REAL WORLD EVENT DISCUSSIONS

Russia Invades Ukraine. Again

POSTED BY: CAPTAINCRUNCH
UPDATED: Tuesday, December 17, 2024 14:41
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Thursday, September 28, 2023 2:12 AM

SECOND

The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at https://www.mediafire.com/two


Quote:
Originally posted by SIGNYM:
Yes, $37 billion per year. Compared to about $800 billion per year for DoD.

Once again looking at the cockroach and ignoring the gorrilla.
So, quickly doing the math here ... If we reduced the DoD budget by 90%, that would fund the energy bill and leave ... $683 billion in saved money per year.

Given that we're spending $800 billion per year to waste money, energy, resources, and lives, and only spending $37 billion per year for climate change reduction... where are Congressional/deep state/media priorities?

Stop wasting everyone's time with ludicrous propaganda.
Going by what the CDC writes and what I saw on construction projects, alcohol costs the US about $800 billion per year. Is America about to stop drinking to save all that money? Will the money saved then go to prevent climate change? Will cutting defense spending increase spending on climate change? I think not for all three questions. Think of all the workers in breweries, distilleries, vineyards, and defense factories losing their jobs. Think of the unemployed beer truck drivers with no destination for their empty trucks! Congress won't let that happen to American workers.

Excessive Drinking is Draining the U.S. Economy
https://www.cdc.gov/alcohol/features/excessive-drinking.html

The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at
https://www.mediafire.com/folder/1uwh75oa407q8/Firefly

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Thursday, September 28, 2023 3:22 AM

SIGNYM

I believe in solving problems, not sharing them.



Quote:
Originally posted by SIGNYM:
Yes, $37 billion per year. Compared to about $800 billion per year for DoD.

Once again looking at the cockroach and ignoring the gorrilla.
So, quickly doing the math here ... If we reduced the DoD budget by 90%, that would fund the energy bill and leave ... $683 billion in saved money per year.

Given that we're spending $800 billion per year to waste money, energy, resources, and lives, and only spending $37 billion per year for climate change reduction... where are Congressional/deep state/media priorities?

Stop wasting everyone's time with ludicrous propaganda.

SECOND: Going by what the CDC writes and what I saw on construction projects, alcohol costs the US about $800 billion per year. Is America about to stop drinking to save all that money? Will the money saved then go to prevent climate change? Will cutting defense spending increase spending on climate change? I think not for all three questions. Think of all the workers in breweries, distilleries, vineyards, and defense factories losing their jobs. Think of the unemployed beer truck drivers with no destination for their empty trucks! Congress won't let that happen to American workers.

Excessive Drinking is Draining the U.S. Economy
https://www.cdc.gov/alcohol/features/excessive-drinking.html



It's not a choice between giving up drinking or reducing CO2 emissions bc comparing those two is like comparing apples and bicycles. Yes, they both cost money, but that's where the comparison ends.

But slashing the DoD budget WILL reduce CO2 emissions, not only from all the fuel we won't be burning up tooling around the planet, but also all the fuel we won't be wasting in making shit that we don't need. If you really want to keep America employed (which I doubt) then use that money for conservation, forestry (including urban forestry), environmantal remediation, construction of fuel -efficient power plants, increasing grid efficiency etc etc.

Another excessively flawed argument!

-----------
"It may be dangerous to be America's enemy, but to be America's friend is fatal." - Henry Kissinger

Loving America is like loving an addicted spouse - SIGNYM



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Thursday, September 28, 2023 3:33 AM

SIGNYM

I believe in solving problems, not sharing them.


So, back on-topic:

Lavrov rejected the land-for-freeze concept, and he rejected it in the UN.

The Speaker for the lower House of the Russian Parliament said that Ukraine's choices are either surrender or be destroyed.

Several comments by Russian officials (including Shoigu) hint that Odessa and Kiev are targets.

Zelensky's trip to DC was a quiet failure. His trip to Canada was an international Nazi embarassment. And on his return trip through Poland he was not met with a single Polish government official. He has turned from celebrity to pariah, bc everyone knows the "counteroffensive" ... Ukraine's last big throw... was a bust.

Kiev was presented with a lengthy list of difficult reforms on impossible deadlines by the USA govt, or face a cutoff. AHEM!

Everyone expects a Russian offensive some time soon, since the army will be entirely trained up by early next year. Before that begins, expect an intense missile, rocket, drone and artillery attack on any possible offensive or defensive sites. Ukraine might have all of the USA's ISR available, but if they can't do shit to stop the Russian advance, all the ISR in the world isn't going to help.

And, mostly, you should have seen this coming. Maybe YOU don't have a grasp on reality, but reality has a grasp on you.



-----------
"It may be dangerous to be America's enemy, but to be America's friend is fatal." - Henry Kissinger

Loving America is like loving an addicted spouse - SIGNYM



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Thursday, September 28, 2023 4:39 AM

SECOND

The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at https://www.mediafire.com/two


September 27, 2023, 12:31 PM, Kathleen J. McInnis writes: I had the opportunity to ask dozens of people from around the region what, to them, “victory” looked like.

1) A frozen conflict. This seemed to be the view most prevalent outside of Ukraine itself. Essentially, in this scenario, the Russian front line holds across eastern Ukraine and Russia maintains its grip on the east and Crimea. Fighting continues, but the major victory is that Russia does not take all of Ukraine. The Black Sea Fleet continues to harass Ukraine at sea and by launching missiles and drones, and Russian forces continue bombing civilian and military targets across Ukraine. With investments in (or donations of) air defenses, the harassment is manageable for the Ukrainian forces. This could ultimately take the form of the war formally continuing without significant gains on either side, or as a cease-fire mixed with intermittent periods of conflict.

As a strategist far removed from the front lines, I was reluctantly persuaded that this was the most likely, but far from the most acceptable, conflict outcome. Yet my visit to Ukraine convinced me otherwise—in particular, from seeing the impact of Russian war crimes firsthand and being told of horrors beyond imagination.

The question of war termination, therefore, isn’t just about which flag is raised over which territory; if it were, a land-for-peace kind of deal could be feasible. Rather, Russia and its military forces have made it clear that they are intent on brutalizing and eradicating Ukrainian culture and people. Russians have tortured Ukrainians (and are still doing so), murdered them, and thrown them into mass graves. Tens of thousands of war crimes have been reported and, according to Ukrainian investigators I spoke with in Kyiv, those represent the tip of the iceberg. To the Ukrainians, a frozen conflict means allowing Russia to continue brutalizing their fellow countrymen and women in the east—and it invites Russia to attack Ukraine again later, once it has reconstituted its forces.

2) Every inch of Ukrainian territory is taken back. Almost every Ukrainian stated that this was the minimum necessary requirement for peace. In their view, anything short of regaining all of the territory that was part of Ukraine prior to the 2014 invasion (read: Crimea, too) would only result in a Russian strategic pause, and another bloody start to the war at the time of Russia’s choosing.

Ukrainian interlocutors also made the point that regaining Crimea remains essential, since the peninsula is a key piece of real estate for launching operations against the rest of Ukraine. Many Ukrainians also see their resistance as a bulwark against Russia’s neoimperial ambitions: If Russia can retain any part of Ukraine, its appetite for regaining other “lost” territories will never be suppressed.

The Russian regime is overthrown—not just Putin. Ukrainian interlocutors who made this point argued that Putin has staked his own regime’s survival on successfully winning Ukraine. Putin has used a martial, violence-oriented vision of masculinity to strengthen his grip on power and Russian society. A defeat in Ukraine—especially when Ukraine has been depicted as alternately fascist and corrupted by Western feminists—would severely undermine the authoritarian order that Putin has constructed. According to this logic, Ukrainians taking back Ukrainian territory could deal a death blow to Putin—yet without some kind of change in polity, another threatening authoritarian actor would likely take the reins in a post-Putin Moscow. Instead, this idea of victory envisaged the hope of a changed and chastened Russia.

https://foreignpolicy.com/2023/09/27/victory-ukraine-russia-war-putin/

The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at
https://www.mediafire.com/folder/1uwh75oa407q8/Firefly

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Thursday, September 28, 2023 12:39 PM

SIGNYM

I believe in solving problems, not sharing them.


FP (Foreign Policy magazine) is well-known to reflect the thinking of one segment of the deep state. I don't recall if it's the CIA or State Dept or a certain segment of "neocon", but like almost all official/ establishment USA outlets, it's not trying to teach truth (or anything like it), just to tell you what to think now.

First of all, the author claims to have spoken with "dozens" of people in Kiev. As part of a recent Congressional junket to Ukraine, I have to wonder .. at what level are these "dozens" of people? Cab drivers and porters and waitresses and school kids and war veterans and surviving family members? Or bureaucrats and ministers telling Congress what they think they want to hear?

The article is behind a paywall, so I can't tell. But considering I question FP's basic honesty and integrity, I'm not sure that it matters, because I don't trust them to tell me the truth about pretty much anything.

And finally, even if the results of this unofficial survey (as limited as it was) were as written, all it tells me is that people there are a delusional as propaganda can make them. Which is pretty delusional, considering how delusional Americans can be. We (Americans) can be convinced of anything for up to a year, even if it flatly contradicts our direct experience, and then the narrative can be switched: the last delusion memory-holed and replaced by the next one (CHINA!CHINA!) with nary a hiccup in most people's thought processes.

Only a brutal, long-lasting experience that directly affects many Americans leaves a lasting impression on the collective psyche. (eg Vietnam for us olderster, or the 2007-2008 financial collapse)

*****

Point being, FP is pushing a newer agenda ('land for freeze') backed by one wing of the neocon/ deep state. (Somewhere in the background is probably an unstated hint to relax sanctions on Russia too.) I know that the CFR is behind this thinking, and I imagine that the DNC would love to scrape off Ukraine - and most likely Biden* too- before campaigning begins. Burns, of the CIA, seems none-too-hot on Ukraine, and neither is the DoD/MIC (They got rid of all their old weapons and now Project Ukraine is cutting into meat as well as fat.) There is still an intransigient nubbin of extreme neocon thought, centered most likely on Nuland, Kagan, Chrystia Freeland (Canada's real ruler), and Ursula van der Crazy who think that an actual Ukrainian military victory is still possible.


The first group is either not listening to Russia, or doesn't believe what Russia is saying: That Russia's beef begins and ends with eastward expansion of NATO which is directly degrading their security.

For all I know, they may be right. All of this tough talk and activity in Russia may just be a big bluff: calling on Ukraine to surrender, publicly rejecting 'land for peace', deepening its relationship with China, building up its own fleet of tankers and insurances and non-western markets (economic warfare), calling the non-western world together for new trade and currency arrangements (economic and financial warfare), mobilizing somewhere in the realm of a 500,000 army, doubling or tripling military production etc etc.

If so, that's one helluva bluff! IMHO Russia could EASILY overrun Ukraine and NATO couldn't do jack shit about it.

The more important question is: What next? Those missile bases in Poland and Romania are a different deal bc they're in NATO. It's possible that this huge Russian buildup to guarantee a "successful" outcome in Ukraine will be leveraged in their negotiations with NATO on the remaining issues.

The second group is just plain crazy.

You may not have a grasp on reality, but reality has a grasp on you.

-----------
"It may be dangerous to be America's enemy, but to be America's friend is fatal." - Henry Kissinger

Loving America is like loving an addicted spouse - SIGNYM

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Thursday, September 28, 2023 2:49 PM

SECOND

The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at https://www.mediafire.com/two


Quote:
Originally posted by SIGNYM:

The article is behind a paywall, so I can't tell. But considering I question FP's basic honesty and integrity, I'm not sure that it matters, because I don't trust them to tell me the truth about pretty much anything.
US foreign policy will confuse most people because there are six, that is right, six different foreign policy camps. The spectrum of thinking is outlined in the following article "The Scrambled Spectrum of U.S. Foreign-Policy Thinking"

To read Foreign Policy without a subscription can be done by using toggle reader view (F9) in the Firefox browser. F9 removes a bunch of stuff, leaving only words and a few pictures.

The Scrambled Spectrum of U.S. Foreign-Policy Thinking

Presidents, officials, and candidates tend to fall into six camps that don’t follow party lines.

SEPTEMBER 27, 2023, 5:33 PM

By Ash Jain, a former director for democratic order with the Atlantic Council’s Scowcroft Center for Strategy and Security.

https://foreignpolicy.com/2023/09/27/republican-debate-trump-biden-for
eign-policy-ideology/

Foreign policy is likely to feature prominently at the Republican presidential primary debates. At the debate in August, a question on whether the candidates would support continued U.S. assistance to Ukraine produced a firestorm. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who had previously suggested that Russia’s war in Ukraine was not a “vital” national interest, appeared skeptical, calling on Europe to do more instead. Entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy was more direct in opposing such aid, calling it “disastrous” for the United States to be “protecting against an invasion across somebody else’s border.” Former Vice President Mike Pence and former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley, on the other hand, expressed strong support for assisting Ukraine, effectively standing behind President Joe Biden’s efforts to counter Russian aggression while imploring the United States to do even more.

On the other side of the aisle, some Democrats have been wary of Biden’s policy on Ukraine, as evidenced by a letter (that was later retracted) sent to the president by progressive Democrats, calling for a diplomatic end to the conflict and potential sanctions relief for Russia.

In today’s polarized political atmosphere, such cross-cutting views may appear confounding. On most domestic policy issues, whether political leaders have an R or a D next to their name is often a pretty good guide to their take on any particular issue. But when it comes to foreign policy, the normal rules of politics do not apply. Instead, of much greater relevance is where a political leader falls on the foreign-policy ideology spectrum.

A visualization shows the six schools of foreign-policy thought, four interntionalists and two non-internationalists.



The schools of thought that make up this spectrum, reflecting fundamentally different views about the U.S. role in the world, are highly influential but not very well understood.

In seeking to differentiate between foreign-policy positions, the media often resorts to cliches, such as “hawks versus doves,” or buzzwords, such as “isolationist” and “neoconservative.” However, these terms tend to be oversimplified or exaggerated and convey little useful information. International relations theories are not all that helpful either. “Realism” is routinely conflated with an academic concept that predicts how nations can be expected to behave, rather than how they should. And other theories, such as “idealism” and “constructivism,” offer limited utility in understanding real-world decision-making.

Yet there are critical differences in how policymakers view the world and are seeking to influence the direction of U.S. foreign policy. There is a clear dichotomy, for instance, between those who believe that U.S. influence is mostly positive and that the United States should play an active role in global affairs and those who believe that U.S. hubris more often leads to bad outcomes and want to scale back the country’s overseas commitments.

There is a significant divide between those who believe that the United States should prioritize efforts to advance democratic values and norms and those who believe in defending more narrow strategic interests. And there are disparate views on whether the United States should stand firm against adversaries, such as Russia and China, or should seek to find common ground.

