Youtube comments of Grenade Tennis (@hughjass1044).

  1. Was so proud and honored the day we welcomed Finland into the family and can't wait to embrace Sweden as well!
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  2. I happened to hear a retired American general speaking on the radio quite some time ago. I don't know who it was or what the context was or even remember who the host was but he said something truly profound which I've never forgotten. The question came up about America's wars and whether they were winning or losing. The general said that before anyone identifies who won or lost, one must first understand "the game", who the players are and on whose behalf the game is being conducted before one can pronounce upon who "won." Most nations throughout history conducted military operations to repel foreign invaders, nullify some threat or conquer foreign lands to acquire territory for empire or to capture some kind of resource wealth. Whatever the motive and however one might perceive the righteousness of such an endeavor, there was at least some tangible reason for the operations and they were for some identifiable "good" to the nation, however tenuous. Today, America conducts its military operations solely to enrich its merchant class. The wars of the late 20th and early 21st centuries cost the nation historic amounts of blood and treasure and added not an ounce to its national security, reputation, prestige or standing. But the defense industry and their cousins in the rest of the corporate world made out like bandits! And since America is now fully owned and operated by the merchant class; which knows no boundaries, recognizes no nationality or sovereignty and holds no loyalty to any entity but itself, from their point of view, these wars have all been smashing successes.
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  3. As a Canadian myself, I'm amazed at how squarely Andrew, who is not a Canadian, hits the nail on the head. This is the thing I keep harping about here at home. Justin Trudeau is NOT the problem. He is simply the public face OF the problem. Getting rid of him is easy; getting rid of the people and the mindset that elevated him to power is not.
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  4. Total respect and support for Poland, its troops and its people from your NATO partner and friends in Canada!
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  5. When the people start moving towards what might be called "fringe" parties, they are in truth, sending a message to the established ones saying... "We are not satisfied!" A wise person might refer to these warnings as "the canary in the coal mine." Unfortunately, established parties tend not towards shifting and reforming their policies but instead towards turning to the loudest and most objectionable elements of the fringe parties, projecting that onto its entire following. then attacking it with vigor while doubling down on the stuff that caused the problems in the first place. This just serves to enrage the people even further and leads to an ever increasing cycle of escalation since when people are not listened to, they will speak even louder and eventually turn to those who are willing to speak loudest of all and are unhesitant to back up their words with action. And in nearly all of these instances, these new "heroes of the people" are some pretty unsavory characters indeed. None of this is necessary. None of it needs to happen. Ordinary people, by their nature, don't gravitate towards the fringes. They are pushed there by leaders who won't listen. There is a solution - Listen and act; NOW, not later. Remember why you ran. Remember what you promised. Look after the reasonable and you'll never have to worry about the radical.
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  6. Two things.... 1) Karine Jean Pierre is a legend! Never in the history of television has any person used up so much air time, and rattled off so many words to say absolutely nothing of value to anyone..... and nothing which is true. 2) When Don Lemon is calling a liberal on their BS, you KNOW we've entered special territory.
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  7. "Some scenes may be disturbing." Like, which ones, for instance?
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  8. I expect there will be a steady stream of countries looking to cut their ties to Russia in the years ahead. No one wants to be tied to a sinking ship.
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  9. I've wondered often in the last many years if there's even a single person within the liberal elite, the journalistic profession, academia or anywhere else who realizes and grasps the fact that the more frequently and casually the term "fascist" is tossed around, the less meaning it has. I've now concluded with certainty that the answer is an emphatic NO!
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  10. It's been reported that HM was quite the lead foot as well as a skilled driver having been a truck driver and mechanic during the war. It would be interesting to hear some tales of her escapades behind the wheel.
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  11. Germany - the newest member of the "You-Made-Your-Bed-You-Sleep-In-It" club.
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  12. Last two videos absolutely made my day! Beyond bloody time we started recognizing China for what it is and treating it accordingly. The sooner we decouple our economy from theirs, the better.
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  13. In my entire lifetime, I can't remember a single time when Lebanon wasn't in a crisis of some sort.
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  14. I'm confused. How can you "move away" from something you've repeatedly and explicitly said you never were? How does that work?
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  15. Respect and support to Finland from Canada!
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  16. Poland's position is entirely understandable and defensible. They have given more and spoken out more and done more than nearly all of their neighbors but there are limits. They also need to think about themselves, their own people, their own farmers, etc. I'm sure there is no ill intent towards Ukraine here but simply a need to think about their own affairs. So too is Ukraine's position if you remember the fact that they are still under attack and in such a situation, unlikely to always act in the most diplomatic of ways. They are no doubt utterly exasperated at trying to get the hardware they need out of the west and not just an endless string of empty platitudes. I'm sure it's this frustration that is coming to the surface rather than any ill feelings towards Poland. This situation is as unfortunate as it is understandable and most critically, foreseeable and entirely avoidable. It should have NEVER been allowed to deteriorate to this level. What we saw in Feb of last year was failed deterrence. What we are seeing today is failed leadership, a complete lack of resolve and will as well as a lack of any sort of plan or strategy for the future. Putin has seen that he has no chance of defeating Ukraine as long as the western allies are united behind it so his strategy has switched to one of destabilizing, dividing and weakening that alliance. Western leaders say all the time that they are united and strong but that's a lie and this situation is proof of that. Putin too knows it's a lie and with enough time, he firmly believes he can demonstrate as much. When alliances fray and crack, this is what it looks and sounds like. No one is more delighted to see this kind of thing than Putin. The champagne is surely flowing in the Kremlin tonight,
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  17. Spoke to a person recently who has some knowledge of Singapore; more than I do, certainly, and he said basically the same things Andrew has here. Singapore is small, they're not hurting for people or wealth and they know they're a hot commodity for people wishing to relocate so they want and need to set the bar very high and rules such as these are how they go about it.
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  18. Indeed not! I served 2 tours in the former Yugoslavia during the 90s; 1 UN in Croatia, the other NATO in Bosnia, and I can tell you all of that stuff is still very much top of mind there. In fact, what went on in WW2 animated much of what went on in the 90s.
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  19. I don't even care about taxes. I'm not wealthy enough for that and besides, I'm retired. But I'm still getting out. Remember folks; even if it doesn't look like they won't come for you today doesn't mean they won't come for you tomorrow. Even sitting the money and tax issues aside, look at the direction things are going in culturally and politically. What do you think all that is going to look like in 5 years, 10 years, 20 years. That's what's driving me out. As Andrew says; "better years too early than a day too late" because if things don't go the way many fear they will, you can always reverse the process but if you wait until it's too late, you're screwed.
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  20. Tomi's right; never apologize. It won't do any good anyway. They already hate you and they'll never forgive you so what's the point?
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  21. Most people will know that Justin Trudeau's father Pierre was also a Canadian prime minister from '68 to '79 and again from '80 to '84. He wrote a book about himself because.... of course he would. What narcissist doesn't think it's all about them and that the rest of the world wants to know all about them. In it, he outlines how among many other things, he wanted to fundamentally and permanently alter the nature of Canadian political and social life as well as the very fabric of Canadian society. He would do this by way of such things as a massive and all-encompassing social welfare state, the nationalization of certain industries, mass immigration and multiculturalism and a slow but steady movement away from the US led western sphere and toward a much closer and friendlier relationship with countries such as Communist China, the USSR and their various allied satraps in Africa and Latin America. He states in that book that three of the people he most admired were Lenin, Mao and Castro. It seems the apple does not fall far from the tree. His spawn has repeated much of what his father stated and on occasion, gone even further. When Castro died, he gave a heart wrenching, teary-eyed speech in which he referred to his "deep admiration and friendship" for Castro and has on multiple occasions, expressed his admiration for the basic dictatorial nature of the Chinese government. Both Justin and his father are socialists in the truest nature of the word. Not "democratic socialists" or "social democrats" but real, true Marxist socialists. But to advertise oneself and campaign as such is not a winning formula so each was pragmatic enough cloak themselves in the garb of moderates but each man as PM reached out to the actual socialist party we have here in Canada; the NDP, brought them into government and the relationship between the two parties was never closer and more cordial and cooperative than it was during the premiership of the two Trudeaus.
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  22. Good God, Josh!! Corps is not pronounced "corpse", it's pronounced "core."
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  23. Another big difference between 1917 and today is that the state security apparatus is many, many orders of magnitude larger and more omnipotent today than it was in the Czar's time.... and it was pretty big then too. The problem with Putin is that he has such a vast and varied array of rich and powerful people whose fortunes are tied to him so if Putin falls, they fall so they will do whatever it takes to keep him in power. These are what you could call his multiple and overlapping layers of defense. If you can somehow get to them and drive a wedge between them and Putin.... by starting to seize their fortunes held in foreign banks, let's say, as opposed to just freezing them.... they may turn on him to save themselves. Even that wouldn't be without risk as there's no way to predict who or what would replace him.
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  24. I never even knew he had a brother. Guess that's what happens when your brother is that famous.
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  25. Good to see that people are reserving their rage and anger for the really important stuff.
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  26. As an outside (Canadian) observer to the Brexit drama, I had no dog in the fight and little understanding about the important issues at play but it always seemed to me that it made more sense to be inside "the big club" than outside of it. Sure, there will be problems; there always are, but a country the size and scale of the UK would be able to wield far more influence to change things from the inside than from the outside.
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  27. Even as a chipper young buck, Biden wasn't the brightest light on the Christmas tree.
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  28. "Never try to understand women. Women understand women and they hate each other." Al Bundy to his son Bud
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  29. A day without a Mark Felton video is....... not as good as a day with one! Thank you sir, for what you do and even though it's not one of your holidays, happy Thanksgiving anyway!
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  30. Many set ridiculously high prerequisite requirements well beyond what is actually needed. My friend's daughter once applied for a part time job at a major car rental agency. She was told she needed at least an under grad degree.... this was to be a counter clerk serving people renting cars mind you, not an executive. She was in fact, attending university in her third year but all they would offer her was a job cleaning the cars. I've since heard that this same company now expects their prospects to come armed with a graduate degree.... to be a goddam rental clerk!!! And it's these very same companies who'll bellyache to the government unendingly that there's a worker shortage.
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  31. If it's falling apart, we should do everything in our power to hasten it along.
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  32. I'd say that at this point, Putin has bigger matters to worry about than embarrassment.
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  33. Why the f*ck would anyone want to serve a country that treats its soldiers and veterans the way we do?
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  34. I think every city in America is going downhill. Some are just doing it faster than others.
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  35. This video shows the value in consuming news from diverse sources. I'm 61, Canadian, and never heard a whiff of any of this before. News that informs, news that educates.... Wow, what a concept! Well done, guys!
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  36. Any video about George Soros will never be as entertaining as the comments which follow.
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  37. Really, can there be any more beautiful sight than democrats ripping themselves to pieces?
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  38. Excellent news! Huge respect to South Korea!
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  39. He must have recorded this well before the Hamas war since Turkey is currently fit to be tied with Israel over it. Also, it's way too sunny and warm looking in the video for it to be recent.
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  40. "Welcome to Vegas... where it's going to be 180 billion degrees today!" Ahh, yes. But it's a dry heat. :face-purple-crying: Gotta love Vegas!
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  41. She's a national treasure!
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  42. Crazy as it sounds, I actually held out hope that the right decision might be made. I've always known Scholz was a coward but I thought there might have been enough arm-twisting power brought to bear to make him change his mind. As a retired NATO soldier who's worked with German forces many times, I have to say how sorry I feel for them at this moment. This is not on them. Exemplary soldiers but the heart and soul of a once proud fighting force has been torn out and ground into dust by pacifists. You've earned so much more than this!
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  43. As Modi himself put it when asked which "camp" he was in; and I'm paraphrasing here; "I have 1/7 of the world's people. I'll make my own camp." And this is it, really; this is the way India operates and has always operated. They will follow their own course and look after their own matters in their own way and if anyone else gets their knickers in a knot about it, too bad. They will ally with whomever they want, trade with whomever they want and the rest of the world can think what they want. They are the perfect embodiment of Lord Palmerston's famous quote - "We have no permanent allies and no permanent enemies. We have permanent interests."
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  44. Freedom for Belarus!
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  45. I wouldn't put too much stock in that 13,000 figure for Russian tanks. I began my military career (in the armored corps, ironically enough) in 1979 and we were bandying about figures of 12-15,000 then and that was when it was the old USSR and their military was vastly larger and much more capable than it is today. As a side note.... even then, those of us who saw them in action were well aware of their deficiencies and knew their bark was much worse than their bite. Anyway, the consensus among most intelligence sources that I know of today puts the number of Russian tanks at about 50-60% of that 13,000 figure and the serviceable ones at about 50-60% of that. But even at that, they are still in a huge bind because they lack the resources, personnel and logistical support to put them into front line service. As to the drawdown and depletion of stocks of Javelins etc, this also does not worry me. Those weapons are in fact, doing exactly the job they were always intended to do which is destroy enemy equipment. They're just being utilized by Ukrainians to do so instead of us. Drawing down the stocks like that actually allows us to replace them with newer, fresher, more advanced and updated models and besides, let's face it... it's not as though we're really going to need them in the interim. The very job they were intended for is being done right now... just not by the people we thought would be doing it.
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  46. Justin Trudeau - "All Canadians, in all places, are expected to follow the law............" Also Justin Trudeau - "Except of course, for the ones which we exempt from the law for our own purposes."
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  47. I don't think you can ever fully "escape" tyranny. Tyranny comes from governments and every place has one of those. If the last two years have taught us anything, it's that people in power anywhere will do whatever they have to do, and whatever they think they can get away with, to retain their power. The best you can hope for is to stay a few steps ahead of tyranny and most importantly, make sure you always leave yourself enough options to pick up and relocate again if and when tyranny catches up to you. One more thing for the so-called "patriots" out there - My love and loyalty to any nation state will never exceed that which it has for me. If you feel differently, that's your business.
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  48. I feel about Austria the same as I do about Ireland. I haven't a concern in the world about either one. Neither country is a threat to anyone and each has made and continues to make, valuable contributions to world order in their own ways. There is nothing wrong with having a few trusted "neutral" states around who can speak truth to either side in ways an aligned country never could. And besides; like Ireland, I have no doubt whose side Austria would be on if the day ever came when they absolutely had to pick one. As a citizen and former soldier of a NATO country (Canada), I would love to have Austria on board and would warmly welcome them if they ever did decide to join. I've worked with soldiers from both countries in the past and each are first rate. But I respect their decision to stay neutral and their reasons for it. They are a valued and trusted ally who can and does contribute in a whole host of other ways.
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  49. Many things are considered highly unlikely... right up until the point where they're not. When circumstances change significantly, so do people's motivations. Many of those involved in the plot against Hitler were once fierce loyalists too but when they saw their country, their fortunes and their futures going down by the head, they did what almost all people do in such cases.... they looked after #1.... or at least, attempted to do so. If I'm wagering on any particular manner for the war to end, I'd be placing my money (pardon the pun) on the oligarchs. As they see their fortunes evaporate with no prospect of ever getting them back, they'll find a way to remove Putin from the picture. May take a while but, as I said; people are loyal..... until they're not. Their vast stores of cash and wealth brought them close to Putin and it can do the same for the next leader. They'll look after themselves first.
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  50. 1. Keep as much control over your own life and keep as many options open for yourself as possible. Number 1 rule for making this happen - limit your debt; especially bad debt, as much as possible. Remember - debt is slavery. 2. Seek out and surround yourself with smart, motivated, positive minded people. You should seek to learn at least one new thing every day. Do not get wrapped up in people with negative attitudes. Before long, you will be of a similar mind and unable to see the good... ie opportunities... in anything. 3. Never forget... you only get one chance to make a first impression and no matter where you are or what you're doing, you never know who might be observing you or what that person may be able to do for you later on. No matter what; always be diplomatic and never lose your cool.
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  51. It is in no way a problem for NATO. A mild embarrassment perhaps, but nothing more. And there are always disagreements within these big clubs. That's nothing new and nothing to fret over. All part of the normal day-to-day backing and forthing of international politics and diplomacy.
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  52. Greg was right about both Carville and Mahar. They care about themselves and their own lives first, last and always. They are both very talented in sounding reasonable and coming off as somewhat sensible but they fully support every single thing the Dem party stands for and would never vote anything but blue. I actually watched every single minute of that interview and as hard and irritating as it can be to sit through nearly two hours of two liberals bobbing their heads to whatever the other one is saying, it's also quite revealing. Two liberals, two people of like minds in a relaxed setting, drinks are flowing, a little smoke, they're comfortable in each other's company and that is when the guards come down and the truth comes out. That's when we find out who they really are and what they really think. They're both clever enough to not quite come right out and say directly what they're thinking and what they believe but not quite clever enough to realize that not everyone who sees and hears them is on their team and that we can see right through their act. Maher particularly, has made it his stock in trade to be the sensible one; the "old school liberal," the "classical liberal." That is a crock! Listen to him long enough and often enough and you'll see just how much of a crock it is. People who invent fake personas for themselves always reveal their true self eventually. People can't be "on" all the time, especially in a relaxed setting where they think they're safe. They always give themselves away.
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  53. Newsome a hypocrite? That, like my grandpa was fond of saying, was like accusing the pope of being a catholic.
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  54. This video might have aged better six months ago. Since he's launched his campaign, he's been decidedly underwhelming and doesn't seem to have much in the way of appeal. He's to me, a lot like Scott Walker and Rick Perry; two other Republican governors who were seen as "rock stars" and the "next big thing" in the party and would have a clear road to the White House. That is until each actually launched their campaigns and proceeded to flop spectacularly. DeSantis just doesn't come across as genuine to me at all. He's got his finger up to gauge where the political winds are blowing but every position he takes and everything he says seems contrived and meant to grab headlines or out-do someone else. And he's trying way too hard to be Trump which will fail miserably because why would anyone choose a Trump wannabe when the genuine article is still on offer? Maybe he'll turn it around; there's still time but he's way, WAY behind and there's already a "Trump or I stay home" movement growing. I think he'd have been better advised to sit this cycle out and have a go when the Orange Man has finally flamed out.
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  55. I guess it makes for compelling TV but I don't understand why we continue to be shocked when democrats show themselves for who and what they are.
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  56. I don't know about Florida but Texas is already well on its way to being "California-ed." I personally know 3 people who've moved there from California and 1 each from Chicago and NYC and 1 has already packed up again and moved to Tennessee and another one is doing the same next year. Don't waste your time moving from one deck of a sinking ship to another. Sure, it's a lot dryer on the bridge deck now but the whole rotten structure is slowly going down by the head so if you're going to escape... escape, and be done with it.
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  57. This is what comes from not decisively dealing with your enemies the first time out. 40 years ago, both Hamas and Hezbollah were nothing more than a few rag-tag militants with little money or organization. But thanks to Iranian help, they're now both a rival to many of the world's organized militaries and in co-operation with one another, could give Israel and even the US a very hard time. Speaking of Iran, 50 years of sanctioning them into the ground hasn't accomplished much, has it? Again; this is what comes from pretending your enemies are something other than what they are to say nothing of shipping them pallets of cash for absolutely nothing in return.
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  58. Has Jordan ever considered running for President; anyone know? Holy shit, this guy's GOLD!
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  59. Latest rumor is that the UN is considering a strongly worded statement on the matter. I can feel Putin quaking in his boots from here.
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  60. "I am a Canadian and I approve this message."
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  61. This, and the rapidly growing woke/cancel culture, are what's driving me out. It's not so much a money issue for me as comparatively, I'm not super wealthy and my tax hit isn't all that onerous. But each day when I look around and see what's coming, I know that I've got no place here anymore. My government hates me, half the population hates me and the younger generations blame me for everything that's wrong in their lives. And it is they who will soon be running the show, making the policies etc and it's people like me they'll be coming for. Furthermore, living among a populace who could actually believe that ANY politician or party is worth taking up arms against their neighbors for has zero appeal for me.
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  62. I'm a Canadian looking on from the outside and by no means an expert on such stuff, nor do I have any dog in this fight, but the more I see of this, the more I'm convinced that congress simply doesn't want to get anything done. It seems there are many not overly complicated solutions to most of the country's problems but members of congress find the problems more useful as campaign issues and cudgels to beat their opponents with so they'd rather not solve them.
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  63. I am actually delighted to see this happening.... and I'm well beyond the point where I also say that I feel guilty about saying it. These cities, the politicians who run them, the people who vote them in and pay taxes to support them, are getting exactly what they deserve in my opinion, and I don't feel one damned bit sorry for them.
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  64. As always, the easiest war to win is the one which doesn't happen; the one you prevent. So to prevent this one, the US and its allies must drive up the cost to China to such a degree that it will not even consider such a thing. You do this three ways - 1) By building military capacity in the region to an unprecedented level, 2) de-coupling from China as much as possible, as quickly as possible and 3) carving away their allies, one by one. You out-gun it militarily, starve it economically and isolate it diplomatically. Wars cost a lot of money and China's economic position is already precarious enough and it also has a well earned reputation as a regional and global diplomatic bully; two areas which the west can exploit. They've so far not been especially good at it; dear old Uncle Sam has not always been known for his own soft touch either but they can do it if they put the effort in.
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  65. Only been to Malaysia once and it was 30 years ago but it was fantastic in every respect and I'd highly recommend it to anyone. I enjoyed every moment I was there and would love to go back.
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  66. Yeah, but..... Diversity is our strength, don't ya know?
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  67. I'm 100% with Arynn. I too am not a graceful conservative and I hope they get everything they voted for and more. It's going to be so much fun to watch.
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  68. "If Putin really wanted to invade Ukraine, he'd have done it already." Indeed. In fact, he could have done so at any point during 2014 or since when the Ukrainian military was significantly weaker than they are now but didn't. Why? During the Georgian war of 2008, he could've taken the entire country and been home in time for supper but didn't. Why? The answers are that A) he really has no interest in either and B) all of the reasons laid out in this video. If NATO has thought of all this stuff, you can bet Putin has too. He might be a lot of things but dumb isn't one of them.
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  69. It does when they plainly and loudly say it does!
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  70.  @regularamerican6034  I didn't "forget" anything. If you read what I wrote, I said late 20th century and early 21st. I'm not talking about WW2, Korea or even Vietnam since I'm willing to grant that despite its disastrous conduct, it was ostensibly fought for some tangible reason. Every war since has either been against some puny, emaciated weakling who couldn't have defended themselves against a mid sized police force never mind the US military (Grenada, Panama) or a complete and utter disaster that's left us humiliated and less safe than before (Somalia, Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya, Syria).
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  71. You're the best, Kevin!
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  72. An old guy I sometimes go for coffee with is fond of saying - "If we let democrats be democrats long enough, and just stand out of the way, the problems will self-correct." I'm starting to think he's right but I still worry about the amount of damage before that happens.
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  73. Q - "Why do we suffer from this woke culture?" A - "Because we've run out of anything important to worry about."
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  74. Too wet or too dry, it won't stick to the target. Too much brown sugar or not enough, the enemy won't eat it. Ya gotta be careful with these things, ya know.
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  75. How much money did the nursing home patient and his former babysitter hand over to Iran?
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  76. I think Greg is right. The news will be greeted with a big yawn. There's not going to be much in this release that we.... and everyone else.... didn't already know. And democrats will still support him because of course, they will.
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  77. Andrew; thanks for showing us Canadians some love lately. We're gonna need it. As of yesterday, we're now locked into socialism for at least the next 3 1/2 years. After that, I doubt there will be much left here worth fighting for.
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  78. I've been saying for years that Republicans don't need to do anything but stand back and let Democrats be Democrats and wait for the results. We don't need to win their voters. They're gifting them to us.
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  79. Yeah, I've worked with just about every military in Europe at one point or another in my career and I gotta say, I've always been pretty impressed with the Finns. Great soldiers, good kit, switched on, motivated, smart..... I'd definitely rather have Finland on my side than against me.
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  80. How has Peter been wrong about China and Russia? @ravishingravi 
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  81. One of my officers from way back when was fond of saying - "If it can still be useful on the battlefield, there's no such thing as obsolete." That was the armored corps and he was talking about vehicles but the same rule applies everywhere.
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  82. People are not going to "use less." They're going to use whatever they want to use to be comfortable and happy and if policy makers try to interfere with that by way of regulation, pricing or other methods, the people will make them pay for it at the ballot box. That is a simple and enduring fact of life. Another simple and enduring fact of life is that everyone wants action on climate change and any number of other issues....... right up until the point that it starts to squeeze THEIR wallet. That's the point at which altruism goes out the window.
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  83. It's also when it became crystal clear to anyone being honest with themselves that A) they couldn't do so even if they wanted to and B) they'd get their asses handed to them if they did..... and they know it.
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  84. These incidents were over a month ago and I'm just now hearing about them? And from a historian, not a journalist? Take a bow, mainstream media; you never fail at failing to do your jobs.
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  85. Just a reminder, you don't have to be "a 7 or 8 figure entrepreneur or investor" for Andrew's advice to be helpful. I'm not. A lot of what he's offering is just good, basic, universal stuff that can apply to anyone.
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  86. "If securing borders is a job only fascists would do, then the people will hire fascists to do it." Borders exist for a reason and the people think they're important, even if the chattering classes do not.
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  87. Peter being as blunt as possible!
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  88. Respect to Singapore from Canada!
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  89. So is prison but I wouldn't choose it.
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  90. "And what would you like for Christmas, little boy?" "All I want is a Shirvan video on Christmas morning!" (This morning -) "Thank you, Santa!!"
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  91. I really enjoy the work that DW puts out. It's 1st rate! I wish we had this kind of journalism / dialogue in the US. I don't have anything more than the most rudimentary knowledge of Kevin Rudd and what he's all about but this was a great interview. He seems to have a great depth of knowledge of what he's talking about and a good level of communication skill to be able to put it across.
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  92. This woman is absolutely gorgeous!! I know I'm not supposed to say that but I don't care.
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  93.  @mesh01550  Oh really.... would you care to elaborate on that?
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  94. It always happens this way. Our principle enemy "disappears" and we proceed to invent all manner of pleasant sounding stories about eternal peace and friendship and blah, blah blah, all while letting our military strength atrophy and dissolve away. At the same time, a psychopath somewhere, who is more than willing to play along with our silly, naive little games of self-evisceration and denial, rearms and makes plans for conquest once again. Like any narcissist, he is a prolific writer and tells everyone what his plans and desires are but we still choose to jam our fingers in our ears, look the other way and make up even more stories to delude ourselves into believing that what is plain for everyone to see isn't actually happening..... until it's too late and we can't pretend anymore..... and we're not ready. The UK is not alone in this. Allied governments have done as much or more to get thousands of their own servicemen killed by inaction and lack of preparation than hostile powers have by action.
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  95. Not if NATO shows some muscle and hits back at Russia in any way Russia hits out at us. If they want to play "games" with us, let's play those same games back.
    38
  96. "De-risking without de-coupling." or "Having our cake and eating it too." or "We're going to keep doing what we've always been doing, we're just going to expect different results." or "We're going to keep drinking like fishes, we just won't get drunk." Oh yeah, that'll work.
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  97. The downside to these grand coalitions. Seriously though, when you group this many countries all together; all with differing interests, issues, concerns and priorities, vastly different cultures, peoples, histories, traditions and the like, into some grand project like the EU, you're bound to get problems like this. Today it's Hungary and Poland. Tomorrow? Who knows? Is it reasonable to expect them all to see eye to eye on everything? Is it reasonable to ask that if a much bigger and more powerful country like France or Germany were the one out of step with the rest, whether there would be such tumult? Finally, one must evaluate the benefits that the troublemaker brings versus the negatives and what the consequences might be for expelling or ostracizing them. Very often, you find yourself in a partnership or alliance with another nation who for some reason, is a constant pain in the butt. You often find yourself asking - "is this really worth it?" Prime example - Turkey and NATO. So the questions become 1) what CAN I do about this and 2) what are the possible ramifications if I do? Even if you could expel Turkey from NATO or Hungary from the EU... which you can't, so why are we even talking about it?... what other nation do you suppose would be right there like a dog at dinnertime waiting to scoop them up before the ink had even dried? Sometimes there is no reason to stay aligned with a country other than to keep them out of the orbit of another much worse one. But that's very often a damned good reason, despite how much of a nuisance they might be in the moment.
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  98. This is consistent with how the Liberal party always acts. I remember 25 years ago, they shut down the Somalia inquiry just when it was about to uncover some very inconvenient truths.
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  99. cough.. cough.. MACRON!!.. cough.. cough..
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  100. That's possible but I wouldn't sell the Israelis short. Whatever you may think of them, they're among the smartest in the world and being the first to come up with something like this would not be out of character for them at all.
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  101. As the old saying goes; "don't put all your eggs in one basket." In other words, diversify.
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  102. One thing I've learned the past few years is how utterly pointless it is to attempt to engage or reason with any of these people; on either side of the argument. You have exactly zero chance of changing any minds so any effort to do so is wasted. Andrew talks a lot about taxation and economic freedom and those are important matters to be sure but I personally, being retired and already quite financially secure, am less concerned about those things and more focused on things like polarization, cultural rot and societal decay. That is what I want to get away from. I have neither the desire nor the energy to spend my golden years in that kind of poisonous environment. You want to call me a quitter and a traitor for doing so? Fine, knock yourself out. I'll try to find a couple of spare minutes sometime to give a f*ck about what you think.
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  103. Even if you did "stay and fight," the best you could possibly achieve is to very slightly and very briefly slow down the decline. You will not stop it and you certainly will not reverse it. Don't be a patriotic fool. Don't waste time and energy on fights you have no hope of winning.
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  104. I'm not a Pole and haven't got a clue about internal Polish politics beyond having some vague recognition of names but I've been an admirer of Poland for quite some time so the thing I hope most that the election result does not do is weaken the country and set it back in any way.
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  105. Glad to hear that someone is finally... FINALLY.... calling out China for their support to Russia. A pretty tepid call-out but at least it's a start.
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  106. The west - "It's simply horrible what Russia's doing! We must help Ukraine!!" Ukraine - "Gee, that'd sure be nice, ya know. This would've all been over by now if you did!" The west - "But oh my, we're just SO worried about escalation!" Ukraine - "What escalation, you morons??!! He's fighting with scraps and gone begging for other scraps. Are you all bloody mad??!!" The west - "Sooo worried! Can't you just find a way to surrend.... I mean talk peace so we don't have to keep answering hard questions here in our safe countries? It's awfully stressful, you know, and we're scared we might lose votes. You wouldn't want us to lose votes, would you?"
    36
  107. Anybody notice that Andrew is mentioning Canada more and more frequently the last few months? Well, we Canadians have sure noticed.... and we know why.
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  108. By some accounts, the ammo that NK has provided to Russia is decades old and the failure rate is as high as 60%.
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  109.  Johnson Li  China sees Africa etc as opportunities alright but helping them? That's a bit rich! They're luring them all into debt traps and decades of servitude. The only country China is helping is China. China is playing the exact same great power game as the US is and every other empire before it did for centuries. They're just a whole lot smarter and more strategic about how they're doing it. They see America's and the West's weaknesses and are exploiting them to the max. I don't necessarily blame China for this because that's what I'd expect any nation in that position to do. I do blame the US however, and all the other stupid western countries for allowing themselves to be played for fools.
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  110. A certain amount of this is both natural and irreversible. As populations have shifted and continue to shift from the countryside towards the cities, large families shift also from being a necessity to an expensive, unwanted burden. Nations are simply going to have to accept this and figure out ways to make their systems work with fewer people. And while fewer people in the world is problematic in certain ways, it's also beneficial in many others; fewer mouths to feed = less waste generated = less pollution and so on. But having said all that, when people can't even find affordable homes to live in for themselves, never mind a bunch of kids, when they can barely afford groceries for themselves, let alone a family, and when they're still paying off their useless arts degree at a time they'd like to be thinking about retirement, it's a bloody miracle the birth rates haven't fallen to zero!
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  111. Wait, hold on a second. I'd like this whole Nigeria business to be fleshed out a little more please. Are we all missing something here? Nigeria can't even control all of its own territory. How's it supposed to impose order on the whole region? And further from that, how's it supposed to maintain that order once it does so?
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  112. Russia's Arctic route will be at best, an alternate for summer use only.
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  113. True, but I'd say the same about the people who've been saying for 6 months that Ukraine will win and that Russia is finished. I wish that were true but Ukraine hasn't won diddly yet and Russia is far from finished.
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  114. "Putin signs "new" naval doctrine that casts US as Russia's main rival." Hmm... Who was it before?
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  115. I think this is another one of those "problems" which are much more advantageous to all sides than any solution ever would be. There are, and have always been, a multitude of sensible solutions to this problem but each party finds the issue much too valuable as a stick to beat their opponents with and raise funds from so they are incentivized to NOT solve it.
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  116. Good morning, Peter! Good morning, Billy!
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  117. As a Canadian with nearly 3 decades in uniform, I'd like to suggest another option which is in fact, much more in line with both how military procurement is done in this country and also how successive governments have worked. We'll choose nothing. We'll stall, prevaricate, invent excuses and continue to run out the clock for as long as necessary to keep from having to commit. And when we can't possibly do that a moment longer, we'll choose the option that is both politically beneficial and dead wrong.
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  118. They'll blame Poilievre.
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  119. Delighted for Singapore!
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  120. "Keep your options open." In business, in investing, in relationships and in life overall, I simply cannot think of a single other more important piece of advice that anyone can give or receive.
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  121. A new Caspian Report video - the BEST way to start your day!
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  122.  @gogs8166  For the most part, that's true but I don't think you even need to go that deep to understand what's going on. It's not merely a question of ideology though that's certainly part of it but it's really more a matter of cultural resentment. Modern liberals... as opposed to classical liberals who are more in line with what we call conservatives today.... view themselves as an anointed class of people who are above everyone else and thus entitled to hold all the positions and levers of political, social and cultural power. As a result, they feel they deserve to be, and indeed expect to be, revered and respected without reservation or question. When they don't get the reverence they feel is their birthright, they get VERY annoyed and begin to lash out. When someone who is not of their class and clique gets a little too noisy or "uppity"... forgetting their place in the pecking order, you might say... the daggers and vitriol come out. "How DARE they??!!" This is why you don't hear that much difference in how they talk about doctrinaire or moderate conservatives. To them, there really isn't that much difference. They are not "like" them so that, in and of itself, is sufficient justification for the vitriolic, class based hatred that is the essence of their existence. They put on this grand show of concern about all things race and gender but the truth is they don't give a damn about any of it. All of it is just a set of tools with which to beat the "inferiors." They are in a particularly acute stage of apoplexy at the moment because the PM of Italy is a woman and the PM of the UK is a "brown" person.... two cohorts they feel they have the exclusive right of ownership over.
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  123. What makes America's terrible crisis management even worse is that it seems to create most of its own crisis for itself. Most of the serious issues facing the country can be traced directly back to some action or inaction by its own government.
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  124. I think this is a correct analysis. I visited Singapore the same year I visited Malaysia; just before it, actually, and I was indeed very impressed with it but it is considerably more expensive, true enough, as well as being quite a bit busier. It's a city-state so it's by design, going to have a quite different vibe to it and there is not as much space to move around. The two place are similar in many ways but quite different in others so it'll be up to the individual to decide which type of atmosphere they prefer.
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  125. Most important piece of advice for online..... Do NOT engage with trolls or bots!! It's the most tempting thing in the world to do so and that's precisely what they want you to do because it increases their traffic. But you MUST resist this temptation. It's the hardest thing sometimes to just ignore and let it go but in this case, that's exactly what you have to do. A piece of sage advise I was given once has always stuck with me..... "Don't waste your time arguing with an idiot." If the person to whom you're speaking is one who is unwilling to consider alternatives or one whose mind cannot be changed, it is an exercise in pure futility to even bother engaging with them.
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  126. There's just something funny about listening to some guy talk about a hot African country while standing out in a Colorado snowstorm.
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  127. Well, it was an intriguing gesture but at the end of the day, it was only a gesture. I'm glad the US did it; there have been entirely too many unanswered threats flying around of late but I wish the US and the rest of the world would start the real heavy work of reining in China and that's the throttling back of trade. If we keep feeding this pariah freighter loads of cash the way we've been doing for 40 years then the problems are never going to go away. What other world power in the history of the world gutted out its manufacturing and sent it all to an enemy state? How much damned sense does that make? A thumb in China's eye is all well and fine but I'd far rather see a 20% import tariff. One makes them look bad, the other hits them where it hurts.
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  128. "Ultimately, the war is going to have to end with some kind of settlement." Translation - "We're starting to lose our nerve and waver in our support, which we promised we wouldn't and also, we really don't want to have to follow through on all those expensive promises we made to build up the military. So we're trying to concoct a storyline and come up with some excuses and talking points to cover all this up to save face and we'd like for the Ukrainians to help us by sacrificing their country so we don't have to admit that we're weak. And besides, we really, REALLY want to go back to buying that sweet, SWEET, oh so cheap and plentiful, Russian gas!" "And oh, by the way.. about that fear that Putin will try it all again in a few years, don't give it a second thought. We likely won't be in government then so it'll be someone else's problem." I knew this was going to happen. And so did Putin. BTW - All wars do NOT have to end with "some kind" of settlement. Only the ones involving weaklings and cowards do. WW2 ended in total victory for the allies and unconditional surrender for the enemy. No settlement needed.
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  129. It's because of my "always expect and plan for the worst possible scenario" military training and background that I'm forced to always be the one to temper expectations and throw cold water on everyone's hopes but it needs to be said as many times as necessary until people get the message..... Regardless of everything you've seen and heard, regardless of everything that's happened and regardless of what anyone tells you, this war is STILL very much Russia's to lose. People need to understand that Putin or anyone who might replace him, simply does not think like someone in the west would think. He does NOT care about casualties. He does NOT care about equipment. He does NOT care about costs and most of all, he certainly does NOT care about public perception at home, largely because he's got everyone propagandized six ways from Sunday or in jail or driven from the country. Another thing - his capacity to produce/acquire "equipment" and "armaments" is without limits. Yes, it's all garbage and yes, it'll not last two days in combat but if nothing else, it'll use up some sort of western supplied weapon to destroy it and possibly a few Ukrainian soldiers as well and since he can keep this cycle going indefinitely, the west WILL tire of supporting Ukraine at which point, Putin wins. Ukraine needs to defeat Putin on the battlefield, fully, completely and permanently while Russia... or at least Putin, only needs to survive to be able to declare victory. If we in the west want to see an end to this war; an end that is final and not just one which will last a few years until Putin re-arms and re-equips, we're going to have to get a hell of a lot more serious about doing so than we have been.
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  130. I served in the armed forces from 1979 until 2010 and often worked with troops who served in Europe in the 60s and 70s. This was when the old Soviet army was supposedly at its finest but my colleagues told me often about many of the same issues that are at issue today. It was and remains an army of conscripts and a conscript army will never be an effective fighting force unless there is some extreme motivating factor like fighting to protect a homeland.
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  131. Open air homeless shelters?? Try open sewers!!
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  132. As former French colonies, and also since "independence", they were exploited by France. Now they'll be exploited by their own generals on behalf of Russia. Same prison, different warden.
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  133. I think it's very important to keep in mind that there is almost always a vast gulf between what a politician says they'll do or wants to do and what they will do or can do. In this case, I'm not too sure how much faith I'm willing to put in some guy with wild hair who runs around roaring and shouting and swinging a chainsaw. I'm well aware that Argentina needs reforms but somebody like Milei is not what comes to my mind when I think of a serious person. It's also important to keep in mind that it's Latin America we're talking about here; known for it's wild swings between the extremes of politics without ever achieving much of substance. I'd be treading pretty carefully.
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  134. No, appeasement does. How many goddam times does the world have to be taught that lesson? It's no different than the schoolyard. Clearly show you won't be f*cked with and you won't be. @WinterXR7 
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  135. Welcome to NATO, Finland, from Canada! Delighted to have you on board.
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  136. Arson.... betcha anything.
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  137. You can take credit for being a history buff. I do myself. Being a "buff" just means you're interested. Now a history "expert" on the other hand, is a much different thing. I don't claim that title at all. That's Dr. Felton's territory.
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  138.  @badluck5647  That's a very standard but also very lame excuse. There's a very easy way around that. It's called a contract and they too are quite common. I've signed several of them myself.
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  139. The population anywhere seldom does profit from resource extraction as much as it should but it wouldn't profit at all if no one extracted and bought them in the first place. That's the quandary many countries find themselves in.
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  140. Well done, Denmark! I knew we could count on you.
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  141. A commenter on another thread summed it up best... and funniest... "If I were a horse in Russia, I'd be getting seriously nervous right about now."
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  142. It's always the same argument every time this topic gets discussed. It's either - "OMG! The US is pulling out of NATO altogether.... GASP!!" or it's the unchanged status quo. NO!!! There is a middle ground in there more vast than the ocean that divides us and that's where the answer lies. NATO was formed as a way to defend Europe against Soviet aggression and it was decided that the US would assume the lead role because at the time, it was the only nation that could do so. Europe was in ruins. But no one said that Europe; which has a combined GDP larger than the US, has to be America's dependent forever. The war has been over for eighty years, it's time for Europe to grow the f*ck up and start pulling its weight! And since it's never going to do that unless it's forced to do so, a bit of less than subtle coercion from America is in order. Cough up, Europe! We're not your f*cking sugar daddy!
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  143. Why the hell anyone would want Canadian citizenship is beyond me. We're farther down the road to being a socialist nanny state than the US and we're mashing the gas! Give yer head a shake!
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  144. Well said and 100% accurate.
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  145. It's alright, Peter. The back row seats are statistically the safest in a crash. I always try to pick them.
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  146. I'm not terrified. I'm delighted. Skeptical; I'll believe it when I see it, but I'm delighted just the same. Just like I'm delighted that Japan is massively re-arming in the Pacific and getting ready to rumble. This is not 1945 anymore. The world has changed and all of the players must change with it as circumstances demand. We'll deal with the realities of today now and worry about tomorrow when it comes. The future is never guaranteed and only a fool expects it to be. The entirety of Europe must put itself on a permanent war footing because wars are rapidly coming back into vogue. Strength and resolve are deterrents, weakness and indecisiveness are not. Had Europe been armed to the teeth and not been so negligent and foolish in its world outlook, if it had reacted forcefully and decisively to Putin's mobilization, it's extremely doubtful the Ukraine war would've ever started. I'm absolutely delighted that Germany is starting to grow a pair and flex its muscles once more. Welcome back!
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  147. Oh, for God's sake!!! What the f**k is wrong with you, Ford? The people DO support the police but these two were WAY out of line. You know it, we all know it! NO one is above the law and these two had options. They could have parked properly or simply apologized to the citizen and the whole matter would've passed as unimportant. You, as the premier, defending obvious and blatant misconduct and disrespect by these two officers, is both disgraceful and unbecoming of a leader. In your misplaced "respect" for the police, you ended up disrespecting the public.
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  148. What you describe is not an exclusively American phenomenon.... but it's mostly one. News outlets in Europe and elsewhere are not so far removed from understanding what their jobs actually are.
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  149. A couple of things.... 1) Who won the debate? Figure out who changed the most minds and that's your answer. That's always the answer. Personally, I don't think either of them changed a single one, nor do I believe that was even the point of the whole silly exercise which confirms to me yet again that it was in fact, me who won the debate. Why? Because I was smart enough to find something more positive, productive and enlightening to do with my time than watch those two.! 2) Will somebody please tell me, for the love of almighty God, why conservatives are so obsessed with Bill Mahar? He is a liberal with a public voice who criticizes other liberals on about 10% of their platform and falls happily and eagerly in line with the rest. What, do you think he's some sort of convert to the cause or something? He's NOT! Who gives a flying f*ck what Bill Mahar or any of his loser guests think?
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  150. It's NOT up to the voters to "learn!!" The politicians are there to serve the people, NOT the other way around! And when people cast their votes, they select one of the options that are available to them, they don't get to design one out of thin air based on their own best interests. This attitude of yours that maintains that old line parties are the best choice possible, that THEY know what's best for everyone else and that the unwashed rabble are simply too stupid to realize it and that they OWE their support to someone is EXACTLY the core of the problem! More than any other single issue, it is THAT smug, self righteous, condescending and dismissive attitude which enrages people the most and it is YOU they are protesting. @luzie3317 
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  151. You're not far off the mark there but it's really the US that China is testing.
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  152. She speaks for CNN.... and their viewers. That's why they have her on.
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  153. You beat me to it; my thoughts exactly! Nomad Capitalist is focused on "7 & 8 figure entrepreneurs and investors" which I'm not but what I am is a retiree with no debts or obligations, a decent pension and a nest egg comfortably in the 6 figures. I share Andrew's philosophy though and not only do I want to get the best bang for my buck, I also believe the legacy brand countries are rapidly descending into a morass which I have no interest in hanging around for. Even as a retiree, it's important to "go where you're treated best!"
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  154. Proves once again how much any agreement with a Russian is worth.
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  155. He did explain that they were still far behind the US despite their numbers.
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  156. This is just the latest episode of what I would call incremental provocations that are the hallmark of entities such as China, North Korea, Iran and certainly Russia. The game is to do something which is serious but just short of what they think will provoke the US and/or NATO into responding. You see this with China's repeated violations of Taiwanese airspace and even Russian planes "wandering" into British airspace.... totally by accident, of course.... "Gosh, sorry about that... we drifted off course there for a moment"... and Russia's use of troll farms, cyber attacks and other such means to undermine western countries. Each incident by itself is relatively minor but the cumulative effect is not. What should be happening is NATO bringing down the hammer of God on the perpetrators of this nonsense right from the start. Poland should have shot down those Belorussian helicopters the instant they crossed into their airspace, bragged about it and openly and publicly dared Russia to do something about it and it should also not hesitate for an instant to open fire on any Belorussian or Wagner personnel which are engaged in any activity deemed by Poland to be a threat to its national security regardless of whose soil they happen to be standing upon.
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  157. All true and Peter has acknowledged each several times. I think the point he's been trying to make is that despite their problems, Russia is still very powerful with a lot of resources to bring to bear and cannot be counted out too soon. Ukraine certainly has the wind at its back but it's far too soon to be planning victory parades. There is still plenty that could go wrong, most specifically Europe losing its nerve in the face of a biting winter.
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  158. Let's see - USA falling apart, Brexit in Britain, Europe; well, being Europe, Russia, being Russia, a belligerent Iran, ISIS, Afghanistan, an ascendant China, turmoil in Latin America, North Korea, Saudi Arabia in trouble, opioid crisis, worldwide pandemic and pending economic collapse...... and COMPLETE lack of even a suggestion of leadership, anywhere...... Anyone know how to get to Gilligan's Island?
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  159.  @aidankirby8412  I wholeheartedly concur. And as penance for our sins, I feel we owe it to you all to pack up our outdated, old fashioned values as well as our talents, our experience and most of all, our filthy, ill-gotten gains and leave you to the rotten, fetid, communist sewer you all so obviously and desperately want.
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  160. I think he's talking about 20-30 years in the future.
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  161. Mark Felton teaches history that no one knows is history. Something of a military history buff myself and have never heard a word of this action. Well done once again, Dr. Felton!
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  162. That's why I watch. He regularly answers questions I never asked but also many I'd have never thought of asking.
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  163.  @octapc  Every country with the ability to do so, spies on its allies, my friend; every single one of them. Always has, always will. That's just all part and parcel of how the espionage game works.
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  164. Andrew, thanks for doing this video. I've been hoping for something like this for a while. Eastern Europe as well as Russia and the former Soviet bloc countries are very interesting to me and I'm sponging up as much information as I can about all of them. I wonder if you could do a video on what you think may become problematic in that region going forward vis-a-vis conflict. There are tensions in Ukraine, Belarus and simmering issues in Armenia, Georgia, Bosnia among others and, without getting into who's right and who's wrong, I wonder if you might give us your opinion about how this may affect living and investing in these areas. We certainly can't rely on our domestic media to give us anything resembling the truth.
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  165. I completely agree with the premise of this video but I'm not sure that the capitol rioters are the best example to use to get the point across. Although I agree, their detention conditions are much too severe, they're not really a group of people who A) elicit a great amount of sympathy from a broad range of society nor B) are indicative of the kind of problems likely to be encountered by regular viewers of this channel. A better example might be a small business owner who was persecuted and ruined because he/she got on the wrong side of the latest in vogue "woke" issue or who the IRS or some other government agency decided to make an example of for whatever reason. It's of the utmost importance to understand that the forces which threaten both our wealth and our liberty are not only huge and widespread but growing at an exponential rate. The socialists and the "woke" crowd might not have prevailing influence today but they will soon because of simple demographics. What terrifies our generation actually thrills theirs! Andrew speaks about "7 and 8 figure entrepreneurs and investors." I'm neither of those. I'm a 6 figure retiree and although I don't really fear that anyone is going to "come for" me soon, it's only a matter of time. The trends are all going in the wrong direction. That is why I want out and why I'm making my plans.
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  166. This is so helpful and so encouraging! Malaysia is high on my list. Strongly recommend it.
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  167. Immigration is a good thing provided it's merit based, serves a need, is orderly, structured and limited to what the host nation can accommodate with the resources at hand. When it's none of those things, it's not a good thing. Like any good thing, there are reasonable and sensible limits. I cannot understand why some people can't comprehend this fact. A doctor gives you medicine in a prescribed amount. He doesn't tell you to go nuts with it. When your immigration policy amounts to an open-door, come-one-come-all, free-for-all shit show, and the native citizens see the society they worked so hard to build getting flushed down the toilet and told they're racist bigots when they complain about it, how can you possibly expect to NOT end up with people like Wilders? It's not rocket science. If you don't listen to the people, they'll replace you with someone who will.
    21
  168. Because there are too many vested interests with too much stake in keeping things the way they are. The college industry on one side, unions on the other.
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  169.  Johnson Li  When you learn what paragraphs are, maybe then I'll read your posts. Until then, take your CCP propaganda elsewhere. You don't fool me for a second.
    20
  170. This is very true, and so important. There's an old saying to the effect that you really don't have to figure people out. If they're serious and worth worrying about, they'll tell you exactly who they are. If politicians are talking about something, it means they want to do it and if they want to do it bad enough, they'll find a way. It won't be today or tomorrow or even next month or next year.... but it's coming. Of that, you can be certain. Listen and heed warnings! As Andrew says - better years too early than a day too late.
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  171. The thing about nomads is... They move..... A lot. They don't just move once then stop. And that's what digital nomads, nomad capitalists and just plain old vagabond travelers have to at least be prepared to do at all times. The world is constantly changing and the process for evaluating "where you're treated best" is never ending. Be prepared to change as conditions change. You have to have, like Andrew says, a plan A, plan B, plan C and maybe a D, E, F, and G too.
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  172. There's a popular meme about certain types of new technology which are very high on the anticipation scale but equally low on the practicality scale.... We say "they're the technology of the future - and they always will be." I'm reminded of this every time someone talks about Argentina's potential and I think to myself, yes; they're the superpower of the future... and they always will be. They're like the hotshot rookie in sports who has all the skills but none of the discipline and drive necessary to convert them into success. Like much of Latin America, Argentina seems to be its own worst enemy. They've got so much going for them yet can't shake their addiction to whomever the latest and greatest political savior is who's going to rescue them from the last one. A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step, it's true, and at the end of Argentina's thousand miles is a fantastic, prosperous future but as a country, they can never seem to get past about the 50 mile mark.
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  173. Because nuclear weapons are a last resort, not a first one. No nation wants to use those things for many very obvious reasons so it's desirable to have a great many other layers of defense before one gets to that; territory being just one. Using that logic, you could also ask why they need any other forms of military capabilities at all. They have nuclear weapons so what do they need a navy for? Or an army or anything else? Because they don't want the enemies to be at the gates of Moscow and then have no other recourse but to use their nuclear weapons.
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  174. I don't buy these half-hearted and coerced apologies from politicians about stuff like this or most anything else, really. If you have to be pressured to issue an apology, you're not really sorry, you're just doing what you're told. She said it which means she was thinking it. A person can think something without saying it but they can't say something without thinking it. She said what she was thinking, she said what she meant and she meant what she said. There's an end of it. She's not sorry for saying it, she's sorry she got in trouble for it.
    19
  175. Hate speech = speech I hate. The powerful care about nothing except protecting their power. This type of thing has never once led to a good place and it won't this time.
    19
  176. International pressure must be broad based, sustained and unflinching to be effective. People look for instant and favorable results. That's not the way it works. You don't drive a nail in one blow and you don't change behaviors overnight. Just because one thing you do doesn't give you immediate results is not a reason to quit.
    19
  177. The thing that I keep coming back to... and the thing that everyone else seems to be missing, or won't talk about... is how her OWN TEAMMATES just stand there or casually walk past as if nothing happened!! What the ever lovin' F is that??!! If I were CC, I'd walk out! Walk off the court and never come back. Head to Europe and play there. Then let the WNBA explain THAT to the sponsors!
    19
  178. Can't come a day too soon!
    19
  179. If you're not a person who has experience with foreign countries / cultures, my personal suggestion would be to take a few short trips and see how you like things before taking the big plunge and calling the moving van. Just remember that when you're in a different country, you're in a different country. Don't expect things to be the same as where you came from. You will like certain things, others you will not but keep an open mind and most of all remember one thing..... it's YOUR responsibility to adapt to your new environment; not the other way around. We all know of times when foreigners / tourists rubbed us the wrong way in our own home countries. Well, don't be THAT person when it's you travelling abroad. You can turn people off and against you remarkably quickly and in many cases, not even realize you've done so. First impressions are lasting ones so make sure the one you make is positive because it can be very hard to undo it if you don't.
    19
  180. This is SO important! People are so easily distracted by petty day to day developments when what they should be paying attention to are trends. I heard a young person say one time quite a while ago that older generations really ought to be nicer to young people because - "we're the ones who are going to be managing the nursing homes you'll die in." We could take that statement as some sort of thinly veiled threat but there is in fact, a lot of truth in it so I take it as a warning. I don't plan to spend a single day in a nursing home but if I do grow old here, I will be living in a world where those who are young today will be in control of every lever of power and every social construct. And what do the young of today want? Exactly what they're taught to want.... Socialism! Yes; a few of them will come to their senses as they mature but the proportion who do gets smaller and smaller with every passing generation. I'm not going to gamble my future on them.
    19
  181. I don't think there's any real risk of any of this happening for the simple reason that Putin is a whole lot smarter and cagier than people are giving him credit for. He's a man who can change up his game and his strategy unlimited times to suit his needs. True - the invasion was a mistake and I'm certain he's realized that long ago but many such as him have made similar mistakes in the past only to change strategy as many times as necessary and ultimately prevail. Putin banked on the weakness of the west and I remain unconvinced that he was wrong in doing so. Everyone is making a big deal out of all this supposed western unity but I've yet to see any real evidence of it. Yes, they have all talked a good game but to date, there's been very little in the way of concrete action. Putin has two great trump cards in his hand - grain and oil. When the world starts to really feel the pain of the loss of both of those commodities, you'll hear a different tune being sung. The world cannot replace the grain from Ukraine and Europe; for all its high sounding proclamations to the contrary, cannot do without Russian oil and gas..... and they know it. So does Putin. Look for Russia to continue to press the invasion until they've secured the Donbass then they'll stop. Sham referendums will be held and off he'll go to Europe with the two words which are the wet dreams of every western leader - peace and negotiations. At that point, he'll get most of what he wants and it'll be business as usual by the 1 year anniversary on 24 Feb 23. You heard it here first.
    18
  182. If they were smart, they would be. But then again.....
    18
  183. An old codger I used to know many years ago had a favorite saying about politics that always stuck with me. He'd say - "Look after the reasonable and you'll never have to worry about the radical." There's another one that I heard once that also stuck with me. I don't know the origin of it but it goes - "Contented people don't revolt." When you are seeing movements that you consider reactionary or extreme... and each person can define for themselves what those terms mean.... it's an indication that something is wrong somewhere and that things are broken. It means that the people in charge and the systems in place are failing. It means that the reasonable is not being looked after and that the people are not content. These are what are euphemistically called "canaries in the coal mine." But it also means that those in charge are unable or unwilling to accept and admit that something is wrong and that a course correction of some sort is called for. Instead, they react in typical political fashion by doubling and tripling down on their failures and attacking the people and groups which spring up in opposition to them..... which of course, only fuels the fires even more.
    18
  184. I think he was misspeaking there. I think he was talking about China and said Japan by mistake. He'd already said a few sentences earlier that Japan had the 2nd best power projection navy after the US.
    18
  185. I actually flew on that old plane a few times. You'd be amazed at how spartan it actually was. I was serving in the military and posted in the Middle East in the 90s during Chretien's time when he refused to use it. So the Air Force just used it for general cargo and personnel on short hops. We often got our mail and other deliveries on that plane. Chretien refusing to use it was purely symbolic and, as it turned out, rather stupid since flying him around on other aircraft actually ended up costing more.
    18
  186. Been to Singapore and loved it. Can't wait to visit Dubai.
    18
  187. One thing I learned from my days in the military is that numbers should always be considered suspect. Saying you have X number of anything is all well and fine but the real question is how many are serviceable and battle ready at any one time and how well trained are the crews? It's evident from looking at the Ukraine situation that the answers to those questions are a) not that many and b) pretty piss-poor.
    17
  188. I was pretty sure he was going to refer to something internal. I didn't known he'd be that specific but it's certainly a valid point. As someone said below, we can not be defeated from without until we are first broken from within and for at least a quarter century now, there have been innumerable actors, domestic and foreign, who have been working diligently towards that very goal. Why waste time and energy trying to win a war against us if you can easily get us to destroy ourselves for a fraction of the cost? Their successes have not yet been total but they have been significant.
    17
  189. When can we expect your channel to launch?
    17
  190. It's only through repeated failures that success can be achieved.
    17
  191. Great information! Uruguay is a place I've always been, and continue to be, quite curious about. Don't say I'll relocate there but I'm definitely going to stop in and have a look. A variety of perspectives is very valuable. I agree with some of the other commenters. Quiet and/or boring is not always necessarily a bad thing. Sometimes that's exactly what I want.
    17
  192.  @ulfosterberg1979  Europe? A big stick? You're too naive for words.
    17
  193. "Winning" and "losing" are in this context, used as metaphors for gaining and declining.
    17
  194. Well, I would say the two are rather linked together, are they not?
    17
  195. I've never had any concerns about Ireland. It may not be a NATO member but it's an EU member and a stable western democracy and security partner. It never hurts to have a few neutral nations on hand that are trustworthy and dependable and who the rest of the world trusts. Perhaps one or two nations who can step up to tell NATO when it's treading dangerously isn't a bad thing. Besides, I have no doubt whose side Ireland would be on if the sh*t ever really hit the fan. I'd warmly welcome Ireland into the fold if it ever chose to come aboard, just as I will Sweden and Finland later this year. But for now, Ireland can keep its neutrality if that's what it chooses. It's never going to be an antagonist and there are always lots of other ways to help out... which Ireland has done admirably in the past and continues to do.
