still not see all that there is there to see. The problem with Russia is with the management, and its president, Vladimir Putin. As for the video clip,,,15 minutes, randomly walking around some part of the city..filming, and not policeman in sight (that I could see, anyway) Now in all my time there, and all the marvellous things that I did see, 15 mins and not alone not being stopped for a document check, but someone asking about what and why you are filming???? Really? Unless of course, that was one of the "special" parts of Moscow…



  • Moderators, Sports Moderators Posts: 27,331 Mod ✭✭✭✭Podge_irl


    I mean, parts of Moscow are a beautiful city and while this is true of everywhere to some degree, the depravation and just colossal dreariness of vast swathes of the city is on another level. Even statement pieces like the Seven Sisters don't bear up well to close viewing…



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 18,702 ✭✭✭✭silverharp


    it works, ive seen so many American cities are sht and dangerous, ive gone off the idea of ever wanting a city holiday in the US ;-) , all the outdoorsie stuff there is normally somewhere just as good in Europe , no particular hankering to see Russia though down the road a convenient city break could work though again closer places to get to

    A belief in gender identity involves a level of faith as there is nothing tangible to prove its existence which, as something divorced from the physical body, is similar to the idea of a soul. - Colette Colfer



  • Moderators, Science, Health & Environment Moderators, Society & Culture Moderators Posts: 60,170 Mod ✭✭✭✭Wibbs


    IMHO too many assumed sanctions would have a more obvious effect in areas like you mention. Though prices have gone up and even before the war Russians paid more for things like food as a percentage of wages, so that will and does have an effect. This would be more in play in the big cities. People in the sticks generally had little enough to start with by comparison to say Western Europeans so won't notice as much.

    Russia is an exporter of energy and food so they were never going to go hungry or cold any time soon. In contrast if the same level of sanctions were placed on China as major importers of both they'd be horrifically screwed. The sanctions on Russia telegraphed to the Chinese to pull their neck in over things like Taiwan, so it had more than one function.

    But what sanctions really do is stymie growth. It's not about there's no Coke or iphones in the shops, or they've gone daftly expensive. It's about cutting off resources for future industrial and economic growth. No sanctioned state in history has avoided these issues. Never mind that Russia's economy peaked circa 2011-13.

    If we look at the wider picture a good illustration of where the cash and economies and where people want to travel to and from, just look at flights.

    There's cash, information and people in graphic form. No matter the time of day Russia is pretty "empty".

    Now Russia is massive so has a little more wriggle room to try and sustain/kickstart an internal economy, but it's not the Soviet Union anymore. It's not nearly so big, nor is its population so big, nor growing. Quite the opposite. They're facing really bad demographics and unlike other nations with similar very few want to move there to prop it up. It doesn't have the homegrown economy and manufacturing of Soviet times either. If you visited a Moscow flat in say 1975, damn near everything you saw around you would be made in the Soviet system, if not Russia itself. That's no longer the case to nearly the same degree. The war helps them balance the books to some degree by going to a war economy and getting some growth there, but it's not sustainable in the long term.

    But if you really want to see the effect of sanctions and how the Kremlin feels about them, just look how often they are at pains to claim they're doing nothing. They're like a jilted lover claiming to all that will listen they never really cared. You know they care.

    Rejoice in the awareness of feeling stupid, for that’s how you end up learning new things. If you’re not aware you’re stupid, you probably are.



  • Registered Users Posts: 1,403 ✭✭✭Raoul Duke III


    Medium sized cities in the US can be surprisingly good whereas I agree with you on the larger ones.



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 18,702 ✭✭✭✭silverharp


    Prices going up is also a US thing and I feel its the same here, my joking memory was that you couldnt spend more than 100 Euros in lidl if you tried, now a basket easily can cost that so as one of those videos pointed out recently "where are prices not going up?"

    clearly in opportunistic cost terms you cant "walk and chew gum" If you are fighting a war, something else doesnt get done, but the narratives did indeed over promise, Im sure a lot of gaps are being filled by the chinese, they will sell anything if there is a profit to be made, the Germans will have suffered by losing a captive customer for their goods and services.