I have delineated six distinct foreign-policy camps that represent the dominant strains of thinking on the U.S. role in the world. These camps can be placed along a spectrum of international engagement. Four of them fall on the more assertive side of this spectrum, constituting “internationalists,” who believe that the United States should exercise its influence and be actively engaged in global affairs. And two of the camps are “non-internationalists,” who believe that the United States should scale back its global commitments and adopt a less forward-leaning foreign policy.

INTERNATIONALISTS

A spectrum visualization plots the universalist internationalist foreign-policy position as the most assertive of six camps.

1. Unilateral Internationalists

Mugshots of unilateral universalists Dick Cheney, Donald Rumsfeld, and John Bolton.

Defining worldview: Unilateral internationalists believe U.S. primacy and freedom of action are paramount and prioritize unilateral U.S. action, unconstrained by alliances or international agreements, to advance strategic interests. While President George W. Bush came close, especially during his first term, no U.S. president has directly embraced this school.

Key attributes:

• View China and Russia as the greatest challenges to U.S. primacy in the international system and seek to exert maximum pressure to counter U.S. adversaries and project American power

• Prioritize U.S. national interests, even if at the expense of allies, and favor strategic interests over democratic values or a “rules-based order”—but support U.S. alliances while skeptical of allies’ willingness to act

• Are distrustful of the United Nations and international agreements and favor U.S. withdrawal from international institutions where necessary to avoid restraints on U.S. power and sovereignty

• Support using military force to advance U.S. interests

Prominent voices: Dick Cheney, Donald Rumsfeld, John Bolton

Recent U.S. presidents: None

Republican candidates: None

A spectrum visualization plots the democratic internationalist foreign-policy position as the second most assertive of six camps.

2. Democratic Internationalists

A grid of mugshots of democratic internationalists Madeleine Albright, John McCain, Mitt Romney, Chris Coons, G. John Ikenberry, Hal Brands, Harry Truman, John F. Kennedy, Ronald Reagan, George W. Bush, Joe Biden, Chris Christie, Nikki Haley, and Mike Pence.

Defining worldview: Democratic internationalists believe that defending democracy is essential to maintaining U.S. and global security and prioritize working with like-minded allies to advance shared values and a rules-based democratic order. This school has been predominant among elected U.S. leaders—across both political parties—since President Harry Truman declared it was the policy of the United States to help “free and independent nations to maintain their freedom.”

Key attributes:

• View strategic competition between democracy and autocracy as the major fault line in the international system and support proactive measures to defend against revisionist autocracies, namely China and Russia

• Are strong proponents of democratic alliances and solidarity and are eager to maintain the United States’ role as the “leader of the free world”

• Support robust efforts to advance democratic values and human rights and to hold autocratic regimes to account for war crimes and violent oppression

• Are willing to consider use of force if necessary to defend democracy and the rules-based order

Prominent voices: Madeleine Albright, John McCain, Mitt Romney, Chris Coons, G. John Ikenberry, Hal Brands

Recent U.S. presidents: Harry Truman, John F. Kennedy, Ronald Reagan, George W. Bush, Joe Biden

Republican candidates: Chris Christie, Nikki Haley, Mike Pence

A spectrum visualization plots the realist internationalist foreign-policy position as the third most assertive of six camps.

3. Realist Internationalists

A grid of mugshots of realist universalists Henry Kissinger, Brent Scowcroft, Robert Gates, Richard Haass, Stephen Krasner, Charles Kupchan, Richard Nixon, George H.W. Bush, and Ron DeSantis

Defining worldview: Realist internationalists believe that U.S. power should be utilized to defend more narrow strategic interests and prioritize pragmatic engagement with all nations to help preserve global and regional stability. Former National Security Advisors Brent Scowcroft and Henry Kissinger were quintessential practitioners of this school, which was also embraced by the presidents they served.

Key attributes:

• View great-power rivalry as inevitable in the global system and support U.S. alliances and active efforts to deter rival powers and maintain global order

• Are willing to engage adversaries and work with all nations, regardless of regime type, to advance strategic objectives

• Are prepared to make mutual accommodations with rivals, or seek to divide them, to achieve a stable balance of power

• Are inclined to “accept the world as it is” and are wary of U.S. intervention and democracy promotion efforts

• Support a strong U.S. defense posture and are willing to use force when required to defend vital national interests

Prominent voices: Henry Kissinger, Brent Scowcroft, Robert Gates, Richard Haass, Stephen Krasner, Charles Kupchan

Recent U.S. presidents: Richard Nixon, George H.W. Bush

Republican candidates: Ron DeSantis

A spectrum visualization plots the multilateral internationalist foreign-policy position as the fourth most assertive of six camps (and the least assertive of four internationalist camps).

4. Multilateral Internationalists

A mugshot grid of multilateral universalists John Kerry, Bruce Jones and Barack Obama.

Defining worldview: Multilateral internationalists believe that peaceful coexistence with other nations should be a key objective and prioritize working through the U.N. and other multilateral institutions to solve global challenges and uphold international norms. President Barack Obama’s foreign policy was steeped in this school, now represented by former Secretary of State John Kerry, who is currently serving as the United States’ chief climate negotiator.

Key attributes:

• Are wary of great-power rivalry and strategic competition and are eager to “extend a hand” and find areas of common ground with adversaries

• Support active U.S. engagement to advance global norms, good governance, and human rights

• Seek to cooperate with all nations to address transnational challenges, with a particular priority on climate change

• Prefer to engage through inclusive institutions but support working with U.S. alliances to foster a rules-based order

• Are disinclined to use military force and will consider it only when authorized by the U.N. Security Council

Prominent voices: John Kerry, Bruce Jones

Recent U.S. presidents: Barack Obama

Republican candidates: None


Non-Internationalists

A spectrum visualization plots the retractor non- internationalist foreign-policy position as the second least assertive of six camps.

1. Non-Internationalists Retractors

A grid of mugshots of retractor non-internationalists Michael Anton, Donald Trump, and Vivek Ramaswamy.

Defining worldview: Retractors believe that the world is taking advantage of the United States and support a more transactional foreign policy that seeks to retract the United States from global commitments and maximize pecuniary benefits. President Donald Trump’s foreign policy epitomizes this school. But its adherents date back to Republican presidential candidate Pat Buchanan in the late 1990s and the America First movement of the 1930s that sought to keep the United States out of World War II.

Key attributes:

• Are deeply cynical about values and norms and seek and are prone to conspiracy theories and suspect the role of the “deep state” in manipulating U.S. policy

• Are critical of alliances and disdainful of U.S. allies, particularly in Europe, and believe efforts to cooperate through international institutions are naive and self-defeating

• Seek to “make deals” with autocratic regimes and are dismissive of democratic values and international norms

• Emphasize economic protectionism and closed borders to prevent others from “ripping America off”

• Believe the United States is militarily overcommitted but support occasional limited military actions to “act tough” and demonstrate U.S. prowess

Prominent voices: Michael Anton

Recent U.S. presidents: Donald Trump

Republican candidates: Donald Trump, Vivek Ramaswamy

A spectrum visualization plots the restrainer non-internationalist foreign-policy position as the least assertive of six camps

2. Non-Internationalists Restrainers

A grid of mugshots of restrainer non-internationalists Rand Paul, Bernie Sanders, Andrew Bacevich, Stephen M. Walt, and Stephen Wertheim.

Defining worldview: Restrainers believe that the United States is overstretched and overcommitted and support a more restrained foreign policy that significantly reduces the country’s global footprint. While still largely on the margins, this school has gained some prominence in recent years, as reflected by the emergence of the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft and its adherents.

Key attributes:

• Are distrustful of U.S. power and influence in the international system and believe that the United States has no standing to promote democratic values or a rules-based order, given its own flawed democracy, hypocrisy, and imperialism

• Believe the United States has picked unnecessary fights with adversaries and that its overseas military posture, alliances, and sanctions policies are often overly provocative

• Are wary of “inflating” threats posed by China and Russia and favor diplomatic efforts to cooperate with adversaries and reach a mutual accommodation and view a nationalistic foreign policy as arrogant and distasteful

• Seek to reduce the U.S. military presence overseas and to scale back commitments to NATO and other alliances and vigorously oppose the use of force

Prominent voices: Rand Paul, Bernie Sanders, Andrew Bacevich, Stephen M. Walt, Stephen Wertheim

Recent U.S. presidents: None

Republican candidates: None

Several key points follow from this analysis. First, admittedly, the edges of these camps are fuzzy, and policymakers may often find themselves straddling one or more of these camps, especially on specific issues. Nevertheless, these six schools are sufficiently discrete and represent the primary worldviews that are influencing the contemporary debate on how the United States should conduct its foreign policy.

Second, many of these schools tend to cross partisan lines. Democratic internationalism, for example, has been enthusiastically embraced by political leaders on both sides of the aisle and has strong bipartisan constituencies, as reflected in pro-democracy institutions such as the International Republican Institute and National Democratic Institute. Realism has also had a long tradition in U.S. foreign policy, resonating with national security practitioners across both parties. Similarly, the restraint school draws support among both progressives on the left and libertarians looking for Washington to scale back its global commitments. On the other hand, unilateral internationalism has found a home mainly among conservatives, while multilateral internationalism draws support mostly from liberals. In recent years, retraction has become the policy of choice among pro-Trump Republicans.

Third, determining where recent U.S. presidents fall on this spectrum is not axiomatic. While they may be inclined toward a particular camp as they enter office, most presidents are not purists, and as they govern, many find themselves running up against practical and political realities that make it difficult to maintain a consistent and predictable foreign-policy governing philosophy.

Barack Obama, for example, seemed drawn toward realist internationalism, pursuing a “reset” in relations with Russia and later declining to commit U.S. force to hold Syrian President Bashar al-Assad accountable for his use of chemical weapons. But given the priority Obama placed on engaging adversaries such as Cuba and Iran and working through the United Nations, the main thrust of his foreign policy appeared more consistent with multilateral internationalism.

George W. Bush also straddled various camps. In launching the global war on terrorism, Bush seemed determined to assert U.S. primacy and appeared to be leaning toward unilateral internationalism. But with his emphasis on democracy promotion in Iraq and Afghanistan, his signature Freedom Agenda, and his call for “ending tyranny in our world” in his second inaugural address, Bush’s overall worldview appeared to be more grounded in democratic internationalism.

Where Biden falls is still up for debate. Currently, the Biden national security team is split between realists, who pressed for Biden to withdraw from Afghanistan and reengage with Saudi Crown Prince Muhammed bin Sultan, and democratic internationalists, who championed the president’s initiative to organize a Summit for Democracy. However, given Biden’s steadfast commitment to work with NATO to defend a democratic Ukraine and his conviction that the world is facing a “global struggle between democracy and autocracy,” the broad arc of the Biden administration’s foreign policy so far seems to be more consistent with democratic internationalism—though a more definitive judgment will have to wait until his presidency concludes.

So where does this leave the current slate of Republican candidates? Pence and Haley, as well as former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, all of whom have called for standing up against Russian aggression and have denounced China’s human rights violations, are squarely in the democratic internationalist camp. Donald Trump, of course, has his own lane. DeSantis and Ramaswamy, on the other hand, appear caught between realism and Trumpian retraction, as they battle for support among the Republican rank and file who are skeptical of U.S. global engagement. DeSantis favors a pivot away from Ukraine and toward China—a very realist way to think about trade-offs. Ramaswamy, who has called for a strategy to split Russia and China, also sounds like a realist at times, but his stance on extricating the United States from any involvement in the Russia-Ukraine war, potentially ceding Taiwan to China, and putting the “interests of America first” seems to suggest he is veering toward retraction.

While voters may not consider foreign policy to be central to their vote for the next president, how U.S. leaders choose to engage in the world is critical to the security and prosperity of the American people. By gaining a clearer understanding of the most influential foreign-policy schools of thought, voters—and indeed the candidates themselves—will be in a better position to make informed choices.

The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at
https://www.mediafire.com/folder/1uwh75oa407q8/Firefly

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Thursday, September 28, 2023 4:50 PM

SIGNYM

I believe in solving problems, not sharing them.


Yeah, let's pretend that the interventionists to outright rabid neocons haven't been in control in a straight line from Bill Clinton thru Joe Biden*. Hillary Clinton? A psychopath.

Trump couldn't control them, and they've been smearing and sniping him ever since.

Oh, yeah, and let's not forget international grift and many hands dipping into slush funds (eg "rebuilding" Iraq and Afghanistan with pallets of unaudited money, selling protection to Burisma, churning the MICC complex etc).

USA foreign policy isn't "complicated". It's a clusterfuck of psychopathy, delusion, corruption, greed, treason, and arrogance.

-----------
"It may be dangerous to be America's enemy, but to be America's friend is fatal." - Henry Kissinger

Loving America is like loving an addicted spouse - SIGNYM



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Thursday, September 28, 2023 9:57 PM

SIGNYM

I believe in solving problems, not sharing them.




After listening to this excessively long video, and the string of comments from Russian officials, I've come to realize that the Russian government thinks it's outlasted the worst that NATO can throw at it,and there's no more need for diplomacy. They're open to hearing Kiev surrender, but that's about it.

Also, the USA has decided to threaten Modi, including the (Russian) diamond trade in his hometown, and largest diamond bourse in the world, Surat, and possibly the source of some of Modi's personal wealth.

-----------
"It may be dangerous to be America's enemy, but to be America's friend is fatal." - Henry Kissinger

Loving America is like loving an addicted spouse - SIGNYM



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Friday, September 29, 2023 4:10 AM

SECOND

The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at https://www.mediafire.com/two


Russia said Thursday that it plans to raise defense spending by almost 70% next year, funneling massive resources into its Ukraine offensive to fight what it calls a "hybrid war" unleashed by the West.

According to a Finance Ministry document published Thursday, defense spending is set to jump by over 68% year-on-year to almost 10.8 trillion rubles ($111.15 billion). That's about 6% of Russia's GDP (per USA Today).

"It is obvious that such an increase is necessary, absolutely necessary, because we are in a state of hybrid war, we are continuing the special military operation," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.

"I'm referring to the hybrid war that has been unleashed against us," he said.

Defense spending in 2024 is set to total around three times more than education, environmental protection and healthcare spending combined, figures calculated by AFP showed.

https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2023/09/28/russia-to-hike-defense-spend
ing-by-almost-70-in-2024-ministry-a82589

The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at
https://www.mediafire.com/folder/1uwh75oa407q8/Firefly

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Friday, September 29, 2023 7:52 AM

SECOND

The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at https://www.mediafire.com/two


To the Last Ukrainian

By Oleksandr Moskalenko, September 28, 2023

The counter-offensive was not adequately prepared nor equipped. Much has been written about the absence of F-16 combat aircraft as a factor impeding success, yet a lot of other equipment was needed, including mine-clearing machines, heavy tanks, long-distance missile systems, and artillery shells.

Ukrainians have no choice but to fight. Russia’s stated policy is to destroy Ukraine as a nation, either by smashing its identity or killing everybody who remains loyal to that identity.