    17
  196. Yup, pretty much.
    16
  197. Army - "Where's our money?!" Government - "Wait... surely you didn't take that promise seriously, did you? You can't all be that dumb, can you?"
    16
  198.  @JimEatsPlants  Great. So a collision happens, 15 people (and counting) are dead and magically it's "nobody's fault" because.... society failed. How convenient. I'll bet the semi driver at the Humboldt bus crash is wondering why it wasn't society's fault then.
    16
  199. Let them beg.
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  200. I like his point about avoiding WW2 and it's one I've made myself many times. In fact, there are so, so many modern conflicts which could've been avoided had we shown some intellect, resolve, courage and willingness. Keeping our forces keen and strong instead of letting them atrophy would've helped too.
    16
  201. Could listen to Gen Hodges all day long.
    16
  202. Exactly!!
    16
  203.  @scratchy996  Anywhere, really. Bulgaria, Hungary, Romania, Slovakia, The Baltics, Georgia, Serbia, even some day maybe, Ukraine. Every one of them represents a huge opportunity for foreign investment and growth. It'll take drive and determination on their parts as well; it's a two-way street, after all, but it could pay huge dividends for all sides. It would also have the side benefit of prying them loose from Russian influence. Win - win all around.
    16
  204. Absolutely fantastic news! Delighted to hear it.
    16
  205. Well done, lads; good shooting!
    16
  206.  @fizywig  Who knows? It might someday if it finds itself inundated with expats but Malaysia is so much bigger and has so much more room to grow and develop that I think it's highly unlikely; at least in the near future.
    16
  207. All of this is aspirational and while it's good to aspire, set goals and make plans, turning them into reality is quite something else. What is not accounted for here is just how China intends to pay for all of this. China gained most of its wealth by turning itself into the world's factory. Exploiting western shortsightedness and greed worked wonders for China but that only works for a while and there's every indication that the trend is starting to turn. Add in the facts that China is no longer the ultra cheap place to do business it once was, that they still haven't mastered the art of manufacturing high value products, that their game plan is now laid bare for all to see, that their economy has plateaued, their demography is in crisis and their debt situation is a looming disaster and you have what is certain to be a very bad period on the horizon for China. With the way things are headed for them, they'll do very well to maintain what they have, never mind dreaming about world domination. And that's not even accounting for the fact that the US, UK, Japan, Korea, Taiwan, Australia, Vietnam, India, Indonesia and others are not simply going to sit around with their thumbs up their butts just watching all this happen. They're going to respond and do so in a massive way.
    15
  208. Lately, I've been taking a glance out into my backyard in the mornings just to see if Peter might be doing a video from there. He can't have too many new places left.
    15
  209. David Eby's BC. Justin Trudeau's Canada.
    15
  210. 3 minutes out of 15... 20% of the video.... dealt with the topic referenced in the headline. You're practicing a fancy form of click baiting.
    15
  211. And results are still pending.
    15
  212. You wanted socialism, you got socialism. Enjoy it.
    15
  213. Piracy never went away. It just evolved and moved around which it continues to do.
    14
  214. Glad you posted the corrections, Peter. 800 meters is just about 1/2 a mile and though I don't live there, I'm pretty sure that if Texas had 1/2 mile high wind turbines, I'd have seen videos or at least pictures of them before now.
    14
  215. Technically no but they are all integral and in many cases vital, components of how information is disseminated so they have to be looked at in the same way as if they were news. There were once pretty clear lines between straight "news" and analysis and opinion but those lines have blurred to the point that they've effectively disappeared so it's just that much more important to view all of these things as one and the same. Something like 90% of what passes for journalism today is controlled by 5-6 mega corporations. Corporations care about one thing and one thing only; profit. There is no money to be made in simply relaying information. The real money is in hooking people with sensation and scandal. They do that by presenting the facts selectively and in a certain way, creating and maintaining narratives. News organizations at one time tried to give at least the appearance of some kind of balance. No longer. Today, it's as much about reformulating your beliefs and addicting you to a particular flavor of scandal thereby creating repeat customers for their product as it is about informing you. You are being propagandized and gas lit like never before and that's why it's important to recognize and understand the role of opinion in the news process.
    14
  216.  @Loreless  Really?? Syria and North Korea?? Well my God, why didn't you say so? That changes everything!
    14
  217.  @Visit_Tangier  I did nearly 25 years in the military and met, served with, worked with and crossed paths with, literally hundreds of British, Australian and New Zealand military personnel on multiple occasions including in their own countries embedded inside their own units and I didn't encounter a single one who pronounced that word as "corpse." I can't say for sure but I really don't think they changed their speech habits just because I was there.
    14
  218. Bolsonaro, Lula,..... what's the difference? Brazil, like nearly all of Latin America, is a slow moving train wreck on auto-replay. Wild swings right followed by wild swings left but the results never change.
    14
  219. As a fellow Canadian, I approve Kevin's message....... Hoo boy, do I EVER approve that message?!
    14
  220. Poor and run down as it is, there's still a certain charm about the place. The people seem a lot friendlier than lots of other places.
    14
  221. They keep trying socialism over and over too; despite the fact it's never worked. "Oh, it'll be different this time!" "We've grown, we've learned, we can do it better!" These are the very same people who tell you over and over that you cannot have wealthy people having that much power over individuals because unlimited wealth means unlimited power. But yet, what are they asking for if not unlimited power?? Somehow, I'm supposed to believe these cretins will be so much different than the oligarchs when unlimited power is grated to them! HA!!! As if!!
    14
  222. I've heard many testimonials from ex-Yugoslavs who said what's going on here reflects exactly what went on in their country..... powerful and influential voices deliberately and systematically driving wedges into society, peddling grievances, tearing it apart and turning the people against each other for their own personal political and monetary gain.... all while cloaking themselves in patriotism. Didn't turn out so well for them and it won't for us either.
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  223. Not much wonder, really. When you throw open the doors to your house, hang up "All are welcome, help yourself" signs, unlock all the cupboards and leave your wallet on the kitchen table then let in anything that can drag itself through the doors without so much as a "who are you", you can't be shocked when your house is picked clean, your wallet emptied, your carpets are covered in garbage, your car stolen and your children terrified. Either you have borders or you don't and those borders mean something or they don't and you're prepared to defend them or you aren't. And if leftists keep saying that defending borders is something only fascists would do then it won't be long before the people say "fine; we'll hire fascists to do it, then!"
    14
  224. Please send Ukraine enough weapons systems generally to obliterate the entirety of the Russian Armed Forces.
    13
  225.  @rorykeegan1895  Are you seriously trying to suggest that Iran could prevail in a war with the US?
    13
  226. "Where is the humanity?" I dunno, where's your toothpaste?
    13
  227. I'm a Canadian and I can confirm every single word of this person's testimony. I'll also echo what she said about it being merely three examples.... because there are thousands! The truly sad thing is that a very significant portion of the Canadian population enthusiastically supports this and wants to see more of it... a LOT more, which is why it's probably too late for us. But it's not for you in America. Yes, we do have a constitution here in Canada but it's very vague in its wording; deliberately so, and chock full of all kinds loopholes, opt-outs and off ramps to give the government(s) cover to do all sorts of things "in the common good." Ours was written very recently, in 1982 in fact, and largely at the whim of Pierre Trudeau, the current PM's father and a man who admired and respected such luminaries of freedom and democracy as Lenin, Mao and Castro, and who enjoys near God like reverence in our country so you know 1) how his son comes by his tendencies and 2) why it's not likely to change and in fact, is likely to get a lot worse. Don't let that happen to you!
    13
  228. Putin can not be allowed anything that can even remotely be called a win or all this will start again when he regains his strength. But he's nothing if not wily and devious and he well knows how little backbone the Europeans have for a just fight. All he has to say at any point is "OK, lets' negotiate" and he'll get whatever he wants.
    13
  229. Well, I suppose if Russia wants to bring about its own demise then that can't be seen as anything but a huge win for the rest of humanity. It also saves us the trouble.
    13
  230. Even the vaunted AK 47 is not really a Russian invention. It's basically a low cost copy of the German StG 44 made with stamped parts to keep costs down and increase production.
    13
  231. True but America is not unique in that respect. China and many other nations, have the exact same problems.
    13
  232. It may not be a case of fighting and winning independence. I could see the possibility of it coming down to Moscow having neither the will nor them means to hold them.
    13
  233. I'm 12 years retired from a 24 year career in the Canadian army and I thank Almighty God daily that I am finished because if I had to put up with the the kind of crap that's happening today, I'd either be in the brig or dead! I used to tell young people when they asked me that it was a great career IF you were willing to commit to it and do the work but I tell them today to not just walk away from recruiters, but to RUN away! Put my life and limb on the line for Justin Trudeau and his woke government? Not a f*cking chance!!
    13
  234. In most cases, I agree with the general analysis of this article. Many of the legacy brand countries will see their standing slide as newer, more vibrant economies rise. There is one glaring exception, though. I have great difficulty taking seriously any person, group or institution who attempts to tell me that China will continue to grow at an accelerated rate and that it will be the world's leading economy in X number of years when every major indicator suggests that it is in serious trouble and likely to go in the opposite direction. Its demographics are collapsing, its leader is the most autocratic, dictatorial and least economically astute since Mao, it has massive debt problems, it has no natural allies... no one "wants" to be its friend.... it is surrounded by hostile powers and it is no longer the cheap labor capital of the world. And after 40 years, it still hasn't mastered high value manufacturing. How can it be that these so-called "experts" can so easily recognize the weaknesses in other countries but not in China?
    13
  235. If you genuinely believe any of what you just said then I think it's pointless for me to attempt to engage with you. It would be like trying to reason with a flat-earther. But I would be curious about one thing. If you believe Peter is so wrong about everything, why are you on his channel? @ravishingravi 
    12
  236. Host - asks question, Guest - gets 1/3 of the answer out and, Host - Oh, sorry; we gotta leave it there. Gotta go, bye! Journalism at its finest!
    12
  237. Maduro - "Here is MY data that proves I won this election that I've rigged in MY favor." Democrats - "M'kay. Looks good to us. Congratulations, Mr El Presidente."
    12
  238. Don't ever change, Democrats!
    12
  239. America - "Jimmy Carter; you are the worst president EVER!" Barack Obama - "Hold my beer, Jimmy!" Joe Biden - "No, YOU hold MY beer, Barack!" (Edit) America (again) - "Alright, enough!! After this election, there will be NO MORE holding of beer!!"
    12
  240. Never mind England. First, consult with the roughly 50% of Northern Ireland who already consider themselves "free" and aren't one bit interested in your variety of it.
    12
  241. No.
    12
  242. So the moral of the story for SA, UAE & Egypt would seem to be - don't attempt to wield more power than you actually have.
    12
  243.  @badluck5647  It's a good thing he's a frail 91 year old man otherwise Chuck Norris would be finished.
    12
  244. Exactly! Some places that were thought of as safe and secure as recently as last year are no longer so. Maybe they will be again soon but they're not now.
    12
  245. Anyone who would actually want to be in California today clearly hasn't been paying much attention. I'm glad that I've already seen most of the attractions that interest me there because I have no desire to even set foot in the place again.
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  246. It may one day "come back" but history shows us that areas that start a slow, steady decline almost always have to hit rock bottom first and very often stay that way for some time before the task of bringing them back begins. By that time of course, the task at hand is colossal.
    12
  247. Andrew, be careful driving on the left side of the road until you get used to it. I actually drove on the left quite a bit in countries I visited and worked in and because the wheel is on the right, you can get used to it pretty quick if you're paying attention. BUT.... After extended periods of driving on the right, it's awfully easy to have a momentary lapse and find yourself on the wrong side of the road.... especially in low traffic situations. I actually drove for several miles on a back road in Thailand once... on the wrong side of the road... and I had a friend with me. But he was from the west too and neither of us noticed until it was almost too late and we nearly head-oned a bus on a curve. Be careful!
    12
  248. Living in Sao Paulo, you'd spend $1000 / month on ammunition keeping yourself safe! You might as well be in Baghdad!
    12
  249. Gotta admit I'm a bit shocked by this. Peter says (and has said) "we all knew this was coming." Well I had serious doubts it was coming because I had serious doubts as to Germany's fortitude and resolve If this is indeed an indication that Germany really is serious about pulling its weight and standing up to Russia, I commend them and am more than delighted to admit I was wrong. There's no need for war between them though, or anything close to that. All that needs to happen is for the west to work diligently to carve Putin off from his people. He's getting away with this largely because the Russian people don't know the truth about this war nor depth and breadth of Putin's crimes generally. Fix that... get around his propaganda machine, cut him off from his money, turn the oligarchs against him and we may just have done with this criminal once and for all. Then maybe, for the first time in their history, the long-suffering Russian people might have a chance at a normal existence in a normal country not run by thugs and criminals.
    11
  250. Yes, Canada is a very small part of the problem. That means it should be very easy for us to solve, doesn't it? As for the guns, that's also easily fixed... with a bit of effort and resolve. As we are so fond of telling the Americans whenever it suits our purposes, "your borders are your problem." Well, that is very true..... and our borders are our problem, aren't they? If the guns are coming into our country, then it's up to our customs and border authorities to do something about it, isn't it?
    11
  251. This is a terrible situation for China! We in the west should set ourselves seriously to determining what we can do to help..... accelerate the collapse.
    11
  252. I feel nothing for them; absolutely nothing.
    11
  253. I don't think it's that simple. Like Peter, I'm no expert on this but I think it's actually 50 state elections, each with a different electoral value (electoral college), and whoever wins the highest total out of that, wins the overall election. I think it comes down to the individual states to make a ruling on who is and is not eligible to be on a ballot and the SCOTUS is going to rule on if that state's law A) was properly applied and B) whether it was constitutional.
    11
  254. It happens in some form, everywhere.
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  255. As a Canadian, I'd simply like to point out that you folks in Europe are blessed to have journalistic outlets of the quality you do. I won't comment on which are the best because I've only just begun to watch any of them in any significant way but over here, absolutely everything has to get spun as being the fault of one side of our own political spectrum or the other. Maybe you folks have that too and I'm just not seeing it but it's just so refreshing to watch real news and quality analysis without the constant innuendo, finger pointing and shouting.
    11
  256. Oh, if only there was a historian who could regale us with tales of the obscure and little known bits of history that no one else does! A voice from the heavens - "I bestow upon thee... Mark Felton!"
    11
  257. Da Judge bringin' the heat!
    11
  258. Well, it is Katie Porter we're talking about after all. I mean, what would you expect? Actually kinda surprised it wasn't even worse.
    11
  259. Actually, you just might be surprised; really surprised. I'm a "Boomer" and I'm well aware that the first reaction of my generation towards this question would be "h*ll no!" but I've found that much of that sentiment comes from those who've never served and have had very little exposure to the military. There's a tendency to always want to associate any group; especially those we don't know very well, with the worst among their numbers. This is unfair and inaccurate. I'm a military veteran myself and my career was in the closing stages around 9/11 (and no, I'm not American) and I can tell you that interest in a military career and in recruiting took a real uptick around that time and that lasted well into the years when Afghanistan and Iraq weren't going well Young people today are different than earlier times, it's true, but there are still plenty of similarities. Young people still want adventures, to be challenged, to achieve excellence and to serve. It would certainly depend on the circumstances but if the need was there, I think you might be very surprised at not only how many would sign up but how effective they'd be.
    11
  260. Well, if nothing else, this may be one more incentive for these companies to finally wake up and smell the coffee and fully and permanently de-couple from China.
    11
  261. Canadian here - It's both shocking and gratifying in a weird way to see the looks on the faces of the "that-would-never-happen-here" crowd lately. I've been warning of this for years but people in the above category were always pooh-poohing me. It's a matter of simple demographics. The millennial/college/SJW set is growing, it's getting older and is starting to work its way into positions of power so this is the kind of thing you're going to see more of in the years ahead. I'm not a 7 or 8 figure individual so I don't have as many options as some but I'm still making plans to get the hell out. I can see plainly what's coming down the tracks and I want no part of it.
    11
  262. $$$$$
    10
  263. 😂😂
    10
  264. This is too funny! The woke get caught up in their own BS and it blows up in their face. Priceless!!
    10
  265. No she didn't. The school they attended in Switzerland was not a university, it was a private primary / secondary school for foreigners. They weren't old enough for university when they lived in Switzerland. @Gwaycee 
    10
  266. I was already seeking to avoid air travel any way I could. Now I'll try even harder.
    10
  267. Well said and absolutely correct!
    10
  268. Headline - "Vast oil and gas reserves discovered in Antarctica." Penguins - "Welp, it's been a great neighborhood but thing's is 'bout to get mighty interestin' 'round here."
    10
  269.  @cjregister6766  I'm old enough and experienced enough and have seen enough of the comings and goings of life that individuals and individual events no longer occupy my attention. I pay attention to trends and trajectories. What many see today as a few crazy people and a few isolated events are in fact a progression of trends which started some 50 years ago. I and many of my generation saw them building then and warned against them. We were called fools. Today we're called far worse. Some will say to stay and fight. I ask first; fight for what and secondly; fight for whom? This is no longer the country I knew and it likely never will be again. Furthermore, at least half of the citizenry... and it grows daily... think I'm a monster of some sort so why would I want to live amongst that much less fight for it? Some will call me a quitter. Others, a traitor. I no longer care. Call me whatever the hell you want. Whatever it is, I've been called worse. I worked my whole life and contributed to the building of this country to the best of my ability and this is what it's come to. I served 26 years in uniform, built two businesses and paid taxes for 50+ years. I've done my part. My "fighting" days are done. It's time to relax. I'm often told that it's not my world anymore. That's very true; it isn't. It's someone else's and they can live with it or fight to change it. I'm done.
    10
  270.  @tipsylabelle1600  For that much, I will accept responsibility. We produced a coddled, entitled lot and now we're paying for it.
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  271. Well Dad, it's a serious situation to be sure and we'll have to address it eventually but for the moment, there are bigger fish to fry. We can't move forward as a society until we tackle the really big, really important problems like firmly establishing the proper hierarchy of victimhood, a full understanding of intersectionality, acknowledgment of the need to use the correct pronouns and most of all, our acceptance and embrace of gender fluidity and the need to ensure our kids can use the bathroom of their choice. We'll get to China later.
    10
  272. Everything you say is true but still, I'd rather have Turkey on my side than against me. They are frequently a huge pain in the arse but their geography as well as their massive and capable military more than make up for it. This will get worked out. It may take a while and no doubt some arm twisting and compromise but it will get worked out. Not everyone will get everything they want but in the end, we'll get what we need.
    10
  273. This is an example of why Putin doesn't really fear the EU or NATO very much. They both consist of over 2 dozen different nations, all with their own ideas, priorities, agendas and so on. In other words, they're divisible. It really doesn't matter what the issue is or which country or countries it is at any given time. If he can keep them fighting and squabbling amongst themselves over anything at all, he weakens them and strengthens himself.
    10
  274.  @JMM33RanMA  Weather reports are in fact, a very good comparative. Perhaps you meant it that way, perhaps you didn't but it is an apt comparison. People often joke about weather reports, how often they change and how supposedly inaccurate they are but the funny little secret about them that most people don't realize.... They're supposed to change. Weather reports are simply predictions based on the latest available data. When the data changes, the forecast changes. You'll notice that forecasts a week to 10 days out are rarely accurate but those 12 to 24 hours out are usually very accurate. Analysts like PZ are very much the same. They analyze the most current available information and data and give us their best guess as to what will happen based upon that. And just like weather reports, when his data changes, so does his analysis. That's the way it's supposed to work.
    9
  275. Any random person - "Hey; wanna know how tall the WW2 leaders were?" Me - "Uhh, no. Who the hell cares about that?" Mark Felton - "Hey; wanna know how tall the WW2 leaders were?" Me - "Damn straight! Let's do this!"
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  276. Sorry to say it because of all the years of hard work they put in but it's going to take mass boycotts by all involved to put a stop to this. If you are opposed to this and you're a player, you're going to have to walk away and refuse to participate. Same for coaches, trainers, officials, whatever. Enough people do this, and enough pain; financial and otherwise, is brought upon schools, they'll have to shut it down.
    9
  277. Well, I don't drink beer so they're not getting me back 'cause they never had me in the first place. But if the brand was sold back and every single executive fired, I'd call that a win.
    9
  278. "So it's not political, it's Castro's failed policies." Umm.... Isn't that a bit like saying "it's not the fall, it's the sudden stop at the end?"
    9
  279. Personally, I agree completely however it looks as though that ship has sailed and we're now back in the familiar old territory of "let's get a deal; ANY deal, because WE are uncomfortable." This war has been abysmally handled from day one by every nation. Before day one actually, because I firmly believe that a robust show of force before a shot had been fired would have stopped it before it had even started. But like so many times throughout history, we don't do that sort of thing because it's so much easier to bury our heads in the sand and pretend reality is something else. Then when things are much too far gone, we send the younger generations out onto the battlefields to pay for our mistakes with their lives. And we wonder why recruiting is in the toilet.
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  280. As a (former) Republican, I can say with feeling that I couldn't be happier that the Republican party is tearing itself apart. Well actually, that's not quite true. There is something which would please me more - if one of the pieces was somehow able to grow back into something I could support again.
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  281. It could be for any or all the reasons the officer mentioned but it could just as easily be that they were simply abandoned. That would be right in line with how Russia treats its soldiers.
    9
  282. I've met and worked with a LOT of Iranians over my lifetime and there wasn't a single one I didn't like and respect. Super smart, super motivated and super nice.... IF you respect them and their culture. If there was a way to get rid of the stone age zealots who run that country, and those people could really show what they could do,.... watch out!!
    9
  283. I don't think it's nearly as hard as has been portrayed here. Obviously you can't decouple yourself overnight or the chaos mentioned here would become a reality but a slow, methodical approach would not result in very much upheaval at all. But we have to start NOW. It starts by cutting deals with China's main adversaries like Vietnam, India and The Philippines and moving your business there. Interestingly, this is already happening in many sectors and without much or even any coercion from the US government. As more and more companies start to see China for what it really is, and realize the risks of tying up a lot of money in the country, they're already taking steps to separate themselves. Furthermore, China is no longer the bargain basement manufacturer of choice. Mexican labor for example, is now cheaper than Chinese labor as well as being just better overall and much more reliable. And I'll mention again what a glorious opportunity Latin America represents to the US and Eastern Europe does to Western Europe. Making some serious investments in those areas would pay huge dividends in a relatively short time and as a bonus, go a LONG way in solving the migrant crisis.
    9
  284. Ungovernable? Latin America? Well, the two go pretty much hand in hand. Hard swings left followed by hard swings right and what ever changes? Theme song of Latin America ought to be "The Song Remains the Same."
    9
  285. I don't find it particularly surprising that some people, or even most people, in Bulgaria and elsewhere in Eastern Europe have a kind of fondness for Russia. After all, they lived under the umbrella, influence and shadow of the Russian / Soviet Empire for centuries. You don't erase that in 30 years; especially when you're as poor as Bulgaria is and they perceive that Russia has done at least something for them in recent memory. And it's not as though Western Europe is exactly doing very much to win their affections. If you want to shove Russia out of the picture, then start demonstrating what you have to offer that's better. If the EU (and the USA, for that matter) were smart they'd be investing heavily in places like Bulgaria and Hungary and bettering their economic prospects so they wouldn't continue to be tempted by, and look favorably upon, despots like Putin who only ever meant to exploit them. Instead of buying everything from China and feeding cash to the PRC war machine, why not build factories in Bulgaria? Shorter and much more stable supply lines, you'd be keeping the wealth in Europe and you'd be dealing with allies instead of enemies - win/win.
    9
  286. Power and support to Ukraine, from Canada!
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  287. Such a beautiful sight to behold!
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  288. A government of the corporations, by the corporations and for the corporations.
    9
  289. I tend to agree that AC wouldn't be very effective in those types of vehicles but there still has to be something that can be done. Maybe suction fans in the back to blow hot air out? Or just regular fans up front... I'm sure there's something. It may not be perfect but it can at least help.
    9
  290.  Johnson Li  USA > China.
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  291.  @jeffh3984  I'm ex-military so living out of duffel bags in strange places is nothing new for me. Not so for everyone, granted. Start slow, go somewhere for a month. Open a bank account with $1K, rent a small apartment, eat local food. In time, you'll get used to it and grow to like it. Starting is the hardest part.
    9
  292.  @zaharizak  Yeah, it sure has been too long, alright. I didn't really realize it had been this long until I started watching Andrew's channel. I'm hoping to get there soon. I'm starting to wind things down here in Canada... in fact, I'm working on that at the moment, actually.
    9
  293. Perfect!!
    9
  294. Lived in Cambodia for 6 months about 30 years ago.... and damned near ended up married too! Was a sh1thole then but I still liked it. Looks a lot different today from these video shots.
    9
  295.  @antovvvvvv  The name of the book is "Towards a Just Society." The rest you can look up yourself.
    9
  296. The caption on the thumbnail graphic - "It's not over yet!" As someone who was posted in Syria and lived there for a year, I can say with feeling - "You're goddam right, it isn't!!" Syria; like Iraq and Libya and even Yugoslavia before it, is an absolute dog's breakfast of ethnicities, religions, sect, tribes and so on and loyalties are at best, fleeting. The only good thing about thugs like Assad, Saddam, Qadaffi and Tito was that they kept a firm lid on things. The people were all united in their hatred of the regime and as such, had no time to hate each other. Remove the strongman and that element goes away..... And you've seen the result! Further evidence of the total lack of credibility of the western mainstream media is the way they are all celebrating the events of the past few weeks as some sort of liberation and the beginning of some new age of peace and harmony and the like; much the same as we heard from them during the "Arab Spring." Which only proves how little they know and understand about the region, its people and how things work there. Anyone who lived there like I did could've told them they were delusional and I was proven right. Thank God we now have alternate sources of media like Shirvan who tell people the truth instead of blowing sunshine up people's asses!
    8
  297.  @jeffsuter344  How so? The headline reads "Historian predicts how Russia's war in Ukraine might end?" He never told us that. Did I miss something? He told us several things which would never be acceptable to each side; all of which we knew, so what is his prediction? Enlighten me.
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  298. To add more alcohol to the mix, Peter is not the first nor by no means the only one saying these things. He's just the most visible. I can remember many of these issues being discussed in the 80s and 90s by random, nameless intellectuals at obscure symposiums and lectures. (I'm one of those pathetic souls who follows that sort of thing and have even handed over good money on occasion.)
    8
  299. Finally, someone mentions the cheese sandwich. It's so often overlooked.
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  300. Yes, they are; in style. But Peter was referring to an earlier time.
    8
  301. You're correct. Peter, I've noticed, sometimes has a habit of misspeaking and I believe what he meant to say was that no Soviet ally ever deployed troops outside of its own... or other ally's... territory. Czechoslovakia, being a fellow Warsaw Pact member, would not have, in the opinion of the Soviets, amounted to an international deployment since Moscow thought of all of them as their own.
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  302. Ukrainians are doing a great deal of this on their own..... with lots of donated gear, for sure and I'd be very surprised.... and deeply disappointed as well.... if the US, UK, NATO etc were not providing a ton of other support as well. Real time satellite imaging and intelligence immediately spring to mind..... but I expect there's more. Proper thing, too! The more we can do to drive up the cost to Russia and hasten its demise as a prominent military entity, the better.
    8
  303. It seems the colonial empires of old, or at least some of them, just can't let go of the old ways and the old territories. But it also seems like they're not upping their game to meet the current situations that they find themselves in. They're not reading the ground very well. A handful of local strongmen and their rag-tag armies along with a few Wagner thugs were all it took to frog march the baguettes and berets crowd right straight out of Africa with the door slammed behind them and the mat pulled up and it appears much the same is about to happen in the South Pacific. This is why I always descend into uproarious laughter whenever Macaroons starts blathering about conscription and sending French troops to Ukraine. That, and the fact that he's personally about as popular at home as a turd in a swimming pool. Any serous move to enact conscription in France today and they'd be pulling the guillotines out of the museum cellars.
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  304.  @veronicamaine3813  Peter doesn't miss this. I've heard him address it numerous times. And you are also correct. That's the thing.... It is possible for two things to be true at the same time.
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  305. "Peter is wrong! Only about 15-20% of Transylvania is Hungarian!" Hang on a second, folks. Don't put words in Peter's mouth. He implied that Hungary has designs on the region because of the ethnic Hungarian population there. He never said it was a valid or justifiable claim, just that they have it. All kinds of nations have had claims of one degree or another on other nation's territories based on the ethnicity of the people living there and it's very often only a small minority. But that hasn't stopped them from doing so.
    8
  306. Those who are able to leave and don't, get no sympathy from me. Your taxes support these policies and your votes put the people who implement them into office.
    8
  307. I'm inclined to think they knew all along what they needed to do but took all this time to try to stitch together some sort of narrative to justify it and this nonsense is the best they could come up with.
    8
  308. Trump cleaning out the trash and he ain't even been sworn in yet!
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  309. Fine. BUT..... I want this guy or the chief or somebody like them to get the balls to state directly and publicly that this individual's request for more police protection is DENIED!! "The department is dangerously overtasked and understaffed and we simply do not have the resources to be able to allot special protection for individual citizens. You'll simply have to take your chances like everyone else"
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  310. I don't really know how much more "exposed" she could be than she already is. I mean, who is she fooling? No one as far as I can see. Even people in her own party know exactly what and who she is.
    8
  311. Ever notice how much time he seems to be spending at the front lately? Probably feels safer there... and with good reason.
    8
  312. Russia breaks an agreement; my God!! I'm just shocked beyond belief! I mean, who could possibly have predicted that?
    8
  313. Hi Sourena! I hope you find success in your ventures and I hope and pray that Iran can one day throw off its shackles and take its rightful place in the world. When I was a child, We had an Iranian family living in our community. They were the best people! I've met and worked with many other Iranians over the years and respected all of them. Someday, I hope I can visit Iran and meet the people as friends and I welcome all Iranians to my country. Love and respect from Canada!
    8
  314. China's going to mess with Vietnam, eh? Well, good luck with that. You'll frickin' well need it.
    8
  315. Any wonder Trump tried to "buy" Greenland?
    8
  316. Cannot express how immensely proud I am of Poland! Worked with Polish troops in 1992 and again in 2006 and all these years later, I still can't believe how profound the change in just a few years. I look forward with hope to a Europe led by Poland and its eastern brothers. These are the nations who KNOW what freedom means and how easily it's lost through weakness. The old block of Germany, France and increasingly Britain has totally lost its way and has become weak, soft and fearful. Don't let Brussels push you around, Poland. YOU are the rising power in Europe, not them. YOU have made yourself strong and proud and free while they have declined in both power and importance. You are rising, they are faltering. All power and glory to my Polish friends from a (retired) NATO brother in Canada. I salute you!!
    8
  317.  @rickfool1452  You clowns must be so relieved you don't have to show your faces on these threads.
    8
  318.  @badluck5647  I suppose you could look at it that way but it's kind of like saying that it's pointless to lock your doors because the thieves will just break in anyway. If you are smart enough about 1) who you select to begin with and 2) how you word the contracts, they can still be pretty effective. Not perfect but still an important tool in the box. Not everybody has the desire nor the ability to just pick up and move and if you demonstrate a level of commitment to your employees there's a good chance the gesture might just be reciprocated.
    8
  319.  @mr.uthamaputhiran9790  Who's blaming immigrants?
    8
  320. Just keep the busses rolling. Send 'em to LA, NYC, SF, Chicago, Denver...... They said it, they want 'em, no limits, so let's keep 'em moving.
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  321. Keep this guy and I'll start watching again. Never mind the "celebrity" hosts. They all bring baggage of some sort. They will always be identified by whatever their previous gig was or by whatever identity they may have had before. That's not what you want. Let someone new come in fresh with no baggage and make the show his/her own like Alex did.
    8
  322.  Johnson Li  Xi Jinping is a chiseler.
    8
  323. As someone who's travelled a lot in SE Asia, I can tell you that Andrew is 110% correct about Malaysia and Kuala Lumpur. I never spent one single minute in the country that was not enjoyable. KL is a nice in-between from Singapore and Bangkok. Both certainly have their charms and I found a lot to like but Singapore is a bit too pricey for me to be in long term and Bangkok is a bit too poor. I was always getting hit on by Thai women who assumed I was there for a "certain" reason which I was not there for.
    8
  324. Never, ever, allow any one specific skill set to be held by any one single person in your organization. If you do, and if that person is so inclined, they can control your business and potentially steer it in a direction you don't want it to go in. Efficiency is good but never pursue it to the point that you've knocked out all the fail-safes that could save you from trouble. Redundancies are a good thing; don't be scared of them.
    8
  325. What a mess!
    8
  326. Turkey has muscles, they know they do, and they're flexing them. I can't say as I blame them, to be honest. I don't quite agree with them, but I don't blame them.
    8
  327. Waking up Christmas morning and finding a motherlode under the tree, Finding $20 you didn't know you had in your coat pocket, Snow days off from school, Getting your first bicycle.... And waking up to find a Caspian Report video in your notifications!
    7
  328. That may be their ambition but having a plan and pulling it off are two vastly different things. It puts a serious challenge to the imagination to think that two countries so markedly different in so many ways and which have so many problems, both internal and external, could cooperate to any great degree for very long. Each nation is in full scale demographic collapse, their financial outlook is terrible, their geography works against them, their capacity for innovation is very limited, the power balance between them is immense, they have many historical grievances and one has designs on large portions of the other's territory. Furthermore, both are authoritarian dictatorships with very few natural allies and the ones they do have are in as bad a shape as they are and just as poor or worse.
    7
  329. What difference would it make? Rules, regardless of who makes them or what they're written on or "carved into", are only as good as the various signatories' willingness to observe them and their partners willingness; and ability, to enforce them. Rules are broken all the time by parties that believe they can get away with it because their opponents are either unwilling or unable to do anything about it. Big boys' rules have always applied and still do today. As the old saying goes; "might makes right." Go ahead and make all the rules you like with players such as the USA, China, Russia, the EU; they'll follow them only so far as it suits their interests to do so. The rest of the small fry are welcome to like it or lump it as they see fit.
    7
  330. He still didn't tell us how it could end, just a bunch of ways that it can't end... all of which we already knew.
    7
  331. It really is comical, isn't it?
    7
  332.  @Mightyflynn77  There's nothing wrong with being wrong. No one is perfect; not even the pros. There's also nothing wrong with admitting you were wrong. IMO, that's just the honorable and honest thing to do. Where it all goes off the rails is when there's some long, drawn out lecture about this data and those people and blah, blah, blah, blah.... which is just a round-a-bout way of trying to blame others and say that you weren't really wrong. Screw all that! Just say you blew it, you'll try to do better next time and move on. Just for cripes sake, spare us with all the hot air! We're not interested in your explanations.
    7
  333.  @EternalEyeofRa  Well, I suppose that's the whole point, isn't it? It's never just a matter of what I can do, it's also a question of what could happen to me if I do it.
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  334. I know. You're all such angelically good and pure little boys and girls. You'd never allow yourself to be swayed by such filthy, working class considerations as inflationary pressures or costs of living.  @Tyrgalon 
    7
  335. If you think Putin is a reasonable men, it's you who needs the prayers.
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  336. Me too, but if you're really going to thank God for anything, thank him that the armed forces of Russia has proven itself so incompetent for if it actually was even a fraction as capable as people feared it was, they'd roll across Europe in a few weeks. I have confidence in the Finns, the Swedes, the Poles and God love them, the Baltics, who couldn't do much but by God, they'd try damned hard. If we had to rely on the Germans, the French and the British to stop them, God help us all!
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  337. I hope the families are satisfied with this little bit of theater dressed up as justice because it's all they're going to get. No one will ever be held to account for this or any other crime of the Russian Federation or its leadership because no one in Europe has the balls to do it.
    7
  338. It is recommended that people in Belarus keep away from sidewalks next to tall buildings for the next while. One never knows when some bald Russian guy might thunder in on top of you.
    7
  339.  @josephjouil2761  I went to high school in the early 70s with two brothers, sons of Lebanese immigrant parents. They both went back to Lebanon to fight in the war and both were killed. That was at least 10 years before Hezbollah was even a thing. Hezbollah might have worsened Lebanon's problems but there were plenty of problems long before they came along.
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  340. And they still can't get anything done!
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  341. You ain't seen nothin' yet, Stammer!
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  342. Kinda sounds like somebody wants them in her own house, doesn't it?
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  343. NO! Let them keep going! In fact, encourage them along. Two things - 1) The more they prattle on about J6, the more their support evaporates and 2) If they're preoccupied with the J6 committee, it means they're not screwing up something else. Even if they were inclined to do something about "the 3 Is", it would be the wrong thing and they'd make matters worse. When it comes to democrats, doing nothing is almost always better than doing something.
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  344. Can totally attest to Vietnam, Malaysia and Thailand. All are awesome! Never been to any of the others so I can't say. Love to go though.
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  345. No, he just sounds like a guy who's trying to peddle content on YouTube. Puts together a bunch of shit that may or may not be true that he can jazz up and attract viewers with and try to turn them into subscribers. YouTube is full of people like that!
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  346. I think they're quite happy with themselves, actually. They don't agree with the low ranking because they view all those things as positives, not negatives. And though I definitely think it should be, I doubt if this will be any kind of wake-up call to any institution with an endowment larger than the GDP of many nations.
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  347. Brandon probably called the migrant.
    7
  348. I think you're being a little overwrought yourself. The questions are legitimate ones and any answers that I've heard given were clear, concise and unambiguous.
    7
  349. Well, I hope they're not counting on much help from the west if China does come. They need only look to Ukraine who's consistently been given a fraction of what they need, months if not years too late. And every time Putin has issued some veiled (or not so veiled) threat or even said the word nuclear, Europe's "leaders" like old Grandma Scholz, have dived back under the bed whimpering and shaking in terror like a puppy in a thunderstorm. Sweet lot of f*cking help they're gonna get from that sorry lot.
    7
  350.  @terryfinnie2146  Yeah... but I think he's referring to the present. Trying to talk to the guy in the past, and the resultant disaster that comes from it, are the evidence for what he's saying. I mean, you could make the argument that it made sense to do so... or at least try... at one time... not anymore.
    7
  351. "What you are feeling and what you are seeing is not reality......." Yeah..... pretty much ended it there. Alan Lichtman - the newest member of the "Voices I used to respect" club.
    7
  352. I once read a quote from a Russian citizen that went something like - "All we want is to live in a normal country." I don't blame them a bit! After centuries of Czarist rule followed by seven decades of communist tyranny,, I would well imagine the people in that part of the world are bloody well fed up with the likes of Lukashenko and Putin. I fear it'll take a few bloody decades yet but eventually it'll come. The rotting carcasses of the dictators will be flung into a sewer and the people will finally experience freedom.
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  353. Such is the nature of power. As the video says - "Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely." Powerful people are inevitably drawn towards other powerful people and they influence each other. They begin to think differently. It is a very rare person indeed who can accumulate that much power and money and use it for benevolent means. Some may do good works along the way or later in life but the main focus for many is themselves and their own orbit. There is a valid reason for this. The more power you accumulate, the more people you attract into your orbit and very, very few of those people are there for benevolent reasons. They want what you have and some are willing to do anything to get it, hence that other old truism - "you have to be ruthless to get to the top and even more ruthless to stay there." There is always someone who wants to take you down. All of this taken together is a lesson for why we should never let anyone or anything accumulate too much power or influence, even if we may like or respect them in the beginning. Just because they may do some good today doesn't mean they may not change for the worse tomorrow or be replaced or supplanted by someone who will.
    7
  354. It is absolutely a thing of beauty to watch.
    7
  355. Galloway is absolutely awesome!
    7
  356.  Johnson Li  Mao Tse Tung smelled bad and his mother dressed him funny.
    7
  357.  Johnson Li  You're wasting your time with all that BS. I haven't read a word of it.
    7
  358.  @jeffh3984  My plan.. to the extent that I have one at all... is just to reduce everything in my life to the bare minimum, spread my money out... and just GO! I've been following several folks talking about what's called the "minimalist lifestyle" and, stay or go, it holds a lot of appeal. Basically it means that "stuff" brings you no long term satisfaction, can hold you back, costs you a lot of money, and so on. So I've been steadily ridding myself of anything that has no importance or that costs me more money than it's worth. You can't believe the feeling of freedom you get! I have one elderly parent left and when they're gone... so am I! Where? Don't know, don't care. Could be nowhere, could be everywhere. Might just slow travel my way around till the end of my days.
    7
  359. Well, I'm neither Andrew nor Australian so beggin' your pardon for butting in but from an uniformed outsider's perspective, it doesn't look promising. If the outgoing government was at least notionally conservative and they were still as bad as they were, I can't think an incoming labour government will be anything but a whole lot worse. No doubt the "gimme-free-stuff" crowd and the "run-my-life-for-me" crowd are over the moon about it but the rest of us who prefer some measure of freedoms are, I would say, in for a bit of a tough slog.
    7
  360.  @caronridge6912  You can't start... because there is no "start." And speaking of drinking Kool-Aid......
    7
  361. Pretty evident you've never been in Malaysia.
    7
  362. Well, if that ain't just typical! Australia could have made a fair and equitable deal with Timor and had a friend and ally forever but nooooo; they had to muscle in and grab every drop for themselves and leave the Timorese with next to nothing. Now they're not dealing with weak Timor but mighty China instead, right in their own backyard. China doesn't even need a powerful military. All it needs to conquer the world is patience. The west's stupidity, greed and shortsightedness will do the job for them.
    6
  363. Always fun times in the Balkans.
    6
  364. Well..... he got his name right..... That's something.
    6
  365. Women have told us we're pigs, we're toxic and they don't need us. OK, we listened. Now it's non-stop bitching about "no good men." Geez, Louise; make up yer f*cking minds already! Well, as a man, I can tell you that I've sure as hell figured out what I don't need. What do you suppose that would be, ladies? Three guesses.
    6
  366. Gen. Hodges is one of my favorite commentators but I couldn't help but chuckle when he mentioned war crimes tribunals. Not one Russian will ever face justice for anything done in this war because not one of them will ever be turned over and there is not one politician in the west who has the balls to go get them. Sad but true.
    6
  367. At massively increased costs and massively decreased volumes resulting in massively slower trade so no, air freight is not a viable option.
    6
  368. It is far easier to fool somebody than to convince him he's been fooled.
    6
  369.  @TalRohan  Civil wars, by definition, mean wars on one's own territory and thus would not qualify as international deployments. And when was Czechoslovakia involved in a civil war?
    6
  370. All these comments and not one person has brought up the most important part of this video...... Peter, we simply MUST have more of that hat!
    6
  371. Welcome to Alberta, Peter! Great analysis of our effete Dear Leader. Between him and his foster father, they've been trying for decades to kill off any sort of prosperity in Alberta specifically and the west generally. He is personally responsible for killing off one major pipeline project (Northern Gateway) and his obstructive policies and tactics led directly to the eventual death of another (Energy East) which incidentally, could have been the one most helpful to Europe at this time. Now that his close friend and ally, Sleepy Joe Biden has put the axe to Keystone XL and other assorted demagogues.... oops, I mean democrats... are trying their damnedest to choke out every other domestic line we rely on, all we've got left is Trans Mountain 2. It's not finished so I wouldn't bank on much from that either. Stay strong, Europe! Love to help but, you know.... Liberals and all.
    6
  372. It was a research balloon conducting a scientific experiment and its mission was successful. The Chinese now know with certainty what happens when they fly balloons over US defense facilities. They got the answers they were looking for. They should be happy.
    6
  373. Lindsay Graham is going to "unleash the fury" is he? Sure, why not? That worked well in Afghanistan and Iraq. I think ole Lindsay might need to up his prescription. He sound like he might be experiencing a bit of trouble unleashing his own fury.
    6
  374. Any conflict within the borders of a country in which the participants are indigenous to that country, can accurately be called a civil war, especially if it has a distinct political element to it which this one undeniably has. These can take many different forms and the one you describe is just one of them.
    6
  375.  @mojopopo  It might be easy to do but not for people like this and even so, due diligence will catch it 99% of the time. True enough, there's a lot more work involved in being a landlord; or at least one who is not looking to get scammed, but that's just the way it is. You do what needs to be done or you find yourself in a mess like this.
    6
  376. I think this guy needs to take his keys and retire. He can't think straight. Trump has boiled his brain.
    6
  377. A bit off topic but..... Say what you want about them otherwise but there is NO ONE who does military, parade or ceremonial music, pomp and pageantry like the Germans.
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  378. This is what the profession of journalism is all about and always has been. Journalists are perhaps the most amoral people in any profession or pursuit in existence. The contract hit squad who ran down and deliberately murdered Diana a couple of years after this interview, their first reaction wasn't to help or render any assistance to the grievously injured, it was to snap pictures to trade for money. These people are revered and considered heroes within journalistic circles today as are the people at News of the World who tapped the phones of the families of dead British soldiers. The highest prize in journalism; the Pulitzer Prize, was named in honor of Joseph Pulitzer who along with William Randolph Hearst, created what was known at the time as "the yellow press." They were two of history's biggest scumbags and it's no coincidence why the highest and most prestigious prize in journalism is named after one of them. The bigger the sleazebag you are, the more respected you are among your peers.
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  379. He said they declared victory; he didn't say they actually achieved it. Also, I detected more than a bit of sarcasm in his statement. Remember, the USA declared victory in Vietnam too.
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  380. "You people are all creeps!! I hate you! I don't want anything to do with you ever again! I'm leaving!!" Okey dokey, then. Buh-bye. Mind you don't let the door smack you on the butt on your way out, now.
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  381. Maybe there were people who actually didn't see it? Maybe that's who they're talking to? Just sayin'.
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  382. Don't stop them! Don't help them! Encourage them on! The more destruction they bring upon themselves, the less we have to do.
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  383. Very few roads in Europe could handle them. If they could, they'd be using them already.
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  384. Audio is terrible. Sounds like the two tin cans linked by a string we played with as kids.
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  385. "Now is the time to obliterate........" No, that time was many years ago, in fact. You didn't so that's why you're in this mess. Stop talking and start doing.
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  386. Norway finances its operations by taxes and banks its oil wealth. As a result, the nation and it's people retain a healthy buffer against periods of low economic activity so they can maintain their standard of living. They also retain the wealth; and the attendant power, that comes with it. High earners pay high taxes for the privilege of living and operating their businesses in a safe, secure environment, with a healthy, well educated, highly motivated workforce. Strangely though, you don't constantly hear stories about people and businesses "fleeing" this high tax jurisdiction. Wonder why? Alaska on the other hand (along with Alberta Canada, where I live), relies on resource revenue for everything and finances most of their operations with it. Whenever there's a price drop, we/they go into crisis mode because the money dries up. Most of the wealth that our/their vast resources produce ends up in the pockets of oil company executives, stock portfolios and transient workers who pull pole and leave whenever times turn tough. We/they are in nearly constant crisis mode when times are tight and blow through money like drunken sailors when times are good. What used to be great infrastructure and public services are declining steadily in quality but hey;.... LOW TAXES, BABY!! The people who have nothing invested in this place and couldn't care less if we live or die are making out like gangbusters while the rest of us watch it all fade into dust.
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  387.  @twisters999  You can count on it! I served with Polish troops before and it'd be an honour to do so again.
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  388. This video was worth it just to see all those wonderful old Trabis!
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  389. On paper yes, but in reality no. The US military across the board is woefully inadequate to confront even one adversary at the moment. It's way under strength in terms of personnel and it's stockpiles of many critical supplies are badly depleted and outdated. As for those "allies", the UK's armed forces are on the brink of being declared combat ineffective, Germany's military isn't even a shadow of what it once was, most of central Europe wouldn't last a day against one of their own neighbors, let alone Russia and France's attention is in Africa. This "alliance" is not as strong as you think it is. Putin, Xi the tubby in North Korea and whatever the f*ck his name is in Iran know this very well which is why they're f*cking around. They're not the least bit afraid or they wouldn't be doing it.
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  390. Good one! LOL!
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  391.  @nerdlingeeksly5192  America is on its way to becoming a third world shithole because its doing it.
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  392.  @michaelotieno6524  He's biased but you're not? OK, whatever.
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  393. Not nearly to that extent. "Crony Capitalism" is a better descriptor.
    6
  394. Any discussion of future energy needs as well as CO2 reductions that does not include nuclear energy is not a serious discussion and neither are the people having it.
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  395.  @octapc  An "agreement??" OMG, really? I had no idea! Well, that changes everything.
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  396. I don't know about becoming "the new China" since that could conceivably mean different things to different people but I'm extremely hopeful that India will rise to become a regional and world leader. India is an ally and I'd far sooner we did business with allies than adversaries.
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  397.  @stricknine8623  Well, yeah.... "called her out" is probably a bit too strong but he did press the question... somewhat... which is about as close to "calling out" as Lemon Drops is ever going to get.
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  398. I tend to agree with Haley and Bruce. In fact, I've been saying something similar for 2 years. Thing is, I thought they'd have pulled this trigger already. They've left it so late, I don't know how they pull it off now and save any face at all. I guess they were hoping that Kackala would prove herself to be something more than a waste of oxygen by now. Seems to me, Sleepy Joe is the only one who gives them a fighting chance at all. He's tied with or behind Trump in most polls but put that dumbbell of a VP in his place and it'll be a rout! Can you imagine a debate between Trump and Kackala? They'd have to invoke the mercy clause after about 10 minutes. That thing couldn't debate a wet wash cloth.
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  399. Hidin' Biden >>>>> Hidin' Harris.
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  400. A guy I worked with several years ago was fond of saying that by 2030, the only things that would have any real value would be food, gold and ammunition and the wise man would start hoarding all three now. Everybody laughed at him. Guess they shouldn't have.
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  401. Said it before but I'll say it again to help Andrew out - Been to Malaysia, been to Kuala Lumpur - GO!! You WON'T be disappointed! Didn't spend a single minute in that country that was in any way unpleasant.
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  402. This is perhaps the most prescient and important video Andrew has ever done! This message NEEDS to get to every working person, entrepreneur and investor out there so they can avoid the tsunami that's coming. The ultra wealthy are not, never have been and never will be, the target of government thugs. In the first place, those people are the politicians' favorite donors so they won't lay a finger on them but also, when you're that wealthy, you have unlimited resources to structure your money and fight to keep it. The 7, 8 and 9 figure people are in that danger zone of being just rich enough to be worth going after but not rich enough to really put up a formidable defense. They are also just wealthy enough that the politicians can demonize them to the welfare classes. Governments after all, are cowards; they don't pick fights with the powerful, they go after the weak who they can hold up as villains but who can't fight back.
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  403.  @hKChen909  Thank you! I really hope I have the opportunity to go back.
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  404. And takes forever to get!
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  405. Kind of reminds one of that old saying - "Whether you believe you can or whether you believe you can't, you're right."
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  406. This is good. Bulgaria has always interested me.
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  407.  @sebas8225  Yeah, and now everything is "Beijing Biden" and "Commie Democrats!" As if the rest of us don't have memories!
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  408.  @katmandu14  No doubt about that. I understand that very well because I come from a place that is overrun with tourists in season. But I've been a tourist in dozens of places which I wouldn't recommend at all so, whatever its drawbacks, I'd still recommend Malaysia based on what I know and what I've seen of it. Others may have a different assessment and that's fine too.
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  409. There's probably more fuss going on about this thing than is really warranted. First of all, as was mentioned, Erdogan may not be in the picture much longer anyway. Secondly, Sweden is not under any immediate threat and thirdly, there are already security and defense agreements in place between NATO and Sweden in the case of any trouble. What many people outside of military circles don't realize is that both Finland and Sweden were already NATO members in all but name and have been for years. Though not official members, both have always been closely aligned and their militaries are interoperable in all critical matters. As a former soldier from a NATO country, I've trained with and worked with both Swedish and Finnish soldiers many times. So I wouldn't get too upset or worried about this. It's just the normal diplomatic ebb and flow that happens sometimes and it'll all get sorted out eventually because each party will see that it's in their interests that it does. Each will have to give a little but they'll get a lot.
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  410. You guys aren't even close. It's gonna be me.
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  411. At the very moment when Europe has been shaken out of its slumber and NATO has a purpose again for the first time in decades? Are you nuts?
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  412. "The UN "expresses concern" about the deteriorating situation in Haiti....." Well, that's a relief! Things are sure to be set right for sure now. LOL!
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  413. It's always a great day when there's a Caspian Report video waiting for me in my notifications. Best channel on YT!
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  414. The only thing about this poll which is stunning to me is that the numbers are so low.
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  415. Huh? How was this informative? He didn't tell us anything.
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  416. Peter is right for the most part, but I see the possibility of this year being something of a special case for a number of reasons. Some are already starting to call this a replay of 1968. I was a preschooler in 1968 so I can't speak from first hand experience but I can read history and I know plenty of people who were around then and they say there are many similarities. Campus protests, migrant issues and a general feeling of discontent and distrust of the institutions along with economic worries could all manifest themselves in ways we can't entirely predict. And then there's the familiar old saw - "campaigns matter." Indeed, they do and at the moment, one guy can't put two sentences together without slurring his words and drifting off into some incoherent nonsense about God only knows what while the other one could well spend the summer cycling through a series of court rooms. Put all this together with an "I'm not them" candidate combined with the folks who are so disgusted with the whole mess that they just stay home and we could be in for a few surprises.
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  417.  @Slug002  Amen to that, brother!
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  418. When the great majority of Russian citizens start finding out about them.
    5
  419. Vietnam was and remains a natural and very valuable US ally if the US would only realize this and work on developing the relationship. The country which Ho Chi Minh admired most of all was the USA and if the Americans had told the French to gather up their army and GTH out of a country that wasn't theirs, that stupid war would never have happened.
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  420. "You're still going to have to do your own damned dishes!" Golden Peter!
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  421. Yes. I was thinking the same thing.
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  422. "I have always said that a politician is to be judged by the animosities he excites among his opponents." - Winston Churchill Loved? Hated? Every politician, indeed every person of any substance, will inevitably be both hated and loved. If you are not then you are basically devoid of any real principles. You stood for nothing. At the end of the day, if people have passionate feelings about you, it means you mattered; you did something of substance and there's no way in hell that's ever going to please everyone.
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  423. "..... from his revolting caucus......." Don't think Pierre realized it but he actually scored two hits with that one shot.
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  424. This guy had multiple horseshoes up his ass! Assassination attempts, near misses, equipment failures...... if only one of them had gotten him.
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  425. Smashed on this video the instant I got the notification.... because I was almost certain I knew what it was going to be about..... and I was right! I worked in Bosnia in the early 2000s and travelled to Tuzla several times. I used to see these trains when I was in the area and often marveled at the idea of old steam locos still in use. Funny thing was, I had no idea they were ex-German WW2 stock. But of course, that's what Mark Felton is for..... to dazzle and delight us with fascinating tidbits of history that no one else can. Bravo Dr. Felton; another gem!
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  426.  @MrSloika  No surprise to me. I encountered that too. There are people in the world who get excited about stuff that happened thousands of years ago.
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  427.  @eddied.5156  December to about late March is the dry season. That's when it's most comfortable. The rest of the time it can get awfully muggy and humid.
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  428. As a Canadian, I don't really have a "dog in this fight" as the saying goes, but as a former (retired) soldier who has worked with both American and German (as well as plenty of other) forces on many occasions, I have always felt a close bond between the troops and by extension, the citizens of all of our allied partner nations and I hope that it continues and develops even further in the years ahead.
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  429. Biden needs to "step it up?" Really? He can't!! Have you seen what happens when he tries to step up to AF1? He's the only person I've ever seen in my life that is not only capable of falling UP a flight of stairs but doing it repeatedly. Him stepping anything up... other than his Depends changes.... reminds my of the Monty Python dead parrot sketch....... "Mate, that man wouldn't step up if ya put 4 million volts through 'im!!"
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  430. We're going to need 3 terms to fix Brandon's mess so whoever he picks needs to be able to easily follow him up in '28 & '32.
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  431. YES! And even today, he doesn't oppose them strongly enough to actually do anything about it. He'd still "vote blue; no matter who." It also needs to be pointed out that much of what he opposes about the far-left agenda is only because it affects him personally.... free speech, and the like. This is why I'm only willing to give him a pinch of credit at this point. He is no hero. He's right about some things yes, but at the end of the day, he's an entertainer trolling for applause.
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  432. Careless smoking?
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  433. They haven't lost anything yet.
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  434. There is nothing which gets people's attention nor motivates them to action any quicker and with more steely resolve than to threaten their money. And threatening their money is exactly the weapon that the west should employ with China. That is the wedge that will cleave them off from Russia. It's already long overdue but now is the perfect time to start talking about significant new tariffs on Chinese goods. Also, there will never be a better time to start the process of building a Pacific rim version of NATO as well as diplomatic and trading alliance along the lines of the EU in the same area. We dithered and dallied around for too long with Russia looking the other way and pretending reality was something else and look where it got us. We can't do the same with China! They need to be told in no uncertain terms that we ain't f*cking playing anymore. They can do business with Russia or they can do business with the west.... NOT both!
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  435. The sanctions are effective, the sanctions are not effective..... I guess, depends entirely on how you choose to define effective. Are they likely to do serious damage to the Russian economy? Most likely, yes though it may not be as harsh or as quick as some would like. Are they likely to alter Russia's behavior in any meaningful way? I doubt it. Remember, Iran and North Korea have been under absolutely debilitating sanctions for decades and each has only gotten more dangerous and more aggressive. And like both of those countries, Russians have been propagandized and brainwashed into believing that their governments are the heroes in all this and that they have to pull together to overcome it. People seem to forget that deprivations, shortages and a general reduction in living standards are nothing new for Russians. They've seen all of this many times before and in each instance, the government has played victim and turned up the nationalism meter. I've always said that sanctions are what you do when you're too gutless to do anything else. The poorer you are, the more they hurt you. The wealthier you are the less they hurt you so in a place like Russia where the government cares not a jot for anything nor anybody but itself, and where they've got the country believing that the other side are the bad guys, sanctions are likely to be of pretty limited effect. You want Russia to stop what it's doing? You're going to have to go in and make them stop.
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  436.  @noeu8414  What would you like me to send..... curses?
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  437. I hope so. I've made some Ethiopian friends and I'd like to visit but I ain't going there with all that shit going on.
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  438.  @leoprg5330  Some areas may have low unemployment but others certainly do not. I'm not saying the initiative would be easy; it wouldn't be a matter of simply showing up, building a few factories and away you go. It would be a slow process with plenty of pitfalls and growing pains but it'd be worth it in the end. China wasn't an easy project in the beginning either but it still happened because enough people saw the benefit of it and wanted it to happen.
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  439. The west and its allies will regret their weakness and lack of vigilance just like Britain did 80 years ago. Today's China is yesterday's Nazi Germany and we'll be in open conflict with it sooner than you think.
