Will Russia Attack Ukraine?

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Originally Posted by real expert

I agree, with you. Merkel has destroyed the once conservative CDU and "castrated" all the alpha male politicians, so to speak. Our mainstream media was only full of praise and behaved like a court reporter of her. Merkel is from East Germany, and from recalling reading she has a "Stasi Past". However, our current Chancellor, another leftist, isn't better. Germany like the USA and other Western countries has shifted strongly to left. The USA is the role model and where the USA usually goes Europe follows. Here's the thing, there are people who love the USA but don't like the politics there. For example, many people were highly critical of the wars under Bush or Obama. However, they weren't anti-American as such but just didn't like the geopolitics. And then there are the real anti-American folks out there. What I find rather puzzling is that many young Americans, especially the college-educated ones, express a lot of contempt for the USA, such as burning the US-American flag and whatnot. In my personal opinion, China is much more dangerous than Russia. Communist China poses a much bigger threat than Russia to the USA. When it comes to Ukraine, the situation is different.

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Ok you long for the alpha males in German politics? The biggest Alpha Man of the last years mister Gerhard Schroder (auch einer der Sozis) had really a bromance with the other Alpha Man Vladimir Putin. One of the latest acts as chancellor was Nord Stream 2, a present for Putin. Just a few weeks ago Schröder was presented a new member of the board of Gazprom.....Scholz, a steady and sober person, has thrown it it in the dustbin!

I have been fed up with this alpha males real experts....they only make trouble in their gorilla acts.

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Originally Posted by bicicleur 2

I came across this :

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Originally Posted by bicicleur 2

https://edition.cnn.com/2022/02/23/p...den/index.html

Trump didn't take long to make sure Putin knew he approved of his movement of troops into parts of eastern Ukraine, knowing that his comments would be picked up and beamed around the world.
"I went in yesterday and there was a television screen, and I said, 'This is genius.' Putin declares a big portion of the Ukraine, of Ukraine, Putin declares it as independent. Oh, that's wonderful," Trump said in an interview on "The Clay Travis & Buck Sexton Show."

Is this correct?
I think this is disgusting.
No matter for what purpose Trumps is telling such stories.

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My goodness.....alpha male and the alpha male ;)

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Originally Posted by Northener

My goodness.....alpha male and the alpha male ;)

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Sorry to burst the Northern bubble on Helmut Schmidt

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Originally Posted by firetown

Sorry to burst the Northern bubble on Helmut Schmidt

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As said being Northern German and having a Jewish background (Schmidt's grandfather was a Jewish banker, he didn't knew for long) is not incongruent for me. This all leads to off topic remarks. Please stay and topic.

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Originally Posted by Northener

As said being Northern German and having a Jewish background (Schmidt's grandfather was a Jewish banker, he didn't knew for long) is not incongruent for me. This all leads to off topic remarks. Please stay and topic.

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I apologize, but since this is a genetics forum, I didn't feel the need to sweep a lower percentage of highly significant DNA under an ideological rug.

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Originally Posted by Northener

Ok you long for the alpha males in German politics? The biggest Alpha Man of the last years mister Gerhard Schroder (auch einer der Sozis) had really a bromance with the other Alpha Man Vladimir Putin. One of the latest acts as chancellor was Nord Stream 2, a present for Putin. Just a few weeks ago Schröder was presented a new member of the board of Gazprom.....Scholz, a steady and sober person, has thrown it it in the dustbin!

I have been fed up with this alpha males real experts....they only make trouble in their gorilla acts.

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”Make Masculinity Great Again!”:sun: What do you think? Europeans need "to man up" since they can't always expect Americans to do the job of protecting them. Hate or love Trump, but under him there were no wars.

Besides, Helmut Schmidt was also an alpha male.

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Originally Posted by Northener

I don't harass Italians....it was Palermo who brought up that Italians were less anti-American in Europe. And I reacted on that. I'm not anti-Italian not at all (but you seem to think that for uncleared reason). And to the Dutch nationality I can take lost of humor and critique no problem.

When it's about the Ukraine why insist on those 2% but ok.... succes I have done with it for a while (mission accomplished Angela). This is not the way I want to discuss, when my statement are constantly being taken out of context.