The only choice is whether my nation should die on its feet or on its knees.

More at https://cepa.org/article/to-the-last-ukrainian-what-weve-learned-from-
kyivs-counter-offensive/

The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at
https://www.mediafire.com/folder/1uwh75oa407q8/Firefly

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Friday, September 29, 2023 9:20 AM

THG


Quote:
Originally posted by SIGNYM:

So, back on-topic:

Lavrov rejected the land-for-freeze concept, and he rejected it in the UN.

The Speaker for the lower House of the Russian Parliament said that Ukraine's choices are either surrender or be destroyed.

Several comments by Russian officials (including Shoigu) hint that Odessa and Kiev are targets.

Zelensky's trip to DC was a quiet failure. His trip to Canada was an international Nazi embarassment. And on his return trip through Poland he was not met with a single Polish government official. He has turned from celebrity to pariah, bc everyone knows the "counteroffensive" ... Ukraine's last big throw... was a bust.

Kiev was presented with a lengthy list of difficult reforms on impossible deadlines by the USA govt, or face a cutoff. AHEM!

Everyone expects a Russian offensive some time soon, since the army will be entirely trained up by early next year. Before that begins, expect an intense missile, rocket, drone and artillery attack on any possible offensive or defensive sites. Ukraine might have all of the USA's ISR available, but if they can't do shit to stop the Russian advance, all the ISR in the world isn't going to help.

And, mostly, you should have seen this coming. Maybe YOU don't have a grasp on reality, but reality has a grasp on you





T

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Friday, September 29, 2023 11:15 AM

SECOND

The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at https://www.mediafire.com/two


Quote:
Originally posted by SIGNYM:
Yeah, let's pretend that the interventionists to outright rabid neocons haven't been in control in a straight line from Bill Clinton thru Joe Biden*. Hillary Clinton? A psychopath.

Trump couldn't control them, and they've been smearing and sniping him ever since.

Oh, yeah, and let's not forget international grift and many hands dipping into slush funds (eg "rebuilding" Iraq and Afghanistan with pallets of unaudited money, selling protection to Burisma, churning the MICC complex etc).

USA foreign policy isn't "complicated". It's a clusterfuck of psychopathy, delusion, corruption, greed, treason, and arrogance.
Signym, you have the key attributes of both styles of Non-Internationalism, making you special:

Key attributes of Non-Internationalist Retractors:

• Are deeply cynical about values and norms and seek and are prone to conspiracy theories and suspect the role of the “deep state” in manipulating U.S. policy

• Are critical of alliances and disdainful of U.S. allies, particularly in Europe, and believe efforts to cooperate through international institutions are naive and self-defeating

• Seek to “make deals” with autocratic regimes and are dismissive of democratic values and international norms

• Emphasize economic protectionism and closed borders to prevent others from “ripping America off”

• Believe the United States is militarily overcommitted but support occasional limited military actions to “act tough” and demonstrate U.S. prowess

Key attributes of Non-Internationalist Restrainers:

• Are distrustful of U.S. power and influence in the international system and believe that the United States has no standing to promote democratic values or a rules-based order, given its own flawed democracy, hypocrisy, and imperialism

• Believe the United States has picked unnecessary fights with adversaries and that its overseas military posture, alliances, and sanctions policies are often overly provocative

• Are wary of “inflating” threats posed by China and Russia and favor diplomatic efforts to cooperate with adversaries and reach a mutual accommodation and view a nationalistic foreign policy as arrogant and distasteful

• Seek to reduce the U.S. military presence overseas and to scale back commitments to NATO and other alliances and vigorously oppose the use of force


The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at
https://www.mediafire.com/folder/1uwh75oa407q8/Firefly

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Friday, September 29, 2023 12:46 PM

SIGNYM

I believe in solving problems, not sharing them.



Quote:
Originally posted by SIGNYM:
Yeah, let's pretend that the interventionists to outright rabid neocons haven't been in control in a straight line from Bill Clinton thru Joe Biden*. Hillary Clinton? A psychopath.
Trump couldn't control them, and they've been smearing and sniping him ever since.
Oh, yeah, and let's not forget international grift and many hands dipping into slush funds (eg "rebuilding" Iraq and Afghanistan with pallets of unaudited money, selling protection to Burisma, churning the MICC complex etc).
USA foreign policy isn't "complicated". It's a clusterfuck of psychopathy, delusion, corruption, greed, treason, and arrogance.

SCEOND: Signym, you have the key attributes of both styles of Non-Internationalism, making you special:
Once again, your reading comprehension is abysmal.

Quote:
Key attributes of Non-Internationalist Retractors:

• Are deeply cynical about values and norms and seek and are prone to conspiracy theories and suspect the role of the “deep state” in manipulating U.S. policy
Like this hasn't been happening for 40+ years!


Quote:
• Are critical of alliances and disdainful of U.S. allies, particularly in Europe, and believe efforts to cooperate through international institutions are naive and self-defeating
NOT AT ALL. If I were "critical" of efforts to cooperate through negotiation, I wouldn't be saddened by our failure to stick with most of the nuclear treaties we had set up. And I have respect for true alliances, just not the kind of satrapy of client states that NATO represents, or western-dominated "international institutions" like the ICC and the IMF and World Bank. If "international institutions" could ever become democratic (i.e. represent the interest of all nations by finding an "intersecting set" of principles) I might suport them. However, like all institutions, they can be dominated by a powerful elite. I think "multipolar" is an attempt to correct that.

Quote:
• Seek to “make deals” with autocratic regimes and are dismissive of democratic values and international norms
"International norms" seems to be the right of the USA to regime-change or destroy any nation it doesn't like, and the inability of any other nation or group of nations to do jack shit about it. When we've "intervened" on an average of nine times a year for the past 30 years, that's an "international norm" we could do without.

Quote:
• Emphasize economic protectionism and closed borders to prevent others from “ripping America off”
The people "ripping off" America are often the American elite. But, yes, closed borders and tariffs were the norm for 200 years and what made America great. Close the borders and the USA might become more self-sufficient, and we would have to solve our own economic and financial dysfunctions without resorting to ripping off the rest of the world.

Quote:
• Believe the United States is militarily overcommitted but support occasional limited military actions to “act tough” and demonstrate U.S. prowess
"Occasional"????
"Demonstrate prowess"???
You mean, bully and terrorize the rest of the world, don't you?

Quote:
Key attributes of Non-Internationalist Restrainers:

• Are distrustful of U.S. power and influence in the international system and believe that the United States has no standing to promote democratic values or a rules-based order, given its own flawed democracy, hypocrisy, and imperialism
True. That's ONE you got right. Except, I don't believe that we have the right to impose our values, no matter HOW "perfect" we've been.

Quote:
• Believe the United States has picked unnecessary fights with adversaries and that its overseas military posture, alliances, and sanctions policies are often overly provocative
How about: counterproductive for anyone but a small elite.

Quote:
• Are wary of “inflating” threats posed by China and Russia and favor diplomatic efforts to cooperate with adversaries and reach a mutual accommodation and view a nationalistic foreign policy as arrogant and distasteful
China and Russia pose no threat to us as long as we don't threaten them. If we continue to attempt to destroy them they will harden and become implacable and dangerous real enemies (if they haven't already).

Quote:
• Seek to reduce the U.S. military presence overseas and to scale back commitments to NATO and other alliances and vigorously oppose the use of force
Yes, bc nobody so far has come up with CONVINCING demonstrations that our "use of force" over the past 30+ years has actually done US any good. I can think of only two examples where it worked in our favor:

The petrodollar arrangement with Saudi Arabia, the second provision of the deal was "And if you don't go along with us, we'll bomb the snot out of you", and

Taking over the Panama Canal.



-----------
"It may be dangerous to be America's enemy, but to be America's friend is fatal." - Henry Kissinger

Loving America is like loving an addicted spouse - SIGNYM



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Friday, September 29, 2023 12:56 PM

SECOND

The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at https://www.mediafire.com/two


Russian air defences have shot down one of the country’s most advanced fighter jets in a friendly fire incident, according to reports.

The Russian Su-35 was downed over Tokmak, Zaporizhzhia Oblast, on Thursday where Ukraine is mounting its counter-offensive.

A Russian Telegram channel with close links to the country’s air force appeared to confirm the incident on Friday when it paid tribute to the pilot, who did not survive.

Footage showing a fireball falling out of the sky began circulating on Friday.

Western analysts have said that Russia’s air force has an unusual toll of self-inflicted losses.

They believe that it is the result of a push to complete training quickly, the pressure of combat and a lack of experienced pilots.

Russia has lost four Su-35 jets since Vladimir Putin’s forces invaded Ukraine in February last year, according to the Dutch open-source intelligence outlet Oryx.

Russia has also experienced self-inflicted losses on the ground.

Earlier this month, more than 60 Russian soldiers were thought to have been killed or wounded by friendly fire as they made a hasty retreat from the village of Opytne, in the Donetsk region.

The chaotic withdrawal was mistaken for a rapid Ukrainian advance across an open field by a Russian drone operator, who ordered an artillery strike.

Much more at https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2023/09/29/ukraine-russia-war-l
ive-zelensky-putin-meets-troshev-latest/

The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at
https://www.mediafire.com/folder/1uwh75oa407q8/Firefly

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Friday, September 29, 2023 1:04 PM

SECOND

The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at https://www.mediafire.com/two


Quote:
Originally posted by SIGNYM:

Quote:
• Seek to “make deals” with autocratic regimes and are dismissive of democratic values and international norms
"International norms" seems to be the right of the USA to regime-change or destroy any nation it doesn't like, and the inability of any other nation or group of nations to do jack shit about it. When we've "intervened" on an average of nine times a year for the past 30 years, that's an "international norm" we could do without.
I guess you didn't notice that no American soldiers have died overseas since 2021. The US isn't actually "intervening" if no American soldier died.

It is pretty hard to fight the "enemy" when there is no combat to point to that Americans are involved in. There are no American soldiers fighting in Ukraine, for example.

How many Americans died in combat in 2022? Zero. 2023? Zero. The last one to die listed at The Fallen was Air Force Lt. Col. James C. Willis, Died June 26, 2021 Serving During Operation Inherent Resolve, 55, of Albuquerque, New Mexico, was found dead at 7:30 a.m. June 26 at Al Udeid Air Base, Qatar, according to a U.S. Air Forces Central news release. The noncombat-related incident is under investigation.
https://thefallen.militarytimes.com/air-force-lt-col-james-c-willis/65
68839

Before this last death? There was Army Staff Sgt. Casey J. Hart
Died June 8, 2021 Serving During Operation Inherent Resolve, 42, of Baton Rouge, Louisiana, died June 8, 2021, at Walter Reed Medical Center in Maryland after suffering a medical emergency May 9 at Al-Tanf Garrison in Syria. Hart was assigned to the 256th Infantry Brigade Combat Team out of Lafayette. He also worked as a patrol officer for the Baton Rouge Police Department.
https://thefallen.militarytimes.com/army-staff-sgt-casey-j-hart/656883
8

https://thefallen.militarytimes.com/

The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at
https://www.mediafire.com/folder/1uwh75oa407q8/Firefly

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Friday, September 29, 2023 2:14 PM

SECOND

The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at https://www.mediafire.com/two


Another ally appeared to turn its back on Moscow on Thursday when Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev said his country would not help Russia circumvent Western sanctions imposed over the war in Ukraine.

"Kazakhstan has unambiguously stated that it will follow the sanctions regime," Tokayev said.

Kazakhstan, which shares a 7,644-kilometre (4,750 mile) border with Russia, is a former Soviet state in Central Asia and Moscow's nominal ally in the Russian-led Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO).

https://www.newsweek.com/kazakhstan-russia-neighbor-sanctions-ukraine-
1830862

The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at
https://www.mediafire.com/folder/1uwh75oa407q8/Firefly

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Friday, September 29, 2023 2:48 PM

SIGNYM

I believe in solving problems, not sharing them.



Quote:
Originally posted by SIGNYM:

Quote:
• Seek to “make deals” with autocratic regimes and are dismissive of democratic values and international norms
"International norms" seems to be the right of the USA to regime-change or destroy any nation it doesn't like, and the inability of any other nation or group of nations to do jack shit about it. When we've "intervened" on an average of nine times a year for the past 30 years, that's an "international norm" we could do without.

SECOND::I guess you didn't notice that no American soldiers have died overseas since 2021.
Wrong. But it in any case, that's only a 2-year span. Not stellar example!

Quote:
The US isn't actually "intervening" if no American soldier died.


Once again, wrong. Military "trainers", "advisors", "intelligence" etc are in Ukraine, and getting killed. We also run mercs and fund, train, and arm proxies. And then there are the CIA ops, the foreign militaries that we train in the USA etc.

Sanctions, and secondary sanctions. International lawfare and hypocritical application of law.

And finally there are the NGOs including NED, USAID (both funded by govt) and other "helpful" organizations like HRW to stir up grievances to oust governments we don't like. one section agdinst another.

Quote:
SECOND: It is pretty hard to fight the "enemy" when there is no combat to point to that Americans are involved in. There are no American soldiers fighting in Ukraine, for example.

Are you trying to say we're not involved in Ukraine? That we're not funding Kiev and telling it what to do? We're just innocent bystanders watching from a distance?

BWAHAHAHA!
You're an idiot, SECOND!
You're just trying to rewrite history in real-time.


Quote:
SECOND: blah blah blah and more bullshit



-----------
"It may be dangerous to be America's enemy, but to be America's friend is fatal." - Henry Kissinger

Loving America is like loving an addicted spouse - SIGNYM



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Friday, September 29, 2023 3:08 PM

SECOND

The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at https://www.mediafire.com/two


Quote:
Originally posted by SIGNYM:

Quote:
The US isn't actually "intervening" if no American soldier died.


Once again, wrong. Military "trainers", "advisors", "intelligence" etc are in Ukraine, and getting killed. We also run mercs and fund, train, and arm proxies. And then there are the CIA ops, the foreign militaries that we train in the USA etc.

Sanctions, and secondary sanctions. International lawfare and hypocritical application of law.

And finally there are the NGOs including NED, USAID (both funded by govt) and other "helpful" organizations like HRW to stir up grievances to oust governments we don't like. one section agdinst another.
Remember this, Signym? Key attributes of Non-Internationalist Retractors:

• Are deeply cynical about values and norms and seek and are prone to conspiracy theories and suspect the role of the “deep state” in manipulating U.S. policy

Signym, you are just lying. Please spin out more conspiracies, like the one about Russians NOT murdering Russians by tens of millions because of their politics and the other conspiracy about Russia NOT torturing Ukrainians but Ukrainians torturing themselves. Signym, you have got special genes for dishonesty and lack of integrity and confusing up with down, true with false. It has gotten you into trouble in real life. Russians share those genes and that inherited character has caused them centuries of violently troubled history and economic backwardness. This time it will end very badly for Russia, like two bullets to the back of the head. Cheers!

