1984Echoes

Simple pleasures for simple minds.

I went back and reread what I had posted "It is worth a weakened (fascist) Russia to have a successful military stalemate between Ukraine and Russia for the time being." And thought hmmm, that could lead to what you have been posting... so I thought I would add some clarity: I don't think Ukraine is being disregarded. NATO/ US are considering every request and either acting upon it, or saying sorry. And NATO/ the United States DO have the right and responsibility to say no. If Zelenskyy asked us to send a few nukes Russia's way are we not allowed to say no? I'm not being glib, it's a legitimate question and right of refusal. Zelenskyy has asked for a no-fly zone, and NATO/ US have said no as that would be a direct act of war with Russia (NATO shooting down their jets). They have that right. As for the "stalemate" in my point above... I don't believe NATO/ US are pushing for "stalemate" (I could have worded that better) but, a stalemate is the facts on the ground. Other options may or may not be better: A) Putin runs roughshod over Ukraine taking over the entire country - not better. B) Ukraine outright pushing Russian forces out of Ukraine - better, but not likely. C) NATO not supplying Ukraine with supplies - not better. D) NATO supplying everything they can to Ukraine in the way of supplies and defensive weapons (even though they made a military decision and decided they could not send Polish or Romanian MIG's to Ukraine) - is the best they feel they can do, in addition to all the sanctions & other related responses, under the current circumstances. E) NATO willing to go into a direct war with Russia - this is not happening on the ground. Personally, I believe we could/ should, and I believe the war would be immediately ceased by Putin, who would sue for terms (Ukrainian permanent neutrality) and that would obviously be better for Ukraine. But since this hasn't happened, we are left with the default situation based on the above: F) Russia not able to make forward progress, stalled outside of all of its major objectives, Ukraine able to hold its ground for the most part and exact a heavy price upon Russia's military forces and equipment/ supply lines - this is the current situation, so by default we are stuck in a "stalemate". This is what I really meant above, not that anyone "benefits" from this stalemate, which is what my post above sort of sounds like...

Look at the video again, in the upper left corner early on you'll see what looks like a mortar round fired, or some kind of artillery... and then they shift down to the tank and watch it get blown up a few seconds later.

I don't think anyone will do anything to derail a ceasefire. Except Putin. If he wants a deal/ exit ramp from Ukraine, he'll get it. The guise you mentioned above I believe is a non-existent one...

In full agreement here. In fact, I believe that I want to go further than anyone else in here. I am for protecting the Ukrainian people, even if that means a direct war with Russia. If it is a united front, and it cannot be the US and the US alone, I believe in the face of a united European/ North American front that Putin will back down immediately. It's a dangerous game to play, and no one knows exactly how Putin would respond except for Putin himself... But I believe I am making a correct assessment.

I think they said today that they also have a video of this planning (coup attempt) session.

I would restate this a bit: 1. A weakened Russia is going to happen with or without a destroyed Ukraine... so an obvious preference would be for Ukraine to NOT be destroyed. 2. Russia will be weakened, IMO, for decades, not just on a short-term basis. Aside from Ukraine successfully destroying multiple myths about the Russian military, and inflicting heavy damage in its own right against the Russian military, Russia has completely lost the trust of the civilized world. That means an immense movement towards eliminating the need for Russian oil/ gas. That is the biggest money-maker for Russia, and this move will have a huge impact against their economy, even if it takes years to implement. And China won't make up 100% of this shortfall. Russian businesses of all shapes and sizes will be impacted by a western refusal to engage. No financial investments, no western technology, drastically reduced trade, no favored nation status/ huge tariffs thrown up against Russian businesses, cut out of the world financial system, assets frozen or confiscated... This is a long list, and it's longer than what I listed. How does Russia get any of this back? Stopping its war against Ukraine? That's not enough. The damage Putin has done to Russia's reputation, and any oligarchic/ fascist replacement of Putin won't change that calculus, will last for a long, long time. These sanctions are much more significant than Putin's war against Ukraine. 3. Most of the destruction is in the north (Kyiv to Kharkiv, and many points in between), and in the south (Kherson to Mariupol or, the "land bridge" from the Donbas to Crimea (Kherson is west of that... but controls the water flow into Crimea)). Most of the heaviest destruction, outside of Kiev, is East of the Dniepr River. Taking the points above, I would restate your comment instead as: It is worth a weakened (fascist) Russia to have a successful military stalemate between Ukraine and Russia for the time being. But current signs of a genocide, or at least the list of Putin's war crimes so far compiled, may change the calculus for EU & NATO countries.

PS: Detroit 5th starter; not Toledo...

Looking good. 5th Starter.

Either that, or ship Carlson and all the other right wing fascists, and that includes Trump & his militant supporters, over to Russia for the next two decades. They can report on what it's really like under a fascist dictatorship. That could be interesting. I mean... if they even survived.

All from Russian Stooges.

"I haven't heard that name in a long, long time." Like 37 years or so...

Municipal citizens of Ukraine rise up! With Molotov cocktails and whatever you can... Hell, pitchforks. Take back your cities!

Summary?

Good strategic loss though... Not certain what happened with the lead... They had a pretty good lead most of the game...

Any weapons going from China to Russia will enrage the EU and cause an immediate drop in trade relations, not to mention most likely sanctions directly aimed at China. I believe China is way too smart to do something stupid like that. I mean... we'll see.

China's current relationship with Russia: https://finance.yahoo.com/news/russias-ukraine-invasion-bad-news-160000610.html

They have financial exposure and reputational exposure (the EU could shut them out in response to any real China support of Russia)... which is less a calibration and more along the lines of extreme risk avoidance. They have no compelling reason to expose themselves financially or otherwise to investments/purchases in a belligerent Russia. Hence: they are definitely limiting that exposure. Not 100%. Probably not even 25% (they need Russian oil just as much as the EU does...). But what ever they are able to. The U.S. & EU wants them to do more of course...

I'm on board with this. I think it needs to be done. A "Coalition of the Willing". Declare War on Russia and it's partners (Byelorussia only at this point) with the goal ONLY of removing Russian military from Ukrainian territory (including the Donbass region but NOT Crimea, which would be a no-go for Russia.) Australia, New Zealand, France, Germany, the United Kingdom, Poland, Romania, Bulgaria, Norway, Japan, South Korea, Lithuania, Canada, Italy, Greece (maybe even Turkey if we could get them on board), the Netherlands, Spain, Portugal, Iceland, Slovakia, the Czech Republic, etc... The U.S. could back them up initially but would need Congressional approval to approve a State of War against Russia... but if the goal is only the removal of Russian forces from agreed-upon (by the "coalition of the willing") Ukrainian territory... I'm just going to guess but, if the rest of western civilization (as listed above) declares against Russia, Congress will also. A concerted International effort to tell Putin/ Russia to "Back OFF". I want it. And I want it now.

Detroit Red Wings, 24-28-7, 8-16-3 AWAY ESPN+ 3/15 9:00 PM Edmonton Oilers, 32-23-4, 16-12-0 HOME

Or at the trade deadline if it is actually worthwhile to do so...

43-19 shots against still looks pretty bad...

I guess we can now start thinking about what draft pick we'll get this year. We're in about the 9th spot based points/ games in hand...

Yes... But still, the flipside to being an eternal optimist is that... Those guys still deserve to prove what they can, or cannot, provide to the Tigers.

Which means we don't need an OF'er right now. You've just confirmed my position. There's no reason whatsoever to spend on any OF'er until the trade deadline, at the earliest. The Tigers should first and foremost give time to Grossman-Greene-Baddoo-Hill-Daz-Reyes to see how they fare this season.