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The issue of NATO spending and an anti-Americanism is relative. I did state that Italy is one of the most pro-American countries in Europe, that is an empirical Fact. The other countries in Europe that are largely more pro American are the Poland, Hungary and UK. This survey is dated back to 2017 during the Trump era so some of the negative attitudes towards the USA may be because of Trump himself and that the USA elected Trump.

https://stacker.com/stories/132/coun...rable-views-us

So yes when I see that type of views towards the USA by most of the countries, it does seem reasonable to ask why is the USA spending like 3.5% of GDP on defense with still 70-80K forces stationed in Europe. So these factors are interrelated to me, maybe not you, but that is why we have Freedom of speech and right to disagree with each other.

As for NATO, the op-ed linked below is from a Defense analyst with the former President Ronald Reagan Institute (Hoff). She citing 2019 data points out that Americans both support NATO but a overwhelmingly want NATO to spend more on its own defense. Hoff points out that this call for more spending by Europeans goes back to Bush 2, to Obama and to Trump. Now did Trump perhaps handle this in a non-presidential way, yes. But on principle he is 100% correct and his 2 predecessors (Bush 2 and Obama) had the same exact views. I cited Ms. Hoff because I consider myself to be a an old Reaganite.

https://www.americanactionforum.org/...-natos-burden/

2021 NATO statistics. Based on this data (click link for Table 3), 10 countries are hitting 2% of GDP. USA, Greece, UK, Poland, France, Croatia, Estonia, Latvia, Romania and Lithuania in 2021 of the 30. Note Greece For example, they are estimated to hit 3.82% of GDP. Obviously they have borders closer to the Levant which borders Turkey and thus that is an area where there is potential terrorism. And while nobody expects Russia to move into Georgia, such a move could result a threat since Turkey is the country that sits between Greece's Eastern Border and Georgia.

But lets take a step and look at Greece spending that amount (and other countries like Croatia, Estonia, Lativa, Romania, Lithuania), you think maybe if Germany, which again is the largest economy in Europe and 4th Largest in the World, would spend at least 2% that maybe countries like Greece could not spend 3.82% and maybe invest that money into Road infrastructure, its education system, its health care system, etc. You keep insinuating that Germany's increased spending has to be directed at increasing its own Military, which I think sits around 70K, with 2 Armored (Panzer Divisions) among them. No, that money can be spent on facilities upkeep (Bases) helping cover the cost of equipment used by NATO allies, etc.

But kudos to the Greeks, well done. And surprisingly I have to give credit to Macron and France for hitting the target. The UK I had no doubt was contributing to NATO financially. And again as I said in other posts, 11 of the top 25 Economies in the world are NATO allies, 3 of them (USA, Canada and Turkey) are not in Europe. Among the 8 European NATO allies that are among those 25 largest economies, only the UK, France and Poland are spending 2% of NATO defense. Germany, "Italy", the Netherlands, Spain, and Belgium are not.

https://www.nato.int/cps/en/natohq/news_184844.htm

So it is not just "Americans of Italian ancestry" here on Eupedia that are looking at the NATO expenditures of the USA and its 29 NATO partners, it is an issue with Most Americans.

While the Economist article is behind a paywall, it begrudgingly concedes Trump has a point and it clearly talks about Germany. The Economist of course is a UK journal, not American, and perhaps its focusing on Germany is related to some UK/German rivalry regarding the political and economic leaders of Europe (France seems to see itself as in that group as well).

https://www.economist.com/special-re...g-hard-to-keep

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Originally Posted by firetown

I apologize, but since this is a genetics forum, I didn't feel the need to sweep a lower percentage of highly significant DNA under an ideological rug.

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It's a sensitive topic. So, I get where Northerner is coming from. In Germany for example it's taboo to view Jewish people as their own ethnicity or as an ethno-religious entity. At school, we were emphatically taught that being Jewish is only a religious thing, like being a Catholic or Protestant with no ethnicity attached to it. There is a denial that being Jewish has also a genetic component. Like the Yezidi religion, the Jewish faith is by and large an ethno-religion. Actually, it's impressive how Jews could preserve their religious, cultural, and ethnic identity for 2000 years in the diaspora.

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Originally Posted by Northener

I don't see a reason why a Jewish background is not North German......:thinking: So why stress that. And yes he was but is this relevant when you call him a political hero....

You want to put me in a corner where I don't belong mister.