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  440. It's a polite way of saying they're not interested in importing the world's garbage.
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  441.  @badluck5647  That's true but those nations actually border both the countries of origin of the migrants and also the EU. Belarus does not. They are actually going to collect them for the express purpose of deploying them as weapons. A small but very important distinction.
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  442. And no doubt, also the very same reason why China wants to see that it doesn't.
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  443. They've always made more sense than politicians. In fact, most professions make more sense than politicians. It's just more obvious and noticeable today.
    5
  444. I'm NOT doing it anymore! I've had it and I'm getting the hell out. I'm going where I'm not hated. The rest of you can live with what you've created.
    5
  445. Small town crime is worse than big city crime. I don't know if that's true everywhere but it sure is where I live. All the crooks moved to the sticks to get away from the heat.
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  446. Andrew's last three words are the most important ones.... "while you can."
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  447. Holy crap!! Lived in Phnom Penh for 6 months in 92-93 and I can't believe that's the same city!
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  448.  @algae_rhythms  That may be a bit strong but you're right; I wish Andrew would talk about some of the more pressing current issues.... because they definitely are both current and pressing.
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  449. Another great video; very informative! It's interesting; I've never heard Nicaragua spoken of as a viable 2nd residence country... or even as one much worth visiting... until just recently. Don't they have a repressive socialist government there? Also, I thought there was quite a lot of gang and drug activity there. Be very eager to hear some feedback on this.
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  450. Preach it, Andrew!! Anybody who's paid any attention has known this since forever but some people still don't want to accept it. Politicians want votes and money buys votes. Where do they get that money? From YOU!! The mega-wealthy like Musk and Bezos have all the resources and expertise in the world to lower their bills, the 7 & 8 figure guys do not. THAT is why they'll come for you! Politicians are cowards. They pick on the people who can't fight back.
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  451. No other place can match the taxes and cost of living either so I guess everything is relative, isn't it?
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  452. Agree 100%! And yes, bring back the Nomad Dad. Haven't seen him in a long time. Hope there's nothing wrong.
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  453. Sleepy Joe doesn't even know what day it is. I doubt he even knows he's president. Probably thinks it's still that clean young colored fella.
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  454.  @apizzo007  Honestly, I don't think there's much that "we" would need to do except stand back and watch the fun. Ukraine is treating Russia like a cat treats a chew toy. Finland would have them begging for mercy in about a week.
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  455. NATO is US lead. It's supposed to be. It was set up and designed specifically that way for a variety of reasons. A bit of research will explain those reasons. Whether that should still be the situation today is fodder for a legitimate debate but the fact is that NATO was always intended to be a US lead organization. Furthermore, recent events have shown clearly why it's still needed.
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  456. I'd like to cast my vote right now for the "best sandwiches" motif. Second choice; "funny shaped vegetables" and in third place would be "worst potholes."
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  457. The solution is obvious. All of these new "migrants" want to be British (or French or German or whatever) so badly, give 'em a taste of what that means. You want to live here? This is the price you pay. Trucks are over there, lads. Hop on!
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  458. He didn't "forget to mention" anything. He gave his point of view as it's his right to do and as he was asked to do by the interviewer. If you have a different one then by all means give it but there is zero requirement for alignment on this or any topic. Stop trying to tell other people what their opinions should be.
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  459. I don't think Trump will lose in 2024 because I don't think Trump will even make it to the big show. I think he'll have been dispensed with well before that and I think even he knows that. At this point, it's just a case of padding his ego and grasping for attention. I think he'll probably make some noise for a while and his followers will stay with him until it becomes clear he can't and won't win then they'll move on.
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  460. "I'm a green who can do math." Priceless!
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  461. That is one righteous beard that Peter managed to grow overnight.
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  462. Well, since Peter's off in the bush somewhere, it's possible he didn't get all the details yet.
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  463. Ya, well... Let's not complain about that. That's a good thing, IMO. Personally, if I have to listen to another "How I got it wrong" speech from some big mouth who was adamant they'd be right, my head will explode!
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  464. I would support anything that weakens Russia and strengthens the EU and NATO. I've been thinking all along that Moldova should have invited several thousand NATO troops in as "guests" the minute the Ukraine war started as kind of a .... "Don't even think about it!.... to Russia. For that matter, Ukraine itself should have done the same thing and then we wouldn't even be in this mess but that's a matter for another day. I'm neither Moldovan nor Romanian so I have no opinion on whether they should unify other than to say that I would warmly welcome the Moldovan people into both the EU and NATO and if unification with Romania is the route they choose to do so, and if that's what the peoples of both countries feel is right and natural, I'll support it.
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  465. I'm going to go out on a limb and say Peter has never owned a Mexican built car. Or if he has, he hasn't kept it past about 3 years. They can build lots of cars and they can build them cheap but the next well built car I see out of Mexico will be the first.
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  466. Blunt, succinct and straight to the point. I love it!
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  467. So what? He's talking about integration without major friction and backlash, not proportion of population.
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  468. Perhaps, but you'd have to both know exactly where, in that ocean of pipes, those things were and also be able to precisely target and hit them. I think that was Peter's point; throwing a bunch of random bombs at the place is something of a crapshoot unless you know specifically what you want to hit and are able to do so.
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  469. "Trying to find a face-saving way out for Putin....." This is why I keep saying that Ukraine hasn't won anything yet because with friends like Macron and Scholz, who are more concerned with photo ops and fluff pieces in the press about how great of a "diplomat" they are, who needs enemies?
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  470. I knew this would happen. You can't do the kinds of things he's talking about; necessary as they may be, and not expect it to result in blowback.
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  471.  @alpine_newt  True, but there are always two parties to an interview and many times, I've seen "journalists" try to browbeat and harangue people like him and try to corral them into parroting their narratives. That doesn't seem to happen nearly as often with European outlets as it does with American ones.
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  472. "The solution is simple..... We just have to do all of these incredibly difficult, expensive and complex things all at once and immediately."
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  473. If they were of no significant importance to the block, then why were they in it? Russia certainly considers them significant.
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  474. Did I hear correctly? They're going to send...... 14? Well, that's a little like the busload of lawyers going off a cliff joke.... both are a good start. I hope that between the German Leopards, the Polish Leopards, the British Challengers, the French light tanks and whatever else has been pledged, it'll be sufficient. I don't want to see Ukraine just "hold the line" against Russia, I want them to crush them, humiliate them. To do that, you don't just need stronger forces in the field, you need overwhelming forces. I appreciate what you did here, Germany. You're a bit late to the party but I think we've all been, to some degree. So now that we're in this, let's do what needs to be done and END THIS THING! There's been far too much preventable, unnecessary death and destruction in Ukraine already.
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  475. I have a friend in France whose son is in the special forces. His unit is preparing to depart for Africa. What, if anything, that ends up meaning, we'll have to wait and see.
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  476. If there's a level below "failed state," Haiti is 5 levels below even that.
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  477. If you cut out the executives, who is supposed to run things? And do you expect them to do it for minimal salary?
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  478. I'd still boycott the school and not ever set foot inside of it. This was very clearly meant as an insult to veterans as well as serving members and it was only reversed under very heavy pressure. And while the decision may have been reversed, the sentiment behind it has only hardened. This "principle" and his staff have shown the world what and who they truly are and no amount of fake, scripted and coerced apologizing will ever change that.
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  479. FFS! Why don't they just nominate Snow White and be done with it?
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  480. He's only "ultra-unpopular" with some of you and you were never going to vote for him anyway. He's phenomenally popular with at least an equal number.
    4
  481.  @pa5287  I'm aware of that. I'm just mentioning what she did in her past and how it related to certain things she did later in life.
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  482. Actually, I'm glad he has not yet done so. Just about everyone who's given predictions thus far has shown themselves to be either bereft of any knowledge of how strongmen think and operate or willfully blind or both. The truth is that it is far too soon to make such predictions. Literally anything predicted thus far could prove to be correct or none of it could.
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  483. Every Mark Felton story is interesting but some are on another level entirely. This is one of them! Absolutely fascinating!
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  484.  @kalle911  I follow the news daily and from multiple sources. Never heard a peep.
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  485. I don't know but I sure pity that poor horse!!
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  486.  @abuibu  Well, that would certainly be the charitable assessment, and perhaps you're right, but I'd posit that it's at least as likely that it's a case of an owner who's discovered his business model is rapidly collapsing and is now scrambling against time in a desperate effort to save it. As I alluded to in my original post, it's so very curious how so many news outlets are all of a sudden moving towards "the center" and pledging a return to "objectivity" when they've all been claiming for years that that's what they've always been. It's never been a problem to spout off massively biased content nor carry water for one side over the other in a political debate as long as the cash kept rolling in but now that legacy media can see the cliff in front of them, they're having this come-to-Jesus moment and expecting the rest of us to just forget what's gone on in the past.
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  487. I dunno.... A bunch of incoherent mumblings about Corn Pop and such aren't going to be any more consequential just because they're under oath.
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  488. Everyone keeps saying this and it's nonsense! The two things have nothing to do with each other. We can do both and have done both countless times in the past.
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  489. I'm not quite as confident that the Starbucks of the world will end up paying that big of a price for this type of behavior because they're big enough and well connected enough that they'll be shielded from most of the real damage. Who I am very worried about are all the Mom-and-Pop businesses who don't have the resources and the power of corporate giants like Starbucks who'll be ruthlessly and mercifully crushed under the weight of movements like this.
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  490. I think you're giving her too much credit by implying that she'd be any different stone cold sober.
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  491. Usually this channel is very good in that regard but they seem to have let the standard slip a little here.
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  492. She did. But since no one could make a lick of sense out of anything she said, nothing changed.
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  493. A little bit like millions of working people paying off the college debt of people who have 10x the earning potential they have and who'll never have the opportunity to go to college themselves.
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  494.  @Chicago48  Opposite is true as well.
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  495. You noticed that too.
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  496.  @리주민  You're not wrong about that. And so many corrupt and incompetent governments of all levels too. There are reasons why so many people are fleeing California and New York but NOT Norway, Denmark etc.
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  497. It isn't a question of grievances, it's a question of what is and is not, an appropriate and acceptable response. No doubt, Russia probably has some legitimate issues with Ukraine; especially since the latter has been a corrupt basket case heavily and hopelessly indebted to the former for nearly all of its existence. It follows then that Russia would take steps to remedy that situation. But there are many, MANY options open to it that fall well short of what it is currently doing which is far, FAR out of proportion to whatever sins Ukraine may be guilty of. If I have a neighbor who refuses to properly mind his dog and that dog is continually shitting in my yard, digging up my garden and snarling at my kids, I have every right to be aggrieved about that; especially if I've made multiple attempts to try to remedy the situation peacefully. I have the right to seek redress of those grievances through proper legal channels. What I do NOT have the right to do is go kick in my neighbor's door, kill him and his family, burn down his house, poison his well and steal his possessions as well as further threaten anyone who may come to his aid which is the equivalent of what Russia is doing.
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  498. You expected better from Biden? And you're admitting that to the world? Give yourselves an anti-award.
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  499. They do look a lot alike, don't they?
    4
  500. Is it inevitable? Yes, and it has been for years if not decades. What's more, the longer it's put off, the more difficult it'll be. So get on with it already!
    4
  501. All of these things we hear about Russia doing to Europe.... What is Europe doing in return? Not very much, evidently.
    4
  502. Trouble is brewing all throughout Eastern Europe, China is starting to fail, inflation and economic uncertainty are rampant and in every corner, people are losing faith in their institutions and their leaders. The world is entering a very dark period.
    4
  503. Convenient excuse?
    4
  504.  @natethegreat3124  LOL! Putin will do well to keep himself alive the next 12 months never mind messing with other countries.
    4
  505. Indeed. And so do capabilities and competencies.
    4
  506. I doubt he uses them; despite his belligerence, I don't think even he is that dumb but.... ya never know. As the old saying goes, I wouldn't put it past him.
    4
  507. A port does not need to be on the sea or even water. That is only one kind of port.
    4
  508. Absolutely!
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  509. Yes but remember; democrats see that as a plus.
    4
  510. You're not a 2nd class citizen. Being a 2nd class citizen would carry with it at least some recognition that you are a human being with some rights. In the eyes of these people, you're neither.
    4
  511. "US sanctions haven't crippled the Russian economy......." Aaaand we're off to the next video.
    4
  512. One thing they care about very deeply. The other, not so much.
    4
  513. Such a beautiful sight!
    4
  514. I know what you're saying.... y'know w'am sayn?
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  515. Yeah, she still has her job as will all the rest of the commie b*st*rds around her for a while yet, but I'd get the "pipe is the best" quip on a continuous loop and run it non stop until the next vote as well as shove it in Dementia Joe's smug face every time he shows it in public.
    4
  516. That lady would inspire me too.
    4
  517.  Johnson Li  The CCP are a bunch of fidlam bens!
    4
  518.  Johnson Li  China is a chump nation.
    4
  519.  Joe Barone  I'm not sure it'll take the form of a lockdown; that might be a bit too gratuitous, but I have no doubt they will find some way to grab more power and exert more control and that would be the perfect excuse to do it. I'd be watching for the graduated approach. It's much more subtle and easier to deny until one day.... well.....
    4
  520. Jumped at this video the instant I saw it! Africa fascinates me!
    4
  521.  @samsadeniz  Maybe not. Wait and see. There's a Marxist in Nicaragua too and it's still OK for certain things. Depends on what they've got in mind for foreigners.
    4
  522. Surprised they didn't just say - "Think of the children!"
    4
  523. I know nothing about Georgia so this video was great. Hope to learn more.
    4
  524.  @travisjacobsvideos  Yeah well, that's a fine notion and all but the country is represented by and run by, the government so in practical terms, they're one and the same. Furthermore, the government is chosen by the people and the people around these parts are getting more hostile to folks like me every day. So in my "country", the "people" don't much care for me any more and the "government" (chosen by those people) wants to harass me and take my money so what's left? All I can think of is soil and I can get that anywhere.
    4
  525. Follow politics for any length of time and you begin to realize that it's nothing more than low grade theater. The major parties are aligned on 85% of the issues* and the rest is just culture war BS that is of no significance to anyone. But it does serve as a convenient distraction for the masses, ratings gold for cable news and a fundraising bonanza for the parties. (* If you doubt this, watch how they vote on issues; that's what matters. Ignore what they say.)
    4
  526. And will only get worse!
    4
  527. Very true. But occasionally, when I do answer it, and you see those light bulbs coming on in their heads, it's rather satisfying, I must say.
    4
  528.  @breadgarlichouse2265  Yeah... and they get a lot more for it too, don't they? And the point which Andrew is making... and which all of you seem to be missing... is not to be comparing the US with places with even higher taxes but to places with dramatically lower ones.... of which there are plenty And I'll point out another inconvenient truth... "tech" is an important and growing industry, no doubt, but it's not the only one. Millions don't work in it nor do they take their cues from it.
    4
  529. The world's greatest health care system?! You mean the one that charges you $63 for 2 aspirins in a hospital? Anyone who thinks that USA has the best health care system is either profiting from it or has their head stuck in a glue bag!
    4
  530. It's his channel, it's his video and he's expressing his opinion. He's entitled to be as biased as he likes and he's under no obligation to cater to some hack who has their lips welded to Chairman Xi's butt. You don't like what you see? Move on; you won't be missed around here.
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  531. I don't think that what Roman said back then... that Russians and Ukrainians are basically the same people.... is necessarily all that inaccurate on its face. I've heard Ukrainians say more or less the same thing. Where the problems start is when someone tries to use that as an excuse or pretext of some sort for nefarious action or deed. Context is everything. Look around the world and you'll find many peoples from different nations who have many similarities.... Germans and Austrians, French and Belgians, even Canadians and Americans. But in none of these cases would that be justification for those nations amalgamating into a greater whole against the will of the people.
    4
  532.  @elvangulley3210  I have no idea. The acronym recalled something vague to my memory but I had to Google it to find any details. It seems to have been a thing cooked up by the British to partly make up for what they lost from Brexit. How countries as far flung from the UK as Canada, Australia and New Zealand were supposed to benefit from this scheme is a puzzle to me. We're all Commonwealth countries, it's true, but as to trade, we're all pretty far down each other's lists. It can't have been anything which was taken too seriously or I'd have heard more about it at the time. I'm a consultant and pretty tied into stuff like that. As to why the US was excluded, I can only speculate that it may have had something to do with the fact that the UK was already in the midst of negotiating with the US on their own trade deal. But that's just a guess on my part. I really have no clue.
    4
  533. If Putin has shown us anything in the last year, it's that he will not be put off an idea based on how stupid it might be. At the end of the day, he cares about one thing..... his own skin, and he'll do whatever it takes to preserve it. Therefore, I would rule nothing out.
    4
  534. Very little to worry about here. It's just optics. Turkey is being Turkey. It's playing its games but it will come around and there are already security guarantees in place for Sweden and Finland. In fact, they've been in place for years. Both nations have been NATO members in all but name for decades. Their militaries are fully interoperable with NATO and both have participated in countless NATO exercises and operations.
    4
  535. A few things to keep in mind about sanctions which most people don't realize....... 1) As money and investment are global in scope, a great many people from around the world have great amounts of money invested in other parts of the world. Therefore..... 2) Many people who you don't want to be affected by said sanctions... namely your donors, bankers benefactors etc.... will be affected if you don't lard them up with all kinds of exemptions, loopholes and work-arounds. Therefore..... 3) Most sanctions regimes are designed not to be particularly effective at their stated goal but instead meant to act as a sort of demonstration of virtue by the sanctioning entities. They are meant to LOOK like you're doing something because..... 4) The so-called Western democracies care about such things as human rights, or at least they like to pretend they do, while the rest of the world, including some of the wealthiest, don't give a flying f*ck about them but they're happy of course, to say all the right things to keep the aid $$ flowing and give cover to scheming western politicians trying to sell arms abroad and lies at home. 5) This is why it's often said that sanctions are what you do when you're too gutless to do anything meaningful. 6) Just because sanctions are "unprecedented" doesn't mean they're effective or sufficient in scale. They're very often designed that way. 7) North Korea and Iran have been under "crippling" sanctions for decades and the only people who've suffered are the citizens in both nations. The ruling classes haven't missed a meal and continue to live the high life and each country is measurably stronger militarily today than when the sanctions were applied. 8) If you're expecting sanctions alone to change the behavior of men like Putin, you're in for a big disappointment. It's going to take more that that... a LOT more.
    4
  536. Indeed! You'd think after Lightfoot they'd friggin' learn but this guy's worse!
    4
  537. We did "develop" it. We didn't "invent" it.
    3
  538.  @KarmG-fo4xr  Tell ya what I have noticed.... another two bit smear job of Albertans packaged in a bunch of lies, distortions and half truths. When you've seen as many as we have, you can pick them out easily. You don't want our oil? Fine, we'll keep it! And our money too!
    3
  539. "You never want to blow out a candle in a dark room unless you know the light switch will work." Self evident thing #46 that virtue signaling politicians don't get.
    3
  540.  Get śmokeđ  Right now, "the west", if that's how you're referring to NATO, is too paralyzed with internal and external political matters and too weak and indecisive to do much of anything. Turkey knows this. It's why they announced their intention to neutralize the Kurdish threat in northern Syria and more or less told Trump to get the hell out of the way or else. And don't kid yourself; NATO is far more interested in keeping Turkey happy, or at least cooperative, than they are Greece. Greece is a pathetic little shell of a country with no money and no options. Greece has no bargaining chips whatsoever and has nothing with which to threaten anyone while Turkey holds one of the most strategic waterways in the world. NATO knows this. Turkey could tell NATO and the west to get stuffed tomorrow and thrust itself into the welcoming arms of Putin and Russia and there ain't a damned thing NATO could do about it.
    3
  541.  @MrMEST  This is why I say that there will not be a "war"; in other words, a protracted military engagement with both sides mobilizing their full capacities. There could however, be isolated skirmishes and even then, I can't see Greece prevailing. But if the two countries ever DID get it on for real, it'd be a Turkish rout! Many of those 6000 Greek islands wouldn't be Greek for long. Turkey is in a different place politically and diplomatically today than it was just a few years ago. They have an ultra nationalist strongman for a leader, they've pretty much given up on ever getting into the EU or any of the other exclusive, first world "clubs" so I'm not sure they care very much anymore about what any outsider thinks. They've more or less decided to go their own way and the rest of the world; NATO included, can like it or lump it.
    3
  542. You don't speak for all Americans on this or any topic. Not now, not ever. No one does. You speak for yourself only, just as we all do.
    3
  543. Vote early, vote often and for God's sake, vote for the honest party!
    3
  544. "He's ugly and his mother dresses him funny!" "Which one are you talking about?" "Yes!"
    3
  545. You are missing something. The rule is that you have to be a "natural born citizen." Research the definition of that term. John McCain was born in Panama and he was eligible.
    3
  546. In his own words, Vladimir Putin once described the time in his life when he was most acutely afraid for his own safety. When the East German system was in full collapse and he contacted his bosses in Russia to ask what to do, he was told, "you're on your own." At that moment, the entire security, military and intelligence apparatus that he had built his career in and which stood as protection for not only the leaders of the communist bloc but also apparatchiks like him and which had represented such a fearsome edifice to the wider world, was gone. He was one man, no better or more powerful than the masses in the street, and he had nothing but his wits to rely on to stay alive and get home. One other man whose system collapsed around him wasn't so lucky. Moammar Ghadafi was reduced in the end, to a squealing, sobbing wretch; begging for mercy and pleading (in vain) for his life as the mob dragged him off to his fate. It is to be hoped that Putin has the same experience. We should do everything in our power to see that he does.
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  547. LOL! Good one.
    3
  548. "We should have seen this coming....." The theme song of the entire last century. There's not a single major event in the last 100+ years that we haven't had ample, ample warning of. Hitler was very clear from very early on about what his intentions were. In fact, he wrote a whole book and told us about it in great detail. Putin as well, is and was, a prolific writer and his wishes, thoughts and ambitions were and are, well known. Well over 50 years of Syrian history should have made abundantly clear what would happen there. Likewise with the debacles in Iraq and Afghanistan. The situations in Cuba, Vietnam and Iran were primarily of our own making and all could have easily been avoided. What kind of industrial grade idiots deliberately and intentionally guts and hollows out their own manufacturing sector and with it, their middle class and to make it worse, sends it all to our primary strategic enemy?! Financial analysts and experts by the thousands saw the train wrecks of both the 1929 and 2008 stock market crashes coming a mile away. I wasn't alive in 1929 but I well remember reading and hearing the alarm bells a year and a half before 2008. All these warnings... loud, clear and unmistakable... and yet all of these events still happened. It's not that we should have seen them coming, we DID see them coming. It's just that our leaders chose to look away.
    3
  549. Yup. The Arctic route is at best, an alternate for summer only in case of closures on primary routes for whatever reason. There is no one there and thus no reason for any commercial ships to be there. Our NW Passage here in Canada is largely the same but at least it's quite a bit shorter and our Arctic is a little more developed.
    3
  550. I'm going to hold him to that election prediction. One part of me would be delighted to see that exact scenario but the other part of me agrees totally with his next statement.... "Don't celebrate too much, you don't know what's coming afterwards." Honestly, the trajectory that both parties are on scares the shit out of me but I think the Republican's is more easily fixed.
    3
  551. When Peter eventually retires, stocks in US airlines and hotels are going to crash!
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  552. No consequences... Why wouldn't they?
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  553. And all awesome!
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  554. How so? I'm not saying you're wrong or Peter's wrong, I'm just curious as to why you feel that way. I'm a Canadian (and we're most definitely NOT forward thinking) and from here, it's always looked like Australia had its act together pretty well.
    3
  555. Couldn't happen to a finer bunch of people. This is what happens when you put your energy security in the hands of your enemies and shut down all your other options. Have fun this winter, Germany. I'll be thinking about you..... and laughing.
    3
  556. Europe finally being kicked loose from the American teat..... about f*cking time! All the time bellyaching about "America this and America that".... well, we hear ya and your wish is our command. Get ready for a whole lot less of "America the Bad" in your lives. Defend yourselves, build, fund and equip your own militaries, settle your own affairs and run your own welfare states. We've got more pressing matters, thank you.
    3
  557.  @60degreelobwedge82  But yet here are are watching him. Why? To give all of us a warning about him? What a benefactor you are. What a debt we owe you.
    3
  558. Breakfast here, but yes, I agree. Part of my morning ritual along with too much coffee.
    3
  559.  @aethei8560  You really don't know what a collective farm is, do you?
    3
  560. Watching in Canada, that's the first thing I thought of too.
    3
  561. The staff immediately springs into action...... by grabbing the screens they had at the ready (??) and blocking the view.... but not stopping the vandals. Uh-huh.....
    3
  562. Nothing unusual about this at all; anywhere in Alberta. Drove through a mini blizzard on the #2 in Red Deer once in late July. A few days later, it was 27.
    3
  563. SO COOL!! Loved that show! Loved that boat. Would love to know more about it, like what it had for power and how a jet boat works.
    3
  564. Vancouver showing its true self to the world once more.
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  565. Diversity is our strength!
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  566.  @R_Mcfadden  Or Trump.
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  567. Trudeau will find a way to blame Poilievre for this.
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  568. Public servants are never at fault and never held accountable.
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  569. What's that saying about "slowly then all at once?"
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  570. One of my very first teachers in elementary school in 1968 was a ferry pilot during the war and that woman in the cockpit with the shades on at 1:32 looks absolutely just like her! OMG; I wonder if it could be?
    3
  571. Dr. Felton knocks it out of the park again!
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  572. Daimlers are British cars. Daimler Benzes are German. Very similar name but completely different company and cars. Even a lot of car guys don't know the difference.
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  573. The more you learn about Polish history generally, and Polish military history specifically, the easier it is to understand why they are the way they are now. The Poles have been run over, f*cked over, sh*t on, abused, betrayed, back-stabbed, abandoned, sold out and lied to by both enemies and so-called friends alike for longer than anyone can remember. They've also been occupied, trodden over, massacred and enslaved by various outside powers repeatedly. If you are inclined to believe that Poland today tends a little toward militancy and is a bit disagreeable with others, now you know why. They've learned through hard lessons of the past just how far they can trust outsiders and so-called "allies" They have no intention of letting any of this sh*t happen to them again and the only ones they trust to protect them is themselves and that's exactly what they're doing; the rest of Europe be damned! The more I learn about Poland, the more I admire and respect it. Long live Poland!
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  574. Somehow, I'd never heard of an American B-32 until this video. I thought I was pretty good with my airplanes but that one slipped by me.
    3
  575.  @istvansipos9940  Where? Certainly not in Canada or if it was, it was no more than a cursory mention buried in the muck.
    3
  576. That's why we watch him.
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  577. Racism is the most overused descriptor there is and it has essentially lost all meaning. It's merely the default term that liberals throw at anyone they don't like.
    3
  578. Aimee Allison IS the Democratic party.
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  579. Very pleasantly surprised at how well Jesse is doing in his new expanded role.
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  580. One of the very best at speaking the most words without making a lick of sense..... let alone truth.
    3
  581. To be honest, I thought he'd step down last year. I figured he'd wait until one day after his halfway point so Kamala would be able to have a good long run of it but even democrats can see she's a disaster so that's probably why ole Sleepy Joe is still around.
    3
  582. He can't "lean into it." He'll fall over.... again.
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  583. There are degrees of just about everything in life; including idiots. This guy's not at the top level yet but he's closing in fast.
    3
  584. And another $20M in 6 months time, you wait and see.
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  585. "50% of women in my cabinet are women." What are the other 50%... Geese?
    3
  586. I could tell Democrats in a second how they could get back in the win column and stay there. I'm not going to, I'm just saying I could.😝😝😝
    3
  587. Well, Sharpton is pissed off so I guess it's been a great day.
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  588.  @jmwadding  Yeah, and I don't expect that to change. I'd like to see all or most of those jobs coming back... I'd even be happy if some of them did but that's not likely to happen. That horse has left the barn. Even still, we can improve the situation a lot by putting the screws to China. There are plenty more cheap labor markets that our dear corporations can do business with. It doesn't have to be an enemy.
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  589.  @thetruthshallsetyoufree1700  LOL! Yup; good point!
    3
  590. "But NATO is now much stronger....." Yeah; we'll see. There's been a lot of talk over the last few months but so far, precious little action. A wily old KGB dog like Putin knows many a trick to get around all that. The Russians well know the weaknesses of the west and are extraordinarily skilled at playing the long game. The General is quite correct when he says the goals are to divide and weaken the EU and NATO but that's a long term project which is only in its opening stages. A few setbacks early on aren't going to throw a guy like Putin off his game. Putin is patient and the west is vulnerable. Neither the peoples of Europe nor the US want confrontation with Russia and the armies of Europe are not up to one even if the people were behind one.. Also, Europe is heavily dependent on Russian energy and there is nothing close at hand which can even come close to replacing it. As well, groups as divergent as the North Koreans, the Vietnamese, the Taliban, ISIS and more have shown that the way you beat the west is to drag things out and slowly grind down their will and their resolve. The west's victories need to be quick or they won't happen. It may seem like Putin is on the back foot but he still holds an awful lot of cards. He's got the oil and gas which Europe needs, the grain and fertilizer that the third world needs, plenty of weaponry, lots and lots of cash and a population that's largely behind him. He's not beaten yet or even been substantially weakened regardless of what the talking heads say. The opening acts haven't gone as he'd like, it's true, but that doesn't mean the next ones won't. All he'd need to do is call a halt and ask for negotiations and diplomacy and Europe; particularly France and Germany would fold like a used newspaper.
    3
  591.  @mrfugazi6713  If we're lucky, he'll have his worst nightmare come true..... being strung up in the streets by a mob. But I think that unfortunately, there are many chapters yet in his story and I'm trying to caution people not to get overconfident and write his epitaph too soon. He still has an awful lot of power at his disposal and he's nothing if not a survivor.
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  592. I sure hope you're right, madam.
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  593. If the Russians are concerned about their munitions failure rate now, wait until they start shoving the Nork junk up their tubes. Their gun crews are going to want lanyards about a mile long because there will be more rounds blowing up in the breech than coming out the muzzle. And I hate to break this to the esteemed, pearl clutching Labour peer but China and Russia are already very much in an alliance with one another so it's a bit late to be fretting about that possibility. And what that alliance may one day develop into is not going to be in any way negatively affected by our continued vacillation, weakness, indecision and lack of resolve. That's what got us into this mess in the first place.
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  594.  @nottooherbal  At 100K feet? How would you do that? The fighter jets that shoot them down can't fly as high as those balloons are flying so the only way they can get the job done is to shoot at them with something capable of closing the distance. Cannon fire can't do that, only missiles can.
    3
  595. The old timers have a saying - "He's a Jack of all trades but a master at none." The meaning of course, is that many people can have a vast repertoire of skills but very few can do them all well. When you translate that to equipment on a modern battlefield it means that - - the more things you expect it to do, times - the harsher the conditions you expect it to do them under, times - how good you expect them to be done, times - the duration you expect them to be done, equals -The total cost Notice that at every level, every factor is a multiplication, not an addition. THAT is why this thing is so expensive. In fact, considering the expectations placed upon it, it's a miracle it hasn't cost 10x what it has.
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  596. China needs to understand that any tactic it deploys against Taiwan can in turn, be deployed against it. China is boxed in by its geography and it doesn't exactly have a lot of friends in its neighborhood. Japan, South Korea, Vietnam, Indonesia, The Philippines, India, Malaysia and Singapore, not to mention Australia and New Zealand, are all either direct US allies or adversaries of China or both. Any kind of blockading maneuver on Taiwan could be quickly and easily matched by any one of these nations and if that were to happen, China would be cut off from its trade both inbound and outbound and would therefore be something like 50 shades of f*cked overnight! Not to mention all of the sanctions that would instantly be applied to it. China needs to understand that it needs the world far more than the world needs it. There are lots of other places the world can go for cheap labor and dollar store junk.
    3
  597. To become the primary trading partner of these nations... and to get there before China does.
    3
  598. Unless and until we see them starting to marshal troops in the region, I wouldn't be too worried. And if they were ever stupid enough to start something, a couple of battalions of US Marines along the border in Guyana..... just to say hello, of course.... should cool their jets.
    3
  599. Can we please be serious here for once? If Russia really wanted Ukraine, it would have it and be home in time for supper. It wouldn't even be a fight. It'd be like the US in Grenada or Panama. It would be over before it even began. The fact that they've been busy in Ukraine since 2014 and haven't moved beyond the same territory they've held since then should tell you something. Russia doesn't want Ukraine, it couldn't care less about Ukraine. What it DOES very much care about is NATO on its doorstep ensconced in a feeble, weak, hopelessly corrupt and debt ridden country that is openly hostile to it and owing it billions it'll likely never see a ruble of. As usual, the mainstream media has their heads up their asses and are doing nothing other than parroting whatever talking points the US state department feeds them. Russia has no interest in taking over anyone's territory. If they did, they'd have it already because none of the former republics is in any position to stop them. They have not done so because none of them represents any particular threat. All Moscow wants is for the former republics to be friendly to it; or at least not openly hostile, and cooperate with them and particularly in the case of Ukraine, to pay its damned debts! Anyone remember Georgia when it started getting frisky? Russia could have taken Georgia before noon but they didn't. They just gave it a good hard smack, told it to behave and has largely left it alone ever since.
    3
  600.  @charlesbruggmann7909  Exactly. That's why they're calling it "failed deterrence."
    3
  601.  @willrobinson9767  Really? I said that, did I? Well, I suggest you go back and read it again.... all of it this time and not just the parts you want to read.
    3
  602.  @willrobinson9767  No, everyone was NOT conscripted in WW2 and a great many of those who were were defending their homeland so the motivation to fight was there. And I never said conscripts were useless. I said they're not as effective a fighting force in an out of home country military operation where serious resistance is encountered. And it's not just me saying that. Military leaders throughout history have said the same thing. Someone who is compelled to fight... or do any job, really... will never be as effective as a volunteer who wants to do so.
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  603. Why does Russia do it? Well, all of the reasons mentioned are perfectly valid but the thing is, Russia doesn't need a reason to do sh*t like this. F*cking over some western power and causing havoc and chaos is plenty reason enough.
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  604. Great, another disaster on the horizon! An old guy told me many years ago that if I was wise, I'd start stockpiling the only 3 things that would be of any use by the time I got to be his age....... food, gold and ammunition! Wonder if it's too late to start?
    3
  605. It's novel certainly, but it's not really all that innovative since it's not something that's likely to be tried elsewhere let alone become a regularly used tactic. Indeed, as the video has said, it's already starting to backfire on Lukachenko and he could very well find himself with many more regime opponents on his hands than he already did. The EU particularly and the west more broadly, have many more weapons in their arsenal... weapons being a metaphor for measures.... than Lukachenko does. He's picked a fight that he ultimately cannot win.
    3
  606. Yet you name none of them nor provide any counter arguments. Wonder why.
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  607.  @andreimoutchkine5163  The only thieves involved here are Putin and his gang of kleptocrat oligarch friends so stealing from them would be a public service. An even bigger public service would be blowing the lid off of the decades of pillaging that was done by these criminals and laying bare the facts to the Russian people about how they've had the lifeblood of their nation systematically stolen from them. Maybe then, we would see the uprising the criminal Putin so dreads. What a beautiful day that will be.
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  608.  @andreimoutchkine5163  Good. Deal with it.... troll!
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  609. Then go somewhere else. No one forces you to watch.
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  610. A fine notion.... we'll see how long the sentiment lasts. I wish I could say I was confident that any of this big talk was going to be followed up by action, but I'm not. The financial crisis of '08 taught us valuable lessons about market regulation. Did anything change? No. The pandemic taught us valuable lessons about supply chains and self reliance. Will anything change? Not so far. Ever since the end of the Cold War, the west's default reaction to every problem is to find the cheapest, easiest, fastest and most politically expedient way out of it.... and then just carry on with business as usual as though nothing happened because if it does, it'll be someone else's headache. Russia is headed for economic collapse. It's going to default on its debt which means foreign banks aren't going to get paid. At the same time, Europe relies on Russia for nearly half of its energy and even if they went full bore away from that starting today, there are no other alternatives which would come on stream for 10+ years. At the same time, the absence of grains and fertilizer products from the region is projected to induce a worldwide price explosion in foodstuffs if not an outright famine in much of the world so combine all that with already sky high food and energy prices and you have your recipe for European and western leaders sitting down with Mr. Putin and making some deals that are very favorable to him and not to them. Western leaders will do what western leaders have always done.... make deals to buy their way out of a jam and worry about the consequences later.
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  611. You could blame it on old age and senility but he's been doing it for decades.
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  612. To you guys in Australia, this is a moment of light comedy. To us here in Canada, it's a day ending in "Y".
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  613.  @miapulchritudinous9791  Thanks, I appreciate the kind words. Unfortunately, it's too little, too late for me. I'm out, I'm done. People who think like you do are in the minority and the lunatics are in the ascendency to positions of power. And power is what counts, not numbers. Remember those trends I talked about? Anyway, I've made my contribution, for whatever it's worth. There are only so many days on earth we are all given and I've given enough of mine to "King and Country." What I've got left; be they many or few, are mine. It's not my country anymore and it's not my world. Someone else can take up the fight. I'm out.
    3
  614. Bill Mahar has become this trendy new thing that many conservatives.... including a LOT who should know better... have seemingly fallen in love with. "Oh look; a liberal who is calling out other liberals! What a cool guy!" Garbage!!! Bill Mahar, being a person with a long and established history as both a solid, capital "L" liberal and also a person with a very big public presence and the cultural clout that comes with it, is one who must share a large part of the responsibility for creating this environment in the first place. He supports at least 85-90% of the liberal agenda and only opposes the rest because it affects him personally. He doesn't give a shit about the average person and his recent turn towards calling out.... but doing nothing to actually combat.... the worst excesses of the liberal agenda is nothing more than self-serving tripe to win over the gullible. This man is NOT your friend nor your ally. He never was and he never will be. STOP giving him air time!
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  615. They didn't say any rules, they said society's rules.
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  616. It's too late. It'll never be fixed. In order to fix it, you need unity. You need everyone, across generations and across socio-economic boundaries, working together in a common cause. That requires trust and mutual respect and we've allowed the powerful and the influencer class to grow fat and rich by ensuring we'll never trust and respect each other ever again. When we need unity the most, we've incentivized division and rewarded greed. It's too late. It'll never be fixed.
    3
  617. The country's been sandbagged.
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  618.  @hughmungus2760  Perhaps. But I think it more likely that it'll be the result of it not recognizing and refusing to accept why that populist ever found traction in the 1st place.
    3
  619. Well, there's my learning for the day. Never knew the French had colonies in India.
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  620. Guess I gotta get out more. Until this kerfuffle blew up, I'd never even heard tell of Andrew Tate.
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  621.  @MrWaterbugdesign  I don't think "much lower income/wealth people" could afford his services. I know I certainly can't and though I'm not in the 7 or 8 figure range, I'm hardly poor. And remember; he's not teaching people how to get wealthy. Presumably they know that already. His game is to teach you how to move to more friendly places to retain more of it and to live a better life.
    3
  622.  @carollee3044  You told me nothing. You said Andrew gives bad advice but you didn't say why or what you'd do differently.
    3
  623.  @carollee3044  The dollar is not weak. Just normal fluctuations. And if his advise is so bad, why are you here?
    3
  624. When I went to school, we were told there was no free lunch. In today's schools, they're taught that not only there IS a free lunch but it's your right to have it.
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  625. Wealthy people didn't get that way, and they don't stay that way, by wasting their money on superfluous nonsense. They demand and get, value. I also prefer such places.
    3
  626. Very good analogy and very good advice!
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  627.  @lisalph8922  The end of nation states is the wet dream of communists and one-world-government types. It sure as hell isn't mine. No thank you! And that isn't going to solve the problem of tyranny, it'll make it worse since there will be no checks on those who would impose themselves on others. There have always been rulers and there have always been strongmen. Power detests a vacuum. Somebody will always be in charge.
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  628. Actually kinda relieved to hear this. It's exactly the kind of thing I'd expect from a place like China. I was afraid Andrew was going to say it was some western country.
    3
  629. Nathan?? Who's Nathan?
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  630. Spent some time in Kuala Lumpur and really enjoyed it so I concur with Andrew there. I've also been to Istanbul but I wasn't crazy about it at all. Only a short visit and maybe I just had a bad experience but notwithstanding, there seems to be a lot of instability and uncertainty there at the moment. When I was in the army, I was part of the western alliance in the Kosovo war so I don't know how welcome I'd be in Belgrade. No knowledge at all for the any of the others. You don't hear a lot about Colombian cartels anymore so I'm guessing that's not really an issue these days? All gone to Mexico, I guess.
    3
  631. Great dads are a key to success. Andrew has one and so did I. Nomad Dad talked about humility and character. I'm going to expand on that a bit by adding a couple of things my dad taught me; and which took me a while to really understand. "You never know who's watching you and you never know when and from where, opportunity may present itself." Out in the real world; the world of business and the world of life, you're going to cross paths with a LOT of people. Some you'll actually meet, most you won't but they could very well be observing you. If you stand out as either a good or a bad person, chances are, they'll remember you and if they happen to be someone in a position to benefit you, who knows where it could go. This is how my dad went from being a struggling auto mechanic to having a great lifelong career in a business he never would have pursued - because someone he didn't even know was observing him at work and liked the way he operated. It's also how I landed a really great retirement gig in a business I never would've considered. People you meet see you and are impressed with how you work and how you carry yourself could... right out of the blue... drop a dynamite opportunity in your lap. In both my dad's case and mine, if we'd been acting like jerks or displaying unfavorable personal characteristics.... getting angry, stressed out, losing our cool, not caring about our work... opportunities that we never even knew were waiting for us would've kept right on going and we'd never have even known. Have a great holidays, everyone!
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  632. The whole debate around taxes in the US... and most western countries, to be honest, is nothing but a big distraction game. The very people who are howling about increasing taxes are the very ones who have the power to do it but never do because they'd piss off their donors. It's all just a game to fool the gullible into thinking they're doing something and to divert the anger away from themselves.
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  633. Listen up, folks! This is the wave of the future. Governments are nothing more than rapacious, gorging beasts without anything or anyone to hold them in check. There is nothing they won't go after and seize if they think they can get away with it. The ones I really feel bad for are the middle class independent business owners who've invested their whole life into something but are well below the "7 or 8 figure" threshold that this guy works with. It'll be they more so than the 7 figure and up crowd that the governments will go after because they have something worth confiscating but not enough to fight back with. The uber wealthy can always find ways and have the means to hire the smartest minds to help them do so.
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  634. If you prefer to believe that, feel free. It suits me just fine if the whiners and the losers stay put where they are. It means fewer obstructions for the rest of us.
    3
  635. Happy Thanksgiving to all the Nomad Capitalists out there along with their friends and families! And if you're not American, have a great day just the same!
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  636. The farther we get from our success, the more we forget how we achieved it. Every great empire that has ever existed has faltered and ultimately failed and in each and every case, it was the result of internal rot, complacency and laziness. An outside force may have finished a few of them off, but the cancer always started within. I don't know if I've got those quotes exactly correct; probably not, or where they originated, but each is as true as gospel, as my mom would say.
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  637. He ain't going anywhere. Just the latest big mouthed, over opinionated "celebrity" with an over inflated ego who thinks anyone gives a flying f*ck what he says or does. These clowns are always threatening to leave the US.... as if anyone is supposed to care... but they never do. Yet if any business person, entrepreneur or investor says the same thing, they're 50 different kinds of traitor, bigot, quitter, greedy, blah, blah, blah. Go ahead and renounce, Billy Jerk.... or drop dead..... All the same to me.
    3
  638. Statistics are a good indicator but trends are a better one and the trends in the legacy brand countries are all going in the wrong direction.
    3
  639.  @Twitch760  Beto O'Rourke. And he was asked repeatedly to clarify his position and each time he said that yes, that was exactly what he meant. And Biden supported him and still does.
    3
  640. I think he's using "bank" as a euphemism for any kind of account where money can be kept. It's to prove you actually have hard assets as opposed to stuff that "might" be worth $XX someday.
    3
  641. This kind of thinking is not really all that alarming. I went through school in the 60s and there was plenty of it around then. But with the exception of a fringe group of nuts, just about everyone agreed it was nonsense. Today it's far more mainstream thinking. THAT is what's alarming!
    3
  642. This confirms two things I've been saying for a long time now - First, even liberals don't believe the shit they're peddling! They ruin a place with layer upon layer of taxes and bureaucracy then after they realize the mess they've made, they decamp to a red state where - surprise, surprise! - they have lower taxes and more freedoms and then, because they've learned nothing, they proceed to start the process all over again! This process will not stop nor reverse. There are NO "formerly" blue states. Every red state will eventually turn first purple then blue. Maybe not today; maybe not tomorrow, but eventually and once it's blue, that's it. It'll be blue forever; it'll never change back. Andrew is right; moving to a red state may buy you some time but that's all it'll do. They'll get to you eventually. I already know people who are moving OUT of Texas! The second thing it confirms is that the slightly wealthy - the ones Andrew calls the "7 & 8 figure" crowd are the ones who'll be in the most danger because A) you have just enough to be worthwhile coming after but B) not enough to effectively fight back. The uber, uber wealthy (billionaires, corporations, etc) are not the real targets no matter what the politicians try to tell you. Those people have the resources to fight back and/or structure their affairs to avoid as much damage as possible. Remember, governments and politicians are cowards at their core. They pick on those who they deem least likely/able to fight back.
    3
  643. At certain times of the year, Malaysia is quite stuffy and uncomfortable. That's why he made it a list of three. You move between them as the climate, and/or other considerations, dictate.
    3
  644.  @katmandu14  Yes, twice. Loved it.
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  645. If I could find a decent, straight, mostly rust free Lada; even just a body shell, I'd buy it in a heartbeat! I owned 2 of those things in the 80s and although they weren't fancy, they had the durability of a tank. Plain, simple transportation. Can't beat it.
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  646. At 24%, I'd say it's something considerably more than a stretch to say they've "taken over" anything. And given the nature of Italian politics, they'll likely win this election then be an also-ran by the next one.
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  647.  @inconnu4961  Retired (12 years ago) Canadian army.
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  648. The only measure I really care about from now on is how lethal are they and how willing to fight are they? I'm not too worried about France any more than I wish they quit meddling around in Africa and focus on matters a little closer to home. They can do the job though. The UK will be fine once it shakes off the lethargy of the last couple of years but even with that, I don't have much concern. Which armies are on the rise? Poland? Oh yes, baby, and how! Not only are they getting kitted out with new gear but they ain't gonna be shy about using it. Polish troops rock! Germany, I'm a little worried about. I just hope all this talk of reinvigoration isn't just that... all talk. Military spending in Germany used to mean a fresh coat of paint on the base HQ building or the officer's mess parking lot being re-paved but if they are really serious about becoming a first rate military power again, I'll be delighted beyond words. German gear is among the best in the world and German soldiers are first rate. It's German politicians I worry about.
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  649.  @elvangulley3210  OK, so... what?... I'm somehow to blame for this supposed slight? Why the hell are you asking me about this? Was it me who excluded you?
    3
  650. For me, it's the same as Ireland and Austria - I'd welcome them to NATO but respect their decision to stay out. Switzerland is not now, and I have zero worries it ever will be, a threat to civilized nations. They provide a multitude of benefits in their own way and if the day ever arrived when they had to pick a side, I have no worries what their decision would be. Inside or outside of formal alliances, Switzerland is an ally and a friend.
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  651. I don't think you can take any kind of vote in Russian controlled territory seriously. But that doesn't mean they don't take it seriously.
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  652. I would maintain no ties at all with Russia as long as that criminal is in charge.
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  653. I mostly concur with the video. I'm always a little hesitant to be planning the victory parade while the missiles are still flying. There's still plenty of time for the weather to turn shitty and as for political will, I wouldn't bet too much on that. It's held up for now but with critters like Macron and Scholz in the room, you can never count on it for long. Putin knows this of course, and he's got plenty of resources for a long, long campaign so I wouldn't get too cocky too quickly. Failed? Well, failing might be a better word just for now.
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  654. Uh-huh... This "losing our democracy" "democracy is in trouble" "democracy is collapsing" trope is getting quite a bit of use lately. Peel back a few of the layers and you invariably find that it's just code for "lefties not getting their way any longer" as for them, "democracy" means they're in charge.
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  655. She'd get my vote. Holy f*ck, she's gorgeous!!
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  656. Chicago!! What else needs to be said?
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  657. NATO; or at least the US armed forces, will directly engage with the armed forces of the Russian Federation; it's only a matter of when and how. Whether we want to admit it or not, the war that Russia has initiated in Ukraine is not actually about Ukraine at all. That just happens to be the opening act. This is a war to recapture the territory of the ex-USSR, or at least most of it, and is also a war to project power and demonstrate resolve against the western alliances. It is also a war that will not end unless and until WE end it either by giving Ukraine what it needs to do the job or going in and doing it ourselves. As unpleasant as that might seem, it's the truth and the sooner we come to terms with it, the better.
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  658. They're not losing a "highly trained" crew. To the extent they ever really had any of those, they've mostly been eliminated and, like everyone else who's being shoved into battle, the old junk is being manned by hastily and partially trained conscripts.
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  659. Wonder how events of recent days are going to affect all of this.
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  660.  Lycan  China is no more benevolent than any western country, just smarter. They still mean to exploit these weaker nations for their own gain, they just go about it in a more seemingly equitable manner. Yes, they "invest" in these countries but make no mistake; they fully intend to extract their repayment at a time and in a manner of their choosing as these weaker nations shall one day see. This is the same great power game that's been played since the beginning of time. The point is that China is smarter and more patient than the west. It plays a long game instead of an immediate payoff strategy. It's often said that China knows the west better than the west knows itself. The west could easily use the same playbook as China does but they're too stupid, shortsighted and greedy to do so.
    2
  661. Welcome back, Shirvan! Was wondering where you'd been.
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  662. Being a former soldier of a NATO member country and one who has worked with the Poles on a few occasions, the advice I'd give to anyone considering f*cking with them.... DON'T! It might be stretching a point to call them a superpower but they are certainly well on their way. It's not just about gear either. Their soldiers are among the best and most motivated I've ever worked with. And France, Germany, the UK and anyone else lining up to lecture them or pout about their own declining influence are all cordially invited to go f*ck themselves! They are the ones who allowed their own militaries to atrophy and rot away so they can't now expect to keep calling the shots in an alliance they themselves have neglected for decades. B*tching and whining about American influence while doing nothing on your own is a favored Western European pass time. It's no surprise that countries like Poland who live right next door to some very tough neighborhoods have no time for such things and have made the decision to take their security into their own hands and I heartily commend them for doing so.
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  663. I masterful compilation of historic events. I've heard fragments and various bits of all this several times before but never the whole chronology tied together before. Excellent work!
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  664.  @Diamondback0006  TLDR!
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  665.  @KarmG-fo4xr  Evidently you haven't noticed that the sands are only a small portion of our oil reserves here. There are copious amounts of conventional oil not to mention nearly unlimited natural gas.
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  666. Protect it?? We've been giving it away for pennies on the dollar ever since it was discovered!
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  667. There won't be a war, don't worry, but if there were, this is one case where there most definitely would be a clear winner; at least in the military sense. It wouldn't even be close and it'd be over within hours. I've worked extensively with the militaries of both countries and the Turks, let me tell you, are nobody's pushover. You may not like them or how they conduct their affairs but don't kid yourself; if you're going to draw weapons against the Turkish military, you'd best have your ducks in a row before you do. The Greeks on the other hand, couldn't lick a stamp!
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  668. Oh, for the chance at a do-over with REAL primaries this time, eh democrats? You guys are gonna wear this for a long, long time and we independents are gonna be there to make damned sure you do wear it! ALL of this could've easily been avoided if y'all hadn't been hiding this walking corpse in a basement and blowing sunshine up his ass for 3 1/2 years making him think he was able.
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  669. I'm missing something here. What "case" are they letting go forward?
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  670. ".... crimes against humanity that Russia will be held accountable for...." Russia held accountable? You've got to be kidding me! Did the "C" in CNN suddenly come to stand for "Comedy?"
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  671. Biden is head and shoulders above any of these..... and that should scare the shit out of democrats! When an 82 yr old Biden's the best you got, you got major problems!
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  672. I guess this guy has some valid points but my theory as to why the number of young men looking for dates has declined is that quite a few actually managed to find one and immediately said "f*ck this sh*t!!"
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  673. Putin must not be allowed any kind of victory at all or anything he can even call a victory. He must be allowed nothing but defeat.... total, absolute, crushing, public, humiliating defeat!
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  674. Why would anyone care what MTG thinks about why he lost? Everyone knows it was her own space lasers that did him in.
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  675.  @robainscough  What I'm talking about is being judgmental, condescending and superior towards people you don't even know or know anything about. You've shown yourself to be just that better than I ever could. Debate? Facts? With you? For what purpose? You've made so many false assumptions about me and shown so much disdain towards me that it would be pointless to do so. That's why we're at this place; all of us.
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  676. We could say the same about you.
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  677. They moved him (not fired) because they got some bad PR, not because they regret what they did.
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  678. Yeah well, that's kinda the point here. She was being sarcastic when she said "principled."
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  679. Not necessarily. There was some areas bent in also. An explosion beside or underneath could cause either or both.
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  680. "Racist!!" "Sexist!!" AAHHHH!!! Oh yeah, here we go. Every f**king word that's said from now on will be one or the other... or both. Hey a**holes..... Give me an example of an attack against Kamala from Trump (or ANY Republican) that would NOT be racist and sexist. You can't do it because ALL of them are! Every criticism of Obama was racist and every criticism of Hillary was sexist because that's ALL you've got!!
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  681.  @alexandreveigapereira8727  Like you, I'm actually a Canadian... an Albertan, in fact. There is a bunch of different and rather complicated criteria and it generally works like a bunch of check boxes. With some minor reservations, it's a case of starting at the top and as soon as you check one, you're in. The overly simplified version is - 1) If you were born on US soil, boom; that's it. You qualify. 2) If you were not born on US soil but at least one of your parents is a "natural born citizen", then that qualifies you. This is how Ted Cruz qualifies. His mother was American. There's a bunch of other items below that on the check list and there are some exceptions and exclusions along the way but that's generally how it works.
    2
  682.  @gemanscombe4985  Rockin'! 1) Barron has multiple times been dragged into needless and tasteless political attacks against his father (who is fair game) and his mother (who is not). "Attack" is a metaphor and attacks don't need to be either physical in nature nor direct to cause harm. Who attacked him? Mostly the Twitterverse but there were some off color remarks from news people and some stupid cooking show person. Regardless; not the end of the world but still pretty f*cking low! He's a child, a minor; he's off limits! 2) Kathy Griffin - DON'T even go there!! Everyone who saw that picture; EVERYONE, knew exactly what it meant and EXACTLY what it was a call to do. And don't give me that crap about being cancelled. Any cancellation she suffered was minimal and temporary and in most cases, those cancelling her had to be shamed and prodded into doing so. CNN initially stood 4 square behind her and only pulled her very reluctantly when the pressure to do so became too much. And today, she's right back where she always was; a leftist cultural hero! And don't cry; Gosar will no doubt be censured by the house as he should be. 3) Some CNN anchor; I believe it was Jake Tapper but I can't swear to that, retweeted someone calling for the Covington kids to be "disappeared;" again, a term with zero ambiguity attached, saying something like - "THIS!!! A hundred times THIS and TODAY!!" or something to that effect. It was deleted later but of course, but ONLY when the pressure to do so built high enough. To my knowledge, there wasn't a single word of apology offered for either the retweet nor the hell that those KIDS were put through after it was known full well that the story about them was bullshit. I won't even bother going into the hundreds of violent rioters, looters and criminals who've been bailed out, excused or even outright released without charges and then held up as heroes by the left. You get the picture.
    2
  683.  @doradodude140  Yeah, I saw it. I also saw Kathy Griffin holding a blood soaked severed Trump head. I heard democrat supporters calling for Barron.... a CHILD!!!... to be attacked. I remember a Bernie supporter shooting up a baseball game and a CNN anchor cheering on someone saying the Covington kids.... KIDS!!!... need to be "disappeared." Y'all wanna play? Fine; we'll play.
    2
  684. Well, the Democrats and their smug apologists sure don't show them much love. Maybe you oughta try sometime. You might find it's returned.
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  685.  @JMM33RanMA  Whoa! Ya got me beat! We're close on the Providence thing. My grandma lived just south of there and I used to house sit for her while she wintered in Mexico. We also spent quite a few summers in the Bar Harbor area of Maine. Ya got me beat overseas too. A year split between Tel Aviv and the Sinai (I was military), 6 months in Bahrain and my cousin (who is WAY wealthier than me) has a 2nd home in Abu Dhabi. And no, I didn't retain much of the language. I'm pretty good in French because I grew up in Canada and my German is poor but passable. (I was stationed there for a while). Germans laugh at me when I speak but I can get what I need.
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  686.  @Skunk106  P.S. Another name which popped into my head was David Suzuki who gave a presentation at the same college on climate change from a geostrategic and global security standpoint. Not one of my favorite people for other reasons but much of what he said then ('90 or '91) has come to pass and links nearly perfectly with what Peter has been saying for years.
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  687.  @JMM33RanMA  Whereabouts in NE do you live and where were you in the Middle East? Spent some time in both areas myself.
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  688. The transition is not going to be an easy one. Once upon a time, a job in the trades was considered a respectable career choice if not always a very glamorous one. But since around the late 70s / early 80s, there has been such a push to get kids into universities and load them up with "degrees" of one sort or another, that trades and manual labor jobs took on the stigma of being "dirty work" that only lower class losers would do. I graduated high school in 1981 and I remember at the time, we had representatives from several universities come through the school promoting their colleges but not a single trade school..... even though our high school was situated right next door to one! A very common attitude expressed to a high performing student who expressed interest in a trade of one sort or another was - you can do way better than that." Even to this day, government policy in higher education is very heavily skewed towards universities and away from trade schools. The politicians and senior public servants all came up in those days when you looked down your nose at trades people and they've never gotten past it.
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  689. Thinking the very same thing!
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  690. You're not wrong and as a Canadian myself, I would say that an awful lot of our past virtue signaling is coming back to bite us in the ass. Our governments in both parties, have shamelessly catered to certain minority and ethnic groups for many years to the point where they have themselves accumulated a considerable amount of political clout and no one now wants to take them on lest they be cast as racists. @OOL-UV2 
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  691. China and Russia - "What are you going to do about it?" I guess that's the key question of the day, isn't it? What ARE they going to do about it? Both of these actors are banking on the US and its allies being big talkers but small doers. Recent history has given then ample reason to feel this way. I guess we'll see if they were right.
