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Originally posted by 6IXSTRINGJACK:
Ted and Second are just too stupid to even have a conversation with. They've been propagandized and conditioned to the point that their brains have leaked out of their ears.

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Originally posted by second:
6ix, Trumptards have the exact same problem of easily bruised feelings being the only reality for them.

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You want to see easily bruised feelings. Just hop on Twitter and look at your Leftist hive mind whine day and night about everything. Do it quick too, because we're not going to take anything they say seriously anymore.

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Trumptards may be ex-alcoholics who had all their teeth pulled out and are unemployed by their own decisions and at high risk of falling out of the middle-class, but they will always have their over-weaned pride in themselves when Trump returns to the Presidency in 2025.

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I still have 10 teeth left. The dentures are paid for. I haven't had a drink in just shy of 6 years. No self-help books. No religious conversion. No support group. I'm doing fine.

Meanwhile, I haven't had to kiss the boots of a boss for 2 1/2 years... Not that I ever did while I was working anyhow.

While you've been posting all your rah rah Ukraine bullshit from you're mom's basement all summer, I've been spending mine doing what I love and getting a ton accomplished.

Trump destroying Biden in November 2024 will just be sprinkles on a cake that I baked and put the icing on myself.

I'm going to enjoy watching you and Ted cry every day about it for 4 years after I flourished for 4 years under President* Biden* because politics isn't my life and whatever party is in power doesn't distract me or shut me down from completing my own life's goals.




Instead of worrying so much about me and my long-solved dental issues and my alcohol problems that ended nearly 15% of my life ago, might I suggest that you do some serious soul searching and figure out how to improve your own sad situation.

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Falsus in unum, falsus in omnibus

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Originally posted by 6IXSTRINGJACK:

Instead of worrying so much about me and my long-solved dental issues and my alcohol problems that ended nearly 15% of my life ago, might I suggest that you do some serious soul searching and figure out how to improve your own sad situation.

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Originally posted by second:

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Originally posted by 6IXSTRINGJACK:

Instead of worrying so much about me and my long-solved dental issues and my alcohol problems that ended nearly 15% of my life ago, might I suggest that you do some serious soul searching and figure out how to improve your own sad situation.

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You haven't stopped smoking, which will probably shorten your life by 20 years. Those drunk years are not the total years you lose.

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SIGNY: What we COULD do is replace our dark asphalt-based rooftops with white ones and increase the albedo of our cities. Planting urban trees would also make cities more liveable by reducing temperatures and AC usage.

SIX: Lets' just make sure we're not doing it with soft maple garbage trees this time, m-kay?

SIGNY: Hahaha!!!

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SECOND: Did anybody today tell Signym and 6ix they are worthless?

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Massive New Strikes' Leave 1.5 Million Ukrainians Without Power, Phased Blackouts In Kiev
Sunday, Oct 23, 2022 - 09:00 AM

Now much of Western Ukraine, which lies far away from the front lines of fighting with Russia in the east, is without power due to fresh weekend airstrikes across the country.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in a Saturday night address said new "massive" strikes targeted Dnipropetrovsk, Khmelnytsky, Kirovohrad, Mykolaiv, Odessa, Rivne, Volyn and Zaporizhia regions.

"We continue eliminating the aftermath of today’s terrorist attacks on our infrastructure," Zelensky said. "The geography of this new massive strike is very wide."...

On Saturday the national power utility operator Ukrenergo said that damage from the latest round of Russian strikes set a new record. The Saturday air offensive by Russia was bigger than an initial major wave of strikes from earlier this month:

Over 1.4 million Ukrainian households have lost electricity after a morning of repeated Russian air raids, Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's office says.

The Ukrainian General Staff reported that 40 cruise missiles and 16 allegedly Iranian-made drones hit Ukraine throughout the day.

Oleksandr Kharchenko, a Ukrainian energy official, said in an interview with US media that national infrastructure vital for the people is facing "really huge trouble".

"When you don't have electricity in a city, it means you have no water, you have no supply of gas, you have nothing," Kharchenko said. Days prior to the stepped-up Saturday assault the government said one-third of all power stations had been hit or damaged in Russian strikes.