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Although Schmidt didn't identify as Jewish, his Jewish background was special to him and he himself made a distinction. Keep in mind, that the North German average Joe is and was through and through Protestant. Besides, many Germans still don't know that Schmidt is actually part Jewish since he only revealed this secret to the public late in his life, and only on occasion. In fact, many Jewish people in Germany prefer to be low key about their Jewish background. There are certainly some Germans who would be surprised if not shocked if they knew that Schmidt was quarter Jewish. However, Schmidt was always sharp, quick-witted, sovereign during talk shows even when he was asked stupid questions. He was always chain-smoking while being interviewed and was "schnacken", speaking with a Northern German accent.

Shouldn't you create a seperate thread on the topic of Helmut Schmidt being Jewish?
This thread is about Putin and Ukraine.

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Originally Posted by Palermo Trapani

The issue of NATO spending and an anti-Americanism is relative. I did state that Italy is one of the most pro-American countries in Europe, that is an empirical Fact. The other countries in Europe that are largely more pro American are the Poland, Hungary and UK. This survey is dated back to 2017 during the Trump era so some of the negative attitudes towards the USA may be because of Trump himself and that the USA elected Trump.

https://stacker.com/stories/132/coun...rable-views-us

So yes when I see that type of views towards the USA by most of the countries, it does seem reasonable to ask why is the USA spending like 3.5% of GDP on defense with still 70-80K forces stationed in Europe. So these factors are interrelated to me, maybe not you, but that is why we have Freedom of speech and right to disagree with each other.

As for NATO, the op-ed linked below is from a Defense analyst with the former President Ronald Reagan Institute (Hoff). She citing 2019 data points out that Americans both support NATO but a overwhelmingly want NATO to spend more on its own defense. Hoff points out that this call for more spending by Europeans goes back to Bush 2, to Obama and to Trump. Now did Trump perhaps handle this in a non-presidential way, yes. But on principle he is 100% correct and his 2 predecessors (Bush 2 and Obama) had the same exact views. I cited Ms. Hoff because I consider myself to be a an old Reaganite.

https://www.americanactionforum.org/...-natos-burden/

2021 NATO statistics. Based on this data (click link for Table 3), 10 countries are hitting 2% of GDP. USA, Greece, UK, Poland, France, Croatia, Estonia, Latvia, Romania and Lithuania in 2021 of the 30. Note Greece For example, they are estimated to hit 3.82% of GDP. Obviously they have borders closer to the Levant which borders Turkey and thus that is an area where there is potential terrorism. And while nobody expects Russia to move into Georgia, such a move could result a threat since Turkey is the country that sits between Greece's Eastern Border and Georgia.

But lets take a step and look at Greece spending that amount (and other countries like Croatia, Estonia, Lativa, Romania, Lithuania), you think maybe if Germany, which again is the largest economy in Europe and 4th Largest in the World, would spend at least 2% that maybe countries like Greece could not spend 3.82% and maybe invest that money into Road infrastructure, its education system, its health care system, etc. You keep insinuating that Germany's increased spending has to be directed at increasing its own Military, which I think sits around 70K, with 2 Armored (Panzer Divisions) among them. No, that money can be spent on facilities upkeep (Bases) helping cover the cost of equipment used by NATO allies, etc.

But kudos to the Greeks, well done. And surprisingly I have to give credit to Macron and France for hitting the target. The UK I had no doubt was contributing to NATO financially. And again as I said in other posts, 11 of the top 25 Economies in the world are NATO allies, 3 of them (USA, Canada and Turkey) are not in Europe. Among the 8 European NATO allies that are among those 25 largest economies, only the UK, France and Poland are spending 2% of NATO defense. Germany, "Italy", the Netherlands, Spain, and Belgium are not.

https://www.nato.int/cps/en/natohq/news_184844.htm

So it is not just "Americans of Italian ancestry" here on Eupedia that are looking at the NATO expenditures of the USA and its 29 NATO partners, it is an issue with Most Americans.

While the Economist article is behind a paywall, it begrudgingly concedes Trump has a point and it clearly talks about Germany. The Economist of course is a UK journal, not American, and perhaps its focusing on Germany is related to some UK/German rivalry regarding the political and economic leaders of Europe (France seems to see itself as in that group as well).

https://www.economist.com/special-re...g-hard-to-keep

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And I did state that the relationship between the Dutch and de US has the oldest roots, has had no tensions, and is mutual the Dutch are the third investors in the US, the US the first in the Netherlands. All facts. And all beside the topic. With al the respect I don't want to make it to an accountant topic.