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  692. I don't give the Biden administration credit for much but I will for this.
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  693. Is there any possibility this could be a withdrawal under a negotiated ceasefire?
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  694. Peter - Please do NOT do a video explaining to us why you got your '24 election prediction wrong. Way, WAY too many of them out there already. You forked up; leave it at that.
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  695. Indiana? I woulda said Pennsylvania. Learned something today.
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  696. I look forward to the video Peter makes about some country or other's brewing industry. Probably in a tavern somewhere with a bunch of bottles lined up on a table and everybody taking one as they walk by while Peter gives them the evil eye.
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  697.  @MoireFly  Your point is probably correct, or at least close to correct. Still, it's a bigger step than I thought the Germans would make.
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  698. No.
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  699. Watched a Warographics video on this topic just the other day and one of the points was that hostilities could break out again at any moment. The thumbnail headline to this video had me believing that that very thing had occurred. Glad to see that it has not.
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  700. Which chips? The ones they don't know how to make? The ones that are increasingly being made elsewhere? The ones that are designed elsewhere? Return to your toybox, child.
    2
  701.  @rtgsamples  OK, let's start right now. Educate me. Explain to me how they would prevail against the combined might of Israel and the entire western alliance. Remember, the comment at the start of the thread mentioned WW3, not some regional skirmish involving a few rag-tag proxies. This is the big show we're talking about.
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  702.  @Chr1s-fm6bi  "Canada has never told Americans that the border issues are our problem to work out." Ya, in fact we have. Maybe not in quite such bold language but many debates here have happened on that very theme. One of them is ongoing at the moment, in fact.
    2
  703.  @HannahKenzy  What do you mean "my one bad experience/" How the hell do you know how many experiences I've had or what kind? I work in the industry. It is the common consensus that cars built in Mexico have considerably lower build quality and that quality control protocols are a lot lower in Mexican plants. It's also true that Mexican built vehicles have a much higher rate of recall than similar models built in Japan, Germany or even the US and Canada. Those are well established facts. Like them, don't like them, they're still the facts.
    2
  704.  @Rob_F8F  He said they do a "fantastic job" or "great job" at it, or something to that effect. That's a little bit ambiguous. If he was talking about volume, he's right, but if was talking about quality, he's not.
    2
  705.  @goenzoy712  No. As I told you, the subject comes up every few years and it always gets dropped because everyone realizes it wouldn't even begin to come close to being worth the cost. The bigger issue is that it's simply not needed. Canada doesn't need a northern port. We have plenty of perfectly adequate ports on both the east and west coasts (and the Great Lakes as well) so another one on Hudson's Bay would be a hideously expensive redundancy which no one would have any reason to use. The NW Passage may become a useful secondary transit route between oceans someday but it'll never be a route by which anything comes to or goes from our own country because it's hundreds of miles from where the people and the freight is. The only possible rationale for constructing new port facilities anywhere would be if you feared you might get shut out of existing ones and there were very few other available options and that's never going to happen. There have been feasibility studies done on constructing / expanding facilities right on the coasts and every one of them has come back as a hard pass.
    2
  706.  @goenzoy712  Water's not deep enough, no infrastructure on site, no all weather roads connecting it and only a very rudimentary railroad. I'm in Canada, western Canada to be precise, and Churchill comes up a lot and it would be great if it were an option but it's just not. Great location but it's just not near to anyone or anything which matters.
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  707. Interesting times!
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  708.  UTubeFekUrself  Not surprised at all and glad to hear it.
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  709. I know what I see and the last several videos he did from Colorado hiking trails were quite a bit snowier than that and Peter was dressed a lot warmer. @Nalololol 
    2
  710. What the people bitching about all the stuff we're sending to Ukraine... or at least a good chunk of them... are really upset at is that their man-crush Putin is losing. They're too chicken-shit to come right out an say it so they build all kinds of straw men like - "Oh my God, the cost!!" or "We're running down our supplies!"... as if they actually gave a flying f*ck about either of those things. If we sent Ukraine bi-planes, muskets, swords and horses, they'd still bitch but if we sent Putin 500x the amount we're sending Ukraine, they'd be dancing a jig.
    2
  711.  @Graybeard_  Well, I'm not too worried about trying to justify myself to any so-called "God".... that supposedly all powerful, all knowing creature who still allows copious amounts of evil and depravity in the world. If "He" is that concerned about them, let "him" do something about it. He's the one with all the power, not me.
    2
  712.  @IzzYonWheelzz  There was no malintent in his use of the word cheap. You and many others just chose to interpret it that way.
    2
  713. I can't stand Pelosi and if she goes, I hope she falls in love with the place to the point where she decides not to come back. However, between Russia, China, North Korea and Iran, the US has had significantly more than enough threats made at it to the point where it needs to start calling the bluff on some of them. Long past time we said - "go ahead; make your move. See what happens."
    2
  714. "Was that a win?" LMAO!
    2
  715. I'm sure the Germans are smart enough that they know all this already. I've been saying since the first day of the invasion that all this high sounding talk of western "unity" is just that... talk... and it's all going to disappear very soon. It's the easiest thing in the world to yammer on about how committed you are to Ukraine and freedom and democracy and blah, blah, blah when it's high summer and nobody's home needs to be heated. It's quite another thing to do so when the winds of winter start to blow and the gas has been turned off. Europe couldn't quit Russian gas for at least a decade even if they wanted to because there are no adequate replacements in place and they will take years to come up with. That's assuming that they even want to find solutions and I remain unconvinced that they do. It's always been the European way to cop out and take the easy route. Putin has Europe by the balls and he knows it.... and so does Europe! 75 years, America has been underwriting European security and what do they have to show for it? I say screw the lot of them! Cut the bastards loose and let them fend for themselves.
    2
  716. Blockade Russian ports! And yes, I know. That is an act of war. That's the point!
    2
  717. Great content as always, Peter but please.... sit a little closer to the mic next time.
    2
  718.  @Vercixx  I know what he said and I'll agree, he didn't word it very well, which he's sometimes guilty of doing, but I understood the larger point that he was trying to get across. I think that most people will know from folklore if nothing else, that Transylvania is mostly Romanian; even if like myself, they're not very familiar with the place. But furthermore, how the hell do you know what he was referring to? Are you psychic or something or are you wired into his brain somehow? Have you never misspoken in your life? You perfect or something?
    2
  719. She wants to turn it into a collective farm.
    2
  720.  @obiwankenobi661  I think you're right. I just finished watching a couple of other videos and she does it with others there.
    2
  721. Armenia - "Russia; send help!!" Russia - "Uhmm... bit tied up at the moment, in fact, but we'll get to ya just as soon as we can. You hang in there now!"
    2
  722. Column of Russian armor rolls up.... Commander calls back to HQ - "Sir, we should seriously rethink this. I'm seeing concertina wire up here. These guys mean business!"
    2
  723. Why wouldn't Russia try to de-stabilize Moldova? That's what they do, that's who they are and they know full well that the west will do nothing but sit on their hands and fret. If NATO had any foresight and more importantly, balls, they'd have had 2 divisions stationed in Moldova already. The NATO leadership knew this was likely to happen but once again, we see them reacting instead of proacting and then doing the bare minimum if anything at all. It's no wonder the Russian leadership has so little fear of, and disregard for, NATO's capabilities because for all their material strength, they lack the will and the courage to step up and meet these challenges head on and prevent them from happening.
    2
  724. Canada secured its border. Maybe it's time the US did likewise. You can't do everything.
    2
  725.  @anayarey  I think that we can probably dispense with this nonsense notion of WW3 or nuclear weapons. Russia can't even manage to get food, fuel and ammo to the troops they've already got deployed. They can't even get the best of a bunch of Ukrainians never mind spreading it farther.
    2
  726. A pope is a pope. Emeritus simply describes current status. He doesn't stop being a pope.
    2
  727.  @svenhodaka9145  Yeah, that's what I'm seeing. This story got me to digging around on You Tube to see what I could find out about jet boats and they're pretty amazing. I've often wondered what engine was in Relic's boat. It seemed pretty fast on TV so I was thinking V8 of some sort but then I saw a few videos of boats that only had 4 cyl power and they looked just as fast. That 5.7 Kodiac you mentioned... Would I be right in thinking that's a rebranded Chevy V8? I ask because Chevy supplied a lot of engines for marine use and often under different brand names.
    2
  728. Justin Trudeau's Canada. Actually, I would like to see every business do this or lock their doors altogether and bring trade and commerce in this country to a grinding, screeching halt and keep it that way. It's pretty clear that dictators like Trudeau and his underling Eby only respond to force so it's time to show them force and just who the hell is boss around here!
    2
  729. I just had to pick this year to move from Alberta to PEI, didn't I?
    2
  730. Hey..... It's even worse than you think. Trudeau has no intention of even spending the paltry amount he promised. He only made that promise to get the rest of NATO off his back for that last meeting. It's all a smokescreen. There will be NO subs, there will be NO 2%. There will only be excuses, finger pointing and bafflegab. Same as always.
    2
  731. 1) Leave, which establishes compliance with the vacate order, 2) Go somewhere else for 48 hours, 3) Come right back again and restart the process. 4) Repeat as necessary.
    2
  732. Ahh, no problem. Vancouver's a good lefty, union supporting city. They'll suck it up to support their brothers and sisters.
    2
  733. Our world today.
    2
  734. "Cute little bunnies......" Ya; say that when they start tearing your lawn and garden to pieces and burrowing under your foundations. See how "cute" you think they are then when they start costing you a fortune.
    2
  735. No problem! We must all trust in Justin. He has a costume... um, I mean a plan... to get us out of this mess. He plans to blame Harper and wave a pride flag.
    2
  736.  @AmbientMusicStudio  True. Hard way to learn a lesson but I'd say he's learned it, though.
    2
  737. Background checks, references, ID checks, leases, damage deposits, usual stuff....... Just sayin'. Take the time, do the work and exercise the due diligence or this is the result. It's obvious the "authorities" aren't going to do dick to help you so you have to protect yourself.
    2
  738. Oh, stop!! Give it up with the cheap theatrics, will ya? The government is NOT going to fall and you know it! Jaggy doesn't have his pension yet.
    2
  739. None.
    2
  740. He won't go. He should, but he won't. He still believes in his heart that "real" Canadians love him as much as he loves himself and like any malignant narcissist, he's convinced that his vision and his mission are divine and that Canada simply would not, could not, survive without him. He's got his cult so whipped up and intoxicated with this rhetoric about the Conservatives being fascists that he believes he's the only thing standing between life and death for the country.
    2
  741. I can see a pretty hefty lawsuit arising out of this too.
    2
  742. Dammit! I left the door open again and look what crawled in... one of those lovely folks I talked about in para 2. When will I learn? Oh well, there's still hope for me. After all, I did learn a long time ago, the utter futility of trying to reason with, or even engage with, a socialist so I won't bother. Guess you were looking for a fight and a chance to "totally OWN" one of those evil fascists but I'm going to have to disappoint you. You'll just have to run along and brag to all your other geeky professor friends about an imaginary incident instead. @PrintProfessor 
    2
  743. "Hey; wanna spend 23 minutes listening to a story about a dead ex-chicken farmer's brain?" "Are you outta your mind!?" "The dead ex-chicken farmer is Himmler and the storyteller is Dr. Felton." "Why didn't you say so?! What are you waitin' for? Start the film and hold all calls!"
    2
  744.  @Momusinterra  Write a book?? You gotta be kidding! Most of the time, I don't have the attention span to even read a book. Besides, what would I write a book for? I already know my own history and I'm the only one who matters. Sheesh!
    2
  745. I have some great ideas for how we can construct a well functioning society for the years ahead - 1) Abandon or disregard all of our alliances built up and maintained over decades. 2) Allow our military capabilities to rust out, rot, atrophy and fall apart. 3) Dismantle and sell off all of the redundancy and reserve capacities in our critical infrastructure. 4) Gut our domestic manufacturing capacities and transfer it all to our enemies which will A) enrich them as well as our own oligarch class at home, B) slowly kill off our middle class and most importantly C) make us totally dependent on nations which are hostile to us. 5) Close down our nuclear reactors - the only source of clean energy in existence with the capacity to provide power on the scale necessary for our society to function - and leash ourselves to a dirtier source from an openly hostile power. 6) Continue to live with blinders on, telling ourselves over and over that we are NOT seeing what we're seeing, that wrong is right or if it is wrong, then it's our fault anyway and the whole reason why hostile nations are hostile is that we haven't loved them enough and if we just give them more and more and more, eventually they'll come around. 7) Concentrate on the really important things like identifying all of the different ways we can be racist, who can use which bathrooms, pronoun usage and patriarchy. Because.... you know.... there is no real danger anywhere in the world and all of the other stuff will just fix itself.
    2
  746. I believe they used both the Allison and the Merlin in different variants at different times.
    2
  747. I was first trained as a tanker and among the first things we were taught is that there hasn't been a tank built that can't be defeated; very often by cheap and primitive means. Even the very best of the best are still extremely vulnerable. Secondly, there is no such thing as "obsolete" if the thing is needed and can be put to use on a battlefield. If it's the best you've got, it's the best you've got; use it! It's still a big, heavy steel box with a big gun and an engine. Besides, these things aren't going to be going up against anything much better than they are; at least for the moment, and when newer and better stuff does hit the battlefield, it will be to assist and compliment these old relics, not face off against them. One final point; the Poles and the Ukrainians are among the best at re-working and improving old stuff and making it into something really good but the Israelis are legends in that regard. I'd not be afraid to wager there won't be too much sniggering and guffawing out of the ragtag Russian conscripts and Wagner convicts when they encounter these machines.
    2
  748.  @MarkFeltonProductions  Thanks! I hope I didn't come off as a nitpick. I hate when people do that! Sorry if I did. I was just wanting to be correct in my own usage of terms and I greatly value and respect your knowledge! Again, GREAT channel!
    2
  749. Mark - It's always been my understanding that the word "Wehrmacht" referred to all branches of the WWII German armed forces, not just the army. The navy was called the "Kriegsmarine", the air force, the "Luftwaffe", and the army, the "Heer" and together, they all formed the "Wehrmacht." Can you clarify this? Thanks and GREAT channel!!
    2
  750.  @armija  Yes there is; sort of. Moscow was known to have sent agents to Yugoslavia to kill Tito on numerous occasions but always failed. Tito is reported to have conveyed messages to Moscow that if this activity persisted, he'd retaliate and he wouldn't fail. Whether the above was the exact wording is not clear but he did send something like that and Moscow evidently got the message.
    2
  751. I don't think my phone's gonna melt in my hand. More likely my hand melts around the phone.
    2
  752.  @lessharratt8719  There's nothing wrong with a mixed fleet in principle. We used to have them in earlier times. But they got away from that for standardization reasons and to reduce costs. At one time, everyone had mixed fleets but in the pursuit of savings, we started demanding that each new purchase had to check more and more boxes. This really didn't deliver much savings since if their plane had to do more stuff, it was going to be more expensive to design and build. At the same time, consolidation and amalgamation has continued until there's now only a handful of makers. Currently, the F-35 comes closest to being that one best "all-in-one." I'm not one who worships at the alter of that plane; it does have its problems and I'm somewhat ambivalent about it but the thing is (was), we were already signed up partners in the project and had already gone 2/3 of the way down the road to buying it at member pricing when Shithead deliberately drove the bus into the ditch to win votes and now we're back to square 1. This is exactly like what the Shawinigan Sidewinder did with the helicopters 20 years earlier. Yes, I do think that contract was a bit pricey but we would've gotten a 1st class item and, like the F-35, we had a signed contract which we had to pay $500M to break, not to mention wait a further 25 years for a replacement with an inferior product at an ultimately higher cost! This, along with all the other procurement fiascos I've watched over my years in the military means I have zero confidence we'll do anything close to the right thing..... unless by some miracle it also happens to be the politically expedient thing.
    2
  753. Completely agree. Viva Vietnam!!
    2
  754. Maybe we need to start a Patreon page for the poor dope who thought you were Asian. Brain injuries can be awfully expensive to treat.
    2
  755. #askagerman - OK Feli, here's one for you..... What's the deal with the words "Germany" and "German" when the words used by natives are "Deutschland" and "Deutsche?" Germany / Deutschland isn't the only example of this for sure (Finland / Suomi, Ireland / Eire) but I'd be curious to know what the reason for it is.
    2
  756. The things about stupid questions..... 1. Everyone's definition is different depending upon their own personal circumstances..... therefore... 2. We've all asked them in the past, perhaps without realizing it..... But.... 3. Some people have elevated it to an artform. Y'all know who you are.
    2
  757. Makes sense. People will only tolerate being led by an ornament for so long.
    2
  758. It still freaks me out when I see Vietnamese troops being reviewed by an American. Who would have thought 40 years ago, that there would be any degree of military decorum between those two countries; never mind cooperation?
    2
  759. "We really need to get out and communicate everything that Pres. Biden has done." Oh, I see. So you want to drive his poll numbers even further into the ditch?
    2
  760. Like hell I'd forgive her!
    2
  761. Fair point. I was being mildly facetious of course, but you are right. @Papadoc1000 
    2
  762. Well, to be fair; I don't really think it's Biden who's afraid to campaign there. It's very much an open question whether Biden even knows where NH is. I'm convinced that most of the time when they shove documents in front of him to sign, they have to convince him that he's actually the President now and not "that clean colored fella." No, I think the fear... and it is real and justified... resides elsewhere.
    2
  763. Nikki Haley.... "The first choice of Democrats in the Republican primaries."
    2
  764. And would do so again.
    2
  765. Let's hope so.
    2
  766. David's comment about her maybe being the least bad option out of California is a prescient one. When you have a look at the newer lots that are making their way up the democrat party ladder, she doesn't seem so bad.
    2
  767. What was that old jingle? Oh yeah.... "I'm loving it!"
    2
  768. They've yet to invest one that could hold up under the strain!
    2
  769. I gotta give him this.... He's the only person I ever saw who can fall UP a set of stairs.
    2
  770. The more cost, the more disruption, the more chaos and the more damage this causes in democrat cities and the more pain it causes those who support them, the better I like it. I gotta say, I'm luvin' this!
    2
  771. Don Lemon still believes him.
    2
  772. That broad at the end makes more sense than Kamala.
    2
  773. I'd say Estee's got it down pat but there's no way in hell she could ever be as goddam annoying as Kackala is on her best day.
    2
  774. Gotta admit, I'm actually kinda shocked that they went ahead and fired him. I figured they'd hole him up somewhere for a few weeks/months till it all blew over then start working him back in. But, as these guys say, Chris working in his official capacity, and using company resources, company time and personnel, could very likely have legal ramifications for CNN. They probably didn't have a choice. Throw him under the bus to hopefully save their own hides. Oh well, couldn't happen to two better people. I hope they're both destroyed over this and that CNN is dragged down with them.
    2
  775. Starting a pool...... How many different kinds of racism will this be called?
    2
  776. I'm sure she'll have an important role in the new administration..... Folding linen, watering the flowers, answering the door..... Lots of things she could do.
    2
  777. It's possible. This list is just the first batch of names he's sent for vetting. It doesn't necessarily mean it's going to be one of them. He can always send more names at a later date. There could be red flag(s) pop up for any or all of these.
    2
  778. If things keep going into the Media Bias Hall of Fame at the current rate, the building will soon be the size of Texas!
    2
  779. So happy for you, Chicago!
    2
  780. Nobody would be better than Kamala Harris to replace Joe Biden as President...... like, literally, nobody. Having the post vacant would be better than having that doofus in it.
    2
  781. Or "no matter what."
    2
  782. He makes a lot of good points but unfortunately we all have to live in the world that is, not the one we want.
    2
  783. What he needs is his gold watch and to be shown the door.
    2
  784. Has this ever happened before? Has either party ever tried to dump BOTH the P and the VP before the next vote when neither has completed a single term?
    2
  785. How anyone could choose to be a law enforcement officer today is utterly unfathomable to me. I'd like to see mass resignations all across the country. Then these liberals would really get a taste of what they voted for!
    2
  786. You got that right! Just think... Joe Biden only further left, with all his faculties, motivated and determined..... Doomed is putting it mildly.
    2
  787. Ain't gonna happen, Newt. In order for anyone to get 217, someone is going to have to cave. The moderates are going to have to cave to the hardliners or the hardliners are going to have to cave to the moderates and neither of those scenarios is going to happen. The hardliners have enough to stymie anyone they don't like if they choose to do it. They may pay a price for that at some point but that doesn't help you now. The only way anyone gets to 217 is if a handful of Republicans support a Democrat and you know both how likely that would be and also what it would mean for the ones who did so.
    2
  788. Looks like The Ministry of Silly Walks turned theater production.
    2
  789. For at least 6 months, I've been calling for a US carrier task force in the Black Sea, another one in the Baltic, a 3rd in the arctic off Murmansk and a 4th one in the Sea of Japan near Vladivostok. Simultaneously, start massing strategic air assets into Europe, the Mediterranean, and the Pacific and 400-500K troops into Poland, the Baltics, Romania and Slovakia.
    2
  790.  @bigpelit  If it were up to me, every last sanction would remain in place until that very thing happened. If they don't like it, they can f*cking well do something about it.
    2
  791. Has Europe been too soft on Putin? Is the Pope catholic?
    2
  792. I've been predicting something much like this for weeks now. Any territorial gains of any kind, Putin will sell as a win which he can easily do since he has absolute control of all media. Also, Putin knows exactly which words to utter to make the west roll over on its belly begging to be scratched.... peace, ceasefire, negotiations, diplomacy..... No matter how disingenuous he is, and how much they know him to be, the likes of France and Germany will not be able to resist. They'll give him whatever he wants at that point just to be able to go back to the status quo and forget about it. He knows he can't continue much longer but he'll go as far as he can, and take as much as he can then stop and ask to talk. Then the whole business goes into hiatus for another 5-7 years while he rebuilds and retools for round 3.
    2
  793. Great interview, lousy connection.
    2
  794. In my opinion, the greatest threat to western unity is time. Russia cannot "win" much more than significant portions of the Donbas at this point, and they know it. Military action on their part has failed to divide and weaken the western alliances but the fact remains that most of that unity has to this point, only manifested itself in talk. There has been little real action. So the most effective way for Russia to move forward would be to declare a ceasefire, allow the whole thing to fade from the front pages while calling for negotiations. This is still the west's huge weakness... they are simply unable to say no to such things because it gets them off the hook from having to make any really tough decisions. Europe in particular, is desperate for a return to the status quo and will practically sign away their own borders to achieve it and if they won't now, Putin knows that all their talk of getting off Russian energy is cheap and empty in high summer but when winter arrives, it'll be a whole different matter. Excuses for resuming energy trading will be thicker than hardwood and Putin will happily lap up all that cash to rebuild his army for another go-around in a year or two.
    2
  795. The only way you ensure that Putin doesn't "regroup and do it all again" is to ensure that he loses... fully, completely and permanently.... and that his regime falls and that he and every other senior member of his ruling clique are either locked away in a dungeon or dead. You haven't eradicated a cancer so long as there's a single cell left in the body which can and will grow and reproduce and you cannot similarly grow something good in ground that is filled with poison. After WW2, the victorious allies knew that total victory followed by a full, abject and unconditional surrender and then a total annihilation of the enemy regimes was the only way to ensure that there wouldn't be a repeat and they also knew that the German and Japanese people would never be able to build something better as long as there were any remnants of the former regimes left. It is the same today for the future of Ukraine and for the peace of Europe and equally, it is the only hope for the Russian people.
    2
  796. Brings back memories. Exactly the model I first trained on and used.
    2
  797. Against a T-72B3M or T-90M, I think it would come down to crew and tactics, to be honest.... and some luck. Those are pretty decent machines. However, I hear there's a lack of those models these days for some reason. Evidently though, we're about to see several thousand T-62s which were obsolete back when I started training on the very models you see here back over 40 years ago. Those, the venerable old Leo 1s would cut to pieces. So yeah, fire 'em up, tune 'em up, kit 'em out and send 'em on. May as well get some use out of them. Ain't doin' a bit of good to nobody sitting in that warehouse. I wouldn't put 'em in front line service against Russia's best but they'd be fine for support duty. Every bit as good or better than the AMX-30.
    2
  798. This is the thing I fear the most. At some point, there will be a ceasefire of some sort followed by negotiations and some form of general "peace" and it's highly likely that at that time, all these "brave and resolute" European leaders will do as all politicians are want to do which is the easy thing and go right back to doing business with Putin's Russia. I expect this to coincide with next fall's home heating season where everyone who's been addicted to Russian gas and oil for decades and hasn't lifted a finger to move away from it, despite their rosy rhetoric, will once again be lining up to fill Putin's bank accounts.... because they'll have no choice. Everyone will be looking for something they can point to and call a "win" and the excuses will be thicker than Donbas mud for why that is the right approach. In the end, there will have been very little in the way of meaningful change. All those high promises of more military spending will somehow evaporate and in ten years or so, after Putin's had a chance to rebuild, regroup and rearm, we'll be right back at this business again. We in the west have produced nothing but Chamberlains over the last several generations who value nothing above the status quo and finding excuses to do nothing and take the easy way out.
    2
  799. It can't. Which is why WE have to ensure it never has to. This is our war every bit as much as it's Ukraine's and among our many failings to date is the failure to make that salient fact crystal clear to our own people.
    2
  800.  @baldeagle4308  It's your fault.
    2
  801. Ahh, don't be so sure about that. It's a long shot for sure but don't forget; all the so-called "smart" people wrote him off the first time too.
    2
  802. You don't need to be trapped in Putin's information bubble to be a victim of his propaganda. There are millions of Russians living in the west who have access to any amount and variety of media imaginable and still believe the lies. The reason - they want to. That's the thing about people; they believe what they want to believe. Always have, always will. Skilled, master manipulators like Putin understand this and exploit it for all it's worth.
    2
  803. Ukraine needs to be the rock upon which Russia breaks itself. So much more the west could and should be doing to speed that along.
    2
  804. I nice thought but it would be both impossible in the real sense and probably quite disappointing in reality. Since the PM is the leader of the largest party or block in the commons, unless there magically appeared 325 more "independent" MPs, he could never be PM Besides, politics has a way of changing people and I'm doubtful if the Michael Clarke you see here would be the same one you'd see if he was PM.
    2
  805. I enjoy this guy's commentary and to a large degree, I agree with him. My only concern is that we're getting a little too far out in front of our skis here with all this talk of "Ukraine is winning this war" and "Putin is losing this war." All of this analysis could well be right and I hope to God it is but can we please stop this planning of the victory parade while the battles are still raging? For all the deprivations they're living with, Russia still has the capacity for nearly limitless destruction. They've got no high tech stuff left (or nearly none) but they've got literally millions upon millions of artillery shells and dumb rockets and thousands of guns and tubes to launch them. As well, they have have limitless capacity to produce as many more as they'll need because there's nothing high tech or difficult about producing those things. They've also got nearly 8000 tanks in reserve... outdated, crapped out old buckets to be sure but in those numbers, even the new stuff being sent to Ukraine won't be able to overcome it. Also, Iran and North Korea are sending shipments on a regular basis and you can't tell me China isn't contributing pretty heavily too, despite their denials. This war is NOT over yet or anywhere close to being over. Nobody has won anything yet. When you have a man like Vladimir Putin who is more than willing to send 5 million or more troops to the slaughter, second every ounce of manufacturing capacity to the war effort and sacrifice the very future of the country for his own vanity, you can't say anything's been won while he and his inner circle still draw breath. So let's stop talking about winning and get down to the serious business of actually winning. All that new gear is nice but how about some aircraft and a couple hundred thousand NATO troops to go with it all?
    2
  806.  @frankrenda2519  Really? Where's the proof?
    2
  807. Don't be a fool. He's not beaten yet nor even close to being beaten. This is the kind of over confident boasting that ends up blowing up in one's face.
    2
  808.  @spark_6710  I'm Canadian. I have Ukrainian friends and my next door neighbor is Russian. Cheers!
    2
  809.  @spark_6710  I am praying for the day that Russians can live normal, prosperous, happy lives in peace in a country not ruled by thieves, thugs, gangsters and despots.
    2
  810. Russian T-72s in use today are much newer and have been substantially upgraded from the original. Still not a world class unit mind you, but not the claptrap many are writing them off as. And the Ukrainians don't have anything all that much better though their anti-tank weapons are superior.
    2
  811. The Russians have said the explosions were caused by incompetent soldiers on their own side. What's truly hilarious is that that is an entirely plausible explanation and they didn't even get the joke!
    2
  812.  @jonathonmeyers9581  200%!
    2
  813. OK, first off, I like Walsh and to a large degree, sympathize with him and his position here but I also feel he's being just a touch too hyperbolic and Chicken Little himself. He's a good guy but he does have a reputation sometimes of being a bit of a drama queen. Let me state this for the record in terms as clear and plain as I can - the Republican Party is definitely NOT dying nor is it dead. It's having itself a bit of an episode just now, no doubt about that but, like every other party, it's had those before and survived and it'll do so again. You may view that as a good thing or a bad thing depending upon your outlook on things but I view it as a certainty. There has hardly been a major political party in existence which hasn't gone through turbulent times and also been prematurely written off as "dead" and in nearly every case, it has transformed itself and come storming back. That's precisely what parties do. I'm old enough and have been around long enough to have seen this pattern repeat itself over and over and frankly, so is Walsh. He should know better. Here's another fearless prediction - Donald Trump will not win the next US election because Donald Trump will not even be the Republican nominee. If you're paying close attention to what's actually happening right now... as opposed to what the blowhard commentariat are blathering about... you'll know that Donald Trump is a spent force whose influence is already starting to wain. He is a 3 time loser and the movers and shakers in the GOP... those people Walsh laughingly referred to as irrelevant.... are simply not going to tolerate a loser. You can already see the donors and organizers backing away from him. As for the voters, Trump certainly has a hold on his share of them... for now.... but at the end of the day, they'll do like every other Republican supporter will do... vote for whoever the nominee is. As much as they'll try to deny it, they'll come around and fall in line eventually. It may not happen in the next cycle; in fact, I'm betting it won't, but it will happen. There are enough lunatics in the Democratic Party that they'll see that they have no choice in the matter.
    2
  814. Mr. Clarke says a total collapse of the Russian state is unlikely. No doubt he's right..... but a person can dream.
    2
  815. I think you're right. Western nations are much more heavily involved in this war than they're letting on they are and that type of training is just one of the ways.
    2
  816.  @nottooherbal  There's also the question of trying to preserve them in as good a condition as possible. That's why they waited to shoot the first one down until it was over water. That way, they could recover it and examine it to see exactly what it was doing and what it had recorded and/or transmitted. If they'd destroyed it in the air or shot it down over land, that data would've been lost. Also, something the size and weight of 3 city busses tumbling uncontrollably from 100K feet would've put everything and everyone below it for hundreds of sq miles at extreme risk.
    2
  817. This guy's some piece of work, ain't he?
    2
  818. People fundamentally misunderstand the purpose of sanctions. They are not designed to "work." If they were, the hoards of homegrown oligarchs, criminals, bankers and political bundlers would suffer just as much as any Russian would because they've all got their money so wound up in Russian interests. Sanctions are the thing you do when you're too gutless to do anything meaningful. Sanctions are designed to make it appear that you're doing something when in fact, you're not. They're designed as a tool to take the heat off. Iran and North Korea were and are perhaps the most universally and comprehensively sanctioned entities in history and have been for more than 40 years. What good has it done? Both of them are orders of magnitude stronger today than they've ever been. Anyone with even a small amount of cleverness or ingenuity can easily find ways around any sanctions and even then, there has to be meaningful penalties, and the will to apply them, for any sanctions to be effective. Russia is sending fleets of unregistered, uninsured, ghost tankers straight through the territory of a NATO ally and selling it on the spot market to EU countries and absolutely nothing is being done about it.
    2
  819.  @kennymiddleton3463  Yeah, yeah, yeah. Blah, blah, blah.
    2
  820. They didn't pay for them 100%, though. That's the issue. In some cases, the tanks weren't "bought" at all, they were leased. In other cases, they were provided at reduced prices with conditions put into the contract stipulating that they could not be exported. No one ever said they couldn't use them, they just can't export them. Anyway, it's an argument that no longer has any validity. There is a war on the European continent, the collective security of NATO and Europe and indeed the wider world is at stake and it's time to cut the nonsense and get busy.
    2
  821. Is it the next target? Hell, why not? It's not as though they have to worry about anything from Europe and NATO beyond a lot of fretting and grumbling.
    2
  822.  @hatelovenothing2744  Yes, I realize that, but that's the reality for any military purchase of this type. It's always going to be an insane figure and this one is the most insane we've ever seen. But the point I and others are trying to make is that there are very good reasons why that's the case. Sure, there's no doubt some profiteering going on by Lockheed-Martin; there always is and always has been in these kinds of purchases. But the primary reason it costs what it does is the expectations being placed upon it. It's an aircraft that has to be all things to all people all the time and there's no way in hell that could ever be anything but outrageously expensive. And when the time comes to eventually replace the F-35, whenever in the future that is, and with the advances in technology that are possible then and the expectations that will be put on that aircraft, just imagine what THAT will cost!!
    2
  823. This is nothing but one long, tiring infomercial for the Biden campaign!! Hope you were paid well! 22 min on TV would be in the 10s of millions.
    2
  824.  @Sparx632  "Workers of the world...... UNITE!!!" (Or else!) You think we can't see right through these cute little word games you play? You think you're being clever? You're not! FOAD!
    2
  825.  @codycast  Except racist isn't quite strong enough for them so they have to up the ante all the time.
    2
  826. Pretty complex but it seems to work. Who are we to pick holes in it if it works?
    2
  827. Why isn't Europe stepping up to fill the void left by the US? After all, it's their neighborhood. Oh well, never mind. I was just being facetious. We all know why they're not stepping up.
    2
  828.  @VisibilityFoggy  He only pays me $1 for a comment but I get $500 for every stupid, asinine response each one generates so please; keep 'em coming.
    2
  829. That doesn't mean they're wrong in their assessments. There are and have been many, many others not funded by weapons manufacturers, saying the very same thing for years.
    2
  830.  @tandemcharge5114  Perhaps you can enlighten me. Start by telling me why I should give a shit.
    2
  831.  @belladesa91  Any more quaint liberal talking points?
    2
  832. They used to tease Reagan about being old. Joe Biden was older on his first day in office than Ronald Reagan was on his last.
    2
  833. Lots of people do.... until they've lived it.
    2
  834.  @olefella7561  You may ask. And I will gladly answer - when you come and throw me off. How's that?
    2
  835. The bulk of the credit needs to go to the Polish people. Systems, plans and such are all well and good but if the people don't buy in and make them work, they're all just so much useless paper.
    2
  836. Well, that's really impressive but lets' be frank here; we've got some much bigger fish to fry just at the moment without worrying about any of those trivialities. For one thing, there are still way too many people in this country who won't acknowledge their multiple layers of privilege. Also, we need a coordinated, national strategy to deal with the staggering levels of depression and mental illness due to so many fragile souls being triggered by other people's nasty tweets. And when are we finally going to sort out who is allowed to use which bath rooms? When we can finally put the really important stuff like this behind us, then we can move on to the other fluff described in this video.
    2
  837. What a circus!! I thought Poland was getting it together. Every government in the world is some flavor or another of crazy! Do all the lunatics in the world just naturally gravitate to politics? Are there any sensible people in charge anywhere?
    2
  838. To say that aid to Ukraine has been a day late and a dollar short is grossly inaccurate. It's more like a year late and several hundred billion dollars short. The Ukrainian offensive didn't fail as much as it was set up to fail. It did the best it could with the pathetic, piddling amounts it was given to work with.
    2
  839.  @THEROOT1111  Relax, monkey! Nobody is seizing fortunes "right and left." It's a thing that would be done to very specific people/entities for very specific reasons and would require legislation and approval from the courts to do. All you'd need to do is show that it was tied to criminal activity and there's mountains of evidence that it has been. It's also a pretty common tactic to fight criminal activity from persons both in and out of a country so there's lots of precedent for it. As far as that red herring of "trust" goes, seizing the assets of criminal activity would actually increase trust from reputable people so the only ones you'd be driving away would be the undesirables. Britain has learned this already... the hard way.
    2
  840.  @twoforcesinbalance1543  Yeah, and it's working out great too, isn't it?
    2
  841. @@KnowHowTrainer The "almighty Russian propaganda" is definitely a thing but the larger point is that these countries have been in the Russian sphere of influence, the Russian "orbit" if you will, for generations and as such, that's what they understand and gravitate towards. It isn't necessarily a case that they like Russian influence and everything that comes with it, it's just that that's what they've lived with and what they're used to. I'm in Canada and the cultural, economic, political and military colossus that is the USA is butted right up against us and as such, that is what has shaped and continues to shape, our country. We don't always like it but it's the prevailing reality. We can't escape it. I've done some travelling and working in Eastern Europe and I've never met a single person under 50 who wants the communist system back but what they do want is a decent living and a future for their kids. Right now, they're not getting it. Under the communist system, the state controlled everything so people just sat around and waited to be told what to do. That's gone. Replacing it is the prevailing western attitude of "ok, you're free now; go be rich." This they cannot do because they don't know how. No one ever taught them. This is why they need assistance before they slip back into the clutches of the despots.
    2
  842. Heroes all; every one! I salute them.
    2
  843. Parties like AfD are surging across the western world and they're doing so for a reason..... Traditional parties are failing. Don't want parties like AfD in power? Stop failing! Simple as that.
    2
  844. That clip of him on the stairs will live forever!
    2
  845. Grown ups quit the game some time back.
    2
  846. I'm somewhat disappointed in this tepid response from Warsaw. Lukashenko is just probing to see what he can get away with and Poland needs to show him in no uncertain terms. I think at least a partial mobilization of Polish forces is also called for.
    2
  847. I've always said that the best advertising for Republicans are Democrats.
    2
  848. I don't take the few weak, coerced, mealy mouthed, insincere statements from Biden, Harris et al one bit seriously and I don't give them an ounce of credit for them. It would be like crediting an arsonist for tossing a bucket of water onto a raging inferno. They gave this movement life, oxygen, cover and legitimacy. They stood by and did nothing, said nothing, as it grew from a few nutcases into the mainstream and they allowed it to consume their party. They are responsible and a few weak statements that were only delivered because they were shamed into it aren't going to cut it.
    2
  849. Truly, the best part of all this isn't that we get to laugh our asses off at them but that they are too bloody clueless to even grasp the fact that they're making total fools of themselves and we are laughing at them!
    2
  850. I don't know who was on this episode and I don't care. You go on that show; guest or panelist, you deserve what you get.
    2
  851.  @donnajaemoon  I'm talking about CC's teammates not standing up for her. At least not in that clip. That one other player never even batted an eye.
    2
  852. Ladies and gentlemen; I present to you... the armed forces of Russia!
    2
  853. "Caution - Contains scenes that some Russians might find familiar."
    2
  854. I'm surprised anybody in that thing lived long enough to run away.
    2
  855. You told the lady from the East Bay that she could make a difference if she stayed. That is wrong. That is a myth. She CAN'T make a difference! You cannot make a difference in anything, anywhere when the prevailing culture is not only stacked against you but growing at an exponential rate. Everything and everyone who has caused this problem is still around and they're only getting worse and digging their heals in even harder. Among all the power hungry and self serving bureaucrats who constantly exploit this situation for personal gain are a lot of very well meaning people who'd really like to make a difference but they can't because the forces who don't want change are too powerful. It's been getting worse every year and will continue to do so. Don't continue to waste your time and efforts on this nonsense. Get out! Leave and don't look back!
    2
  856. The Biden administration is clueless alright and not just about this.
    2
  857. Good on them, indeed! Every cop across the country should do the same thing. Democrats are your enemy!
    2
  858. Well said! Blunt, but true. Can't add a thing to it.
    2
  859. I was expecting to hear that she got electrocuted being a Tesla. If not, why the need to even tell us it was a Tesla?
    2
  860. Thought they were gonna say their friend got eaten by a shark.
    2
  861.  @jjmendez4267  Oh, I have no doubt that they will all see in the fullness of time what the real cost of doing business with China will ultimately be and how "attractive" those "deals" turn out to be. China is playing its own game and though it may go about things a little differently, its goals are the same as any other great power from the past or present. Cross China and you'll find they're not much different than the US or the Soviets in recent times or the British or French empires in their day. There are no benevolent actors among the great powers of the world and there never have been.
    2
  862.  @tadeuszbanku2329  Who do you think it is?
    2
  863.  @boplax123  Then why are you wasting your time with me, butt head?
    2
  864. Somebody - "Before this day is out, you'll see Indonesian girls, dressed in hijabs, playing heavy metal." Me - Smiles, nods and backs away slowly before calling 911 to report escaped mental patient.
    2
  865. Cars are financial sinkholes! About 0.1% of all cars ever produced could be called investments. The rest are liabilities; in many cases, HUGE liabilities.
    2
  866. Well, this video sold me on visiting Portugal at the very least. Wow; nice!
    2
  867.  @Matatatano  WHOA!!! What a mess! TLDR! And are paragraphs a thing where you live? Hit the "enter" key once in a while!
    2
  868. This video was very interesting and informative. I'm sure each of these people had some degree of "hometown pride"; that's quite natural and nothing wrong with it at all. I too, am somewhat biased towards my home region at times but what really struck me was how open, clean and modern each of these places looks to be. I would really like to go to each one. I've always had something of a fascination with Russia and Eastern Europe in general. I'm not sure why but perhaps it's because I'm an ex-soldier and grew of age during the Cold War and this area was always so closed off and thought of as that dark, evil place where the dreaded "other" comes from. They all claim to be open and welcoming to foreigners but I can't help wondering just how welcoming the Serbs would be towards an ex-soldier who took part in NATO operations in their region. Maybe it's all over and forgotten but I'd still be inclined to tread carefully.
    2
  869. An old guy once told me many years ago... now I'm old and he's long dead... that there are only 3 things worth accumulating going forward because they'll be the only things with any tangible value..... Gold, food and ammunition! I chuckled at the time. I'm not chuckling now.
    2
  870.  @telcobilly  Good luck to you in The Philippines, my friend!
    2
  871. This whole "crime" thing is largely just an excuse. I could take it more seriously if it were not coming primarily from Americans. Take a few basic, common sense precautions and you're highly unlikely to be bothered.
    2
  872. If you think there's nowhere to go, nothing that can be done or that the game is already lost, my question for you is a simple one - How the hell did you ever get to be a "seven or eight figure entrepreneur" in the first place?
    2
  873.  @sixtyskills2814  That's true enough. Some do return but lots don't. It's not a thing everyone can do and even among those who do it, not all are successful. But that holds true for all aspects of life. Things fail every day; businesses, marriages, you name it. Nothing is ever guaranteed, success (at anything) least of all, but that should never stop you from trying. And the right attitude combined with expert advise and careful research can minimize the risks to nearly zero. There are always sacrifices and there are always trade-offs no matter what you do so it's a matter of what you are prepared to do in exchange for what you want or where you want to go. And BTW.... I know people (50s, 60s) in my native Canada that bellyache non-stop about a bit of arthritis and I've also seen 86 yr old (white) men pushing walkers around the streets of Calcutta so medical reasons don't always wash. In many cases, they're just medical excuses. Some of the finest hospitals in the world are located outside the "legacy" countries. Andrew has covered this topic many times. Again, a legitimate concern for some but just an excuse and a crutch for others.
    2
  874. No longer wondering where Andrew got his speech and mannerisms. The apple doesn't fall far from the tree.
    2
  875. You're always going to find a certain segment of the population who think this way and you're never going to convince them and quite frankly, it's a waste of time trying. I've also found something else to be true and that's that they're almost never the people they pretend to be. This dude - "I'm certainly not low or middle income!".... Yeah; you're probably on welfare! You're certainly not wealthy or if you are, it was gifted to you. Anyone who thinks that way certainly doesn't have the wits to create wealth for themselves. There are many ways to respond to people like this. None of them are going to change any minds but you can still have a bit of fun. One of my favorite ways is to simply say.... "You know what? You're right. I AM disgusting. I realize that now and I also realize that there's no path to redemption for me. So I think the very best thing for all of us is if I just take all my dirty, ill-gotten wealth and leave your presence right now. I'm simply not worthy to live among you." To which I follow up with a few good belly laughs.....
    2
  876. I've been to KL and Singapore and I can definitely recommend both. Very eager to have a peek at Panama City and Abu Dhabi.
    2
  877.  @nancyjohnson6099  Great, good to know. Thanks.
    2
  878.  @TerryJLaRue  The other thing to remember is that he is running a business and these videos; while entertaining, educational and so on, are really just advertisements for that business.... blunt as it may be to state it in those terms. Nothing at all wrong with that, mind you; I don't fault him at all but it is true. His business is selling his knowledge, his research, his book, his services and so on and that, we have to pay for. He's never going to give us the minute details or the whole enchilada here, only the broad strokes.
    2
  879. Couple of things; he has in fact, said that many times and his messaging is largely centered around ways to solve that very problem Secondly, Andrew's audience is global and most legacy brand countries such as my own, Canada, do not have that problem.
    2
  880. "Al-ba-ni-a!" "Al-ba-ni-a!" "You bor-der on... the... A... dri... atic!"
    2
  881. All good stuff, Dad. The thing is though, that apart from the term limits thing, most of the legacy brand countries had all those things in one form or another at some point. But power corrupts, doesn't it? You hand a man the power to make laws, who's he going to make laws to benefit? Who's he going to put the restrictions on? Certainly not on himself. It always starts out fine but then, people being people, the rot slowly starts to seep in. This is how empires fall. It almost never is the result of some outside force though that may be what ultimately finishes them off. No, it's always a case of a slow, steady rot from within, starting at the core and eventually working its way through the whole body until it can no longer function. That's what we're witnessing now.
    2
  882. It's an argument rooted in envy. You have something that someone else doesn't so you must have stolen it, been gifted it or got it through some means other than your own hard work so the coveters feel they have to shame you for it or attack you. There are so many examples of this and it starts in childhood. Some kid has a cool toy and later on a cool car or the hot girlfriend. The snide comments never stop. If you had $500 to your name and wanted to leave your country, no one would care.
    2
  883.  @realismatitsfinest1  Yes... I know all that. All I said was that I have fewer options as a lower earner; not no options. And I've already begun the process of acting on those options.
    2
  884.  @Mr.Carter777  An escaping goat?? Where is the goat escaping from?
    2
  885. I don't know what say Nomad but what say I is - Relax..... and turn off the damned media! There ain't gonna be no WW3 because it's not in anyone's interest for there to be. Some regional turmoil is possible; even likely perhaps, but nothing more than that.
    2
  886. It's been an exceptionally run country....... run into the ground!!
    2
  887.  @Twitch760  Uh-huh... Here we go with the explaining and the deflection and the excuse making. "We" are not some monolithic party" and "I think you'll be surprised" and "Oh, my views are this and that." Meanwhile ALL GOPers are one and the same and exactly equal to the very worst among them. So I am supposed to use nuance and context and account for individual qualities while you lump the whole other side into a single camp and condemn them all as the worst of humanity. Well fuck that, partner! Not any more! If I gotta own Trump and Marjorie Taylor Greene and Paul Gosar and Lauren Boebert and every other lunatic that crawls outta the woodwork... If I'm expected to answer for every crackpot utterance out of their big mouths and run around apologizing for it and STILL get called a Nazi.... then YOU and everyone like you has to own and account for your own idiots! THOSE are the rules! If I have to live by 'em, so do YOU!
    2
  888.  @Twitch760  Well, no... it doesn't mean it's going to happen. A bunch of very heavily armed and motivated citizens... to say nothing of the police and military if not the courts will no doubt have something to say about it. But it does show conclusively what all lefties believe, want and are diligently working towards.... which is pretty much what we suspected all along.
    2
  889.  @Twitch760  So I assume then that that whole forcible confiscation of firearms thing only applied to us and not you? That how you planned to arm yourselves on the cheap?
    2
  890.  @Twitch760  I think you'd better bone up a bit on the training end of things too. Having firepower is one thing, knowing how to deploy and utilize it to maximum effect is quite another matter entirely.
    2
  891.  @MILE011  Oh, dear God!! Not political opposition!! Well, we certainly can't have that now, can we?
    2
  892.  @MILE011  And how exactly, was it "fueled" by US foreign policy? This ought to be good!
    2
  893. I envy you, sir! Enjoy your new life. Looks like there may be more and more doing the exact same thing. Maybe even me soon.....
    2
  894. Preach it, Dad! Morons will never listen to ya but preach it loud anyway!
    2
  895. Interesting! Was wondering when/if Andrew would touch on Africa - the place many consider to be the world's best kept secret and the next big growth location.
    2
  896.  @AS-hz8cv  So do I. You're obviously new to the channel or if not, haven't been paying very much attention to what Andrew and folks like him have been saying. The welfare of "your children and your children's children" is 1) under threat here and 2) can be greatly enhanced and strengthened abroad in a multitude of ways. You strike me as the type of person who'd rather find excuses for not doing something than just going for it and as such, I wonder why you even come to this channel. Andrew's message is clearly not for you so I wonder why you even listen to it. If you think you have some kind of power to change anything and/or if you're content to entrust your future wellbeing, and that of your family, to the likes of Justin Trudeau, then by all means stay where you are. You won't break my heart.
    2
  897. Been hearing a lot of good things about Uruguay for quite a while. High on my list to check out. Canada is circling the drain!
    2
  898.  @genestone4951  Yup. Been in Cambodia during the rainy season. Had water up to my ankles on a level street in less than 3 min. Also saw little fishies swimming down a street numerous times. Was a bridge over a river a little south of Phnom Penh I used to cross regularly. During the rainy season, the water was almost level with the road. During the dry season, the river bed... which was about 20 feet below the roadway... had cracks in it a foot deep. When they say rainy season; or dry season, they ain't kidding!
    2
  899.  @GuruToGo2  Well, my experience with Malaysia specifically is somewhat limited but I have spent considerable time in that part of the world generally though I must qualify that by saying that for most of that time, it was in places that were not too far from the ocean so that may make a difference. I found that generally speaking, Dec to Mar was the nicest period in SE Asia. Other people's mileage may vary and that may not be true for every district in every country. I must say though, that I do very much like Andrew's 3 country formula. I'm in the process of implementing my own version of it. I'm all about Europe and N America in the summer months and Asia / S America in the rest of the year.
    2
  900. Had an old guy at work tell me many years ago that in my lifetime, the only things that will have any value will be gold, food and ammunition and that a wise man should start hoarding all three. I laughed then. I ain't laughing now.
    2
  901. Too bad. She's kinda hot.
    2
  902. A bit off topic but I'm curious. I live in Canada. I would not say at all that I "idolize" Russia but I am somewhat fascinated by it. I've formed a few theories and I'd be curious to know if I'm correct or not. I invite responses because I'd really like to hear from others to help get an accurate picture. I have a friend who's Belorussian and another who's Russian and I've met and spoken to several others from each of those places and other ex-Soviet and East European republics. Admittedly, they are all 40+ people as am I and that's the demographic who I generally associate with so I'd like to hear from some younger folks to see what they think. From speaking to them, I get the impression that it's not so much a case that the people love Putin, Lukashenko, Orban and the others, it's more a case that they recognize that they need someone like that because their countries would be in far worse shape than they are now if they didn't have someone strong in power. The thinking is that the ultra powerful; the oligarchs, are going to run everything anyway so it's preferable to have a leader who has at least some kind of control over them. They are also reminiscent of "the old days" when Russia was feared and respected and are quite content that the rest of the world at least pays them some kind of serious attention again. Add in the fact that Russians and others are just as proud of their heritage and their countries as anyone is and they're not at all interested in having them criticized; especially by Americans. Am I at all correct in any of this?
    2
  903. I remember some time back, Roman was talking about the possibility of having to go in the army. That was long before any of this shit started but imagine if he had gone in, where he'd be and what he'd be doing right now. This is such a tragedy on so many levels. From the wrecking of a beautiful country to the humanitarian tragedy to a generation of young Russian men being sent off to slaughter for nothing more than one man's deluded ambitions. For me, I've always been fascinated by Russia and Russian history and this channel was one of several I followed regularly to learn as much as I could. I was really hoping to visit some day and maybe even get the opportunity to meet some of the people I followed on You Tube. I guess that's out the window.
    2
  904. I wonder sometimes if people like that watermelon (green on the outside, red through and through) councilor even understand that the more they try to stamp out our native identity, the more we'll dig in our heels and fight back to preserve it. We will NOT go quietly into the night!
    2
  905. Absolutely dying to see Iran!
    2
  906. There are several things that this crossing could be including all that were mentioned in the video and each of which will be meant to one degree or another, to advance the Ukrainian initiative to come. The Russian forces will be aware of all of these as well as their possible consequences and even though the landings are small, they are still significant because the Russians have evidently not been able or willing to repel them. Whatever the Ukrainians are doing, it's not intended to lead to a good result for the Russians.
    2
  907. Yes, I believe they did believe they did.
    2
  908. I also think that Europe should pursue greater autonomy from the US. In fact, I think the US should do everything it possibly can to assist them in this venture..... by cutting them loose and letting them handle their own security issues... and paying their own way. Too much USA in the EU? Hey; say no more. We're outta here, Europe. Yer on yer own!
    2
  909.  @ulfosterberg1979  I'm not American and this IS a military problem. Or it very soon will be unless Europeans get their collective heads out of their asses and start recognizing reality. And anytime you clowns want less America in your lives, you just say the word. If it weren't for them, you'd all be waving hammer & sickle flags.... or swastikas.
    2
  910. The French don't seem to know what they want and even when they get it, they're still not happy.
    2
  911. I beg to differ. There is almost no scenario imaginable at this point where Russia can achieve any sort of "victory" though they'll certainly attempt to spin it as such. A stalemate allows Ukraine to acquire even more weaponry while Russia's pain will only increase as the sanctions really start to bite in the weeks and months ahead. I would negotiate nothing. Bleed Russia white!
    2
  912. He did explain that.
    2
  913. The answer is yes and it's not because of the war though that is accelerating it. The stark truth is though, that it's not the only one. China too, is in serious trouble and so is most of Europe. Whether any or all of these actually collapse or not remains to be seen but there are serious challenges ahead for all of them.
    2
  914. If there's one word I would not use in this context, it's "forever." It's great that everyone is taking this situation seriously now in the beginning but I have grave doubts; given the recent track records of all western powers for staying the course over the past few decades, that they will be maintaining this posture as the months go by. It's all well and good to show this kind of resolve in the early days when no real price has yet been paid for it but let's see how much resolve everyone has when gas prices show no signs of doing anything but going ever higher. Let's see how much stay-the-course there is in the fall when wheat prices have driven up the cost of food dramatically. And let's see how determined all these tough western leaders are in 6 months or so when this war has become routine and is no longer top-of-mind for voters who are losing their minds about inflation and such and politicians' thoughts turn as they always do, to the next polling or election cycle. I'd like to think that the west has finally been roused out of its deluded slumber, will continue to take things this seriously and that everyone will maintain this level of determination going forward but we've shown ourselves to be an awfully short-sighted and self-interested lot and I have my doubts. I'd be willing to bet that Mr. Putin has the same doubts. In fact, he's banking on them.
    2
  915. Western politicians - "We can't keep doing this." Russian politicians - "We can." Ukrainian politicians - "Your choice, NATO. What's it gonna be?"
    2
  916. Yet another calamity in Eastern Europe which could easily have been avoided with a little forethought, preparation..... and some courage. But alas, Western Europe is fresh out of all that so... here we are.
    2
  917. Huge respect to Turkey!!
    2
  918. Completely agree but at this point, it's nothing more than a survival game for Putin and he doesn't give a shit what he has to do to achieve that.
    2
  919. It's certainly what it looks like when it's starting to crack and fray; especially when you throw in the increasing talk of war weariness that is starting to occur along with the questioning of aid and things like that. It doesn't mean that it will ultimately lead to that end but this is what it looks like when that process starts. @thomasjohnson2862 
    2
  920. For something in the order of 40 odd years now, the west has been indulging itself in a sort of fantasy that other nations; many of which were and are, sworn enemies, can somehow be brought around to the light if only we'd engage with them more. This is a manifestation of the peace-at-all-costs progressive left's attitude that there are no bad people and no bad countries and if some of them act that way, it's only because we don't love them enough and we're not inclusive enough and we're generally too mean to them. In other words, like nearly everything wrong in the world, it's somehow OUR fault. This has led the modern western liberal political class; perhaps the most gullible, naive, stupid, willfully blind and cowardly in history, to throw the lessons of millennia past onto the trash heap and, led along by a merchant class that can't believe its luck, dive head first into the swamp of total engagement, unlimited exchanges, free trade and friendship.... all while the Russias and Chinas of the world bust a gut laughing at us behind our backs while they count the cash we've been gifting them. This has resulted in the de-industrialization of the west, the death of our middle class - an anomaly in history, unique to western democracies - and of course, the nuclearization and massive expansion of aggressive Chinese military power. What China and those like it have today, they have because WE gave them the means to acquire it. The invasion of Ukraine was a frozen flounder across the face to many of these idiots but it seems that it's still a lesson they realize they have to learn but really don't want to. Certain European leaders... cough.. Scholz.. cough... say all the right things but in the next breath, betray their desire to forget the whole thing ever happened and go right back to the way things were... before. Likewise, most of the rest of Europe seems to want their cake and eat it too. They know full well the threat that China represents and they know they need to do something about it.... but they really don't want to preferring instead to just wait and hope that if they ignore the problem a little while longer, the whole mess will just evaporate somehow.
    2
  921.  @tysonb3568  Maybe you can move forward a few decades and quit living in the past.
    2
  922. First of all, the majority of what are derisively referred to as "far" right or "far" left are not "far" at all. They're simply genuinely and authentically right or left in the traditional sense instead of some bastardized swill of a mushy middle that pretends to be all things to all people and fails at everything. Secondly, you are quite correct to suppose that it's feelings of hopelessness, exasperation and disgust with the status quo that are driving young people to these places. As to whether it's the right or the left depends in large part upon which one happens to be more organized and better prepared at a given time and in a given place. And finally, we come back to the basic rule that underlies all of it. If you are seeing a rise in popularity for these types of entities, it means there's something seriously wrong in the system somewhere and the people are trying to tell you something. You can listen to them and make an honest attempt at fixing things or you can attack and smear them while doubling down on what's angering them. Of the above two remedies, which do you think 1) would be more productive and 2) typical of mainstream political establishments? It's not rocket science..... If you want people to support you and believe in you, give them reasons for doing so. If you don't, somebody else will.
    2
  923. I'd be interested in a video which explores the different possibilities for when the west will ultimately pull its head out of its ass, drop this whole eyes closed, fingers-in-ears, "la la la la I can't hear you - this is not happening, la, la, la, la" routine and finally face up to reality.