    A belief in gender identity involves a level of faith as there is nothing tangible to prove its existence which, as something divorced from the physical body, is similar to the idea of a soul. - Colette Colfer



  • Moderators, Science, Health & Environment Moderators, Society & Culture Moderators Posts: 60,170 Mod ✭✭✭✭Wibbs


    The thing is American cities, or at least some areas of them were always a bit shít and dangerous, but perceptions are often counter to realities. This is common in perceptions of crime. If you look at violent and property crime rates have massively fallen since the 90's in the US;

    A city like New York in the 1970's made the crap today look like Disneyland. It was horrifically unsafe in so many areas. I'm old enough to remember when people banded together in a semi vigilante way and came up with the Guardian Angels to help protect people on the New York subways.

    And just look at the level of graffiti on the inside of the train. Even media reflected this unease with movies like Death Wish and Dirty Harry that were revenge/protector fantasies. It was pretty wild.

    What has changed is exposure and perception because of the interwebs and misery porn to some degree. We think, rather we feel it's worse, but realities show it's not. A UK study looked into crime and perceptions and found the group most worried about being victims were middle aged women, the group least concerned, young men. Guess who are the least likely to be victims and who are the most?

    When talking to panicky "Murican's online I often ask them to imagine if social media was around in the US decade they think was better(it doesn't matter which one). The 1960's Golden Age™? Cuban missile crisis, the Bomb, their president murdered like a dog in the street, racial tensions boiling over, MLK and Malcolm X murdered, drugs and free love sex, fringe groups all over the place, Vietnam, billions spent on NASA while the US had one of the worst child mortality rates, crime off the scale, rape barely making the news etc. Twitter would have melted down in panic.

    Rejoice in the awareness of feeling stupid, for that’s how you end up learning new things. If you’re not aware you’re stupid, you probably are.



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  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 2,347 ✭✭✭rogber


    Large parts of Moscow once you leave the centre are a kip, like Ballymun of old but with tower blocks 20 stories high instead of 4.

    Same with Petersburg, though the showcase parts are beautiful and culturally very rich.

    Mind you same could be said of many big cities



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 2,347 ✭✭✭rogber


    While I don't believe any miracle weapon is going to turn the tide of the war dramatically, these should certainly be of some help:



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 18,702 ✭✭✭✭silverharp


    There should be less crime because there are less young people, same logic would apply to Tallaght, if every house doest have 7 or 8 teenagers no doubt the streets are safer than back in the 80s

    what has changed is that today the US is teaching people to hate white people, so you dont want to reward that behaviour and basic safety would say avoid or they are "rewarding" criminals with decriminalizing certain crimes or not seen to be enforcing/taking seriously, so again sends a message

    A belief in gender identity involves a level of faith as there is nothing tangible to prove its existence which, as something divorced from the physical body, is similar to the idea of a soul. - Colette Colfer



  • Moderators, Science, Health & Environment Moderators, Society & Culture Moderators Posts: 60,170 Mod ✭✭✭✭Wibbs


    For the last 30 odd years(roughly) inflation has been pretty minimal and we got used to that. Cheap credit also kicked off. Again I'm just old enough to remember the inflation here in the 70's. Even as a child I saw how sweets and comics were going up all the time and it wasn't just here. When I started junior school a can of coke was something like five pence, by the time I did my Leaving cert it was damn near ten times more expensive. But since circa the 90's inflation hasn't been anything like so obvious nor severe, and like I said we got used to that. Imho we're going back more to the "norm" where inflation is more obvious, but we're not nearly back in the days of the 1970's

    And the narratives didn't over promise. Those who were convinced that sanctions would do a job they aren't actually intended to do(in the short term) and didn't understand the mechanisms of sanctions over promised. Not unlike those eejits, including some "experts" who were convinced Russia only had enough money for a month or two to pay for the war.