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Originally Posted by real expert

It's a sensitive topic. So, I get where Northerner is coming from. In Germany for example it's taboo to view Jewish people as their own ethnicity or as an ethno-religious entity. At school, we were emphatically taught that being Jewish is only a religious thing, like being a Catholic or Protestant with no ethnicity attached to it. There is a denial that being Jewish has also a genetic component. Like the Yezidi religion, the Jewish faith is by and large an ethno-religion. Actually, it's impressive how Jews could preserve their religious, cultural, and ethnic identity for 2000 years in the diaspora.

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Although Schmidt didn't identify as Jewish, his Jewish background was special to him and he himself made a distinction. Keep in mind, that the North German average Joe is and was through and through Protestant. Besides, many Germans still don't know that Schmidt is actually part Jewish since he only revealed this secret to the public late in his life, and only on occasion. In fact, many Jewish people in Germany prefer to be low key about their Jewish background. There are certainly some Germans who would be surprised if not shocked if they knew that Schmidt was quarter Jewish. However, Schmidt was always sharp, quick-witted, sovereign during talk shows even when he was asked stupid questions. He was always chain-smoking while being interviewed and was "schnacken", speaking with a Northern German accent.

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I guess you don't get it.
Platt proaten kin ik ook mien jong. And for the rest my ancestry is an amalgam of anabaptist, roman catholics, reformed and atheist hahahah And in my Platt language there were some influences of Jiddish. So what the heck. For the rest see bicileur>>>>>

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Originally Posted by real expert

”Make Masculinity Great Again!”:sun: What do you think? Europeans need "to man up" since they can't always expect Americans to do the job of protecting them. Hate or love Trump, but under him there were no wars.

Besides, Helmut Schmidt was also an alpha male.

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No I don't like that masculinity thing, it's typically for the authoritarian populist.

The authoritarian populist movement in Europe have all ties with the Kremlin. Partly because they have the same ideology. And partly they are financed by it. And partly because Putin wants to destabilize the West.

Even Trump had in 2016 still uncleared affiliations with the Kremlin/Putin....

"count your blessings"

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Originally Posted by Northener

I guess ypou don't get it/
Platt proaten kin ik ook mien jong. And for the rest my ancestry is an amalgam of anabaptist, roman catholics, reformed and atheist hahahah And in my Platt language there were some influences of Jiddish. So what the heck. For the rest see bicileur>>>>>

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Ik begrijp je, I understand you but for some Jewish people being considered something of their own is important to them.Last time I checked on my ancestrydna and 23&me some people score Ashkenazi/or Sephardi Jewish but never Catholic, Protestant, etc. I leave it at that and let's go back to the topic.

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Originally Posted by real expert

It's a sensitive topic. So, I get where Northerner is coming from. In Germany for example it's taboo to view Jewish people as their own ethnicity or as an ethno-religious entity. At school, we were emphatically taught that being Jewish is only a religious thing, like being a Catholic or Protestant with no ethnicity attached to it. There is a denial that being Jewish has also a genetic component. Like the Yezidi religion, the Jewish faith is by and large an ethno-religion. Actually, it's impressive how Jews could preserve their religious, cultural, and ethnic identity for 2000 years in the diaspora.

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Well, maybe they should consider how Jews look at it, and I can assure you that the vast majority see it as an ethnicity. Millions of them still consider themselves "Jewish" even if they are atheists who rejected the religion long ago.

Goodness, one of my dear friends married a Jewish guy. His family sat shiva for him.

Sad if true that Schmidt is uncomfortable admitting that he is 1/4 Jewish. Not that he should be defined by it. However, to be ashamed of it is another thing, or to be afraid of revealing it.

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Originally Posted by Angela

Sad if true that Schmidt is uncomfortable admitting that he is 1/4 Jewish. Not that he should be defined by it. However, to be ashamed of it is another thing, or to be afraid of revealing it.

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He wasn't but his parents wanted to protect him for this knowledge because of the Neurenberger laws (if I remember it well from on of his biography (hummm still off topic).

