Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I heard a scary prediction today: Putin can only win the war if Trump becomes president again since Trump is Putin’s useful idiot and will end all aid. So, Putin has a huge interest in getting Trump re-elected and will pull out all the stops, e.g. deep fakes, mass disinformation, to make that happen.

FWIW now that we’ve put default in the rear-view mirror with little to no economic damage, I would say that Biden is in a *very* strong position for 2024. That’s not good for Russia.

DP, I think so too. Ukraine will be supported for another year or so at least. Will it become another Israel in terms of aid? Not sure as the lobby isn’t nearly as strong. Without the lobby the country gets tired like it got tired of covid. In a year russian economy will be sufficiently damaged too, so that will be less of a factor for continuing the strife.
Most likely it will be a low level conflict with some support from the west and a ton of guerilla warfare. Russia will be discounted as a geopolitical force and the whole thing eventually forgotten.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Main administrative building of Shebekino, Belgorod Russia is on fire.

Looks like the UA has stopped trying to win the war and has moved on to the insurgency phase.

Those are Russian nationals fighting Putin's troops in Belgorod. Russia now has its own insurgency regardless of Ukraine.

No there’s no Russian insurgency. There are Russian citizens who defected.
I don’t know if that’s of any importance but just wanted to say that the Russian “uprising” is still a fantasy. There are two sides as in two countries and of course there are defectors
-DP

Sure, and keep telling yourself that all of these various military recruitment centers, FSB offices, refineries, manufacturing plants and other things across Russia spontaneously blowing up or catching on fire are indeed just "careless smokers" and keep telling yourself that recreational grade drones can somehow make it all the way to Moscow from the Ukrainian border.

There are in fact a lot of Russian partisans working against Putin's regime.

They are Ukrainian recruits
I don’t think it matters much but they are ALL recruited and directed by Ukraine and its allies

Uh huh, sure. And you can prove this how? You can show how guys burning down military recruitment centers in Siberia received their orders to do so from Kyiv?

Ukrainian agents bribe idiots, the going rate is like $200-$300. They also influence mentally unstable people of whom there are plenty in Russia.
The point is, there is no organized, skillful Russian resistance. People are extremely fatigued and disoriented. They don’t like the war but they don’t see Ukraine or the west as the good side like it was in the WW2 side - the bad vs the good guys.
That’s why there won’t ever be an uprising in Russia. Yes russia will lose and the government might change - but it will either be less radical putinites OR a puppet govt installed/supported by the west. Or maybe in the worst case scenario it will be another North Korea. But there will never be a color revolution or a “spring”.

Anonymous wrote:I heard a scary prediction today: Putin can only win the war if Trump becomes president again since Trump is Putin’s useful idiot and will end all aid. So, Putin has a huge interest in getting Trump re-elected and will pull out all the stops, e.g. deep fakes, mass disinformation, to make that happen.

It's roughly 600 days until the next inauguration. And even if a pro-Russian Republican like Trump or DeSantis is elected, Europe will continue to support Ukraine with aid. Quite a few European countries have really stepped up with their military support. As a proportion of GDP, they give more than the US. Ukraine will be well armed regardless of American politics

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Anyone following sld2023?

Indonesian defense minister said peace and negotiation needs to happen and all the euro participants got big mad

Indonesia is one of the largest countries in the world and over the coming century will rocket up the table in economic and geopolitical heft

Ukraines peace formula is more like an ultimatum.

A gang breaks in your home, kills your grandmother, rapes your wife, takes one of your kids. Then the gang says they're going to live in your living room and it's not yours anymore.

Your neighbor hands you a shotgun and you take down some of them. You make an ultimatum that you'll keep shooting at them until they leave.

The remaining gang members say, 'it's not fair' but still want to keep the living room.

Is that what you're saying should happen in Ukraine? Hmm?

Happened to Palestinians and I don’t see you starting threads about it. Countries change borders. Sometimes involuntarily. Ukraine helped itself to a chunk of Poland and Romania, so?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Anyone following sld2023?

Indonesian defense minister said peace and negotiation needs to happen and all the euro participants got big mad

Indonesia is one of the largest countries in the world and over the coming century will rocket up the table in economic and geopolitical heft

Ukraines peace formula is more like an ultimatum.

A gang breaks in your home, kills your grandmother, rapes your wife, takes one of your kids. Then the gang says they're going to live in your living room and it's not yours anymore.

Your neighbor hands you a shotgun and you take down some of them. You make an ultimatum that you'll keep shooting at them until they leave.

The remaining gang members say, 'it's not fair' but still want to keep the living room.

Is that what you're saying should happen in Ukraine? Hmm?

Anonymous wrote:Anyone following sld2023?

Indonesian defense minister said peace and negotiation needs to happen and all the euro participants got big mad

Indonesia is one of the largest countries in the world and over the coming century will rocket up the table in economic and geopolitical heft

Ukraines peace formula is more like an ultimatum.

Anyone following sld2023?

Indonesian defense minister said peace and negotiation needs to happen and all the euro participants got big mad

Indonesia is one of the largest countries in the world and over the coming century will rocket up the table in economic and geopolitical heft

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I heard a scary prediction today: Putin can only win the war if Trump becomes president again since Trump is Putin’s useful idiot and will end all aid. So, Putin has a huge interest in getting Trump re-elected and will pull out all the stops, e.g. deep fakes, mass disinformation, to make that happen.