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"Russia Warns Of 'Dirty Bomb' False Flag Plot In Flurry Of Rare Calls To Western Leaders
"*
Sunday, Oct 23, 2022 - 08:45 PM

Update(1645ET): A major new and sensational charge of a Ukrainian false flag plot in the making issued by Russia's defense chief has set off a string of tit-for-tat accusations and statements Sunday.

Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu claimed in rare phone calls that included his counterparts from the United States, Britain, France, and Turkey that Ukrainian forces are preparing a "provocation" with a radioactive device. A Kremlin statement cited that he conveyed a warning over "possible Ukrainian provocations involving a 'dirty bomb'".

Shoigu's office said in follow-up that he conveyed the warning to all the above-named countries' defense chiefs. As for his conversation with Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, it was the second phone call in merely three days. The Pentagon in the hours after said Austin told Shoigu he "rejected any pretext for Russian escalation" - which strongly suggests the US perceives that Moscow is about to heighten attacks on Ukrainian cities further:

*Russian authorities repeatedly have made allegations that Ukraine could detonate a dirty bomb in a false flag attack and blame it on Moscow. Ukrainian authorities, in turn, have accused the Kremlin of hatching such a plan.*

The Kremlin is further charging that this low-intensity nuclear provocation is being prepared with the help of Great Britain; however, the Western allies have said no evidence whatsoever was presented in the phone calls alongside the accusations.

The UK defense ministry said in its statement following Shoigu's phone call with Secretary Ben Wallace that the Russian side "alleged that Ukraine was planning actions facilitated by Western countries, including the UK, to escalate the conflict in Ukraine."

* "The Defense Secretary refuted these claims and cautioned that such allegations should not be used as a pretext for greater escalation," the ministry said.*

Russia is saying that such a 'dirty bomb' detonation, which would spread radioactive waste and potentially contaminate large urban areas, would then be blamed on Moscow in order to justify greater Western intervention.

Ukraine, for its part, blasted what the presidency's office called an "absolute and quite predictable absurdity" and blatant "lie". France too agreed with Ukraine's assessment, and a statement from the French Foreign Ministry has ominously warned that the crisis is "trending towards uncontrollable escalation." But Macron on Sunday admitted that "peace is possible" - yet it depends on when the Ukrainians "decide it".

* Who exactly endowed this person with the authority to decide when the US must launch World War III on his behalf https://t.co/GYc98QnH89
— Michael Tracey (@mtracey) October 23, 2022*

Meanwhile, Zelensky's own rhetoric urging Western military intervention has escalated as well, all of which strongly suggests the war will soon grow hotter.

* * *

earlier

Now much of Western Ukraine, which lies far away from the front lines of fighting with Russia in the east, is without power due to fresh weekend airstrikes across the country.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in a Saturday night address said new "massive" strikes targeted Dnipropetrovsk, Khmelnytsky, Kirovohrad, Mykolaiv, Odessa, Rivne, Volyn and Zaporizhia regions.

"We continue eliminating the aftermath of today’s terrorist attacks on our infrastructure," Zelensky said. "The geography of this new massive strike is very wide."
Thermal power plant on fire following Russian strike, via Reuters.

The past days have already seen power outages in Kyiv, with energy grid authorities warning of rolling blackouts, and urging residents to take power-saving measures such as the avoidance of running large appliances.

On Saturday the national power utility operator Ukrenergo said that damage from the latest round of Russian strikes set a new record. The Saturday air offensive by Russia was bigger than an initial major wave of strikes from earlier this month:

Over 1.4 million Ukrainian households have lost electricity after a morning of repeated Russian air raids, Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's office says.

The Ukrainian General Staff reported that 40 cruise missiles and 16 allegedly Iranian-made drones hit Ukraine throughout the day.

Oleksandr Kharchenko, a Ukrainian energy official, said in an interview with US media that national infrastructure vital for the people is facing "really huge trouble".

"When you don't have electricity in a city, it means you have no water, you have no supply of gas, you have nothing," Kharchenko said. Days prior to the stepped-up Saturday assault the government said one-third of all power stations had been hit or damaged in Russian strikes.