We are entering in a new phase in the war in the Ukraine. This not only lead to a human catastrophe it will imo lead to a new cold war between:

the defenders of the open society vs those wo want to close it,

the 'liberal-democracy' vs 'the authoritarian-populist'

The ideologue behind Putin is Alexandre Dugin, in his The Fourth Political Theory, is the central point the attack on 'The open society and it's enemies' from Karl Popper.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Op...nd_Its_Enemies

This will also lead to an intensified clash in the west itself. We have the various forms of authoritarian populist in the West-European countries in the US the Trumpist are garthered around it. Trump declared Putin as a genius, and the attack on the White House was no accident in this respect.

The authoritarian populist in West-European already received financial funding from the Kremlin, and the 2016 US election affiliations between the Trump team and the Kremlin are still not cleared.

A possible reelection of Trump (his position within the Republicans is still unquestioned) will of course lead to a new bromance with Trump and a dissolvement of the Nato, those 2% was just a pretext for Trump. A 'puppet of the Kremlin' in the White House is the last thing we need in the future.

We have entered a new phase in global politics.....

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Originally Posted by real expert

It's a sensitive topic. So, I get where Northerner is coming from. In Germany for example it's taboo to view Jewish people as their own ethnicity or as an ethno-religious entity. At school, we were emphatically taught that being Jewish is only a religious thing, like being a Catholic or Protestant with no ethnicity attached to it. There is a denial that being Jewish has also a genetic component. Like the Yezidi religion, the Jewish faith is by and large an ethno-religion. Actually, it's impressive how Jews could preserve their religious, cultural, and ethnic identity for 2000 years in the diaspora.

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So when DNA companies send out results to Germans and the results include something like 3% Ashkenazi Jewish, do they just add those 3% to "Other"?

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Originally Posted by Northener

Ukraine has sovereignty so that's not up to Russia. For Putin and Dugin Kiev this is the cradle of Rus so I doubt if they stop in the eastern part. So support and provide the Ukranians to defend themselves.

And more general I'm talking about the ideological challenge Putin/Dugin is 'offering' the West....that is imo more in the line of Lévy!

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If the Ukrainian folks want to be an independent country, it seems like they’re going to have to fight for their independence on the battlefield. I could be wrong, but I assume that overall the Russian people are not keen on the war in Ukraine. However, this can change when the Russian public gets the impression that the "whole" world and especially the West is against them. The bottom line is that these geopolitical games will only benefit certain groups while the people in the middle of this will have to pay.

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Originally Posted by real expert

There was a campaign in Germany called "Disarm instead of upgrade" against any major investments in the military/army. Germans, especially the Youth struggle with the military, specifically the idea that the military is an element of geopolitical power. Therefore Germans don't want a strong military since they rely on having the strongest economy in Europe and there are of course historical issues. In fact, Germany proceeds to disarm its military. Anyway, a strong and stable USA is in all of our interests, at least for us who live in the Western world. Biden is unfortunately a weak leader.

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Indeed that's needed. Nevertheless Biden, with lots of of experience in foreign policy, could achieve more in this respect. One thing we now know for sure the attack on Ukraine is done with applause of Trump... So if he was still president...

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Originally Posted by real expert

If the Ukrainian folks want to be an independent country, it seems like they’re going to have to fight for their independence on the battlefield. I could be wrong, but I assume that overall the Russian people are not keen on the war in Ukraine. However, this can change when the Russian public gets the impression that the "whole" world and especially the West is against them. The bottom line is that these geopolitical games will only benefit certain groups while the people in the middle of this will have to pay.

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Yes and the US has already supported the remilitarization of the Ukraine. But no match for the Russians, so what we are probably are going to see is may be a dirty guerrilla war....

Until now the public in Russia support Putin. They only hear and see news about 'the genocide in the Ukraine on Russians', 'the fascistic regime in the Ukraine' etc etc.

This only will counter if Putin is overstretching Russia, when they get a severe economic crisis and body bags from the front. But unfortunately the Ivan average will suffer not the oligarchs.

Nevertheless this is a keen plan of Putin, his revanche, the unified Rus.....this master plan is not spontaneously, is something that is strived for since in fact 1991. His agenda inclusive destabilization of the West, through supporting he authoritarian populist, is unfolding further.....