The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at
https://www.mediafire.com/folder/1uwh75oa407q8/Firefly

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Friday, September 29, 2023 4:05 PM

SIGNYM

I believe in solving problems, not sharing them.


Quote:
Originally posted by second:
Quote:
Originally posted by SIGNYM:

Quote:
The US isn't actually "intervening" if no American soldier died.


Once again, wrong. Military "trainers", "advisors", "intelligence" etc are in Ukraine, and getting killed. We also run mercs and fund, train, and arm proxies. And then there are the CIA ops, the foreign militaries that we train in the USA etc.

Sanctions, and secondary sanctions. International lawfare and hypocritical application of law.

And finally there are the NGOs including NED, USAID (both funded by govt) and other "helpful" organizations like HRW to stir up grievances to oust governments we don't like. one section agdinst another.
Remember this, Signym? Key attributes of Non-Internationalist Retractors:

• Are deeply cynical about values and norms and seek and are prone to conspiracy theories and suspect the role of the “deep state” in manipulating U.S. policy

Signym, blah blah blah...


Yeah, like we DON'T have an actual history of destabilizing governments; recruiting, funding, training and arming proxies; supporting "rebel" movements with air power, outright invasions etc?

How stupid do you think we are, SECOND?

Project Ukraine is circling the drain, and you're trying to pretend that we (USA/ NATO) didn't just go all out to destroy Russia thru our fully-funded Ukrainian proxy. And failed!



-----------
"It may be dangerous to be America's enemy, but to be America's friend is fatal." - Henry Kissinger

Loving America is like loving an addicted spouse - SIGNYM



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Friday, September 29, 2023 7:55 PM

SECOND

The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at https://www.mediafire.com/two


Quote:
Originally posted by SIGNYM:

Yeah, like we DON'T have an actual history of destabilizing governments; recruiting, funding, training and arming proxies; supporting "rebel" movements with air power, outright invasions etc?

How stupid do you think we are, SECOND?

Project Ukraine is circling the drain, and you're trying to pretend that we (USA/ NATO) didn't just go all out to destroy Russia thru our fully-funded Ukrainian proxy. And failed!

Yesterday I was talking to a manager about the price of R-410A. The manager smoothly lied and said the price was over $100 per pound to justify their pricing scheme for AC repair. The price is actually $400 or less for 25 pounds. It was a friendly conversation that brought up Trump, who the manager approved of. Signym, Trumptards, or those in a less virulent form who have said nice things about Trump as you have, are just natural-born crooks, liars, and thieves. You can't help being what you are, Signym.
https://www.google.com/search?q=R-410A+price

The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at
https://www.mediafire.com/folder/1uwh75oa407q8/Firefly

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Friday, September 29, 2023 7:56 PM

SECOND

The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at https://www.mediafire.com/two


Russia suggests using a nuke to scare the West into negotiations over Ukraine

Mikhail Kovalchuk, Russian President Vladimir Putin's ally, proposed testing nuclear weapons at Russia's nuclear test site in Novaya Zemlya, an Arctic Ocean archipelago, "at least once" to scare the West.

The Soviet Union conducted its first nuclear test, an underwater explosion, on Novaya Zemlya in 1955. Until 1990, a total of 130 tests were carried out at the site, including the October 1961 detonation of the largest nuclear weapon ever tested, the 50 Megaton Tsar Bomba hydrogen bomb. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tsar_Bomba

New satellite imagery obtained by the California-based Middlebury Institute for International Studies shared with Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty this week shows that Russia has significantly increased construction at Novaya Zemlya since 2021. There are at least two new buildings at the site, while ships and new shipping containers have arrived at its port, a comparison of imagery taken in July 2021 and in June 2023, showed.

Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu also paid the facility a visit in August, officials said.

Kovalchuk, head of the national research center Kurchatov Institute, was cited by Russian state-run news agency RIA Novosti as saying that the West's actions toward Russia are becoming "increasingly aggressive," and that many experts propose "adjusting the fundamentals of state policy in this area."

Kovalchuk said that. in 1961, the Soviet Union, in response to rhetoric from the United States, tested a powerful nuclear bomb, "after which the Americans immediately began to negotiate, instantly."

"The situation is exactly the same now. It's enough to carry out tests on Novaya Zemlya... At least once. And everything will fall into place," Kovalchuk added.

On October 3, Russian authorities will hold nationwide large-scale drills because of the "growing danger of armed conflicts including [with] nuclear-capable powers near Russia's borders."

The drills will imagine that the country is at least partially under martial law and that up to 70 percent of the country's housing facilities have been destroyed; that general mobilization has ended; and that there is the possibility of radioactive contamination.

Putin has said he would be prepared to use nuclear weapons to defend Russian territory.

"If the territorial integrity of our country is threatened, we will without doubt use all available means to protect Russia and our people—this is not a bluff," the Russian president said in a televised address to the nation in September 2022. Yesterday, Putin declared that the annexed parts of Ukraine are part of Russia.

More at https://www.newsweek.com/russia-nuclear-weapons-test-novaya-zemlya-183
0887



The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at
https://www.mediafire.com/folder/1uwh75oa407q8/Firefly

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Friday, September 29, 2023 9:53 PM

SIGNYM

I believe in solving problems, not sharing them.



Quote:
Originally posted by SIGNYM:

Yeah, like we DON'T have an actual history of destabilizing governments; recruiting, funding, training and arming proxies; supporting "rebel" movements with air power, outright invasions etc?
How stupid do you think we are, SECOND?
Project Ukraine is circling the drain, and you're trying to pretend that we (USA/ NATO) didn't just go all out to destroy Russia thru our fully-funded Ukrainian proxy. And failed!



SECOND: Yesterday I was talking to a manager about the price of R-410A. The manager smoothly lied and said the price was over $100 per pound to justify their pricing scheme for AC repair. The price is actually $400 or less for 25 pounds. It was a friendly conversation that brought up Trump, who the manager approved of. Signym, Trumptards, or those in a less virulent form who have said nice things about Trump as you have, are just natural-born crooks, liars, and thieves. You can't help being what you are, Signym.
https://www.google.com/search?q=R-410A+price

You're funny when you're hopping mad!


-----------
"It may be dangerous to be America's enemy, but to be America's friend is fatal." - Henry Kissinger

Loving America is like loving an addicted spouse - SIGNYM



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Saturday, September 30, 2023 8:03 AM

SECOND

The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at https://www.mediafire.com/two


Quote:
Originally posted by SIGNYM:

Quote:
Originally posted by SIGNYM:

Yeah, like we DON'T have an actual history of destabilizing governments; recruiting, funding, training and arming proxies; supporting "rebel" movements with air power, outright invasions etc?
How stupid do you think we are, SECOND?
Project Ukraine is circling the drain, and you're trying to pretend that we (USA/ NATO) didn't just go all out to destroy Russia thru our fully-funded Ukrainian proxy. And failed!



SECOND: Yesterday I was talking to a manager about the price of R-410A. The manager smoothly lied and said the price was over $100 per pound to justify their pricing scheme for AC repair. The price is actually $400 or less for 25 pounds. It was a friendly conversation that brought up Trump, who the manager approved of. Signym, Trumptards, or those in a less virulent form who have said nice things about Trump as you have, are just natural-born crooks, liars, and thieves. You can't help being what you are, Signym.
https://www.google.com/search?q=R-410A+price

You're funny when you're hopping mad!
Russians and Trumptards have in common a feeling that they are not getting the prosperity, happiness, and respect they deserve. When told they do NOT deserve it because they are liars, incompetent, and dangerous to all, Russians and Trumptards can't comprehend. They will deny that they are who they are, that they are nasty people who are getting what they deserve.

It is sad watching Russians or Trumptards convincing one another in their group that there is a vast conspiracy in the "West" or in the US government against nasty-acting people. There is really only their personal inadequacies and horribleness keeping them from being successful, prosperous, and happy with life. For Russians and Trumptards it must seem so much easier to go to war against the "West" or the US government than to fix even one thing about themselves, maybe fix their drinking problem, maybe their constant lying, maybe their incompetence, maybe their grating personality.

The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at
https://www.mediafire.com/folder/1uwh75oa407q8/Firefly

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Saturday, September 30, 2023 8:06 AM

SECOND

The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at https://www.mediafire.com/two


Putin claims residents of annexed regions 'confirmed' will to join Russia

Russian President Vladimir Putin claims that residents of Russia-held regions in southern and eastern Ukraine expressed their desire to be part of Russia in recent local elections.

Moscow announced that it had annexed the Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions on September 30, 2022, after what was denounced by Kyiv and Western countries as "sham" and meaningless referendums conducted illegally and with massive coercion of voters.

Putin argues that Russia's invasion of Ukraine saved people from nationalist leaders in Kyiv who unleashed a "full-scale civil war."

Russia launched a full-scale war of aggression against Ukraine in February 2022. Russian forces do not entirely control any of the regions Putin claims were annexed and part of Russia.

https://p.dw.com/p/4WzTp

The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at
https://www.mediafire.com/folder/1uwh75oa407q8/Firefly

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Saturday, September 30, 2023 8:32 AM

SECOND

The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at https://www.mediafire.com/two


Russia is defending its “sovereignty” and “spiritual values” by waging war in Ukraine, President Vladimir Putin said in a video address posted on the Kremlin website.
http://kremlin.ru/events/president/news/72403

Video message on the occasion of the Day of Reunification of the DPR, LPR, Zaporozhye and Kherson regions with Russia
September 30, 2023

Vladimir Putin: Dear friends! Dear citizens of Russia!

I congratulate you on the Day of Reunification of the Donetsk and Lugansk People's Republics, Zaporozhye and Kherson regions with Russia.

A year ago, on September 30, a defining, truly historical and fateful event took place: agreements were signed on the admission of four new subjects of the Federation to Russia. Millions of residents of Donbass, Kherson and Zaporozhye regions have made their choice - to be with their Fatherland.

People made this conscious, long-awaited, hard-fought and truly popular decision together during referendums in full compliance with international standards, and showed courage and unyielding character. They tried to intimidate them, to take away the right to determine their own future, their destiny, to take away what is dear to every person - culture, traditions, native language - everything that was hated by the nationalists and their Western patrons, who staged a coup in Kiev in 2014, and then unleashed a full-scale civil war, terror against dissidents, organized a blockade, constant shelling and punitive actions in the Donbass.

But nothing and no one can break the will of millions of people, their faith in truth and historical justice. The people of Russia supported the free and unambiguous choice of our brothers and sisters with all their hearts, understood and deeply felt the main thing: by defending our compatriots in the Donbass and Novorossiya, we are defending Russia itself, together we are fighting for the Motherland, for our sovereignty, spiritual values ??and unity, for victory. I thank all citizens of the country for this unity and patriotic spirit.

Today we are also creating our common future together, restoring and building schools and hospitals, houses and roads, museums and memorials. All our regions provide truly fraternal assistance to the cities and towns of Donbass and Novorossia. Volunteers, public and religious organizations, parliamentary parties, entrepreneurs and labor collectives contribute to this work, to this common cause; the entire large, united country is doing a common cause.

An important step in strengthening our common state, political, and legal space was the recent elections in the Donetsk and Lugansk people's republics, in the Zaporozhye and Kherson regions. Just like a year ago, at historic referendums, people again expressed and confirmed their will to be with Russia, supported their fellow countrymen, those who, through hard work and real deeds, earned the people’s trust.

There is a lot of work ahead and the solution of complex problems, the implementation of a large-scale program for the revival and socio-economic development of our historical regions. And we will definitely achieve our goals.

I would like to especially address the residents of the Donetsk People's Republic, Lugansk People's Republic, Zaporozhye and Kherson regions. Thank you for the fact that, despite all the trials, you preserved and passed on your love for the Fatherland to your children. Thanks to you, your firmness and determination, Russia has become even stronger. We are one people and together we will overcome everything and respond to any challenges.

Happy holiday, dear friends, Happy Reunification Day with Russia!

https://kremlin-ru.translate.goog/events/president/news/72403?_x_tr_sc
h=http&_x_tr_sl=auto&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=en&_x_tr_pto=wapp&_x_tr_hist=true

The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at
https://www.mediafire.com/folder/1uwh75oa407q8/Firefly

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Saturday, September 30, 2023 8:53 AM

SECOND

The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at https://www.mediafire.com/two


This is a story from 2022. http://kremlin.ru/events/president/news/69465

Signing of agreements on the admission of the DPR, LPR, Zaporozhye and Kherson regions to Russia

In the St. George Hall of the Kremlin, a ceremony was held to sign agreements on the admission of the Donetsk People's Republic, Lugansk People's Republic, Zaporozhye region and Kherson region to Russia and the formation of new subjects of the Russian Federation.

September 30, 2022
16:00
Moscow Kremlin

Vladimir Putin: Dear citizens of Russia, citizens of the Donetsk and Lugansk people’s republics, residents of the Zaporozhye and Kherson regions, deputies of the State Duma, senators of the Russian Federation!

You know, referendums were held in the Donetsk and Lugansk People's Republics, Zaporozhye and Kherson regions. Their results have been summed up, the results are known. People have made their choice, an unambiguous choice.

Today we are signing agreements on the admission of the Donetsk People's Republic, the Lugansk People's Republic, the Zaporozhye region and the Kherson region to Russia. I am confident that the Federal Assembly will support constitutional laws on the adoption and formation in Russia of four new regions, four new subjects of the Russian Federation, because this is the will of millions of people.

(Applause.)

And this, of course, is their right, their inalienable right, which is enshrined in the first article of the UN Charter, which directly speaks of the principle of equality and self-determination of peoples.

I repeat: this is the inalienable right of people, it is based on historical unity, in the name of which generations of our ancestors, those who from the origins of Ancient Rus' for centuries created and defended Russia, won. Here, in Novorossiya, Rumyantsev, Suvorov and Ushakov fought, and Catherine II and Potemkin founded new cities. Our grandfathers and great-grandfathers fought to their death here during the Great Patriotic War.

We will always remember the heroes of the “Russian Spring”, those who did not come to terms with the neo-Nazi coup d’etat in Ukraine in 2014, all who died for the right to speak their native language, to preserve their culture, traditions, faith, for the right to live. These are the soldiers of Donbass, the martyrs of the “Odessa Khatyn”, the victims of inhuman terrorist attacks carried out by the Kyiv regime. These are volunteers and militias, these are civilians, children, women, old people, Russians, Ukrainians, people of various nationalities. This is the real people's leader of Donetsk Alexander Zakharchenko, these are the military commanders Arsen Pavlov and Vladimir Zhoga, Olga Kachura and Alexey Mozgovoy, this is the prosecutor of the Lugansk Republic Sergey Gorenko. This is paratrooper Nurmagomed Gadzhimagomedov and all our soldiers and officers who died a heroic death during a special military operation. They are heroes. (Applause.)Heroes of Great Russia. And I ask you to honor their memory with a minute of silence.

(Minute of silence.)

Thank you.