    2
  924. Don't like the weather in Britain? Wait 5 minutes. Don't like the government in Italy? Wait 5 minutes.
    2
  925. Italians upon hearing of Britain's political turmoil - "Oh yeah?! Well watch this, Limeys!!"
    2
  926. I don't know if it's true but my guess (from afar in Canada) is likely that the veto was demanded by and given to, the bigger original EU members as a way of enticing them to play along and has since been given to all members on a "what's good for one, is good for all" premise. Or at least, something of that nature.
    2
  927. Fertility rates are low because couple no longer need nor want large families and many of those who would want them, can't afford them. There is a global housing crisis as well as an affordability crisis so who, apart from the exceedingly wealthy, can afford large families? Besides, I'm not convinced that a declining population is a bad thing. Fewer people means less consumption, less waste, less pollution, etc. The economic models we've been working off of are grotesquely outdated and no longer relevant to the realities of our modern world. In past eras, people needed large families to work on farms and societies needed lots of low skilled workers to fill all of the low skilled jobs that were the staple of the economy in those days. Neither of those things represent the reality of today. The reason why western nations are so horny for mass immigration is simply to try to prop up these outdated economic models that no longer work. They're kicking the can down the road instead of picking it up and disposing of it and the rise of social movements many find objectionable is one of the inevitable results of that.
    2
  928. They can't be expelled. There's no mechanism for that. @jutswheezie 
    2
  929. F*ck 'em; let 'em go! The last thing the EC/EU needs is another Orban. If they want to be part of Europe, great; come on in, but there are rules. If you want to crawl into bed with Russia and China, go ahead. See where that gets you in the long run.
    2
  930. Wanting to do something and being able to do something are vastly different things.
    2
  931. They might "use it" but that doesn't mean it's all good. A failure rate of 60% still means 40% will work. It depends a great deal how it's handled and stored and stuff from such places as NK is not well preserved. @tomk3732 
    1
  932. Plenty of evidence, in fact, and most of it from Russian sources. @agramarten 
    1
  933. No they can't. They degrade after 10-12 years. @corvoattano4777 
    1
  934. I would expect the old Russian / Soviet stock to get rapidly rotated out of service as the newer stuff comes on line. They have to keep it around until then, though.
    1
  935. Two ways of looking at this - you can say they're that desperate or you can say they're that determined. Either way, if these things are headed for the battlefield, they're going to have to be dealt with one way or another and if they accomplish nothing else, they'll force the Ukrainians to use up ammo and probably manpower as well As a former tanker, I remember some of the very first things we were told in training - 1) Nothing which can be put to use on a battlefield is obsolete and 2) There ain't been a tank built that isn't vulnerable to something.
    1
  936. Instead of a set number which few can agree on anyway, how about we just settle on..... enough? Considering that they're matching and patching together anything which will run and shoot, and that Soviet hardware is scattered all over the earth and that even if they run out of their own, they can beg, borrow or buy as many as they need, I wouldn't count on their "supply" running out any time soon. Yes, they are all total junk but the Russians don't care and it doesn't matter anyway. Even if the thing only manages to get off a round or two, every single unit they put in the field has to be contended with and to destroy them, a Ukrainian soldier has to expend a weapon of some sort which diminishes their supply and forces the west to send ever more. It's pretty clear the Russians have realized that any sort of battlefield victory is pretty close to impossible at this point so they've switched gears to a game of attrition. If they can keep putting this stuff out there, it makes the Ukrainians burn through their supplies and the west burn through their patience. And they have ample evidence that if they play the game long enough, that strategy will work. Because as the old saying goes - "The Americans don't lose wars, they lose interest."
    1
  937. BWA-HA-HA-HA-HA!! And who is going to make that happen, dreamer boy? Your man-crush in Moscow who can't even best a few ragged Ukrainians? Don't quit your day job; you suck as a comedian.
    1
  938. How come no introduction to your friend and partner?
    1
  939. I wouldn't have thought that even the stupidest and most short sighted people on earth (you choose) would be so dumb in this day and age, as to build a new, modern, "cutting edge", city from scratch and not include a world class transit system. And the Koreans are miles away from the stupidest and most short sighted..... aren't they? I mean, the lack of good quality public transit worldwide is a major problem but at least you could mostly make the excuse that those were older cities that grew up and were never designed for 21st century transit needs and are always playing catch-up. But to start a new, purpose built city from scratch; when you can design it pretty much any way you like, with all the best things in it from the very beginning and NOT include what is perhaps the single most vital piece of civic transportation infrastructure is a special category of stupid! Design the damned place for self driving cars but not for transit? What, in God's name, were they thinking??!!
    1
  940.  @nosignal7156  What in the Holy Hell are you even talking about??!!
    1
  941.  Lycan  Yeah well that's pretty much my point; China is smart, the west is dumb. China sees far into the future and plans for it while the west can't see past it's next quarterly earnings report.
    1
  942. It'll never happen as long as Trudope is in charge in Canada. He'll demand everything be gender neutral and everyone wear a different costume every day.
    1
  943. What a frickin' mess!
    1
  944. There will be no military invasion for the very simple reason that there doesn't need to be. The Chinese have already made themselves into a world economic powerhouse without firing a single shot. Why would they need to do so in order to subsume Taiwan? There are a myriad of other more subtle but equally effective methods and the Chinese have always been masters at playing the long game.
    1
  945. "America must bring freedom to the enslaved minerals of Afghanistan!"
    1
  946. A very good blueprint for the future. Let's make it happen and also throw in an overthrow of Chubby Putin in Belarus but before he finds his way to the nearest lamp post, let him see the NATO flag raised in Minsk.
    1
  947.  @emanuelgaldes3515  Both posts look like a bucket of letters thrown onto a white board. They're a mess; they're unreadable. I'm not about to waste my time; not to mention hurting my eyes, trying to pick through that mess.
    1
  948.  @emanuelgaldes3515  Holy f*ck! TLDR! And hit the enter key once in a while.
    1
  949. Caspian Report 1st thing Monday morning..... week's already off to a great start!
    1
  950.  @chickenhunter4694  Does that mean you're going to go away forever? Good!! The only person who'll miss you less than me is Shirvan himself!
    1
  951.  @chickenhunter4694  Idiot!! He's done hundreds of videos including several that have explained in detail everything that happened in Soviet times.
    1
  952. And here a bunch of you guys were saying that Shirvan wouldn't make a video about this. Ye of little faith! I knew he'd have one sooner rather than later. Shirvan is the BEST!!
    1
  953. I've been saying for months now that Ukraine, and by extension NATO and the west, haven't won anything..... yet.... so it's precisely the wrong time to get cocky and think you've got the Russian Bear and the wily old KGB fox beaten. He may look beaten; he may be down, and he is, but he's not out by any means. He has always believed and continues to believe, that this so-called "western unity" is a mirage that, given enough time, will evaporate once the full bite of winter and the full brunt of astronomical energy prices takes hold. These actions by Putin are deplorable but also brilliant tactically. All he needs to do is get his referendum results, annex the occupied territories then quickly call a ceasefire and call for diplomacy and negotiations, He knows that no western government has the spine to refuse such overtures and if he backs it up by cutting off the oil and gas totally, just at the very moment Europe needs them the most, he can get the concessions he wants.... or at least enough of them that he can declare a sort of victory and go about rearming and reorganizing for the next round in 3-5 years. If the west wants to avoid this then it had better cut the play acting of feeding Ukraine just enough crumbs to not lose and get busy itself and take on the Russians directly. There is going to be no peace in this region until Russia is defeated and Putin and his gang are eliminated.
    1
  954. Well played, Germany! You ditched the one proven method of producing emissions free energy at scale, in favor of a more emissions intense and unreliable source from a hostile power. Well played, indeed, you fools! This is why Canada and the US needs to get the hell out of NATO pronto! This is a European matter and the Europeans need to deal with it or suffer. We got dragged into a European conflagration twice already and I for one, have no interest in doing so again. Europe is wealthy enough and powerful enough to look after itself and if it's not unified enough to do so, that's THEIR fucking problem, not ours!
    1
  955. Unlike modern weapons systems, talk is cheap. The latter we get by the ship load from Germany; the former, I'll believe it when I see it.
    1
  956. Come on aboard, Finland! You too, Sweden! And remember Russia; you did this to yourself.
    1
  957. Forget it, never going to happen, would never work. For one thing, the members are too far apart and have very little in common in terms of day to day interest and more importantly, as Shirvan said, some level of national sovereignty would have to be surrendered for the scheme to work and no nation is ever going to accept that. I live in Canada and we can't even get the provinces to cooperate, for heaven's sake! Canada is dominated by Quebec and Ontario. The 4 western and 4 eastern provinces would have immensely more power and influence in the union if they'd put aside their petty differences and work together but they won't because each province represents a mini fiefdom for someone and they're all too jealous of their neighbors and too scared that one may gain some piddling, trivial advantage that they won't. So they remain divided and weak. Britain left the EU because it didn't want to surrender control. Fine; fair enough but where does that now leave them? To return to some glorious, mythical past greatness? The return of empire? To "Rule Britannia?" Hardly! They'll do well if they can even keep up with Germany much less surpass them and that's not even considering China.
    1
  958. Since Putin doesn't seem the least bit concerned about WW3, I don't know why we are. This is his ace in the hole. He knows we're afraid and he takes advantage of that to do what he wants. Maybe it's time we made him afraid instead..... or just shut the hell up, one or the other.
    1
  959. Beauty!
    1
  960. This war, as described, will happen, Europe will lose and it will deserve to lose. Putin will prevail because Putin has the one thing NATO has never had... the will to fight. America should pull out of NATO. It was a great idea at the time but its time has passed. They've babysat the freeloaders of Europe for far too long already. America's future interests are in the Asia/Pacific, not Europe and the nations of Europe have all said very clearly that they have no interest and no intention of getting involved in any conflict in the Pacific because "it's not their neighborhood." They're actually quite correct about that; it's not their neighborhood. But Europe is and if Europe has no intention of helping America in the far east, why should America expend one penny or one drop of blood defending Europe? The European Union as a block has an economy and a population to rival America's and is more than capable of defending itself. It just won't. Europe has had two full years to watch the aggression of Russia on its eastern flank and at least 20 years to see and hear what Putin is all about and yet they've done nothing. If they want to wither before aggression, bow down to a despot and live under the boot of the Russian bear, let them. I don't give a damn! It ain't my problem.
    1
  961. This is what decades in politics and in the limelight does to people. It convinces them that the world simply can't survive without them; that no matter what the question is, they are the answer. To paraphrase Cromwell - "You have sat here too long for any good you have done. Depart I say, and let us have done with you. In the name of God, go!"
    1
  962. Hey Margie.... The 60s called and they want those glasses back!
    1
  963. Some folks were worried but I always knew it would get done eventually. The road was a little bumpier and with a few more twists than we figured but that's the way it goes sometimes. That's why we pay diplomats; to get us past these things. So here we are. Welcome, Sweden! Delighted to have you aboard!
    1
  964.  @OakleyMoodie  I have no idea? Really? That's quite a leap you're making there. There are quite a few very important differences between the end of WW2 and now. I would explain them to you but I have a sneaky suspicion I'd be wasting my time.
    1
  965. I like Fareed and I agree that it was a whole lot of hair pulling and panic over nothing but he's dead wrong about China becoming a peer power. If anything, China is declining and in many ways is in serious trouble. Perhaps it's time to drop the "conventional wisdom" and update your projections.
    1
  966. All these people can quit dreaming. It's going to be me.
    1
  967. I'm 60 years old and served in the army for 24 of those years. All throughout that time, I heard nothing but feeble excuses and talk of "restraint" out of NATO governments. Russia, and the USSR before it, have never shown one ounce of restraint or fear or hesitation to do whatever the hell they wanted which is exactly what they're doing right now because they know NATO doesn't have the balls to do anything about it!! F*CK restraint!! Quit being such a bunch of craven cowards and let those m*therf*ckers have it!!
    1
  968. You're right but that won't stop missiles. There are very few Russian flights in Ukrainian airspace now so there's little to deter and missiles can be, and most have been, fired from hundreds if not thousands of miles away in Russian airspace.
    1
  969. Well lady, if defeating this horrible person is what matters, why wouldn't you want to make sure you were putting up the strongest opponent? Why do you keep defending the guy who can barely stay even with him?
    1
  970. Prigozhin and Kadyrov must meet the same fate as their victims. Absolutely ZERO mercy for either of them!
    1
  971. Close the Turkish Straits to Russian oil shipments.
    1
  972. Racism and sexism are not huge parts of the problem, they're not any part of the problem. They're just the same worn out excuses that democrats always run to whenever anyone questions the competence of one of their "star" diversity hires that they want to foist onto the nation. And she's not unpopular because people don't know her, she's unpopular precisely because they do know her. She couldn't even get to the primaries. She was polling 5th in her own damned state, for God's sake! Is California racist? Are they sexist? She might be a great prosecutor and lawyer but she sucks as a politician. Quit trying to dredge up excuses!
    1
  973. Misdiagnosis is not the word I'd use here. I'd call it malpractice. Misdiagnosis might explain the initial phase of this instance but nothing beyond that. Look, anyone can make a mistake, even the smartest among us, but to fail to correct your mistake by just refusing to see what's going on in front of your face is just professional incompetence. I don't know if there's a legal case here but if I were the Tappers, I'd sure be exploring that.
    1
  974. I dunno. I kinda think that the Democrats are on the right track here actually, and just need to double down a little harder on exactly what they've been doing. Personally, I enjoy it when people who fashion themselves my cultural and intellectual betters talk down to me in a patronizing, condescending and dismissive manner, call me names when I question them, tell me I don't understand stuff, make baseless assumptions about what my best interests are, without bothering to consult me, of course, trot out a parade of celebrities who wouldn't be caught dead in the company of some chump like me then turn around and blame me when they fail. But hey, I could be wrong. Just because this shit turns me on doesn't mean others find it so appealing.
    1
  975. The only grain deal that should be made with Russia is this one... "In exchange for us moving an unlimited number of ships, fully loaded with none-of-you-f*cking-business, whenever and wherever we please, under full NATO military escort.... "We promise to transform any Russian vessel that so much as looks at us the wrong way into charred scrap metal next to its flag ship at the bottom of the Black Sea..... Deal? Great, you sign here.
    1
  976.  @desertsky  I live in Canada, Fox News costs extra here and I don't even pay for regular TV because it sucks and YOU make WAY too many assumptions about people you don't know!
    1
  977.  @desertsky  Umm, pretty obviously NO, I don't get it. So instead of the snide comment, why don't you explain it to me.
    1
  978. OK, I'm confused. I'm not one of these people who are glued to some news site 24 hours a day but I do try to stay on top of things, or at least the important stuff, as much as possible. So would somebody please explain to me exactly when, and exactly why, "colored people" became racist? I thought that's what we were supposed to say. What's the difference between "colored people" and "people of color?" You can't say "negro", you can't say "African American" and now you can't say "colored people." Gawd-a-Mighty, I can't keep up! And how did it get to be such a short leap from acceptable to racist? Once upon a time, there used to be enough space in between for "not recommended" or "awkward" or "not preferred" or "a little off base" and the like but not anymore. I mean, I don't know the guy in question here but is it possible he just misspoke or made an honest mistake or slip of the tongue or like me apparently, just didn't get the frickin' memo? Geez, Louise; not much wonder there's such pushback on all this stuff!
    1
  979. Of course, the other big thing Putin is praying for is a republican victory in the midterms so that all US aid to Ukraine will stop in its tracks.
    1
  980. I just think it's hilarious that A) there's actually a real person with the name "Pecker" and B) all these super serious, professional people have to keep saying "Pecker" over and over again on TV and keep a straight face while doing so.
    1
  981. Dear eggheads; there is every bit as much trash on cable news as there is on social media... or more... and nothing like the quality. I pulled the plug on cable two years ago and my brain has thanked me for it every day since. I've discovered the fine art of reading once again and I confine my online time to quality content where I actually learn something and come away smarter than when I started. This is nothing more than failing media attacking their competition because they can't compete.
    1
  982. A comprehensive data protection law is impossible for 2 reasons - 1) it would require congress to work together when all they want to do is investigate each other and 2) such a law would (presumably) cover all companies and entities which would be very problematic since there are all kinds of government agencies that love scooping up as much data as possible and no end of companies who wish to do the same and are big donors. It would also be predicated on the silly, naive assumption that the government gives a f*ck about us and our privacy which is laughable. So we might as well forget about that idea. As for what kind of country and what kind of society we are becoming, I'd say it's a bit late to be having that kind of conversation. I think we've passed the point of no return on that matter quite some time back.
    1
  983. The reason America doesn't see it is because no one shows it to them. No one tells that story. Every person with a platform or any degree of cultural power at all, which includes all major media; conventional and social, is invested in ginning up as much fear and rage and division as possible in a cheap quest for ratings and profit. At the same time, we have a situation where the entirety of both parties is consumed in performative partisan stunts, games, and brinksmanship in the search for any tiny fragment of advantage and utterly without concern for the wellbeing of the nation. Who is the person who speaks in uplifting tones, seeks to unify and cross boundaries? Who has a positive message today? Who is out there making the case for why Ukraine is important? Why NATO matters or why truth and accountability matters? Who are the ones setting positive examples? Who is saying "follow me?" We have a president who can't finish a complete sentence, walk a straight line or on most days, tell you what day it even is and his main opponent is facing 91 felony charges, never made a truthful statement in his life and has been renowned as one of America's all-time leading con men and sleaze bags yet is thought of as a God! What are our kids being taught in schools? To hate their country. That it's a great evil. That they should be fearful of their neighbors. That they need safe spaces. That segregation is good. That they're oppressed. That they're victims. That Osama bin Laden was a hero and that Hamas is good. What the f*ck is wrong with this picture?! America looks wonderful to anyone outside of it who wants to come here but they do not see the cultural and institutional rot on the inside.
    1
  984.  @managua67  Nobody with "millions" goes to jail in Russia. You may have had millions before you went but you are relieved of all that before you even go on trial. You go to jail if you're Putin's enemy and he steals all your money before you go. Reference - Mikhail Khodorkovsky.
    1
  985. Well, if you haven't heard "one voice of criticism" then I suggest you clean the sh1t out of your ears because it's been one of, if not the, biggest complaints about the justice system for decades.
    1
  986. So he doesn't actually say who he'd vote for, just who he wouldn't.
    1
  987. Democrats wouldn't "say a damned word" about Biden either if it was him.
    1
  988. I respect Professor Lichtman's opinions on most things but I disagree in this instance. It's utterly foolish to write off a major political party, especially on the basis of one poor showing. Time and time again, pundits have written off parties only to see them come storming back and it's almost always due in large part to their opponents falling out of favor, which they always do eventually. Trust me; the Republican party is not going anywhere. They may spend a while on the sidelines but have no doubt, they will be back. The British Labour party as well as the Tory party have both been written off as dead on several occasions but each came back with vigor and won elections. Same thing with both the Conservatives and Liberals in Canada. Parties exist to gain and hold power and are nothing if not pragmatic and regardless of what they may say for public consumption, there are way too many very powerful forces working behind the scenes that will not let them die. They can and do, reinvent themselves, changing messages and tactics as required. Republicans embraced Donald Trump because that was the path to power. Once he no longer is, he'll be dropped like a hot potato.
    1
  989. Be nice to see the child do some serious adult time. Probably asking too much but I'd settle for anything that knocked him off his perch and wiped that smug grin off his face.
    1
  990. No.
    1
  991. CNN talking head - "Trump is bad, Trump is bad, Trump is bad.... yadda, yadda, blah, blah, blah." CNN anchor - "After the break, our next guest will lay out exactly why he thinks Donald Trump is really, really bad and also, why Brandon.... OOPS, I mean Biden.... sorry about that..., is actually doing a really great job. This is great stuff, you won't want to miss it, stay tuned." James Earl Jones' voice - "THIS..... is CNN."
    1
  992.  @robainscough  I said that you made many incorrect assumptions about me. Probably the biggest of all was assuming I thought you were worth the effort of engaging with. You're not! FOAD!!
    1
  993. "This does not represent who we are." Oh yes, it fucking well DOES represent who you are!! It's EXACTLY what you are; ALL of you!! I've had it with these disingenuous, mealy mouthed, non-apology apologies from businesses. They're all the same and they're all BS!! These managers are acting on official company policy and the direct orders of their superiors and they absolutely mean what they do.... every single time!... and only start this back peddling BS when it hits the news. They're not sorry about a fucking thing except getting caught! I'd never spend one red cent in any of their locations ever again!
    1
  994. "Pick another word!" Which word, Van? Go ahead; give us an example of a word or a line that a political opponent can use against a black woman that you all WON'T label as racist or sexist. You CAN'T because there is none! EVERYTHING is about race and gender with you people and has been ever since Obama at least. You throw up this same shield against everything no matter what it is and that's a big part of the reason we've got Trump. Well let me tell you something, mister...... an elected official is an elected official and I don't give two f**ks whether it's a black woman or a a pink parrot.... I'm judging them the same and I'm calling what I see and I'm calling that person IN-COMP-ET-ENT!!. And no one give a shit what you "want to hear" either!
    1
  995. Poor baby!
    1
  996. When was the last time any of our leaders were forward thinking did the hard work of formulating policy? When was the last time they really showed they cared about doing their jobs and putting the nation's interests first? Can anyone remember that time? I can't. The only things they care about are fundraising and the next polling cycle.
    1
  997. Sure Brandon; whatever you say. You're 100% behind Ukraine, all right. While your "unprecedented" sanctions still earn Russia $1B a day and your arms shipments are a fraction of what's needed and months late. I'm sure Putin will get the tremors from listening to you. I'd hate to see things if you were only 50% committed. Ukraine is hanging on in spite of you, not because of you.
    1
  998.  @youtubewatcher2  Well, ex-CUUUUUUUSE me, there Mr. f*cking world expert on everything! I had no idea God Almighty his own self would be reading my post. I'll surely try to do better in the future. Am I allowed to go on living on your own precious, personal planet while I do so? I happen to be of central European extraction, know-it-all, and have spent, and continue to spend, a considerable amount of time in Europe so just perhaps, I'm privy to a few alternative information streams Your Holiness is not. Perhaps I know a thing or two you don't. And just so I know for nest time and have it straight - the way to "unity of purpose" is to eschew and dismiss any sort of daft notion like calmly pointing out an error and offering an alternate viewpoint in a respectful civilized manner and instead just load up on the hyperbolic attack, judgment and hate with all manner of preconceived notions, assumptions and labels. Have I got it right? Second thought, never mind. There isn't going to be a next time. I have neither the time, energy or patience to waste on pseudo-intellectual jerks like you.
    1
  999.  @youtubewatcher2  Holy f*ck; who let you in?? Nobody's talking about "weaseling out" of anything. Of course we're going to be the primary provider but too many others are giving a pittance. Why don't you read what I wrote instead of reading in your own meanings!
    1
  1000. In a certain sense, I agree with the poll respondents. I don't say we are providing too much aid but I will say we are providing way too big of a percentage of the aid that is being provided. I give credit to Britain who is providing much of the training and a HUGE shout out to Poland for giving up most of their equipment and being the locus of activity in supporting Ukraine. As for the rest of NATO and the EU, once again they prove that unless the US does something, the thing won't get done.
    1
  1001.  @vpolite1  First of all, no they don't! Second of all, a great many of those who do, do so because they either know nothing else or because they're terrified to speak out. That's generally the way it is in states controlled by thugs. And thirdly, that doesn't make it right nor does it mean that we have to. A great many Germans supported Hitler too just like a great many Russians supported Stalin in the past and Putin today. Is that supposed to mean that we have to do likewise? So no, I'm not blind nor stupid either. You, I have doubts about.
    1
  1002. It wasn't Biden's worst political decision for the simple reason that it wasn't his decision. He was told who his running mate would be the same as he will be told that he is retiring one day after his 2nd term (if he gets one) half way point. The power brokers in the DNC have decreed that she WILL be the next president and that's final.
    1
  1003. "A nurse may be willing to marry a plumber......." Interesting that you should choose that analogy as I happen to be a plumber happily married to a nurse and guess what.... In 12 of the 15 years we've been married, I out-earned her and often by a considerable margin. Not that either one of us gives a damn, you understand, but since you're so consumed with keeping score and labelling people, I thought I'd mention it. Another thing I'd like to remind these insufferable snobs..... I'm educated!! I graduated high school with honors, I went to technical school for 4 years and have taken several business courses online and at community college. So maybe y'all can get the h*ll off that high horse you're on and quit this notion that anything less than a 4 year university degree equals "uneducated" which sounds to normal people like you're talking about a bunch of high school dropouts.
    1
  1004. Stop doing business with them! Take away their revenue. That'd be a great place to start. Why are we funding our adversaries and shunning our allies?
    1
  1005. No, it won't matter. They'll bargain down whatever the fine is as much as they can and carry on. Alex Jones was sued numerous times before "The Big One" and he just shrugged them off. The fact is that people will believe what they want to believe and they'll keep going back to whomever gives them that. None less that Rush Limbaugh himself admitted several times that his whole show was nothing more than a way to keep people's attention for his sponsors.
    1
  1006. A narcissistic, serial lying, Putin loving, insurrectionist buffoon? No f*cking thank you! A senile, corrupt old f*rt who doesn't know what day it is? Hard pass on that too. I don't know much about this "No Labels" outfit but I know all I need to know and that's that it is NOT one of the old line parties who got us to this place... and conspire to keep us here... so that's good enough for me. Joe Manchin isn't exactly my favorite guy but I'd vote for Fred F*cking Flintstone if it meant putting the screws to either or both old line parties. And yes, Mark Kelly, that is EXACTLY what democracy is supposed to be about so suck on it!! I'm a voter and I owe you nothing!!
    1
  1007. The honeymoon was over before it even got started because the bride revealed herself to be shall we say, somewhat more tattered than advertised.
    1
  1008. For the love of God, you've got a 10 minute clip with 4 minutes of dead space in it. WTF!!! You're CNN for crying out loud; I know you know what editing is..... DO some of it!!!
    1
  1009.  @mwfmtnman  My, my, my.... aren't we the bitter, hate filled little person all chock full of assumptions and insecurities? My you don't be sticking your toes into any swimming pools there Sunshine, lest they become vats of battery acid.
    1
  1010. The reason why it won't be done is that there's no one with the guts to do it. Putin probably has major dirt on every western leader and chances are they know he does and they're all scared of what he'll do with it. It's not Russian nukes the west is scared of, it's the info Putin has.
    1
  1011. Lost half their student (student?) teachers, eh? Know what I call that? A good start!
    1
  1012. WAAHHH!!!
    1
  1013.  @boltstrike2787  Probably true.
    1
  1014. The country used to be run by adults. Not always the best of them mind you, but adults just the same. And they surrounded themselves for the most part with competent people who could in some measure supply the deficiencies of their bosses. Lots of bad decisions got made no doubt, but still the country always felt it was on a firm footing..... if not because of our leaders, then at least, in spite of them. Look what each of the two parties has become today. Look at the potential "leaders" in the pipeline. As David mentioned, we had two 70 year olds to pick from the last two times and it's likely to be two 80 year olds the next time. And looking at who may be coming up behind them, they may well prove to have been the best of the lot!
    1
  1015. Carlson is an actor playing to an audience for clicks and profit. I strongly doubt he believes a single word of the shit he's talking. Why do you give him relevance by talking about him?
    1
  1016. Erin Burnett is the only CNN anchor I don't want to beat with a shovel.
    1
  1017. Why don't you target them. They're gonna vote for somebody and it ain't gonna be for anyone who hates on them.
    1
  1018. What is it about snobbish liberal journalists that makes them believe it's their right to interrupt and talk over everyone else?
    1
  1019. Awfully difficult for me to find any sympathy for any of the parties involved in this. Major retailers make these policies so they can live with the results. They of course, have the resources and the resilience to deal with this sort of thing but the smaller, private retailers, who also suffer from this issue, do not. But the big players don't care about the smaller ones so I in turn, don't care about them. As for the citizens in these places, you're getting exactly what you voted for... repeatedly, in many cases... so you all can go pound sand and live with the results.
    1
  1020. All of this was known for months, Cillizza, including by you and all the rest of the democrat ass kissers at CNN! Many, many individuals were saying all of this repeatedly, trying to be heard, but you and yours were fawning all over him and running cover for him and trying to make a God out of him. How come your esteemed colleague Fredo... oops, I mean Chris Cuomo, isn't on here telling us all of this instead of performing indecencies on his own brother on live television, which you and the rest of the shills at CNN considered to be acceptable journalism? Maybe he's still at home with his mouth wash trying to get rid of the taste of his brother's ass! Anyway, you and the rest of the 3rd rate method actors who pose as journalists at CNN can all climb into the same bus together and drive it off a cliff! Your halfhearted, belated attempt to try to appear credible by sorta, kinda talking about all of this now when it's blown into the open and you can't ignore it anymore, is fooling no one! You and the rest of your fluffer friends are just as guilty as the governor is because YOU knew about all of this months ago and YOU suppressed it because you were too busy hyperventilating about Trump so you can take your phony concern and shove it!!
    1
  1021. He has been right about nearly everything but he's seldom been listened to nor his advice taken which is why we're in this place.
    1
  1022. Extremist ideology breeds an extremist backlash.
    1
  1023. Interesting times we live in, ain't they?
    1
  1024.  @Skunk106  Well, the most prominent name would be Peter's former boss, George Friedman of the firm Stratfor. A lot of the other names of specific individuals escape me at the moment due exactly to their relative obscurity but I've heard much of the same stuff from such places as the US State department, the UK Foreign office and even sources like CSIS here in Canada. I was an army officer here in Canada for a while back at that time and there was a professor at our staff college here who gave a lecture rebutting the commonly held assumption at the time that the world's population was going to explode and we were all going to run out of food etc etc and said very similar stuff to what Peter is saying today and has been saying for some time.
    1
  1025. A note to all the crybabies who keep coming back to the channel to tell us all they're not coming back to the channel.... assuming they can read..... You're not harming Peter in any way. In fact, you're paying him. Clicking on a video pays the person who posted it, whether it plays through to the end or not. If it runs 5 seconds, he still gets paid. Posting a comment; whether it's a sensible one or if it's the lyrics to "Mary Had a Little Lamb" boosts the algorithm which drives more traffic to the channel. If you really wanted to get back at Peter for doing exactly what you'd do if you had anything of value to offer the world, you'd simply go away and keep quiet but you can't do that because you believe A) it's all about you and B) the rest of us give a f**k.
    1
  1026. In my view, each of these candidates is the single and only reason why the other one is even competitive. Polls have shown consistently that if either one had to face a competent, sensible opponent, they'd be blown out of the water. We are not getting the choices we want but instead, we're getting the choices the parties want us to have. We are constantly bombarded with warnings about threats to democracy. This whole process is itself, undemocratic. There is an "election" currently underway in Iran where every one of the candidates had to have been "approved" by some sort of guardian council. In other words, the people are getting the candidates that those in power want them to have. I'd like for someone to explain to me how what we're doing is any different in any kind of substantive manner. Threats to democracy, indeed.
    1
  1027. "You Europeans?" I'm a Canadian! But yes, I do very much agree with you and have been forcefully making that exact point a lot recently. My own country is as big a deadbeat as any. But it is still a separate question and does not preclude one from welcoming a new and very valuable member. As Peter said, their contribution will be significant. @shaneashby5890 
    1
  1028.  @Sekir80  I don't know; why don't you ask him? Anyway, what you're talking about is anecdotal while Peter is making the broad point... and he's hardly the only one who has and is.... that large scale investments in solar power where there's little sun and wind power where there's little wind, make no sense with the current technology. They can't pay for themselves because they can't produce enough power. I mean geez; this is not rocket science here. It's common bloody sense. Yes, individual results can vary and often do but that doesn't disprove the larger point.
    1
  1029.  @Sekir80  No, he does it perfectly.
    1
  1030. I can forgive the ones who were off by a little. That's easy to do. I've done it myself a few times. What I can't forgive is when I hear some variation of "it's not even going to be close!" or "landslide!" Neither Trump's '16 win, nor Biden's '20 win nor Trump's '24 win were nearly as large as the EC count made them look so anyone predicting any form of a blowout is clowning themselves.
    1
  1031. Last time around, I wrote in Bugs Bunny. I won't make that mistake again. Next time, it'll be Daffy Duck.
    1
  1032. Boy, them Russians are sure scared of us and our "sanctions", ain't they?
    1
  1033. When did India "try that before?" It's only been in recent years that they've had the ability to "try" anything. And in any case, I didn't say that their stance was good or bad, positive or negative, productive or not. I just explained what it is. If they swim, they swim and if they sink, they sink but whatever they do, they'll do it... to borrow a phrase from Frank Sinatra... their way. @MA-go7ee 
    1
  1034. Merely one ingredient in a toxic stew but yes, a valid point. @jackcaffrey8493 
    1
  1035. Interesting!
    1
  1036. Oh I dunno. He's just pulling stuff out of his ass at this point and saying whatever he thinks will win him friends.... or keep the oligarchs from killing him.
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  1037. On your 3rd point, agree completely. This is not being said often enough or loud enough. F*ck Africa! If they figure their interests are best served by throwing in their lot with the likes of Putin, let them go right the hell ahead. See where it gets them. And BTW, love and respect to Romania from Canada!
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  1038. Works for me. That's where I'm moving to later this year.
    1
  1039. To quote Yakov Smirnoff - "What a country!"
    1
  1040. What's this? Europe's finally decided to wake the f*ck up grow a pair? Well, well, well; isn't that special? Woulda been a lot better if they'd done that two years ago before we'd lost half a million lives, the economic and political viability of a nation and flushed a hundred bajillion dollars down the shitter. Oh well; better late than never, I suppose. Still, I'll believe it when I see it.
    1
  1041. That's what I love about Peter; he tells it like it is and he doesn't care who he pisses off.
    1
  1042.  @PolMer_90210  Seriously?? Are you dumb?? Go back and watch his videos!
    1
  1043. The US economy is the strongest in the world and it's not even close. And this yip-yap about the country on the verge of collapse is as old as the nation itself. It's never happened and it's not going to happen now...... Much as butt-hurt clowns such as yourself might want it to.
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  1044. Good morning, Peter. Sorry for going off topic here. I 'spose you know by now but.... Trump won. That's that thing you said could never happen. Well, it did. And it was big! And while you mightn't have seen it coming, we sure did. Now I'm a fan and not one of these comment section A-holes who think they're smarter than everyone else or who pick up on every little misstep and hold it up as proof that you're an idiot but..... That's kind of a big misstep which doesn't enhance your reputation a lot. Especially when you were that emphatic about it. Just sayin'...... Have a great day.
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  1045. I have no vote, then. Happy now? @ryankline1164 
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  1046. I would be more inclined to say it's your system that needs to be fixed. Yes, you can remove this or that person, this or that group of people but your problem won't be solved if they're just replaced by others who are every bit as bad or worse or who are just as obstinate the other way. The way I understand it, as an outsider, the parties control everything regarding elections from the primary system on up and thus, it is the parties who are the ones who must change things and they are unlikely to change anything which affects them negatively. @DuelScreen 
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  1047. Theoretically yes, but as I understand things, nothing can be voted on unless the speaker allows such a vote and therein lies the problem. @raconteur5195 
    1
  1048. I hadn't thought of the fax machine analogy but it makes sense. For me, the whole thing started its ever accelerating descent into the dumpster the moment CNN powered up and hit the airwaves. It was at that moment that news ceased to be information for its own sake and instead became a commodity to be traded for ratings and profits. Now of course, there are so many, many other players in the game which only makes matters worse because they're all trying to outdo each other in the race to the bottom. Feeding people what they want to hear can be a very profitable venture indeed. One other thought I'll put out there... It's of no use to be given the facts if you're not willing to accept them... ie, to hear things you don't like. Conversely, it's of no use to tell people the truth some of the time and lie to them the rest of the time. Most people lose trust in those entities which attempt to deceive them and once trust is lost, it's nearly impossible to ever get it back.
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  1049. If you're buying, or even considering buying, ANYTHING from North Korea, you are already well past 50 shades of f*cked!
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  1050. Oh, to live in interesting times.....
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  1051. I don't really see how it's still "Russia's war to lose." What do they have left to throw into battle that they haven't already thrown? Yeah, nukes, but even Putin is smart enough to know that that will blow back on him 100x harder. They've burned through their best equipment and tens of thousands of their best troops. All they've got left is trash and conscripts.
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  1052. Thank God we've got a secure border so none of this can get into our country...... Wait, hang on........
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  1053. Yeah, I know. And there's George Soros and the WEF and chem trails and Dominion voting and OMG; just SO many more! When will the sheeple wake UP?? @danmoritz3319 
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  1054. Of course not. But I value reasoned arguments backed up facts. When I encounter someone who says "John Doe is wrong about XYZ", I think that it's a case of simple disagreement. They have isolated one thing, not made broad statements dismissing everything that the person has said. I may then ask that person why he thinks it's wrong and to explain why they came to that conclusion. Based on their responses, I may or may not have found another interesting and enlightening person whose insights have value. But... when I encounter someone who labels another as being chronically wrong about nearly everything; without explaining why, it indicates to me that the person 1) has been a long term listener for how else would they know how many things the subject had even talked about, much less been wrong about and 2) That they actually think the person's insights are of value otherwise why would they keep listening to them. It's the paradox.... On the one hand, they tell me the person's viewpoints are flawed but they still keep coming back to get more of them. @bartoszzacharkiewicz3258 
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  1055.  @TheDarkAngel7777  Yes, I know all that but the key word there is "if." They have not done so yet nor, as a very racially and culturally mixed society, do I see that they have either the will or the means to do so anytime soon. This is what I'm getting at. They may be the strongest country in the region and have the fewest problems and the most potential relative to their neighbors but they are still plagued with problems and not in any position to project power throughout the region.... Unless, like I said, I'm really missing something, because from where I'm looking, they can't even get their own affairs in order. And don't misunderstand me; I'm not saying any of this to disparage the Nigerians. One of the ladies in my shop is Nigerian and it is she who is the source of much of the information that is the basis of my opinions. I really hope that Peter is right and that I am missing something and that they can and might soon impose order. I'm just saying that they don't seem, to me at least, to be in any position to.
    1
  1056. Interesting times we're living in.
    1
  1057.  @tuckerbugeater  Because..... that's not the topic of today's video.
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  1058. As bad as the current situation is, we should expect it to get many, many orders of magnitude worse in the years ahead. As shaky as Russia is/was, it's more or less the glue that's been holding the former Soviet space together in some sort of functioning reality from security guarantees, to trade to energy to keeping ethnic minorities in check. Take that away and you have the makings of several decades of general upheaval and chaos. Combine that with the coming collapse of China, and all of the drama that will accompany it, a likely significant re-alignment of the Middle East, the slow, steady decline of Europe and the fracturing of America and the outlook into the middle and late 21st century is pretty bleak.
    1
  1059. I'm giving at least as much credence to the betting markets at this stage, perhaps more, because for these folks, there's big money on the line and they don't like to lose money. Right now, the odds makers have Trump way out in front. Replace Biden with someone else and maybe we have a whole new ball game but unless and until that happens, the big money bets are on Trump.
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  1060. The Poles always have taken it seriously. It's getting the rest of Europe to follow along that's the problem; even now. There are still large swaths of Europe who wish the whole business would just go away somehow and they could go back to living in their comfortable world of fabricated fantasy.
    1
  1061. What is being manufactured in Taiwan can be, and increasingly is being, manufactured elsewhere. The US, France, Sweden, Canada, South Korea and others all have, or soon will have, every capability that the Taiwanese have. It's simply a matter of putting the capacity in place to do so and that process is well underway. Furthermore, these chips are not an indigenous Taiwanese product. They are manufactured there because they were off-shored there for the same reasons most other things were off-shored. The design, engineering, intellectual property and indeed the materials used in their manufacture all come from outside. The Chinese might be able to take over and seize the physical infrastructure but they can't do anything with it because they don't have the capability to do what the Taiwanese can do. If they did, they'd be doing it already. They have no extortionary power in this regard and they know it.  @Frankenspank67 
    1
  1062. MBS isn't going to do much of anything with regard to Iran without a competent military and he very much does NOT have one at the moment. SA has one of the biggest military budgets in the world and some of the most modern and sophisticated weapons systems courtesy of the US, UK, France etc. but also one of the least effective and competent armed forces anywhere. Even with significant American assistance, SA still cannot best a bunch of rag-tag Houthi rebels in Yemen. Say what you will about that conflict but if the armed forces of SA cannot succumb the Houthis, even with all the support they're getting, they'd better not even think about taking on the Iranians. The Iranians wouldn't be any match for a modern, NATO style force but as things currently stand, they'd kick Saudi butt all over the desert.
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  1063.  @paulgibbon5991  Yeah, but you feed their algorithms when you do that, though.
    1
  1064. "I'll take the war in Ukraine for $500, Alex" "Your clue is - The sum total of everything Ukraine has won and Russia has lost so far." "What is absolutely nothing, Alex?" "Right you are for $500!"
    1
  1065.  @bentv807  Yes. And even though many hate him, they had to admit it was the right thing to do.
    1
  1066.  Morgan Allen  A modern industrial democracy finally coming to its f*cking senses is not worth celebrating? To me, it is. The impending total societal collapse of a tyrannical, genocidal, communist thugocracy is merely a bonus.
    1
  1067. Too bad that we subscribers hadn't started compiling a list of all the different places that Peter records his videos from. Then we could've done a pool on where the next unique place would be. Now that his bed has been checked off, I'm wondering what the odds would be on his bathtub. That would make for an entertaining video, wouldn't it? Peter discussing, oh let's say, the Red Sea crisis while wearing a shower cap and with his rubber duckie bobbing in the background. 😁🐍🛁
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  1068. The upvotes would suggest differently. @williamoliver6807 
    1
  1069.  @jouzel8951  Well, think of it this way...... The USA has a lot of border areas if you include stuff like sea and airports which they alone are responsible for. Land borders are a bit different in that they depend on who is on the other side of them to determine how open and porous they are. The US/Mexico border is a problem but the US/Canada border has always been pretty free and easy and open, largely because the US could trust Canada to keep its external borders secure thereby not allowing itself to become a gateway to the US for people it doesn't want there. If the US believes it can no longer trust Canada to keep up its end of the security bargain then they will act accordingly, tighten up their own borders to the general detriment of all traffic which crosses it and the result will be bad for everything from tourism to trade to security to everything else.
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  1070.  @itsallsotiresome69  Sale prices, ya dope!!!
    1
  1071.  @itsallsotiresome69  The point I'm making is that Mexican built cars are of lesser quality than similar ones produced elsewhere at similar prices.
    1
  1072. As I said after part 2; I'm just cheering for casualties.
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  1073. Putin or Prighozin? I'm just cheering for injuries.
    1
  1074. I'm starting to find it a little irritating listening to all this talk of "war crimes" as if anyone on the Russian side gave a damn. Talking about war crimes suggests that there is the likelihood of things like actual prosecutions, penalties and most of all, people with the guts to pursue such things. Russia has been hit with what we are supposed to believe are "unprecedented" sanctions. Putin laughed and very quickly found ways around them. Russia's economy is thriving. NATO talks tough and even expands but Putin snickers because he knows that for all the tough talk, money and hardware NATO has, they haven't the balls to act. France's beta tough guy talks of sending NATO troops to fight in Ukraine resulting in choruses of terrified shrieking from across the alliance and all while his own troops are getting chased out of Africa, not by regular Russian troops, but by mercenaries. War crimes? Don't make me laugh! When this is all over, Europe's mom-jeans, milquetoast "leaders" will be back in Moscow sucking up to Putin as hard as they ever have.
    1
  1075.  @u2beuser714  1) I'll tell you what I told my mother at 7 years of age when I walked into the house with wet boots.... my name is NOT Jesus Christ!!! 2) Alright, alright... quit begging already... Sheesh! "I'm joking." There; ya happy? You'd better be because you pleaded with me to tell you that. 3) For the love of God Almighty.... READ some damned history!!!
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  1076.  @u2beuser714  The US did fund the mujahedeen and that same mujahedeen did morph into what became the Taliban. I think you'd better check your facts, buddy. And I'll ask you the same question I ask others who seem to think they know so much more than Peter does.... If your opinion of him and his analysis is that low, why do you watch him?
    1
  1077. The latest in Peter's "Wacky Hats" series.
    1
  1078. Now this is dedication to mission if I ever saw it. How many other people could, or would, present their piece while getting dressed?
    1
  1079. Yeah, I suppose you're right. Forgot about that. @bob-rogers 
    1
  1080. Accurate? How exactly does one establish how accurate any polls are until the results are in? I mean, they could be accurate, but at this point, there's no real way of knowing. @bob-rogers 
    1
  1081. That's a valid concern though I suspect he was more likely referring to the probability of a younger and more vibrant Trump like character on one side and an ultra leftist on the other. When one scans the "benches" of both parties, it's hard to find anyone with any momentum behind them who does not fit those profiles. @ClownCarCoup 
    1
  1082. I agree that it's an unlikely scenario but equally, I'd put forth that it's not an impossible one either. Keep in mind that large swaths of the Republican establishment still cannot stand Donald Trump and have only bent the knee, bit their tongues and fallen in line with him because they realized they had to. Once he wins his second term (if he does), they no longer need him. His usefulness to the party will have dried up so if he starts going off in directions that they don't approve of, it's not inconceivable that they may try to push him out. As I say; unlikely, but not impossible.
    1
  1083.  @SeanEustace-zk3mc  Just s bit of friendly advice for ya...... Take it for what it's worth. Hit the "Enter" key once in a while. That makes paragraphs which turns an oversized blob of letters on the screen into something readable. Just sayin'.
    1
  1084. The Germans wouldn't be so far up Sh*t Creek if the id iots hadn't shut down their nuclear generating capacity. If you're a major industrial power and you're looking to either transition to clean energy and/or transition away from your dependence on other, possibly hostile, nations for your energy needs, it takes a really special kind of stupidity to shut down the one thing that's the obvious solution to both. I have an awfully difficult time feeling any kind of sympathy for anyone who f*cks themselves.
    1
  1085. Rumor is he offed himself with two shots to the back of the head.
    1
  1086. "If you're looking for someone to blame for the rise of Donald Trump, look no further than Barack Obama." Yes, well millions of us have been saying that very thing for years now; including millions who voted for him, to the very tired and predictable shrieks of "racist!!!" It's never quite been explained how someone who voted for a progressive black man over old line white neo-cons.... twice!... can be a racist but, here we are.
    1
  1087.  @ivancho5854  For someone with such a low opinion of the guy, I'm surprised you were even here at all.
    1
  1088. Fair enough and your choice, of course, but he does sound like he's offering an enhanced product so it's not unreasonable to charge more for it. That's just business.
    1
  1089. An interesting perspective. Hadn't heard it explained this way before.
    1
  1090. I'm not nearly as confident as Peter seems to be that Trump doesn't have a chance at winning for a number of reasons but chief among them is that in this election, each of the candidates is the principle reason why the other is even competitive. Any mainstream, sensible democrat could kick Trump's ass just as any mainstream, sensible republican would kick Biden's ass. Each party is well aware of this just as they're both well aware that the majority of Americans don't want either one but chose to ignore all of it and stick with what we've got which is why we're where we are. Peter could very well turn out to be right but there's still plenty of time for any number of things to go south in a very big way for either one or both. I ain't placing any bets just yet.
    1
  1091. All of this may be aspirational for Russia but it doesn't have anything close to the capability to actually pull it off. A much more likely outcome IMO; and frankly, a more desirable one, is for the Russian state as it's currently structured, to collapse and disintegrate. That would indeed result in innumerable regional ethnic conflicts but it would not threaten European and even world peace. Plus, it may actually provide the Russian people with a chance to build a normal, peaceful, functional society for once in their existence.
    1
  1092. You want to stop the bad guys from doing something..... Let's go with Plan "A". Bad guys see your plan A and up the ante. OK, let's try Plan "B". Bad guys laugh you off. Alright, here's Plan "C". Bad guys scoff and ask "is that all you got?" The problem - The bad guys know that eventually you'll run out of "plans" and you'll be left with the choice of either using force or backing down. And they're quite prepared for both.... but they know you are not. Check mate.
    1
  1093. More and more lately, I get the feeling that certain entities around the world; unallied but connected in purpose, are at war with the west and the west is so wrapped up in its normal day to day idiocy that it doesn't even realize it. I hadn't considered the Russia angle to this Hamas business but honestly, it wouldn't surprise me. Whether or not Russia is involved, I guaran-f*cking-tee you Iran is; the same Iran that is openly and brazenly supporting Russia in Ukraine and the same Iran that the White House nursing home resident just handed over $6B to and the same Iran that has been itching for a fight with the west for 40 years. I believe we are headed for some very, very dark times ahead.
    1
  1094. Peter singing?? Oh, we gotta hear this! Come on now, Peter... Don't tease!
    1
  1095. There is actually a very good answer to Russia's half million troops..... a half million NATO troops. Mind you, that would require the balls and the spine to actually........ oh, never mind.
    1
  1096.  @LRRPFco52  No, you're not the only one. There are probably at least 5 others.
    1
  1097.  @peterblood50  They've stockpiled some gas yes, but not enough to get through a whole winter without many households getting hit with major price hikes. They won't run out but the consumer will still feel it. Not saying that will be an end to European support but it could prove problematic. They have enough to survive but not enough to be comfortable. There's another trick Putin could try and to be honest, I'm surprised he hasn't done so already. It's to call a ceasefire and ask for negotiations and diplomacy. He knows that no European leader can resist such a demand and while it'll obviously be just a fake to buy time, there is no shortage of European politicians who'd be jumping feet first into anything that would bring "peace"; even though they know full well it would be a fake peace.
    1
  1098.  @ThomasTomiczek  But.... It still has to be done by a human, doesn't it? Either you, or someone else. AI isn't going to do the job for you and won't anytime soon. That is the point he's making. Not the sharpest knife in the drawer, are you?
    1
  1099. Seems like improved radar and a return of several batteries of rapid fire guns or cannons of some sort on ships would solve this problem pretty easily. In fact, I don't know why they're not utilizing this sort of thing against aerial drones instead of wasting obscenely expensive missiles against things which cost a few thousand at best. As others have noted, there's nothing particularly new or innovative here. It seems that our adversaries have studied which defenses we've dispensed with and have gone back to the things those defenses used to guard against.
    1
  1100.  @cooldudecs  He didn't say that revolutions never happen, he just said they were hard.
    1
  1101. That's true but remember what Peter said; a change doesn't have to come by way of an uprising of the masses, it can also come by way of those close to the dictator taking him out from the top. It's important to remember that though we often talk of dictators and one party states, there really is no such thing as one man rule. It's one man.... and an awful lot of hangers-on who depend on you for power themselves.... and if they see that you're no longer a benefit to them, and that their money and power are now in jeopardy because of you, you can be gone in a heart beat.
    1
  1102. Making friends and influencing people..... in Boston.😁😁😁
    1
  1103. Not worldwide, it doesn't but in it's own region, it's formidable. @warfarenotwarfair5655 
    1
  1104. Meanwhile, here in Canada, our various governments have put us on the hook for something like $30B+ in subsidies for battery plants. I realize most politicians in most places are imbeciles but we are a truly special case.
    1
  1105. Backed the wrong side? Really? We should have backed Germany over Britain, France, the Dutch and so on? I think you'd better take a little deeper dive back into your history books and see if you can't come away with a little bit more clarified and a little less simplistic and ill-informed view of things @christopherlees1134 
    1
  1106. Japan has a very capable navy; by some accounts, the 2nd most powerful in the world after the US navy. And their land an air forces are expanding and modernizing at a rapid rate. It is true that they limited themselves militarily for many years but that attitude is behind them. At the closing end of my own military career, I had the opportunity to work with the JSDF a few times and you could see clear evidence of their change in doctrine. The days of hanging their heads in shame over the past are well and truly over. @mekolayn 
    1
  1107.  @JohnDoe-vy5hh  They didn't move away from fossil fuels, that's the issue. They moved TO them. They shut down their nuclear capacity and went whole hog into natural gas... a fossil fuel... which they depended to far too great an extent on a hostile and untrustworthy nation to supply. That is why I have no sympathy for them. Any nation that shuts down the only reliable clean source of energy that can replace fossil fuels at scale and all because a few placard wielding students had a hissy fit is NOT a serious country and deserves its fate.
    1
  1108.  @azhivago2296  Because it's fun watching stupid people get what's coming to them.
    1
  1109.  @MrLouDC  I know! Look who's snickering now.
    1
  1110.  @E4439Qv5  The Black Sea is open year round and the Russians have icebreakers for the others/
    1
  1111. Yes; or so the story goes, at least. Been waiting now, for about a quarter century for that fairy tale to come true. Any chance you might be able to enlighten us as to how long more we'll need to wait? @grimaffiliations3671 
    1
  1112. To call Argentina a dumpster fire is putting it mildly; really mildly. Argentina is what a dumpster fire aspires to be when it grows up. I'm not inclined to put much faith in a guy who can't speak without shouting and who walks around waving a chainsaw but it's hard to imagine he's capable of being much worse than what he's replacing.
    1
  1113. If Russia is soundly and decisively beaten on the battlefield, if NATO finally gets off their collective fat asses and decides to do something other than....... oh, never mind.
    1
  1114.  @Vercixx  Whatever you like. Just don't bitch when people hold you to the same standard.
    1
  1115.  @cruxrual  Can you "grasp" what I said in response?
    1
  1116. This is not a serious problem. The other major western powers with their considerable naval assets and their proven willingness to step up and defend their own interests, independent of US assistance will easily........... oh, never mind!
    1
  1117. They "can" come through it. Whether they "will" come through it remains to be seen.
    1
  1118.  @bobsobie678  Good, Let's hope they park right across your driveway and stay there. See how you f**king like it.
    1
  1119. LOL! And here we thought it was Trudeau who was the drama queen.
    1
  1120. The reason CBC is not defending their work is because they CAN'T!
    1
  1121. That's incredible! And even with all of that, we're still going to kick your asses. @garyhaggquist740 
    1
  1122. This is what you get when you turn sports over to corporations. Once you introduce massive amounts of cash to anything, it's ruined beyond repair.
    1
  1123. I honestly can't decide what I'm more shocked at....... This bombshell that liberals are hypocrites..... I mean, come on; who knew???..... or that some actual journalism happened at the NY Times. The countdown starts to when the first liberal brands the NY Times as a conservative disinformation rag.
    1
  1124. It's not that hard. The basic steps are.... 1. Identify a sympathetic audience. 2. Tell them everything they want to hear, cater to their fears and prejudices and confirm everything they already believe to be true. 3. Set the other side up as the bad guys, denigrate them relentlessly and blame them for everything. 4. Suppress any alternative viewpoints. 5. Appeal to patriotism. Disinformation is nothing new and you'll find it just about everywhere. It has always worked and continues to work based on the facts that people will always believe what they want to believe and that it's far easier to fool someone than to get them to accept that they've been fooled.
    1
  1125. I'm not sure I buy very much of this. In the first place, Hong Kong had its British lease expire and it legally belonged to China so it was always going to go back to them regardless. Besides, the population in Hong Kong was not descended from the Kuomintang and thus had no history of conflict with the mainland. And of course, the biggest difference of all; Hong Kong had no army. China may think it has some legal claim on Taiwan but having such a claim and having other parties respecting that claim are not the same thing. China goes to some court and gets a ruling that Taiwan belongs to them and then what? The Taiwanese are just going to shrug their shoulders, say "well, that's that" and go back to work? Yeah; go ahead and make a wager on that happening. And finally, there are fewer and fewer economists and analysts every day who are predicting China is going to become this mighty economic colossus in the years ahead. With the structural problems China has and the headwinds it's going to be facing in the years ahead; demographic collapse, awash in debt, cost of labor, and lack of allies being just a few, there are many who wonder how it's even going to survive more than another decade or so, much less dominate anything.
    1
  1126. Change what system? And change it how? Designing and scheming people have always sought power for its own sake, in every society and in every era. No amount of voting for pre-selected and pre-approved flunkies is going to change that and even if it did, would I be supposed to assume that those who did change it would be disposed to using that power for benevolent and altruistic means? Please! Don't be naive. Just live your life and enjoy. That's what I do. Anywhere else you go in the world, you're going to find some variation of this business so it's not as though we're unique somehow. The world is run by thugs; always has been, always will be, so don't waste your time looking for such things as truth and justice and fairness and the like. They aren't there. It's simply a question of which group of thugs you want to live under and be submissive to and under which ones you'll live more comfortably and quietly. @IrKeNoVa 
    1
  1127. What good would that do? You're assuming that all of those people would reach the same conclusions and even if they did, and these agencies were shut down, they'd just find a way to reconstitute themselves later as they've already done in the past. All of this power that these agencies wield is very often useful to that portion of powerful people we do elect so this will be what keeps them in business.
    1
  1128. The CIA was recently tasked with finding out whether any of this was actually true. Almost two agents spent nearly ten minutes studying the matter and concluded there was nothing to it. So that settles it. We're all good. Let's forget about it and move on.
    1
  1129. Thanks, Simon. My first time hearing the whole story.
    1
  1130. 74% believe this? What kind of imbeciles are the other 26%?
    1
  1131.  @dunzhen  Then don't hang around. No one here will miss you.
    1
  1132. Societal breakdown, institutional collapse, inability to keep a roof overhead or food on the table, crushing debt levels, corruption, greed, polarization, political paralysis, being shoved aside in favor of illegals, told you're every kind of evil imaginable..... Why are people unhappy? Gosh, beats me.
    1
  1133.  @krollpeter  "Sometimes weakness is a strength in the end." That's the most ridiculous statement ever made!
    1
  1134. And long live Vietnam!
    1
  1135. Understand that what you just watched was a compilation of clips from actual live TV news broadcasts and not a made for internet product. The live TV format is always time sensitive unfortunately. They can be a little bit flexible but not much.
    1
  1136. An attack on the Suwalki Gap is an attack on NATO. 50 years worth of Soviet leaders were smart enough to know what that would've meant and their army was many times stronger then. It seems today's Russian army isn't capable of much other than smashing civilian targets and having their own equipment destroyed. I'd be prepared but not terribly concerned.
    1
  1137. Yes.
    1
  1138. German chancellor - "Russia will not win this war!" Well, neither will Ukraine unless you and your pals get off your butts and start sending something a little stronger than encouraging words.
    1
  1139. This is why I've always said that sanctions are basically useless. They'll get you so far but no more. If a rogue nation or person is determined to follow a certain course of action, and you want it stopped, you have to demonstrate that you are more determined than he is and that means the use of force.
    1
  1140. Let 'em have it, Ukraine!
    1
  1141. Why would Al-Sisi attempt something like this? Because he can. Because he knows he can get away with it. Because he knows there are zero consequences. Middle Eastern countries have been playing the US for fools for decades and the US knows it and they let them.