Will we trap into it any further? What do you think?

||Time for ERurope to get rid Anglosaxons and Russians.

Europe today is under a perimeter of Energy
maybe we will returnback to coal plants,

The North sea hydrocarbon energy has reach only by Lowlands, Netherlands) Brexit affect a lot.
The East pipelines are tottaly controled by Russia either Nordstream, either through Ukraine etc
the Caspian deposits are controled by Turkey.
But ehst we see

1 Libya, Turkey SADAT and Russian Wagner control the land.
2 Syria Turkey occupies land and make together patrols with Russia
3 Armenia, a new pipeline from Azzerbaizan is to pass from Artsakch or Nagorno-karabach. Azerbaijan with help of Turkey enters. and Russia does help the Armenians
4 N Kurdistan or Iraq we all know what hapens there.

So Europe is forced to buy very expencive LNG from USA.
the DENIAL of USA to East Med pipeline, shows clearly that USA does not want a pipeline from Arabia and Israel to Europe.

So Europe a very strong economy is forced either to return to Coal era, either to get poor. even to dismiss.

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Originally Posted by Yetos

||Time for ERurope to get rid Anglosaxons and Russians.

Europe today is under a perimeter of Energy
maybe we will returnback to coal plants,

The North sea hydrocarbon energy has reach only by Lowlands, Netherlands) Brexit affect a lot.
The East pipelines are tottaly controled by Russia either Nordstream, either through Ukraine etc
the Caspian deposits are controled by Turkey.
But ehst we see

1 Libya, Turkey SADAT and Russian Wagner control the land.
2 Syria Turkey occupies land and make together patrols with Russia
3 Armenia, a new pipeline from Azzerbaizan is to pass from Artsakch or Nagorno-karabach. Azerbaijan with help of Turkey enters. and Russia does not help the Armenians
4 N Kurdistan or Iraq we all know what hapens there.

So Europe is forced to buy very expencive LNG from USA.
the DENIAL of USA to East Med pipeline, shows clearly that USA does not want a pipeline from Arabia and Israel to Europe.

So Europe a very strong economy is forced either to return to Coal era, either to get poor. even to dismiss.

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You forget that Russia has a GDP of the Benelux. And that 60% of the incomes depends on gas and oil.
There are alternatives, Qatar for example. Of course this all can be though. But I'm convinced we are not condemned.

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Originally Posted by Northener

Yes and the US has already supported the remilitarization of the Ukraine. But no match for the Russians, so what we are probably are going to see is may be a dirty guerrilla war....

Until now the public in Russia support Putin. They only hear and see news about 'the genocide in the Ukraine on Russians', 'the fascistic regime in the Ukraine' etc etc.

This only will counter if Putin is overstretching Russia, when they get a severe economic crisis and body bags from the front. But unfortunately the Ivan average will suffer not the oligarchs.

Nevertheless this is a keen plan of Putin, his revanche, the unified Rus.....this master plan is not spontaneously, is something that is strived for since in fact 1991. His agenda inclusive destabilization of the West, through supporting he authoritarian populist, is unfolding further.....

Will we trap into it any further? What do you think?

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Well, in order for the Ukrainian army to have a realistic chance in a guerrilla war against Russia, the Ukrainian soldiers need American assistance on the air and a no-fly zone. So the Ukrainian army could fight on the ground while relying on back-up, including air support, from the U.S. military like in Afghanistan. After the USA withdrew its help on the air for the Afghan army, the soldiers were totally demoralized and didn't want to fight on the ground against the Taliban with no US assistance whatsoever. Some Ukraine people are asking for much tougher sanctions on Russian gas and oil that would really hurt Russia.

Again there is no 2% of GDP payments to NATO. It is recommended that each country spend at least 2% of their GDP on their own forces. trump has managed to confuse everybody on this point.

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Originally Posted by Northener

Yes and the US has already supported the remilitarization of the Ukraine. But no match for the Russians, so what we are probably are going to see is may be a dirty guerrilla war....

Until now the public in Russia support Putin. They only hear and see news about 'the genocide in the Ukraine on Russians', 'the fascistic regime in the Ukraine' etc etc.

This only will counter if Putin is overstretching Russia, when they get a severe economic crisis and body bags from the front. But unfortunately the Ivan average will suffer not the oligarchs.

