patrick.net

Man it's crazy times, there is a lot of people pushing for a proxy war, more war, more spending. They want to use Ukrainians as human sacrifices to profit from. Ukrainians go boom, people who sold weapons profit. It's terrible. And weirdly enough, a lot of war mongering peeps are both Democrats and Republicans. It's like Greenwald pointed out on substack of his... we can vote neocons out of the office... but they always stay there.

For reference:

https://greenwald.substack.com/p/victoria-nuland-ukraine-has-biological?s=w&source=patrick.net

Eric Holder says

He called the war against Ukraine "an intermediate stage."

The clip is worth watching. Even to someone who doesn't understand the language. Text just doesn't convey all the rage.

Losing that villa on Lake Como must've really hurt. He's probably having wet dreams about coming back for it wearing armor.

FortWayneAsNancyPelosiHaircut says

Man it's crazy times, there is a lot of people pushing for a proxy war, more war, more spending. They want to use Ukrainians as human sacrifices to profit from. Ukrainians go boom, people who sold weapons profit. It's terrible. And weirdly enough, a lot of war mongering peeps are both Democrats and Republicans. It's like Greenwald pointed out on substack of his... we can vote neocons out of the office... but they always stay there.

For reference:

https://greenwald.substack.com/p/victoria-nuland-ukraine-has-biological?s=w&source=patrick.net

That's the incompetent, spendthrift deep state.

Nearly 20 years in Afghanistan, trillions spent. Result: WORSE than the status quo ante bellum. Not only the Taliban back in power, but China runs Bagram. Literally nothing to show for it. And Iraq is a partial puppet of Iran. The only thing 'accomplished' was the elimination of ISIS, but that was largely due to the occupation of Iraq to begin with, and fixed by the one President whose policies were 180 degrees from the Deep State. Oh, and cancelling the stupid Iran deal, which is now back on the table - but this time even more generous and primarily negotiated by Russia and Chinese.

If a guy is on Russian TV, he's Putin approved.
Talking tough was popular among the weakest guys I recall.
Russia has lost a large portion of its invasion equipment in a few weeks.
Given enough time, they will have nothing to invade with.

Did anyone really think Putin would just quit and lose the war?

JimSpatzenfeld says

Did anyone really think Putin would just quit and lose the war?

Some people listen to some weird propaganda, they think Russia is running out of equipment. Even though satellite images show miles and miles of military equipment ready to go in. Telling you, people don't use their head to think these days. I've even heard some people who think Ukraine is winning, completely detached from reality. The way they talk you'd think Ukrainian tanks are in Moscow not Russian tanks surrounding Ukraines capital.

Here's another tidbit, has anyone noticed that Putin and Kazakhstan's Nazarbayev have no issues with each other?

Why is that the case? Is it that Putin needs to put a Soviet-backed dictator into Central Asia to maintain his security?

No, because that's already been the case for decades. Kazakhstan's dictator (albeit retired & in a consulting mode now) is doing his job, beating up and tossing dissidents in jail. Putin, Nazarbayev, etc, are all in in the Belt & Road initiative and have done an exceptional job of suppressing their populations while not caving into big western corporations.

So no, Putin is not going to expand his so-called Empire southward. Ukraine was the western elites' staging area and he's taking that away.

Putin is going to quit and losing 400 tanks in 3 weeks is not sustainable by Russia.

Guys who have no job in Russia would surely welcome Western corporations.

Ukraine was looking to the West, just as the Czars liked to do by coincidence.

The Czars liked France and French baubles like Faberge eggs now in the Kremlin museum.

Rin says

Here's another tidbit, has anyone noticed that Putin and Kazakhstan's Nazarbayev have no issues with each other?

I don't know that this is so. Given that Nazarbayev was sidelined and Tokayev took over in Kazakhstan, with Putin's support.

mostly reader says

Nazarbayev was sidelined and Tokayev took over

Considering that Nazarbayev was in his 80s, I wouldn't be surprised if his 'retirement' from the Security Council wasn't planned ahead of time. Tokayev was chosen by Nazarbayev as successor, to manage the day-to-day affairs of the country when he retired from the Presidency back in 2019.

This is in contrast to Suharto's regime in Indonesia, where he lost control of the army during the economic crisis. His successor, Megawatti, was not under his wing.

For the most part, the riots in Kazakhstan (due to plunging oil prices) were put down quickly & the younger Tokayev was in line for the job anyways.

The thought about planned retirement did cross my mind, but it's somewhat unusual in that culture that a person retires other than to the graveyard. It's also unusual that the office goes outside the family.

I don't know the full scope, but there are couple of red flags. Rotation is one, timing is the other one.

mostly reader says

I don't know the full scope, but there are couple of red flags. Rotation is one, timing is the other one.

The other thing is that Tokayev talked about political 'reforms', however, instilled more security as a result of the uprisings. In effect, it has more the look of an astroturfed movement where the blame is the older Soviet generation but then the answer is a newer Soviet generation.

So sure, it won't look like Stalin's era with pictures of Nazarbayev at every corner but the resulting effect is the same ... a next-gen police state.

I guess the number two guy got tired of being number two and wanted one.

clambo says

If a guy is on Russian TV, he's Putin approved.
Talking tough was popular among the weakest guys I recall.
Russia has lost a large portion of its invasion equipment in a few weeks.
Given enough time, they will have nothing to invade with.

In traditional Russian style, they will keep sending in fresh batches of cannon fodder until they wear down the enemy. At some point it may even evolve into a race to see if the Russians can get their old mothballed Soviet tanks back into service quicker than we can build hand held anti tank missiles.

clambo says

Putin is going to quit and losing 400 tanks in 3 weeks is not sustainable by Russia.

What gives you confidence that the reports you read are anything other than Western propaganda?

I myself keep trying but cannot find any source of information about the war that seems unbiased.

Has Putin turned off the electricity in Ukranian cities?

No, he hasn't.

He is not desperate, he is not losing, he is conforming to international standards of war and I am guessing that he continues to believe his demands will be met.