The right bank of Kyiv covered in darkness this evening as the Ukrainian authorities began to implement planned power outages to save energy, due to continued Russian strikes targeting Ukraine's energy infrastructure. pic.twitter.com/QeR6AEvYwG
— Status-6 (@Archer83Able) October 20, 2022

Most new damage to energy has been recorded in the country's west, south and center, with some hospitals since reporting they are running on backup generators. Reserves of oxygen and fresh water are also being tapped by hospitals.

Ukrenegro has on Sunday introduced phased blackouts to "avoid accidents", per The Guardian:

*The blackouts began at 11.13am local time (09.30am BST), with households in Kyiv divided into three groups that will be “disconnected for a certain period of time”, DTEK said.

It added that the blackouts should last “no more than four hours” but may be longer “due to the scale of damage to the power supply system”.*

According to the latest estimate of the damage reported in Reuters, "Russia has hit at least half of Ukraine's thermal generation capacity and caused billions of dollars of damage in attacks since Oct. 10, but not all stricken power units have stopped working completely, Ukraine's energy minister said on Friday."

*Confirmed: Live network data show internet outages in south #Ukraine corresponding to new Russian missile attacks this morning targeting critical infrastructure; the bombardment of civilian energy utilities has intensified since 10 Oct.

Background: https://t.co/S0qJQ7CJD3 pic.twitter.com/M832lukdy5
— NetBlocks (@netblocks) October 22, 2022*

Further, "Herman Halushchenko told Reuters in an interview that 30-40% of overall national power infrastructure had been hit in attacks that he depicted as intended to destroy Ukraine's energy system -- a goal that he said had not been achieved."

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Originally posted by 6IXSTRINGJACK:

Also, none of your fucking business.

Russians are not a hive mind, you racist, mindless dipshit.

And everybody that doesn't agree with your politics isn't evil either.

You are a moron. You will always be a worthless moron. You are incapable of self-reflection and thus you are doomed to spend the rest of your days blaming everybody else for your own problems instead of fixing things for yourself.

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6IXSTRINGJACK:

Also, none of your fucking business.
Russians are not a hive mind, you racist, mindless dipshit.
And everybody that doesn't agree with your politics isn't evil either.

You are a moron. You will always be a worthless moron. You are incapable of self-reflection and thus you are doomed to spend the rest of your days blaming everybody else for your own problems instead of fixing things for yourself.

SECOND; blah blah blah ... Nations also go to excess. Eventually, despite believing the nation is free to do as it pleases, nations end up in the hospital. Russia and America, for decades, have been very ill because both have overexercised their freedom to invade.

Doomed to failure: Russia failed to heed lessons from history before invading Ukraine

Eight years in Vietnam. (a reference to America in the original opinion)

Nine years in Afghanistan. (a reference to Russia)

Twenty years in Afghanistan. (a reference to America)

Eight years in Iraq. (another American reference)

Eight months and counting in Ukraine. (Russia)

How long does it take for a great power to develop military amnesia?

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Originally posted by SIGNYM:
Where Most Aid To Ukraine Comes From

(HINT: The American taxpayer)

click on link to see chart
https://cdn.statcdn.com/Infographic/images/normal/28489.jpeg

https://www.statista.com/chart/28489/ukrainian-military-humanitarian-a
nd-financial-aid-donors/

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Originally posted by SIGNYM:

Let's see... America's 28 years v Russia's eight.

I'll bet, if you add up ALL of our invasions and nation-destruction since 1950 and compare it to Russia's, "We're number 1!"

I'll also bet that you'll delete this from your memory and contradict it some time in the next three posts.

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Originally posted by second:

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Originally posted by SIGNYM:

Let's see... America's 28 years v Russia's eight.

I'll bet, if you add up ALL of our invasions and nation-destruction since 1950 and compare it to Russia's, "We're number 1!"

I'll also bet that you'll delete this from your memory and contradict it some time in the next three posts.

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You are not different than one of Putin's or Trump's typical supporters. It is completely predictable that Putin supporters in Russia and Trump supporters in America will struggle to stay middle-class because they lack the attributes that they must have to prosper. Also predictable that they will blame everybody but themselves for their difficulties. In Russia, they blame America. In America, they blame Democrats. Wouldn't want them to blame themselves because that would be disheartening.