Nevertheless this is a keen plan of Putin, his revanche, the unified Rus.....this master plan is not spontaneously, is something that is strived for since in fact 1991. His agenda inclusive destabilization of the West, through supporting he authoritarian populist, is unfolding further.....

Will we trap into it any further? What do you think?

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Actually the Russians do not support Putin. There was an article about it and particularly the younger people are extremely skeptical of Putin's assertions that the West is going to attack Russia. With the Internet people have access to information and the information they are getting is making them very doubtful of Putin's motives. But change will not come from them, it will come from the oligarchs and the intelligence services.

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Originally Posted by Angela

Well, maybe they should consider how Jews look at it, and I can assure you that the vast majority see it as an ethnicity. Millions of them still consider themselves "Jewish" even if they are atheists who rejected the religion long ago.

Goodness, one of my dear friends married a Jewish guy. His family sat shiva for him.

Sad if true that Schmidt is uncomfortable admitting that he is 1/4 Jewish. Not that he should be defined by it. However, to be ashamed of it is another thing, or to be afraid of revealing it.

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Let me put it this way, even when Schmidt wasn't outright ashamed of his Jewish ancestry, he wasn't really proud of it either, at least it seems so. Thus he wasn't super comfortable when talking about this part of his ancestry, didn't like dwelling in thinking about it. The reality is that many people deny, hide, or are ashamed of a certain portion/type of their ancestry. We have to keep in mind that Schmidt came from a totally different world where having Jewish blood was considered a "blemish", "stain". It's difficult to knock off certain cultural influences that were imprinted on someone's mind. Anyway, many well-meaning people don’t know how to define Jews, they don't want to hurt feelings, say something that (in their mind), is deemed offensive, such as Jewish being an "ethnicity". They're afraid, if they consider Jews, not like the "regular" Germans ( or Poles, English, Russians for that matter) they're racist and excluding Jews from their "Germanness". Surely, the German Jews were German but still something of their own. They had their own subculture with their own literature, music, food, their own sense of humor. Jewish people even developed their own German-language Yiddish. Hence, denying that there is such as thing as an "ethnic Jew" means denying the Jewish history and experience. Even when it's well-intentioned, it doesn't reflect reality, hence is in a way disrespectful. And let's not pretend is if for the most part of Jewish presence in Europe they weren't the "others", or the "Semites".

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Originally Posted by bigsnake49

Again there is no 2% of GDP payments to NATO. It is recommended that each country spend at least 2% of their GDP on their own forces. trump has managed to confuse everybody on this point.

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Yes the last years Greece spends more than USA for her defence,
at 2020 2021 has the biggest ratio.

When some others Natoic expect free help and blaim Greece.

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Originally Posted by Northener

You forget that Russia has a GDP of the Benelux. And that 60% of the incomes depends on gas and oil.
There are alternatives, Qatar for example. Of course this all can be though. But I'm convinced we are not condemned.

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Exactly as you say.
The more expencive gas and oil. the more richer Russia and USA.
East Med and Green pipelines are must for Europe,

the new search of a pipeline from Alexandroupolis to Talin (already to Constanza Romania)
gives European independence even to Far Baltic sea by connectiing them with Middle East and Africa

The game is not Ukraine.
The game is another WW in Europe. this time not for oil. but for gas and energy.
Ukraine is the Helen of troyan war

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Originally Posted by Yetos

Exactly as you say.
The more expencive gas and oil. the more richer Russia and USA.
East Med and Green pipelines are must for Europe,

the new search of a pipeline from Alexandroupolis to Talin (already to Constanza Romania)
gives European independence even to Far Baltic sea by connectiing them with Middle East and Africa

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Are you talking about the LNG terminal in Alexandroupolis? That will help but what will really help is the pipeline from the Israel/Lebanon/Cyprus sector. But that is 3 years from now if they started now.

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Originally Posted by bigsnake49

Are you talking about the LNG terminal in Alexandroupolis?

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Not only.
the pipeline from Alexandroupolis to Poseidon can work oposite direction,
Alexandroupolis already connected with Burgas, and burgas soon unite with Constanza romania.

East Med is to carry from Arab/Persian gulf to Israel, from Saudi to Egypt, and both unite to Cyprus to Greece.