The choice of millions of residents in the Donetsk and Lugansk People's Republics, in the Zaporozhye and Kherson regions is our common destiny and thousand-year history. People passed this spiritual connection on to their children and grandchildren. Despite all the trials, we carried through the years our love for Russia. And no one can destroy this feeling in us. That is why both older generations and young people, those who were born after the tragedy of the collapse of the Soviet Union, voted for our unity, for our common future.

In 1991, in Belovezhskaya Pushcha, without asking the will of ordinary citizens, representatives of the then party elites decided to collapse the USSR, and people suddenly found themselves cut off from their Motherland. This tore and dismembered our national community and turned into a national catastrophe. Just as once upon a time after the revolution the borders of the union republics were cut behind the scenes, so the last leaders of the Soviet Union, contrary to the direct will of the majority of people at the 1991 referendum, destroyed our great country and simply presented the people with a fait accompli.

I admit that they did not even fully understand what they were doing and what consequences this would inevitably lead to in the end. But that doesn't matter anymore. There is no Soviet Union, the past cannot be returned. And Russia today no longer needs this, we are not striving for this. But there is nothing stronger than the determination of millions of people who, by their culture, faith, traditions, and language, consider themselves part of Russia, whose ancestors lived in a single state for centuries. There is nothing stronger than the determination of these people to return to their true, historical Fatherland.

For eight long years, people in Donbass were subjected to genocide, shelling and blockade, and in Kherson and Zaporozhye they tried to criminally instill in them hatred of Russia, of everything Russian. Now, already during the referendums, the Kiev regime threatened reprisals, death to school teachers, women working in election commissions, and intimidated millions of people who came to express their will with reprisals. But the unbroken people of Donbass, Zaporozhye and Kherson said their word.

I want the Kyiv authorities and their real masters in the West to hear me, so that everyone remembers this: people living in Lugansk and Donetsk, Kherson and Zaporozhye become our citizens forever. (Applause.)

We call on the Kiev regime to immediately cease fire, all hostilities, the war that it started back in 2014, and return to the negotiating table. We are ready for this, this has been said more than once. But we will not discuss the choice of the people in Donetsk, Lugansk, Zaporozhye and Kherson, it has been made, Russia will not betray it. (Applause.) And today’s Kiev authorities must treat this free expression of people’s will with respect, and nothing else. This is the only way to peace.

We will defend our land with all the forces and means at our disposal and will do everything to ensure the safe life of our people. This is the great liberation mission of our people.

We will definitely rebuild destroyed cities and towns, housing, schools, hospitals, theaters and museums, restore and develop industrial enterprises, factories, infrastructure, social security, pension systems, healthcare and education.

Of course, we will work to improve the level of security. Together we will make sure that citizens in new regions feel the support of all the people of Russia, the entire country, all republics, all territories and regions of our vast Motherland. (Applause.)

Dear friends, colleagues!

Today I want to appeal to the soldiers and officers who are participating in a special military operation, to the soldiers of Donbass and Novorossiya, to those who, after the decree on partial mobilization, join the ranks of the Armed Forces, fulfilling their patriotic duty, who come to the military registration and enlistment offices at the call of their hearts. I want to appeal to their parents, wives, children, to say about what our people are fighting for, what enemy is opposing us, who is throwing the world into new wars and crises, extracting their bloody benefit from this tragedy.

Our compatriots, our brothers and sisters in Ukraine - the native part of our united people - saw with their own eyes what the ruling circles of the so-called West are preparing for all of humanity. Here they, in fact, simply dropped their masks and showed their true guts.

After the collapse of the Soviet Union, the West decided that the world, all of us, would forever have to put up with its dictates. Then, in 1991, the West hoped that Russia would not recover from such shocks and would further collapse on its own. Yes, this almost happened - we remember the 90s, the terrible 90s, hungry, cold and hopeless. But Russia survived, was reborn, strengthened, and again took its rightful place in the world.

At the same time, the West has been looking for all this time and continues to look for a new chance to hit us, weaken and collapse Russia, which has always been dreamed of, to fragment our state, pit people against each other, doom them to poverty and extinction. They are simply haunted by the fact that there is such a great, huge country in the world with its territory, natural wealth, resources, and people who cannot and will never live according to someone else’s orders.

The West is ready to go through everything to preserve the neocolonial system that allows it to parasitize, in fact, rob the world at the expense of the power of the dollar and technological dictatorship, collect real tribute from humanity, extract the main source of unearned well-being, the rent of the hegemon. Preservation of this rent is their key, genuine and absolutely selfish motive. That is why total desovereignization is in their interests. Hence their aggression towards independent states, towards traditional values and original cultures, attempts to undermine international and integration processes beyond their control, new world currencies and centers of technological development. It is critical for them that all countries surrender their sovereignty to the United States.

The ruling elites of some states voluntarily agree to do this, voluntarily agree to become vassals; others are bribed and intimidated. And if that doesn’t work, they destroy entire states, leaving behind humanitarian catastrophes, disasters, ruins, millions of ruined, twisted human destinies, terrorist enclaves, zones of social disaster, protectorates, colonies and semi-colonies. They don't care as long as they get their benefits.

I want to emphasize once again: it is precisely in greed, in the intention to preserve one’s unlimited power, that there are the real reasons for the hybrid war that the “collective West” is waging against Russia. They do not wish us freedom, but want to see us as a colony. They do not want equal cooperation, but robbery. They want to see us not as a free society, but as a crowd of soulless slaves.

For them, a direct threat is our thought and philosophy, which is why they are making attempts on our philosophers. Our culture and art pose a danger to them, so they are trying to ban them. Our development and prosperity are also a threat to them - competition is growing. They don’t need Russia at all, we need it. (Applause.)

I would like to remind you that claims to world domination in the past have more than once been dashed by the courage and resilience of our people. Russia will always be Russia. We will still defend our values and our Motherland.

The West is counting on impunity, on getting away with anything. As a matter of fact, they have gotten away with everything so far. Agreements in the field of strategic security are thrown into the trash bin; agreements reached at the highest political level are declared nonsense; firm promises not to expand NATO to the east, as soon as our former leaders bought into them, turned into a dirty deception; treaties on missile defense and intermediate- and shorter-range missiles were unilaterally torn up under far-fetched pretexts.

All we hear from all sides is that the West defends an order based on rules. Where did they come from? Who even saw these rules? Who agreed? Listen, this is just some kind of nonsense, complete deception, double or triple standards! It's simply meant for fools.

Russia is a great thousand-year-old power, a country-civilization, and it will not live by such rigged, false rules. (Applause.)

It is the so-called West that trampled on the principle of the inviolability of borders, and now, at its own discretion, decides who has the right to self-determination and who does not, who is unworthy of it. Why they decide this way and who gave them this right is unclear. To ourselves.

That is why they are so outraged by the choice of people in Crimea, Sevastopol, Donetsk, Lugansk, Zaporozhye and Kherson. This West has no moral right to evaluate it, or even to even mention the freedom of democracy. No and never was!

Western elites deny not only national sovereignty and international law. Their hegemony has a pronounced character of totalitarianism, despotism and apartheid. They brazenly divide the world into their vassals, into the so-called civilized countries and into everyone else who, according to the plans of today's Western racists, should join the list of barbarians and savages. False labels – “rogue country”, “authoritarian regime” – are already ready, they stigmatize entire peoples and states, and there is nothing new about this. There is nothing new in this: the Western elites remain what they were – colonialists. They discriminate and divide peoples into first and second classes.

We have never accepted and will never accept such political nationalism and racism. And what, if not racism, is the Russophobia that is now spreading throughout the world? What, if not racism, is the West’s categorical conviction that its civilization, neoliberal culture, is an indisputable model for the whole world? “He who is not with us is against us.” Even all this sounds strange.

Western elites even shift repentance for their own historical crimes onto everyone else, demanding that both citizens of their countries and other peoples apologize for something to which they have nothing to do at all, for example, for the period of colonial conquest.

It is worth reminding the West that it began its colonial policy back in the Middle Ages, and then followed the global slave trade, the genocide of Indian tribes in America, the plunder of India, Africa, the wars of England and France against China, as a result of which it was forced to open its ports for trade opium. What they did was get entire peoples hooked on drugs, purposefully exterminate entire ethnic groups for the sake of land and resources, and organize a real hunt for people like animals. This is contrary to the very nature of man, truth, freedom and justice.

And we - we are proud that in the 20th century it was our country that led the anti-colonial movement, which opened up opportunities for development for many peoples of the world, in order to reduce poverty and inequality, and defeat hunger and disease.

Let me emphasize that one of the reasons for the centuries-old Russophobia, the undisguised anger of these Western elites towards Russia is precisely that we did not allow ourselves to be robbed during the period of colonial conquests, we forced the Europeans to conduct trade for mutual benefit. This was achieved by creating a strong centralized state in Russia, which developed and strengthened itself on the great moral values of Orthodoxy, Islam, Judaism and Buddhism, on Russian culture and the Russian word open to all.

It is known that plans for intervention in Russia were repeatedly made; attempts were made to use both the Time of Troubles at the beginning of the 17th century and the period of upheaval after 1917, but they failed. The West still managed to get its hands on the riches of Russia at the end of the 20th century, when the state was destroyed. Then they called us both friends and partners, but in reality they treated us like a colony - trillions of dollars were siphoned out of the country under a variety of schemes. We all remember everything, we haven’t forgotten anything.

And these days, people in Donetsk and Lugansk, in Kherson and Zaporozhye spoke out in favor of restoring our historical unity. Thank you! (Applause.)

Western countries have been saying for centuries that they bring both freedom and democracy to other peoples. Everything is exactly the opposite: instead of democracy there is suppression and exploitation; Instead of freedom - enslavement and violence. The entire unipolar world order is inherently anti-democratic and unfree; it is deceitful and hypocritical through and through.

The United States is the only country in the world to have used nuclear weapons twice, destroying the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. By the way, they created a precedent.

Let me also remind you that the United States, together with the British, turned Dresden, Hamburg, Cologne and many other German cities into ruins without any military necessity during World War II. And this was done demonstratively, without any, I repeat, military necessity. There was only one goal: just as in the case of the nuclear bombings in Japan, to intimidate both our country and the whole world.

The United States left a terrible mark on the memory of the peoples of Korea and Vietnam with barbaric “carpet” bombings, the use of napalm and chemical weapons.

They still actually occupy Germany, Japan, the Republic of Korea and other countries and at the same time cynically call them equal allies. Listen, I wonder what kind of alliance this is? The whole world knows that the leaders of these countries are being watched, the top officials of these states are installing listening devices not only in their office premises, but also in their living quarters. It's a real shame. Shame both for those who do this and for those who, like a slave, silently and resignedly swallow this rudeness.

They call orders and rude, insulting shouts at their vassals Euro-Atlantic solidarity, the development of biological weapons, experiments on living people, including in Ukraine, noble medical research.

It was with their destructive policies, wars, and robbery that they provoked today’s colossal surge in migration flows. Millions of people suffer hardships, bullying, die in thousands, trying to get to the same Europe.

They are now exporting bread from Ukraine. Where is he going under the pretext of “ensuring food security for the poorest countries in the world”? Where is it going? Everything goes to the same European countries. There, five percent only went to the poorest countries in the world. Again another scam and outright deception.

The American elite, in fact, is using the tragedy of these people to weaken their competitors and to destroy nation states. This also applies to Europe, this also applies to the identity of France, Italy, Spain, and other countries with a long history.

Washington is demanding more and more sanctions against Russia, and most European politicians obediently agree with this. They clearly understand that the United States, by pushing for the EU’s complete renunciation of Russian energy and other resources, is practically leading to the deindustrialization of Europe, to completely taking over the European market - they understand everything, these European elites understand everything, but prefer to serve other people's interests. This is no longer servility, but a direct betrayal of one’s people. But God bless them, that's their business.

But sanctions are no longer enough for the Anglo-Saxons, they switched to sabotage - incredible, but true - by organizing explosions on the Nord Stream international gas pipelines that run along the bottom of the Baltic Sea, they actually began to destroy the pan-European energy infrastructure. It is obvious to everyone who benefits from this. Those who benefited did so, of course.

The US dictatorship is based on brute force, on fist law. Sometimes it’s beautifully wrapped, sometimes it’s without any wrapping, but the essence is the same – fist rights. Hence the deployment and maintenance of hundreds of military bases in all corners of the world, the expansion of NATO, attempts to put together new military alliances, such as AUKUS and the like. Active work is also underway to create a military-political link between Washington – Seoul – Tokyo. All those states that possess or strive to possess genuine strategic sovereignty and are capable of challenging Western hegemony are automatically classified as enemies.

It is on these principles that the military doctrines of the United States and NATO are built, requiring nothing less than total dominance. Western elites present their neocolonial plans in the same hypocritical way, even with a pretense of peacefulness, they talk about some kind of containment, and such a crafty word wanders from one strategy to another, and, in fact, means only one thing: undermining any sovereign centers of development.

We have already heard about containing Russia, China, and Iran. I believe that other countries in Asia, Latin America, Africa, the Middle East, as well as current partners and allies of the United States are next in line. We know: whatever they don’t like, they impose sanctions against their allies – first against one bank, then against another; sometimes against one company, sometimes against another. This is a practice that will continue to expand. They have everyone in their sights, including our closest neighbors – the CIS countries.

At the same time, the West has clearly been wishful thinking for a long time. Thus, by launching a sanctions blitzkrieg against Russia, they believed that they could once again build the whole world at their command. But, as it turned out, such a rosy prospect does not excite everyone - except perhaps complete political masochists and fans of other non-traditional forms of international relations. Most states refuse to take the piss and choose a reasonable path of cooperation with Russia.

The West clearly did not expect such disobedience from them. They are simply accustomed to acting according to a template, taking everything forcefully, blackmailing, bribing, intimidating, and convincing themselves that these methods will work forever, as if they are ossified and frozen in the past.

Such self-confidence is a direct product not only of the notorious concept of one’s own exclusivity - although this, of course, is simply surprising - but also of a real hunger for information in the West. The truth was drowned in an ocean of myths, illusions and fakes, using extremely aggressive propaganda, they lie recklessly, like Goebbels. The more incredible the lie, the faster they will believe it - that’s how they act, according to this principle.

But people cannot be fed with printed dollars and euros. It is impossible to feed you with these pieces of paper, and it is impossible to heat your home with the virtual, inflated capitalization of Western social networks. All this is important, what I’m talking about, but no less important is what was just said: you can’t feed anyone with pieces of paper - you need food, and these inflated capitalizations won’t warm anyone either - you need energy resources.

Therefore, politicians in Europe, for example, have to convince their fellow citizens to eat less, wash less often, and dress warmer at home. And those who begin to ask fair questions: “actually, why is this so?” – are immediately declared enemies, extremists and radicals. They turn the arrows to Russia and say: this is who the source of all your troubles is. They're lying again.