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Originally posted by second:

Quote:

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Originally posted by SIGNYM:

Let's see... America's 28 years v Russia's eight.

I'll bet, if you add up ALL of our invasions and nation-destruction since 1950 and compare it to Russia's, "We're number 1!"

I'll also bet that you'll delete this from your memory and contradict it some time in the next three posts.

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You are not different than one of Putin's or Trump's typical supporters.

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Wow. you're so compulsive I predict what you're going to do and you STILL do it anyway!


I was just using the article that YOU posted, SECOND, whuch makes my point about US not remembering the costs of aggression.

-----------
Pity would be no more,
If we did not MAKE someone poor - William Blake

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Originally posted by SIGNYM:
Wow. you're so compulsive I predict what you're going to do and you STILL do it anyway!


I was just using the article that YOU posted, SECOND, whuch makes my point about US not remembering the costs of aggression.

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Pity would be no more,
If we did not MAKE someone poor - William Blake

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Originally posted by second:

Quote:

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Originally posted by SIGNYM:
Wow. you're so compulsive I predict what you're going to do and you STILL do it anyway!


I was just using the article that YOU posted, SECOND, whuch makes my point about US not remembering the costs of aggression.

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Pity would be no more,
If we did not MAKE someone poor - William Blake

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Remember the Vietnam War? The US Army fought in the most goddamn stupid way imaginable, but I don't recall anybody pointing out the stupidity of it all. They were instead concerned with loss of life, the immorality of it, the cost, the suffering, democracy, communism, everything other than the main characteristic. They should have just looked only at the stupidity of it. The US Army was the stupidest thing I've seen in a long life and international career in construction. But Russian Army of 2022 might be just as stupid as the US Army of the 70's. I haven't seen the Russians up close and personal to know.

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

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Originally posted by SIGNYM:

In practical terms, we - the USA- got nothing from it.
Now THAT'S stupid.

I predict you will forget you ever posted about our stupid wars and go back to thumping for MOAR STUPID WARS.

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Originally posted by SIGNYM:

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Originally posted by second:

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Originally posted by SIGNYM:
Still waiting for Kiev's Big Offensive in Kherson. Or anywhere, for that matter.

It doesn't matter how many lies are published in western press. They can (and do) tell us endless fairy tales, but in the end reality trumps fiction.

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The Russians have achieved impressive numbers which R.J. Rummel compiled for easy reference:

Lethal Politics: Soviet Genocide and Mass Murder Since 1917 by R. J. Rummel
https://www.amazon.com/Lethal-Politics-Soviet-Genocide-Murder-ebook/dp
/B074VDV6V9/

Contents

1 61,911,000 Victims: Utopianism Empowered, 1917-1987 1
Appendix 1.1 16
Appendix 1.2 24

2 3,284,000 Victims: The Civil War Period, 1917-1922 33
Appendix 2.1 49

3 2,200,000 Victims: The NEP Period 1923-1928 61
Appendix 3.1 73

4 11,440,000 Victims: The Collectivization Period, 1929-1935 81
Appendix 4.1 103

5 4,345,000 Victims: The Great Terror Period 1936-1938 109
Appendix 5.1 117

6 5,104,000 Victims: Pre-World War II Period 1939-June 1941 127
Appendix 6.1 138

7 13,053,000 Victims: World War II Period, June 1941-1945 151
Appendix 7.1 168

8 15,613,000 Victims: Postwar and Stalin’s Twilight Period, 1945-1953 191
Appendix 8.1 201

9 6,872,000 Victims: Post-Stalin Period, 1954-1987 217
Appendix 9.1 226

Download R. J. Rummel’s books for free from the mirrors at https://libgen.unblockit.nz/search.php?req=R.+J.+Rummel

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

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But what does this have to do with ... anything?
Yanno, you used to blame the Soviets for waging war "inefficiently".

This is just more crap-splatter from you.

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Pity would be no more,
If we did not MAKE someone poor - William Blake

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Originally posted by SIGNYM:
SECOND, you are so full of bullshit it's splattering onto the board.


You're not really concerned about genocide. If you were, you'd be looking at OUR history as well.

Please dispose of your crap someplace else.

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Originally posted by second:
By the way, it was only last week that Putin said he'd murder millions by nuking them if he doesn't get what he wants in Ukraine.