    1
  1142. I hate to say it but I don't believe that Germany has the slightest intention of following through on any of its commitments to revitalize its armed forces. I don't care what they've promised. Politicians throw promises around all the time and not only do they not keep them, in many cases, they never have any intention of keeping them. For one, the political class as well as a very sizable chunk of the citizenry simply does not believe in maintaining a strong, competent military. There is a not insignificant proportion of German policy makers who want to completely and permanently eliminate any form of military capability and Scholz, being both a socialist and a committed "peace at any cost" pacifist, is at the head of that class. Secondly, actions speak louder than words. This money was promised over a year ago and practically nothing has been done. Also, you can't convince me that any country which was so late, so hesitant and which had to be arm-twisted so badly to send its equipment (not even its troops) places any real priority on a strong military. Finally, there is just so, so, SO much to do and it would take an efficiently run country decades and tens of trillions to catch up but with a country that moves at the speed of frozen molasses like Germany, they'll lose interest long before anything meaningful happens.
    1
  1143. He should avoid tall buildings.
    1
  1144. I sure hope you're right, especially as regards Germany since there's not a leader anywhere in Western Europe that I trust less than Scholz. Maybe I'm reading the guy all wrong but he very much gives me the impression that he's only doing what he's doing because he's being pressured and shamed into doing so. I get the feeling that he'd give Putin anything he wanted if he could and that he'd be at Putin's feet groveling and begging for oil and gas within hours of a ceasefire. Another important point to remember.... There have been countless times throughout history when "a clear majority" of a population group supported or wanted something and it still didn't happen.
    1
  1145. Such a refreshing and welcome change from the tripe that passes for news in the US.
    1
  1146. They don't have to invade at all. De-stabilizing and then ultimately toppling their government and replacing it with a friendly, cooperative, submissive, satrap client state would satisfy them just fine. This is why there's a war going on in Ukraine right now. If the Ukrainians had been willing to bend the knee and take orders from the Kremlin, there'd be no war but since they refused, here we are.
    1
  1147. Israel has apparently moved another brigade from the south to the north. Could be just for a BBQ or a birthday party, though. I guess we'll see.
    1
  1148. Why bother? All these nations suffer the exact same weakness that America does - Lack of will and resolve. The very fact that they're all fretting about what might or might not upset or provoke China and China isn't the least damned bit concerned about who they provoke tells you all you need to know about who has the balls and who doesn't.
    1
  1149.  @jackd42o  Thanks. A lot of people mention it... for some reason. Beats me why.
    1
  1150. Time to cut China loose! Bring jobs home and stop funneling money to our enemies!
    1
  1151. The main reason why the allied powers demanded unconditional surrender from the Germans and the Japanese in WWII was because they knew exactly what kind of people they were dealing with and anything less than an absolute defeat followed by an unconditional surrender would guarantee a resumption of hostilities at a later date once they recovered and rearmed. There was absolutely zero chance of anything good or positive ever getting the chance to take hold in either country until every last fragment of the old regimes had been exterminated. The same holds true for today's Russia. I've read many times that Russians all throughout the last century craved nothing more than to live normal lives in a normal country. They will never get that chance until every single fragment of Putin's regime is dragged out of the Kremlin, locked and welded into a cage or hoisted onto the scaffold. It's going to be painful and expensive to accomplish but it MUST be done. Putin's government, and every single person associated or affiliated with it must be destroyed or else they'll be back to do this all over again.
    1
  1152. If the war ends in say, about mid-year or so, (doubtful, but let's just say) what do you want to bet all these rosy promises will go right out the window? You want to know what would really get their attention, though? The Americans pulling up stakes and moving everything east. And along with that, perhaps reducing their NATO status to something like an "associate" member or similar. If Germany suddenly was without American protection and all that sweet, sweet American cash they pump into the German economy...... ya think Poland might like a chunk of that?... maybe that might lead to oh, let's say a moment of clarity and perhaps a bit of a change in attitudes.
    1
  1153.  @KIA-MIA-POW  Is everyone in your family this naive or is it just you?
    1
  1154.  Pronto  I'm sure the Russians are just terrified about that prospect.
    1
  1155.  @KIA-MIA-POW  Really? Tell me then; what "outcomes" were achieved?
    1
  1156. How can you be a president but not a party leader?
    1
  1157. I would put them well ahead of many within those countries too.
    1
  1158. People on both sides are taking a look at the youngsters and saying..... NOPE!
    1
  1159. You are indeed correct. Russia was every bit as much a colonial empire as any of the other big European powers and, to a considerable degree, they still are today. It's just that most of their colonies just happened to be adjacent to their own territory instead of across the seas. The whole of NE Asia is conquered territory. @considerthis9007 
    1
  1160. Points to consider - 1) Putin is into this thing WAY over his head. He's now well past the point of no return. There is NO turning back now. He couldn't quit now even if he wanted to. He'd be dead in a week. 2) There is now no way for him to achieve an outright victory on the battlefield so what's left? What advantages does he have and what can he use? The answer - numbers. And he has those in abundance! 3) When you don't care about cost, when you're prepared to throw away a million lives if that's what it takes, and when you see that your enemies' allies are only giving them penny packets of weaponry and are fussing and fretting about even doing that much and have to be arm-twisted and badgered into every single arms shipment because they're stark, raving terrified of you and collectively soil their clothes whenever anyone says the word... gasp!... escalation!... what do you do? How do you leverage that fear and turn it in your favor? 4) You wear them down, that's what you do. You send wave after wave of bodies and wave after wave of vehicles. Yes, the bodies are barely trained and even worse equipped and the vehicles are complete junk but they all make the Ukrainians use up ammo to defeat them and make the west have to supply more. It's called attrition and the Russians can keep this going practically indefinitely. 5) I've been saying it for a year and I'll keep saying it. Russia WILL drag this out as long as they have to UNLESS we in the west stop pissing around, step in and put an end to this thing, once and for all!
    1
  1161. Peddle fear, suspicion, hate; otherize minority groups, tell people their problems are all someone else's fault and generally feed and nurture every base instinct they have and you'll never suffer for an audience nor will you ever go bankrupt. It's always been based on the premise that people will believe what they want to believe and search for any way to rationalize it. Of course, it doesn't help when traditional media... you know, the kind we're continually told we HAVE to trust.... continues to incinerate their own credibility on the alter of ratings and ad revenue.
    1
  1162. "Even the Labour Party has ruled that out." Why? Politicians are such craven cowards.
    1
  1163.  @Crashed131963  Two entirely different weapons systems for two entirely different jobs, my friend. One is artillery, the other is armor. And it's not an either / or situation. You don't win by using just one, you need both.
    1
  1164. I'm sure that "strong condemnation" she speaks of will have Putin soiling himself. Add in a "UN resolution" and that would just about finish him.
    1
  1165. In fairness, I think they had a lousy internet connection with a long delay. They were cutting each other off and I don't believe either one was intending to do so.
    1
  1166. "Russia is getting ready for a long war...." This is exactly what I've been warning about. Way too many people have been doing victory dances thinking this thing is over or near over. IT IS NOT!! Russia is essentially one very big North Korea at this point and North Korea has been under sanctions since Christ wore short pants. Has it slowed them down? Altered their behavior? NO! Putin doesn't care about sanctions, he doesn't care about his economy, he doesn't care about lives; anyone's lives, he doesn't care about reputation, he doesn't even care about the future of Russia. All he cares about is himself and his own power and he won't hesitate to do whatever it takes to hold onto both. He will co-opt every citizen, every industry and every scrap of raw material he needs to to prosecute this war. He's running out of advanced munitions, true enough, but he's got limitless amounts of old stuff and limitless capacity to produce as much as he needs. There's nothing high tech about a howitzer and the shells that go into them don't need microchips. Even if Ukraine drives every last Russian out of their country, Putin still has the capacity to reduce it to rubble from his own territory and he certainly has the will to do so too. He hasn't got many friends or allies but he has enough to keep himself going indefinitely and he can still sell all the oil and gas he can produce. At reduced prices, yes, but he doesn't care about that. This war will NOT end until NATO steps in and ends it.
    1
  1167. This war will not end as long as Putin is alive. I hate to be that blunt but it's unavoidable. That's just the reality. They said at the end that Putin's strategic goals haven't changed and they're right, they haven't changed.... power... at ALL costs... at ANY costs! He doesn't care about lives; Russian, Ukrainian or any other kind. He doesn't care about how poor or cold or destitute his people are, he doesn't care about cost because he's got plenty of money in his own banks that sanctions can't touch and he's selling more oil than ever so he's as flush with cash as he ever was. He cannot possibly prevail on the battlefield as long as the west is supplying weapons to Ukraine so what he needs to do is cut off that supply and as wars by tyrants throughout history have shown us, the best, most sure fire way to do that is to exhaust their patience which is what these missile strikes are designed to do. Everything he's using are just old fashioned "dumb" bombs and he has literally millions of those in his stockpiles so he can keep this up indefinitely. The ONLY way you stop this is to eliminate Putin.
    1
  1168.  @TT-fq7pl  Thank you! It only took mere seconds actually, and I didn't even know it'd have the added bonus of making you cry.
    1
  1169. Is Trudeau Canada's biggest dope dealer? Well, I dunno, but he's certainly Canada's biggest dope.
    1
  1170. It's not much wonder there's such a goddam climate panic infused into our psyches when the media makes a totally normal weather event seem like an emergency. I've been in Edmonton now going on 25 years and today's weather is noticeable but still on the low side of what I've witnessed over my time here. For the love of God, calm the f*ck down! It's Edmonton, it's February and it's >30cm. This is a f*cking snow day, NOT a news story! Quit making every little thing into an emergency and trying to whip up a panic over nothing.
    1
  1171. It's not what you're doing, it's how you're doing it. What is it with this government that they cannot accept dissent or criticism? The court isn't telling you you can't fight plastic pollution. It's saying your law is flawed. Go back and fix your damned law!
    1
  1172. These individuals are the ones who'll soon graduate and start working their ways into out institutions of state and other positions of power and influence. Face it, we're f*cked.
    1
  1173. Anybody can get in, it's nearly impossible to get them out, and they have no respect for, nor fear of, law enforcement.
    1
  1174. Any day now, we'll all be told how conservatives and Erin O'Toole are somehow responsible for this. He wanted to be at a ceremony somewhere but conservatives were "obstructing" him.
    1
  1175. A clear and present danger to be sure. I mean there had to have been what, 20 people there? Dear God, whatever will we do?? As for the grunion in the camper who's evidently shot to the top of the national security threat list, Oh yeah, gotta stop at nothing to bring her down. LOL; I never f*cking heard tell of her before!
    1
  1176. Guess you haven't noticed the fires down under recently. @Bunny11344 
    1
  1177. And I blew out a slipper. When will the world act about THAT?? @thomassmith4678 
    1
  1178. Quite true. It's a pain in the butt to deal with when it's happening but it's necessary all the same.
    1
  1179. Looks like a building materials fire. Roofing tar, perhaps?
    1
  1180. Are they going to lease the tradesmen to build the fecking things too? And the materials that go into them?
    1
  1181.  @TentaclePentacle  A private citizen does it the same way a corporation does it. And the costs are the cost of doing business which are all tax deductible. You think he's better off in this case for not having done so?
    1
  1182. For some people, maybe. I was never a heavy smoker; 2/3 pack a day at most. I quit 21 years ago and I'm still wheezing. Not as bad, but I'm still doing it. I smoked for more than 25 years so I guess you can only fix that so much. Just don't ever start.
    1
  1183. "I don't care for these newfangled automobiles. They're noisy and they're smelly. I prefer my good old horse here. He's been a loyal and trusty friend and this fine wagon here was built by Mr. Stevens; a fine craftsman, an upstanding gentleman and my neighbour." "No, I'm not fond of the new ways so I'm just going to stick to the old ways I've always known. And if they're no longer profitable because no one uses them anymore except 4 or 5 holdouts like me; why then, I demand the government step in and subsidize them."
    1
  1184. And still more than they're worth.
    1
  1185. "What lies ahead for Trudeau's political career?" The end of it, hopefully.
    1
  1186. He's right. No consequences for Air Liberal and their No-Longer-West-jet partners in crime are no better. They're untouchable and they know it.
    1
  1187. No consequences.... it will happen again. The driver was told / directed / pressured to do this. There's no way he would do it on his own. What would be in it for him? This case is an example of why you never, EVER, approach the company directly. You lawyer up, go public and threaten legal action.
    1
  1188. Shouldn't be that hard to track down. They've got video and lots of witnesses. It's a question of whether anyone has the guts to do the right thing or not.
    1
  1189. The NDP are reportedly furious about this matter and have apparently threatened to keep propping up the Liberals unless this minister is kept in his position.
    1
  1190. These are the cars Justin wants to force us all into.
    1
  1191. Getting a little taste of what you voted for, eh Vancouver? Enjoy it.
    1
  1192. Another bottle, of course!
    1
  1193. I really take no pleasure in saying it, and until a short while ago, I would never have said it but I truly, truly pray for these democrat run cities to collapse into a state of complete chaos and total anarchy. I want every single business to close its doors and refuse to participate in the economy. I want every single LEO to resign in disgust and most of all, I want every single person who supports these creeps with their taxes to either rise up in armed revolt or suffer the consequences of what they've chosen to tolerate. NO mercy for any of them!
    1
  1194. My father gave me a piece of advice a long time ago. He said "Never waste your time arguing with an idiot." In the years since, I've expanded that to include anyone who doesn't respect you, value your opinion, resents you or your perspective or one whose mind you have no chance of changing. And since I think it's a pretty safe wager that I qualify for all of those categories for you (as you do for me), it would be advisable if you took his advice also. @PrintProfessor 
    1
  1195. In the words of the immortal Macho Man Randy Savage.... "Not gonna happen!!" We heard all this same tripe about reflection and accounting after 2016 too and within weeks, they were right back into their same old behaviors; largely because they were following the lead of CNN, MSNBC and allowing themselves to be led around by the nose in hopes of getting some air time and raising money. The Democrats are who the Democrats are and that's been on display for at least the last 8 years and probably longer. You can't change who you are. You can try to pretend and it may even work for a while but your true self always comes out.
    1
  1196. "Airplanes and cars work better." Yeah, they do. So do.. you know... ordinary trains.... the ones that cost a fraction of what the "high-speed" toys cost.
    1
  1197.  @AIsavesDemocracy  Well, full disclosure here... I'm just an observer from afar and not even American so I have no dog in the fight. I'm just saying that he's immensely popular with a considerable number of people. I'm not saying it's for good reason or bad reason.... That's up to the individual to decide. I'm just stating what is.
    1
  1198.  @calicocat8213  Moon is made of green cheese..... The check is in the mail..... You wouldn't believe the fish I caught..... Idiots believe anything on the internet..... pictures at 11.
    1
  1199.  @calicocat8213  Colonel Douglas MacGregor can pound sand. So can you.
    1
  1200.  @calicocat8213  You need to get out more.
    1
  1201. This is yet another example of why I say that Russia is not beaten nor even close to being beaten nor have they the slightest intention of giving up. They are currently in the process of retrofitting several thousand old T62 and T64 tanks, they are pressing some 500K reservists and recruits into service and if this plan is true, it's just more evidence that we're nowhere near the end. All of this "new" equipment is crap of course, and the new soldiers will be nothing more than more meat for the grinder but Putin couldn't care less. He'll chew through as much gear and as many lives as he has to to get what he wants and that's to divide the west by wearing down their resolve. He knows that the west has neither the patience nor the stomach for a long, drawn out, expensive conflict and if a war isn't over quickly, western governments lose their will. If we want this war to end, one of two things has to happen. Either we mobilize NATO and go in and end it ourselves or we get off our fat asses and give Ukraine what it needs to end it themselves.
    1
  1202. Wow; Mark does it again! I'm Canadian and an armoured corps veteran and even I didn't know all of this.
    1
  1203. I'm a veteran myself, not a WWII veteran but a more modern variety, and I'm seldom able to hear The Last Post without misting up.
    1
  1204.  @dreamingflurry2729  Well, he was talking about the difference between having old, degraded equipment versus none at all.
    1
  1205.  @peterkerr4019  Joe Biden is something of a car enthusiast and owns (or once owned) a classic Corvette; a '66, I believe. I heard a story... I won't wager on how true it is.... that many years back during a visit to the US, then-senator Biden let her drive the Vette and she lit the thing up for something like half a block on his estate. It sounds a bit far fetched, I'll grant, but I have heard it more than once and I honestly wouldn't put it past her. She was no shrinking violet.
    1
  1206. Cabbage patch bomber.... LOL!!
    1
  1207. I consider myself fairly knowledgeable about WW2 history, for a novice. but until this video, had not heard a word about this topic. Well done, Mark! Thank you.
    1
  1208. Ever since childhood, I've been fascinated by history. In an alternate reality, I'd have become a historian myself or at least an amateur one as a hobby in retirement but alas, I just don't have the drive necessary to do all the work and digging required. Friends have asked me what historians actually do since by definition, history is "in the past" and the past can't be changed. What more is there that can possibly be discovered? I'm personally terrible at trying to explain it to people but when one avails themselves of the work of Dr. Felton and some of the other true greats in the business, any further explanation is not needed. There is so, SO much that is not know or that is misunderstood or that is just plain false since earlier historians simply didn't have the resources or the ability to dig and search to put stuff together like this. If I can never be that great historian myself, I'm nonetheless grateful to have the like of Dr. Felton, The History Guy and others to entertain and inform me. Thanks to you all and BRAVO!
    1
  1209. Any day with a Mark Felton War Story is... well... a whole lot better than any day without one, that's for damned sure!!
    1
  1210. Makes you wonder how many other episodes of history are misrepresented. You'd be amazed how many people still think Christopher Columbus discovered America (and how many people still call him that!) He wasn't even the 1st European to do so. The vikings were here 500 years before him.
    1
  1211. Mark is a treasure. Never knew any of this.
    1
  1212.  @EEEBA1  I think I went through Brcko a few times. Not positive, but I think so. Twenty years ago now so I don't remember everything but I travelled extensively and there's not much of the country I didn't see.
    1
  1213.  @EEEBA1  Velika Kladusa, Sarajevo and Tuzla. You're welcome.
    1
  1214. Dirty little secret - it's the same all across NATO. Even the USA, as formidable as they are, has many deficiencies and is suffering from a recruiting crisis. Is it any wonder Putin and Xi are feeling so frisky? This is what happens when you let your forces atrophy. You get way too comfortable and complacent and start to believe that not only are the threats gone but none will ever re-emerge. And it will take decades and hundreds of billions we don't have to pull ourselves out of this. As an old CO of mine was fond of saying - "It takes decades to grow a tall, majestic oak but only seconds to bring it down." It's a damned good thing that the Russian military has proven to be as decrepit and incompetent as it has but the thing is, it's not impossible that they pull back, regroup, learn their lessons, re-arm and have at it again. And China? Does anyone seriously want to find out what their capabilities are? We're right back in the same boat we were in in 1939. We'd known full well that war was coming and we were totally unprepared when it did preferring instead to look the other way as if ignoring the problem might make it go away. And as a result, millions died who didn't need to.
    1
  1215. Whales, it would appear, are not immune to the dangers of war.
    1
  1216.  @matthalstead7933  This is American Thanksgiving. Dr. Felton is British. Thanksgiving isn't a holiday in Britain.
    1
  1217. And only used 35 rounds to do it and all while composing a symphony.
    1
  1218. These videos are better than any TV documentary!
    1
  1219. Respect to Her Majesty!
    1
  1220. Ya 'spose the world mighta tuned out differently had that German official arrested him and sent him back to Austria like he should have done?
    1
  1221. Wow; what an odyssey!
    1
  1222. Classic movie! I remember seeing first as a youngster too.
    1
  1223.  @armija  Hmm... Well my friend, the first thing is that there is quite a bit of difference between evidence and proof. You said "there is not a shred of evidence" and that's where I say YOU are wrong. There is in fact, plenty of evidence. Does that evidence conclusively prove anything? No, it does not. Given that we are talking about events that took place well over 70 years ago during the Cold War between two communist dictators; neither of which were renowned for transparency, I think it unlikely that any solid proof will ever come forward. So what are we left with? A legend which may or may not be true. However, since I myself have heard this "legend" from quite a few disparate and unrelated sources including respected historians AND Yugoslavs themselves; some of which had no love for Tito and no interest in pumping up his personality cult, I know which version I'm going with. Is it all bullshit? Perhaps. But since you and this other dude on here are so far the only ones who are telling me that, and you both are just anonymous YouTube commenters, I'm afraid I'm going to have to dismiss you both and go with the historians and the Yugoslavs.
    1
  1224. While serving with NATO forces in the former Yugoslavia, I got to see many of the areas and locations mentioned in this video. There's a hill with Tito's name spelled out in groves of trees.
    1
  1225. I'm writing a letter to my old school demanding that I be allowed to retake all my history classes with Dr. Felton as teacher. I was ripped off!
    1
  1226. I've always respected the British Royal family for their military service. True, it is in many cases, purely nominal and it isn't really the same as someone serving a full career but it's still a whole lot more than many of their contemporaries around the world would do and especially the phony chicken hawks in the US government who'd run crying for momma's apron at the sound of a slamming door.
    1
  1227. Happy New Year, Mark! You bet I'll be back in 2023. Can't wait!
    1
  1228.  @istvansipos9940  Yes, those are quality news outlets... or at least DW is. The other one, I'm not familiar with. On the whole, I find European news outlets to be of much higher quality than the trash we have here in N America. On that score, you're lucky. The point I was trying to make is that these were very serious and significant events given the context of the times and not a word was said in any Canadian (where I am) or American (which is pervasive and unavoidable no matter how hard you try) media source that I'm aware of. Even allowing for the obsession with trying to pin blame for absolutely everything on one side or other of the political spectrum which courses through every vein of our media, I would have expected to have heard at least some mention of them. But alas, not a peep.
    1
  1229. OK, let's not let Mark down (#1) The P80s were GARBAGE!! ME262s ROCKED!!
    1
  1230. OK, let's not let Mark down (#2) The ME262s were GARBAGE!! P80s ROCKED!!
    1
  1231. What's a lot more devastating is seeing politicians from both parties stand around with their thumbs up their asses doing f*ck all about it. And then they act shocked and angry that anyone is upset about it all and wonder how people like Trump and Sanders happen.
    1
  1232.  @p.m.8316  Open for tourists? There were tourists there during the war! As far as I'm aware, it's never not been open for tourists. Edit - I hadn't considered COVID which is probably what you were referring to. My apologies. A better answer is below.
    1
  1233. I'm just glad I was able to visit and check it off my list before it turned into the open sewer it is today. And no, I don't believe it's been "turned around." There may be some minor changes around the edges which will last for a little while but you can't keep electing the very same kinds of people who created this kind of nightmare and expect them to do different things.
    1
  1234.  @Rockstarmade224  Proves my point... thanks.
    1
  1235. The Democratic party did not lose the rural vote; they deliberately threw it away!
    1
  1236. Well, all I can say is thank God the authorities are prioritizing prosecuting the right people. SMFH!
    1
  1237. I don't care what you call yourself or your content; you're one of the brightest rays of sunshine the internet has to offer. There are few people who can consistently make others feel good and brighten their day. You are at or near the top of the list. You could call yourself Leroy from Sheboygan for all I care and I'd still tune in.
    1
  1238. The channel I come to when I need a pick-me-up. That's one beautiful smile!
    1
  1239. My feel good moment for the day = any Feli video!
    1
  1240. You've done a wonderful job learning English. I'm told it's one of the hardest languages there is to learn, largely because it's full of rules, every one of which we break at regular intervals.
    1
  1241. I was very anxious to watch this video and especially to hear the experiences of actual Germans because I wanted to see how they line up with people I know who've lived in Germany. I myself have never been there but as an ex- army guy, I know many people who have lived there for extended periods and travelled around the country extensively. Many have told me that the younger generations of Germans feel that such things as remembrance, accountability, contrition and education are important but they also want to start moving on from that period and stop focusing so much on a time that was nearly eight decades ago and that none of them had any part in. They want to start to feel pride in being Germans again the way other nationalities do and not to be made to feel shameful about expressing that pride publicly. They feel that their nation has paid adequate attention and homage to its past sins and that the entire world is a far different place today then it was then and they want to see Germany start to step forward and take its share of the responsibility for making and keeping the world safe. Prime example - Ukraine. Making sure it "never happens again" means not happening anywhere, not just at home. On the other side of the coin, there is a not insignificant sector of the German left who delights in continually beating their nation over the head with the sins of the past to keep it suppressed and shamed and to increase their own political influence and power. This creates an inevitable backlash which often manifests itself in unfortunate ways such as the rise of the AFD and other such movements. I'd be interested to hear if this analysis is partly, fully or not at all correct.
    1
  1242. Alright you pervs..... How many of you are here because of Feli's thumbnail photo hoping to see more or to hear her talk about nudity? Come on, fess up. You know you're out there. I ain't the only one.
    1
  1243. I'm from Canada so maybe that makes a difference but I do have an electric kettle which I even take on short trips with me as well as several of those long shoe horns. My dad used to have those folding rulers and I'm definitely getting one of those coffee drip thingies. Maybe I'm more German than I know.
    1
  1244. Very interesting! Always wondered this myself.
    1
  1245. Kim Jong Fat Bastard will explode one evening during a steak and lobster marathon, the blast also sadly claiming his wife, daughter, 2 porters and a wine steward. Kid Sis will go skipping merrily into his old office chanting - "I got the big job, I got the big job, nah nah na-nah nah." A general will grab her by the collar and seat of her pants and say - "not so fast, girly" as he deposits her ass in the nearest kitchen where she's told to stay until she's called, and make herself busy while she's doing so. He and the remaining generals will then set out to decide who the next "dude" will be which results in the unfortunate death of all of them by anti-aircraft gun fire. Kid Sis finally finishes the dishes and comes out to discover that Korea is one once again but by the South taking over. She exclaims - "AWW CRAP!!" but soon discovers K-Pop, releases a record, gets rich, wastes it all on the ponies and has to get a job as a short order cook. And so concludes the Korean crisis. The End.
    1
  1246. Literally everyone; Americans included, knew full well this day and this outcome would come sooner or later. There was nothing left that could have been achieved if indeed there ever was. Why prolong the inevitable? Vietnam 2.0. Declare victory, leave the place in a shambles and bugger off home. The war industries (and political donors) made out like bandits and that's all that matters in America.
    1
  1247. Yes!! Respect and power to Africa from Canada!
    1
  1248. Great news!! The more that leaves China, the better. This should have been happening long ago. China is nobody's friend. India is a natural ally and Vietnam, The Philippines and Indonesia as well, perhaps. Keep working and keep hoping. Cheering for ya, India!!
    1
  1249. Yes.
    1
  1250. Who's lying? All of them!
    1
  1251. They might as well pull back. They're not accomplishing anything useful.
    1
  1252. Russia was not, is not, and most likely never will be our "friend." And neither is China. Perhaps it's time we all stopped pretending and making up comforting little stories to tell ourselves and face up to reality. The war between east and west has started. It's just localized at the moment and at a low intensity but it won't stay that way.
    1
  1253. Not surprised to see Germany and France starting to chicken out. I never had much faith in them anyway. They've never cared about anyone but themselves. This would be a great time for the US and UK to pull out of NATO and convince all of the Eastern European members to do likewise. Then, they could all form a new alliance along with Sweden and Finland. After all of the allied military bases are closed in Germany, all the troops and equipment re-located eastward and German companies watch the billions of dollars spent on them sprout wings and fly away forever, maybe they'll have 2nd thoughts.
    1
  1254. Hillary - "Just look at what he's done!" Us - "Well, we did look, actually. We'd kinda like to look away but we sorta can't." Better come up with a better line than that one. We don't have to bury this guy. His "allies" are going to do it for us.
    1
  1255. Biden got into the senate at what; 29? He was far from the brightest light on the Christmas tree even then! Now 50+ years later, he's magically just fine? What have these morons been huffing?
    1
  1256. Oh yeah; they know what they're doing alright. They always have.
    1
  1257. He and Grandpa Simpson fought off kamikazes with super lasers at the Battle of Gettysburg..... 's true.... swear to God....
    1
  1258. The "It's Kamala's turn!" forces are already mustering and if The Corpse in Chief does step aside or is shoved aside unceremoniously as he deserves to be and she isn't coronated as the next living God of democracy and all that's right and good, the party will rip itself to pieces and it'll all happen out in full public view. And I can't f**king wait!!! There are many, many aspects of this debacle which neither the democrats nor their media butt kissers should ever be allowed to deny nor forget but topping the list is that they did it to themselves.
    1
  1259. Oakland, DC and all the rest brought all of this on themselves. At the time, we warned them and we were told to f*ck off. Well now the bills are coming due and they can f*ck off! I won't shed one tear or spare one thought for any of them. Go straight to h*ll, the lot of you! You're getting exactly what you deserve.
    1
  1260. Well, if Beetlejuice is investigating "the worst mayor in America," you know she herself is no longer a mayor anywhere or else she'd be investigating herself.
    1
  1261. It's a little bit like booking an arena and trying to sell tickets for a concert and all you have are 7 opening acts but no headliner. And thinning out the field won't change a damned thing. After Trump, the only ones with any traction at all are DeSantis, Vivek, and Haley and if DeSantis and Vivek both dropped out, 2/3 or more of their support would go to Trump anyway so instead of him being up 50 points on Haley, he'd be up like 70 instead. Face it folks; this race is over and none of y'all even finished on the lead lap. The only way Trump doesn't get this is if he drops dead, is kidnapped by aliens or in the hoosegow.
    1
  1262. He can't handle the big stairs and he's not looking too steady on the small ones either. We'll soon have to get him one of those chair lifts.
    1
  1263. The rest of these clowns should just go home and quit wasting their time and money. That poll they put up had Trump up 55 points. 55 freakin' points!!! Anybody would have a hard enough time overcoming 25 points, never mind 55. Jeez Louise, give it up already!
    1
  1264. "The further a society drifts from the truth, the more it will hate those who speak it." George Orwell
    1
  1265. Is the greatest threat really the thief or is it the willing dupe who leaves the front door open in exchange for a few bucks? China is only doing what it's doing because we've been letting them do it. They understand us better than we understand ourselves.
    1
  1266. "These are all incredibly complicated, complex issues......" Actually, they're not. They're all really quite simple and straightforward. ".... and we need to find constructive, long term solutions for them." OK, you do that. And until you do, we'll find our own. Get back to us when you have something.
    1
  1267. Tucker's shoes are very big ones to fill and no one is going to do that easily or quickly. Jesse's doing fine. Give him time. zappadallure 
    1
  1268. Can we pause to spare a thought for the Hollywood Woke and their struggles? No? Well, didn't think so but, you know, thought I should ask.
    1
  1269. I'm hoping for that knife fight thingy. It'd be one helluva pile o' fun to watch for its own sake but it would also mean Trump just whistles his merry way past it all, straight back to the big chair. "Scuze me folks; comin' thru."
    1
  1270. Pushing out persuadable swing voters is bad enough but when you start pushing out lifelong party loyalists; especially the ones who really put in the work and made things happen for you, I don't see how you come back from that.
    1
  1271. Tim Scott is wasting his time going on The View. If he thinks he's going to change any of those "minds", he's delusional. When we've arrived at a place where white people can routinely and without shame, call black people racists, white supremacists and worse, and in many circles, be lauded for doing so, I fear we are so far down the path to destruction that the point of no return is no longer even visible in the rearview mirror.
    1
  1272. Faulkner Harris?
    1
  1273. "I don't know how sincere he is." Well then, let me help you out. Gavin Newsom is the perfect blending of televangelist and used car salesman. He is in my opinion, the biggest sleazebag politician in the entire country.... and that's saying something. Look in the dictionary under :shameless" and you'll see his picture. He'd sell his own kids for a vote. This is Mika and Joke chapter 2. He got left without a chair when the music stopped and he's desperately trying to save himself but it won't work. Our memories are just a little too long for that.
    1
  1274. That's all fine and dandy for the present but it doesn't account for 2, 3, 5 years down the road. I don't think anyone seriously believes Texas will turn blue tomorrow, next week or even next year but the trend lines are worrying. Some of those elections that the governor spoke of, while victories, were nonetheless much closer than they ought to have been. I personally know two families this year alone who've moved OUT of Texas because they can see the transition happening before their eyes and they DON'T like it.
    1
  1275. I gotta head right out and buy 500 lottery tickets quickly before this moment passes....... AOC is making f**king sense!!! I figure my odds are as good as they'll ever be... Just consider the past couple weeks.... - Trump gets shot at, - Biden quits, and now... - AOC sounds like she's got a frickin' brain! What's next??!!
    1
  1276. Press secretaries are all professional bull shitters; that's their job, but most of them are good at it or at least put in some effort. This Karine thing is the worst I've ever seen!
    1
  1277. The perp was black. That means that anyone who did step in would be crucified as a racist. Wonder why no one ever steps in anymore? Have a look at what happens to most of the ones who do.
    1
  1278. He probably has to be reminded several times a day that he IS the president!
    1
  1279. "The president of Columbia needs to get these protests under control...." Well, there's a problem with that, you see, because the first thing she'd need to do in order to get them under control is to want to do so, and it's pretty clear she does not. "This is president Biden's "Charlottesville moment." Umm, no it isn't. For it to be his, or anyone's, Charlottesville moment, you'd need to have a cultural, academic and journalistic establishment willing to make it such. President Trump's words on Charlottesville were somewhat clumsy but he had not even finished speaking them before the above mentioned activists were stretching and spinning them into something they were not.
    1
  1280. In time, they will come for you in Texas too.
    1
  1281. First it was bibles in hotel rooms. Now it's wreaths on gravestones. In both cases, the scumbags protesting probably had no interest in either one. They just wanted attention, money and to tear down one more American tradition. This is not what our veterans fought for but this is what we've become.
    1
  1282. Chicago voted for something and I for one, pray they get it.
    1
  1283. There's just something so very heartening and uplifting about a person like her. We've got such a truly great thing in this country and this lady can see it so clearly. Why do so many not see it?
    1
  1284. By a country mile, the most shameless, grifting, sleazebag politician I have ever seen. And for a democrat, that's saying something!!
    1
  1285. I hope and pray that some day soon, the entire police force of a major US city; every last one of them, from the chief to the youngest recruit, walks out and leaves the Ted Wheelers of the world on their own. Portland sounds like a great place to begin the experiment. Maybe after their own homes are burned down around them, they'll get the message.
    1
  1286. Lost it? She never f*cking had it! She's always been a flake!
    1
  1287. FOAD, San Francisco! You voted for this, you asked for this, you wanted this, so enjoy it as much as I'll enjoy watching you slowly rot and collapse into a state of absolute anarchy and chaos. No one has ever deserved it more!
    1
  1288. If you are a law enforcement official, EVERY democrat is your enemy!
    1
  1289. I don't. What you are seeing is called consequences and that is what changes people's behavior. This has been happening in poorer communities for years. Where was all the pulling of hair and clutching of pearls then, huh? Now that the problem has come to the very doorsteps of the people who installed these assholes into office, I'm supposed to feel some sort of guilt? F*ck them and f*ck you!! @kamalapati154 
    1
  1290. An interesting point you bring up there. Yes in fact, I do know how karma works. Mostly because I can see it working its devilish magic right now in the very video posted here and in a hundred other incidents like it every day. You see that's the thing about karma; it's ambivalent. It doesn't much care who it lands on. If you've earned a visit from it, you will get it. You see, it is the very people who I'm referring to here who have been wishing ill will upon people like me for years. People who look, think, act and especially vote the way we do. And my region has already suffered through its hard times. To some degree we still are but we're managing; largely because we have people in charge who have at least a passing acquaintance with competency. The other important factor to mention; and the one which is the reason for my delight now is remembering vividly the joy and satisfaction these very people took in my suffering and also the realization we came to that the hate is both real and visceral. It mattered and matters not what we could ever say or do, we would always be sub-human to them. So that is why I take such delight in their suffering now. All of them... and you too... can go straight plumb to... well, you know. @themastertater420 
    1
  1291. Well, this video was a letdown. When it said "awkward moment," I thought it was going to be something good like her zapping herself with 500V or shorting out the car's battery and having it go afire on camera. This was just standard grade Kamala being Kamala.
    1
  1292. I find it hard to muster up much sympathy for Ronna. It's MSNBC, for crissakes.... what the hell did she expect? You put your hand on a stove you know full well is hot and you get burned..... sorry, you should have known better.
    1
  1293. J*sus H Chr*st, what a f*cking clown show! Why doesn't one of these self styled "patriots" put their name forward and see how far they get? They think they're so f*cking smart and have all the answers but what they don't have is guts enough to stand for election themselves and explain to their collogues why they deserve the job they kicked McCarthy out of.
    1
  1294. I'd like to see a few police departments across the country resign en masse and leave the scumbag politicians helpless. You want law enforcement eliminated? Fine; we'll show you what that looks like!
    1
  1295. There are lots of ways around these sanctuary laws and the democrats who pass them if you're clever enough. A very effective one would be to turn their own citizens against them. Simply say to the people of NYC, Chicago, LA and other places that "hey, we see the problems you guys are having and we're really trying to do something about it but ya know what, these people are standing in our way. If you all could see about getting them out of office, this would go a lot faster and a lot smoother"
    1
  1296. Why?
    1
  1297. The farther a society strays from the truth, the more it will hate those who speak it.
    1
  1298. Yeah, it wasn't an emergency when border (read - red) states were and are, dealing with 20x the volume but all of a sudden when it drops on the laps of democrats, it's a national f*cking emergency and we're all supposed to feel sorry for them and rush to help out. Well sorry folks, I'm way too busy just now playing with my guns, oppressing minorities, dragging my knuckles and being greedy; you know, those familiar old tropes you always throw at us. Remember those? Not a thing I can do for you. You'll just have to solve this on your own.
    1
  1299. I don't believe any of this is sincere. SF and LA politicians know there are elections coming and they know they're going to get slaughtered if they don't do something. Once those elections are over, things will very quickly revert to they way they've been.... watch and see.
    1
  1300. That Obama campaign mangler on MSLSD was right. Whenever I'm really happy with the way a certain politician is running things, I always tell pollsters I'm voting for the other guy. SMFH!🙄
    1
  1301. These companies and the liberal cities they set up shop in deserve everything that's coming to them.
    1
  1302. I kind of get the feeling that they know the SCOTUS is going to quash this ruling but they went ahead and did it anyway because they wanted to virtue signal. It stuns me how democrats can be this deaf, dumb and blind. Every time they come at Trump, they just make him stronger and further harden the resolve of his supporters. If they'd wanted to beat him, they should have just kept their damned mouths shut and never mentioned his name. By shrieking and screeching their bloody fool heads off at every little thing and dragging it before the courts, they're just confirming to Trump's supporters why they hate democrats.
    1
  1303. Not one red cent of government money should EVER go to journalism or anything that pretends to be or masquerades as journalism! If you are a journalist, by definition, the government and every politician is your sworn enemy and if they're not, then you are not a journalist; you're an advocate. He who pays the piper calls the tune so if you are taking money from politicians, who you are supposed to be holding to account, then you have placed yourself in their service and you have betrayed your industry and sent every ounce of your credibility up in flames for the present and for always.
    1
  1304. Can't add a thing to this. Perfect.
    1
  1305. Going out to collect all those "blue" bags!
    1
  1306. I guess they won't be taking it personally when I stomp their skulls into the sidewalk then.
    1
  1307. In San Francisco - London Breed and Chesa Boudin. In Los Angeles - Eric Garcetti and George Gascon. In Chicago - Lori Lightfoot and Kim Foxx. And the list goes on. ALL Democrats and ALL elected!! Let that sink in! Nobody imposed or forced these creeps on anyone. In every single case, the citizens voluntarily and dutifully trooped themselves off to their polling stations and made a conscious and informed choice to put these individuals into the positions they're in No one did this to them! They did it to themselves. You people CHOSE this! You WANTED this! THIS is what "Defund the Police" looks like! THIS is what anarchy looks like and you CHOSE this!! Well now you're getting it. Suck it up and enjoy it! I have NO sympathy for you!
    1
  1308. I always hesitate to say that such-and-such has "flipped the media narrative." Clearly, very, very few things have ever "flipped" their narratives. If they're now saying something different than they have been, then we can say that their narratives have been flipped but that's not the case here. Their narratives are BS, they've always been BS and they always will be BS but that will not and never has made them change them. That's actually the reason we call them narratives since a narrative by definition is, in the journalistic sense, a scripted story. So no narratives have been flipped here because no minds have been changed and the same people are still spinning the same tales they always have. You can't even say that the truth has come out because the truth has always been out in the open for anyone who wanted to see it. It's just that the same people who have always averted their eyes are continuing to do so.
    1
  1309. Christie "drops" out of race." So that's what that huge thud was. Too bad really. He brought some "heft" to the race by bringing attention to some "weighty" issues. But still, it was always going to be a "stout" challenge so he certainly never expected to have a "wide" lead.
    1
  1310. Remember this... they're democrats! Never forget that!
    1
  1311. For an 80 year old, Joe doesn't look a day over 135.
    1
  1312. Any parent who puts up with this, and especially if they voted for this, deserves what they get. ZERO sympathy!
    1
  1313. This will likely be an unpopular opinion but I'm going to say it anyway. I don't like this! I don't like this constant bantering about Joe Biden's incompetence and his fallibilities. These are advantages for us which we should preserve and liabilities for them which we should make them wallow in...... but not yet. This is another example of the Republican party thinking and acting tactically when they should be thinking and acting strategically. The less that's said about Biden's incapability at this point, the better. What we need to do right now is catalogue, record and preserve absolutely everything, all while keeping our powder dry..... and waiting. Let the democrats go on thinking and believing that everything is fine. Let them wheel his demented and diapered corpse onto the convention stage to mumble out some incoherent babble of an acceptance speech and THEN, when it's TOO LATE for them to replace him, THAT'S when we unleash unrestrained Holy hell and go absolutely medieval on him.
    1
  1314. Yup. That's why I advocate fighting back. @Letsgo365 
    1
  1315. The people tearing them down are democrats and this is New York and I can't think of anything more representative of both groups.
    1
  1316. I think the point he was trying to make was that the left has labelled the Proud Boys et al as despicable for far less than what was on display here and that their hypocrisy was on full display.
    1
  1317. Clowns, eh? Let's see you pull a crowd 1/10 that size, you pathetic witch! You couldn't fill a phone booth!
    1
  1318. Get ready for a LOT more of this. Democrats are being forced to sleep in the beds they made and they don't like it. If it was Republicans in charge at any level, they'd be pointing fingers and screaming racism.
    1
  1319. Kudlow is making one hell of a statement saying that John Kerry is the stupidest man in Washington. That's one awfully high bar to clear but if anyone can do it, it's John Kerry.
    1
  1320. I don't buy it for a second! The instant any democrat anywhere is perceived to be ahead or in any way trending up, it's right back to business as usual.
    1
  1321. No, and at least 8 of the remaining wannabes need to quit kidding themselves (because they're sure not kidding anyone else!) and go the f*ck back home! DeSantis may be OK as a plan B but he's not impressing very many at this point. Ramaswamy seems to generate some interest and I suppose Pence and Pudgy can stay around awhile. There needs to be somebody we can watch crash and burn at the primaries. The rest of that sorry lot couldn't generate two votes between them all!
    1
  1322. When government, media and big business make their merger formal and no longer even pretend to hide it, and when both political parties join forces to crush the insurgent movements within each, that's called fascism. The fascists have not departed government, they've arrived.
    1
  1323. But... But... But... TRUMP!!! ARGH!!!
    1
  1324. Well, since I'm not American, don't live there and thus have no dog in this fight, I won't be supporting anyone. I was just remarking on the hypocrisy of democrats. And yes, I know, the other side does it too but this particular conversation is about Clinton and democrats. @Kr0N05 
    1
  1325. You go within a country mile of The View, you deserve what you get.
    1
  1326. Your hearts can go out to her if you want. Mine doesn't.
    1
  1327. There's all this talk about reflection and soul searching and whatnot but it was all there in 2016 too, for a short time, then it was head long into the resistance screeching and wailing because that's what raises the cash. Don't be fooled; it won't be a bit different this time.
    1
  1328. Go ahead and walk off the job. Then just keep on walking. I guarantee no one will miss you.
    1
  1329. Dropping the brand is only the first part. The second and more important part, is NEVER going back because if they think there's a possibility you might forgive them eventually, they'll keep doing it. I used to go out of my way to buy Chik-Fil-A but they're dead to me now. It's a shame that ordinary workers have to get caught up in all of this but killing brands is the only way they are going to learn. Examples need to be made and consequences need to be forthcoming to those who betray us. The left sees no problem in cancelling anyone or anything which crosses them, regardless of who gets hurt. Well now it's our turn. This is our cancel culture.
    1
  1330. "Why does the President tolerate this?" Well, a big part of the reason, I'm convinced, is that the individual we commonly refer to as the President does not, on most days, even realize or remember that he is the President. The person of Joe Biden does not run anything. The country is run by a small clique of extremists hiding in the shadows behind the Weekend-at-Bernie's façade that is Joe Biden. I doubt if the man even understands what is going on, let alone approves of it.
    1
  1331. "More sheep is not going to fix the wolf problem!" BOOM!!
    1
  1332. They're yapping about all this stuff now but not a word out of any of them before when it could have made a difference for them. You deserve what you got!
    1
  1333. I too am concerned for the President's wellbeing and am happy he's OK. The reason - President Harr..... AARRGGHH! NOOO!!!! I can't even say it; it gives me the shivers!!!
    1
  1334. The most delicious part of this whole thing for me is that Harris, as the sitting VP, is the one who is going to have to sign off on Trumps victory.
    1
  1335.  @stephenhomseydgi3693  Only your America. Not mine.
    1
  1336. He's right, it is the rats.... the Democ-rats!
    1
  1337. Somebody should nominate Krusty the Clown. That would be at once fitting and also a marked step up from this lot of imbeciles.
    1
  1338. Well, to be fair, the family probably wouldn't have wanted him there. I know I wouldn't. He wasn't invited.... and it's no surprise and no mystery why.
    1
  1339. Another example of "it's only sleazy when the other guys do it."
    1
  1340. Well, at least the poor dears were thoughtful enough to wear those masks. We wouldn't want it to turn into a super spreader event now.
    1
  1341. Is she one of those 4B women?
    1
  1342. And she ain't going to be the last one out the door either.
    1
  1343. Cranky old geezer yells at clouds..... President Abraham Simpson.
    1
  1344. This is what the future holds. This will continue, and continue to worsen.
    1
  1345. This story is not new. Thousands of officers have quit before her and thousands more will follow her out the door... as well they should, the way they've been treated. These cities are getting exactly what they deserve and I'm luvin' it!
    1
  1346. The democrat party needs to get a hold of them? The democrat party HAS got a hold of them. They're both the perfect illustration of what the democrat party is, for crying out loud.
    1
  1347. So is it "Dorito Joe" now?
    1
  1348. Poll this week - "Trump is up by 10." Democrats - "Pfft - that's an outlier!" Poll next week - "Trump up by 12." Democrats - "Oh sh*t!"
    1
  1349. I agree with the dude in the middle, and I've been saying it for 6 months..... Shut the @#$% up about Joe Biden!!!!! When your opponent is a walking attack ad about himself and is handing you the election on a silver platter, DON'T stop him!! It's rapidly getting to the point that all Trump has to do is point at him and laugh. Shut up about him until after the convention, when it's too late to replace him, THEN go full f**king medieval on him!!
    1
  1350. Seth Moulton - "Sooo much duplicity!" Ya, my thoughts exactly! That, and what the hell are you doing speaking up now when it won't make a difference?
    1
  1351. Trudeau, the "proud feminist", defeated 4 other women to win the leadership of the Liberal party; the only major federal party in Canada to have never had a female leader, and has expelled or otherwise forced no less than 4 other women out of his cabinet and caucus because they stood up to him. Two of those women were visible minorities and one was his justice minister who refused to go along with his corruption by refusing to drop prosecutions of a major party donor. And it's this same guy who without an ounce of shame, will stand in front of an auditorium full of people and chastise others for being sexist. There are a LOT of reasons to despise Justin Trudeau but far and away the principle one is his smug, condescending, dismissive attitude and his astounding hypocrisy.
    1
  1352. Most days I'm convinced that Biden himself is also annoyed at the lack of leadership. Those are the days when his staff has failed to remind him that he is the president and not that "clean, colored fella."
    1
  1353. If I were a border state governor, I wouldn't even be trying to stop these crossings. I'd have busses lined up one behind the other, each with a city destination sign on it; NYC, LA, Chicago, Boston, and I'd be waving the migrants in and directing them right onto the busses and sending them out as soon as they were full, then pulling the next one in line up. You want unlimited, unregulated immigration, you want open borders, you want to be a sanctuary city? Fine by me! Here's what that looks like. Enjoy!
    1
  1354. OMG, his wife is beautiful!
    1
  1355. Democrats and their acolytes should shut up. Every word they speak, and every action they take against Trump just makes him stronger.
    1
  1356. He's still waiting to find out who the Democrats are gonna put up against that awful Trump fella!
    1
  1357. Not Tomi's biggest fan and don't always agree with her but I think she hit it square on the head with this one. I also believe that the big switcheroo is upcoming and I also believe it was, as Tomi says, all part of the plan. The DNC wanted "their" person in place but didn't want to have to bother going through the nasty primary process to achieve it. Get ready for Gavin!
    1
  1358. Hats off and full support to these police officers and I strongly encourage every other LEO across the country to do the same thing. Democrats are your enemy!
    1
  1359. "You sir, are a bigot, a racist, a fascist, a sexist and a disgusting, deplorable transphobe!" "I trust we can count on your continued support. Please donate today." Signed; The Democratic Party
    1
  1360. No, they don't. They need to be pro Israel. Period. F*ck your equivocation.
    1
  1361. What needs to be remembered first, foremost and above all else is that these pieces of sewage are democrats and they are acting on behalf of, and represent the views of, the entirety of the democrats party.... without exception.
    1
  1362. This right here is the exact reason they want to take it away from you so much.
    1
  1363. If you don't like it, stop voting for it!
    1
  1364. I actually think that we could see Mooshell on the ballot. They stuck with old muddle brain too long and now they're scared and desperately trying to stick someone on the ballot who might have a chance.
    1
  1365. Joe voted for Trump. He's happy with the election result. Don't let anyone tell ya different. 😆😆
    1
  1366. The very best thing democrats can do at this point is just shut the hell up; seriously! It's kinda too bad in a way... and great in another... that democrats can't realize that every time they open their big mouths, they drive more voters our way.
    1
  1367. NO! We should NOT put more money into the problem. That will only ensure that the problem remains and likely gets even worse. We should eliminate the problem by CLOSING THE F*CKING BORDER!!! And by closing it, I mean closing it to everyone and everything including trade and if that means Mexico's economy collapses, SO BE IT!!! They've gotten enough financial help from us and they're facilitating an assault on our sovereignty and our national security. Maybe the thought of some biblical level consequences might make them sit up and take notice.
    1
  1368. The really funny thing here is the way the whole dem party has painted themselves into this corner and now can't get out of it. Every one of their problems, they've brought upon themselves. "Joe Biden is a complete disaster1 Who's next on the depth chart?" "Kamala Harris." "UGH!!! No way! Gimme another name." "Pete Buttigieg." "Oh, be serious for cripes sake!" "OK, Gavin Newsome." "You mean the guy who writes the GOP attack ads for them? Are you kidding?!" And on and on and on it goes.......
    1
  1369. Come on guys, let's dig deep here! Poor Momala is stuck in Hawaii, they're outta cash and she might not be able to get back. 😄 How bad would that be? 😆 She might have to wash dishes to earn enough to get home. 😄 That would be a cryin' shame! 🤣🤣🤣
    1
  1370. I like Tim Scott, he's a great guy and all, but I don't think he's VP material. He can be more helpful in the senate. We need somebody who Trump can pass the baton to in 4 years and who'll not miss a step. Is Youngkin that guy? Perhaps, but importantly, he's a (popular) red governor from a blue-ish state and that matters.
    1
  1371. Dear Mayor Durkan... and everyone like you... Go F*CK yourself!!! Sincerely; All current, former and prospective police officers.
    1
  1372. You knew beyond doubt what the game was when they called Nikki Haley a racist and a sexist for attacking her.
    1
  1373. "If you can't figure out if you're for me or for Trump, then you ain't Black!!!" The most perfect encapsulation of the democratic party mindset there's ever been.
    1
  1374. Golf..... A good walk, spoiled!
    1
  1375. The very thing I was gonna say.
    1
  1376. I think they'd be much better advised to go after the bloated endowments of these colleges. Even if they win the cases as they stand, they're not going to get much. There's nothing these schools are more afraid of than losing their status, money and power so that's what these cases should be focused on.
    1
  1377. We cannot elect the best and brightest when all we're offered is the worst and dimmest. @williamsvoboda240 
    1
  1378. I think I'm in love!
    1
  1379. She's a bit plain looking but not unattractive. How she turned out like that when her brother looks like a pudge is puzzling.
    1
  1380. Oh, please. She didn't "ascend" to anything. She was gifted whatever power she has. Her brother is the dictator. If not for that, she'd be yanking rice out of the ground like any other commoner.
    1
  1381.  @brandoncaldwell2324  I understood it perfectly. It was people like him who've created the gawdawful mess they now want to run away from.
    1
  1382. Same thing in the US and Canada. Non stop bureaucracy. You want to stop shedding drivers, stop making it such a shitty job! People don't just pick up and leave a decent job for nothing, there are reasons why.
    1
  1383. The general is 100% right and I've been saying it for over a year. We're all looking on in amazement at Ukraine's fighting spirit and somehow we've convinced ourselves that that's going to be enough. IT'S NOT!! We've been leading President Zelensky down the garden path, telling him we're behind him yet we give him a tiny fraction of what he actually needs and even that, months late. Ukraine isn't going to win this war just because we want them to. We've got to MAKE it happen.
    1
  1384. Iran? The same Iran that America is furiously trying to do a deal with..... as if any deal with Iran would be worth the paper it's written on.
    1
  1385. "There will be no peace in Europe as long as Putin or a Putin look-alike is in the Kremlin." Exactly what I've been saying for 9 months! Forget the damned negotiations! Free Ukraine.... every damned square inch of it! The only thing I want to negotiate is when Putin is handed over to face war crimes charges....... Now, or even sooner!
    1
  1386. Yes it is but don't forget that format matters. On the nightly news or similar type program, they are bound in by time allotments whereas in a full show format like this one, they can allow for longer, more detailed discussions.
    1
  1387. You can quit flapping your lips about war crimes. There hasn't been a day gone by in this war that Russia hasn't committed war crimes of some sort but they don't care because they know there's not one person in the west with the nuts to go after them for it. So put that notion out of your heads.
    1
  1388. It's entirely understandable that Sunak would want to step down. The question is, who would want to step up; and why. Things have reached such a point with the Tories that Jesus Himself probably couldn't help them.
    1
  1389. The question was asked why Russia does this kind of thing. Russia doesn't need a reason. Causing disruption, upheaval and chaos is enough reason for them. If they can't have it by whatever means, then they'll just keep f*cking with it until they ruin it for the people living there. That's goal enough for them.
    1
  1390. Then we go "all in" on sanctioning China.
    1
  1391. Yes, they must. They won't though.
    1
  1392. "What about?... What about?.. What about?.... What about?... What about?..." "Don't look at this, look at that!.... Don't talk about this, talk about that!...." "Deception... Deflection... Fake... Fake... Fake..." "Everything's fine!... He's not old.... Stop lying!... Why do you LIE??...." "Trump.... Trump.... Trump... Trump... Trump.... Trump..." "ARRRGGGHHH!!.... MY BRAIN!!!!...."
    1
  1393. Humiliating Putin in the most open and public way possible should be the overarching goal. He must not be allowed anything that he can sell as a victory and it should be priority #1 that his people see and know the truth so they can deal with him in the appropriate manner.
    1
  1394. He's 100% right of course, and we made the same mistake with China. Even worse, we fed them trillions of dollars which they used to build their military. How f*cking dumb is that?
    1
  1395.  @RycheForOrder  Good point.... except for the fact that the Palestinians are an absolute non-factor. If I was a Russophile, I don't think I'd like the idea of being compared to the Palestinians. That ain't anything to be proud of.
    1
  1396.  @RycheForOrder  No, it doesn't "go on for years." Russia doesn't have the resources to make it "go on for years." Putin f*cked up. He decided to pick a fight with a country with the most powerful friends you can have while he has...... Iran.
    1
  1397. Agree with all 100% but i kinda doubt the western powers have to stomach to demand it all. I hope I'm wrong.
    1
  1398. An interesting perspective. I'd still vote for a bullet in the head but, whatever works. One thing that CAN NOT happen is for the west to immediately jump back into bed with whoever might replace him and get all kissy-face and start buying up tons of oil again and act like nothing happened. There is nothing and nobody in the Russian leadership which does not pose a clear and present danger to world peace and security so getting rid of Putin can only be the start of a very long process.
    1
  1399. @@user-qk1ei3br8n They won't though, because the war has broad support in Russia because A) they've been propagandized into believing Putin's lies and/or B) anyone with the motivation or ability to do so has been driven out of the country, jailed or eliminated.
    1
  1400. NATO red lines - "We will not be engaging in direct combat with Russia." Exactly; and Putin knows this which is why he's sure he can prevail over time. He knows that Scholz is a coward. He knows that Biden is a doddering old fool who doesn't know what day it is most of the time. He knows that all France cares about is re-colonizing Africa and he knows that Britain is a five alarm dumpster fire lurching from crisis to crisis. He's seen America get chased out of Vietnam, Afghanistan, Iraq and Somalia and he knows that they have no stomach for any war they can't win quickly and cleanly or for any more new wars which is I'm sure, a good part of the reason he chose the timing that he did. Putin perceives the west as militarily powerful but morally weak and when you're a man who is as immune to and uncaring about casualties and cost as he is, when you can and will throw bodies and gear... even old crapped out gear... at a problem for pretty much as long as it takes, and when you know the only people who have the ability to stop you don't have the will to do so, why would you stop?
    1
  1401. This is precisely the kind of weakness and lack of resolve that Putin has been counting on.
    1
  1402. True, it is the first but the problem with it is it keeps popping back up.
    1
  1403. I'm torn here. On the one hand, I really want the US to put a thumb in China's eye but on the other hand, it's Nancy Pelosi we're talking about. If anything bad were to happen to her, I'd be upset for almost 1/100th of a millisecond. Maybe we swing a deal? We send her to Taiwan which is a win for us then you throw the old witch in a Chinese prison which is a win for everyone.
