Obviously. The point the person was making was to say that even if we buy into the bullshit narrative that this was consensual, it still doesn’t make sense. They didn’t use incorrect terms to skirt around it, they were making a specific point about their claims.

Ukraine’s constitution forbids an election during a state of emergency. This isn’t him overriding precedent, this is codified into law.

At risk of misreading, I think they might be parodying the usual IDF line. The ‘runs into shrapnel’ bit is a little over the top.

Yeah that’s a perverse incentive if I’ve ever heard one

Pardon?

Bang on. You don’t make someone your bodyguard without trusting them, so this guy is a good pick from the perspective of maintaining power as an autocrat.

Hilarious for them to act like the Su-57 (Russia’s fifth gen option) is truly comparable to ether F-35 or China’s J-20. To my understanding, the Su-57 is highly optimized for dexterity and maneuverability in dogfighting, but that doesn’t mean shit when you’re dealing with the stealth, sensor, and range capabilities of an F-35 or J-20. It’s for this reason that some have referred to the Su-57 as a ‘4.5th gen’ fighter, as it lacks several of the stealth and sensor integration capabilities of its fifth gen peers.

Anyways, I doubt that the US is really worried about Russia’s offering here, but I’d bet they are very worried about China’s.

Incredible. They’re essentially asking Ukraine to help them give money to the guys they’re fighting a war against and then getting mad and pouty when Ukraine says no.

This isn’t blackmail, it’s just common fucking sense while you’re at war. I feel for the people affected by this, but the leadership in Budapest and Bratislava can go pound sand.

Eh. Brilliant is maybe a stretch. Acknowledging the abject horror of the situation and putting it aside for the moment, this isn’t the first war where civilians have been targeted intentionally by bombing, and it certainly won’t be the last. Historically, the response to terror bombing such as this has been mixed, as such things are highly dependent on the population in question. Generally, however, the balance leans toward it being mostly a waste of resources. I’m sure the Russians think they’re doing some 4D chess maneuver, but from my perspective they’re just wasting valuable weapons systems (the missile that hit the hospital costs well in excess of one million dollars per and was part of a barrage) on targets which provide little or no military utility.

If I had to guess, this is more about domestic propaganda than anything else, but that’s just conjecture.

Jesus, your perspective is just toxic and hateful. How is this any different than any other incident where people are trampled (see: Travis Scott)? Why is religion at fault here suddenly? Or is this an objective reason that you are a fool for liking Travis Scott?

I grew up religious, and I’ve distanced myself from spirituality for the better part of a decade now, so I’ve played both roles at different times in my life. Even so far removed, though, I can still objectively acknowledge that religion has played a critical role in human evolution and history. It’s not wrong for people to want to want answers about the universe and life, and the human experience is built around community. Religion can, for many people, provide for those needs, and there’s nothing wrong with that.

Look, I acknowledge that religion is responsible for, or at least a justification of, a lot of human suffering. That is true of lot of human institutions - we are deeply flawed beings. I would also say, however, that in saying those things, you are adhering to your ideology and casting vitriol with the same fervor that a hyper-religious person would.

Please just try empathy next time. Such hateful statements do nothing to change minds, and are more likely to push people away from looking deeper at religion and objectively examining if it’s actually good for them as an individual.

Also worth noting that Russia has not made any real significant territorial advances since the start of the war despite hundreds of thousands of casualties while massively burning down their inheritance of old soviet systems. It’s not just Ukraine who hasn’t been able to change that.

Conflicts like this aren’t just determined by military strength, as there is defender advantage, political will to fight, western aid, etc. to consider that could change the balance. I would agree that Russia has the edge right now, but that’s definitely something that can change.

Valid. I assumed they were talking about the political terms rather than parties due to the lack of capitalization in the original comment, though my own comment has them capitalized so I certainly muddied the waters further. Definitely my bad, I’ll edit it to be more clear.

I must say, though, you are quite an aggressive fellow. I wasn’t making any judgements or even really commenting on foreign politics in any meaningful way - simply making an observation.

Separate from the Canadian parties, it’s also worth noting that ‘liberal’ and ‘conservative’ are not mutually exclusive ideologies.

Edit: clarified that this is not in reference to political parties in particular.

Fr. Leftists need to exercise their second amendment rights way more.

I agree, but it’s also worth noting the influence of police forces, riot police, swat teams, and the national guard.

The US basically has an occupying army to quell unrest in every county across the country, so it’s harder to properly protest without state retaliation. Not to say we shouldn’t do it, but I can understand people’s reticence.

Damn bro you’re getting mad downvoted for being fully correct. Some of the numbers in this article are relatively credible from what I understand*, but in general it’s bad practice to take Russian or Ukrainian claims at face value. Both have an incentive to lie for the purposes of morale, propaganda, and - especially in Ukraine’s case - international perception. Russia’s lies have been particularly egregious though the war, with claims that are physically impossible (see: Russia’s claim earlier in the war to have destroyed an Abrams tank months before they even arrived in Ukraine.)

*I haven’t checked open source loss data or anything, so take this with a grain of salt.

Yeah. Losses are to be expected from materiel that is in use, and people shouldn’t be surprised when western equipment shows up in loss statistics. It wouldn’t be a problem or even that noteworthy if the US could pull its head out.

The ‘e’ is pronounced more like it’s ‘ay’; vih-VAYK.

Happy endings are banned in Slavic history

Talking about a tank like it’s a weather event lmao