FWIW now that we’ve put default in the rear-view mirror with little to no economic damage, I would say that Biden is in a *very* strong position for 2024. That’s not good for Russia.

There is only a minority of folks that want trump anywhere near the whitehouse ever again. Sorry Russia...make a better plan. Like go home.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You had me until you said there was nothing bad about Russian food. Russian food is horrible. All the good stuff is Polish or Georgian. The rest is just cabbage and dill.

I'm counting Beef Stroganoff, Pelmeni, Syrniki, Pirozhki, Blini, Shashlik... I know I know, you're gonna say it's "not Russian", but that's like saying tandoori isn't mainstream English food.. the fact is that without tandoori, I probably would've starved in London..

English food is notoriously terrible. It's an apt comparison. The good stuff is all remnants of its colonial empire while the homegrown stuff is bland and pedestrian. Both have even appropriated their "national" dish - pelmeni and chicken tikka masala.

Ok so you’re a gastronomic as well as a geographic idiot. Siberia is a part of Russia. Always has been, has never been an independent state and has never entertained any ambitions as to independence. You’re just having problems dealing with such a large and diverse country. Honey, carve this into your cortex: the country ends at Vladivostok, not Moscow ring road.

Also: bland? Pelmeni is your answer. Essentially bland dough wrapped around ground meat. You’d have to add a ton of sour cream and pepper to it to make it taste like anything other than ground meat. It’s ok if you’ve never had good Russian food. Maybe they’ve perceived your phobia and fed you crap, let’s not waste good caviar on this moron.

Anonymous wrote:I heard a scary prediction today: Putin can only win the war if Trump becomes president again since Trump is Putin’s useful idiot and will end all aid. So, Putin has a huge interest in getting Trump re-elected and will pull out all the stops, e.g. deep fakes, mass disinformation, to make that happen.

FWIW now that we’ve put default in the rear-view mirror with little to no economic damage, I would say that Biden is in a *very* strong position for 2024. That’s not good for Russia.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You had me until you said there was nothing bad about Russian food. Russian food is horrible. All the good stuff is Polish or Georgian. The rest is just cabbage and dill.

I'm counting Beef Stroganoff, Pelmeni, Syrniki, Pirozhki, Blini, Shashlik... I know I know, you're gonna say it's "not Russian", but that's like saying tandoori isn't mainstream English food.. the fact is that without tandoori, I probably would've starved in London..

English food is notoriously terrible. It's an apt comparison. The good stuff is all remnants of its colonial empire while the homegrown stuff is bland and pedestrian. Both have even appropriated their "national" dish - pelmeni and chicken tikka masala.

I heard a scary prediction today: Putin can only win the war if Trump becomes president again since Trump is Putin’s useful idiot and will end all aid. So, Putin has a huge interest in getting Trump re-elected and will pull out all the stops, e.g. deep fakes, mass disinformation, to make that happen.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You had me until you said there was nothing bad about Russian food. Russian food is horrible. All the good stuff is Polish or Georgian. The rest is just cabbage and dill.

Lol. Here’s someone who never had the flavor of Russian soups, the indulgence of pirozhkis, the thousand baked good, the childhood joys of syrniki, the honey cake, the pine nut cake, the myriad fermented and brined vegetables, crepes with a dozen fillings, the breads, the fish….it’s ok if you’ve never heard of it but to claim it’s not there is just so provincial of you.

I mean let’s not pretend it’s light or vitaminy, but the fact is that Russians, like every other community, has used things that grow where they leave when they grow, and developed their own creative ways, home grown or borrowed, to work under their unique circumstances.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You had me until you said there was nothing bad about Russian food. Russian food is horrible. All the good stuff is Polish or Georgian. The rest is just cabbage and dill.

I'm counting Beef Stroganoff, Pelmeni, Syrniki, Pirozhki, Blini, Shashlik... I know I know, you're gonna say it's "not Russian", but that's like saying tandoori isn't mainstream English food.. the fact is that without tandoori, I probably would've starved in London..

Stroganoff yes, but inspired by other cuisines. Pelmeni came from Siberian people. Syrniki has Ukrainian etymology rather than Russian творог. And certainly Russia can't lay unique claim to pancakes. A lot is borrowed/appropriated from other people and cultures.

That’s the way of food generally. Meat in a stick is present in every culture and let’s just point this out again that there is no real red line between Russian and Ukrainian food. Other than the Russian joke about the national candy of Ukraine being сало в шоколаде - chocolate-covered salted pork fat.

Also, blini is small crepes, not pancakes. The pancake equivalent is oladiki and even there the dough is different.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You had me until you said there was nothing bad about Russian food. Russian food is horrible. All the good stuff is Polish or Georgian. The rest is just cabbage and dill.

I'm counting Beef Stroganoff, Pelmeni, Syrniki, Pirozhki, Blini, Shashlik... I know I know, you're gonna say it's "not Russian", but that's like saying tandoori isn't mainstream English food.. the fact is that without tandoori, I probably would've starved in London..

Stroganoff yes, but inspired by other cuisines. Pelmeni came from Siberian people. Syrniki has Ukrainian etymology rather than Russian творог. And certainly Russia can't lay unique claim to pancakes. A lot is borrowed/appropriated from other people and cultures.