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Originally posted by SIGNYM:
SECOND specializes in false narratives.

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Originally posted by 6IXSTRINGJACK:

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Originally posted by second:
By the way, it was only last week that Putin said he'd murder millions by nuking them if he doesn't get what he wants in Ukraine.

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No he didn't.

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Originally posted by second:

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Originally posted by 6IXSTRINGJACK:

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Originally posted by second:
By the way, it was only last week that Putin said he'd murder millions by nuking them if he doesn't get what he wants in Ukraine.

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No he didn't.

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Ford described the super torpedo as a crude weapon in the interview with Government Matters TV and said that he was unsure what it actually added to Russia's warfighting capabilities over other conventional or nuclear weapon platforms.

"It's a terror weapon," said Ford. "It's designed to kill or traumatize the inhabitants of American coastal cities."

The Poseidon's other capabilities

Dimitry Litovkin, editor-in-chief of the TASS military magazine, boasted that the Belgorod and other vessels of its class could "deliver up to 12 such devices to the coast of the United States."

He also claimed that the Poseidon had underwater loitering munition capabilities, and could lay dormant on the ocean floor for years before activation. He also said it was impossible to detect the drone at such depths.

The weapon was first announced by Russian President Vladimir Putin alongside platforms like the Kinzhal hypersonic missile, which can also carry a nuclear warhead.

https://www.jpost.com/international/article-718938

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

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Originally posted by 6IXSTRINGJACK:

And?

A youtube video from a bald, nearsighted lamebrain who thinks he is a philosopher.

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

Falsus in unum, falsus in omnibus

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Originally posted by SIGNYM:
SECOND specializes in false narratives.

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Pity would be no more,
If we did not MAKE someone poor - William Blake

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Originally posted by SIGNYM:
SECOND specializes in false narratives.

-----------
Pity would be no more,
If we did not MAKE someone poor - William Blake

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Originally posted by second:

Quote:

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Originally posted by SIGNYM:
SECOND specializes in false narratives.

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Pity would be no more,
If we did not MAKE someone poor - William Blake

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Russia might have to pay for what it has done, if the EU's lawyers decide it is legal.

Raid Russia’s ‘huge pot of gold’? Europe grapples over confiscating frozen assets to pay for rebuilding Ukraine

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Originally posted by 6IXSTRINGJACK:

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Falsus in unum, falsus in omnibus

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Ivana Trump told a friend that her husband's cousin, John Walter "clicks his heels and says, 'Heil Hitler," when visiting Trump's office.

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Originally posted by 6IXSTRINGJACK:
There's like 5 Ukraine flags left up on Twitter on October 26th of 2022.

Nobody gives a shit. Nobody ever really did. They've all moved on.

You and Ted are alone.

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

Falsus in unum, falsus in omnibus

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Originally posted by SIGNYM:
I see SECOND is splattering the board with yet MORE false narratives.

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Pity would be no more,
If we did not MAKE someone poor - William Blake

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Originally posted by second:

Quote:

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Originally posted by SIGNYM:
I see SECOND is splattering the board with yet MORE false narratives.

-----------
Pity would be no more,
If we did not MAKE someone poor - William Blake

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How about this narrative?

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Why Ukraine is always winning the war
October 25, 2022

by Ramin Mazaheri for the Saker blog

In the United States media editorial policy has not wavered on one subject this year: Ukraine is always winning the war.

From the first week, when the Ukrainian air force and navy were smashed, to last week’s smashing of the electrical grid – this is what “victory” looks like in the Ukrainian language, apparently. The Russians can electorally incorporate territory after territory, but to suggest that Ukrainian victory hasn’t already arrived is verboten in American public spaces.

What is the point of reading American coverage of the unrest in Ukraine when it’s so very absurd?

The point is: to learn what America is thinking, of course. If it’s deluded then – like it or not – that’s the story, and the story always writes itself in honest journalism.

I was talking with a Polish cab driver whom I found extremely intelligent, and not only because he has an Iranian brother-in-law and thus knew and respected Iranian culture. This longtime immigrant cabbie was very pro-Ukraine and anti-Russian, which is his right and not unexpected, and he was a typical Pole in that he was ardently pro-American. However, he volunteered to me that he found Americans to be the most effectively propagandised people in the world – he said they, invariably, merely mouthed whatever they heard on TV news.