    Again the near constant bleating from the Kremlin that they're having no effect is telling. It's one of the vanishingly few consistent points of Kremlin spin, Kremlin spin that changes the goalposts on a monthly basis to keep their confusion state going. China will fill some gaps, but they have to be careful too. If they fill too many gaps and tariffs and sanctions hit them they're in a much worse position than Russia to weather them. Russia as a market won't help weather it either. The value of Russia's market to China even with the war increase still amounts to just Spain and Italy's value. If China's EU market value halved or went down a third, China would feel it in a big way.

    And how do we know they know that? Russia's been trying to get China to agree to build a new gas/oil pipeline between them and even after Putin's visit the Chinese are still dragging their feet. Yet at the same time have spent hundreds of millions placing orders with Airbus in the EU. And that's just one deal. Oh they'll take Russia oil at firesale prices, but they're not stupid.

    Rejoice in the awareness of feeling stupid, for that’s how you end up learning new things. If you’re not aware you’re stupid, you probably are.



  • Registered Users Posts: 1,403 ✭✭✭Raoul Duke III


    I haven't posted in this thread much recently but have been dropping in and out. Still some high quality posting but mostly at the tactical level and responding to events on the ground.

    At the strategic level, it was good to see the US and Europe get their acts together finally (after the utterly shameful GOP delaying\pandering to Trump) and provide meaningful assistance packages to Ukraine. As to whether these will be enough to fully turn the tide of the war and drive the Russian invaders out of sovereign Ukrainian lands, I don't think it will. If this war has taught us anything, it's that defence is far easier than offence - as we sadly saw with the failed UAF counter-offensives of last summer that got bogged down quite quickly. Maybe the arrival of the much-vaunted F16s will change that dynamic, we'll just have to wait and see, but my sense is that Russia will be able to hold most of the territory it has illegally seized. Sadly they have the ability to soak up huge losses in men and materiel, whereas Ukraine cannot afford equivalent losses in any offensive campaign.

    What could change this military stalemate picture?

    1. American elections. Trump doesn't even pretend any more - he wants disengagement and a quick win (which means his buddy Putin keeping his gains). I hope and pray every day that Jill Biden sees some sense and talks Joey out of his campaign, as I think any generic Democrat like Whitmer or Newsom trounces Trump in a landslide.
    2. Regime change in Russia. After the merciless squashing of Prigozhin and the recent purges of various ministries, this seems more unlikely than ever.
    3. Russian economic collapse. I would assign this a slightly higher probability than the above but it still seems unlikely while the likes of India and China siphon off cheap Russian resources.
    4. Events, dear boy, events….

    Would be interested in seeing if you concur\disagree with any of the above!



  • Registered Users Posts: 1,849 ✭✭✭Paddigol




  • Registered Users Posts: 159 ✭✭randomuser02125


    Largest country in the world that stole the resources and manpower of its neighbours has fabulous wealth where all the elite live? Sounds interesting.



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 18,702 ✭✭✭✭silverharp


    But I see it as the narratives over promising "or the idiots" take your pick, I was assured everything possible (bad) would happen, from Russia disintegrating to Putin being rolled out of office to their society collapsing so essentially "one more push" maybe to bolster European public support for pushing money Eastwards? now its looking like a bad bet and there is definitely an undercurrent of hoping Trump puts and end to it, whatever way you want to frame it Ukraine isnt worth Mushroom clouds

    A belief in gender identity involves a level of faith as there is nothing tangible to prove its existence which, as something divorced from the physical body, is similar to the idea of a soul. - Colette Colfer



  • Registered Users Posts: 1,161 ✭✭✭zerosquared


    It is easy to be cynical, and oh doesn’t Russian propaganda loves cynicism as it’s a wedge that leads down a rabbit hole and for people to disconnect

    But not a single one of the cynics explained how exactly does power transition in a post Putin* Russia without ending up in a civil war?