What do I want to especially note and emphasize? There is every reason to believe that the Western elites are not going to look for constructive solutions to the global food and energy crisis, which arose through their fault, precisely through their fault, as a result of their many years of policy long before our special military operation in Ukraine, in the Donbass. They do not intend to solve the problems of injustice and inequality. There is a fear that they are ready to use other recipes that are familiar to them.

And here it is worth recalling that the West emerged from the contradictions of the early 20th century through the First World War. Profits from World War II allowed the United States to finally overcome the consequences of the Great Depression and become the largest economy in the world, imposing on the planet the power of the dollar as a global reserve currency. And the West largely overcame the emerging crisis of the 80s - and in the 80s of the last century the crisis also worsened - by appropriating the heritage and resources of the collapsing and ultimately collapsed Soviet Union. It is a fact.

Now, in order to get out of the next tangle of contradictions, they need to break Russia at all costs and other states that choose a sovereign path of development in order to rob other people’s wealth even more and at the same time close and plug their holes. If this does not happen, I do not rule out that they will try to completely bring the system to collapse, on which everything can be blamed, or, God forbid, they will decide to use the well-known formula “war will write off everything.”

Russia understands its responsibility to the world community and will do everything to bring such hotheads to their senses.

It is clear that the current neocolonial model is ultimately doomed. But I repeat that her real owners will cling to her to the end. They simply have nothing to offer the world except maintaining the same system of robberies and racketeering.

In fact, they spit on the natural right of billions of people, the majority of humanity, to freedom and justice, to determine their own future. Now they have completely moved to a radical denial of moral norms, religion, and family.

Let's answer very simple questions for ourselves. I now want to return to what I said, I want to appeal to all citizens of the country - not only to those colleagues who are in the hall - to all citizens of Russia: do we really want it to happen here, here in our country, in Russia, instead of mom and dad there was “parent number one”, “number two”, “number three” - are they completely crazy there already? Do we really want perversions that lead to degradation and extinction to be imposed on children in our schools from the primary grades? So that it is drummed into them that there are supposedly other genders besides women and men, and they are offered sex reassignment surgery? Is this all we want for our country and our children? All this is unacceptable for us, we have a different future, our own.

I repeat, the dictatorship of Western elites is directed against all societies, including the peoples of Western countries themselves. This is a challenge for everyone. Such a complete denial of man, the overthrow of faith and traditional values, and the suppression of freedom acquires the features of “religion in reverse” - outright Satanism. In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus Christ, denouncing false prophets, says: by their fruits you will know them. And these poisonous fruits are already obvious to people - not only in our country, in all countries, including for many people in the West itself.

The world has entered a period of revolutionary transformations; they are fundamental in nature. New development centers are being formed, they represent the majority - the majority! - the world community and are ready not only to declare their interests, but also to defend them, and in multipolarity they see an opportunity to strengthen their sovereignty, and therefore to gain true freedom, a historical perspective, their right to independent, creative, original development, to a harmonious process.

All over the world, including in Europe and the United States, as I already said, we have many like-minded people, and we feel and see their support. Within a variety of countries and societies, a liberation, anti-colonial movement against unipolar hegemony is already developing in nature. His subjectivity will only increase. It is this force that will determine the future geopolitical reality.

Dear friends!

Today we are fighting for a fair and free path, first of all for ourselves, for Russia, so that dictatorship and despotism remain a thing of the past forever. I am convinced that countries and peoples understand that a policy built on the exclusivity of anyone, on the suppression of other cultures and peoples, is inherently criminal, that we must turn this shameful page. The beginning of the breakdown of Western hegemony is irreversible. And I repeat again: it won’t be the same as before.

The battlefield to which fate and history have called us is a battlefield for our people, for great historical Russia. (Applause.) For the great historical Russia, for future generations, for our children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren. We must protect them from enslavement, from monstrous experiments that are aimed at crippling their consciousness and soul.

Today we are fighting so that no one will ever think that Russia, our people, our language, our culture can be taken and erased from history. Today we need the consolidation of the entire society, and the basis of such unity can only be sovereignty, freedom, creativity, and justice. Our values are humanity, mercy and compassion.

And I want to conclude my speech with the words of a true patriot Ivan Aleksandrovich Ilyin: “If I consider Russia my Motherland, then this means that I love, contemplate and think in Russian, sing and speak in Russian; that I believe in the spiritual powers of the Russian people. His spirit is my spirit; his destiny is my destiny; his suffering is my grief; its blossoming is my joy.”

Behind these words is a great spiritual choice, which many generations of our ancestors followed for more than a thousand years of Russian statehood. Today we are making this choice, the citizens of the Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics, the residents of the Zaporozhye and Kherson regions have made it. They made the choice to be with their people, to be with their Motherland, to live by its destiny, to win with it.

The truth is behind us, Russia is behind us!

(Applause.)

Publication date: September 30, 2022, 16:00

Text version

https://kremlin-ru.translate.goog/events/president/news/69465?_x_tr_sl
=auto&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=en&_x_tr_pto=wapp&_x_tr_sch=http&_x_tr_hist=true

The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at
https://www.mediafire.com/folder/1uwh75oa407q8/Firefly

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Saturday, September 30, 2023 9:00 AM

SIGNYM

I believe in solving problems, not sharing them.


Quote:
Originally posted by SIGNYM:

Yeah, like we DON'T have an actual history of destabilizing governments; recruiting, funding, training and arming proxies; supporting "rebel" movements with air power, outright invasions etc?
How stupid do you think we are, SECOND?
Project Ukraine is circling the drain, and you're trying to pretend that we (USA/ NATO) didn't just go all out to destroy Russia thru our fully-funded Ukrainian proxy. And failed!



SECOND: Yesterday I was talking to a manager about the price of R-410A. The manager smoothly lied and said the price was over $100 per pound to justify their pricing scheme for AC repair. The price is actually $400 or less for 25 pounds. It was a friendly conversation that brought up Trump, who the manager approved of. Signym, Trumptards, or those in a less virulent form who have said nice things about Trump as you have, are just natural-born crooks, liars, and thieves. You can't help being what you are, Signym.
https://www.google.com/search?q=R-410A+price

SIGNY: You're funny when you're hopping mad!


SECOND: Russians and Trumptards have in common a feeling that they are not getting the prosperity, happiness, and respect they deserve. When told they do NOT deserve it because they are liars, incompetent, and dangerous to all, Russians and Trumptards can't comprehend. They will deny that they are who they are, that they are nasty people who are getting what they deserve.

It is sad watching Russians or Trumptards convincing one another in their group that there is a vast conspiracy in the "West" or in the US government against nasty-acting people. There is really only their personal inadequacies and horribleness keeping them from being successful, prosperous, and happy with life. For Russians and Trumptards it must seem so much easier to go to war against the "West" or the US government than to fix even one thing about themselves, maybe fix their drinking problem, maybe their constant lying, maybe their incompetence, maybe their grating personality.


SECOND: massive projection followed by walls of crap.
Dood, I have to wonder... what ARE you doing here?
You seem fixated on posting bullshit that nobody cares about and even THUGR doesn't believe.



-----------
"It may be dangerous to be America's enemy, but to be America's friend is fatal." - Henry Kissinger

Loving America is like loving an addicted spouse - SIGNYM



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Saturday, September 30, 2023 9:28 AM

SECOND

The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at https://www.mediafire.com/two


Quote:
Originally posted by SIGNYM:

SECOND: massive projection followed by walls of crap.
Dood, I have to wonder... what ARE you doing here?
You seem fixated on posting bullshit that nobody cares about and even THUGR doesn't believe.
I guess you did not read the above news out of Russia from a year ago today. https://kremlin-ru.translate.goog/events/president/news/69465?_x_tr_sl
=auto&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=en&_x_tr_pto=wapp&_x_tr_sch=http&_x_tr_hist=true

Russia claimed up is down. You have done the same reversal of the truth, Signym, where you flip the meaning of everything. This is not the smartest thing to do. This perverse denial of the truth will not end happily for either Russia or for you. But when well-deserved misfortunes hit Russia, you, and Trumptards in general, I know how they will react. They will whine that it is all so unfair.

The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at
https://www.mediafire.com/folder/1uwh75oa407q8/Firefly

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Saturday, September 30, 2023 11:52 AM

SECOND

The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at https://www.mediafire.com/two


'If Ukraine fails we will be next' - 30/09/2023

Georgian President Salomé Zourabichvili has issued a stark warning about the potential consequences if Ukraine succumbs to Russian aggression.

In an interview with LRT, a Lithuanian TV channel, she stated that if Ukraine falls, Russia will likely target either Georgia or the Baltic states next.

https://www.dagens.com/news/president-warns-if-ukraine-fails-we-will-b
e-next

Georgia, a country at the intersection of Europe and Asia, is a former Soviet republic on the Black Sea, as is Ukraine.
https://maps.app.goo.gl/oUv5TezWB49RSMCK6

The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at
https://www.mediafire.com/folder/1uwh75oa407q8/Firefly

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Saturday, September 30, 2023 4:21 PM

SIGNYM

I believe in solving problems, not sharing them.


There are currently 98 pages to this thread, and SECOND's psyops/ propaganda/ crap/ hate speech accounts for most of it.

Take a break from the hate-fest, SECOND. It'll do you good.

-----------
"It may be dangerous to be America's enemy, but to be America's friend is fatal." - Henry Kissinger

Loving America is like loving an addicted spouse - SIGNYM



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Saturday, September 30, 2023 5:20 PM

SECOND

The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at https://www.mediafire.com/two


Quote:
Originally posted by SIGNYM:
There are currently 98 pages to this thread, and SECOND's psyops/ propaganda/ crap/ hate speech accounts for most of it.

Take a break from the hate-fest, SECOND. It'll do you good.
You didn't read Putin's speech justifying war? It goes like this for thousands of words:

"Let's answer very simple questions for ourselves. I now want to return to what I said, I want to appeal to all citizens of the country - not only to those colleagues who are in the hall - to all citizens of Russia: do we really want it to happen here, here in our country, in Russia, instead of mom and dad there was “parent number one”, “number two”, “number three” - are they completely crazy there already? Do we really want perversions that lead to degradation and extinction to be imposed on children in our schools from the primary grades? So that it is drummed into them that there are supposedly other genders besides women and men, and they are offered sex reassignment surgery? Is this all we want for our country and our children? All this is unacceptable for us, we have a different future, our own.

I repeat, the dictatorship of Western elites is directed against all societies, including the peoples of Western countries themselves. This is a challenge for everyone. Such a complete denial of man, the overthrow of faith and traditional values, and the suppression of freedom acquires the features of “religion in reverse” - outright Satanism. In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus Christ, denouncing false prophets, says: by their fruits you will know them. And these poisonous fruits are already obvious to people - not only in our country, in all countries, including for many people in the West itself."

https://kremlin-ru.translate.goog/events/president/news/69465?_x_tr_sl
=auto&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=en&_x_tr_pto=wapp&_x_tr_sch=http&_x_tr_hist=true

Putin would make an excellent Republican Vice Presidential candidate because he is as nutty as Trump is.

The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at
https://www.mediafire.com/folder/1uwh75oa407q8/Firefly

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Saturday, September 30, 2023 11:28 PM

SIGNYM

I believe in solving problems, not sharing them.


I don't need to read thousands of words. Putin tends to be long-winded anyway, like all lawyers.

It's all about eastward expansion of NATO. Full stop.

-----------
"It may be dangerous to be America's enemy, but to be America's friend is fatal." - Henry Kissinger

Loving America is like loving an addicted spouse - SIGNYM



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Sunday, October 1, 2023 3:37 AM

SIGNYM

I believe in solving problems, not sharing them.


Quote:
Originally posted by second:
'If Ukraine fails we will be next' - 30/09/2023

Georgian President Salomé Zourabichvili has issued a stark warning about the potential consequences if Ukraine succumbs to Russian aggression.
Only if Georgia insists on joining NATO.

Yanno, I cringe every time one of these bubble-headed bimbos gets up to speak. They're an embarassment to women everywhere, performing for a pat on the head and "diversity -membership" status in "the boy's club".

I can't figure out who's stupider: "Dancing Queen" Sanna Marin, Annalena "360 degrees*" Baerbock, Urusla Van der Crazy, or Salame Pepperoni. Brainless meat puppets. The only differences between them and Biden* is that they're younger and better looking, and he was at one time smart enough to run actual scams and sell protection.

*Annalena once said that Putin would be punished if he didn't do a "360 deg" turn.
Think about that.
If the fact that she's Germany's Foreign Minister (at that level of incompetence) doesn't scare the pants offa you, you're dumber than she is.

And I hate to say it, but there's a whole slew of them in various leadership positions. I swear they were selected bc people would be afraid to attack them and be considered misogynist. There are plenty of incompetent men around, too, but these meat puppettes are in a whole new class by themselves.

-----------
"It may be dangerous to be America's enemy, but to be America's friend is fatal." - Henry Kissinger

Loving America is like loving an addicted spouse - SIGNYM



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Sunday, October 1, 2023 3:54 AM

SECOND

The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at https://www.mediafire.com/two


Quote:
Originally posted by SIGNYM:
I don't need to read thousands of words. Putin tends to be long-winded anyway, like all lawyers.

It's all about eastward expansion of NATO. Full stop.
This politician used few words while making a very clear statement:

Russian official calls for the return of the Terror

He said that Russian forces had entered a "conflict of annihilation" and that "it's either us or them," before repeating a quote that he had given in a previous interview that Moscow would win and "will destroy 1, 2, 3 or 5 million Ukrainians."

"It's not based on me being bloodthirsty; it's just a fact," Gubarev said. "We either have to win or lose," and losing would mean "the decolonization of Russia."

Gubarev described the Ukrainian army as one of the strongest armies in the world, and that they were brave, although he said that they were "no different from us," repeating the idea pushed by nationalists that Ukraine is not a separate nation.

"But they are infected with the virus of anti-Russianness," Gubarev said. "I don't know how we can live together after our victory, short of cutting them all out, carrying out genocide on them all."

"We will have to re-educate them. We will have to drag some of them through camps," Gubarev added. "Some will have to be persuaded not just with words."

The comments provoked a strong reaction online. Gerashchenko said they showed how Gubarev "openly calls for genocide."

"An absolute masterpiece in the expression of the fascist mentality," wrote one user in the comments under the clip posted on underneath the video on Davis's YouTube Channel, Russian Media Monitor. "I think it is the most bone-chilling interview I have watched during the entire war."

"The calmness he speaks of the necessity of genocide is chilling," posted another user.

https://www.newsweek.com/russia-ukraine-donetsk-pavel-gubarev-genocide
-1831082

Putin said the same without mentioning he'd kill 5,000,000 Ukrainians. Putin wisely withheld that detail, knowing it would cause an uproar if spoken from his mouth but Russia really will have to kill 5,000,000 to achieve 'Peace' in the aftermath of the 'Victory' over the Ukrainian Army:

Russia ‘may annex more of Ukraine’ as Putin warns ‘nothing and no-one’ will stop victory
https://metro.co.uk/2023/09/30/russia-may-annex-more-of-ukraine-as-put
in-says-no-one-will-prevent-victory-19583063/

Who knows if Putin can gain lasting 'Peace' by killing only 3, 2, or just 1 million after 'Victory'?
No one knows until Putin tries. One death is a tragedy but a million is a statistic.