It is one thing to dismiss the criticism of your enemies, but the criticisms of your friends merit some refection.

[Winning] is happy news for Americans to talk about, after all: “Hey, did you hear? The Ukrainians are winning the war! Still!” However, it is my role in the US to be a wet blanket whenever discussions turn political, I lament.

When the subject of Ukraine comes up I start with the fact that I have lived in France for over the past decade and – because France is usually at the heart of European diplomacy – I have been reporting on the Ukraine unrest since 2014. At the mention of the idea that Ukraine existed before February 2022 a glaze goes over their eyes.

...

The US was always winning the war in Iraq, as well. Shock and awe prevailed from start to finish, with the finish being a total shock at how few positives the US-led war created for either the Iraqis or the Americans. The indisputable fact of the American victory, however: totally awesome, of course.

The Balkanised disaster which is Libya? Another victory. Assad still standing in Syria? Still a victory, though don’t ask for explanations. Cold wars in Iran, Cuba, Venezuela, North Korea, Nicaragua and any other revolutionary country? Victory is so close the US media can see it, they insist.

These foolish political mis-notions cannot be blamed on the average American: all these places are so far away and so far removed from the totally precarious daily rat race/shooting gallery which is American life, and the information they can find is so incredibly one-sided.

...

The crime committed by the average American is neither malice nor negligence but the fault of naiveté – their expectation that a media dominated by private and not public ownership will ever consistently produce journalism which benefits the people and not the rich owners Call it Western Liberal Democracy or the American Way or neoliberalism: history shows that it has always failed, is failing and will only fail for the 99%.

The US media and politicians know which levers to pull to produce naiveté: note how it’s always the “Ukrainian people” against “Putin” – there are no Russian people. Putin, of course, is not an actual person either – he’s a monster.

Which side could a busy soccer mom possibly be expected to take, especially when trying to have pleasant chit-chat with other busy soccer moms? Why, the only American thing to do is to buy that $25 pro-Ukraine scented candle and display it proudly for others to envy….

In the United States Ukraine will always be winning the war, no matter what actually happens in the war. When their destructive loss is indisputable, that will be unimportant – the US will certainly be in the middle of winning a new war

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Originally posted by SIGNYM:

Why Ukraine is always winning the war

Edited for brevity

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In Stunning Strategy Reversal, Pentagon Will No Longer Rule Out Use Of Nuclear Weapons Against Non-Nuclear Threat
Thursday, Oct 27, 2022 - 09:05 AM

Well, we're finally there: stocks are officially trading off nuclear war headlines.

Moments ago, as part of his closely-watched speech, Vladimir Putin appeared to talk down the likelihood of a nuclear attack in Ukraine:

*PUTIN: NO POLITICAL, MILITARY REASON IN NUKE STRIKE IN UKRAINE
Which, however, is more than can be said about the US.

As Bloomberg just reported, the Pentagon's new National Defense Strategy rejects limits on using nuclear weapons long championed by arms control advocates (and, in the not too distant past, by Joe Biden) citing burgeoning threats from Russia and China.

“By the 2030s the United States will, for the first time in its history face two major nuclear powers as strategic competitors and potential adversaries,” the Defense Department said in the long-awaited document issued Thursday. In response, the US will “maintain a very high bar for nuclear employment” without ruling out using the weapons in retaliation to a non-nuclear strategic threat to the homeland, US forces abroad or allies.

In yet another stark reversal for the senile occupant of the White House basement, in his 2020 presidential campaign Biden had pledged to declare that the US nuclear arsenal should be used only to deter or retaliate against a nuclear attack, a position blessed by progressive Democrats and reviled by defense hawks. But, like with every other position held by the pathological liar who even trumps Trump in the untruth department, this one has just been reversed as well as "the threat environment has changed dramatically since then" and the Pentagon strategy was forged in cooperation with the flip-flopping White House.