    By consolidating so much power and destroying institutions for stability and growing corruption to epic levels the country is a powder peg


    * unless Putin has some mad scientist types locked away in a dungeon for last 25 years working on an Asimov’s Foundation Empire style “genetic dynasty” of Putin clones. Damn that’s a dystopian thought



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  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 8,470 ✭✭✭RedXIV


    Interesting side note, one of the most compelling correlations in the drop in crime was the rise of video games. Identified when the idea of "video games will teach your kids to be violent", the numbers actually showed pretty much a valley like drop in the numbers upon the arrival of the first home consoles. Any number of other social and cultural cues may have contributed to it, but home consoles for video games and their increasing availability shows a fascinating insight into, in particular juvenile and young adult, crime rates and how this "hobby" may be contributing to a safer society :)



  • Registered Users Posts: 3,900 ✭✭✭zv2


    “Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities.” — Voltaire



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 18,702 ✭✭✭✭silverharp


    whatever you say about Putin he operates on a rational level, putin "knows" he needs to transition power ~10 years (as he isnt young). I think there is an over comical view that Russia is a one mad-leader operation, they do have structures and inner circles, so one would only hope that it centres around a moderate

    A belief in gender identity involves a level of faith as there is nothing tangible to prove its existence which, as something divorced from the physical body, is similar to the idea of a soul. - Colette Colfer



  • Moderators, Science, Health & Environment Moderators, Society & Culture Moderators Posts: 60,170 Mod ✭✭✭✭Wibbs


    There should be less crime because there are less young people, same logic would apply to Tallaght, if every house doest have 7 or 8 teenagers no doubt the streets are safer than back in the 80s

    I'm afraid not. Fewer young people you say? The age differences between 1990-2022:

    Barely a 3% drop, yet the crime stats have dropped far more significantly in the same period.

    what has changed is that today the US is teaching people to hate white people, so you dont want to reward that behaviour and basic safety would say avoid or they are "rewarding" criminals with decriminalizing certain crimes or not seen to be enforcing/taking seriously, so again sends a message

    TBH I've no idea where you're going with that, but again it smells more like moral panic on t'interwbs or over the latest nonsense from Hollyweird than the statistical realities. And the realities are overall the US is a safer place than it was 30, 40, 50 years ago(though mass shootings have certainly gone up). I know it doesn't line up with the above moral panic on Twitter, but it is.

    Rejoice in the awareness of feeling stupid, for that’s how you end up learning new things. If you’re not aware you’re stupid, you probably are.



  • Registered Users Posts: 1,161 ✭✭✭zerosquared


    Those “inner circles” have long been destroyed as the last thing Putin needs is one or more people who can remove/replace him

    He really has created a nearly vertical power structure where anyone who gets remotely close to top endsup in great danger, just look at what happened to Prigozhin and now Shoigu

    As for Putin and rationality, he clearly lost that trait during covid and we ended up with this 💩-show of a war for Russia



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 18,702 ✭✭✭✭silverharp


    there was definitely a peak way back 60? 70? with young adults , it makes sense without even checking that demographics have changed and we know younger people are going to be involved more with the visible crime people

    Again I dont reward bad behaviour, if the US media if full of White people this and white people that, logic would suggest it turns into random violence, not my problem, it up to them to be more reasonable.

    A belief in gender identity involves a level of faith as there is nothing tangible to prove its existence which, as something divorced from the physical body, is similar to the idea of a soul. - Colette Colfer



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  • Moderators, Science, Health & Environment Moderators, Society & Culture Moderators Posts: 60,170 Mod ✭✭✭✭Wibbs


    That's pretty much precisely what the Kremlin wants you to think, almost down to the letter, including the Trump angle. Support for the war in the US has actually gone up over time, but the Kremlin doesn't want that narrative out. And of course the nuke threats they never shut up about(because it's all they have). The longer this war goes on the harder it will be for Russia to prosecute it. It's already caused the death of countless Russian men and they had a coup that never was, never you mind, memory hole! and top command posts like musical chairs(the latest including Putin putting his cousin in). BRICS has been a damp squib. Note how they barely mention it anymore? China's dragging her heels as far as actual help for Russia and seems to be more about what they can leverage out of them. QV the previously Russian controlled stretch of the North Korean river being handed over to China by Russia. Putin has had to go cap in hand to a failed state shítehole like NK to beg for shells.