The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at
https://www.mediafire.com/folder/1uwh75oa407q8/Firefly

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Sunday, October 1, 2023 4:01 AM

SECOND

The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at https://www.mediafire.com/two


Quote:
Originally posted by SIGNYM:
Quote:
Originally posted by second:
'If Ukraine fails we will be next' - 30/09/2023

Georgian President Salomé Zourabichvili has issued a stark warning about the potential consequences if Ukraine succumbs to Russian aggression.
Only if Georgia insists on joining NATO.

Yanno, I cringe every time one of these bubble-headed bimbos gets up to speak. They're an embarassment to women everywhere, performing for a pat on the head and "diversity -membership" status in "the boy's club".

I can't figure out who's stupider: "Dancing Queen" Sanna Marin, Annalena "360 degrees*" Baerbock, Urusla Van der Crazy, or Salame Pepperoni. Brainless meat puppets.
You failed to notice that male politicians have also changed their Russian stance:

How the Ukraine war has profoundly changed the EU

The EU activated its temporary protection directive for the first time in history, giving more than 5.3 million Ukrainians the right to residence.

With the European Commission in the driving seat, it has for the first time imposed 10 rounds of economic sanctions against a country, all agreed unanimously. National sanctions enforcement has now even become an EU competence.

The bloc has provided military assistance to Ukraine – the first time that European institutions have directly provided military assistance (including lethal aid) to a state, on top of finally ending their resistance to getting involved militarily in support of a third state at war.

At the same time European economic supply chains, and not just energy, are being systematically protected, a process that started with the pandemic, in some way the precursor event that challenged the post-cold war liberalist view according to which interdependences supported a virtuous cycle of mutual gains.

The new currency of EU council meetings became debates about weapons systems, ammunition supply chains and sanctions loopholes, not trade regulations or debt financing.

The very fact that the EU’s financing of military equipment for Ukraine comes from a fund termed the European Peace Facility, set up only in 2021 and outside the formal EU treaties, underscores how quickly Brussels has not just had to improvise, but re-found its very purpose.

Zaki Laïdi, a special adviser to Borrell and a professor at Sciences Po, has underlined why February 2022 represented such a shattering challenge for the EU, and required such a change in mindset.

“The European project was first and foremost intended to prevent a new conflict between France and Germany,” he wrote. “It aimed to pacify intra-European relations through exchange and economic cooperation.

“The framework was therefore Kantian: it was based on the principle of peace through exchange. Foreign policy was left to the side, either because no European state at that time wished to surrender its sovereignty in this sensitive area, or because those who were willing to do so only imagined this action exclusively within the framework of Nato.”

Nicole Gnesotto, vice-president of the Jacques Delors Institute, concurs. “In one night Russia killed all EU philosophy since 1956. The European Economic Community was founded on the principle after the second world war that economic trade and interdependence was the best recipe for peace between France and Germany first, and then between Europe and the rest of the world. Overnight all this became obsolete.”

Some reforms in the field of EU security look revolutionary, and irreversible. V-Adm Hervé Bléjean, the head of EU military staff until June, recalls that within 36 hours of the invasion, the EU, “previously associated only with economic and soft power, decided unanimously to provide money for lethal equipment to a country at war. If you would have asked me if that was possible one month before, I would have laughed at the idea.”

The Russian invasion would have succeeded, he claims, but for the EU providing light arms to target the 40 mile-long (60km-long) column of Russian tanks. “It was like shooting at elephants in a corridor,” he recalls.

Although only seven Nato member states spent 2% or more of their GDP on defence in 2022, as recommended by the alliance, that number is due to reach 19 by 2024 and 24 by 2026. In other words, three-quarters of the alliance will be in compliance with the 2% rule in less than three years. Italy will reach the target in 2028 and Spain in 2029. Only three Nato countries – Canada, Iceland, and Luxembourg – still lack a plan to reach the 2% mark.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/sep/30/ukraine-russia-war-chang
ed-eu

The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at
https://www.mediafire.com/folder/1uwh75oa407q8/Firefly

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Sunday, October 1, 2023 6:22 AM

THG


Quote:
Originally posted by SIGNYM:

There are currently 98 pages to this thread, and SECOND's psyops/ propaganda/ crap/ hate speech accounts for most of it.

Take a break from the hate-fest, SECOND. It'll do you good.




The British are coming...

T

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Sunday, October 1, 2023 9:14 AM

SECOND

The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at https://www.mediafire.com/two


Quote:
Originally posted by THG:

The British are coming...

T
Instead of Ukrainians going to Britain for training, the Brits go to Ukraine to train.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/sep/30/british-troops-could-dep
loy-to-ukraine-to-train-soldiers-says-grant-shapps

British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak rowed back from British Defence Minister Grant Shapps' comments on Sunday, saying there were no immediate plans to deploy military instructors to Ukraine. "What the defence secretary was saying was that it might well be possible one day in the future for us to do some of that training in Ukraine," Sunak told reporters at the start of the governing Conservative Party's annual conference in Manchester.
https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/russias-medvedev-says-british-tra
ining-troops-ukraine-could-be-legitimate-2023-10-01/

The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at
https://www.mediafire.com/folder/1uwh75oa407q8/Firefly

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Sunday, October 1, 2023 2:07 PM

6IXSTRINGJACK


Fuck Ukraine.

--------------------------------------------------

Political correctness is just tyranny, with a smiley face.

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Sunday, October 1, 2023 2:34 PM

THG


Quote:
Originally posted by second:
Quote:
Originally posted by THG:

The British are coming...

T
Instead of Ukrainians going to Britain for training, the Brits go to Ukraine to train.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/sep/30/british-troops-could-dep
loy-to-ukraine-to-train-soldiers-says-grant-shapps

British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak rowed back from British Defence Minister Grant Shapps' comments on Sunday, saying there were no immediate plans to deploy military instructors to Ukraine. "What the defence secretary was saying was that it might well be possible one day in the future for us to do some of that training in Ukraine," Sunak told reporters at the start of the governing Conservative Party's annual conference in Manchester.
https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/russias-medvedev-says-british-tra
ining-troops-ukraine-could-be-legitimate-2023-10-01/

The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at
https://www.mediafire.com/folder/1uwh75oa407q8/Firefly



Yep

T

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Sunday, October 1, 2023 2:37 PM

SIGNYM

I believe in solving problems, not sharing them.



Quote:
Originally posted by THG:

The British are coming...



SECOND: Instead of Ukrainians going to Britain for training, the Brits go to Ukraine to train.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/sep/30/british-troops-could-dep
loy-to-ukraine-to-train-soldiers-says-grant-shapps


And you keep insisting there is no USA military in Ukraine?


Your mind... it's a clusterfuck, SECOND. You literally can't keep track of what you posted from one day to the next.



-----------
"It may be dangerous to be America's enemy, but to be America's friend is fatal." - Henry Kissinger

Loving America is like loving an addicted spouse - SIGNYM



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Monday, October 2, 2023 6:30 AM

SECOND

The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at https://www.mediafire.com/two


Weakness is Lethal: Why Putin Invaded Ukraine and How the War Must End

Nataliya Bugayova, Kateryna Stepanenko, and Frederick W. Kagan

October 1, 2023

Putin didn’t invade Ukraine in 2022 because he feared NATO. He invaded because he believed that NATO was weak, that his efforts to regain control of Ukraine by other means had failed, and that installing a pro-Russian government in Kyiv would be easy. His aim was not to defend Russia against some non-existent threat but rather to expand Russia’s power, eradicate Ukraine’s statehood, and destroy NATO, goals he still pursues.

Putin had convinced himself by the end of 2021 that Russia had the opportunity to safely launch a full-scale invasion of Ukraine to accomplish two distinct goals: establish Russian control over Ukraine without facing significant Western resistance and break the unity of NATO.

Russia deployed the principal units designed to protect Russia from NATO to Ukraine, which posed no military threat to Russia, in 2021 and 2022.[3] In 2023 - at the height of Russia’s anti-NATO rhetoric - Russia continued to withdraw forces and military equipment from its actual land borders with NATO to support the war in Ukraine.[4] Putin‘s fear of NATO manifested in his preoccupation with the West’s supposed hybrid warfare efforts to stage “color revolutions,” which Russia claimed the West had done in various former Soviet states including Ukraine.[5]

Putin has always been more concerned about the loss of control over Russia’s perceived sphere of influence than about a NATO threat to Russia. Putin’s actual issue with NATO and the West has been that they offered an alternative path to countries that Putin thought fell in Russia’s sphere of influence or even control. The “color revolutions” that so alarmed Putin were, after all, the manifestations of those countries daring to choose the West, or, rather the way of life, governance and values the West represented, over Moscow. NATO and the West threatened Russia by simply existing.

There is no path to real peace other than helping Ukraine inflict an unequivocal military defeat on Russia and then helping to rebuild Ukraine into a military and society so strong and resilient that no future Russian leader sees an opportunity like the ones Putin misperceived in 2022. This path is achievable if the West commits to supporting Ukraine in the prolonged effort likely needed to walk down it. If the West instead is lured by the illusion of some compromise, it may end the pain for now, but only at the cost of much greater pain later. Putin has shown that he views compromise as surrender, and surrender emboldens him to reattack. This war can only end finally not when Putin feels that he can save face, but rather when he knows that he cannot win.

More at https://www.understandingwar.org/backgrounder/weakness-lethal-why-puti
n-invaded-ukraine-and-how-war-must-end

The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at
https://www.mediafire.com/folder/1uwh75oa407q8/Firefly

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Monday, October 2, 2023 6:53 AM

SECOND

The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at https://www.mediafire.com/two


Foreign ministers from the European Union have convened in the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv, for talks on the country's accession to the bloc.

It is the first time that all of the bloc's top diplomats have met beyond the EU's own borders.

Ukraine was officially granted EU candidate status last year in an unusually rapid decision by the bloc, which is relatively cautious about the speed of expansion.

https://www.dw.com/en/ukraine-updates-october-2/live-66978039

The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at
https://www.mediafire.com/folder/1uwh75oa407q8/Firefly

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Monday, October 2, 2023 9:07 AM

SECOND

The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at https://www.mediafire.com/two


Whenever a Russian official calls something a “proven fact,” it should set off alarms. And sure enough, here too the facts were invented out of thin air. Repeated exhaustive investigations — including by not only the Nuremberg trials but also the British, Canadian and even Soviet authorities — led to the conclusion that no war crimes or atrocities had been committed by this particular unit.

But this is just the latest twist in a long-running campaign by the Russian Embassy in Ottawa, dating back even to Soviet times, when the USSR would leverage accusations of Nazi collaboration for political purposes as part of its “active measures” operations.

And given Moscow’s own history of aggression and atrocities during World War II and its aftermath, there’s a special cynicism underlying the Russian accusations. Russia feels comfortable shouting about “Nazis,” real or imaginary, in Ukraine or elsewhere, because unlike Nazi Germany, leaders and soldiers of the Soviet Union were never put on trial for their war crimes. Russia clings to the Nuremberg trials as a benchmark of legitimacy because as a victorious power, it was never subjected to the same reckoning. And yet, both before and after their collaborative effort to carve up eastern Europe between them, the Soviets and the Nazis had so much in common that it’s now illegal to point these similarities out in Russia.

More at https://www.politico.eu/article/fight-against-ussr-nazi-waffen-ss-troo
per-yaroslav-hunka-world-war-ii-soviet-union-germany/

The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at
https://www.mediafire.com/folder/1uwh75oa407q8/Firefly

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Monday, October 2, 2023 11:44 AM

THG


Quote:
Originally posted by SIGNYM:

Quote:
Originally posted by THG:

The British are coming...



SECOND: Instead of Ukrainians going to Britain for training, the Brits go to Ukraine to train.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/sep/30/british-troops-could-dep
loy-to-ukraine-to-train-soldiers-says-grant-shapps


And you keep insisting there is no USA military in Ukraine?


Your mind... it's a clusterfuck, SECOND. You literally can't keep track of what you posted from one day to the next.





Reality check. Any NATO troops that are in Ukraine are there to protect their diplomats; their embassies. They are not fighting on the front.

And I for one am ambivalent about the Brits going in to train the Ukrainian military.

T

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Tuesday, October 3, 2023 6:52 AM

SECOND

The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at https://www.mediafire.com/two


'War of forecasts'. How close is Ukraine to victory: What the West and experts say

Mon, October 02, 2023 - 19:55

The Russia-Ukraine war will last at least until 2025, according to Oleksandr Musiienko, the head of the Center of Military Law Researches. This is partly because Russia hopes for a change in U.S. policy after the presidential elections. Therefore, Ukraine has no choice but to develop a counteroffensive strategy for 2024 and defense against Russian attacks.

In September, while speaking at the YES-2023 conference, German General Christian Freuding, the head of the Bundeswehr's Situation Center, assured of long-term support for Kyiv.

"The German parliament has presented a plan for military support to our Ukrainian friends until 2032. We are ready to provide long-term support. And we are ready to make time our ally, not Putin's," he said.

Oleksandr Kovalenko believes the "9-year scenario" is absolutely unrealistic.

"This is not quite the right understanding of what the senior officer of the Bundeswehr was talking about. It was about supporting Ukraine both during and after the war. Because after the war, we will also need assistance in restoring the combat readiness of our military structures, and our defense forces. This is a long-term project, designed not only for the period of hostilities but also for the future," he told RBC-Ukraine.

More at https://newsukraine.rbc.ua/news/war-of-forecasts-how-close-is-ukraine-
to-1696265720.html

Unless Ukraine permanently closes the Kerch Strait Bridges, the war never ends. There have been several attacks on the road and railroad bridges, but Russia can repair them because this is the War of Dumb vs. Dumber. Ukraine needs some smart structural engineers who understand where the bridge is weak and then some even smarter smart bombs to hit the weak spots until the bridge falls. Then Ukraine needs to sink the ferry boats running between Russia and Crimea. Can Ukrainians figure out how to do those things? I don't know. Maybe God or NATO will do it for Ukraine.

The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at
https://www.mediafire.com/folder/1uwh75oa407q8/Firefly

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Tuesday, October 3, 2023 7:23 AM

SECOND

The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at https://www.mediafire.com/two


How Dumb Are Ukrainians? Dumber Than Russians? The US had the same problem with Afghan officials, including Hamid Karzai and Ashraf Ghani, stealing almost as fast as the military aid arrived. Last time I checked, that corruption ruined Afghanistan.

Leaked U.S. strategy on Ukraine sees corruption as the real threat

Politico reports:

Biden administration officials are far more worried about corruption in Ukraine than they publicly admit, a confidential U.S. strategy document obtained by POLITICO suggests.