I repeat, Ukraine, no matter the rights of a country etc etc. is not the game.
the game is elsewhere.
Myceneans did not went to Troy only for Helen.
neither Troyans were innocent

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Originally Posted by bigsnake49

Actually the Russians do not support Putin. There was an article about it and particularly the younger people are extremely skeptical of Putin's assertions that the West is going to attack Russia. With the Internet people have access to information and the information they are getting is making them very doubtful of Putin's motives. But change will not come from them, it will come from the oligarchs and the intelligence services.

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The media in Russia are following the Kremlin line totally. Opposition is not there, yes in a camp like Navalny.
As such a sign that the youth is sceptic.
It depends if the Ukrainian military even is capable of going into guerrilla. At the moment it's fully shock and awe. And the Russians are on the brink of capturing Kiev...
When it's roll over than this will be celebrated as a victory for Putin in Russia....the neo czar.

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Originally Posted by Northener

The media in Russia are following the Kremlin line totally. Opposition is not there, yes in a camp like Navalny.
As such a sign that the youth is sceptic.
It depends if the Ukrainian military even is capable of going into guerrilla. At the moment it's fully shock and awe. And the Russians are on the brink of capturing Kiev...
When it's roll over than this will be celebrated as a victory for Putin in Russia....the neo czar.

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The Russian people will not rise to overthrow Putin and their media is a puppet for the government.

But as I said earlier occupying a poor country is a losing proposition. You broke it, you bought it. You occupy them you have to feed them.

@bigsnake
https://www.nato.int/nato_static_fl2...2020-30-en.pdf

Anyone know what's in store for Taiwan? Is US bringing back the draft for only vaccinated recruits?

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Originally Posted by Silesian

Anyone know what's in store for Taiwan? Is US bringing back the draft for only vaccinated recruits?

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If wars were fought on the ground with AK-47s and AR-15s then yes they would bring back the draft. New military equipment is increasing sophisticated that requires extensive training. So no. I have no idea why you brought up vaccinations. All military recruits undergo extensive vaccinations against all kinds of diseases particularly when they go exotic places like Afghanistan or Iraq.

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Originally Posted by Northener

........... His agenda inclusive destabilization of the West, through supporting he authoritarian populist, is unfolding further.....

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You're speaking from our Western perspective and standpoint. But you have to put yourself in the shoes of the Russians and look at their narrative and "justification". From the Russian perspective, Ukraine is a puppet state that is being used by the West to seek confrontation and destabilize Russia as they did with Syria, Iraq, Libya. According to Putin NATO poses a threat to Russia and its security. Therefore the Kremlin insists that the NATO expansion towards its borders poses an unacceptable challenge to its policy of so-called "indivisible security." Plus they say that Russia is taking back what's rightfully Russia's.

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Originally Posted by bigsnake49

If wars were fought on the ground with AK-47s and AR-15s then yes they would bring back the draft. New military equipment is increasing sophisticated that requires extensive training. So no. I have no idea why you brought up vaccinations. All military recruits undergo extensive vaccinations against all kinds of diseases particularly when they go exotic places like Afghanistan or Iraq.

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You mean it will be different from genocidal wars in Phillipines 1899 and the weapons of mass destruction war, so many innocent people died in those wars.

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Originally Posted by real expert

You're speaking from our Western perspective and standpoint. But you have to put yourself in the shoes of the Russians and look at their narrative and "justification". From the Russian perspective, Ukraine is a puppet state that is being used by the West to seek confrontation and destabilize Russia as they did with Syria, Iraq, Libya. According to Putin NATO poses a threat to Russia and its security. Therefore the Kremlin insists that the NATO expansion towards its borders poses an unacceptable challenge to its policy of so-called "indivisible security." Plus they say that Russia is taking back what's rightfully Russia's.

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And you seem to support that narrative. Syria was not destabilized by the West. The Syrian people rose against Assad then Russia and Iran propped him up as they propped up his father before him Then ISIS happened then Turkey intervened. It became and still is a mess. Meanwhile the Syrian people suffered.

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Originally Posted by bigsnake49

And you seem to support that narrative. Syria was not destabilized by the West. The Syrian people rose against Assad then Russia propped him up as they propped up his father before him Then ISIS happened then Turkey intervened. It became and still is a mess. Meanwhile the Syrian people suffered.

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I'm showing both perspectives. Nothing wrong with that.