bigodbiel

I’m pretty sure current western leaders are blaming themselves for having been too complacent with the Kremlin 30 years ago. Sadly it appears they have grown the wiser, and are ready to sacrifice somewhat their status quo (and even more lives) to achieve such goal.

And besides the “New Normal” (eg carbon footprint reduction) was always a tough sell, until now.

I understand “cancel culture” and the impact of ESG in today’s capitalism but isn’t much of the American media industry a fundamental soft power asset? The Soviets had strict control over such access because of this.

Wouldn’t restricting access, specially for media that is mostly targeted to an already western friendly demographic, be more harmful than beneficial geopolitically wise?

Those with know-how and/or interest in such a service aren’t the intended target audience to achieve fundamental political change.

The intended target audience lives in a tight state controlled information echo-chamber, and they have no intention in leaving it.

Devil’s advocate: preventing further disruptions caused by D/DOS attacks on their web based social service infrastructure.

why is this disappointing? this further proves that CCP is doing their best to save face, even through symbolic gestures as this

McD not only has almost 100k employees it also has over 95% of its supply chain from domestic (Russian) sources. McD is irreplaceable, any other fast food business already have their supplier and not even retail supermarkets won’t be able to absorb the influx of foodstuff, not to mention settle in multi-year contracts.

The ripple effect might put ~500k out of the workforce!

And this before considering the symbolism of McD having opened in Moscow in 1990!

Truly, the only winners from this hell. No matter what is the outcome, China comes out on top, specially with all post-WWII international institutions now "weaponizable" by the West (even Central Banks!) and thus leading more countries to diversify away from them, giving China the leeway for esablishing its institutions in lieu.

And they are certainly reassessing their chances of success and consequences right now, probably going back to the drawing board for some time.

Europe would hugely benefit from an united, concise and strong foreign policy, more so if backed by a strong military. Plus, the added GDP boost from military expenditure.

I agree, it was literally signed at gunpoint, and it always was political suicide for whomever signed it, but wouldn’t any agreement have been better than what’s happening?

Finland like solution would have been the best option (demilitarization? have your army renamed self defense force! denazification? heck, outlaw Nazi symbolic doing humanity a favor)

I mean implementing the damn Minsk deal now seems like fantasy, but no sane person needs this hell to continue!

CNN’s coverage of the conflict has really been spectacular, it’s sad that they only shine during troubled times like these.

State department tried by recognizing Guaido as president even seizing CITGO properties. And besides spec ops in Latin America is so Cold War!! We are gentlemen, only economic warfare is allowed nowadays.

Midterms just around the corner... better get oil back to winnable levels before then

Apply Bayesian reasoning, and update your priors accordingly. Oh and avoid emotional content and stick to text.

How was, before this hell, the consensus of the people in Ukraine for a Finland like solution, ceading territory (Crimea), neutrality (non-Nato), but within the EU (won't ask about Minsk agreement, cause I know no one supported it)? I always found this to have been the best option for all sides.

Best bet is Southeast Asia or China (but that maybe harder). SE Asians in general happen to view European issues as somewhat distant to them [1]. As such better welcomed, and where also more likely a future Russian expat community is sure to thrive.

[1] https://www.lowyinstitute.org/the-interpreter/southeast-asia...

>Dude, that is how it works

No it isn't

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=30506536

truer words couldnt be said... and I was pro-Trump

It was always blitz.

They expected capitulation by Sunday, with some ongoing attrition medium term. This is both from US Intel and now confirmation via a deleted, but luckily web archived, article/commentary on one of their major state-media sites, praising the (now impossible) “success” and their resurgence, while also flaunting the west.

A small elite of oligarchs can now completely buy the whole country cheaply using up the dollars they stacked under their mattresses, having all been forewarned of what was to happen.

Liberate the country (well half the country up til Dniepr river).

Disagree. Shock and awe. Remember that this also should have served as showcase of their military tech for arms sales to the world. Only the fact that they used up all their guided missiles in the first two days without achieving anything (resorting to ballistic missiles by the third) shows how in fact it was always smoke and mirrors.

You wouldn’t be having this question if you weren’t rational enough. Considering that a significant portion of our own human siblings aren’t able to ask themselves that, means that you should be thankful for being lucky to be able to ask it yourself.

What is worse than porn addiction is an active social stigma against those standing up against it. Subs like r/noporn have received a lot of criticism for their views and associations (usually religious orgs).

What is rarely talked about is that a lot of porn consumption is done by married men, which leads one to think that the problem is not changing morale norms amongst the youth, but in fact porn itself, better yet: instant access to free algorithmically formulated dopamine stimulation.

Always apply simple heuristic: Big T! Of course there will be divergences, but it always returns to the baseline.

I always wonder how much of what we consume is actually absorbed, specially when factoring gut microbiome and non-soluble fibers.

Couldn’t agree more with the author, which in my opinion is shared among all major specialists of the region.

Minsk II is the only diplomatic solution. Sadly, as the article states, it’d be political suicide to any Ukrainian leader who implemented it. For Kiev, Minsk II is their Versailles Treaty, humiliation signed during extreme duress, fuel for ultra-nationalists.

As for the latest escalation Washington is now calling on Moscow’s bluff to invade, with loudspeakers, lest it seems even more weak after its Afghan fiasco. That Ukraine is just a pawn among these players, is just a sad consequence of geopolitics.