    As for mushroom clouds… If Russia detonates a tactical nuke in Ukraine, all bets are off. The Chinese and India among others would drop them like a lead balloon for obvious and not so obvious reasons. Its tactical value would be limited, if not pointless. Very early on the US stated that if that happened Russia's conventional forces would be hammered and hinted they know where Putin is at any given time. They're tapping his phone, reading his emails. Hell, in the Cold War the US had bugs in the politburo's cars. Pushing that button would be the last act of his life. Dropping a nuke on a NATO city? Russian cities are glass soon after. Putin's not a madman, nor an idiot.

    Rejoice in the awareness of feeling stupid, for that’s how you end up learning new things. If you’re not aware you’re stupid, you probably are.



  • Moderators, Science, Health & Environment Moderators, Society & Culture Moderators Posts: 60,170 Mod ✭✭✭✭Wibbs


    Putin, like all such figures has effectively winnowed out any who might replace him while he's alive. Any potential successor or replacement is dangerous. That's one way how he's held onto power. He works on trust not capability.

    Rejoice in the awareness of feeling stupid, for that’s how you end up learning new things. If you’re not aware you’re stupid, you probably are.



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 3,572 ✭✭✭yagan


    There is nothing rational about this war, it's all hubristic so the threat of him pushing the button is real.

    I honestly didn't believe he'd launch a full ground invasion of Ukraine because it would mean the end of Russia as even a regional power. If Putin popped it tomorrow Russia will still be a greatly depleted basket case in the aftermath.



  • Moderators, Science, Health & Environment Moderators, Society & Culture Moderators Posts: 60,170 Mod ✭✭✭✭Wibbs


    there was definitely a peak way back 60? 70? with young adults , it makes sense without even checking that demographics have changed and we know younger people are going to be involved more with the visible crime people

    Nope again I'm afraid. The peak was a 9% difference to today. The biggest drop in crimes was between 1990-2010 when the demographics remained near constant. No offence but you're wrong and barking up the wrong tree because it fits into a current moral panic online(mostly).

    Again I dont reward bad behaviour, if the US media if full of White people this and white people that, logic would suggest it turns into random violence, not my problem, it up to them to be more reasonable.

    And yet again the stats for random violence have dropped, so the US is more "reasonable", save for on social media. Never mind that along racial lines random violence is far more an issue within the Black community on other Blacks not Whites.

    Rejoice in the awareness of feeling stupid, for that’s how you end up learning new things. If you’re not aware you’re stupid, you probably are.



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 18,702 ✭✭✭✭silverharp


    "That's pretty much precisely what the Kremlin wants you to think" is trying to be manipulative as well, this war was avoidable, its only bad politics that got here. I dont think the US is blameless, they dont exactly have a perfect score sheet since WW2, they have blundered their way through a long list of questionable conflicts and it would be surprising if they are suddenly on the side of Angels

    A belief in gender identity involves a level of faith as there is nothing tangible to prove its existence which, as something divorced from the physical body, is similar to the idea of a soul. - Colette Colfer



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  • Registered Users Posts: 3,900 ✭✭✭zv2


    It could also be down to the fact that a lot of petty criminals have become business people, selling drugs and living it up. They discovered it is more profitable to sell stuff for big money than breaking into people's houses.

    “Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities.” — Voltaire



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 2,347 ✭✭✭rogber


    Agree completely on 1, 2 and 3.

    A Trump win will be very bad news for Ukraine.