    1
  1404. Prepare for it? Sure. Help it along? Absolutely!
    1
  1405.  @mwtrolle  Yeah, I'm just talking about the ones in the video. The more the better, but those would do for a start,
    1
  1406. "Well, I am King." "Oh, King eh, very nice. And 'ow'd you get that, eh? By exploiting the workers!" "Ohh, 'ow d'you do?" "How do you do, good lady? I am Charles, King of the Britons." "King of the 'oo?" "The Britons?" "'Oo are the Britons? "We all are. We are all Britons and I am your King." "Didn't know we 'ad a King." "Order eh, "oo's ee think 'ee is? "I am your King." "Well I didn't vote for you!" "You don't vote for Kings." "Well 'ow'd you become King then?" "The Lady of the Lake!" "Listen; strange women lying in ponds distributin' swords is no basis for a system of government. If I went 'round sayin' I was an Emperor because some moistened bink 'ad lobbed a scimitar at me, they'd puh me away!" "Shut up, will you; shut up!!" "'elp, 'elp; uh'm bein' repressed!" "Bloody peasant!!"
    1
  1407.  @elizabethpedano9564  The difference with Trump I think, is that he's just a gravely immoral businessman and a person willing to have relations with anyone so long as it benefits him in some way. I don't really think; despite what he said, that he ever believed or cared whether it would advance peace and/or security in any way. Macron is a bit of a different animal. He comes from that club who believes that any price should be paid to achieve peace... even if it's a certainty that it'll lead to much worse later on. Macron won't see and recognize reality. Trump just doesn't care.
    1
  1408.  @elizabethpedano9564  Yup.
    1
  1409. Poland is the new Alpha dog of NATO! I've long known it was on its way there but it has now arrived. About the only country... apart from Ukraine itself... that isn't cowering under its bed peeing its pants and hiding from the horrible "escalation" monster. Bravo Poland! Slava Ukraini!
    1
  1410. I don't think that's far off.
    1
  1411. Once again, Scholz shows who and what he really is. I wouldn't trust that POS as far as I could throw a Leopard tank!
    1
  1412. Russia may "come back" but we in the west, should contribute absolutely nothing to that effort.
    1
  1413. Good point but at the moment, Russia fears nobody because no one has shown them why they should. Besides, at this point, Russia getting mauled by some outside force; presumably NATO, presumably the US, would play right into his narrative and thus play right into his hands. It would galvanize the Russian people behind him like nothing else ever could. The only one who may hold some sway with Russia is China and though they may move to rein Putin in at some point, they will not do so unless they see that he's in some kind of grave danger. Russia getting beaten up on a battlefield... provided it's not so bad that they collapse... is to China's advantage too. They are in a position to play a two-sided game here. @DS9TREK 
    1
  1414. Made that very same argument myself too. If NATO had started marshalling forces in Eastern Ukraine and the Black Sea the same day as Putin had started marshalling his, none of this would've happened. Of course, NATO would actually have to have been capable and willing to do so otherwise it's a moot point. And since it was neither, here we are. @timtrewyn453 
    1
  1415. True. But there are far too many... especially certain European leaders.... who are not in their right minds. And that's the problem. There are some.... COUGH - Macron.... COUGH - Scholz.... who would give absolutely anything to go back to the status quo at any cost. Putin made many serious miscalculations but there's one thing he was banking on more than anything else and that's that the west..... even though they may come to Ukraine's aid.... would not have the stomach or the spine for a long, protracted conflict. He's yet to be fully and finally proven wrong on that count.
    1
  1416. Scholz is a disgrace to humanity!
    1
  1417. This is why Amnesty International's influence and reputation dwindles by the day. Like the SPLC in the US, they started out with a noble enough mission and have done a lot of great work but they've morphed into little more than a fund raising machine. They've grown so big and gotten such a sense of self importance that they've lost sight of their original purpose. Now, it's just raise as much money as possible by catering to every anti-American and anti-western notion under the guise of trying to be "objective."
    1
  1418.  @fv5855  As I said to the know-it-all above, have a look in a year's time. We'll see who's right.
    1
  1419.  @bradgraystock5966  Come talk to me in a year's time.
    1
  1420.  @WEZ4136  Sure, why not? Everything they are and everything they do is a complete joke anyway so why not go all in?
    1
  1421. At this point, I don't think Putin cares about Crimea, or much of anything else either. He knows he has no path to victory and he also knows that the west will do nothing to him so he only wants to cause as much physical harm as possible for as long as he can in the interests of hopefully, saving his own skin.
    1
  1422. Any reasonably intelligent... and honest... analyst in the west could have easily foreseen all of this. In fact, I'm sure many did and told their political masters about it. But politicians being who (what) they are, chose to bury their heads, plug their ears and here we are. I don't believe Putin will stop until he's used every tool at his disposal. He'd lose face if he did so we'd all better be prepared for that once it happens.
    1
  1423. Couldn't have been much of a strike. Here in Canada, not even a peep in any of the news about it.
    1
  1424. How much longer is the wider western alliance going to allow this to go on without a response?
    1
  1425. That's exactly what he's counting on.
    1
  1426. Europe doing what Europe has always done... talk a big game but let the Americans do all the real work. I've believed for a long time now that America should quit NATO altogether and form a new alliance with Eastern Europe. They should pull all their forces out of Germany and move them east. They should further abandon all contracts with German and French arms contractors and flood the armies of Eastern Europe with American and British arms. Maybe when the major money French and German industries find themselves kicked to the curb in favor of others, they'll wake up.
    1
  1427. Vladimir Putin is one of if not the greatest criminals of the 21st century. Not just war criminals which in itself would be bad enough, but criminals generally. Unfortunately, he's also one of the wiliest and slipperiest. Under NO circumstances must this monster be allowed to slither out from underneath the massive crimes he's committed but I greatly fear that's exactly what he's going to do. Europe generally, and Germany in particular, are going to very soon be staring down the barrel of a full fledged energy driven recession and will be increasingly desperate to get back onto cheap Russian oil and gas. What I fear will happen is that Putin will realize he can't win but what he can do is halt his little games and call for peace talks. Within seconds of him doing so, Germany will begin beating the drums for Ukraine to accept any terms at all which will halt the war and for the immediate lifting of all sanctions. This can NOT be allowed to happen. The pressure must be kept up until Ukraine retakes every square inch of their territory; including Crimea, and until monster Putin is in a cage of in the ground.
    1
  1428. The sooner that Putin's demise comes, the better for all.... Ukrainians certainly, but also ordinary Russian citizens and the wider world.
    1
  1429. The first guy was right about what we should be doing but he exaggerates China's power. The US is in no danger of being overtaken economically by China or anyone else anytime soon and they're certainly not going to be overtaken militarily. China certainly represents a threat and strong action should be taken but let's not overstate things. China is sailing straight into some of the biggest crisis its ever faced and it'll be damned lucky if it doesn't take itself down before anyone else has to.
    1
  1430. They don't care. They're past the point of no return now. If Putin softens in any way, or even appears to soften, he's a dead man so he has absolutely nothing to lose.
    1
  1431. No.
    1
  1432. Precisely!
    1
  1433. Most, not all. The oil and gas sector wasn't sanctioned and Europe was and still is using something like $1B worth of Russian energy a day. They needed some way to pay for this so not all banks were taken off. That's what the subject of discussion is here. If they go ahead and cut off Russian energy, they can drop the remaining banks as well.
    1
  1434. What's with the minute and a half of dead air at the end of the video?
    1
  1435. "Yes, I'd be delighted to come back onto your program but only if you promise to cut in and interrupt me more. It turns me on."
    1
  1436. I think Hague was being sarcastic.
    1
  1437. Not the Person of the Year. Person of the Century, more like.
    1
  1438. Russia doesn't care about being "humiliated" in the eyes of the world. It can just lie and gaslight and peddle the same ridiculous fiction it always has. The kind of humiliation that's needed is for the whole of the Russian people to know the truth in such a way that Putin and his cronies can't hide from it. Putin wrote at the time of the fall of East Germany, when the crowds in the streets were growing by the hour and he was basically cut loose by Moscow and told to fend for himself, that that was the time in his life when he was most afraid. He needs to feel that fear again except amplified by 10. I want him to experience the fear of being trapped with nowhere to run to when the mobs start smashing down his doors and his officers and security services are either all dead or have abandoned him. I don't want to see Putin dragged before a court in The Hague, I want to see him dragged... literally... into Red Square by the mob and for them to exact their own justice..
    1
  1439. Thank you for calling out Coward Scholz in the clearest terms! This repugnant POS is a malignant tumor on the heart of Germany, the German people, the German military... for which I feel especially sorry... and also NATO and civilized humanity. It is my fervent hope that his name and image takes its rightful place alongside Neville Chamberlain as one of history's greatest cowards and appeasers and that he is driven from office at the earliest opportunity and that he and his faction are driven out of German society and exist forever more in shame. May German children a century from now, spit in disgust at the sound of his name!
    1
  1440. This is the absolute minimum that should be done and as the general said, everything we've done to this point has been the bare minimum and slow. We've got to stop this maniac from using fear as a weapon and turn the fear back on him. His armed forces are a sham, we can all see that plainly and we should act accordingly. I'd have NATO troops on the ground in western Ukraine and Moldova, I'd have a carrier task force in the Black Sea and another in the Baltic and I'd tell Pootie right to his pudgy little face that if he wants to do something about it, he can go right the f*ck ahead. If he wants to rock and roll, we're down for that. Furthermore, if he wants to play the blockade game, I'd show him two can play that game. Blockade the Black Sea, blockade the Baltic and if wants to get so much as a canoe past it, he can be prepared to shoot his way through. And if he does try, so much as a pistol shot will result in Sevastopol looking like Pearl Harbor 1941 x10!
    1
  1441. Such as?
    1
  1442. China is not vital to the western economy for any reason. We've allowed ourselves to be conned and hoodwinked into thinking it is but the facts are that China provides nothing and produces nothing that cannot be sourced elsewhere and increasingly, at a more competitive price. Start decoupling from China now. They're not our friends, we don't need them, they're just a malignant force in the world.
    1
  1443. We've been hearing for 6 months now about how Russia is "running out" of this or "running out" of that except they never seem to actually run out of anything. Why is that? I'll tell you why. It's because they're NOT running out of anything nor will they. They may not have sufficient stocks to finish the job the way they wanted to but they've certainly got enough to continue to do what they're doing which is pounding Ukraine into rubble. If they can't have it, goes their thinking, then they'll definitely see that there's no viable country there for anyone. This they will continue to do with total and absolute impunity because they know full well that A) they can still manufacture and/or import enough ordinance to do so and most importantly, B) no one in the west has the will to stop them. Why do they believe this? Because we've repeatedly told them so.
    1
  1444. Commentator after commentator says that Russia cannot possibly prevail in Ukraine. Oh yes, they can! And the usual western reluctance, prevarication and outright cowardice are the reasons why.
    1
  1445. Biden is a coward surrounded by other cowards. And Harris trusts and relies on all the same people so don't expect much meaningful change if she's elected.
    1
  1446.  @prodigiii712  Well, thanks for identifying yourself as someone who is a total waste of time to engage with.
    1
  1447.  @prodigiii712  The proper amount of sanctions to put on Russia can be summed up thusly.... enough to get the job done. And we ain't there yet.
    1
  1448.  @vladimirschmidt7080  I think that both I and the rest of the world have heard just about enough of this red herring called the Minsk Agreement and we've also had quite enough of paid trolls and Putin's posterior kissers like you. FOAD!
    1
  1449.  @pogo1140  You completely misunderstood what I said. SMH!
    1
  1450.  @jimsmith4658  The government wasn't "democratically elected", it was a bunch of Russian puppet stooges installed with massive amounts of Russian interference. And even if it was, who cares? Hitler was democratically elected too. And if this "western propaganda bothers you, then don't watch it. See if anyone cares!
    1
  1451. Putin will never see the inside of either a court room nor a jail cell. If things go that bad for him, he'll either hole up in some other country or more likely, end up dead.
    1
  1452. European bureaucracy strikes again.
    1
  1453. #1000!
    1
  1454. #4 is the ONLY viable option. And every single person in all the NATO capitals knows this, even if some would like to pretend otherwise. Beijing is watching.
    1
  1455. Universities jack up their rates without hesitation or worry because the government money machine keeps giving students whatever they need. So how is making it all free going to drive down the cost? Same with Medicare for all with medical costs. You signal that you're going to cover all costs regardless and you remove whatever slim incentive there was to keeping costs down. Tuitions and drug prices will skyrocket and why not? The government will pay whatever you charge. You want to see prices come down? Remove ALL government funding, subsidies and everything else and make the bastards compete. When they no longer have the government teat to suckle on and they actually have to compete for students, you'll damned soon see a big change in rates!
    1
  1456.  @kaym7704  OK, just so I have this straight..... 100% of all people who are called racists are in fact, racists. That's what you're saying?
    1
  1457.  @Sparx632  1. I'm not making anything up. I'm speaking from experience. 2. You ARE saying all right wingers are racists and only care about money and God. 3. Don't give me this crap about "caring" for people. Well over 2/3 of the politically motivated deaths in the last century were at the hands of communists so you can lose the God complex and get off your f*cking high horse! The only thing socialists and socialism ever brought anyone was misery and suffering on a colossal scale.
    1
  1458.  Black Gold  Well then, perhaps we want to embark on the journey to fix that situation.
    1
  1459.  @Atlas_21  Has it been enough? And contributing more than the US doesn't win you some kind of blue ribbon. That's no more than simply doing your job. Contributing more is exactly what they should have been doing from day 1. It's THEIR neighborhood! They SHOULD be contributing more; a LOT more! And not just cash either. Weapons! A f*cking shitload of them! This is a war IN Europe, BY European countries and the combined GDP of Europe is bigger than that of the USA. This is YOUR fight, not ours and it's not our job to hold your hand forever.
    1
  1460. Priority #1 must be the total defeat and complete collapse of the Russian armed forces. Priority #2 must be the complete collapse of the Russian state and the elimination of its government.
    1
  1461.  @assertivekarma1909  I think he was aware enough. He just didn't care. He still bargained he could get done what he wanted to get done and it's not yet certain he can't. And as a lifetime KGB man, he's plenty aware of the weaknesses of the west. If he perceived strength, unity and resolve, he likely wouldn't have made the move.
    1
  1462. You can bet your bottom dollar that there is no one more keenly aware of all this than dear old Mr. Putin.
    1
  1463. It's still not enough. The portions of Putin's economy that he really needs can still function. Not well, but they can still function. These sanctions are shot full of all kinds of very convenient exemptions, omissions, loopholes and work-arounds. Until those are closed, we've not begun to get serious. And we'll see in a few months who will have had more staying power - Putin with no money or Europe with no gas, the world without 30% of its wheat and all kinds of other things. The public - read "electorate" - can get just as nasty here as they can there. Putin plays a long game - our empty suits can't see past the next polling cycle.
    1
  1464. One trillion Honda generators! You'll get a helluva price if you buy in bulk!
    1
  1465.  @michaelmichael4132  Oh-oh! Looks like a Putin fan girl's got a sore bum.
    1
  1466. Great news!
    1
  1467. There is a certain strain of thought that I've heard several analysts put out that the US, Europe and others want to see Putin, his cronies and certain others severely punished but they do not want the Russian state to collapse because this would present an irresistible target for China. Makes some degree of sense, I suppose.
    1
  1468.  @bachelor3846  Yeah.... it's always the west's fault isn't it? Everything always is. It's so much easier to blame someone else than face up to your own failings. Not much wonder nothing good ever comes there.
    1
  1469. America fucks up everything it touches and bankrupts itself doing so, then gets sent packing with its tail between its legs. China walks right in...... Seems about right.
    1
  1470.  @dougcoombes8497  Everything you said about Russian capacity; especially in the last six months is true. Unfortunately, none of it matters. You're making the same mistake everyone else is making. You're thinking like a westerner and rationalizing things in the same way. You CAN'T do that! You have to see this thing as Putin sees it. Putin will send wave after wave after wave of fresh bodies into the furnace with nothing more than uniforms if he has to, and he'll keep doing it as long as he can get away with it. He also has something like 6000 old tank hulls scattered about... and as I said; rusted out, 60 year old pieces of junk, but they can still make the Ukrainians use up munitions and that's all they need to do. Yes, I'm being overly pessimistic and it's deliberate but it's to counter the endless drone of voices proclaiming Russia dead in the water when they're nothing of the kind. Putin has backed himself into a corner. He's long since passed the point of no return. He CAN'T quit now, even if he wanted to. He also can't prevail against a NATO backed Ukraine so his only hope is to keep up this endless grind, grind, grind until he wears down western resolve and that's exactly what he's going to do. I pray daily that I'm wrong but a lifetime in uniform has taught me that as long as your enemy draws breath, he can, and WILL, draw your blood. Some enemies you can force to sue for peace. Others are in way too deep and have to be destroyed. Putin's Russia is the latter.
    1
  1471.  @willrobinson9767  Who said it did?
    1
  1472.  @willrobinson9767  And your point is?
    1
  1473. So Merkel's nervous is she? Well she should be 'cause they're going to be going to see her, cap in hand, the way every other basket case has since well... ever.
    1
  1474. Yes.
    1
  1475.  @2KSnSLifestyle  Several countries in Eastern Europe, and within the ECM, are at a geographic disadvantage to China which is half a world away? I'd ask what world you live in but I'm afraid you'd tell me.
    1
  1476.  @ShubhamMishrabro  Vietnam is already a de facto US ally. Their biggest enemy is China.
    1
  1477.  @YOUTUBE_AMERICA  That's what I mean. Stupid thing to do supporting Pakistan. Look how we were repaid for that blunder. Under the circumstances, I can't blame India for supporting Russia. We had the chance to and we blew it. Time to set matters right.
    1
  1478. India annoys me in some respects but I still consider them a friend and ally. There is a history of the west and the US not always treating India well or respecting it so I'm glad to see that could be changing. India and the west need each other in the fight against China.
    1
  1479.  @kronhj337k4  No doubt they do. Let's see how they feel once those countries ARE superpowers and they treat Japan no better (or even worse!) than the USA does. There are no shortage of nations today who long to live in a world free of US influence. I'm all for giving them that chance. This is what Trump wants to do only he's too stupid to pull it off. You don't like America's boot? Fine, let's see how well you like China's. Let's see what kind of "business partners" and "friends" you think they are then!
    1
  1480. America's worst geopolitical blunder? Gee, that's a toughy. Considering that just about every move America has made in the Middle East in the past... well... ALL years... has had the effect of an exploding septic tank, it's kinda difficult to pin down which one was the actual worst.
    1
  1481.  @MasterCommander.  Do you honestly expect me to read all that?
    1
  1482. Absolutely! They're going to risk their relations with the largest economies in the world, and at a time when they themselves are dealing with myriad problems, just to "stick it" to the west and cozy up to a dying society with an economy smaller than Spain. Yeah, that sounds like a smart move.
    1
  1483.  @dragosstanciu9866  That's pretty much exactly the point I was making. All sanctions do is hurt the citizens. They do nothing to stop the powerful except maybe throw a few roadblocks up which they quickly find ways around. Have sanctions stopped N Korea from building their nuclear program? NO! Did they stop Iran from building theirs? NO! Did they stop Saddam Hussien from making trouble? NO! All they ever did was give the west cover and make the lives of the people even more miserable than they were before. They accomplished NOTHING! It's long past time that the US and the west stopped trying to be the world's hall monitor and accepted the world as it is and quit meddling. Either that or man up and take these countries on face to face in a war.
    1
  1484. Sanctions are a complete and utter joke!! They're just to give the US and other countries some kind of excuse and cover to be able to say they're "doing something." They're ignored with impunity, everybody knows it and nobody cares. They don't work, never have worked and never will work. Unless you count driving poor and hungry people even further into the ground working.
    1
  1485.  @yannickille4049  Nope. You?
    1
  1486.  Anacott Steel  So I see.
    1
  1487. I suppose I might give more credibility to Macron if his messaging were a little more consistent and a lot less haphazard and all over the map. One minute, Putin's his pal and now he's the devil? He wants to confront Putin's army in Ukraine but ran away from Putin's militia in Africa? Anyway, I think this scheme would have worked a helluva lot better if it had encompassed the entirety of NATO and commenced in the summer and fall of 2021 when Putin was assembling and staging his forces.... for "exercises".... remember that?... instead of now. Show a bit of muscle... and some balls.... early on and you likely don't even get a war in the first place. But alas, no. We all chose the terrified puppy approach of diving under the bed, screaming about "ESCALATION!!" like old Granny Scholz, and hoping it would all just go away. Well it hasn't. And 2+ years later, here we are. And we've gotten our escalation anyway.
    1
  1488. NATO's biggest weakness is, and always has been, it's lack of will to engage. For all it's military and technological might and for all its financial resources, it is politically, societally and culturally, as weak as a kitten and no one is more keenly aware of this than the man whose entire adult life has been dedicated to studying the west, identifying its weaknesses and devising ways to exploit them.
    1
  1489. Because they're not a bunch of craven cowards who pee their pants every time someone says the phrase "nuclear weapons?" Because they believe love of country, culture, motherland and liberty are things to be embraced and proud of, not condemned as racist and be ashamed of? Because they believe these things are precious and worth sacrificing themselves for? Because they're not a bunch milquetoast, progressive lady men who are obsessive about pronoun usage? In other words, they're everything we once were and embraced but now scorn and condemn.
    1
  1490. @@a.m.4148 What do you mean, I forgot? I'm not listing the man's accomplishments or his failings, I'm simply describing the power dynamic. I'm neither condoning him or condemning him.
    1
  1491. China can have them.
    1
  1492.  @Grundewalt  You're quite correct but the world is what the world is. Always been that way, always will be.
    1
  1493. Trump is a deceitful, corrupt, thieving, lying cheat! Which puts him in great company in politics. He's a natural fit. Makes you wonder why he waited until he was nearly 70 to get into the game.
    1
  1494.  @marcinrybinski4423  China is very much capitalist in the ways that earn them money and communist in the ways that allow them to keep control. All communist states are/were like that in truth. The ones which weren't good enough at it collapsed. The ones which were, survived. Communism is a farce. It was only ever a tool of the powerful to oppress the masses. The ones in charge always lived like kings and never practiced what they preached.
    1
  1495. A cross between Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders (at least the "advertised" versions of each before they both sold out and became standard grade "party" men at the worst possible moment) doesn't sound all that bad, actually. If you disregard the bleatings of the hardcore partisans, there's actually quite a bit of overlap between the two; at least insofar as the desires of those who'd be inclined to vote for them. They're both populists of a sort (or at least, talked like populists) and there was actually a considerable number of their supporters who had the other one as their 2nd choice. Imagine that! In many ways, they (or at least their supporters) both wanted to get to much the same place. It was only a matter of some disagreement about how to get there. Don't know much about this NZ woman except that the mainstream press all act like teenagers at a Justin Bieber autograph signing whenever she is even mentioned (which is NEVER a good situation!) but one thing is clear from the results of both the NZ and USA elections....... the voting public is actually quite patient and forgiving as long as they think you at least give a fuck about them! They know you'll never be perfect and you don't have to be. Hell, you don't even have to be competent;... look at Cuomo, FFS!! But you do have to at least appear to take people's concerns seriously and not come off like the voters are your enemy! Talk and act like you give a fuck and you'd be surprised how many will support you! Wow; what a concept!!
    1
  1496. Nice bit of UN propaganda. They pay you well for it? The UN is the organization that oversaw the massacres in Rwanda, Yugoslavia and Somalia. It is an organization so top heavy with bureaucrats it can't even make a decision on a basic question of self defense on a weekend and so corrupt that it makes the IOC look like angels in comparison. I'm a veteran of 3 UN missions. In each case, the country has either gone back to the decrepit state it was in before the UN got there or is even worse. It has NOT brought peace to Palestine, to Kashmir, to Cyprus or to anywhere else. The only thing that eventually brought some kind of peace to Yugoslavia was the US military after the UN f*cked the place up. The next UN peacekeeping "success" will be the first. They're beyond useless!
    1
  1497. Well done. Now go pick up your check.
    1
  1498.  @ArawnOfAnnwn  Thanks, MB. Yes it was sarcasm and also a comment on the sorry state of our society overall and where our priorities are. It's often necessary to come right out and tell people straight up that you're being sarcastic but even then it doesn't always work. I've had people go ballistic over something I wrote and even after I've told them point blank that I'm trolling them; sometimes two or three times, they still don't catch on.
    1
  1499. The answer to both questions at the end is a firm YES! Every penny of foreign held Russian money should be seized and confiscated along with every asset of an oligarch that we can lay our hands on. We should use this and take full opportunity to rebuild Ukraine into a prosperous and vibrant state right under Russia's nose. If this results in other rogue states not holding their wealth in dollars, so be it. It's their loss, not ours. As for the oligarchs, every dollar they have represents a dollar stolen from the Russian state and the Russian people so I have no qualms whatsoever about "stealing" it back. At the same time, we should make clear to the Russian people that we're prepared to do the exact same thing for them once the current governing clique is locked into cages or dead. We have an tremendous opportunity to both liberalize Ukraine and incentivize the Russian people into dispensing with the criminals who are holding them down. Maybe the thought of finally being able to live in a normal country and join the civilized world will spur them to action.
    1
  1500.  @diroval  Here's my advice (plea) for you; and yes, I'm being dead serious here - For the love of God, and for the sake of all humanity, stay in school!!! I have serious doubts it'll do you much good but at least it'll keep you out of harm's way. If you're not currently in school, either go back or join the army because if bullets go over your head as easy as satire does, you'll be invincible! You'll be a fucking legend! They'll write books and folk songs about you!
    1
  1501.  @diroval  You should know, you're holding it. Don't play dumb with me, monsieur. And quit trying to deny the world is round!
    1
  1502. OK, a few things need to be straightened out here if we're all to be on the same page and if truth; real truth, is going to prevail - 1) The election absolutely was stolen. The proof is literally everywhere. 2) The Q Anon theory is NOT a lie, it's real. Again, the evidence is all around us. 3) Pizzagate was a real thing except the guy who raided the pizzeria in DC got the wrong one. The real one was across the street hanging from a crane. 4) Seth Rich was murdered to keep him silent but his killer was actually Kim Jong-un who was in town to case the joint out for a nuke strike. He was disguised as Joe Biden but Rich found him out so they had to knock him off. 5) Hillary Clinton actually is a reptilian but she was thrown out of the reptilian community because she wouldn't stop yapping about deplorables. 6) Chem trails are a real thing but it's only Air Force One that spreads them. 7) 9/11 didn't happen on 9/11. It happened 3 days earlier but was covered up by the media. 8) I am NOT the Lizard King! I am. 9) Joe Biden actually died two years ago. What you're seeing is really a hologram. And Kamala Harris is NOT the VP. That's actually Hillary Clinton. (She will NOT be denied, guys!) Bet you didn't know makeup artists could be that skilled. 10) Proof for all of this in Lin Wood's bunker in Maine and that is actually the Kraken that Sidney Powell refers to. It will all be revealed once a permanent host for Jeopardy is chosen. Be vigilant guys; they're out there!
    1
  1503. The enviro-nuts will find some way to derail all of this. They won't be happy until we're all living in caves and gathering berries.
    1
  1504.  @yo2trader539  No one needs Russia.
    1
  1505.  @snooky3  China is going to share the same fate. Maybe not as quick but it's coming. They are on the verge of a full fledged financial meltdown, international corporations are finding other sources of cheap labor, their demographics are collapsing at an astronomical rate and their "wolf warrior diplomacy" is seriously rubbing people the wrong way. They have exactly zero friends in the world and the only "allies" they have are a few Asian and African basket cases they've either bullied or bought off. China gains nothing by tying itself to a failing, dying colossus like Russia except perhaps some momentary, superficial satisfaction for having stuck it to the west. The problem though, is that China desperately needs the west but the west doesn't need China at all.
    1
  1506. So does knowledge and you seem to be wanting for it. Tonnage in this case, is a metaphor for capabilities and power projection ability and in that respect, the US Navy is galaxies ahead of the Chinese. Missiles matter? You're right, they do. That's why our guys retired the boulders and catapults some time ago. @fatmanslim4592 
    1
  1507. Any city/country that bids for an Olympics now deserves very much to get them. And they'll also deserve what happens because of it.
    1
  1508. Putin always viewed this war as a battle of wills between him and the west. He wagered, quite correctly it seems, that if he dragged things out long enough, the west would lose interest and move on to other things.
    1
  1509. I really believe that if I hear the phrase "escalate the war" one more f*cking time, I'm either going to scream or hunt down the person who said it and wring their goddam neck! This is nothing but the worst form of wanton, craven cowardice. You know who has not an ounce of fear about escalation? Putin, that's who, and we are the reason why. We have shown him exactly zilch to be afraid of. There have been what, 200, 300 thousand casualties so far and something close to a trillion dollars in damages to say nothing of the millions of lives turned upside down and the enormous cost and strain put on already stretched western governments and all because we in the west utterly failed to so much as even lift a finger to prevent this war. Putin was marshalling troops and equipment and conducting training at least 6 months prior to this thing, right out in the open for all to see, not the least bit concerned about who saw it all or knew about it and what did we do? Sat on our fat asses with dumb looks on our faces! If we had matched him troop for troop and tank for tank, right on Ukrainian soil, started stationing naval task forces in the Black and Baltic Seas and repositioning strategic air assets to Europe and Turkey as well as ballistic missile submarines to the Med and the Arctic and let it be known we'd have exactly zero hesitation to use any or all of them and if Putin didn't like it, he could damned well do something about it.... if we had done even half of that PLUS the sanctions... this war does NOT happen! But we did NONE of that and to make matters worse, we've dumped the whole responsibility onto Ukraine's lap while giving them penny packets of equipment... just barely enough for them to not lose and even then, only after months of begging and pleading. For the love of almighty God; start pouring firepower and if necessary, personnel into that theater of war and END this f*cking thing NOW!!
    1
  1510.  @THEROOT1111  I have substantially more than half a brain.... enough to tell me I'm wasting my time arguing with a troll. Sayonara!
    1
  1511.  @ligametis  Don't know much about history, do you? The state security apparatus in Czarist Russia dates back to the 17th century and was massive. It's how they kept order in the conquered lands. Just because the last couple of Czars were lazy, incompetent fools doesn't change that.
    1
  1512. Re-surging? In other words, rising steadily and rapidly in popularity? Well, let's un-pack this a bit and see if we can figure it out, shall we? If the "far" right, or the "far" left or the "far" anything is re-surging in Germany, or anywhere else for that matter, it's a pretty fair assumption that the "center"; however the hell that's defined these days, is failing or else they wouldn't be losing popularity. If you take a quick glance around the western world, and even parts of the eastern world as well, you'll see that this is a trend that's growing and if there's a truly unfortunate thing about it, it's that the "center" consistently and reliably reacts to this in exactly the wrong way by doubling and tripling down on the very things that are pissing people off and causing them to lose support. There's an old saying - "Take care of the reasonable and you'll never have to worry about the radical." Define reasonable and radical in each instance, to your own liking but the general premise holds.
    1
  1513. Listening to idiots like these are better than any comedy show.
    1
  1514. Here, there, everywhere. Maybe even.... under your chair!!
    1
  1515. On Sept 11, 2001, terrorists killed 3000 Americans. In response, the US launched a full scale war. Fentanyl causes a 9/11 every 10 days and the US does nothing.
    1
  1516. Not a single ounce of sympathy for SF or anyone in it. They brought all of this on themselves. Going back decades, there were warnings from countless sources, over and over again, about what the result of their politics was going to be and not only were the warnings not heeded, the ones doing the warning were attacked and denigrated. So suck on it, SF! From afar, it all looks bloody wonderful on you! You all built this out of control dumpster fire while smearing and insulting the countless people who tried to warn you and also offer solutions. So you can all damned well burn in it!
    1
  1517. Two things need to be said first off which are of paramount importance.... 1) Planning needs to begin immediately for a united, combined, full spectrum defense and counter attack operation and that plan put into operation at the earliest moment. 2) The US and the rest of the western world, needs to wake up out of this stuporous fog we've been living in for 40 years and get real. China is as powerful as it is and as a result, as dangerous as it is, precisely because we've allowed to to be so. It is us who have enriched them with our shortsightedness and lack of concern for our own interests. The complete decoupling of China from our economic system must begin without delay!
    1
  1518.  @ragglefraggle9111  Oh yes they are, against China and they could be, and need to be a much better one.
    1
  1519. The main lesson Taiwan needs to learn from the Ukraine war is that it can depend on the US and its allies to give it the same support it gave to Ukraine........ That would be 5-10% of what they need, 12-18 months after it's needed. So it had better arm itself to the f*cking teeth and get ready to fight!
    1
  1520. This is all more confusing than a Chinese fire drill!
    1
  1521. No. No, they could not.
    1
  1522. Denmark is experiencing similar problems. This should (but won't) once again demonstrate the lie of super ultra efficient Scandinavia. Just keep shoveling money at people with not checks and balances and this is what happens. It doesn't matter whether or not it's immigrants or native born, if people don't have to work, they won't.
    1
  1523.  @slippingsnake  Putin could very well end up on the sidewalk next to a tall building or strung up by his heels on a lamp post before this is all over.
    1
  1524. Russia "could" do lots of things.... up to and including pulling their collective heads out of their *sses and seriously getting their act together on the battlefield. I realize the likelihood of that isn't high but nevertheless, anyone with 2 cents worth of military experience and/or knowledge understands that you do NOT anticipate and plan for best case scenarios, you do it for worst case ones. You DON'T sit around talking about all the things (you think) they can't do and making up excuses for why you don't need to act, you talk about.... and plan for... all the things they could do... and you fully expect them to do them! So while we're talking about things which "could" happen, here's something NATO "could" do... get THEIR collective heads out of THEIR *sses, quit f*cking around and penny-packeting the Ukrainians with dribs and drabs of this and that, now and again, start putting some SERIOUS firepower on the ground... numbering in the 1000s of units, not the dozens... in Ukraine along with 200-300K troops to man it, give Russia a PUBLIC ultimatum to leave Ukraine... ALL of it.... in 48 hours or face a full scale, broad spectrum attack by NATO. Yeah, I know.... about the same likelihood as Russia getting their act together.
    1
  1525.  @vihrenshokarov5236  Well, I don't think I know more than the locals but I do try to observe, listen and learn. I also care a lot about the region and want to see it succeed.
    1
  1526. @@KnowHowTrainer Thank you! And I welcome you to Canada!
    1
  1527. @@KnowHowTrainer Thank you. Greetings back from Canada. I'd love to visit your country some day. I know almost nothing about it but for some reason, I've always been fascinated by it.
    1
  1528. What a complete farce! Negotiating anything with Iran is a total waste of time. They're going to do whatever they want regardless of what some silly bit of paper says. They'll never live up to any terms they don't like and to be honest, we most likely won't either. Iran is a nuclear state.... or soon will be; so what? Russia, China, Pakistan and North Korea are all nuclear states too and we've found ways to cope. What's the big deal with Iran?
    1
  1529.  @jamesavilez9504  Well, there is no shortage of those kinds of employers too but they tend to be different from the ones who expect the stars from their applicants. At least in my experience.
    1
  1530. Here in Canada, there's kind of a running joke that comes up now and again, depending on the situation, that one day, the US will just absorb us and make us the 51st state. To this, many people reply that it wouldn't be worth their while to do so since if they did, they'd be responsible for us and have to look after us and since they already control everything of importance anyway.... the narrative goes.... and we're no threat to them, why bother, as the other old joke goes, "buying the cow when you already get the milk for free?" As you say, Russia already controls everything of even marginal importance in Belarus and their leader is a reliable and loyal puppet. I have a friend who is Belorussian and he's explained to me several times that Putin isn't really bothered at all by former Soviet states, including Ukraine, being sovereign countries since he doesn't view that distinction the same way we would. He looks at things in terms of him being in control of anything in his neighborhood which he covets. In short, you answer to him and do what you're told, when you're told, and in other matters, do what you want. If you refuse, "nice little country you've got there. Be a shame if anything happened to it." If Ukraine had decided to follow the same path as Belarus... or more accurately, Lukashenko's Belarus, all would have been fine but they did not and likewise, if the Belorussian people had been successful in toppling Lukashenko, Ukraine's fate would likely also have been Belarus's
    1
  1531. Putin cares about Putin and nothing else. Always has, always will.
    1
  1532.  @ofwonorichard4065  Well pardon me, Your Majesty, but this happens to be a video and a channel about tanks and tanks don't have much practical use outside of war fighting. If you feel so averse to such topics, why are you even here?
    1
  1533. Then why don't you make your own video and tell us all the truth.... or at least what Putski is paying you to say.
    1
  1534. It's recently been announced that the tank will be renamed as the "Bobski Sempelov."
    1
  1535. I've been saying the very same thing since it started. Long before that, in fact.
    1
  1536. Q - "Which of these candidates is worse?" A - "Yes!"
    1
  1537.  @josephryan9230  Yes! Hitler could not only have been stopped in 1936, when it became undeniably clear what he was doing, and getting ready to do, he could have been crushed! But alas, the allied powers would rather look away and try to pretend that reality was something else and that the problem would somehow magically go away if we ignored it long enough. A little closer to the present day, try to imagine how much death, destruction, upheaval and chaos could have been avoided if the western nations had have acted decisively against Assad in Syria. It's not much of a stretch to say that the current war in Ukraine would not have happened nor even the theft of Crimea since Putin would have seen that the allies were not only prepared to act but willing to do so.
    1
  1538. I've always been amazed that The Simpson could correctly predict a President Trump yet totally miss a President Grandpa Simpson.
    1
  1539. She shoulda just stood there with a dumb look on her face.... she's a natural at it...... and let the senile old pr1ck wander off into the orchestra pit and take a header into a tuba. "Bout the only way that waste of good rations would ever sit in the White House.
    1
  1540.  @germanher7528  China has never been a military adversary of Russia and its navy is big but it's not powerful. 3/4 of China's ships cannot operate more than 1K km from their home port. It has a lot of ships but quantity doesn't and never has equaled quality. It is nowhere even close to the US in terms of battle strength. In fact, the navies of Japan, the UK and even France are much more capable.
    1
  1541. I agree, he's dangerous all right. The fate of cities such as Los Angeles and San Francisco and of the state of California generally would be the fate of the entire country. And I also agree that he's very electable. He shouldn't be, but he is; largely because the people who'd vote for him are mostly unaffected by his disastrous policies.
    1
  1542. The value of any apology is inversely proportional to the social pressure which precipitated it.
    1
  1543. OK so let's see if I have this right....... When a bad thing happens to a democrat, it's because of republican rhetoric and incitement. When a bad thing happens to a republican, it's because of republican rhetoric and incitement. How about if some dope backs into my car in a parking lot? Is that republican incitement too? It must be. Literally everything else on earth is.
    1
  1544. Not that I want to defend him or anything but I honestly think he doesn't have a choice at this point. The man is not well! He can't stand in front of a microphone without sounding like Grandpa Simpson, he looks like he doesn't know who or where he is most days and I wonder how much he's really in charge of anything or if he even knows what day it is most of the time. I think it's really come down to a question of keeping the man alive. The vice president is a nincompoop of historic proportions and the democrats all know this. I think that they're trying desperately to keep her out and keep President Weekend-at-Bernie's alive long enough to get to election day so they can try again.
    1
  1545. Watching from Canada so don't know her, don't know a thing about her, but I heartily agree with the liberated part. More people should do this.
    1
  1546. Regular Americans returned the hatred and scorn to Democrats that they have heaped on them for years.
    1
  1547. It could be any or all of - A) They're afraid he'll fall asleep in the middle of it, B) They can't stop him from drooling, C) It wouldn't look good if he came out pushing a walker, D) They can't find an incontinence diaper that doesn't show, E) They're afraid he'll shout "COME ON, MAN!!" before anyone's even asked him anything, F) He hasn't clued in yet that he's president..... and they ain't tellin' him!
    1
  1548. I was gonna say up his a$$ but I suppose in the sand works too.
    1
  1549. I never saw a country that could work itself into such a lather over such inconsequential nonsense. The Chinese have spy satellites hundreds of times more powerful than anything that damned balloon could carry. What's all the hub-bub about that stupid thing? What the hell does anyone think they're going to see with a f*cking balloon that they can't already see with a satellite? And speaking of seeing things, what about the hundreds (thousands?) of Chinese scientists, engineers, technologists and "students" we let into the country and give free reign and free roam to every year, most of whom we promptly proceed to lose track of? Jaysus... If we're going to get ourselves into a panic about something, how about making it something important instead of some stupid balloon?! Instead of wondering what they may be looking at, how about first giving some thought to what we're waving right under their fricking noses every damned day!
    1
  1550. Biden needs to be reminded every morning that he is in fact, the president. If people would stop doing that and just let him waddle off back to Delaware to babble incoherently about Corn Pop, swear at clouds and drool on his bib, we might be rid of him.
    1
  1551. Really and truly, I couldn't be happier. I'm really going to enjoy the show.
    1
  1552. It's a ploy. He's angling for a settlement.... and he'll get it. I said from the start that his bosses at CNN knew full well what he was up to. In fact, they probably supported him and maybe even helped him. The only reason he was let go was that he was no longer useful to them... his brother was no longer NY governor... and he committed the one unforgivable sin - getting caught. He knows FAR more about CNN's involvement in this mess (and maybe lots of other things too) than CNN would ever want to be made public and if his case ever went to trial, public is what it would all be. They'll pay him off to keep his mouth shut.
    1
  1553. I'm just cheering for casualties.
    1
  1554. There was an excuse and a reason they kept him locked in his basement last time around. The excuse was COVID. The reason is on full display every time he opens his mouth. He can't use the excuse this time.... or maybe he can. Isn't there talk about a new wave of COVID? Awfully convenient timing, don't you think?
    1
  1555. Tears of fear, not tears of remorse. You fool no one, b1tch!
    1
  1556. I don't know if Elizabeth will be the last monarch or not but she's very likely to be the last credible one. William and Kate seem to be able to conduct themselves with some measure of dignity and decorum in keeping with their positions but the rest of the family are a dumpster fire!
    1
  1557. Vladimir Putin can legitimately be called a lot of things but stupid isn't one of them. He is in fact, a highly educated man, very cunning, shrewd, calculating and patient, very skilled at playing the "long game" as well as someone with decades of experience in identifying and exploiting weaknesses having spent his career in the KGB. Putin doesn't think Biden's weak, he KNOWS he is! I have a close friend who's Russian and he keeps me abreast of all the things western media won't and he said that Ukraine is in very little danger.... for now.... but that this is meant as a warning to Biden as well as to Germany. The message is - "Don't f*ck with me! I can do a lot of damage and if you'd like me to prove it to you, just go ahead and test me." My friend said that we should expect stunts like this from Putin on a regular basis. He is NOT afraid of the west; not one little bit!
    1
  1558. No doubt he's bitter. He knows what the people know; what we all know. He could have lost to Trump WAY more spectacularly and convincingly than Harris did and he was robbed of that chance.
    1
  1559. Well, this is good. Maybe with the first one gone, it'll inspire the others and start an outward bound flood. But.... How much ya wanna bet that anyone who does leave will be making regular trips back to either work, schmooze with the champagne set or give finger wagging lectures to the unwashed?
    1
  1560. Saw a similar themed cartoon some time back only it showed the TV program dragging in slow motion because there was only a light breeze.
    1
  1561. It's quite obvious that that letter was written in the spirit of avoiding potential consequences, not contrition. This will not be the first of these incidents and I bet the next ones will not get any kind of letter.
    1
  1562. Easiest way to defeat China is to stop shoveling money at it. China is as powerful as it is today because we stupid, short sighted westerners have been making it rich at our own expense for 40+ years. Stop doing that and you've got the battle more than half won.
    1
  1563. If he'd been paying even minimal attention to the news for the last oh, 30 years or so at least, he could have saved himself the effort and money. Recycling is, always has been and likely always will be a scam that's not about making the earth cleaner, it's about allowing progressive politicians to pretend they're doing something and their gullible voters to feel even more self righteous than they already do.
    1
  1564. It's entirely plausible that men were chasing the fat chick so I can totally believe her when she says it. What she's NOT telling you though, is that they were all livestock dealers.
    1
  1565. Isn't it amazing how women get so upset that they're not receiving any attention from the very people they don't want attention from because it's creepy?
    1
  1566. Nothing will happen. This isn't the first time a NATO asset was attacked. A Romanian flagged cargo ship was fired on in the early days of the war and nothing happened then either. Around the same time, a Japanese ship was also targeted. Not NATO but still allied. And there may be other incidents too that I'm not aware of. The reason nothing will happen is that NATO and Western leaders are terrified to death of Putin.... and Putin KNOWS this. That's why he does what he does. Because he knows he can get away with it. He knows that all he has to do is say the words "nuclear weapons" and weak-kneed, spineless western coward politicians will run screaming to the closets to hide. Since the very first day that Russian forces started to assemble on Ukraine's frontier, NATO has telegraphed nothing to Putin except, timidity, cowardice, indecision, anxiety and fear. Even Russia's deplorable military performance has done nothing to assuage NATO's stark terror at facing him down. Brave Ukrainian heroes bleed and die while cowards in NATO capitals hold back the weapons that might end the war faster because.... SHREIK!!!!... ESCALATION!!! And the verbal diarrhea out of that UN hack's front facing 2nd butthole is all the proof you need about how much backbone exists in that tits-on-a-bull organization and also the likelihood of Putin facing any consequences at all.... and he knows this too.
    1
  1567. So what; he's still a puddin'.
    1
  1568. OMFG.... that clip was positively GAG inducing!!!! First, you've got one of the primary actors in this horrible media landscape who is so bereft of shame and self awareness that he will put his recently fired face on TV and gripe about the very game that he himself was only recently playing at the highest level and still would be if he'd not been caught. Secondly, you've got past, present and future capital "L" liberal Bill Maher; who for some reason known only to God himself, a whole bunch of naive conservatives are getting a hard-on over because he gives it to the fringes of the Democratic party once in a while. People... be serious!! He's a democrat! He supported Clinton the Horny, Obama, Clinton the Hag and the current bag stale blood and mucus who daily makes Grandpa Simpson look young and vibrant. The man is a professional performer for crying out loud! Trolling for fans is what he does. He enthusiastically supports 85% or more of the Democrat agenda. You cannot take him seriously. He wished for a recession to get rid of Trump. He is NOT your friend!! STOP listening to him!! And finally, you've got what must be the dimmest audience in the history of television; banging their flippers together and hooting and cheering as if either of these clowns could be trusted with a spent cigarette butt. America is f*cked!!
    1
  1569. And it's students like this whose debt Traitor Joe wants cancelled. Not hard to see why.
    1
  1570. That thing that Adam said to do would probably actually work, all jokes aside. I'm convinced that most days, he wouldn't even remember that he was the president if no one reminded him.
    1
  1571. What difference would it make if you replaced 100% of them? The new batch will either be as corrupt as the old batch within days of arrival or more likely, before they even arrive. They all come up through the same system, take money from the same donors and are controlled by the same forces who decide which names appear on ballots and which do not. You and I vote for whoever the parties allow us to vote for. The party machines weed out anyone who could even remotely threaten their corrupt agenda long before the ballots are even printed. It's not enough to just vote out the old and vote in the new. Nothing will fundamentally change until HOW we vote is reformed and we get to vote OUR choice and not their choice. Ranked choice voting, open primaries and no more "primary season." All primaries on the same day so party apparatuses can't rig the system.
    1
  1572. Well, to be accurate, his words were misconstrued..... quite deliberately so.
    1
  1573. I expect him to be denounced publicly as a racist, sexist, Islamophobe and homophobe any day now.
    1
  1574. I hope he goes on in the same time slot he had at Fox.
    1
  1575. So what she's saying in essence, is that this woman in the story did the world a huge service for 8 months.....
    1
  1576. Russia has been doing that to their own people for centuries.
    1
  1577. A choice yes, but a choice of what? Policy.
    1
  1578. "GUARDS!!!"
    1
  1579. There's an old coot who lives in the same nursing home as my mother who often gets testy and cantankerous when you tell him he's not going to be allowed out to go buy seed to plant this year's crop or that there are no horses and no wagons to be hitched together. He reminds me of Biden every time I see him though all in all, apart from his wheelchair, I think he's in better shape.
    1
  1580. Women and girls have GOT to boycott their sports and parents have to support them in it and quit being cowards and letting the rainbow mafia stomp all over them! I'm sorry, I know you've worked long and hard and boycotting is risky but it's the only way this is going to change. At the end of the day, it's your battle and you are the ones who are going to have to fight it. No one else can do this for you. If enough people do it and enough leagues, tournaments and whatever are threatened with bankruptcy, you won't need to fight for long, I guarantee you.
    1
  1581. OK look; I'm not at all sympathetic to Bernie Sanders and far be it from me to give him or his people advice or correct them when they're wrong but this is the kind of thing that happens when you refuse to be part of a political machine yet still expect them to play ball with you. What the hell do you expect them to do? You're this life long, super anti establishment guy who refuses to be part of the Democratic machine yet you run in their primaries, take their voter lists, raise funds under their name and worst of all, you still play the role of cuckold for them after they've screwed you over.... TWICE!!! You are the biggest more on in the history of US politics!!!
    1
  1582. Megyn - "... So pale... so penisy...." Me - Spits out morning coffee......
    1
  1583. The first irony is that shit like this only drives me further away from them and theirs and the second, even bigger irony, is that they don't even understand the first irony.
    1
  1584. Whatever happened to "imitation is the sincerest form of flattery?"
    1
  1585. I don't disagree with any of this but I would also not discount the possibility that the Dems find some underhanded way of kicking Ole Joe off the ticket. Given the names being bandied about, I'm not sure it'll help them but you never know. I'm also keeping a close eye on what kind of momentum RFKJ is getting as well as any other wild cards which might pop up.
    1
  1586. Well, I've been contributing to it on a somewhat regular basis for many years. You'd better believe that's f*cking well gonna stop!
    1
  1587. Trump is leading in all the swing states... some of them by a lot. And the latest buzz is that he could even flip a few blue states.
    1
  1588. Threats like this, organized or not, are absolutely laughable! Who in the hell do they think they're hurting? Any woman 1/10th as bad as that thing would be doing men an immense favor by staying out of their lives! Are they so damned stupid they don't realize what they're saying? The #1 rule for women to remember.... There is nothing which they can bring to a relationship which men need them for. We can do it ourselves or hire out and that includes.... you know..... and it's close the door behind you in that case without the drama.
    1
  1589. What difference if they do quit? It's not as if anybody any better would come in to replace them. They don't call it MSDNC for nothing.
    1
  1590. Democrats - If you kick Trump off the ballot, that's not going to solve your problems. Someone else just like him will step right into the void.
    1
  1591. Denying you're a racist, or trying to explain why you're not a racist only further proves you are indeed a racist. Signed, Liberals
    1
  1592. Of course, the dirty little secret as to why all these democrats don't want him to run is because they want someone even more off the charts left than he is. You could say that Joe is the "perfect vessel" for all these looney left, woke ideas and you'd be right; up to a point. He doesn't know or care what half his people are saying or doing and he'll read/sign whatever is put in front of him without any pushback. An even better (worse) vessel though, would be a younger, more energetic and more staunchly progressive president who'd get out front and actively fight for all this and that's what these people want instead of him.
    1
  1593. I agree with Michael. This ain't happening. If Michelle had any interest or motivation for the job, we'd have seen some indication of that by now. Now if we're talking about Newsom..... WHOLE different story. A toilet paper roll has more scruples and shame than that creep has. He'd sell his own kids for a single vote. What d'ya think he'd do for a shot at the white house?
    1
  1594. The DNC would pull this move in a heartbeat and not give two shits what the other candidates said about it. I don't think it'll happen with Michelle because I don't think she's the least bit interested but if she was, they'd shiv every candidate and member they've got and not even bat an eye. That's just how they roll. In fact, I do think a move similar to this is nearly a certainty except with Newsom instead. He is entirely bereft of shame and wouldn't think twice about stepping on or over anyone he had to to get what he wants.
    1
  1595. "No one was hurt...." Am I the only one who thinks that's a damned shame?
    1
  1596. I was thinking that perhaps it was because he had a moment of indiscretion and let it slip that there is only two genders and the woke mob put a price on his hide.
    1
  1597. If you haven't see the "Kamalexa" video... The Onion, I believe.... You gotta look it up. It's hilarious! A take off of the online voice "Alexa" that you ask questions to, the Kamalexa gives these long, drawn out, incoherent, word salads of non-answers. It's fantastic!
    1
  1598. Viewer from Canada here; Alberta, to be precise. You may have noticed the "UAlberta" sign in the background. That stands for University of Alberta which is right here in my own backyard in the city of Edmonton and it's had a long history as one of Canada's leading incubators of communism. That may come as a surprise to some as Alberta is sort of known and referred to as Canada's Texas; especially by our vast cadres of leftists who generally say the name in the same manner they'd spit vile poison out of their mouths but yup, it is. I don't know if this thing is associated with the university or not but that type of sentiment fits right in there.
    1
  1599. Are you really surprised it's come to this? How long before they're not asking people to take them in but forcing them to do so. Don't say it can't happen either because they're already trying to put Airbnb out of business by telling private individuals they can't make money from their own private properties. This is a perfect example of the lengths they're willing to go to to avoid admitting they f*cked up and secure the border. They're throwing kids out of their schools, why wouldn't they try to force illegals into private homes?
    1
  1600. Anybody else getting thoroughly sick and tired of life long, front to back and top to bottom liberal Bill Maher being made up as some sort of conservative folk hero because he publicly takes issue with the 5% of the liberal agenda which he happens to find inconvenient apart from the mileage and ratings he can get out of it by griping about it on his show?
    1
  1601. I don't care what he says. Words are empty. I know which way he votes. That's what counts. Stop elevating this man to hero status. He isn't one.
    1
  1602. No.
    1
  1603. None of it surprises me in the least.
    1
  1604. There absolutely MUST be a whites only party next year and preferably, right in the very next room to where Miss Mao is having her segregation-is-us party.
    1
  1605. An apology which is both initiated and crafted by lawyers and delivered by people other than the offending parties is NOT an apology at all.
    1
  1606. I've been saying this very same thing for years. There is no such thing as a two-state "solution." There are and have been, all sorts of two-state ideas, proposals and schemes but a grand total of none of them are a "solution" to anything. Let's hope that Bibi finally tells Joe and Kamala to FOAD and finishes the damned job this time once and for all and tells the rest of the world where they can stick their self serving two-state nonsense! There is ONE state... a Jewish state.... from the river to the goddam sea!
    1
  1607. She runs for a lot of things and keeps losing. That's the good part. But the law of probabilities says that if she keeps running for stuff, she'll eventually win something. That's the scary part.
    1
  1608. Yes! Interrupted by 4 years of Grandpa Simpson but hey; adapt and overcome.
    1
  1609. I agree but I doubt if Trump would go for it.
    1
  1610. It's a complete waste of time attempting to speak to people like Bill described, especially if you're old and white and worst of all, male. That's why no one does speak to them.
    1
  1611. Doesn't appear to be much there worth seizing. Looks like several hundred tons of scrap iron to me.
    1
  1612. Play stupid games, win stupid prizes.
    1
  1613. Bravo!!
    1
  1614. WARNING - This video contains images some people my find extremely gratifying.
    1
  1615. "Burn, you SOB, burn!!"
    1
  1616. Bravo!
    1
  1617. I'd deport her alright. I'd deport her to the Ukrainian front line so every one of the troops there could have a go at her. I'm sure they'd have a good idea what this little sl*t needs.
    1
  1618. Two? A good start.
    1
  1619. There is not and never has been a driver shortage. That's a fiction that the carriers perpetuate and the media parrots to try to bring in more desperate immigrants who'll work for peanuts and not complain. There are enough licensed, qualified and competent drivers to fill every vacancy twice over but the carriers refuse to hire them because they'll demand what they're worth and won't put up with crap.
    1
  1620. That picket sign right at the end there..... "They're Greeeeedy!"...... with Tony the Tiger was priceless!
    1
  1621.  @SIM2014  There's gotta be a speeding train somewhere near where you are that you can step in front of.
    1
  1622. No. Not that I recall. The question always comes up but there's a world of difference between asking whether something might happen and predicting it will.
    1
  1623. The US used nuclear bombs on Japan, dumdum. Does Japan border the US? Was there a risk of fallout affecting US territory? Were there mass formations of US troops on the ground in Japan when the bombs were dropped? What Friedman says is 100% true and you don't have to be very bright to see that the current situation is vastly different to Japan in WW2.
    1
  1624. California - Paradise for the desperate, squalid poor and the comfortably smug affluent who consistently vote to keep it that way. Never in human history were two groups more deserving of each other.
    1
  1625. Republican run cities (are there any left?), counties and states have got to stop being so attractive to Democrats who wreck their own homes then flee the mess they made and they've got to stop being so welcoming when they do come. This is like a goddam cancer spreading across the nation!
    1
  1626. Not to worry; Gavin's on the job. Look at the great job he did in SF. Now the whole state is going to look like that.
    1
  1627. How even one person with a grain of sense in their head would want Newsome as president is ridiculous. That there are evidently millions who do does not speak well of the collective intellect of Americans.
    1
  1628. Too bad you weren't black, Nick. You could have gone and asked the mayor yourself.
    1
  1629. Everybody, everywhere... join in if you're able or support if you can. This is what it looks like when America rises and takes their country and their constitution back. A show of support and solidarity and a show of force if necessary. Let's DO IT!!
    1
  1630. Border crisis, inflation, cost of living, Maui, East Palestine, Hunter Biden, woke BS and on and on and on and on..... And you know what the most deliciously ironic part of all this is? No one wants to stop Trump more than Democrats yet no one is working harder to get him re-elected. Even a minimum of competence on any of these issues or even just an acknowledgement that didn't have to be dragged out of them and Trump would be nowhere. In fact, Trump would never have even happened.
    1
  1631. The mass amnesty bill was all part of the plan. Everything we've seen up to this point has been a mechanism to get to that point.
    1
  1632. Yeah.... I didn't need to hear the second part of the interview.
    1
  1633. And remember this - In about 20 years or so, these kids will be finished school and running society.
    1
  1634. Seriously?! Is this the best we can do in America? Can't we do better than clan politics? The Clintons and the Bushes and now the Obamas and maybe the Trumps. Holy f*ck; can't anyone run on some kind of achievement and not just their name?
    1
  1635. Mmmm... Nah,... never mind. We'll handle it ourselves, thanks.
    1
  1636. Expected? Not really. I wasn't expecting it because these people never take responsibility. Appropriate? Sure, but I wasn't expecting it.
    1
  1637. It's got nothing to do with the southern border. The southern border is secure. Kamala said so.
    1
  1638. Could be?? What do you mean, could be? It's been heading in that direction for at least 40 years! And there has been significant progress made. If the so-called "progressives" are not the center of power in the democrat party now, they very soon will be. Demographics will take care of that by itself. All of the younger members and all of their supporters lean that way so it's only a matter of time until they hold total power in the party if not the country.
