40 minutes ago, SympathysSilhouette said:

The Trump administration might revoke the refugee status of 240K Ukrainians, essentially triggering a mass deportation at a time when the situation on the ground is going to become much more dangerous.

 

Whatever this administration goals are with its Ukraine policies, they can now no longer pretend in good faith that their primary concern is to save lives.

 

That's absolutely disgusting. 

 

Never been, it's to save the Russian economy and make Putler the winner of this war. 

On 3/3/2025 at 7:06 AM, Matt! said:

 

Riddle me this, If China decides to take Taiwan by force, how is the US going to defend it without its allies? You think you can park your Pacific Fleet 100 miles from the coast of China without getting hit by hundreds of missiles? 

 

USA abandoning its allies (and possibly leaving NATO) and aligning with Russia will have catastrophic consequences for the American people as well as its allies. Since MAGA's are so opposed to the NATO because it has "never helped us and we are the only ones paying for it" - after 9/11 all NATO allies answered the call after invoking article 5. 

 

What else do they have left? If they wanna keep pushing Russia out of their country, they need weapons and manpower and at this point they're lacking both. 

 

 

 

I disagree with a couple of your opinions.  You seem to agree with some 'mainstream western media' views that are promoted by state governments (US/Europe) and the Democratic party.

 

1. The US military industrial complex is not militarily strong enough to defeat China by force.  The Trump administration are pro-Russia China hawks that want a refocusing on China and repairing relations with Russia.  They also want an imperial withdrawal from the occupation of Europe.   After the American defeat in the middle east, the US military started pivoting towards war against Russia and China combined.  

 

Anti-NATO sentiments have been with Republicans for decades actually.

 

European NATO countries are individually militarily quite weak.

 

2. On tariffs and other economics issue it is an extension of the corruption of Donald Trump helping his campaign donors but also part of the elitist (ultra rich) libertarian thinking that has been going on for decades as well. Purge the government, radically restructure the economy.  This is what Elon Musk and the Tech bro ultra rich have been thinking about, an in some cases writing about.

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Creative_destruction

 

First cause a recession, and from the ashes a new type economy will be born.

 

It also resembles what a lot of American boomers (my dad's generation) have nostalgia for.  The re-industrialization of the US and less trade with the outside world, and less debt. 

 

I agree that what Trump is doing is really disorganized and I have doubts that re-industrialization can ever happen in the way they want.

 

3. Russia decisively won the war in Ukraine in 2022.  The West has no idea about Russian strategy or how they fight wars and have been misreporting/recycling pro-Ukrainian Ukr/US/UK/NATO propaganda for 3 years.

On 3/4/2025 at 10:20 AM, SympathysSilhouette said:

They don't really have much choice, a Russian victory in which the map is redrawn along the current front lines is much more of an issue for Europe than the current stalemate.

 

For one thing, it would open up Crimea as an effective launch pad, in which case the entire Black Sea comes into play.

 

The real question is how much appetite Ukraine has left for something that keeps on going for several more years. I'm guessing not too much.

 

The Russian army is currently approx. 640,000 men in Ukraine sub-divided into 3 sections:   Frontline, Reserves, and Rear-area training and rebuilding.  It is really not a big army to occupy a 1,300 kilometer frontline.

 

Europe has vast manpower superiority over Russia and could easily supply all the infantry Ukraine would need if there were, say, over 1 million men willing to fight for Ukraine.  But they are 3 years too late and it looks like Europeans do not have the stomach to fight in any type of war.

 

Putin has accomplished perhaps 80% of his minimalist territorial goals (annexed in 2022) and managed to do this without rebuilding the Soviet Army, without mobilizing more reservists and causing a threat to his dictatorship.   It seems that once he appointed an economist and his staff as defense minister they went for a strategy of recruiting contract troops with very generous benefits (like the US, if not relatively more) that would propel people willing to risk their lives into the Russian middle class.  

 

It seems that the war in a current negotiated settlement would end up with Ukraine being reduced into a base-ball shaped sized country with the south/east in Russia hands.  And it is more likely than not that a restart of hostilities will happen some time down the line.

 

And it would require the 'de-militarization' of Ukraine which is a non-starter for NATO.  That is also a minimalist goal for Putin and he can't walk away from this war without disarming the Ukrainian ground force.  And Ukraine's high demands in exchange for their massive sacrifices make negotiation very difficult.

 

There is a possibility that Trump will fail and the Russians would just continue grinding the frontlines with artillery & drone warfare everyday for years if need be until Ukraine surrenders to their minimalist goals.

 

13 hours ago, Matt! said:

 

 

 

The Trump team also voted on the side of Iran, Russia, China, North Korea at least twice before.

 

The gradual withdrawal of the US from maintaining hegemony over the world is happening, least for the next 4 yrs as the authoritarian states are now becoming more powerful.

 

As the US withdraws, its dominant influence over the markets of occupied countries in Europe and Asia will start to dissolve.  Government, culture, and foreign markets where US multi-national corporations and high finance operate.

 

As America weakens, this means that over time, the host nations of Europe and Asia will eventually be able to have more control of the direction of their own governments, their own culture, and then their own history.  The psychological colonization of Americanism will start to dissolve as well and people are more free to move in their own paths.

 

When the US established hegemony after WW2 they were the world's biggest factory, greatest navy by far, and had 40% of the nominal GDP.    

 

Now the situation is reversed (losing the navy to China, finances horrifying, and Nominal GDP shrunk in half of the original with out of control cost of living, de-industrialized with relatively weak exports (literally the US dollar is the most important export..)) and America's position, in terms of finance, real economy and military is extremely fractured.

 

Perhaps one day there will be de-dollarization as the global reserve currency which is the goal of BRICS.  This would crater the US standard of living and ability to run massive deficits.

 

https://x.com/factpostnews/status/1899183572956684368

 

America is heading for a recession. So much winning.

 

 

 

You know it's bad when you need help from the President to promote your vehicles. 

 

Fake economy. It's alright people, you're only losing monopoly money. 

^ How that disgraceful rat could have been elected not just once but twice is beyond me.

 

Oh, and btw, the USA is NOT America. We have nothing to do with this madness in the rest of the continent.

 

Tesla < Jeep. 

https://variety.com/2025/biz/news/village-roadshow-bankruptcy-chapter-11-1236339304/

 

Village Roadshow Entertainment Group, the renowned film producer and financier that has backed “The Matrix,” “Ocean’s Eleven,” “Joker” and “The Lego Movie” franchises, has filed for bankruptcy protection in the U.S.

Tesla halts Cybertruck deliveries after panels held together by glue come apart

 

https://nypost.com/2025/03/17/business/tesla-halts-cybertruck-deliveries-after-glued-panels-come-apart/

 

 

 

On 3/18/2025 at 11:30 AM, Matt! said:

 

Value of Elon Musk’s X ‘rebounds to $44bn purchase price’

 

https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2025/mar/19/value-elon-musk-x-rebounds-purchase-price

 

Menaced by Trump, Canada Prepares to Join E.U. Military Industry Buildup

 

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/03/19/world/canada/canada-eu-military-industry-trump.html

 

This is the path forward. 

 

RIP legend.