In a stunning move that should - or rather "should" - spark outrage among the so-called progressives but will at best prompt some very sternly retracted letters, the nuclear report that’s part of the broader strategy said the Biden administration reviewed its nuclear policy and concluded that “No First Use” and “Sole Purpose” policies “would result in an unacceptable level of risk in light of the range of non-nuclear capabilities being developed and fielded by competitors that could inflict strategic-level damage” to the US and allies.

The nuclear strategy document doesn’t spell out what non-nuclear threats could produce a US nuclear response, but current threats include hypersonic weapons possessed by Russia and China for which the US doesn’t yet have a proven defense.

It does spell out, however, in the strongest terms, what would happen to another nuclear power, North Korea, if it launched a nuclear attack on the US, South Korea or Japan. That action “will result in the end of that regime,” it says. US nuclear weapons continue to play a role in deterring North Korean attacks.

So, the brilliant neocon minds behind the report concluded, it is better to instill the fear of a disproportionate nuclear retaliation, thus making an outright nuclear attack far more likely (if the US will nuke you anyway, may as well go all out).

In the document, which was framed well before the invasion, the Pentagon says Russia continues to “brandish its nuclear weapons in support of its revisionist

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security policy” while its modern arsenal is expected to grow further. In other words, the Pentagon knew what Putin would do even before he did it and that defined the dramatic revision in US nuclear posture.

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Almost as if the Pentagon directed the entire sequence of events...

Meanwhile, China remains the US’s “most consequential strategic competitor for coming decades,” Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said in a letter presenting the new defense strategy. He cited China’s “increasingly coercive actions to reshape the Indo-Pacific region and the international system to fit its authoritarian preferences,” even as it rapidly modernizes and expands its military. China wants to have at least 1,000 deliverable nuclear warheads by the end of the decade, the nuclear strategy document says, saying it could use them for “coercive purposes, including military provocations against US allies and partners in the region.”

The nuclear strategy affirmed modernization programs including the ongoing replacement of the aging US air-sea-land nuclear triad. Among them are the Navy’s Columbia-class nuclear ICBM submarine, the ground-based Minuteman III ICBM replacement, the new air-launched Long-Range Standoff Weapon and F-35 fighter jets for Europe carrying nuclear weapons.

The review confirmed previous reports that the Pentagon will retire the B83-1 gravity bomb and cancel the Sea-Launched Cruise Missile program. But the review endorses a controversial Trump-era naval weapon, the low-yield W76-2 submarine-launched nuclear warhead, which is described as providing “an important means to deter limited nuclear use.”

The broader strategy report also offered gently worded criticism of major US weapons programs, which often runs years behind plans and billions of dollars over initial budgets.

“Our current system is too slow and too focused on acquiring systems not designed to address the most critical challenges we now face,” the Pentagon said. It called for more “open systems that can rapidly incorporate cutting-edge technology” while reducing problems of “obsolescence” and high costs.

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The Pentagon strategy documents were sent to Congress in classified form in March so they were considered during congressional approval of the fiscal 2023 defense budget.

* * *

So how to trade all of this? Well, the initial instinct now that nuclear war headlines are being lobbed around is that it may be time to sell... but as Art Cashin so insightfully put it some time ago, "Never bet on the end of the world, because it only happens once."

Now thanks to the Biden admin, that "once in a lifetime" event is that much closer to taking place.

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Originally posted by SIGNYM:
Cross-posted from here
http://www.fireflyfans.net/mthread.aspx?tid=65340

THIS IS HOW I KNOW WE'RE LOSING IN UKRAINE (AND ELSEWHERE): PENTAGON’S STRATEGY WON’T RULE OUT NUCLEAR USE AGAINST NON-NUCLEAR THREATS

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Originally posted by SIGNYM:
And you think those are worth a nuclear response?

Well, I always knew you were a dick.

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Quote:

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THIS IS HOW I KNOW WE'RE LOSING IN UKRAINE (AND ELSEWHERE): PENTAGON’S STRATEGY WON’T RULE OUT NUCLEAR USE AGAINST NON-NUCLEAR THREATS

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Quote:

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Originally posted by SIGNYM:
And you think those are worth a nuclear response?

Well, I always knew you were an America-hating dick. Now it look like you hate all of humanity.

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Originally posted by SIGNYM:
SECOND, . . .

Grow the fuck up.

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