    Putin is not going anywhere for the foreseeable future.

    The Russian economy will not collapse, they can keep funding this war for a lot longer.

    All predictions to the contrary have so far proved to be wishful thinking.

    But yes, point 4: there is always the element of the unknown



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 18,702 ✭✭✭✭silverharp


    you cant walk around with stats, Ive been around long enough to know that wealthier areas are safer than generic urban areas. There is a reason I walk more around "grafton st" than "Henry st" or that private schools are better/safer or that living in D4 makes more sense than some "SH" part of Dublin.

    A belief in gender identity involves a level of faith as there is nothing tangible to prove its existence which, as something divorced from the physical body, is similar to the idea of a soul. - Colette Colfer



  • Moderators, Science, Health & Environment Moderators, Society & Culture Moderators Posts: 60,170 Mod ✭✭✭✭Wibbs


    He's far more likely to try and consolidate what he holds of Ukraine, push for "peace" and sell that to his followers as a win, and they'd buy it too. He gambled on his invasion simply because he was left alone the last few times he pulled similar and thought it would be Crimea/Georgia/Chechnya Part II. I personally suspect it would have been, or close enough, if he had "only" invaded Donbas and left Kiev alone. That was his fatal error. Going nuclear would be clearly a more than fatal error no matter how anyone looked at it. There would be no coming back from it.

    Rejoice in the awareness of feeling stupid, for that’s how you end up learning new things. If you’re not aware you’re stupid, you probably are.



  • Registered Users Posts: 1,403 ✭✭✭Raoul Duke III


    Putin has carefully constructed a power vertical where all power and authority in Russia flows to one man - him.

    I would completely disagree with your assessment above. Especially the bit about him operating on 'a rational level'. Whenever he speaks about Ukraine, he comes across as unhinged.



  • Moderators, Science, Health & Environment Moderators, Society & Culture Moderators Posts: 60,170 Mod ✭✭✭✭Wibbs


    Well you can "walk around with stats" as it happens, your unconnected detour into the wealthy/non wealthy angle notwithstanding. And they show that the US is overall more safe for its citizens than it was 30, 40, 50 years ago. New York's Manhattan of the 80's was less safe than it is now, their projects are also safer now, even with the economic divide. These are facts not opinion.

    Not just in the US either. This trend towards safer is seen as a general shift throughout the Western world.

    Rejoice in the awareness of feeling stupid, for that’s how you end up learning new things. If you’re not aware you’re stupid, you probably are.



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 18,207 ✭✭✭✭Dohnjoe


    People suspect some of these "travel" videos may be propaganda, look at his feed for example. They all have one thing in common: they only ever visit the nicest parts of Russia (believe it or not there are decent parts of Russia), they are rarely hassled by police (foreigners are often hassled by police in real travel videos), they are never the types who visit the many shiatty places without roads and toilets. Whether it's clickbaity stuff or Kremlin orchestrated, it's not very realistic.



  • Registered Users Posts: 1,849 ✭✭✭Paddigol


    Funny, I read that as "windowed out". Which is probably as accurate.



  • Registered Users Posts: 1,403 ✭✭✭Raoul Duke III


    It's a well worn playbook at this stage. Seize land\declare 'peace'\freeze the conflict\move onto the next conquest.

    All in the service of creating some replica of the USSR\Tsarist Empire to restore the former glory of Russia, that has been unjustly stripped from the nation by NATO\the EU\Lenin\Fascists\gays\trans people\take your pick of the bogeyman du jour. It's demented but seems to float his boat.



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 2,045 ✭✭✭bilbot79


    Tbh I'm not even certain there is a traditional defence pact on paper between them.

    This to me could be Psy Ops. The nuclear rhetoric is not working so they have moved on to another bluff to make Western flesh creep.

    Putin's normal modus operandi is escalate to de-escalate and he knows we know that. That then lends itself to the idea that Western powers may see this 'defence pact' as the first step to WW3.



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