    1
  1639. I don't think he's a tyrant. You have to be cogent first and he ain't been that in..... has he ever been that? The people around him are. The people who control him and use him as a front are. But Ole Sleepy Joe himself? Nah. Most days he doesn't even know what day it is. @jimmythepirate494 
    1
  1640. I don't think the DNC would have the least hesitation at all in going over their voters heads and "installing" another candidate. The thing is though, the only reasons it would make sense to do that are if 1) they're certain Ole Joe can't win and 2) there is someone who could really be a game changer for them. Unfortunately for them, the answers to those questions are 1) not too likely and 2) h*ll no! The Dems are f*cked and they have no one to blame but themselves.
    1
  1641. I really don't believe Donald Trump and Tom Homan will receive all that much resistance to the deportations because citizens like this lady will take care of things on their own.
    1
  1642. You wanna know when it'll end? I'll tell you when it'll end. When citizens rise up and make it end, that's when.
    1
  1643. Yeah;.... let's see who they replace him with.
    1
  1644. Progressives, that's who! Oh, wait...... you said "in their right mind." Missed that part; sorry about that.
    1
  1645. You deserve this, San Francisco; you absolutely 100% deserve every damned bit of it and I couldn't be happier! F*ck you and f*ck your cesspool of a city.
    1
  1646. Not really a fan but I still wanted to hear what she had to say so I wish that GD interviewer would shut the hell up, quit cutting her off and let her answer the f*cking questions before blurting out the next one. Holy F*ck!
    1
  1647. I don't have a problem with the judge's opinion but I get the feeling we're about to see the old two-tired justice system rear its head again. This is very obviously an individual who was grossly unqualified to do the job she was given. If accountability starts at the top, then her bosses and overseers deserve substantially more than 18 months but I have my doubts they'll get anything.
    1
  1648. It's hard not to condemn the actions of both individuals here. They both put many lives at risk with their stupid, selfish behavior. Biker was filming and had more than enough evidence to get the other guy busted big time and he also had multiple opportunities to deescalate and/or get away. The bike could have gone numerous places the car couldn't have. I'd bust both their asses.
    1
  1649. I guess none of these people would be interested in an Atlantic crossing in November then.
    1
  1650. Vote Democrat!!
    1
  1651. "I feel that I'm in a better place in my life......." Well sport; you're going to a much worse place now.
    1
  1652. I hope all these stores get robbed blind and every employee quits. It's what they deserve.
    1
  1653. Get well and come back soon, Jay!
    1
  1654. And the general decline of policing continues apace. > Guys like this continue to be recruited, employed and defended. > They do not receive the punishment they deserve. > The public sees this and grows to resent the job that police do. > Governments refuse to get a handle on it. > Politicians won't stand up for good officers when they do the right thing. > The really good officers quit. > So after a while, your only recruiting pool is guys like this. > And stuff like this is the result.
    1
  1655. Looked almost intentional.
    1
  1656. That would be nearly impossible since all anyone would have to do would be hack into the database of anyone you had business with which could run from the municipal government to a pizza shop. Your information is out there in literally hundreds of places and it's not hard to find and besides, very many people post their own info on everything from websites to business cards. And even if you managed to somehow wipe all of that, a high profile person like this judge is very easy to find. You know where they work, just hit them there or follow them home. There's a million ways and you can't possibly guard against them all.
    1
  1657. I never expected to learn so much about the Spanish Inquisition!
    1
  1658. Well, I can understand that it may be traumatic in a way to be in a place that doesn't look like home. Maybe if we let the roads deteriorate into a bunch of potholes and then scattered a few hundred tons of garbage everywhere. Think that'd do it?
    1
  1659. Sort of like the dreaded conservative "hidden agenda." It's f*cking hidden, alright. So bloody well hidden in fact, that I ain't once set eyes on it.
    1
  1660. I was pleased to see that none of your maps, graphs or projections mentioned Bora Bora..... because that's where I'm headed and the nut cases can have at it!
    1
  1661.  @cuddlemuffin.9545  I don't need to provide you with anything, shit-for-brains.
    1
  1662.  @masonrussell579  Is this supposed to be your audition for a CNN contributor spot? That's all I can think of because I can't believe for a moment you'd actually think I'd be buying any of this. In future, find more productive uses for your time because you're only making a fool of yourself with BS like that.
    1
  1663.  @sky2evan  Umm... Yeah... Well... That's pretty much the whole point that both I and the general were making... that in every war since WW2, everything connected to the USA has been the loser.. except for the arms industries. A since it was mostly for their benefit that the wars were fought, they "won." Not the sharpest knife in the drawer, are ya?
    1
  1664.  @dovetonsturdee7033  Yeah, yeah, I realize all that.... but my point isn't that it wasn't important to neutralize the threat, it was that it took so much damned work to do it! It was ONE SHIP that was effectively trapped in a fiord. One would have thought that even back then, it wouldn't have taken that much effort to neutralize ONE ship. Were they really that bad at bombing?
    1
  1665. All that work to sink one frickin' ship!
    1
  1666. "Looking for alternative medicinal substances...." Might we suggest.... Slim Fast?
    1
  1667. Look closely... I don't even think it's the same guy!
    1
  1668. And Jimmy Buffet was all set to blow their cover by writing an update to his song so naturally, he too had to become a full time resident.
    1
  1669. The reason why the Chinese are buying up all these assets where you live is the same reason why they're buying up stuff everywhere else.... because the values are exploding. Don't blame them; they're just smart business people responding to market conditions. And the reason values are exploding is a lack of supply due to restrictions put in place by various levels of government. And do you know why most of those restrictions are in place? I'll tell you. They are in place due to the #1 impediment to new home buyers.... existing home buyers! The more supply (of anything) there is, the lower the prices are so if governments take the muzzles off the developers and allows more homes to be built, the values of existing properties will fall which will enrage their owners and the politicians won't get re=elected. Yes; governments would love you to believe the problem is the Chinese. Or greedy corporations or immigrants or Vladimir Putin or just about anything or anybody but them. No one passes a buck or points a finger better than a politician. But trust me; they ARE the problem. Blame them.
    1
  1670. That last sentence - "The priorities in these countries are all wrong and that's what causes these questions to be asked" - really said it all! This kind of thinking is being driven by the cultural, political and educational elites to divert the attention away from themselves. The situation for so many of the younger generations in legacy countries today really is very dire but their attention is being deliberately focused... BY the very people who created that reality.... TOWARD a concocted, made-up boogey man (those dastardly RICH people!) so that they can avoid accountability themselves. There's an old saying - "If you rob Peter to pay Paul, you'll be Paul's friend for life." You'll also have Paul's undivided attention and thus, be able to convince him of anything and fill his head with as much propaganda as you want. That's how you end up with the situation you have today.
    1
  1671. Great to see you again, Dad; where ya been?
    1
  1672. If you think this isn't going to become a reality, you're either delusional or haven't been paying attention! Look at all the things that are a fact of life today that were poo-pooed as being ridiculous 40-30 or even 20 or 10 years ago and tell me why you think this will be different. Communists have always been big proponents of the theory of incrementalism and such things as the systematic dismantling of traditional support structures such as family and community. Some people think along the lines that things they view as ridiculous will somehow just poof!... become a reality overnight. They won't! It's a creeping process where they slowly break down your resistance until the way things are going seems normal or at least acceptable to you. "The American people will never knowingly adopt socialism, but under the name of liberalism, they will adopt every fragment of the socialist program until one day America will be a socialist nation without ever knowing how it happened." Norman Thomas
    1
  1673. @Aubrey Winchester Thanks! As I say, a variety of perspectives is what we should strive for. Andrew gave his based on his experience and you gave yours based on your own. It's not a thing where anyone is right or wrong, it's just opinions and they're all valid. And all that stuff you said about Uruguay... heard it all before and that's why I want to go! Haven't heard anything yet about the country that turns me off.
    1
  1674. You know Russians, I know Russians, lots of people know Russians and many of the ones I know tell a somewhat different story about Navalny than what the western media likes to tell and that is that in reality, he was not what he was portrayed as. The western media is prone to manufacturing a certain image of people like Navalny based on the kind of person they'd like him to be and then pushing that on their audiences. In the first place, he was as much of a nationalist as Putin is. In fact, most Russians are. That's why Putin is as popular as he is. Very few people in the west understand this fact about Russia or they willfully blind themselves to it. Navalny believed, as Putin does, in the expansion of Russia's borders and the re-establishment of the Russian empire. He supported the annexation of Crimea (again, the vast majority of Russians do) and the oppositions that he may have held to the Ukraine war had more to do with the way it was being prosecuted than anything else. In short, he was not the saint that many in the west think he was. Secondly, and more importantly, he was admired in many circles in Russia for his opposition to corruption but not taken seriously as a leader. Many of the people I know have said that if he had ever stood for election against Putin in a free and fair contest, Putin would still win in a rout and that's because for whatever faults he may possess, Putin is seen as a strongman that can control the oligarchs and command respect abroad while Navalny was seen as a principled but terribly naïve figure who'd be unlikely to gain power and would probably be eaten alive by the thugs and gangsters who really rule Russia if he did.
    1
  1675. Money can move and increasingly, money is moving. Andrew is right; you're NOT going to change the system. You're naive and a fool if you think you will. Millions before you have tried and failed. The only thing you can do with a system as corrupt, broken and bankrupt as this one is to quit participating in it and contributing to it. Leave.... they hate you anyway or they soon will once they driven out everyone wealthier than you are and by then it'll be too late anyway. Go where you're treated best.... and don't look back.
    1
  1676. Nomad Dad rocks!!!
    1
  1677. Yeah, but the health care monopolies are making out like bandits so everything will be fine. Relax and quit your bellyaching! Signed, US politicians.
    1
  1678. It will work marvelously for what they really want to accomplish...... getting votes from all the "Pauls" of the world. That's what it's meant to do.
    1
  1679.  @elonmusk9869  I'm thrilled for you.
    1
  1680.  @NorthStarPNW  Besides, we're not even really talking about the same thing. I'm talking about politicians who formulate policy and pass laws that may favor a certain segment of the tax base. You're talking about the IRS which collects taxes in accordance with existing law. The IRS goes after people who illegally avoid taxes. Politicians, by way of the laws they pass, can help people legally avoid taxes.
    1
  1681.  @NorthStarPNW  First, how much do you trust what Trump says, second, how much wealth does Trump really have; even if we take the high estimates, compared to Bezos, Musk or any of the major corporations and finally, Trump has a long history of dodging taxes so he's made himself a target. It's likely a case of several different kinds of malfeasance at once.
    1
  1682. Don't look for governments to solve this problem..... they don't want it solved. They created it!!
    1
  1683. China is not doing anything different than the USA did when it was at the same stage of development. China is looking after China.... as it should!! It's not China's place to supply the US's deficiencies and it's not China's fault that the USA is failing. The problem is that the US is in a snit because China is starting to horn in on their little game and the US doesn't like it. OK, fair enough. There's no reason in the world why the US should sit by and let China eat its lunch. It should fight back! The problem is that it's NOT doing that! It TALKS a big game but when it comes to action, the people in power do NOTHING because they're corrupt and have sold out to China (and whoever will pay them) ages ago. It would seem to me that if the USA really wants to be #1 in the world today, they'd prioritize looking after their most valuable resource - their people. They'd make sure they had the healthiest, best educated, most motivated workforce with the highest average wealth in the world but instead they've got 5 mile long lineups for food banks, college debt that people won't have repaid till their own kids are in college, major cities transforming into open sewers and people dying because they can't afford to go to a f*cking doctor!! America First, my ass!! More like corporate donors first! All this China bashing is just obfuscation and deflection.
    1
  1684. Yet another manifestation of mob rule. The government caters to the mob because there's more of them and they don't give a shit about any kind of rules based order.
    1
  1685. This is what a society that's dying looks like. Just as a dying person might flail and thrash about trying to grab onto anything that might save them, so too does a dying society flail and thrash about desperately grabbing at anything and everything trying to get a few more minutes of life. California is circling the drain and the rest of the USA isn't far behind. If you doubt me, just consider - governor Gavin Newsom could be recalled and according to people I know in the state, he's not the least bit concerned about it. Why? Because he knows there's no one else around with the machine behind them that he does and he'll be re-elected in a landslide! Consider also that we just had a presidential election and the choices the two major parties saw to it that we were limited to were a senile old fool who barely knows what day it is and one of the most notorious con men in the history of the country! What do you think all that points to?! Get out NOW!!
    1
  1686. Jeez Andrew, this is the first time I have to disagree with you. You rate Turkish Airlines highly and maybe today they are but my experience with them in the 90s was terrible! The airport was like a mob scene; I don't think they've even heard of lineups there. Everyone was just in one big mob pushing their way to the front of the line and the plane itself was dingy, smelly and smoky. On the other hand, my experiences with Thai Airways were all wonderful. Clean planes, efficient service, smooth rides, on time... no complaints at all. Honorable mention for SE Asia regional - Vietnam Airways though I only used them twice. Phnom Penh to HCM City - 35 minutes and they served 2 snacks and a lunch. And you could have eaten all of it off the floor of the plane, it was that clean! Great, smooth flight, friendly staff who all spoke fluent English (and French), loved it!
    1
  1687. I wouldn't worry too much about this in the short term since after the mid-terms when President Adult Diapers loses his congressional majority, he won't be able to get the time of day passed. However, as Andrew says, if politicians are talking about something, it means they want it and if they want it bad enough, they'll find a way to get it. And they are talking about this pretty loudly. So I don't expect that this kind of stuff is just around the corner but it is down the road and probably not as far down as you'd think. Use that time to prepare and plan wisely.
    1
  1688. The west is rapidly becoming the worst place to do or be anything that involves freedom.
    1
  1689. Two countries I'm very anxious to visit!
    1
  1690. I think it all boils down to that one famous old golden rule..... don't put all your eggs in one basket. The world is a very volatile place right now and it's likely to get more so before it gets less so. It's the very foolish man who does not prepare for that and have multiple backup plans.
    1
  1691.  @lisalph8922  I was going to ignore your comment.... and to a large degree, I have.... I stopped reading at - "There is another option - anarchy" - for two reasons. 1) Your comment looks like a truckload of words that collided with a wall and 2) You don't know WTF you're talking about! So I decided to give you a little free advice... because it's Christmas. Firstly, either learn to be a lot more word efficient or hit the "enter" key a lot more often. No one is going to take the time to try to work through a mess like that. Secondly, get your nose out of the theory books and observe reality. There is no such thing as anarchy and there never will be. Anarchy is the absence of government hence the absence of control.... and that will never happen because someone will always take control. Go ahead and respond to this if you like but you'll be wasting your time. I won't read it.
    1
  1692. I was aware that Lyin' Brian Williams had retired.... about that much at least, the world can rejoice, but I wasn't aware of the particulars of this incident because I don't watch MSDNC.... oops; I mean, MSNBC.... But I have trouble believing that he was really complaining about the same issues that we are. If anything, it's likely that what we call a descent into madness is for him A) not happening fast enough and B) is opposed by anyone. This man has the credibility of a dead skunk.
    1
  1693. "Who's really the President?" Classic!! Nomad Dad rocks! The reason we never see President Grandpa Simpson is because he's in his basement slurping pudding and being coached on how to get through a speech without nodding off or going off on some incoherent rant about something after which he'll need his diaper changed. That's why he needs a teleprompter. Crazy old coot can't keep two coherent thoughts straight in his head and at any given moment, he's about two seconds away from either a racial slur or a swearing session at people who aren't there.
    1
  1694. This doesn't surprise me one bit. The more fearful governments become and the more boxed in they are by their own failures, the more desperate they get, the more they lash out and the more straws they grasp at. The government is really the only entity that can arbitrarily change rules at will to benefit itself and grant itself more powers. These are powers it will NEVER willingly relinquish. So don't EVER delude yourself about the benevolence of a government. They are like any other organism - they are genetically predisposed toward only two things; self preservation and reproduction.
    1
  1695. Malaysia = Islamic extremists, Mexico = drug cartels, Serbia = hates westerners after the Yugoslav wars. Probably exaggerating but not by much. Then again, if you're flush with cash, they'll welcome it.... err, I mean you... with open arms!
    1
  1696. How is that BS even legal?? I'm dying to know what the SCOTUS will have to say about it. I know the IRS has global reach for US citizens but there's no such thing as California (or any other state) citizenship. How the f*ck do they think they're going to come after a resident of another state much less another country for STATE taxes?
    1
  1697. Andrew is SO right! Individual results are like individual polls; they don't tell us much. Trends are what you really need to pay attention to.
    1
  1698. Bono of U2 fame was notorious for going around the world lecturing governments that they need to raise taxes while he and his bandmates moved their base of operations to a more tax friendly destination. Frauds! "Do as I say; not as I do."
    1
  1699. A slight clarification on India vis-à-vis Russia..... They are not and never have been, fiercely pro-Russia. They are not fiercely pro-anybody. What they are is fiercely neutral, nationalistic, proud and independent. They are not interested in being in anybody's "camp" and the harder somebody tries to push them into one, the more they resist and turn towards the other. They are the modern embodiment of Lord Palmerston's famous quote - "We have no permanent allies and we have no permanent enemies. What we have are permanent interests." As Modi has said - "I have 1/7th of the world's population. I'll make my own camp." They have always kept their doors open to most anyone but they refuse to be anyone's "cheap date." They're not about to just fall in line with either the US, Russia, Europe, China nor anyone else just because someone thinks they should but they do take great pleasure in being obstinate and refusing to sing off of someone else's song sheet. One thing they've never forgotten, or forgiven, was the US siding with Pakistan in the early days. The US may have felt they had their reasons for doing so, but from the Indian perspective, that is something that won't be soon nor easily overcome and it is that as much as anything that pushed them closer to the Soviets. There are however, some serious cracks forming in the India/Russia relationship as India doesn't particularly enjoy being associated with a pariah state. They have also begun the slow but steady transition of their military away from Russian sourced gear towards that from western sources. The big winner in all that? The USA? Uh-uhh. France! See what I mean about India not wanting to dance to Uncle Sam's tune?
    1
  1700. Andrew, honestly, you do yourself no credit by engaging with lunatics like this. Doing so only serves to shine light on people who should be left in the dark. The points raised are important to address but I'm sure you receive communication from plenty of people much farther up the ladder from this brain-diseased clown. If that diatribe had arrived in my inbox, it would've gotten deleted after about two paragraphs.
    1
  1701. A point that isn't made often enough or strenuously enough is that it is NOT the Jeff Bezoses of the world who are going to be most at risk of shit like this... it's the small and mid sized business people. Companies like Amazon, Walmart, Facebook etc are global behemoths with unlimited resources to lobby against and fight policies like this. The smaller, 10, 25, 50 person companies DO NOT and like any government always does, it is the smaller, weaker targets who'll always get picked on because 1) they have less capacity to fight back and 2) there is a greater probability of success which gives the government more to brag about.
    1
  1702. I envy you, my friend! Spent 6 months in Cambodia in 92-93 and fell in love with it. Gonna be making my exit... escape?... real soon. @RetireandGo 
    1
  1703. Over the long term, yeah, probably. Culture does tend to change over time and I don't think this time will be any different. But in the short term, no; not much can be done which is why I've made plans to leave. I'm too old and I have no desire to spend the few years I have left fighting a losing battle against a rising tide.@mbh114
    1
  1704. Right there with you, pal! Couldn't have said it better. Agree 1000%. I've got one aging parent left and after that, I am f*cking OUT of here! And yes I agree, things will eventually swing back the other way, they always do, but it ain't going to happen while I'm alive and there's still a long way to go before we reach rock bottom. As Andrew is fond of saying, "stay and fight" if you want but you're not going to prevail when the tide is against you and for me at my age, it's a battle I have no interest in. @chriswhite0 
    1
  1705.  @selohcin  A chain is only as strong as its weakest link and the weak link in the US military's chain is the political leadership. Adversaries have figured out long ago that you don't beat the US on the battlefield, you beat it by sapping it's resolve and weakening it's will to continue the fight. You wear it down by wearing it out.
    1
  1706. "Can the US keep going like this?" Oh baby; they're just getting warmed up! What you're seeing now is just the beginning. This is what a society looks like when it's starting to die. You probably wouldn't think so but this is one of the major reasons why countries like China, Russia and Iran don't fear the US. We have all the best hardware, it's true, but we have a weak, decadent society with no resilience and no fortitude. Those are the marks of a strong nation and they are lacking horribly!
    1
  1707. One of your best videos, Andrew. Seldom heard to put better.
    1
  1708. The last 2 (at least) presidents of South Africa have been very clear that they want every single white person out of the country and they are prepared to resort to anything to achieve that goal. They are well on their way to getting there. Any white person with any wealth, talent, brains and a smidgen of awareness is preparing to leave if they haven't already.
    1
  1709. Andrew, you are SOOOO right! We are just inundated with garbage propaganda from every side 24/7 and almost all of it is pure BS!
    1
  1710. Cramer is nothing but another TV blowhard whose job is to keep you engaged between commercial breaks. He's just trying to get attention. His whole schtick is ranting and raving and flailing his arms and making a spectacle of himself so people will watch to see what the crazy guy will say next. No different than Hannity, Maddow or any of the rest. As my dad once told me - "those who can, do; those who can't, talk." In all aspects of life, it's important to not let yourself get sidetracked by those who have outsized egos or who think they know everything. Follow the people who get results, not those who bark from the sidelines.
    1
  1711. Of course, the other side to all this largesse is that you create a culture of dependence and set up your own way back into power if you should lose it. You'll get very little pushback from anyone when you set up all these welfare schemes but try to take them away or even scale them back and the screeching could be heard on the moon!
    1
  1712.  @MILE011  You still haven't explained to me how the US was/is responsible for the Yugoslav civil war.
    1
  1713. Good advice!
    1
  1714. It's Jug-Meat. Spelled Jagmeet but pronounced Jug-Meat. And the NDP are what we call socialists around these parts..... because, you know.... the Bouffant Boy Wonder and his "Liberal" apparatchiks aren't quite socialist enough for us, apparently. And if you're thinking about packing up and getting the f*ck out of Dodge, I'd do it soon because there's going to be a fall election which Fidel's boy is going to win in a landslide for two major reasons - 1) The Tories are a dumpster fire who collectively don't know whether their arseholes were bored or punched and 2) The student council president we call Mr. Prime Minister plans on promising everything imaginable AND actually delivering. Tax and borrow, tax and spend, spend and borrow and around and around we go. Free childcare, free dental, free glasses, free college, free drugs..... you name it; free, free, FREE!! Pretty soon we'll all have our own assigned babysitter (unionized, of course) to feed us our din-dins and tuck us all into our beddy-byes.
    1
  1715.  @nickv4073  Who says you have to live your whole life there? Travel around, sample different places, find the best of everywhere.
    1
  1716.  @richardhowe5583  Thanks, man!! Appreciate it. Agree about Thailand. Been there 3 times. Love it, but for a visit, not to live there. Definitely gonna stop by the Philippines to have a look-see. One of my colleagues is doing the very same thing you're doing. Probably going to do some variation of Andrew's trifecta - 3 mos each in Asia, Europe, Latin America and here in Canada. Still young enough to do some roaming. When I find the perfect place, that's where I'll shut 'er down and settle in. Cheers and Happy New Year!!
    1
  1717.  @georgeklimes7604  Thank you, that's most enlightening now go back to your room. The nurses are coming around with the pill cart.
    1
  1718. Don't blame you one damned bit, Andrew! I'd do the exact same thing were I in your place. It's the toxicity and the rage... all of it manufactured and distributed for profit and ratings... that is going to kill western civilization long before anything else will. It is in fact, those very things that are driving me to become a nomad, not the monetary side of things because I'm just not that wealthy. I simply find that I can't function in this environment any longer. Best wishes and thanks for all you've done and continue to do.
    1
  1719. Enjoy the Nomad Dad as much as the Nomad Son!
    1
  1720.  @MrBCWalker01  I think it's time you got off the internet for a while, came out of the basement and got some sunlight and a bit of fresh air..... and maybe a friend or two.
    1
  1721. Something to think about - At many universities across the country, everything is being segregated by race.... classes, dorms, clubs, even cafeterias. "Safe spaces" are everywhere and students regularly set curriculum and get professors silenced and fired. Within about 5-10 years, those people will be running our governments, our media, our major corporations and, to an even greater extent than they are already,, our education system. This is our version of what the German communist Rudi Dutschke called "the long march through the institutions." Have a great weekend!
    1
  1722.  @ELee-zv5ud  Don't worry sweetheart, we won't. We'll sit back and laugh at you "brave hearts" from afar.
    1
  1723.  @AS-hz8cv  It's not; don't bother.
    1
  1724. You're right, it is going global and the best you can legitimately hope for is to stay a few steps ahead of it. I can't run forever? I don't have to run forever. I just have to run until I die and then the whole shit pile can burst into flames for all I care.
    1
  1725. Not much point in moving to a "red" state when red states are trending blue more every day.
    1
  1726. I got such a chuckle out of Andrew describing these Europhiles who are so hung up on the place that they're willing to put up with anything yet still swear it's the best. I'm a car enthusiast and I always hear the same thing from fans of European cars. They think they're the best in the world and that they're impressing the hell out of people because they paid an astronomical price for some stupid Italian sports car that needs a ton of maintenance so is hardly ever on the road and all while looking down their noses at me who drives vintage Detroit iron on the weekends and practical Japanese stuff through the week. But I always get the last laugh as I get regular and largely trouble free usage out of mine while they stay home and pleasure themselves gawking at this European "classic" that's been up on blocks for months waiting for overpriced, hard to get parts.
    1
  1727.  @LotusesGalaxyOcean  I never thought about that side of it but I suppose you're right. I guess that's why you have to choose your HR people very carefully and continue to stay on top of things very diligently. It's getting harder and harder to run a business of any size these days without certain people and their "agendas" sticking their noses into things. Guess that's one of the reasons why Andrew's channel has such a following.,
    1
  1728.  @LotusesGalaxyOcean  This is very true but I don't blame HR for that. Management controls HR and sets the parameters under which they operate the same as they do for any department. If they don't, then management is negligent. Responsibility starts at the top and the various departments are a reflection of the culture that management establishes..... or fails to establish.
    1
  1729. Because it's the left......
    1
  1730.  @lindyashford7744  I'm not defending Putin or his actions. Why are you trying to imply that I am?
    1
  1731.  @lrn_news9171  Then tell us who we should believe..... and why.
    1
  1732. I can totally relate. Every time I go back to my hometown, I can tolerate it for about a week and then it's "God, get me OUT of here!"
    1
  1733. Roman, I suppose you already know this and it's probably not on your radar anyway but for what it's worth, your kind of Russians always have been and always will be, welcome here in Canada. Whatever you do and wherever you go, stay safe and God bless!
    1
  1734. Reminds me of the whole stupid "sovereign citizen" movement. They all refuse to accept that they are citizens of, and subject to the laws of,.... whatever country.... because THEY didn't agree to it..... As if that were a requirement.
    1
  1735. Roman correctly describes them as "back-handed" compliments and many people make them without really thinking about how they will be received. In fact, I'm probably guilty of that myself. I believe that for the most part, these people mean well but they don't really understand that they may themselves be victims of propaganda.
    1
  1736. What a fantastic history lesson! I lived through this time but I didn't know all these details.
    1
  1737. It is asking an awful lot... probably too much, in fact,... for a nation of people who have no knowledge of nor history with, a free and democratic society and all the mechanisms of one, to be able to make something of it when it's suddenly dumped in their lap one day and they have nothing like a user guide to go by. It would be like taking 25 random North Koreans and dumping them on a sidewalk in downtown Seoul and saying "Right; off you go then. You're free.". It just doesn't work that way. I remember watching a video about South Africa and some black youth were very resentful of Nelson Mandela because they didn't feel their lives were any better after all these years. A western skeptic might reply "Well it's not his job to do everything for you. He freed you now you have to go and do something with it." Yes, of course they do. But they can't; they don't know how. They have zero experience with running a successful democracy on their own. They've never known anything but oppression and have no idea what they're supposed to do with this newfangled "freedom."
    1
  1738. OK, hands up.... who's shocked? Anybody? Anybody at all?...... No? No hands? No one's shocked? Not at all?
    1
  1739. The guest was right on two counts - there is a difference between what is advertised and what reasonable people expect and also that there very much is a line beyond which is unacceptable. A great many of these cases are frivolous and my first instinct was to assume this one was also but if you see some of the images that customers have posted about what is being passed off as Whoppers, you'll see why this one may have merit.
    1
  1740. Wow... they must be so proud!
    1
  1741. Ecuador needs to defund its police because law enforcement is the cause of all crime. It's the obvious solution. Look how well it's worked in major US cities.
    1
  1742. Absolutely awesome news! Welcome aboard, Finland! Your turn next, Sweden.
    1
  1743. Prigozhin's been a busy boy lately, hasn't he? What with staging his own death and all these coups all over Africa.... poor boy's soon gonna need a vacation.
    1
  1744. The answer to the last question asked in the video is an emphatic "yes!" And it perhaps wouldn't even depend on the condition mentioned.
    1
  1745. Situation isn't much different in any NATO country. Even the USA, as good as it is, isn't what it should be. And don't think the criminal in the Kremlin isn't keenly aware of it.
    1
  1746. This guy hits it out of the park! You're short 100K drivers and you think bringing in 5K foreigners is going to help at all? There are 10s of thousands of ex-drivers and potential drivers right at home this moment but they either can't work within these stupid regulations or won't put up with the shit working conditions. Address those things and your driver shortage will disappear like a fart in the wind.
    1
  1747. Start by seizing all Russian assets along with the assets of all Russians held abroad.
    1
  1748. From my experience in working with them, they're absolutely 1st class. @insertnamehere1792 
    1
  1749. No, not 8 year olds, but perhaps like clear headed adults, for once. You know, the kind that lives in the real world where they recognize enemies for who and what they are instead of trying to pretend they're something else so they can kick the problem down the road where it'll only get bigger but it'll be someone else's responsibility on another day. And no, I'm not some billionaire with a bunker but what I am, or at least was, is a soldier who has to go out and clean up the goddam mess that sniveling cowards such as yourself make by running away from problems and burying your heads in the sand and hoping they'll go away. So yes, I do have skin in the game.... actual skin along with blood and bones.... and I also have a keen knowledge of history. For example, the multitude of opportunities the Western allies had to prevent both of the world wars which would have meant hard decisions but would also have saved millions of lives. So you'll pardon me, I'm sure, if my attitudes and outlooks are somewhat outside those of the chattering classes.  @bryanalexander2508 
    1
  1750. Yeah, I suppose you're right. Far better to just hide in our closets and hope the problem goes away. That's always worked in the past, hasn't it? And let's face it; bullies always respect cowardice, don't they? @jfh667 
    1
  1751. Don't need the top job, don't want the top job. Platoon or company level is fine with me. That's where I left off when I retired Anything above that and I'm surrounded by more bureaucrats than fighters.  @samuraijosh1595 
    1
  1752. I'm 67 smartass, and I spent 32 years in uniform including two shooting wars so don't f*cking lecture me. Even with all that, I'd still go again if I had to even though I'd be risking my life for cowards like you.  @ashardalondragnipurake 
    1
  1753. Well, the US navy could always escort the grain out. Oh wait... that requires balls and a spine. Sorry.
    1
  1754. It was said from the very beginning that the sanctions wouldn't really start to bite for several months. That's generally the way with sanctions in any case. The real question is whether the west can keep its resolve in the face of winter conditions and/or if the wily old fox Putin all of a sudden re-kenneled his war dogs and came asking for diplomacy. This is where the west is weakest.... and Putin knows it.
    1
  1755. The bar is always substantially higher for new parties seeking to win for the first time. Probably not fair but that's just the way it is.
    1
  1756.  @elvangulley3210  .....HUH???...
    1
  1757. It doesn't work? Well, between the US and the EU, they'd damned well better figure out something that does work and quickly or both places are going to explode.
    1
  1758. As you say, politics works in waves, People put their faith in a certain ideology until it fails them..... and it always does eventually..... then they put their faith somewhere else..... until that fails them and then...... Wash... rince... repeat....
    1
  1759. I think it's long past time that the west stopped playing around with Russia and start hitting them back.... HARD!! How else is all this going to stop? Putin has absolutely ZERO fear of the west and with good reason. He knows from decades of experience that our society is infested with weak, waffling, indecisive cowards who won't fight back. Time to change that perception and change the game in a massive way.
    1
  1760. I was going to say come out into the sunlight but on second thought, we're all better off if you stay where you are.
    1
  1761. Radical or fringe elements.... left or right..... do not and can not grow when moderate, centerist forces succeed. It is only when the center fails that the radicals gain ground. We have seen this over and over and over again throughout history. When people lose faith and trust in public institutions and public governance, they turn to whatever else remains and the forces best organized and best placed to take power are the ones who will be ascendant. The Russian people were not naturally drawn to communism any more than the German people were to fascism. Those just happened to have been the forces best placed to take over in those countries at that particular time. To paraphrase John Kennedy - "Look after the reasonable and you'll never have to worry about the radical." Power detests a vacuum. If the center fails and or leaves the playing field, others will very quickly take their place.
    1
  1762. NATO is a hot mess. The world should be thanking its lucky stars that Russia has shown itself to be as inept as it is because if they had proven to be an effective, capable, modern fighting force, Europe would be 50 shades of f*cked!
    1
  1763. You hear this talk of "escalation" a lot and it's nonsense. Ask yourself this - Russia has been grossly underperforming since day 1. They are not gaining territory, they're losing it. If they had the capacity to turn things around, would they not already have done so by now? Russia can't escalate. They have nothing and nobody to escalate with. All of their best equipment.... which was never that great to begin with... is gone. They're using old crap from the 60s and 70s. Their logistics... again, never great, has broken down entirely but most importantly, Putin has pretty successfully concealed the truth about this war from his people so far. A general mobilization would see that evaporate. Instead of a general mobilization, he'd have a general uprising on his hands.
    1
  1764. Perhaps someday, we can arrive at a place where we agree that there's a sensible middle ground somewhere between an unregulated, unrestricted, open-door, free-for-all and razor wire, land mines and snipers, hmm? Like just about anything else, there's a point up to which it makes good sense and beyond it, it doesn't. There is not much of anything more vital to human survival for example, than food, but we all know what happens when we just go nuts and gorge ourselves uncontrollably. I would venture a guess that like America, Europe does not have a migration crisis as much as it has a political crisis. Both (all?) sides are far too heavily invested in using the issue as a fundraiser and a cudgel to beat their enemies with instead of finding practical, sensible solutions.
    1
  1765.  @vinojsagar5007  Actually, on second thought, scratch that... don't explain. I have a personal rule against wasting good time arguing with idiots which I've been breaking far too often lately.
    1
  1766.  @vinojsagar5007  Oh, really? Do explain.
    1
  1767.  @vinojsagar5007  ..... HUH??!!
    1
  1768. Russia at this point, is a cross between Baghdad Bob and the Black Knight from the Monty Python sketch. It's constantly telling us about all its grand plans and warning about all the severe consequences which await anyone who interferes with them, while simultaneously getting its ass kicked on the battlefield..... in a "special military operation", not a war.
    1
  1769. I hate to be a nitpick but I wish you guys would be a little more diligent with your texts. Poland was never part of the Soviet Union. In the Soviet sphere, yes. Warsaw Pact, yes. Under the Soviet boot, certainly, but never an actual part of the Soviet Union. The Soviet Union was an internationally recognized nation state with clearly demarcated borders. Poland was likewise. That would be like saying that Canada is part of the USA because we're beside each other and we're both in NATO.
    1
  1770. Macron is right on point sometimes and it's refreshing when he is so but he's all over the map over time and it's hard to know what's really going on with him which is why is difficult to take him too seriously.
    1
  1771. "Why can't Putin invade Finland? Lotsa reasons but primarily because he's too busy at the moment getting his ass kicked by Ukraine.
    1
  1772. A couple of things that folks need to understand here. First of all, anyone who thinks the Ukrainians are doing this on their own are delusional. They're a plucky, determined bunch no doubt about it, and my hat's off to them but remember that just 30 years ago, the Ukrainian military and the Russian military were one and the same and went by the title of "Soviet" military. So whatever failings the Russians had and still have, the Ukrainians were not long ago part of the very same military culture and would have inherited the very same thinking and behavior as the Russians. But the determination to be independent of Moscow's boot and that small matter of the 2014 war made them reassess matters and when western countries saw an opportunity and offered their assistance and support, Ukraine wisely said "why yes, we'll have us as much of that as you can spare." So what we have today is nothing like the Ukrainian military of just 8 years ago but instead, a well motivated, well trained and increasingly well equipped and well financed modern military. The Ukrainians knew this day would come eventually and have been building up to prepare for it. The US and NATO also see this as a chance to deplete Russian forces and weaken the country and Putin's rule. They're throwing everything they possibly can into the fight to ensure Putin loses and the war doesn't spread. You can bet that Ukraine has access to the very best satellite imaging and intelligence as well as a boatload of advisors, trainers and technical assistance. You can compare it to a tungsten fist (NATO) inside a leather glove (Ukraine). Secondly, Russian forces have never been the supermen the press and movies have made them out to be. They've always been primarily a conscript army with very poor quality equipment, training and leadership. They could always easily make short work of weak countries like Syria but never did have the ability to take on something like the US armed forces. I was stationed in Germany in the 80s and we witnessed their ineptitude and incompetence first hand and I can say that the only things that ever saved them from being annihilated were their nukes.
    1
  1773. Europe is "united" because it's threatened. Let's see how long the unity lasts once the threat goes away.
    1
  1774.  @hazargokturk2424  Well, you wasted a shitload of time. If you think I'm going to read all that rambling nonsense, you're insane.
    1
  1775. The central problem here is that sanctions are only ever of limited effectiveness and the larger and more powerful the sanctioned body, the less effective they are. They are in the end, only one tool in the toolbox but the west has long ago gotten into a way of thinking that they're the only tool and that they're the solution to everything. They're not! Anyone who applies sanctions and doesn't expect them to be evaded isn't a very bright person and if you really want these minor players to go along with them then you're going to have to offer them something else to make up for their losses. For example, the west is irritated that India is still buying so much oil from Russia but the west hasn't offered India any practical alternative so what are they supposed to do? And expanding upon that point, it isn't as though we've given the Indias of the world much more reason to trust us and cozy up to us. Many nations, including specifically these Central Asian nations, are not necessarily Russia's friends and they're not particularly thrilled at what Russia's doing but the reality is that if they went along with these sanctions, their economies would suffer greatly too; quite probably much more than Russia's would. Sanctions are a good opening act but there has to be a follow-up and if the sanctioned party sees that you don't have one, or that you don't have the guts to use it, then they have successfully check-mated you and it'll be you who ends up with egg on your face. This is increasingly the situation in which the west finds itself. They throw a pretty formidable first punch but the target gets back on its feet and says "what else ya got?" and we end up shrugging our shoulders and muttering "not much."
    1
  1776. Maybe where you are it was, but not where I am. @marcnawo3533 
    1
  1777. "Revolution" might be a bit strong but yes, you've got the basic gist of it. @misere4 
    1
  1778. Electoral reform.... which needs to be supported, agreed to and implemented by the very people who rely on, benefit from, and were put there to begin with, by the status quo. Yeah; and while we're at it, why don't we ask for free sunshine to go along with it? It's not impossible, though. I suppose we might have an outside shot at both sometime in the next 4 to 5 hundred years. So I ask again; what world do you live in? When was the last time you actually got out and mingled with anyone who doesn't live in your bubble or had had a meaningful relationship with reality? @martijn8554 
    1
  1779. You think that doesn't happen? Lots of people do exactly that. Including me for nearly 11 years. And their voices get drowned out, they get pushed to the fringes, the party establishment and leadership ignores them and eventually they quit in frustration. This is NOT just about election day, my friend. You think there's democracy inside legislatures? What world are you living in? Do members get to vote the way their constituents want or even their conscience? Or are the votes whipped? You think the masses are actually in control of anything or is it the party elites who are? It's the same thing within parties. Ordinary members are there to pay their dues, do the grunt work, clap on command and keep their mouths shut. What you and several others here on this thread are engaging in is a form of victim blaming. "What, you got poisoned by the medicine? Huh; guess you should've done some research, shouldn't you?" And no doubt that today, everyone has tons of spare time to devote to party activities. No piddling concerns like trying to keep a roof overhead or food on the table, is there? You sound exactly like that segment of society who delights at looking down their noses at others, is comfortable with the status quo and cares nothing for anyone who isn't and it is that which enrages people more than anything. @martijn8554 
    1
  1780. None are going to happen. Putin may end up taking or controlling large parts of Ukraine but he'll be bled dry by rebels and sanctions. I don't think he's going to have very many spare resources left for any more adventures. Finland and the Baltics are out of the question. Finland isn't a NATO country but it might as well be. It's already got a close partnership with NATO and is a current EU member as well as a highly advanced and industrialized country. It also has a very capable military. I've worked with the Finns before and believe me, they're nobody's fools and nobody's pushovers. Finland would almost certainly prevail and the rest of Europe would do whatever they had to to see that it did. The Baltics are NATO members so Putin puts one toe across their borders; and that includes the Suvalki Gap, it's game on and game over.
    1
  1781.  @ibdaramy7261  Oh, hey look: a troll. I didn't think there were many of you fools left. Hey pal, I'd advise you to make sure you get paid on time because your pathetic little man-crush Putty is about to have his revenue stream cut off..... soon to be followed by his head!
    1
  1782. He can mobilize 10 million men if he wants. He can't support and supply the ones he already has so what difference are a bunch of new ones going to make? Does he plan suicidal human wave attacks or something? All this move does is drive more nails into his own coffin and ensure that his end, when it comes.... and that could be sooner than he or we think.... will not be pretty or peaceful.
    1
  1783. Stay strong, stand tall...... Chuck Fina!!
    1
  1784. We were told that 2023 would be "the decisive year" too. So now it's a full year later, not a f*cking thing of any substance was accomplished and we're still hearing the same empty rhetoric we heard last year and worse than that, the west still hasn't gotten off it's fat collective butt and started to take this war even remotely seriously. Everything we send to Ukraine is a fraction of what they need, a year or more late, and even then, only after copious amounts of fretting and fussing about... GASP!!.... Escalation!!... OMG!!.... and worrying about what might upset poor Mr. Putin, bless his little heart. 2024 will not be the decisive year, nor will any other year, until the west takes off its fantasy goggles, pulls its head out of its ass and finally gets f*cking serious about this thing!
    1
  1785. "... will take several months for the new conscripts to arrive on the battlefield....." Umm..... several of them have already been captured. Very sloppy journalism here, TLDR.
    1
  1786.  @leelilly5700  I'm Canadian, bone head.....
    1
  1787.  @chuapg1518  Then go ahead, place your bets. Don't waste your time arguing with me if you think I'm such an idiot.
    1
  1788.  @chuapg1518  Well, if you believe so strongly in the economies of Russia and China, go ahead and put your money where your mouth is; invest a ton into each... and borrow heavily to do so. After all, why not? They're going to "save the world", aren't they? Me, I hold US dollars and invest in US companies, particularly those which are leading the re-shoring of domestic manufacturing and high tech production. Check back with me in 5 years. We'll see who the smart one was.
    1
  1789. Many factors play into it. Messaging, influencers, parties and leaders and their personalities, media, the current "situation" and also the alternatives. Labels play a part too. There is no more left or right; it's always "far" left and "far" right as if anybody really understood what those mean. I'm going to have to go with the anti-establishment bent as the main one, though. This is the age of the internet and you can't hide shit from people anymore. So-called "mainstream" parties are fading from relevance as more and more people discover that they have nothing to offer. People have a good understanding of what the problems are, it's simply a difference of opinion about how to address them. I always found it interesting how a very sizable chunk of Trump voters in the 2016 US election stated Bernie Sanders as their 2nd choice while a lesser but still significant portion of Bernie supporters named Trump as their runner-up. That should tell you something.
    1
  1790. Sooner the better!
    1
  1791. A "war crime"....... GASP!! OMG, Putin will be soiling himself for sure at the thought of the "strongly worded resolution" which is likely to come from the UN over this. Laughing his guts out, more like.
    1
  1792.  @franknwogu4911  You're right: the US shouldn't be carrying the load for this. It's first and foremost a European problem and the Europeans are the ones who should be dealing with it.... or at the very least, taking the lead on it. However, we all know full well that the Europeans can't and won't do that. The US has always carried the load for Europe in everything and until the day comes when America finally withdraws from NATO and kicks the rest of those freeloading bastards out to fend for themselves, that's the way it'll always be. As for Zelensky, he has been going to France, Italy, Germany and anywhere else he can to beg whatever he can get. But so far his efforts have been largely in vain. The US is the only place he seems to be able to get any results. Don't blame him; he's just pumping the well he knows he can get water from.
    1
  1793. The US and China are also just one country with one government each and not 30 odd like Europe; each with it's own government locked into their own narrow self interests.
    1
  1794. @Ibrahim Özgür Sucu If you think you're better off in Putin's or Xi's loving embrace, then go ahead. I for one, will be delighted to watch your inevitable fate visited upon you.
    1
  1795. Lovin' every minute of it!
    1
  1796.  @areswalker5647  There's a solid case to be made that every country would do better without governments.
    1
  1797. The lifespan of a typical Italian government is about the same as a carton of milk. It astounds me sometimes how that nation manages to even function.
    1
  1798. The right is rising in Germany for the same reasons it's rising everywhere else..... because the establishment is failing.
    1
  1799. This will become a high(est?) stakes pissing contest to see who cries "uncle" first... The Europeans who need Russian gas or the Russians who need European cash. Grab the popcorn and place your bets.
    1
  1800. Why? It's no great mystery, really. Most likely it's for the same reasons that fringe and extremist parties and personalities are thriving all over. Traditional and mainstream parties have utterly failed, and continue to fail, at delivering competent, responsible government. And they are so wrapped up in corruption and beholden to their donors that they can't adapt and won't change. This is exactly the kind of environment that fringe elements grow in. History is replete with examples of this. When people have utterly lost faith in their traditional politics and institutions, they naturally turn to whomever is left. Hard right or hard left depends largely upon which one happens to be better organized and better placed at the moment rather than any particular preference of the people,
    1
  1801. If voting mattered, they wouldn't let you do it.
    1
  1802. The principle difference of course, between Japan then and Ukraine now is that Japan had been soundly beaten, had surrendered, and the criminal regime ruling it had been liquidated. Do that to Russia and I'd have no problem giving them security guarantees. Like most people, I have no quarrel with the Russian people and have no desire to see them crushed but the ruling clique has to be ripped out, root and branch, and disposed of before there can be any sort of reliable security in the west or indeed the wider world and also before anything good or positive can begin to take hold for the Russian people who've never known a truly free and democratic society. At the end of WW2, the world's leaders knew that an armistice would have been relatively easy to achieve but a true, lasting and enduring peace as well as a positive future for the German, Japanese and Italian peoples required that the ruling regimes be eliminated. It was a lot harder goal to achieve but it had to be done.
    1
  1803. Because it's Italy. They hate everyone there. It's a wonder she stayed popular this long. Italian governments usually have the shelf life of cold coffee.
    1
  1804. So, let's see if I have this right..... Europe's problems are America's problems but America's problems are not Europe's problems? And Europe wonders what the problem is? America comes running to Europe's aid twice in the last century, rebuilds it and constructs a nuclear deterrence umbrella over it, keeping it safe for 80 years, and is now being told again that it's up to America to save Ukraine? And this after Europe has grown bigger, more advanced, more affluent and more secure than it's ever been thanks to alliances with America and it's still somehow not enough? Europe lets their military capabilities atrophy in the expectation that good ole America will once again have their backs (and fronts) but won't help us out in the Pacific and still wants to cozy up with China and Iran because it suits their interests? And it's puzzled that America questions this? Europe was once the battered and traumatized orphan child who needed and deserved America's help and America gladly gave it. But now, Europe is the 35 year old, irresponsible adult with the post-grad degree and the executive position and the BMW but also 3 failed marriages, alimony payments, and a bankruptcy because it spends all its money on the weekends and is pissed that it's finally being forced out of its parents house, told to grow the f*ck up and look after itself. Well, cry me a river!
    1
  1805. Well, aren't you clever? He was using "president" as a metaphor for "leader" dumbass, and I'll wager he was referring to either France or Germany..... or both.
    1
  1806. Such a thing would sure call NATO's bluff, wouldn't it? It also shows that neither Putin nor any other senior Russian leader is the least bit afraid of anything the west has done or may do. That needs to change. Maybe a demonstration is in order. There is going to be a direct confrontation between Russian and NATO (read US) forces eventually so we may as well quit pretending otherwise and get on with it.
    1
  1807. Lower your mic a bit. It's covering your face.
    1
  1808. It is correct to say that this is part of Putin's strategy. It's galling to think that anyone is surprised by this. He has no hope of winning anything as long as the west supports Ukraine so his only real option is to wear down that support over time... which he has lots of. It's natural that people would start to get tired of sending billions to some far off country when they don't really understand why and the matter continues to drag on but there is a solution for this if western governments had the spine to do it. Put 100-200K NATO troops on the ground in Ukraine, several destroyers and guided missile cruisers in the Black Sea and dare Putin to do something about it. In fact, if this had been done a year ago, this whole war would've been avoided.
    1
  1809. "Dear" mongering? Good Lord, we don't want that!
    1
  1810. This series of massive thuds you're hearing around the world are not plane crashes or earthquakes or anything like that. They're the virtue signaling world views of the progressive do-gooders colliding with reality. The citizens of Ireland and many other western countries are never going to forget the words and actions of their supposed leaders towards them during these times... nor should they.
    1
  1811. I see. Well, don't give up hope, lad. Medical science is working wonders these days so you never know; a cure for idiot might be right around the corner. @Matthewt756 
    1
  1812. "Your people"; and mine too, if we're talking about the same group, and I think we are, ARE going extinct, immigration or no immigration. The birth rate in the western world is way under water and the only thing that's going to fix that is lots of western guys gettin' giggy with lots of western gals and throwing lots of baby showers. And that ain't gonna happen until those frisky folks see a brighter future ahead of them and that don't happen without a strong economy. The strong economy ain't gonna happen without SOME new people. And them's the facts, JACK! So you see, it ain't a zero sum, one or the other kind of situation. There is a middle ground between the two extremes that is sensible and reasonable. And if you think the birth rate thing is some big lie and a conspiracy, then I can't help you. @lamogio7938 
    1
  1813.  @abadairshi  Oh, calm down! Nobody's saying anything of the sort.
    1
  1814. Definitely correct about Africa. Very high growth forecasts and the smart investors are getting in now.
    1
  1815. Under no circumstances should Putin be allowed any sort of victory, no matter how small and no matter what the cost of denying it to him.
    1
  1816. This is why I have neither patience nor sympathy for Germans. Shutting down the one and only energy source that can provide clean energy at scale before they've even got a suitable replacement in place is the very picture of insanity. Any conversation about a clean energy transition that is not heavily weighted towards nuclear is not a serious conversation by serious people. Nor would I trust them and their word. The minute the sanctions are relaxed, they'll be back gorging on Russian oil and gas and filling Putin's pockets and all that grandiose blather about rebuilding their military will evaporate like a fart in a hurricane.
    1
  1817. Neither Shoigu nor Gerasimov got where they are by way of demonstrated professional competence. They're both Putin lackeys so they're ineffectiveness is not surprising.
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  1818. Prigozhin... that's Pri-GO-zhin, not PRIZ-go-VIN,... honestly, it's not that hard with a bit of effort.... made the classic mistake of forgetting his place in the order of things. Now he's paying for it. Rule #1 in any organization- You don't make the boss look foolish. And it was beyond foolhardy to think that Wagner was ever meant to survive this war. One, no one, not even Putin, would be stupid enough to let that collection of psychopaths loose in society and two, their leader is a direct threat to Putin so I expect we'll hear of them getting annihilated in some battle in a few weeks or months and that the boss man has followed several of his contemporaries out of a 10th floor window.
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  1819. Back in the Cold War era, Western Europe was defined as the democratic, NATO aligned nations and Eastern Europe as the communist, Soviet aligned countries. Since that dynamic isn't really a thing anymore, we're having to rethink our definitions. Also, both Turkey and Russia (not included in this survey) straddle the Europe/Asia boundary with only a small corner of Turkey falling within Europe but about 1/4 of Russia plus of course, the Kaliningrad exclave doing so.
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  1820. Can we please cut the hyperbole? Invoking Article 5 does NOT trigger WW3. BTW.... why is it always NATO and the western alliance who has to take the blame for such a thing? Why wouldn't it be the party or parties who committed the offence that caused Article 5 to be triggered in the first place? Anyway, invoking Article 5 only means that NATO is obliged to.... "respond". It does not stipulate how, when, where or how severely. All that happens once A5 is triggered is a bunch more yak, yak, yak in Washington, Brussels and various other European capitals while they desperately try to find a way to chicken out yet still save face.
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  1821. To everyone jumping for joy and giggling with glee over this episode thinking it's the end for Putin and the end of the war, you may wish to reserve your celebrating for a spell. A few things to remember - nothing; absolutely nothing, has been won or lost... YET. Putin is still firmly in charge and the war goes on. Those things will change WHEN they change, NOT before. Secondly, if Putin is removed by whatever method, the likelihood of his replacement being orders of magnitude worse than what he is approach 100%. Russia has no good guys. They're all exiled, in prison or dead. They may come back someday but there are an awful lot of bad guys to be gone through and liquidated before that happens. There may well be sunshine in Russia's future someday... but not today... or tomorrow. There is still much darkness to come first. Finally, if this really is the beginning of the end for Putin as many predict, and which seems at least plausible, how do you think he's going to act? A rat is never more dangerous than when he's cornered and out of options. So don't get too carried away with joy just yet. There are still a lot of acts to be played out in this little drama before it's over.
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  1822. The roots of the old Soviet security state apparatus turned oligarchs system run wide and deep and I fear it's going to be a long and bloody struggle to eradicate it.
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  1823. "The UN peace keeping force is closely monitoring the situation......" Yup... sounds about right. That's pretty much all the UN ever does - monitor things. They didn't get the nickname "war watchers" for nothing.
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  1824. Americans who gaze admiringly at Scandinavia as some sort of modern day progressive paradise and/or wish for a multi-party system instead of the duopoly we have should learn from this. (But of course, they won't.) Scandinavia has plenty of problems of its own and multi-party systems don't necessarily work any better than a two party system since, at the end of the day, they're still run by politicians and politicians always put their own interests first.
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  1825. The sanctions are biting hard but they're still not biting nearly hard enough. They're still chock full of loopholes, exemptions and omissions, largely because so much of our own criminally corrupt billionaire class.... who double as party donors.... is so closely tied to and woven into the fabric of Russia's. This war could be over today if the west wanted it to be but there are still too many dirty little secrets to be kept hidden, too many ill-gotten or outright stolen fortunes to be guarded and too many criminal butts to be covered. Just this morning, my own (Canada) overaged student council LARPing as a government announced a 35% tariff on Russian and Belorussian imports. Wow... 35 whole percent... Imagine that! Putin must be curled up in a corner having a panic attack over that! If the west was serious about stopping this murderous aggression, they'd freeze every single asset in every single bank and give Russia 24 hours to get every last boot off of Ukrainian soil or those assets would be seized permanently. Simultaneously, I'd give the Chinas and the Indias of the world the same 24 hours to decide whether they want to have business, financial and diplomatic relations with Russia OR the west because it won't be both. At the end of that time, the decision will be made for them. But of course, none of that will happen. You'd need to have nations that haven't been operating as dumping stations for cheap dollar store junk for the last 40 years while selling off their industries and selling out their middle class. You'd also need leaders who cared about something other than the balances in their campaign accounts and the next polling cycle. Sucks to be you, Ukraine.
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  1826. Pragmatism overrules emotions, it would seem.
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  1827. Long war? Well, it's already gone on for a year and a half longer than it needed to and the west still hasn't realized that they are and always were the real target and thus still refuse to fight it so yeah; I guess it is going to be a long war.
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  1828. An emphatic YES! And we can start by seizing every penny that Russia and every oligarch has deposited in a western bank.
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  1829. Let's see; we want to address climate change so let's ignore reality and cater to a few nut cases and dispense with the only thing capable of delivering power at scale in a clean, safe and reliable manner. And while we're at it, let's put ourselves even more under the sway of our biggest geopolitical foe and reduce our options even further. And to think there are millions in America and elsewhere who think Germany is some kind of wise, smart example to follow.
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  1830. Jimmy Carter didn't lose an election in 1981, he lost it in 1980. The changeover happened the following January as it always does. And he lost to Ronald Reagan but you showed a picture of Richard Nixon. Come on, guys; this is simple shit which you shouldn't be getting wrong. You're better than that.... or at least, you're supposed to be.
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  1831. No! It absolutely IS a split and it's a split that anyone with any knowledge about how Western European countries think and act was expecting since day one, despite all the glowing propaganda about "unity." Western Europe has no backbone and never has. They desperately want this to end any way at all so they can go back to the status quo and not have to make any tough choices. They don't give a damn either about Ukraine or how dangerous Russia is. They're like the proverbial 5-year-old with his fingers in his ears and eyes closed thinking that'll make it all go away somehow. it won't! This is the fight we've been waiting 75 years for and it's time for Europe to either stand up and fight or shut up and go home.
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  1832. Sweden is already a member of NATO in every practical sense and has been for over 40 years. Nothing here to get worked up over. It will all get worked out in due course.
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  1833. I don't think it means all that much, to be honest, just as I don't think the other places going "far" right means much. None of these numbers indicate a particularly hard or decisive shift. Next time around, it'll likely go the other way. Politics is a pendulum and swings back and forth are quite common. I think we have a tendency to read too much into things that aren't really all that significant. Support for parties, movements and individuals depends on many factors and ebbs and flows are just part of the natural order of things.
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  1834. If Putin is planning and preparing for a "long war", that means that NATO has not done enough to ensure it's a short one. We have not done nearly enough to dissuade him or choke off his capabilities or his finances. This war could have, and should have, been over a year ago if NATO had taken it more seriously and shown more resolve and in fact would never have happened in the first place if NATO had shown some balls and started massing its forces the same day as Russia. This is getting ridiculous! Putin is killing thousands of innocents, committing war crimes daily and slowly but steadily grinding down and smashing a sovereign nation's ability to function and we sit back and twiddle our thumbs.
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  1835. Thinking like this; along with a lot of other things, is exactly why you're going to lose! Whether or not you think she'd be a better adversary to Trump, she'd still have to contest an election at some point soon and as close as she was to Trudeau and his disastrous policies, she wouldn't stand a chance. And anointing her as leader without a fair contest would only serve to piss off liberals.
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