The “sensitive but unclassified” version of the long-term U.S. plan lays out numerous steps Washington is taking to help Kyiv root out malfeasance and otherwise reform an array of Ukrainian sectors. It stresses that corruption could cause Western allies to abandon Ukraine’s fight against Russia’s invasion, and that Kyiv cannot put off the anti-graft effort.

“Perceptions of high-level corruption” the confidential version of the document warns, could “undermine the Ukrainian public’s and foreign leaders’ confidence in the war-time government.”

That’s starker than the analysis available in the little-noticed public version of the 22-page document, which the State Department appears to have posted on its website with no fanfare about a month ago.

The confidential version of the “Integrated Country Strategy” is about three times as long and contains many more details about U.S. objectives in Ukraine, from privatizing its banks to helping more schools teach English to encouraging its military to adopt NATO protocols. Many goals are designed to reduce the corruption that bedevils the country.

The quiet release of the strategy, and the fact that the toughest language was left in the confidential version, underscores the messaging challenge facing the Biden team. [Continue reading at https://www.politico.com/news/2023/10/02/biden-admin-ukraine-strategy-
corruption-00119237 ]

The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at
https://www.mediafire.com/folder/1uwh75oa407q8/Firefly

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Tuesday, October 3, 2023 10:58 AM

SECOND

The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at https://www.mediafire.com/two


'They're just meat': Russia deploys punishment battalions in echo of Stalin

October 3, 2023, 3:24 AM CDT

Fighters from a Storm-Z squad explain why they will no longer fight in Ukraine

By Polina Nikolskaya and Maria Tsvetkova
https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/theyre-just-meat-russia-deploys-p
unishment-battalions-echo-stalin-2023-10-03/

LONDON, Oct 3 (Reuters) - Drunk recruits. Insubordinate soldiers. Convicts.

They're among hundreds of military and civilian offenders who've been pressed into Russian penal units known as "Storm-Z" squads and sent to the frontlines in Ukraine this year, according to 13 people with knowledge of the matter, including five fighters in the units.

Few live to tell their tale, the people said.

"Storm fighters, they're just meat," said one regular soldier from army unit no. 40318 who was deployed near the fiercely contested city of Bakhmut in eastern Ukraine in May and June.

He said he'd given medical treatment to a group of six or seven wounded Storm-Z fighters on the battlefield, disobeying an order from a commander - whose name he didn't know - to leave the men. He said he didn't know why the commander gave the order, but claimed that it typified how Storm-Z fighters were considered of lesser value than ordinary troops by officers.

The soldier, who requested anonymity because he feared prosecution in Russia for publicly discussing the war, said he had sympathy for the men's plight: "If the commandants catch anyone with the smell of alcohol on their breath, then they immediately send them to the Storm squads."

When contacted by Reuters, an officer at unit no. 40318 declined to comment on Storm-Z and ended the call. The Kremlin referred Reuters questions to the Russian defence ministry, which didn't respond to a request for comment.

Russian state-controlled media has reported that Storm-Z squads exist, that they took part in intense battles and some of their members received medals for bravery, but it has not disclosed how they are formed, or the losses they take.

Reuters is the first news organisation to compile a comprehensive account of how the squads are put together and deployed, by speaking to multiple sources with direct knowledge of what is happening.

Like the soldier from unit no. 40318, the 13 people interviewed - who also include four relatives of Storm-Z members as well as three soldiers in regular units who interacted with the squads - all requested anonymity, citing fear of reprisals. Reuters verified the identities of all the fighters involved using criminal records, social media accounts, or by speaking to their fellow serviceman and their families.

The penal squads, each about 100-150 strong and embedded within regular army units, have typically been sent to the most exposed parts of the front and often sustain heavy losses, according to Reuters interviews with the people, who identified at least five Storm-Z teams fighting to repel a Ukrainian counteroffensive in the east and south.

Three of the five Storm-Z fighters interviewed by Reuters, and the relatives of three other Storm-Z fighters, described nightmarish engagements that saw much of their squads wiped out.

One fighter, with a conviction for theft who was recruited from prison, said all but 15 of the 120 men in his unit embedded with the 237th regiment were killed or wounded in fighting near Bakhmut in June.

The deployment of such squads marks a departure for Russia in Ukraine: while the Wagner mercenary group - now being disbanded after a June mutiny - sent convicts to fight on the frontline, the Storm-Z units come under the direct command of the defence ministry.

The squads also combine convicts who volunteer to fight in exchange for the promise of a pardon with regular soldiers being punished for disciplinary breaches, the people interviewed said.

The Storm-Z squads are useful to the Russian defence ministry because they can be deployed as expendable infantry, according to Conflict Intelligence Team, an independent organisation that's tracking the war. "The Storm fighters are just sent to the most dangerous parts of the front, in defence and in attack," the group, which was founded in Russia, told Reuters.

While the Russian defence ministry has never acknowledged creating Storm-Z units, the first reports of their existence emerged in April when the Institute for the Study of War, a U.S.-based think-tank, cited what it said appeared to be a leaked Russian military report on the formation of the squads.

Reuters wasn't able to determine how many soldiers in total are serving in the units, though the interviews with the people familiar with the matter point to at least several hundred Storm-Z fighters currently being deployed on the frontline.

Wagner had about 25,000 fighters engaged in the conflict, its late leader Yevgeny Prigozhin said at the time of his June mutiny.

President Vladimir Putin made reference to convicts fighting in the regular army on Friday. At a televised meeting with a small group of regular Russian servicemen, he said he was aware that two of their comrades, former prison inmates, had been killed in action. "They gave their lives for the motherland and have fully absolved themselves of their guilt," said Putin, adding that the convicts' families would be given help, without elaborating.

There is historical precedent for military offenders being pressed into fighting units; in 1942, when the Red Army was retreating from a Nazi advance, Soviet leader Josef Stalin ordered soldiers who panicked or left their posts into "punishment battalions" deployed to the most dangerous parts of the front, according to a decree he signed.

Ukraine's government has said it also releases some convicts if they agree to fight in the war.

FROM CUSTODY TO CARNAGE

Storm-Z is an unofficial term used by Russian troops, combining a term for assault troops with the letter Z, adopted by the military as a symbol of their invasion of Ukraine.

Artyom Shchikin, a 29-year-old from the Mordovia region in central Russia, was serving a two-year sentence for robbery handed down in December 2021 when defence ministry recruiters came to his jail asking if inmates wanted to go and fight in Ukraine, according to court records and two of his relatives.

He signed up because, even though he was scheduled for release in December this year, he wanted to wipe clean his criminal record plus earn money so his family could renovate their home, his family members said. Three Storm-Z fighters said they were offered wages of about 200,000 roubles ($2,000) per month, though said they had been paid roughly half that amount, on average.

By May this year, Shchikin was assigned to a penal unit within the 291st Guards Motorised Rifle Regiment and deployed to the Zaporizhzhia region in southern Ukraine, where Kyiv's forces are trying to break through Russian defences, the relatives added.

An official with the regimental headquarters didn't respond to Reuters questions.

Vladimir Rogov, an official in the Russian-installed administration in Zaporizhzhia who gives regular online updates about the conflict, has posted on Telegram that the 291st regiment was fighting in the region throughout the summer. Rogov didn't respond to a Reuters request for comment.

Shchikin's relatives last heard from him on June 18.

Days later, his unit's positions came under Ukrainian fire, the relatives said, citing conversations with two survivors from Shchikin's squad. Three comrades who had been in a trench with him were killed, another had his hand torn off, while Shchikin himself is missing, the relatives said. His body hasn't been recovered.

Shchikin's relatives said when they asked the defence ministry for answers about his fate, it either didn't respond or didn't give any definitive answers.

"They were from a Storm unit. For them, no one is going to be in a rush," said one relative.

Reuters was unable to independently confirm the relatives' account of events.

DRUNK ON DUTY, USING DRUGS

While convicts form the core of the penal squads, some regular soldiers have been assigned to them as punishment for breaking discipline, according to two soldiers who said members of their units had been transferred in this way, as well as a Storm-Z fighter called Igor, a convict jailed for attempted murder.

The two soldiers, including the one from unit no. 40318, said officers had sent soldiers to Storm-Z for being drunk on duty, for using drugs, and for refusing to carry out orders.

According to Russian legislation on military discipline, a soldier can only be transferred to a penal unit if convicted by a military court. None of the people who told Reuters of soldiers being sent to Storm-Z said the men had participated in a court hearing. Contacted last week, the soldier from unit no. 40318 said there were no court hearings involved in such transfers, and Igor, the Storm-Z fighter, said he had no knowledge of court hearings having taken place.

The Geneva convention, a set of international rules of war, doesn't cover soldiers being punished by their own side.

REVOLT OF STORM-Z FIGHTERS

One group of about 20 Storm-Z fighters in Zaporizhzhia, who were part of unit number 22179, decided they'd had enough of their treatment, refused an order to go back to the frontline, and recorded a June 28 video complaining about their treatment. Reuters called numbers listed for the unit, but they were out of operation.

"On the frontline, where we've been, we did not get deliveries of ammunition. We did not get water or food. The injured were not taken away: still now the dead are rotting," said a fighter in the video, whom Reuters was unable to identify.

"We're given dreadful orders that are not even worth carrying out," he added. "We refuse to continue carrying out combat missions."

Reuters established the identities of two of the fighters involved in the revolt, and spoke to a relative of each man who corroborated the account in the video, which was published on June 28 by Gulagu.net, a France-based campaign group for Russian prisoners' rights, and reviewed by Reuters.

After the video was published, military police officers beat up the two fighters, and others in their squad, as punishment for their revolt, the two relatives said. Since then, they said the two fighters had told them that conditions had improved but they did not know when the men would be allowed to quit the military.

Russian officials have made no public comment about the incident, and the defence ministry didn't reply to Reuters queries.

The family member of one of the soldiers in the revolt, a man from Siberia who had volunteered to join Storm-Z from prison, said she dreaded news from the front.

"My God, let this end soon," she said of the war.

Reporting by Polina Nikolskaya and Maria Tsvetkova; Editing by Christian Lowe and Pravin Char

The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at
https://www.mediafire.com/folder/1uwh75oa407q8/Firefly

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Tuesday, October 3, 2023 7:11 PM

SIGNYM

I believe in solving problems, not sharing them.


Following Military Summary Channel, it seems that there are very few Ukrainian attacks along the entire front, except just south of Bakhmut,where Ukrainians have concentrated drone and artillery strikes.

OTOH rumors abound of a pending Ukrainian offensive across the Dneiper river in the Kherson area, and possibly at Zaparozhiy Nuclear Power Plant. Again, rumors say that Ukraine has stopped attacking Russian fortified positions in order to build forces for this upcoming offensive.

-----------
"It may be dangerous to be America's enemy, but to be America's friend is fatal." - Henry Kissinger

Loving America is like loving an addicted spouse - SIGNYM



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Wednesday, October 4, 2023 6:52 AM

SECOND

The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at https://www.mediafire.com/two


A Russian elite unit's motivation to fight dropped to "critical levels" amid high casualties in Ukraine, analysts said.

The respected Institute for the Study of War said that morale was ebbing in the VDV paratrooper force deployed near the city of Bakhmut.

It cited the analysis to a post by a recently-departed commander, Alexander Khodakovsky, who served on the front lines. He is now a member of Russia's active miliblogger community, a source of unofficial but often accurate information about Russia's war effort.

In the post, Khodakovsky recalled a conversation with another senior officer, the VDV's Andrei Kondrashkin, who was in Bakhmut.

Kondrashkin said, per the post, that "his forces suffered personnel losses and that their motivation to fight dropped to a critical level."

Russia's VDV units have been deployed in the region to make counterattacks to slow Ukraine's counteroffensive, suffering high casualties.

"Kondrashkin reportedly stated that the Russian military command demanded that his forces undertake 'decisive actions,' while he knew that his personnel were suffering a critical lack of motivation," the ISW said.

Khodakovsky said that he told Kondrashkin that had to "make a choice to either 'waste' his troops in combat or protest the Russian military command's order at the expense of his career."

But Khodakovsky claimed that Kondrashkin was killed in action before he could decide.

A senior commander, General Mikhail Teplinsky, then stepped in and "saved" the VDV unit by allowing them to take a break from front line combat, risking the wrath of superiors by doing so.

Russia's VDV units suffered high casualties in the initial weeks of the conflict, when they spearheaded Russia's ultimately unsuccessful attempt to quickly conquer Ukraine and seize its capital.

In more recent weeks, they've been deployed to try and stem Ukraine's counteroffensive. Traditionally, the units are used for specialised operations, not infantry combat.

Reports have emerged in recent weeks of heavy casualties in Russian units launching counterattacks to slow Ukraine's counteroffensive in the east and south of the country.

https://www.businessinsider.in/international/news/an-elite-russian-uni
ts-morale-is-at-critical-levels-after-being-sent-to-stop-ukraines-counteroffensive-analysts-say/articleshow/104134300.cms

The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at
https://www.mediafire.com/folder/1uwh75oa407q8/Firefly

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Wednesday, October 4, 2023 7:08 AM

SECOND

The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at https://www.mediafire.com/two


October 4, 2023, 5:15 AM

A court in Moscow on Wednesday handed a former state TV journalist an 8 1/2-year prison term in absentia for protesting Russia's war in Ukraine, the latest in a months-long crackdown against dissent that has intensified since Moscow's invasion 20 months ago.

Marina Ovsyannikova was charged with spreading false information about the Russian army, a criminal offense under a law adopted shortly after the Kremlin sent troops to Ukraine.

She held a picket in the Russian capital in July 2022 and held a poster that said “(Russian President Vladimir) Putin is a killer. His soldiers are fascists. 352 children have been killed (in Ukraine). How many more children need to die for you to stop?”

Ovsyannikova, who until March 2022 worked for Russia's state-run Channel One, was detained and placed under house arrest, but managed to escape to France with her daughter. Russian authorities put her on a wanted list and prosecuted and tried her in absentia.

In March 2022, Ovsyannikova made international headlines after appearing behind the anchor of an evening Channel One news broadcast with a poster that said “Stop the war, don’t believe the propaganda, they are lying to you here.” She quit her job at the channel, was charged with disparaging the Russian military, and fined 30,000 rubles ($270 at the time).

Thousands of Russians have been fined and hundreds have faced criminal charges over publicly speaking out or protesting against the war in the last 20 months. The Kremlin has used legislation outlawing criticism of what it insists on calling a “special military operation” to target opposition figures, human rights activists, and independent media.

Top Kremlin critics have been handed lengthy prison terms, rights groups have been forced to shut down, independent news sites were blocked and independent journalists have left the country, fearing prosecution.

https://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/former-russian-state-tv
-journalist-gets-8-12-103713651

The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at
https://www.mediafire.com/folder/1uwh75oa407q8/Firefly

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